> The Elements of Earth
>  by Tyler-the-Brony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: String Pony Theory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	String Theory is the theory that there are an infinite number of parallel universes adjacent to our own, all different from each other. Sometimes these changes are minute, sometimes they are not. 

With this theory in place, this means that all fiction in some way is true somewhere. With this thought in mind, this means that somewhere within the infinitely creating and expanding universes, there is a universe where the TV Show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is life itself.

All things are meant to happen for a reason, though the reason is not always blatantly apparent to us at first. And sometimes, the things we expect to happen never do, leaving us with far better results than we could have ever imagined.

This is the story of how the Elements of Harmony came from their own universe into ours, where they would meet the Elements of Earth. Let us begin.

> Chapter 1: Practicing for Discord and Chrysalis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Princess Celestia had sent the letter approximately a week and half ago. She had asked Twilight Sparkle to gather her friends, the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and meet her outside Ponyville to practice wielding the power of the Elements easier.

When Twilight chose to ask Princess Celestia why she had so suddenly asked them to practice with the Elements, she had responded by saying that although Discord and Chrysalis were defeated for the moment, they would not stay that way forever. 

It was for that reason that Princess Celestia gathered the current wielders of the Elements and her sister Princess Luna outside of Ponyville. She knew that Twilight and her friends were powerful with the Elements, but that they could become more so. Millennia ago, before the first appearance of Nightmare Moon, Celestia and Luna had wielded the Elements themselves. Neither of them had the personal affinity that each of the current Bearers had for their respective Elements, but they had been able to access the Elements power easier than them.

Princess Celestia looked over at the ponies in front of her, each of them bright and attentive to whatever it was she would say. 

There was the purple unicorn Twilight Sparkle, the user of the Element of Magic and her personal protégée.

There was also another unicorn by the name of Rarity there. It was her duty to wield the Element of Generosity. She also ran a boutique out of Ponyville.

Next to them was Pinkie Pie, a pink earth pony. She represented the Element of Laughter as well as assisted at the local sweets shop.

Then there was the yellow Pegasus, Fluttershy. She was Ponyville’s resident veterinarian, as well as being responsible for the Element of Kindness.

Next to Fluttershy was another Pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash represented the Element of Loyalty and was an ever hopeful to join the Wonderbolts.

The last of the current Bearers was an earth pony named Applejack. Applejack was the one who best exemplified the Element of Honesty. She also worked her family’s apple farm in Ponyville.

Although Celestia only knew Twilight Sparkle exceedingly well, she felt connections from all the other Bearers as well. Perhaps this was what happened when two generations of Bearers came into close contact with one another. Celestia decided to speak up as she finished surveying everypony.

“Is everypony ready to begin you training session?” Celestia asked, waiting for the responses.

“Of course Princess.” Twilight replied.

“I’m super-duper uber ready!” sprang Pinkie Pie.

“I’m ready too Princess.” Applejack spoke.

“I-I guess.” Fluttershy almost whispered.

“Bring it on Princess!” Rainbow Dash chided. 

“I am most certainly prepared Princess.” Rarity finished.

“Excellent. Now, as the Elements only work together, you will be practicing all together in this area. Luna will especially supervise Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. I will especially watch over Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” Celestia stated, waiting for the inevitable question.

“Why will you only watch over half of us each Princesses?” Twilight asked.

Celestia turned to Luna, allowing her to answer in her stead.

“Quite simple Twilight Sparkle. While the Elements of Harmony may be wielded by a solitary pony in times of dire need, like my sister did against Nightmare Moon in her first appearance, they always function better when wielded by multiple ponies. In times before I was Nightmare Moon, I would wield half the Elements and Celestia would wield the other half. I was responsible for the Elements of Laughter, Loyalty, and Honesty. Therefore, it makes the most sense that I watch over the respective new wielders of my old Elements.” Luna explained.

“Exactly right. Thank you Luna. Now if you would please separate yourselves into your assigned groups, we may begin.” Celestia added.

It took a few minutes to get the Bearers organized, having only functioned as a whole group or certain different pairs before now. Eventually, everypony was in proper order.

Celestia supervised her half on one side of the large field they occupied while Luna took her half to the other side.

“Excellent my little ponies. Now, as we are a certain distance away, the Elements won’t be able to fully react with one another. They are still within range to activate individually though. I will now teach you how to better react with your own Elements.” Celestia began.

“Twilight, you are the Element of Magic. Thus, to better harmonize with your Element, simply think of the vast amount of magical power within you. Do not think of any one spell in particular. Just think of the power that fuels your spells.” Celestia explained, seeing Twilight nod, and then close her eyes to begin concentrating.

“Rarity.” Celestia turned to her now, seeing Rarity immediately focus. “For your harmonizing, I would like you to imagine all the various acts of Generosity you have experienced. Like the dresses you designed for yourself and your friends for the Grand Galloping Gala or the lovely Fire Ruby you received from Spike. Simply let those memories and feelings and only those memories and feelings flow.” Celestia finished, glad to see Rarity also close her eyes and begin to focus.

“And lastly, Fluttershy.” Celestia directed her voice to her now. “I would like you to focus on the feelings in your heart that you get from helping out your animal friends and your pony friends. Again, if you have any specific memories associated with those feelings, feel free to utilize them.” Celestia said, waiting for Fluttershy to begin too. Within a few moments, she too nodded and began to focus on her harmonization. 

Over on the other side of the field, Luna too was explaining the feeling of honing the Elements to her own group.

“Are you all set?” Luna began, looking for nods from the ponies in front of her. Content when she saw all of them nod, she continued. 

“Pinkie Pie. You are the Element of Laughter. Visualize the sweet feeling you get from sharing in and spreading laughter amongst your friends. Use your memories too if they help you in visualizing.” Pinkie nodded at Luna, and then sat flat on her haunches and began to focus on remembering everything about laughter that she could.

“Good. Next, Rainbow Dash.” Luna directed her voice at her next. “As the Element of Loyalty, you must never forget those important to you, unlike I did for a time. Visualize those whom you are loyal to, and how it feels. Let the feeling flow forth and you shall achieve a greater link with your Element.” Luna explained, feeling sad again as she remembered the feeling of her Elements rejecting her when she was Nightmare Moon. Rainbow trotted up to her, patted her on her shoulder and then smiled at her. She then set about laying down into a comfortable position to begin her training.

“Excellent. Lastly, Applejack.” Luna continued, turning to face Applejack specifically. “The Element of Honesty. Your Element is one of the harder ones to train. The best advice I may offer in regards to your harmonizing training is simply to remember how it feels to always be yourself. How it feels to never deter yourself from anything or anypony. To present yourself just the way you are. Remember that always, and your Element will respond in kind.” Luna finished, looking at Applejack. Applejack nodded at her before shutting her eyes like all the others.

Her part done, Luna took flight to meet her sister in the center of the field. She landed within moments.

“How did your part go Luna?” Celestia asked her.

“It was…different. Attempting to explain the feelings you need to fully utilize the Elements is…strange to me.” Luna replied.

Celestia laughed, though not a mocking laugh. It was the laugh of one who understood you.

“Oh Luna. You’ve always been like that. Coming right out and saying what’s on your mind. I wish I were as open as you. I am sure you did a fantastic job in your explanations.” Celestia told her, coming down to nuzzle Luna slightly.

As they finished their embrace, they felt a tingling in the air. As though the air itself were turning to electricity.

Both Luna and Celestia looked up and over at each other students.

“They are not activating the Elements are they sister? The Elements aren’t even capable of activating when separated this much are they?” Luna exclaimed, worried as she was unsure what effect the Elements full power could rent when not specifically directed at something or somepony.

“I’m not sure Luna. It certainly looks and feels as similar as it did when we wielded the Elements, but this is different. This is…far stronger magic than we ever wielded with them.” Celestia attempted to explain.

Within a few moments, each of the Bearers became enveloped in light, blinding the regal sisters. When Celestia and Luna were each able to see again, the Bearers were gone, as were the Elements themselves.

“The Elements possess the power to teleport? I knew not that they could do such a thing. How do we set about locating them wherever they may be sister?” Luna asked, already stretching her wings and preparing to take flight.

“I’m…I’m afraid they are beyond our help Luna.” Celestia answered.

Luna turned around, aghast at the tone her sister had taken.

“What do you mean sister?” Luna asked, worried over the answer.

“While the Sun is within the sky, I can sense all of our subjects, no matter where in Equestria they may be. But…I can no longer sense Twilight and her friends.” Celestia elaborated, dropping to her knees.

“Does that mean…they are outside of Equestria?” Luna asked, now feeling tremendous worry herself.

“No sister. I believe it means…they are outside our very world itself.” Celestia concluded.

> Chapter 2: Brony Meet-Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony were training in their world, another group that could be compared to them was meeting in our world. This was a weekly tradition for them and one they rarely missed.

This meeting was what was called a Brony Meet-Up. It was where older male fans of the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic gathered to discuss various and different aspects of the show. This particular group in question was comprised of 6 younger men, all of whom resembled the Mane Six in many ways. They were in fact the equivalent of the Earth’s Elements of Harmony, not that any of them knew it yet.

There was Antonio. He had gone to Fashion Design School for 3 years, and he now ran his own boutique, much like Rarity did. He perpetually wore glasses, much more out of habit than actual need. His eyesight was good enough to go about his daily life without problems. It was simply when he needed to observe the minute details of his work that he truly needed his glasses. He spent so much time working nowadays though that he often forgot to take his glasses off when he was done for the day. He was Earth’s Element of Generosity.

Then there was Daniel, the horse farmer. He had been raising horses ever since he could remember with his father and brothers. He had always sensed and seen the majesty in the creatures, and couldn’t to this day imagine himself doing anything aside from working with them. He had also taken to becoming quite the accomplished horse whisper, to better aid the horses on his farm. He did sometimes think that there was something missing from his life, but he’d never been able to put his finger on it. He was Earth’s Element of Honesty.

Another was named Noah. He was a scholar who had just recently finished his Ph.D., while also running the bookstore he had inherited from his grandparents. Noah was often called a genius. He had graduated high school two years early and already had a Degree in the field of Teaching. His Ph.D. was more just to help him pass the days than anything else. Running an older bookstore wasn’t exactly an all-your-time-consuming career. He was the Earthly equivalent of the Element of Magic.

The fourth member of the group was a biker named Lucas. He raced for a living, mostly just betting on himself in street races on his bike, who he had named the Rainbow Bolt. Lucas had begun racing at 12, after his parents had died. His dad had left him his motorbike, and Lucas had been determined to protect the one last thing he had to remember his dad. He had quit school to make ends meet, dedicating at least a third of his paychecks to improvements and maintaining the bike. Eventually, at 16, he earned up enough money to have his dad’s bike repainted. He decided to have the front half done in the color scheme of the Wonderbolt’s, and the back half to be done in the style of Rainbow Dash. It was for this reason that he named the bike the Rainbow Bolt. One year after he had repainted his bike, he had entered his first race, betting the bike itself. He had won that race as well as what he now considered his lucky jacket that day. He was the Earthly Element of Loyalty.

The next brony went by the name Oliver. He was a Head Veterinarian at the nearby Pet Hospital. He specialized in smaller creatures, like lizards and mice, but he was also quite practiced on larger pets too. Even though he was only the 4th ranked Veterinarian at the clinic, his colleagues and patients often referred him above all the others. He never turned down a patient in or before school or work, and he wasn’t about to start now. He was Earth’s Element of Kindness.

The last member of this ensemble was Ben. He was a caterer at a nearby bakery called The Sugar Stop, as well as an insatiable party animal. Ben had learned to live everyday like it was his last a long time ago. He had nearly died in a fire at the orphanage where he had lived when he was only 9. He had lost everything he had owned that day. He decided after that experience, that things weren’t important to living. What was important was making memories and making sure you never had any regrets. It was for that reason that he became a caterer at a bakery. He always wanted to attend each of the events the bakery booked, to make sure he could help make it perfect in any way. Very few people had ever complained about him, and those few who had returned later to apologize for how they had acted. He was the Element of Laughter on Earth.

Every week or two, these six guys would get together to discuss the show, having discovered their shared love of it a long time ago in high school. As they were currently in waiting for the next season to air, they simply got together now to discuss their daily lives and occasionally go on an outing together.

Today, they were hiking up a nearby mountain to an area that Daniel described as ‘perfect for any kind of horses.’ None of them were exactly athletic types, except for Daniel, but none of them ever usually did anything like this either.

“Come on Dan. How much longer til we get there? I’m sweating through my leather here.” Lucas yelled up.

“Leather isn’t exactly the best gear for hiking up a mountain. Maybe you should take it off.” Noah replied.

“Noah’s right you know. I could always lend you a different jacket.” Antonio added.

“Like hell. I won this jacket in my first ever race. It’s my lucky jacket. I’ll only take it off when I die, and even then I’d like to be buried in it.” Lucas bit back.

“Well then, would y’all stop complaining already? We’re here. Or at least I am.” Daniel yelled back.

“Finally! I thought we’d never get here.” Ben replied, speeding up to get to where Daniel was.

“At least most of you don’t have work tomorrow. I have to head in early.” Oliver spoke up.

“You shouldn’t have come then Oliver. We would’ve understood.” Noah replied.

“Don’t feel bad. For some reason, I felt like I needed to come today no matter what.” Oliver told them, feeling weird having voiced his reasoning.

“You know what? I kinda felt like that too. I have to head in early tomorrow too, but I felt like this was way more important than any of that.” Ben yelled back at Oliver just as the remainder of the group caught up.

“Wow Dan. I see what you meant. This place is awesome!” Lucas spoke first.

“Didn’t I tell y’all?” Dan replied. “I bring all ma horses up here a week before they go to their new owners. I figure it’s nice ta send em off on that note.”

“It certainly seems perfect for horses up here.” Oliver added.

“But there seems to be some sort of other feeling in the air.” Antonio voiced.

“Yeah. Antonio’s right. It feels like the airs mildly on fire. There shouldn’t be this much static electricity in a place like this.” Noah continued.

“It ain’t usually like this when I come up here. Maybe-“ Dan began.

Daniel was caught off by 6 large bulbs of light appearing above them all in the middle of the field.

“What the f-“ Lucas began, before the lights swallowed them all.

None of the guys could see or hear anything for quite a while. When they finally regained their senses, they weren’t sure of what they saw, but there were some things that weren’t right at all.

First of all, they were all horses. Not horses like on Earth either. They looked like they’d been animated into My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, but that just didn’t make sense to any of them. Lucas and Oliver were pegasi, Antonio and Noah were unicorns, and Daniel and Ben were earth ponies.

“Uh guys…what the hay is wrong with us?” Ben spoke to the group, weirded out that he’d said hay when he meant to say hell.

“I have no idea Ben. But I think we have another few problems. Look over there.” Noah pointed with his hoof, surprised he was co-ordinated at all like this.

All of the other looked towards where Noah was pointing. What they saw confused them even more than the fact they were now ponies from Friendship Is Magic.

In front of them in the field were the Mane Six, wearing the Elements of Harmony, passed out and looking quite tired.

“I think we definitely have a problem here.” Antonio spoke up after a few moments.

“Ya can say that again.” Dan added.

> Chapter 3: Rationalizing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What the hay are we supposed to do now?” Lucas asked “And why do I keep saying hay? You guys know what I’m trying to say instead of it right?” He added.

“I’m afraid we do. That there’s one a the weirder bits o’ all this. I mean, logically, we should be still able ta say what we want ta, and we shouldn’t be able ta walk around at all.” Dan spoke up.

“Indeed,” Noah began. “Considering we’ve shifted to an entirely new species, we should have had to relearn everything from walking to proper speech. It seems that’s not the case with this situation however.” Noah finished, looking around at his friends before again looking over at the supposed cause of all this.

The 6 ponies often referred to the Mane Six in this world were still there and unconscious. They had tried to rouse them a few times, but it seemed nothing but their own wills would wake them up. Once they’d made certain of that, they set about discussing the odd situation now facing them and how to go about trying to defeat it or live with it.

“I’m no scholar you guys know, but I still think that they’ve got anywhere from something to everything to do with this whole thing.” Ben spoke up, sounding unusually serious as he pointed his hoof at the Mane Six.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Ben. It all seems too similar to be merely coincidental.” Antonio added.

“Antonio makes a strong point. Although, I have several ideas of my own I’d like to chide in with our collected observations of this idea. Who wants to go first?” Oliver asked, turning to each of his friends.

“Don’t y’all look at me. I know basics and everything I need to for the farm, but I ain’t had a fancy education like Antonio, Noah and you had Oliver. I gave ya all I thought already.” Dan replied.

“I’m in the same boat. I grew up in an orphanage. They couldn’t afford to send us all to school, and there were a few of my friends more deserving. I willingly gave up my opportunities. I know basics thanks to my catering job, but that’s it.” Ben continued.

“Ditto. I gave up on school at 12. What I haven’t used I’ve lost. Not a lot of need for algebra and stuff like that on the streets. I’m probably the least educated of the bunch here.” Lucas finished.

Oliver turned to look at Noah and Antonio, knowing that they like him had gone to Post-Secondary school and would be able to add a bit more insight to the situation as a whole before Oliver attempted to add any of his own thoughts.

“I’ll go first if you don’t mind.” Antonio began. “Well, it’s my belief anyway, that the Elements of Harmony that the Mane Six were using for some reason both brought them here and sent forth a burst of Equestrian energy that changed us into what we are now.” Antonio finished, looking next to Noah to continue.

“My thoughts exactly old friend.” Noah started. “I have a couple ideas of my own though. For example, I don’t believe this change is permanent. Discord wasn’t sealed forever by the Elements. And we have no idea the amount of time differentiation between here and Equestria. This change could wear off in anywhere from minutes to years. I believe we’ll have to ask them,” Noah paused to point at the Mane Six like Ben had. “To explain the difference in time between our worlds. Also, I believe that this thing is reversible by the same thing that caused it; the Elements of Harmony. We’ll also have to ask them how long it takes for the Elements to recharge.” Noah concluded content that he’d explained himself well enough, before turning to look at Oliver for the conclusion.

“I was thinking along the same lines.” Oliver spoke. “However, I believe environment had a part in this.” Oliver paused, waiting for questions.

“What’d you mean Oliver?” Lucas asked.

“What I mean is, as is the case with a lot of animals, their environment has a huge effect on their lives. From where to live, where to find food, and where to find a mate. The list goes on and on. I believe that since Dan said he likes to takes his horses here, perhaps even subconsciously, the Mane Six came here since this area is so beloved by Equines like them. Which makes me think that since we’re in their environment in our world, soon enough our world will reclaim this area and they’ll exist in our environment in our world, as humans.” Oliver finished, worried he’d perhaps sounded a little too crazy in all his ramblings.

“That actually sounds as logical as something relating to this bizarre situation can be” Antonio pointed out.

“I agree. Even the land around us has changed to reflect the situation. We all know that this area is less than even a percentage of a percentage of the size of the world. That the world’s natural energies would want to reclaim this area from the forces that changed it is only natural.” Noah added.

Oliver looked around to see the nods of the other 3 members of the group. He felt relieved that he wasn’t being viewed as being crazy in this already crazy situation.

“How long do y’all think it’ll take for tha Earth to reclaim this area and them?” Dan asked.

“Hard to judge really. I’d say the process will probably take longer while the Mane Six are still unconscious here. It’s often been said that denying a force of nature does in minute ways make it harder to come about happening.” Noah answered.

“We may not have to wait overly long on the ‘unconscious’ bit. Have a look guys.” Ben spoke up, nodding in the direction he was looking.

The other turned to face the direction they all knew well by now. However, it did look different this time. The reason for this was, the rest of the group quickly realized, that the unconscious ponies were stirring and beginning to wake up. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were the first two that were fully awake.

“W-What the hay happened? Where in Equestria are we?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head to the side.

“Ugh. I think the Elements of Harmony somehow activated. As for where we are, I’m afraid I have no idea Rainbow.” Twilight groggily answered, getting up on her legs slowly.

“If you’d like, I believe we can answer the ‘where’ for you.” Lucas yelled over at them.

Rainbow and Twilight instantly perked up at the sound of the unknown voices. Rainbow took to the air and began scanning the area while Twilight prepared herself to unleash a spell at the unknown voice, being unsure who or what had produced it as her eyes were still disoriented. 

“W-Who’s there? Speak up now or face the wrath of Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow yelled, fear and confusion far more apparent than anger in her retort.

“Your wrath’s not going to be much help if you’re facing the other way now is it?” Antonio spoke up, making sure to make himself audible to both conscious ponies.

Eventually, after a few more shakes of both their heads, both ponies were able to focus on the group of six unknown ponies on the other side of the field they were now in. Twilight was the first one to begin asking questions.

“Who are you? Why are you here? Where are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Why are our other friends still unconscious? And where is here exactly?” Twilight asked all in one breath, almost like Pinkie Pie would. 

“We can answer all y’all’s questions, but ya need to calm down and wait for your friends to wake up. We’d prefer not ta have to do this too many times in a day.” Dan answered.

“Wait for them to wake up? Why can’t you wake them up? You’re the ones that put them and us to sleep aren’t you?” Rainbow asked, looking mildly confused now.

“Afraid not. You and the rest of your friends came here asleep. We tried to wake you all up the best we could, but nothing worked. We decided to then just let you all get up when you could on your own.” Ben took over.

“How can we know to trust what you say?” Twilight asked, with a few encouraging nods from Rainbow Dash.

“If you aren’t fully certain that you can trust us now, then attempt to rouse Applejack. She’s the Element of Honesty after all. She should be able to tell if any of us are lying better than anypony, except maybe for Pinkie Pie.” Noah told her, still confused by the subconscious shifting of words to their pony equivalent.

Rainbow and Twilight both seemed shocked that these strangers knew so much about them and their friends.

“How do you know AJ’s the Element of Honesty? How do you know anything about us? We’ve never seen any of you before.” Rainbow accused, pointing at each of them.

“Again, we can explain it all. But seriously, either wake em up or wait for your friends to get up. We don’t wanna spend hours repeating ourselves.” Lucas bit back at Rainbow.

A short while passed where nothing was said by anypony. Eventually, it was Twilight who spoke up first.

“Rainbow.” Twilight began. “Maybe we should try and wake up the others. Even if they are tricking us, it’s better to even the odds before doing anything conclusive.” Twilight explained.

Rainbow nodded without looking away from the group, then set about going to wake up Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was left to wake Fluttershy and Rarity. It took a few minutes of coaxing, but eventually all of the Mane Six were up and about.

“Huh? What’s going on here? This don’t look like tha field near Ponyville at all.” Applejack spoke up, being the first pony thus far to notice the surroundings.

“I do agree Applejack dear. I too am a tad disoriented. And I do hope we can get an explanation soon.” Rarity added, while checking that her mane was still in full working style.

“T-This place is strange. Why are we here?” Fluttershy almost whispered, cowering a tiny bit at the fear of the unknown before her.

“Oooh!” Pinkie started, pointing at the group of ponies across the field. “New friends!” Pinkie set about hopping over to meet them, only to have Rainbow Dash step on her tail and stop her.

“Whoa there Pinks. We were asked to wake you up so those ponies could explain everything. We don’t know if we can trust em yet.” Rainbow told Pinkie, a determined glare in her eye.

“Okie Dokie Lokie Dashie! I can wait.” Pinkie told her, hopping to stand next to her.

Once all of the Mane Six were fully awake, they moved closer to the group of unknown ponies so as to finally get the answers to the many questions they asked and were about to ask.

“All right. Our friends are all awake now. You’ve got no reason to say you can’t answer us now.” Rainbow said.

> Chapter 4: Explaining
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“We were never denying you answers before now Rainbow Dash. We just thought that it might be a better idea to explain everything to everypony in one go.” Ben told them.

“How do y’all know our names?” Applejack asked.

“Yes. I was wondering that too. You also seemed to have a bit of knowledge on our personalities and past experiences too.” Twilight added.

The group of guys looked at each other first, and then proceeded to go about answering the questions.

“All right. We can tell you that. But first you have to keep very open minds. Do you understand?” Antonio asked, looking to each pony.

Once all of the Mane Six had nodded, Noah decided to begin the explanations.

“In Equestria, is there a theory written that says there are an infinite number of parallel universes in which each is different from the prime in small or large ways?” Noah asked them.

All of the girls looked to Twilight, who was certain to know if such a thing really did exist in Equestria.

“Why yes there is. It’s called the ‘Horseshoe Theory’, defining all created universes as being created in the same image as the original but having slight alterations due to the impossibility of full copying.” Twilight explained.

Noah seemed to visibly exhale a bit at that news.

“Good. Knowing that you do have a theory like that in Equestria will save a bit of time in explanation. Well, the same theory is true here except in our universe it is called the String Theory.” Noah explained, waiting for all of his words to sink in.

“Excuse me darling.” Rarity began. “But I must have misunderstood you. I thought I heard you say ‘in our universe’ and ask if there was in fact such a thing as that theory in ‘Equestria’?” Rarity concluded, seeing the other ponies nod as they too came to the conclusion.

Antonio chose to speak up this time.

“I’m afraid you didn’t mishear him. While this may look like Equestria where we are now, it is not. This place is called Earth, the home of the human race, who we are members of.” Antonio finished.

This time, the silence stretched much longer. Strangely, it was Pinkie Pie who chose to speak up first this time.

“But you can’t be humans.” Pinkie started. “You’re clearly ponies, like we are. How can you be ponies and humans? What is a human anyway?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head at the end.

“I’m afraid this is where mostly guess work and general inquiries must take over. We believe that the Elements of Harmony brought you hear from Equestria, and that the resulting expelled energy changed us temporarily from humans to ponies due to Equestrian energy temporarily overwhelming Earthly energy.” Oliver explained.

“I’m willing ta believe that.” Applejack spoke up, seeing her fellow ponies turn to look at her quizzically.

“You believe all that Applejack? B-But it doesn’t seem to make much sense.” Fluttershy questioned.

“Ah rightly agree it don’t make much sense, but when have tha Elements ever really made sense? They do all sorts a things that defy logic. Who’s ta say this hasn’t happened before to previous Bearers?” Applejack voiced her reasoning, seeing nods in return.

“But,” Rainbow spoke up. “That still doesn’t explain how they know who we are so well.”

“I can answer that.” Dan answered. “Ya see, while humans aren’t known in your world, ponies are known in ours through fiction. In our world, y’all aint nothing more than something in imaginations.” Dan finished, waiting for it to sink in.

Most surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who would speak up next from the Mane Six.

“O-Okay. I s-suppose that makes sense. S-So what do we all do now? T-Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, turning towards her friend.

Twilight pondered that question for a moment, her hoof on her chin.

“I suppose that if it was the Elements that brought us here, it’s the Elements that can send us back.” Twilight answered.

“Great! Let’s go now!” Rainbow perked up almost immediately.

“I’m afraid there’s a snag with that theory Rainbow. It takes about 3 months to fully recharge the Elements after you activate their power.” Twilight told her friends, seeing their spirits fall.

“I’m sorry to have to voice this, but you mean 3 months in Equestria right?” Ben interjected.

All the ponies of the Mane Six turned towards him, confusion clear on their faces.

“Well, yes. Why do you ask such a thing darling?” Rarity asked Ben.

Noah cleared his throat and chose to address this question himself.

“It may not mean anything. But let me ask you this. Since Twilight first came to Ponyville and when Cadance and Shining Armor got married. How much time was it between those events?” Noah asked the Mane Six.

The group gathered together for a moment to figure out just how much time had indeed passed. After a few moments of debate, it was Twilight who had the answer.

“It’s been just over 15 months since I arrived and when my brother got married. Why do you ask? How long has it been here?” Twilight asked.

“It’s been nearly 3 years here.” Lucas announced to everypony present.

The silence that followed that comment was the longest yet. Noah knew he must be the one to break it.

“That means that, if it takes 3 months for the Elements to recharge in Equestria, it will take 8 or more months here.” Noah said solemnly. 

“What tha hay are we supposed ta do for 8 or more months here? We ain’t got any knowledge here or places to stay! This-“Applejack was prepared to continue her rant, except a huge wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere.

This wind was not the strength of a hurricane, but nor was it just a gentle breeze. It rustled everything, seeming to shake the shapes of things themselves. As the wind approached them, it was Ben who first knew what it was.

“Looks like its human time again.” Ben said bluntly.

After that comment, the wind overtook them, peeling everything away. If felt as though parts of themselves were leaving their bodies to the guys and the Mane Six. The wind thrashed them for what felt like hours. Eventually, it chose to finally move onward, leaving the groups alone.

Lucas was the first to rise and look around, first at the ground and then at his hands, which was when he noticed that he did indeed have hands again instead of hooves.

“Well you sure weren’t wrong Ben. This whole place, including us, is back to the way it was when we first got here.” Lucas explained to the group, seeing the rest of them rise and check their respective surroundings and bodies.

“It’s not like I didn’t enjoy being a pony and all, but I sure did miss this height and ma hands.” Dan added.

“Well, whoopee for you.” Rainbow spoke up from behind all the guys.

Upon hearing her voice, the guys turned around to again survey the Mane Six. What they saw shocked them. They had known that they would now be humans like they were, but not like this. The guys all had but one thought on their minds as they looked at them initially.

“They’re beautiful.”

Rainbow Dash was dressed in a cyan tank top, skinny jeans and sneakers. She had earrings that were colored and shaped like her Cutie Mark, the necklace of the Element of Loyalty which had been resized to her new height and size, as well as her signature Rainbow-colored hair, which was now mildly spiky. She had grown taller, to come just short of Lucas’ height overall.

Fluttershy was in a yellow sundress and low white heels. She was attempting to hold down the hem of her dress and her long pink hair as they were both attempting to blow out of her control. She too still wore the necklace of her Element of Kindness. Surveying her from a distance, Oliver though that she must be close to his height, probably surpassing it in high heels.

Twilight was sporting a red shirt with a purple blazer over top it and a green waterfall skirt below. She wore flat shoes as well as two different earrings, which she was temporarily hiding behind her hair, which was much shorter as a human. One was of Owloysius, and the other was of Spike. Twilight’s Element of Magic had elected to shift into a bracelet to be more wearable as a human. She was just short of Noah’s height now as well.

Rarity was in a white low cut dress with a purple stripe around the waist. She wore a locket around her neck in addition to the Element of Generosity. Rarity’s hair was straight on Earth, and not curled as it usually was. She was also the only pony in high heels; Stiletto’s even, which she wore with ease despite this being her technical first time doing so. She was even with Antonio in height.

Applejack was wearing a red and yellow plaid shirt over a pair of Daisy Dukes. She wore ankle boots and was the tallest of the Mane Six, coming near to Dan’s height. Her hair was still in its signature ponytail, although her hair was far longer as a human. She too had her Element of Honesty around her neck.

Pinkie Pie was dressed in a simple pink penny tee and a mini-skirt while wearing flip flops on her feet. On Earth, her hair was less poufy and was instead curlier. Pinkie was the shortest of the Mane Six, probably still being shorter than Ben even in high heels. She still had her Element of Laughter too, same as all the others. 

“Well, I was expecting this ta feel weird. But it aint as weird as I thought’d be by far.” Applejack spoke up while looking over her new body.

“At least we won’t openly stick out to other people like this.” Twilight said, adjusting her new hair as she did.

“Don’t be too open about yourselves though.” Antonio spoke up, adjusting his glasses as they had shifted in the wind.

“Why not…I’m sorry but I never got any of you names.” Pinkie spoke up, laughing as she began bouncing as a human.

“We’ll get to names shortly. Antonio is right though. Your ‘characters’ in our world are known across the world. If it somehow gets out who you really are, you’ll be harassed night and day for different reasons.” Oliver elaborated.

“How are we to prevent such a terrible thing?” Rarity asked, while enjoying the look and feel of her dress.

“I elect that you all attempt to wear your hair different, don’t dress too often in your coat’s colors, and call yourselves by new and different names.” Noah suggested.

“That seems reasonable. We should pick our new names now shouldn’t we?” Rainbow asked, while feeling the new style of her hair.

“Right. Do y’all mind if we pick em out? I mean, I know y’all are able to do stuff as humans just as we could as ponies, but we have been humans a might longer than y’all have.” Dan told them.

“I-I don’t mind. Do any of you girls?” Fluttershy asked around, seeing no negative feedback. She was calming down now that she was used to the feeling of her dress.

“Excellent. Simply give us a few moments please.” Noah asked, seeing nods in return.

The guys huddled together for around 15 minutes. After that, they separated, having chosen names for each of the Mane Six. Each of their respective counterparts decided to tell them.

> Chapter 5: Getting Names and Going to Homes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lucas was up first to tell Rainbow Dash her Earth name.

“Rainbow, you’ll be Sophie from now on. Good name no?” Lucas told Rainbow.

“Actually, it sounds pretty awesome.” Rainbow replied, smiling at Lucas.

Next up was Antonio and Rarity.

“Rarity, I though you should be called Isabella. Does that name seem acceptable to you?” Antonio asked Rarity, unsure of how she herself would view the name.

“Oh darling it’s fantastic!” Rarity exclaimed, somehow managing to jump and not break her high heels.

Dan and Applejack were next in line.

“Applejack, I thought ya would enjoy Zoe as your Earth name.” Dan told Applejack.

“Definitely sounds alright on ma end.” Applejack replied.

Ben went to Pinkie Pie next.

“Hey Pinkie. What do you think of Lucy for your new name?” Ben questioned Pinkie.

“It’s super-duper!” Pinkie told him, proceeding to actually hug Ben afterwards.

Fluttershy was told her name by Oliver after Pinkie was.

“Fluttershy? Is Alice an okay name to call you?” Oliver asked nervously, afraid of offending Fluttershy.

“O-Oh yes. It’s actually a really pretty name. I like it.” Fluttershy told Oliver, blushing and turning away as she did.

Last in line was Twilight, who Noah would inform.

“Twilight. What do you think of Meghan?” Noah inquired.

“It sounds simply lovely.” Twilight told Noah, happy she’d gotten such a nice name, especially after how she had accused the guys earlier.

“Alright. So we all have our new super-duper names. What’s next?” Lucy asked aloud.

The guys looked at each other. They had indeed thought this far ahead, but were now afraid of voicing their ideas, lest they be shot down.

“Well, if it’s acceptable with you ladies, we were thinking one of you could live with each of us. None of us has any sort of relationship or roommate, so you wouldn’t be intruding on any of us.” Antonio asked the group aloud.

“I don’t have any problems with it. Any of you girls have any problems with the idea?” Sophie asked the group.

No objections were raised from anyone. Some of the others did have some other comments though.

“Darling, I should hope we can pay you back in some way though. I could never forgive myself for not paying you back for all the hospitality you are showing us.” Isabella voiced her worries.

Again, the guys looked at each other before answering.

“Well, if you insist, we can attempt to get you employment at our respective jobs to help with the bills. That may not work out though.” Lucas told them all.

“Are ya sure it’s alright for a gal and a guy our age ta be living together alone?” Zoe asked.

“I’m certainly not one for lying much, but there aint nothing wrong with twisting the truth a bit if the situation requires it. Sometimes people are just a bit happier with only a bit o’ tha truth.” Dan interjected, quickly remedying the worry that had begun to sprout up.

“Why can’t we get our own places and jobs? Huh? Huh? Huh?” Lucy asked.

“The bit system you’re used to is quite a bit different from the system we use. It’d be tough just to learn the basics to then be able pay the bills. Plus, I couldn’t forgive myself if I just let any of you walk away without all the help I can offer.” Ben told them.

“Anything else?” Antonio paused, waiting. When he saw no objections, he continued on. “Alright then. We should get going back down this mountain before it gets any later. We do have quite a lot to do over the next few days.” Antonio finished, heading towards the path they had taken to get up the mountain.

On the way down the mountain, the guys and girls stayed as a separate group except when one or the other needed some help. While they were all at the back, the guys decided on a few things.

“I’m quitting the show. No need to keep watching when ya got a real life Rainbow Dash.” Lucas told them.

They all agreed that the show was basically irrelevant from then on. Real life ponies they agreed are by far the best ponies.

“I was thinking we call off tha weekly meet-ups for a while. We’re all gonna be mighty busy just getting them accustomed to tha world. We can meet up once we’re all a might more settled.” Dan voiced to them.

It was agreed that weekly meet-ups would be more of a hassle than a help at first. They would meet once they had major news or once they were all well off again.

“Let’s not forget about each other. We won’t be able to hang or communicate for a long time, but let’s never forget. Even if it’s a year from now, let’s all still meet-up at least one last time.” Ben announced.

Never forget your friends. A life lesson that everyone eventually earns and that no one should ever forget. They agreed on at least one last meeting in the future.

By the time all was said and decided, the group and the Six had reached the bottom of the mountain and their respective transportation. Each of the girls was quite impressed by the setup the guys had.

“Who owns the bikes?” Sophie asked.

“Motorbike is mine. Dirt bike is Dan’s.” Lucas told her.

“Not exactly the most common choice, but it gets me where I need ta go.” Dan added.

“Oliver has the Van. I own the Ferrari. The Prius is Noah’s. And Ben has the Mini.” Antonio explained to them all.

As Antonio finished explaining who owned what vehicle to the girls, the two groups looked at each other before they gathered together again to say their respective farewells.

“It’s not ‘goodbye.’ It’s just ‘we’ll see you later.’ I’ll cater us a huge party when we get back together.” Ben explained.

“Definitely. You’ll be hearing enough about me I’m sure. Racing is gonna pick up soon.” Lucas told them, looking away near the end.

“Any of you ever want a book, you know where to go.” Noah added.

“Look me up if ya ever want a ride on ma horses.” Dan said. “Although I know it’s not for everyone.”

“I’m the guy you see for clothes. 20% discount for friends.” Antonio voiced.

“Any of you ever need or want a pet, come by the clinic.” Oliver finished. 

Whilst the guys finished their farewells, the Six were also finishing theirs.

“I’ll miss you girls. You’ll all always be my PFF’s though no matter what okay?” Meghan told them.

“Never forget that sugarcube. We’re still connected by these though aren’t we?” Zoe asked them, indicating her Element.

“We’re still connected even without them darling. And we always will be.” Isabella stated.

“I built a reputation as Rainbow Dash. Now I just gotta build one as Sophie. Look out for me girls.” Sophie announced.

“I’ll throw us all a super duper party when we get back together. It’s a Pinkie Promise.” Lucy added.

“Bye girls. Come by to visit for any reason.” Alice finished.

The girls shared a last group hug as all the guys shook each other hands. It was an emotional time for everyone. Within 5 minutes, they were all in their vehicles, ready to go. Life won’t wait around for anybody.

“Hold on tight Sophie. This is a whole different kind of speed.” Lucas told Sophie, making sure she put his spare helmet on as he revved the Rainbow Bolt.

“So. Awesome!” Sophie yelled as they took off back towards downtown.

“Dirt bikes ain’t exactly made for two. Ya can sit on ma lap though…If that’s not weird for ya I mean.” Dan added quickly, worried he’d sounded too forward.

“I-I got no real problems with it. I mean, we gotta get to your place right?” Zoe asked.

“Yup. Hold on tight though.” Dan told Applejack as she sat down.

“That I can do without worry.” Zoe told Dan, taking fierce hold of him as they started up the mountain on a different path.

“We have a bit longer of a drive ahead of us Alice. I just happen to live more on the outskirts of town.” Oliver explained to Alice, starting the Van and backing out onto the road that would connect with the highway.

“T-That’s fine. After all, I live near the edge of town too.” Alice told Oliver, smiling at the end.

“I know you’re no Rainbow Dash fanatic about speed, but I hope you don’t abhor it either Isabella. I live in an area not easily accessible.” Antonio explained as he tested the gas and brake pedals respectively, preparing to go on Isabella’s word.

“There’s nothing wrong with the occasional bout of speed. Watching the Wonderbolt’s was quite intoxicating, so I know that I’m fine with high speeds.” Isabella told Antonio, almost immediately after feeling the wind through her hair as they were off on their way.

“I’m sure you’ll quite enjoy where I live and work Meghan.” Noah told Meghan, while he fired up his Prius, secretly hoping all the while that it didn’t stall. It had used to be his fathers after all and hadn’t been that reliable even back then.

“I look very forward to it.” Meghan told Noah, relaxing in the seat as she did.

“Unfortunately Lucy, we can’t go to where I work today. It’s closed by now. But my home’s not worse than it. It’s just slightly less fun.” Ben voiced to Lucy as he set about getting on the road to his place, always glad that he had a Mini for the way he drove.

“I’ll have to try and fix that then.” Lucy told Ben, winking at the end.


Each of the Elements of Harmony. Each of the Elements of Earth. All of them off on their own adventures. Will they ever intermix again? Only time will tell.

> Chapter 6: Eight Months of Horses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Within about an hour of setting off from the mountain, Dan’s family was able to hear his dirt bike again. It happened that it was his father, grandfather, and his second youngest brother who were outside when he crested the hill that led to their farm.

“Hey big bro Dan!” Mike yelled at his brother as he saw his bike crest the hill, knowing that he probably wouldn’t hear him.

“Well tan ma hide Pa. Ain’t that Dan coming back here with a gal?” Rick asked his father, unsure of exactly how his son had gotten a girl when he set out on a hiking trip with his friends.

“Would appear ta be son. Now y’all be kind to her. If she’s important ta Dan, than she’s important ta all of us. Mike, you go inside and tell your brothers and sisters to set an extra place at tha table.” James finished, making sure that Mike turned to him and nodded before turning again to look at his oldest grandson.

“You’re expecting her ta stay for supper already?” Rick asked his father as he set about cleaning up the horseshoes he had been repairing.

“I doubt that Dan would bring her up here this late in tha day if she weren’t gonna stay. And no grandson of mine is gonna ride down this mountain at night or turn away a gal in need.” James explained to what he felt sometimes was the most immature of his descendants.

It was as James finished his sentence that Dan finally pulled up next to the house to park his bike. He never wore a helmet when he rode the bike, but he never rode it at night or in to town so he didn’t really need to. Once he had put the kickstand down, he made sure that the girl sitting on his lap got up comfortably first, even standing up quickly to catch her when she stumbled.

James smiled when he saw his grandson act so chivalrous. He had set about teaching him well, just like his father. It was at this point that Dan and his new acquaintance made their way over to Rick.

“Howdy Pa. This here’s Zoe. I came across her while I was hiking up tha mountain with tha guys. She needs a place to stay for the night and is looking for a job. Anything we can do to help in those regards ya think?” Dan asked his father, surprising him with how rational he was being about all this.

“No need ta ask Dan. This home’s open ta any who need it. And I never turn down a willing hand. Nice ta meet ya Zoe. I’m Rick. If ya can, try ta remember ma name. Though it’ll be harder once ma other kids meet ya.” Rick laughed, extending his hand to shake Zoe’s.

“Very nice ta meet ya Rick. I’m new in town here but I’m willing and able ta help in any way I can. What can I do today?” Zoe asked Rick, looking about at the farm’s setup as Rick laughed.

“Aw shoot. Where’d you find this gal again Dan? She’s got more drive than a steam engine. No need Zoe. We’re all done for tha day. We’re just about ta have supper though. Feel free to come in and partake o’ that.” Rick explained to Zoe.

“Not so fast there sport. I’d like ta have a few words with Dan and young miss Zoe here if ya don’t mind. You go in and get the rest of the kids corralled. We’ll be in shortly.” James spoke up, partially frightening Zoe as she hadn’t noticed he was there.

“Sure thing Pa. See ya shortly.” Rick told James, waving as he left to go see his other children. Rick had learned at a very young age not to question his father, and that his father wasn’t nearly as scary as he came off being.

Zoe and Dan stood side by side in front of James, waiting for him to say what he needed to. It was eerily quiet, and was beginning to frighten them both. It was at this point that Zoe took hold of Dan’s hand. When she did, they heard James exhale and then laugh.

“There’s what I was looking for. Sorry for scaring ya, but I needed ta make sure of your connection. I aint one for turning away gals in need, but I aint one for helping out moochers either. Now that I seen y’all act like ya just did, I can rest easy. Welcome ta the farm and the family Zoe.” James told Zoe, making her smile.

“Thank ya kindly sir.” Zoe replied, still not releasing Dan’s hand, having fully noticed now how warm and comforting it was.

“Pay it no mind. Now let’s all get inside and get some grub before the rest of ours eat everything.” James explained, surprising Zoe with how quickly he got up out of his chair and headed towards the door.

“He’s quite spry aint he?” Dan asked Zoe, noticing how surprised she was.

“I’ll say. I was expecting him ta be about Granny Smith speed, but he’s almost as fast as your Pa.” Zoe told Dan, seeing him laugh as she did so.

“Almost as fast as Pa? Ya aint see Gramps when he’s working. He could loop Pa twice in everything.” Dan explained, walking forward to the door that would lead to the dining room with Zoe.

“Y’all got a real nice house here.” Zoe told Dan, surveying the place as she said it.

“Thank ya kindly. Gramps and his brothers raised it way back in tha day. Me and Pa have just added on to it as we needed through the years. We added an apple orchard out back 2 years ago. I’ll show it to ya tomorrow in the proper light.” Dan told Zoe, seeing her light up.

“I would absolutely love ta see that.” Zoe told Dan, moving even close to almost cling to Dan’s arm now. Again, the motion just felt right to them both.

It was only a minute or so after this that Dan and Zoe entered the dining room. It was at this point that they felt a barrage of movement centered near their knees and calves. 

“Hey big bro! How was the hike?” Joey yelled over from the sink, it having been his night to clean the dishes.

“Who’s she?” Samantha yelled up from hugging Dan’s knees.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Billy questioned, pointing at Zoe.

“Is she gonna be your wife?” Mary added, hopping up and down next to Billy.

Zoe felt herself blush at the last two questions, turning to Dan for the answers. She took this to be a daily occurrence for him, as he immediately stooped down to answer them calmly.

“I’ll answer one of y’all’s questions when ya finish your plates completely kay? Y’all can decide which question at tha end.” Dan told them calmly knowing, that like most every day, they would forget most of the questions they had just asked and instead ask some trivial thing. He hoped anyway, for Zoe’s sake more than his own.

Upon hearing this, Dan’s brothers and sisters sped back towards the table, spurred on to finish by the prospect of getting an answer from Dan. Dan looked over to Zoe and motioned for her to follow him to the last 2 places set at the table.

Supper was a quiet affair, Zoe merely enjoying the atmosphere of the room and the returning feeling of her hand in Dan’s more than the actual food. It was nearly an hour after entering the dining room that Zoe and Dan were finished and were awaiting which question was chosen to be asked.

“Did ya show the guys the field on the mountain?” Billy asked Dan.

Dan felt himself visibly exhale at having to not answer any question directly about Zoe.

“Yes I did. We got there around midday and then we met up with Zoe here and walked back down. The feeling of the field was different today, but it was still pretty darn magical.” Dan explained to his siblings, much like Zoe would do to one of Apple Bloom’s questions.

“Now y’all need to get heading to bed. Remember Mary and Sam, it’s your turn to bake tomorrow with Gramps. Billy, y’all are on horseshoe inspection with Pa. Joey and Mike, y’all be with me and Zoe. We’re doing riding tests and care.” Dan told them all, seeming to be more than just a mere older brother as he said it.

“Dan’s right y’all. Off ta bed with ya.” Rick added, making sure his children did indeed get off and up to their bedrooms. He knew that they may not be asleep now, but a few minutes in their rooms at night would change that quick.

“Well Zoe. I’m afraid that as we weren’t prepared for your arrival, we don’t have a place set up for y’all ta sleep.” Rick explained to Zoe as he came back down the stairs.

“She can have ma bed Pa. The thing’s more of a hassle than a help to me anyway.” Dan spoke up, hoping that his words didn’t betray his intentions. All he really wanted was to spend more time alone with Zoe.

“Where’re you gonna sleep then ma boy?” Rick asked Dan, seeming to take the bed suggestion as merely a suggestion and nothing more.

“I got the old cot up there Pa. That’s more than good enough for me.” Dan explained.

“Well, as Pa approved of ya, I got no problem with any o’ that. I expect ta see ya both tomorrow for work though. Don’t ya forget it.” Rick called to his son as he stood up with Zoe.

“I never forget ma work Pa. You’ll see us both bright and early.” Dan replied, waving to his father and grandfather as he headed up the stairs to the attic that was his room.

Zoe followed suite after him, impressed by the set-up Dan’s room had.

“This is mighty impressive Dan.” Zoe told Dan, turning to see the entirety of the room.

“Aint nothing special. This is the room the oldest horse caretaker gets. Pa sleeps in the barn and Gramps sleeps downstairs to be everywhere at once. I did spruce it up some though.” Dan told her, indicating the mural he had painted on the ceiling.

“It’s…beautiful.” Zoe said, almost falling to her knees.

Dan came to stand next to her and put his arm around her shoulder to prevent her from falling down. He too then looked up at the mural he had painted little over a year and a half ago.

It was a mural of Sweet Apple Acres as seen on Friendship Is Magic. He had also framed the picture with the Cutie Marks of every member of the Apple Family introduced thus far. He left a large portion open around the side so that he would be able to paint more if the Family grew anymore. At the top of the Mural though were Applejack’s, Granny Smiths, and Big Macintosh’s Cutie Marks. Dan had also painted a portion of yellow circle next to those three to fill in with Apple Bloom’s Cutie Mark when she finally got it.

“I wish the others could see this.” Zoe eventually spoke up. Dan turned to look at her and saw her wiping away some tears.

“Hey. No tears. Y’all get back to Equestria one day. I’m certain of it. Besides, ya know Big Mac and Cheerilee wouldn’t let anything happen to Apple Bloom or any o’ the others.” Dan told Zoe, picking her chin up to make sure she saw him as he said all that.

“Ya. I suppose I do. It just hurts a bit right now is all.” Zoe said to Dan, looking him fully in the eye.

“I promise you this. As long as you’re here, I’ll take away all your hurt.” Dan stated, looking even deeper into Zoe’s eyes.

“Ya mean that?” Zoe asked, leaning a bit closer.

“I really do.” Dan answered, closing the remaining distance between them. 

Even though they were on Earth and not Equestria, you could almost feel Princess Luna’s magic in the moon that night as the first of the Elements glowed bright.


***


Both Dan and Zoe had fallen asleep on top of the bed, not knowing or caring who might see them. Dan was the first to wake, as was the ritual in his house. This morning was different though. He knew that he must both wake himself gently and wake the sleeping beauty next to him.

“Time to get up beautiful.” Dan cooed, slightly brushing aside Zoe’s beautiful hair to see her face.

“Already? Feels like we just laid down.” Zoe answered Dan, stretching herself out to help wake up.

“I know. If it were ma choice, we’d stay asleep here forever. But we got work to do and while Pa may not look it, he can be a real driving force for you to move.” Dan laughed as he explained his father to his new…

What exactly was Zoe to him? Yes he called her Zoe now to not raise suspicions, but he knew she was really Applejack, apple farming earth pony of Equestria. They were not of the same universe, but they were of the same world, the same life. Dan knew then that he would worry what to do about the Applejack dilemma when it came to fruition. No need to worry over trees that haven’t even grown yet.

“I can imagine. Big Mac is the same way and our Pa was the same before him.” Zoe told Dan.

“If we finish quick enough, I can show ya the apple orchard today.” Dan added.

“Extra motivation then.” Zoe replied, winking at Dan.

10 minutes or so after that, Dan and Zoe were heading downstairs for breakfast. They did not hold hands though, lest more suspicions be raised about them. As they reached the dining room, most of the rest of Dan’s family were already there. 

Mary and Sam were in fact already in the kitchen baking, with their grandfather supervising. He often bragged they were the best bakers he’d seen in 4 generations of the family, and no one ever argued when the evidence came before them.

“Morning bro.” Billy spoke up from his seat at the table. “Today’s breakfast is peach pie.”

“Excellent. Always been a fan of peaches in the morning.” Dan answered Billy.

Zoe took the seat next to Dan and took a look about, realizing who was missing.

“Where are Joey and Mike?” Zoe asked.

“Those two are always first to bed, last to rise. I’ll go knock on their doors in a minute. Billy, you’d better go get ready too. Pa’ll be here any minute to recruit ya.” Dan announced.

“Alright. Alright.” Billy replied gloomily as he trounced off to the bathroom.

Zoe looked at him quizzically, wondering why the change in demeanour as she partook of her own slice of peach pie.

“He doesn’t like getting up this early. He’ll get used to it though. We all did. Except for Joey really.” Dan explained, seeing Zoe comprehend it and nod as he finished his own slice of pie.

“You wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back with Joey and Mike. They may wake up late, but they wake up ready ta go.” Dan told Zoe as he stood up.

It was a short walk to Joey and Mike’s room. How fortunate that the two deep sleepers shared a room near the kitchen.

“Hey you two! It’s time ta get up! The horses ain’t gonna wait all day! You gotta learn this if you’re ever gonna take over after me.” Dan finished, certain that the last part would motivate them greatly.

Dan was not disappointed by his brothers. They were up and out the door within 2 minutes, all ready for the day’s work.

Dan re-entered the dining room with them, glad to see his Pa dragging Billy out of the bathroom, as the boy was certain to have stayed there all day if someone didn’t go and get him.

“Morning Dan. I see ya got the boys and Zoe ready. Good. Lemme know how it all goes.” Rick told Dan as he headed out the door with Billy behind him.	

“Sure thing Pa. Alright everyone. Follow me.” Dan told the group that he led today, seeing all of them stand ready to work.

The stables where they would be working today were not directly attached to the house itself. They were in a large separate building about three acres away from the house. This was so that if anything happened in the stables, the horses could come to the house, and vice versa for Dan and his family. It also helped the horses to relax more by not having to constantly hear human noises.

“What do we do out here anyway Dan?” Joey asked as the stables finally came into view in the distance.

“It’s our job to keep tha horses healthy and exercised. So, at least once a week, we come out here, feed em up a bit and ride em some to make sure all of em are okay. If some of em aren’t, we note what we can about them and call tha vet to find out if it’s anything serious or not.” Dan explained as the stables grew ever closer.

“Sounds easy enough.” Mike piped up.

Dan laughed at the naivety of his younger brother.

“You’d think so wouldn’t ya? But nah. Horses are a tough animal ta get ta trust ya. Took me years to get to the degree of intimacy with them that I’m at. Ya can’t rush these things. Ya gotta take it slow and let them come to you.” Dan added as his brothers looked up at him.

By the time Dan finished, they had arrived at the stables. Dan set about guiding all of them towards the front to give them their respective tasks. Horse caretaking was not nearly as simple a job as it sounded.

“Mike. Your job for today is to brush tha horse’s coats and manes. After you’re done brushing em, make sure to check for ticks or horseflies or anything like that. Write anything down on this clipboard.” Dan told his brother as he handed him the clipboard. “Every horses name is marked on there. Call em by their names and they relax better. Makes tha brushing go easier. Report back here when you’re done.” Dan finished, seeing his brother nod at him and head through the gate in to the stables.

“Joey. You’re on clean up duty. Take tha hose at the side there,” Dan indicated the hose to Joey. “And clean all their stables really well. Pat em on the muzzle while ya do it and they’ll be calmer. After you’re done hosing the stables, replace any old hay, water, and food with the extras we keep round the back. Ya got all that?” Dan asked his brother, knowing that sometimes Joey meant well but didn’t always understand.

“Sure thing Dan. I’ll do the best job I can.” Joey told him, actually saluting Dan before he left to grab the hose.

“What am I doing hon?” Zoe piqued up. 

“You’re with me. We’re exercising the horses. Make sure they can all walk and run proper. Check for any injuries.” Dan told Zoe. “It’s simple really, but it takes the calmest hands.”

“Sounds alright. Let’s get to it.” Zoe answered the call to duty.

It took Dan and Zoe about 20 minutes to get 5 horses out of the stables and tied to the outside. Since it was Dan and Zoe today, they would ride one horse each at a time. Dan set about teaching Zoe all the horse’s names, from Plot to Thunder, and giving her a fair supply of sugar cubes and apples to give the horses at the end of their sessions or if they needed it to trust her more.

“We got 20 horses total. Each test takes about 15 minutes. Normally, that would mean a five hour day of testing, but with you here ta help, it should only take about two and a half hours.” Dan explained to Zoe as he helped her climb onto her first horse of the day. “This guy here is Alpha. He’s the oldest and calmest o’ all tha horses, and the one that we got first. He’s perfect for your first ride.” Dan finished, patting Alpha on the muzzle all the while to show him Zoe meant no harm.

“He seems like a right nice fella. Aint that right Alpha?” Zoe asked Alpha, gently brushing his mane as Dan had instructed her to do while talking to him. Alpha responded with an understanding whinny. 

“I’ll be right next ta ya on Silver if anything happens. I don’t expect anything ta go down, put ya gotta be prepared.” Dan announced to Zoe as he climbed on Silver’s back. “Silver here is the fastest mare we got. Aint nothing gonna get away from here.” Dan finished as he nuzzled Silver and gave her an apple.

“Y’all ready Zoe?” Dan called over to her, taking Silver’s reigns.

“Think so.” Zoe called back, taking Alpha’s reign in one hand.

“Just remember to holler bout anything.” Dan yelled, urging Silver forward to begin her testing.

Dan acknowledged Zoe doing the same thing with Alpha, and felt happier than he’d ever felt before as he urged Silver into a run to beat Alpha who was now out in front of her.


***


“How ya feeling now?” Dan asked Zoe, worried he might have carried her wrong when he brought her up the stairs to the bed.

“I’m feeling better. Sorry for putting ya through this.” Zoe told Dan, looking up at him with sadness in her eyes from her bed.

Zoe had gone for a short flight when she had stopped Alpha a bit too quickly at the end of their race. Dan realized afterwards that he should have warned her about stopping too quickly, all while rushing over to her to make sure she was okay. She had twisted her ankle badly, but fortunately she hadn’t broken anything at all.

“No need to apologize. I’m just happy ya didn’t break anything. A sprained ankle heals a lot faster and better than a broken leg.” Dan explained to Zoe as he adjusted her pillows so she was comfortable.

“Can’t argue with ya on that one. What am I gonna do ta earn my keep her though if I can’t ride tha horses?” Zoe asked Dan, worry clear on her features.

“Don’t worry about any o’ that. Ya can bake with Mary in the kitchen if you’re that worried. Sam always wants to ride the horses with me, and she has a mighty tight grip when it comes to holding the reigns. You and her can just switch jobs til you feel comfortable to try riding again if ever.” Dan answered Zoe, making it very apparent that Zoe’s safety was more important than her having to do something to stay.

“Thank ya hon. I’ll do that then. I can start today-” Zoe began, but quickly had Dan’s hand placed over her mouth.

“No can do. Ya can start tomorrow. For today, ya rest here. I’m not having ya do anything for at least a day. You’re the most important thing on this farm.” Dan told Zoe, happy as he saw her realize now how much she meant to him. 

“Alright. One day off aint gonna kill me. Thank ya again.” Zoe spoke up as Dan headed back towards the stairs so he could finish with the horses testing.

“Anytime Zoe. Holler for Mary at any time and she can help ya. And if ya need me, I’m just a holler or two away.” Dan told Zoe, smiling and finishing his descent down the stairs.

“Ya sure care about her don’t ya? “ Dan heard the voice behind him.

Dan turned to see his grandfather behind him, slightly off into the shadows of the hallway. He had clearly heard what Dan and Zoe had just said, but had not been intentionally eavesdropping.

“I sure do. I have ta care about tha farm and tha family too though.” Dan told James, seeing his grandfather smile at his mild naivety.

“Ah Dan. This farm’ll always be here. A gal like that probably won’t be. I know your grammie sure wasn’t.” James told Dan, surprising him. James rarely talked about Dan’s grandmother.

“I never knew Gramps. I’m sorry for making ya bring it up.” Dan apologized, looking down at his boots.

“No need ta apologize for something ya didn’t do ma boy. Ma point is, don’t let her go just cause of your family and your obligations. I hope ya understand that.” James finished, looking over his grandson as though seeing a new person.

“I hope so too Gramps. I gotta go finish with tha horses. Can ya tell Mary what I was gonna before I met ya here?” Dan asked James, turning to leave again.

“Sure. She’ll be happy ta get to know Zoe more.” James told Dan, as he turned to go find his youngest granddaughter. 

Dan stepped outside, and looked up at the Sun in the sky.

“Funny how much a few words can make ya think.” Dan thought aloud, heading back towards the stables and Speedy, who was the next horse in line for testing.


***


More than three months had now passed since Dan had brought Zoe to the farm for the first time. She was now as common a person at the dinner table as Gramps. Zoe and Mary had really bonded during Zoe’s short stint of baking in the kitchen with her. Mary was always asking Zoe where she had learned to bake like she did, to which Zoe would mostly just reply with “I learned from ma family.”

Sam was also constantly asking her for riding advice. Once Zoe had healed and gotten her confidence back, both of which happened uncharacteristically fast, it turned out that she was quite the amazing horseback rider. She and Sam alternated weeks for who would go out and ride and who would stay in and bake with Mary.  

Joey had taken to getting more responsibilities around the farm, even taking over testing the horses once or twice a month. Dan took this to mean that Pa and Gramps were expecting him to step up and take Dan’s place when he would finally decide to settle down with Zoe.

Zoe and Dan had been openly dating for well over two months now, to great joy from all the members of Dan’s family. Dan was happier than he could ever remember being, even back when his Ma was still alive. Zoe was also fully adjusted to life on Dan’s farm by now, sometimes even waking up before him to scare him awake.

Today was going to be a special day. Dan had secretly gone into town late at night a couple of weeks ago and had gotten together with Antonio to go and pick out an engagement ring. It turns out that things between Antonio and Isabella were going quite well too, with him planning the same thing as Dan, although he would wait a bit longer to spring the question. Dan wasn’t as rich as Antonio and thus he couldn’t get as fancy of a ring, but he also knew Zoe wouldn’t like a ring as flashy as the one Antonio got for Isabella. He only hoped that Zoe would accept and love the ring as well as his eternal love.

Dan woke up that morning, making sure to feel that the ring was still secretly tucked away in his pocket. It wouldn’t do any good if any of the family or least of all Zoe found out before he even asked her. Today he intended to show Zoe the apple orchard he hadn’t gotten to on their second day there. He hoped that it would be sentimental and romantic enough. He hoped more than he had about anything.


***


“Wow. This is beautiful.” Zoe spoke up as the orchard came in to view for the couple.

“Yeah. It’s pretty nice. It has nothing on Sweet Apple Acres though.” Dan added, glad to see Zoe smile and blush at him.

“Oh you. Ya always know what ta say to make a gal blush don’t ya?” Zoe asked Dan jokingly, all the while going to take a seat underneath the biggest tree.

“Call it a gift.” Dan answered, shrugging nonchalantly as he went to sit next to Zoe.

It was near high noon when they had left to visit the orchard, but it was after sunset when they would leave. Zoe had gotten to talking about Sweet Apple Acres and fallen asleep. Dan didn’t have the heart to stop her or wake her up. At least not until it was sunset.

“Zoe. Wake up. Ya need ta see it.” Dan whispered in Zoe’s ear, glad to see her stir.

“What? Oh did I fall asleep I’m sorr- OH.” Zoe silenced herself as she took in the beautiful sunset happening before her eyes.

“What do ya think?” Dan asked Zoe, pulling her close to him to keep her warm.

“I think its tha most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. What about you?” Zoe turned to look at Dan.

“It is beautiful. But not tha most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. That title belongs to you.” Dan told Zoe, feeling her snuggle closer at his words.

“Oh you. Stop.” Zoe said, shoving Dan lightly.

“Sorry, but I can’t. Not now anyway. This is too important to me and to ya.” Dan told Zoe, seeing her look up confusedly at him.

“What do ya mean?” Zoe asked Dan, seeing him turn towards her to answer.

“Zoe…No. Applejack. I need ta call ya your real name for this.” Dan began, seeing Zoe’s eyes widen hugely at the use of her real name.

“Applejack. I don’t know why I never realized this before, but you are needed in ma life. I was a shell of what I am now before ya came along. Ya changed me, both literally into a pony for a while, and emotionally into the man ya see before ya now. I love ya Applejack and I promise I always will. Will ya make me even happier than I am now and marry me?” Dan asked, having gotten out the ring and knelt down on one knee while he said all he did.

Applejack covered her mouth for a few moments and said nothing. Dan would wait forever for her answer though. He had made that promise to himself earlier in the day.

“Oh Dan yes I will!” Applejack finally spoke, throwing herself around Dan, tears streaming down her face.
They stayed that way for a few minutes, emotions overcoming them both greatly. Eventually, Applejack let go of Dan and allowed him to place the ring on her finger before giving her the single most romantic kiss she had ever or would ever experience.

“I love ya as Zoe and I love ya as Applejack. I promise ya that.” Dan eventually told Zoe once they broke their kiss.

“And I love ya as all you are Dan, pony or man.” Zoe replied, throwing herself around Dan again.


If only they could have known that there is quite a large difference between realizing love for a human and love for a pony. If only they had, then things might have become quite different.


***


“What do ya mean you’re leaving?” Dan spoke up, shocked at what he had heard his fiancée just say.

“I-I mean Meghan...no Twilight says that tha Elements are fully charged again and that we can go home. She also said that if we don’t go now, then we may never get ta go back.” Applejack told Dan, devastated that she must leave.

“B-But our wedding’s next month. Why can’t ya stay til then? I’m sure tha Elements wouldn’t mind waiting for a bit would they?” Dan asked, already knowing the answer in his heart.

It had been 5 months since Dan had proposed to Applejack and she had accepted. They had told his family the very next day. In one month’s time from today, they were set to have their wedding. Today was nearly 8 months to the day since Noah had predicted when the Elements would be recharged today. Dan had never wanted to punch Noah more than he had at that moment.

Applejack, still going by her Zoe alias to others, stood across from Dan in the field next to the house where she had twisted her ankle riding Alpha back when he was still alive. Dan couldn’t believe she’d chosen here to tell him all this. Right where Alpha was buried.

“I’m sorry. Twilight said that tha Element of Magic showed her that Equestria’s in danger and that if we don’t go back ta stop it now, there may not be an Equestria anymore.” Applejack answered Dan, tears streaming down her face.

“I-It’s not fair. We are meant ta be AJ. I know it. I feel it. Stay with me. Please.” Dan pleaded with Applejack now.

Applejack shook her head side to side, crushing the last shreds of hope in Dan’s heart.

“I can’t. I love ya, but I can’t forget about ma family. I have ta do everything I can ta save em. Ya can understand that can’t ya?” Applejack asked Dan, seeing him clench his fists in anger.

“I understand. I understand more than anyone else possibly could. I still hate it though. I can’t come back to Equestria with ya.” Dan voiced to Applejack.

Dan then heard Applejack shift closer to him as he stared at his feet. He looked up to see her right in front of him.

“I wish ya could. But the Elements don’t work tha same way twice. I want ya to know that I’ll never forget ya. Ya need to know that. And I don’t want ya ta forget me either. That’s why I want ya to have two things. This is tha first.” Applejack told Dan as she undid her ponytail to hand him the ribbon she had always used to tie her hair before now.

Dan felt himself begin to break down. Dan knew he mustn’t cry until she left, but he didn’t know how long his body would listen.

“And this is tha second thing.” Applejack told Dan, pulling his face up into the longest kiss she and Dan would ever share.

Eventually, this kiss too was broken. Applejack stepped back to where she had been before as Dan chose to speak up again.

“A kiss? That’s how I’m supposed ta remember everything about ya? That’s nowhere near enough.” Dan told Applejack blatantly, forcing himself to remember every detail he could.

“It’s more than just a kiss. It’s ma love. All of it. It’s yours. Forever.” Applejack told Dan, tears fully streaming from her eyes.

Dan understood now. Dan also knew what he must say now.

“Thank ya AJ. Ya have all ma love too. And ya always will. Goodbye.” Dan told Applejack, turning away so he wouldn’t have to see the love of his life leave him forever.

Dan heard the same wind he had 8 months ago pick up behind him. It roared for a few minutes and then was gone, like Dan knew AJ must now be. That was the limit.

This was when Dan broke down, crying even more than he had at his mother’s funeral. He cried for what seemed like years to everyone who could see, hear, and feel the pain behind it. When Dan was done crying, there was nothing left of him. He tucked the hair ribbon AJ had given him into his pocket and set about doing his work.

Dan never spoke or stopped working for 4 days straight. When he finally did speak again, only one of the two things he said was heard by others.

“Water.” Dan said to Sam, who had come up behind him like all the others had to ask if he needed anything at all.

Once Sam had gone to fetch him some water, Dan said one last thing.

“Applejack. I love you. And I wish I could see you again. I wish it more than anything.” Dan spoke aloud to himself as confirmation of the situation more than anything.


As Dan finished his sentence, Sam returned with his water. He drank it all and set about working again. No one would dare bother Dan again for what felt like an eternity.

> Chapter 7: Eight Months of Books
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Here we are.” Noah announced as he pulled into the driveway next to what was his store as well as his home.

Meghan instantly sprang to attention, having been distracted by the various architectural aspects of the city around her in the drive. 

“You live here? But…this is a bookstore isn’t it?” Meghan asked Noah as they both exited the Prius and Noah took out his keys.

“The shop is the downstairs section. Upstairs is my house. The store was my grandfather’s. I inherited it from him in his will three years ago.” Noah explained as he showed Twilight through both sections of the house.

“I must say that human literature certainly looks interesting. May I borrow some of these from you at some point?” Twilight asked as she surveyed all the shelves upon shelves of books in the establishment.

“Certainly Meghan. In fact, I was wondering if you might like a job here.” Noah asked Meghan as he set about turning on the lights in his house.

“Oh! I would love to work here! When can I start?” Meghan asked Noah as she took to taking down the occasional book from its shelf.

“You can start tomorrow. I definitely have time to train you. I have a very small cliental at the moment, and they have already been in this week.” Noah told Meghan, catching her worried expression in the mirror set beside him.

“That’s quite sad. So many books without a home.” Meghan spoke up, worry clear on her face.

“Pay it no mind Meghan. I make more than enough to pay the bills, and I am certain that I will send each of these books home with someone at some point in time.” Noah explained himself, seeing Meghan brighten up again.

“That’s good. Do you mind if I ask where I will be staying?” Meghan asked Noah, seeing that he had finished turning on lights and lighting candles.

“Certainly. Follow me to the Guest Room.” Noah informed Meghan, offering his hand to Meghan to lead her.

The Guest Room was only a short ways off from the rest of the upstairs house. It was small, but not uncomfortably so. Noah immediately set about apologizing for various things.

“I do apologize for the size of the room and the amount of dust. I do not often entertain company here and thus don’t often use this room. I do hope it’s okay for you. If not, do feel free to use my bedroom and allow me to stay here in you stead.” Noah rambled, seeing Meghan move to shush him.

“It’s more than acceptable Noah. I am just happy to already have someplace to call my ‘home on Earth.’” Meghan told Noah, smiling at him all the while.

Noah felt himself relax and smile back for the first time in a very long while. Raising himself had not been easy and he did not often feel it appropriate to relax in front of others. His friends, and now apparently Meghan, were the exceptions. 

“Well, it is getting late and I do open the shop early. I must get to bed soon. Is there anything I can do for you or get you before I do though?” Noah asked Meghan, surveying her for any misleading actions in her response. Noah was well trained at these things.

“W-Well I wouldn’t want to be an imposition on you. You’re already doing so much for me.” Meghan answered Noah, all the while crossing her hands and looking at her feet.

“Meghan dear, you are no imposition. Your being here has given me an employee as well as a roommate. I am quite happy you’re here. I ask again now if you need anything.” Noah answered Meghan, smiling again.

“Well, if you insist, I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea.” Meghan told Noah, blushing mildly at his overwhelming hospitality.

“Of course. I do have only Green Tea at the moment, but I will pick up more varieties tomorrow. Do you take your tea with honey or sugar or cream?” Noah asked Meghan, stopping at the door to what was now Meghan’s room.

“I do prefer to take my tea with honey. Thank you again Noah.” Meghan told Noah, blushing an even deeper red.

“I will return shortly.” Noah nodded at Meghan, leaving to brew her tea.

Noah felt an odd joy in making tea tonight. He himself usually partook of a cup a day, but brewing it for someone else in addition to himself made him feel happy. He wondered why he felt such emotions, and decided to question it further while enjoying his own cup of tea.

It took a very short while for the water to boil for the tea, the stove having a faulty element that heated unusually fast. Noah often though he should get it fixed, but then he considered the frequency at which he drank tea and decided it was more of a help than a hassle. 

Within 15 minutes of leaving, Noah was back at Meghan’s room with her tea. He knew that it was indeed his house and technically his room, but Antonio had taught him to always knock no matter what the situation.

“Meghan? I have your tea here.” Noah spoke as he knocked on the door.

“Oh sorry! Just a moment and I will get the door.” Meghan answered from the other side of the door.

Noah heard a slight shifting for a moment, and then Meghan appeared in front of him again. She had taken off her earrings and blazer to relax it seems. She still wore the Element of Magic around her wrist though.

“Thank you so much Noah. I didn’t expect you back so soon. You have almost unicorn speed at brewing tea.” Meghan told Noah, while straightening her hair out.

Noah was unable to speak for a moment. Looking at Meghan in this state, he felt something boil up inside him. He had never experienced emotions such as these before and was unsure of how to react to them. He decided it was best to act normal until he could be alone with his thoughts.

“It’s a skill I gained due to living alone most of my life. Thank you for the compliment though Meghan.” Noah responded to Meghan, becoming more his usual with each word.

Meghan took her tea and proceeded to test it. It turned out to be a good thing that Noah had allowed it to cool some as Meghan appeared to enjoy her tea as mostly hot, but not right out of the kettle.

“Well Meghan. I’m off to bed now. Come downstairs to the store whenever you wake up tomorrow and we can begin your training.” Noah told Meghan, waving and turning to leave.

“Thank you Noah. I’ll make sure to do just that. Goodnight.” Meghan said, closing her own door again.

Noah stood frozen in the hallway for a few moments though, unsure of how to react. He had not heard the word “Goodnight” uttered in his house since before his mother had left and his father had died. Eventually, almost waking from a trance, Noah set about extinguishing most of the lights, leaving only a few on for necessary navigation at night. He then proceeded to go to his own room with his tea and his thoughts.

“What are these feeling I have when I look at Meghan and think about her?” Noah thought aloud, as was his custom. He had learned a long time ago that speaking to one’s self is the best way to rationalize thoughts.

Noah stayed in silent thought for a long time, being entirely unsure of something for the first time in his life. He thought perhaps that his friends might be able to help him in this situation.

“No. They would all be asleep by now. And how am I to get an answer from them when I can’t properly describe my situation even to myself?” Noah asked himself, beginning to pace.

Noah took periodic sips from his tea, finding that it helped mildly. He had never made tea this good before now.

“Is it because I thought about Meghan when I made it?” Noah voiced the thought, not pushing it to the side as he might usually.

Everything did seem to be stemming from Meghan’s presence in the house; the great tasting tea, the odd feelings in Noah’s stomach, the confusion at the word “Goodnight.” It was all from her. This wasn’t a blame game. It was simple realization of fact.

“Do I…like her? Or is it stronger? Is this…love?” Noah asked himself.

It couldn’t be love. Not this soon anyway. Noah wasn’t one to believe in ‘love at first sight’, even though this wasn’t the technical first time he was seeing Meghan. He had fallen in ‘love’ with her as Twilight on the show. But that was mere fandom was it not?

“I don’t understand this. Perhaps it’s better if I simply observe this for now. I can then come to the conclusion of ‘love’ or whatever this is later.” Noah told himself, quelling the other irrational thoughts that were springing up from his denial.

Noah laid down to go to sleep, his mind and tea cup both empty. Tomorrow would be a new day and one more fit for logical observation. At least that is what Noah initially believed.


***


Noah woke up early as was his routine, brewed himself some green tea in lieu of coffee, and prepared to open the shop. Nothing extraneous was needed to open the store. All one had to do was unlock the front door, turn on the lights and cash register, and turn the sign to read Open.

Noah took down a book from the Romance section, as was not his usual, to further research the idea of ‘love’ through the use of other logical minds like his own. It quickly turned out that the book was far more graphic than informative, and by skipping some of the greatly detailed parts, Noah had finished 4 of them by the time Meghan came down the stairs.

“Good morning Noah. What have you got there?” Meghan inquired, pointing at the book Noah was currently about to finish entitled ‘A Whaler and His Two Great Loves.’

“Trivial, uninformative, badly written drabble. If it weren’t for the fact that I have reliable customers who buy these, I would burn them.” Noah told Meghan, putting down the novel, if it could even be called such a thing.

“Okay. Well, how will my training begin?” Meghan asked Noah, appearing confused at first over Noah’s comment and then happy at the prospect of her training.

“I suppose I should teach you my organizational system. Follow me. You’re a librarian, so I’m sure this will come naturally to you.” Noah motioned to Meghan for her to follow him.

Meghan quickly followed behind Noah, making notes as he told her which Section was where, where they blended with one another, and what Sub-Sections were classified where. It turned out to be based fairly similarly to the Dewey/ Hoofey Decimal System. This made it all the easier for Meghan to learn.

After explaining how he had organized the store, Noah set about explaining the cash register as well as the whole human legal tender system. This took quite a while, as the bit system was far simpler than the one legal tender system humanity had adopted as its own. Eventually, thanks to many notes, Meghan had at least the basics learned. 

“There’s unfortunately not much else to teach you. My store is really quite simple in design. I prefer it that way though. I would much rather deal with a small loyal crowd then work with many strangers as part of a larger corporation.” Noah finished, seeing Meghan nod as she too related to Noah in this regard.

“I’ve never been one for the larger chains either. I find it far better to support the smaller businesses overall.” Meghan added, feeling glad in her assertiveness.

“I must say Meghan, I’m impressed at how similar we are. We think, act, and even work alike. It’s quite refreshing for someone like me.” Noah stated, feeling surprised and glad that he could tell Meghan so much of his former merely personal thoughts.

Meghan smiled at Noah, making him feel the same feeling he had while brewing tea last night and when he had seen her in her relaxed state. He began to subconsciously think that perhaps love wasn’t as far off from these feelings as he believed it was.

“Oh yes Meghan. Staff of the Owl’s Nest are very welcome to read whatever books they please while they are on their shifts, and receive a 30 percent discount when buying books after their shifts. I thought you might enjoy knowing that.” Noah added, seeing Meghan light up even more at the prospect of being able to read as much human literature as she wanted.

“Well Meghan, I am going to brew a cup of tea for myself as we appear to have no customers. I assume you would like one as well?” Noah turned to head upstairs, waiting for Meghan’s answer.

“Oh. Yes, if it wouldn’t imposition you I would love a cup of tea. I will let you know if a customer happens to come by.” Meghan blushed as she answered Noah, bowing while she did so for some reason.

“Certainly. I will be right back.” Noah told her, feeling the unexplainable happiness once more. 

The strange happiness was quickly becoming a constant part of Noah’s life. Noah was also quickly becoming joyous over this fact as well. 


***


“There you go Madame Busher. One copy of ‘The Journey of the Jeweler.’ I do hope you enjoy it and hope to see you again soon.” Meghan told the older woman as she finished checking her out.

“Thank you my dear Meghan. You’ll be certain to see me again quite soon so long as you continue to keep having an uncanny ability for recommending great novels to me. Ta-ta!” Madame Busher told Meghan, waving to her as she exited the store.

The cliental for Noah’s store, The Owl’s Nest, had nearly tripled in the six months Meghan had been working there. What Madame Busher had said was indeed true; Meghan did really have a gift for recommending books that made people come back to the store to hear more of her suggestions. She was quickly becoming even more popular than the owner.

Noah had enjoyed every moment of working with Meghan, having become well acquainted with the atmosphere and feelings she brought when she entered the room. People who had known Noah before would swear that he was an entirely different man now. 

Noah had also come to terms with the fact that he had romantic feelings directed towards Meghan. Four months of denial had done nothing but deny the man he was now. Now, two months after his realization, he was preparing to ask Meghan out on a date for the first time. He had come to notice, in the two months of watching her with romantic interest, that she often blushed or acted clumsily when Noah would talk to her or help her with some of her tasks. He felt almost certain that Meghan had an inkling of feelings towards him as well.

As Meghan was closing the store and Noah was lighting the candles that replaced the destroyed lights, Noah decided that it was now or never if he were going to ask out Meghan. As he lit the last candle and Meghan looked the door, he decided to go and approach her.

“Um Meghan?” Noah began, surprised at his own nervousness.

“Yes Noah?” Meghan replied, feeling herself become slightly flustered as Noah began to talk to her.

“I was wondering if, maybe, you wouldn’t mind going out to dinner with me?” Noah asked, glad to feel his old bubble of pressure pop, but scared as a bigger one took its place.

Meghan was unsure of what to say. Meghan had indeed thought that Noah was not interested in her romantically, unlike how she was interested in him. Meghan had merely expected him to ask her if she wanted tea as he usually did around closing. After a few minutes of silence, Meghan had her answer.

“I’d love to Noah.” Meghan told Noah, feeling her face flush brighter than it ever had before.

“You would? Really?” Noah asked, not daring to believe his own great amount of luck in a single lifetime.

“Yes really. I always sort of secretly hoped you’d ask me out to dinner.” Meghan shifted uncomfortably, feeling odd at finally revealing her thoughts to Noah.

“I’m extremely happy you said that Meghan. In fact, I don’t think merely happy describes it. I feel almost giddy at that news.” Noah told Meghan, feeling his confidence strengthen with each word.

“I feel almost giddy too.” Meghan told Noah, smiling the brightest she ever had.

“Shall we go then?” Noah offered his arm to Meghan, hoping that she was still sure of her answer to his question of dinner.

“Yes. Let’s be off.” Meghan replied, as she took his arm and walked out with Noah to the same Prius that had delivered her to her first crush, and was now taking her out on her first date.


If only Meghan had known what Equestria was like at the moment. She would not be in the dark for long though. The Element of Magic would see to that.


***


Meghan awoke screaming, the image of her nightmare still haunting her vision and her right wrist burning. Within moments, Noah was in the room, bearing a lamp and a horrified expression.

“Meghan! What happened? Tell me.” Noah demanded as he sat down next to Meghan on her bed.

“Discord…Chrysalis…They were attacking Canterlot and Ponyville. Equestria was being destroyed.” Meghan told Noah, turning to let him hold her, needing the comfort then.

“It’s okay. It was just a dream right?” Noah asked Meghan, fearing the worst.

“I don’t think so. Look at this,” Meghan indicated the Element of Magic she still wore around her wrist. It was burning red hot. “I think the Elements are letting me know that we need to go back, or else we might never be able to.” Meghan finished, prepared for the damage her words would bring.

“Okay then. Let’s go get the others and go. I know where they all live. We can be ready within the hour.” Noah began to stand up as he said this, until he noticed that Meghan was no longer looking at him.

“We…we can’t do that.” Meghan whispered, beginning to feel the tears.

“Why not? You know as well as I do that the Elements once transformed us all into ponies. It can do the same thing again can’t it?” Noah begged Meghan to answer, already secretly knowing the answer in his heart.

“The Elements of Harmony never react the same way twice. I realized that when we defeated Discord. We’d never be able to transform you guys into ponies again. And the Elements will only open the portal back to Equestria to us, like they did last time. None of you can come with us.” Meghan finished, feeling her tears fully stream down her face now.

“Then we can….Or we could….But….” Noah began, unable to form proper thoughts. For the first time in his life, Noah was rendered speechless.

“I’m sorry. I never thought that this would happen. I wish it never had. I really do.” Meghan spoke up, attempting to touch Noah’s arm to comfort him. Noah jerked away from her touch though.

“Well? Shouldn’t you get going?” Noah asked, anger and sadness equal in his voice.

“Going?” Meghan asked, confused at Noah’s question.

“Yeah. To warn and tell the others. I’m guessing the glow of the Element of Magic also indicates that you’ve gotten some of your powers back. Teleporting should be possible at least.” Noah told Meghan, trying to not look at her so that his face wouldn’t betray his words.

“I-I guess you’re right. But…” Meghan paused, unsure of how to breach the issue. “Aren’t you going to ask me to stay with you instead of going back?” Meghan finished, unsure of how she had sounded when she said that.

“I can’t do that to you Megh…Twilight. You’re an Equestria Native. I can’t ask you to abandon all the people in your own world just for me. I wish I could, but I’m just not that cruel.” Noah explained, feeling his own tears begin to set in.

Meghan stood up from her bed to embrace Noah. Noah returned the embrace with even more emotion, knowing this would be probably his last chance to hold Twilight.

“These last 2 months have been the best of my life. I can’t believe I got to love someone like you. Please, even when you’re back in Equestria, don’t forget me. I know I’ll never forget you.” Noah begged Twilight, feeling her nod while they continued the embrace.

Once Noah finished speaking, he heard and felt the same wind he had 8 months ago. The same wind that had found them in the field and changed everyone back into humans. As he felt the wind pick up, he held onto Twilight even harder, knowing he had only moments left to do so. Within a few seconds, Noah felt his arms grasp only pure air and heard the wind die away completely.

Noah stayed in that stance for hours, not daring to move from the last place he had felt Twilight. He knew that she wouldn’t come back no matter how hard he hoped, but right now his mind wasn’t fully working. Especially due to the two lumps he felt on his person.

The first lump was the one in his throat. This prevented Noah from screaming to the Heavens in denial, daring them to take away anything else. He knew that would also not help to bring Twilight back.

The second lump was the one in his pocket. It was the ring he had gotten only yesterday for Twilight. Noah had intended to give it to her tomorrow, on their two month anniversary. He was going to give her his heart, the heart she had made him feel again, completely and utterly. He had known she wouldn’t say no.

He hadn’t told her. Even in their last moments, Noah hadn’t been able to tell Twilight everything he felt for her. The opportunity was lost, and another one would never come again.

Noah collapsed on the bed Twilight had occupied mere minutes ago. He just couldn’t deal with anything anymore. Had he the means, he would have ended himself then and there. Instead, he set about going to make tea.

Tea was his last fallback. It was all Noah had left. Not the store, not the Prius. Not anything else was his anymore. The universe could have it all. It had already taken everything else that mattered to Noah from him.


Little did Noah know, but even more would soon leave him. Reason would soon be forever lost to him, if it was not already gone from his life at this moment.

> Chapter 8: Eight Months of Racing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Within moments, Lucas was pulling over next to the apartment building that housed everything he held dear except for his bike and his jacket. Sophie continued to hold onto Lucas for at least a moment after they had stopped moving, simply because she didn’t realize that they had stopped now.

Once Sophie realized what she was doing, she instantly let go of Lucas and nearly fell off the back of the bike. Lucas caught her hand though and pulled her back up to face him.

“Whoa there. No need to freak out Sophie. Sometimes, it takes me a little while to realize the bike has stopped too. It’s just such an intoxicating feeling.” Lucas explained, taking off his helmet and standing up to offer Sophie his hand again.

Once Sophie had righted herself, taken off her own helmet and shaken her hair back to its original style, she responded to Lucas.

“I’ll say. That feeling was comparable to a Sonic Rainboom. Think I can get my own?” Sophie asked Lucas, giving a coy smile to him as she did.

“Funny. You don’t need to though. I got another one upstairs.” Lucas told Sophie, while moving his bike around the corner to hide and chain it up.

“Really? That’s awesome. Why do you have two though? I can’t see you riding anything but this one.” Sophie questioned, looking over Lucas as he went through all his usual protection routines.

“I don’t ride the other one. It’s a sentimental piece. This bike was my dad’s, and the one upstairs was my mom’s. It was destroyed when she crashed, but they sent it to me nonetheless. I’ve been fixing it up in my spare time. I got it running just the other day. I’ve been looking for a test pilot.” Lucas explained as he finally stood up from his bike, satisfied he’d protected it thoroughly.

“Cool. By the way, why’d you do so much to that one? Seems like an awful lot to do for one bike, even if it was your dad’s.” Sophie asked as she and Lucas went towards the front door to the building.

“In the world of street racing, there’s no such thing as too much insurance. I do all that to my bike to make sure no one can steal or tamper with it before a race. I make a point of doing it in public too, to let all my opponents know. See this?” Lucas indicated the tiny piece he held in his hand. “This here prevents the electricity of the battery from flowing outside of the engine of the bike.” Lucas finished, chucking the piece up in the air only to catch it right away.

“Why would you take out such an important part? That thing sounds pretty dangerous to remove too.” Sophie questioned Lucas as they entered the elevator within the building.

“This is my security system for the bike. No one is stupid enough to go near a bike with this removed. Only way to get near it is with the original piece and rubber gloves. This insures no one can mess with my bike in any way, like disabling my brakes or putting sugar in my gas tank. Both of those things would screw me out of victory in any race.” Lucas explained, exiting the elevator on the 14th floor and waiting for Sophie to join him.

“Makes sense. There’s always as many cheaters as there are fair players in any competition.” Sophie concluded as she and Lucas arrived at number 1436.

“Without a doubt. Well, welcome to my castle. It aint much, but its home.” Lucas announced as they entered the apartment.

It was quite a large apartment. To the left of the entrance was the kitchen, comprised mostly of just a stove, a microwave and a fridge. The living room was directly in front of the entrance and was quite large. Most of the space in it was being taken up by a cherry red racing bike though. Behind the bike was a couch that appeared to be in quite good condition. Off to the side of the living room was a hallway that led to the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom was reasonably sized, having a full bath and shower. The bedroom was rather small though, with the bed in the middle of it taking up far more than half the available space of the room. The rest of the space in the bedroom was filled with a large closet that had its doors removed to offer more space.

“It’s not what some of the others might call a home, but it’s just that to me.” Lucas explained, heading towards the bike in the middle of the living room. 

Sophie spent another few minutes surveying the apartment before responding to Lucas.

“Eh. I like it. Just the kind of home I’d pick due to mere necessity instead of luxury.” Sophie told Lucas, following him in to the living room to get a better look at bike she was going to get to ride.

The bike was sleeker than Lucas’, but it was also more top heavy, making taking tight turns a lot more difficult at higher speeds. Sophie also noticed that unlike Lucas’ bike, this one was a simple one color model, marking it as unmodified aside from what Lucas had done to restore it to its former glory.

“So this one is the one I can try out right?” Sophie asked Lucas as he was looking over the bike from various angles.

“Yep. Everything’s the same as I left it, meaning that this thing definitely works as well as it can. I’d like to ask that we wait til tomorrow to try though due to attempting to ride for the first time at night is simply stupid.” Lucas answered Sophie, stretching out his body in lieu of yawning at the moment.

“Fine with me. I’m kinda tired anyway. Normally, I’ve had way more naps than I have today by now.” Sophie agreed, looking around as she did. “Where’s my bed at anyway?”

“It’s right down there.” Lucas indicated to Sophie, pointing to the one bedroom at then of the hallway.

“But where are you gonna sleep then? There’s only one bedroom and bed right?” Sophie asked, not wanting to become more of a nuisance than she thought she already was being.

“I’ll sleep on the couch. I usually end up dozing off at some point on it anyway due to all the time I spend working on one bike or the other. It’s really comfortable actually.” Lucas told Sophie, glad to see her perk up at the confirmation that she wasn’t impositioning Lucas any more than she believed she already was.

“Okay, if you insist. Goodnight then.” Sophie called out to Lucas from the bedroom.

“And the same to you.” Lucas called back, taking up a nice position on the couch to sleep off the long day this had been.


***


Lucas woke up about three hours or so before noon the next day, judging that by the angle the sun was hitting his eyes from the window he had left open last night. Lucas got up to shut the window and decided to while away this twilight hour by working more on the bike in his living room.

Setting about turning on the coffee maker as he went to grab an apple as his breakfast, Lucas began to look his mother’s bike over more carefully, having only worried about restoring it before now. Lucas now felt an odd urge to modify it though, unsure why he would suddenly feel such an urge.

Lucas decided it was better to go with his instincts than question them. Once he had a cup of coffee and the apple was in his system, Lucas set about his work. Lucas worked on the bike for close to six hours, even managing to give it a new paint job and a super charged engine, before Sophie finally woke up and staggered out of her room.

“Morning. Whatcha doing?” Sophie yelled to Lucas, stumbling forward and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Mornings long over Sophie. I’m working on your bike if you must know. I just finished super charging it and giving it a rad new paint job before you came out here.” Lucas explained loudly, finally coming up from kneeling and taking off his filter mask to finish his last touch up coat with the paint.

“Awesome! Lemme see.” Sophie yelled back, finally coming in to the living room itself.

The bike which yesterday had been cherry red was now eggshell white on the lower half and sky blue on the top half. There was also a large yellow lightning bolt design looping around the entirety of the bike, cutting across both halves of blue and white.

“Damn. How did I sleep through you doing all that?” Sophie asked Lucas, as she danced around the bike, taking in every inch of it.

“You’re just a heavy sleeper I guess. I also tend to work quietly sometimes. It could be any combination of factors.” Lucas explained, grabbing himself a much needed energy drink from his fridge.

As Sophie continued to admire the bike, Lucas powered through another two cups of coffee and another energy drink. His friends often voiced that he had a problem with caffeine, but the stuff never bothered him. Lucas just needed the large amount of the stuff to keep going after a tough days work.

“This sure is a sweet bike. Think I can get around to trying it out today?” Sophie asked Lucas as she finally stepped away from memorizing every inch of the bike.

“Sure. Just grab yourself an energy drink to wake you up, and I’ll grab the bike.” Lucas explained to Sophie, putting down his empty can to come forward and unlock the bike from its position in the room.

It took a very short time before Lucas and Sophie were both out the door and heading down the elevator. Sophie had taken an energy drink like Lucas had suggested and seemed to be enjoying the taste as well as the boost it was giving her. Within a few moments, Sophie and Lucas were again outside of the building.

“Wait here while I reconnect my bike. Try to think of a name for your bike too while I’m over doing that.” Lucas told Sophie, seeing her nod and go into thought as he walked away towards his own bike.

The Rainbow Bolt looked exactly the same as it had yesterday, safety measures still in place. Lucas carefully put on his rubber gloves and set about reattaching the part he had removed yesterday. It took very skilled hands to do what Lucas did every day, most mechanics spending an entire year of school mastering it. 

Within a few moments though, Lucas had the Rainbow Bolt back in full working order. He brought it out back to where Sophie was, Lucas taking note that Sophie was now leaning against her own bike and was no longer in thought.

“Come up with a name for your ride yet?” Lucas chided Sophie, wanting to hear her idea of a bike’s name.

“I was thinking of ‘Cloud Duster.’ That sound good to a professional racer like yourself?” Sophie asked Lucas, taking note of everything he was doing to set up his own bike.

“Hmm. Original, daring, and connecting. It’s got all three of the important aspects needed when properly naming your bike. It sounds great to me.” Lucas explained, grabbing Sophie’s helmet off of the back of the Rainbow Bolt.

“Cool. So what am I gonna learn today?” Sophie asked, casually going to sit on the seat of her bike.

“You were a racer yourself, so I trust you know some of the basics. Don’t go too fast at first, and always make sure to have proper stopping distance. Always keep your eyes open for anything and everything around you. Sound familiar to you?” Lucas asked Sophie, certain that she must at least know those facts even if she had never raced on a bike before.

“They sound familiar. I know I can’t become Rainbow Dash again over night.” Sophie replied, surprising Lucas with how calm she was being about the whole situation.

“Exactly. Today I’ll just teach you everything you need to be aware of with you bike and then, if you’re set up well enough, we can go for a short ride around the area.” Lucas concluded, coming over to the Cloud Duster to give Sophie her helmet and her instruction for the day.


Lucas and Sophie would spend the next six days discussing everything one needed to know about being a bike rider as well as a bike racer. At the end of their seventh day of instruction, Sophie was finally ready to go for her first ride on the bike. Sophie surprised Lucas greatly by not crashing once during that or any of her next practice sessions. Soon enough, Sophie would be ready for her first race.


***


The Rainbow Burst and The Cloud. The nicknames given to Sophie and Lucas by the racing world they inhabited. Though each of them thought the other’s nickname was better, Sophie and Lucas each agreed that they certainly were prominent in street racing now.

The Rainbow Burst referred to Lucas and the Rainbow Bolt, which he had modified to have nitrox three months ago. This allowed him to leave behind a Rainbow colored streak of color as he took off, the same as Sophie did back in Equestria.

The Cloud was what Sophie had been called by other racers. This referred to the method in how she could simply drop in nearby you in a race, whether in front of you, behind you, or even to the side. Sophie had finished 5th in her first race and had not placed lower than 3rd in any subsequent races.

It had been four and a half months since Sophie had first tried to ride around the block of her apartment building. Sophie could do that blindfolded in reverse by today. Lucas was not one to slack either though, having become a feared name in the underground racing circuit with what he often called his new bike and his new inspiration.

Lucas had taken Sophie to watch him race for two months before she had gotten up the courage to try herself. She had made certain to take notes of everything she saw Lucas do in his races so that she would know what to do in her own. Sophie turned out to be a natural at going fast no matter what world she was in.

It was at the end of today’s race that Sophie won 1st Place, having only narrowly edged out Lucas himself to win. Lucas wasn’t bitter over the loss. He was quite happy actually, glad that his student had now won her first race. Lucas still maintained the ideal that he would have won had he not run out of nitrox though.

Sophie and Lucas were now on their way back to their apartment, Sophie leading the way back. Within a few moments, they were both at the building and ready to chain their rides. Locking up their bikes took only a few moments now, Sophie having become as skilled at protecting her bike as Lucas was.

“Great race today Sophie. Can’t believe that you actually beat me.” Lucas spoke up as he held the door open for Sophie to come into the elevator.

“Thanks Lucas. If you hadn’t trained me so well though, I wouldn’t have been able to.” Sophie told Lucas, shaking her hair free from the terror of helmet style and entering the elevator.

“You’ve still got a ton of natural talent. I didn’t win my first race til I was six months into the circuit. I think this calls for a celebration of sorts.” Lucas added, seeing Sophie pick up instantly at the thought of a party.

“Sounds awesome. What should we do?” Sophie asked Lucas, this time holding the door for him to exit.

“I was thinking of just ordering in and enjoying the night. How’s that sound?” Lucas answered, worried his plans might be too lax for Sophie’s tastes as he unlocked the door to the apartment and let her in.

“Awesome. I’m all for that.” Sophie told Lucas, smiling as she took a seat on the couch.

“Winners choice. What do ya want for food?” Lucas asked, picking up the phone from the wall.

“Vegetarian pizza?” Sophie voiced to Lucas as he pulled a card off of the fridge.

“Can do. Just gimme a minute to order.” Lucas told Sophie, having already dialed the number to their favorite pizza place.

Lucas and Sophie simply spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, and discussing the race. Lucas had never been one for talking about his races with the guys, as he knew they’d get bored quickly with all the aspects, but talking to Sophie about it was like a whole new experience. Eventually, once the sun had fully sunk and risen again, they decided it was time to head to bed to rejuvenate.

As Sophie was about to head into her bedroom though, Lucas spoke up. A sudden impulse had come to him and Lucas wasn’t one to wait around for the perfect time to ask something.

“Hey Sophie?” Lucas piqued up, noticing Sophie turn her head towards him.

“Yeah Lucas?” Sophie responded, unsure of what Lucas wanted to say to her.

“Would you be opposed to doing this again? Except as like, you know, a date? I’m not one for going to 4 star restaurants or to shows, but I was really okay with what we did here tonight.” Lucas explained himself, worried that he might have weirded Sophie out.

“I feel ya. I’m not up that kinda stuff either. I’d love to do all this again, except as a date. Maybe we can talk more about it tomorrow. Night.” Sophie told Lucas, winking at him as she entered her room.

Lucas felt as though he just had the world’ greatest energy drink after what Sophie had just said. He felt like he could do anything right now. Lucas did decide that sleep would be a good idea in the long run, and curled up on the couch he had come to call his bed. Sleep would not come to Lucas for a while though. Why would one want to dream when reality is so much better?


***


The huge flash of light and sound in the middle of the living room was what had woken Lucas up. He had no idea what it could have been, having made sure to close all the windows and turn off all the lights before crashing on the couch.

Eventually, once he stopped seeing spots in his vision and his ears stopped popping, Lucas realized that somehow, someone was there in his apartment. He stood up immediately, worried one of his rivals might have finally tracked him down to this place. Lucas had always been prepared for a fight though.

“Lucas, I’m very sorry for waking you up, but I need to talk to Rainbow Dash right now.” Lucas heard a voice that he only barely recognized at first.

Once Lucas’ senses caught up with him, he realized that it was Meghan, who was really Twilight, who was there in his apartment. How she got there eluded him greatly, but what Meghan had just said worried him more.

“Sophie you mean? Why? What’s going on?” Lucas questioned Meghan, realizing just then what exactly Meghan had said before.

“I’m sorry, but no. Not Sophie. I’m here as Twilight, and I need to speak to her as Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, making it very clear that this was Equestria business.

“What do ya need to talk to me about Twi?” Rainbow’s voice piqued up from the corner of the living room.

Lucas and Twilight both turned to look at her, having been unaware that she had shown up. Twilight went to stand in front of her as Lucas made to stand next to her.

“Rainbow. Equestria’s in mortal danger. The Elements showed me and are fully charged again. We need to go back now, or we may never be able to go back or save Equestria.” Twilight calmly explained, seeing realization dawn almost instantly on Rainbow’s face.

“What? Well then, let’s go. Lucas, grab our jackets and-“ Rainbow began, seeing Twilight shake her head solemnly at her and Lucas.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. But Lucas can’t come with us. Like before, the portal to Equestria will open only to us. And the Elements never react the same way twice, meaning we can’t hope to turn him or any of the others into ponies again. I’m so very sorry. I went through this just now with Noah.” Twilight explained, her own tears flowing again as she remembered Noah.

“B-B-But…Then I won’t go! I can’t leave Lucas! I need him!” Rainbow screamed back at Twilight, frightening the already distraught Twilight.

Lucas looked between the two friends, knowing what must be said and done now. He also knew he might as well gouge his own heart out with a knife while he did it.

“You have to go Rainbow. Equestria needs you, and I’m not more important than the entirety of Equestria. You may think I am, but I’m not. I could never replace all your old memories, your old friends, your home itself.” Lucas began, seeing both Rainbow and Twilight look at him with horror on their face.

“But Lucas…” Rainbow began, having Lucas’ hand quickly placed over her mouth.

“You can’t argue this. I want you to, trust me on that. I would believe anything and everything you’d tell me. But that also means I’d never let you go either, and you need to go and save Equestria. It’s not what we want, but it's what Equestria needs.” Lucas finished, trying to keep up his emotionless façade for as long as he could.

Rainbow attempted to speak several more times, each time doing nothing more than stumble out a few nonsensical words or just a few noises. Eventually, she resigned herself to her fate. Rainbow looked to Twilight, not sure she could face Lucas full on again.

“Okay Twilight. I’ll go. What do I need to do?” Rainbow asked Twilight, hating herself more for every word she said. 

Twilight set about explaining how Rainbow would need to feel herself again to return to Equestria. Rainbow didn’t seem to understand, but Lucas did. Rainbow would need to go fast. She would need to go very fast.

“Rainbow. Take the Cloud Duster. It’ll let you reach the speeds you used to fly at.” Lucas spoke up as Rainbow asked Twilight again how she was supposed to feel like she was flying without her wings.

“I can’t! I want you to have it to remember me!” Rainbow yelled at Lucas as he took to collecting the keys for the Cloud Duster.

“I’ll always remember everything about you. And here’s what I’ll do to make you feel better. The Rainbow Bolt is now the Rainbow Dash. That way, whenever I race, I’ll always have you by my side.” Lucas explained to Rainbow as he held open the door for her and Twilight.

Not another word was said until Rainbow was all set on the Cloud Duster and Twilight had gone off to tell Pinkie Pie next. Rainbow was preparing to put on her helmet, when she instead leapt up to embrace Lucas one last time.

Lucas did not object to the embrace. Lucas made mental notes to remember everything about it that he could, fulfilling his promise to never forget anything about Rainbow.

“The bike isn’t enough to remember me. Take this too.” Rainbow told Lucas, taking off one of her earrings and giving it to him. “I love you.” Rainbow finished, feeling herself begin to cry.

“I love you too Rainbow. Now go. Equestria needs its fastest flier.” Lucas told Rainbow, as she nodded and got on the Cloud Duster again.

This time, Rainbow did not hesitate to put on her helmet or start the bike. As Rainbow revved the Cloud Duster, a wind picked up behind Lucas and Rainbow. Both of them recognized it as the same wind that had changed them all into humans so many months ago. 

Rainbow and Lucas also knew that this meant it was indeed the end of everything they had built together. Before she could hesitate or cry anymore, Rainbow kicked off from the curb, instantly picking up a huge amount of speed thanks to her training and the wind at her back. Within about 30 seconds, Rainbow Dash achieved an earthly Sonic Rainboom and was gone, along with the wind that had brought her into this world.

Lucas was unsure of what to do now. He decided he needed to ride to figure it all out. Just ride until the pain went away. Ride until even the world itself went away.

Lucas turned around to find a piece of glass or a reflective surface so that he could put in Rainbow’s earring first. It was the last physical piece of her existence in this world. Lucas was not going to lose or waste it. Once he was satisfied that it was set properly, Lucas went over to the bike he now called his Rainbow Dash.

Lucas deactivated his security features, the same as any other day. Once everything was done, Lucas started the bike, letting the noise rip through his heart and his soul. It wouldn’t make it him forget right away, but the noise might help eventually.

Lucas got on the road and never looked back. He would never again visit the apartment where he had lived for years, the apartment where he had dated Rainbow, and the apartment where he had told Rainbow he loved her. Lucas would become a ghost to the world for a while, becoming merely a presence on the road. 


Lucas knew he had a big race coming up in a few days that he kept mental note of while he rode his bike away from the rest of the world. Lucas also knew that this race, one way or the other, would be his last.

> Chapter 9: Eight Months of Pie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Despite it being a Mini, Ben’s car could get going quite fast when he wanted it to. That was probably how he and Lucy made it to his house in a just under an hour when it had taken Ben more than two hours to get to the mountain the other way. He just wanted to get home faster than he had wanted to get to the mountain.

“Welcome to my humble abode Lucy.” Ben announced as he stepped out of the Mini.

“Why are you calling me Lucy you silly? My name is…Oh right! Oopsie Doopsie Whoopsie!” Lucy laughed as she realized her own ignorance. “Nice house you have here though. It’s almost to Pinkie standards.” Lucy finished, smiling first at the house and then at Ben himself.

“Thanks. Come on in. I’ll show you around the place.” Ben said as he held the door open for Lucy to come in.

Lucy was no longer able to hop like she did as Pinkie, but she still had an odd amount of bounce in each of the steps she took towards and into Ben’s house. Lucy stopped just a short ways into the first hallway of the house, not wanting to go a step farther without Ben showing her where to go.

“Follow me.” Ben spoke up as he closed the door and stepped around Lucy to lead her through the house.

The house had two levels, with the upper level being the living area and the lower area being the baking area. Ben often had to dedicate entire nights down in the lower floor to cooking for his upcoming events. That was why his bedroom was upstairs so he wouldn’t be tempted to just go to sleep anytime. Ben had 2 bathrooms though, due to the sometimes severe need of having one downstairs as well as upstairs.

Ben’s kitchen was twice as large as most living rooms, with half of the available space being dedicated to ovens. Another quarter of the available space was counters, fridges, and freezers. The rest of the open area was left as it was to allow fluid movement in the kitchen. All of the ingredients and utensils Ben ever needed were kept either in the fridges and freezers or in the overhead cupboards.

Ben’s bedroom was also quite large, actually having 2 king size beds in it. Ben rationalized this by saying that when he finally did decide to go to bed, he just wanted to come in the door and be able to already be near a bed.

Both of Ben’s bathrooms also had colossal walk in showers, due to Ben’s constant need to wash up before work wherever he may have fallen asleep. More than half the space in each bathroom was taken up by the showers, and everything else in the bathrooms and the house itself was really quite plain.

Ben had bought this house after three very successful consecutive events in which he had accidentally overloaded and destroyed two of the ovens at the Sugar Stop. It was then that his fellow employees recommended Ben get a secondary kitchen so that he would be able to do all the work he needed to without being overloaded in the tiny shop.

Ben explained all this to Lucy as he showed her around, glad to see her taking everything in and appearing to enjoy it at least. Her still couldn’t believe his luck in getting to have, what was for the most part, Pinkie Pie as his roommate.

“I think that’s pretty much everything I have to tell ya Lucy. Any questions?” Ben prepared himself for the onslaught of questions.

“Nope. You explained everything so super-duper well that I don’t have any questions.” Lucy told Ben, smiling at his shocked expression.

Ben couldn’t believe this. He had left Lucy, who was Pinkie Pie, without any questions at all. Surely this was a moment that should be recorded in history Ben thought.

“Alright then. Well, I have a large order due tomorrow, so I will probably be up all night. Feel free to have a shower or go to sleep or whatever you see fit. You can even watch me bake if you want.” Bent told Lucy, while moving to grab his apron to begin the long night of baking.

“Okie Dokie Lokie. I’ll have a shower and then come and watch you bake if that’s all righty.” Lucy told Ben, heading to the first floor’s bathroom around the corner.

“Sure thing. See ya soon Lucy.” Ben waved at Lucy as she entered the bathroom.

Ben then took his usual place in the center of his kitchen. He set about gathering the ingredients for his signature Popping Tarts, the treat on which Ben had built his entire reputation thus far. Ben had the recipe perfectly memorized, so he simply began the process of making them, letting himself get lost in the flow of his baking rhythm.

Ben didn’t even fully realize when Lucy re-entered the kitchen and took a seat at the far edge so as not to disturb him. For how long Lucy sat there and watched Ben bake, no one would ever know. A few hours in and only 26 Popping Tarts done, Ben felt himself start to slide mildly.

Today had clearly exhausted Ben more than he thought. Ben was determined to finish his order though. Ben had never failed to deliver before now, and he was a man of his word. Unfortunately, Ben’s body was not made of the same material as his will. Two and half hours after first feeling tired, Ben collapsed in the middle of his kitchen, with only 50 of the 120 Popping Tarts he needed to finish done.


It was at this point that another figure entered the kitchen, put on an apron, and began to work unlike anything else that kitchen had ever witnessed.


***


Ben awoke with a shock, now horribly aware that he had passed out with only just over a third of his Popping Tarts completed. As Ben scrambled about, desperate to make up for the time he had missed, he began to notice something about the kitchen was different.

After calming down somewhat, Ben was able to realize what was different in his kitchen. It was what was on the counters that was new. Everywhere Ben turned to look, there were trays of Popping Tarts, totaling far more overall than the mere 50 Ben himself had completed before passing out. 

Ben estimated that there were approximately 240 Popping Tarts on his counters, with absolutely no idea how they had come to be there. Just as Ben fully woke up and began to fully wonder where all the Tarts had come from, Lucy came down the stairs still wearing an apron.

“Morning sleepy head. You must have sure been exhausted to fall asleep while baking.” Lucy told Ben, setting about taking off her apron and hanging it on the hook next to the one that usually held Ben’s apron.

“You Lucy? You did all these why I was asleep?” Ben asked Lucy, not daring to believe that anybody was capable of doing so much in such a short time.

“Yep. You were asleep for about six hours, and I took over making those super yummy Popping Tarts for you.” Lucy explained, shocking Ben even further.

Ben had only managed 70 Popping Tarts in an hour as his personal best. Lucy had more than doubled that without even trying very hard, as was apparent of her demeanor. Then what Lucy had said sunk fully into Ben’s mind.

“Wait? How do you know they’re ‘yummy’? You didn’t eat any of these did you?” Ben asked frantically, scrambling about to make sure he still had the 120 base order amount.

Lucy giggled behind Ben as he scrambled about checking how many tarts he still had left.

“Oh Ben. I wouldn’t eat any of those ones. I knew they were for a super-duper important event, so I just made a few extra trays for myself and you to have.” Lucy explained, moving to bring out two plates that were loaded to the brim with extra Popping Tarts.

Ben couldn’t speak. Ben had never believed, even in his wildest dreams, that such rapidity in baking was possible. Then Ben realized that perhaps some quality had been lost to make such a vast quantity. He knew he had to see if this was true.

“Can I try one Lucy?” Ben asked, finding it absolutely necessary to taste test Lucy’s baking before drawing a final opinion on her skills, no matter how simply scrumptious it looked.

“Sure. Here you go.” Lucy said, offering Ben one of the Tarts from the top of the plates.

Ben surveyed the Tart for a moment before biting it. It certainly did at least look and smell similar to the ones he made. Upon biting the Tart, Ben nearly fainted again. It was the single most delicious thing he had ever tasted. This was Eons from Ben’s own Popping Tarts, which were already raved about as one of the most delicious desserts around. 

“Oh my god. You really made these Lucy?” Ben asked Lucy, needing justification that the beautiful girl in front of him really had made these delicious treats.

“If I hadn’t, who would have silly?” Lucy answered Ben, giggling all the while as she did.

Ben had no idea what to say to Lucy. He had never met a girl like Lucy before. No girl Ben had ever dated had ever been able to even match him, let alone best him, in baking talent and energy. Lucy had done far more than that. Compared to her, Ben was nothing more than a novice imitating the master.

“F-Fair point Lucy. Would you mind helping me load these? I have a truck the shop lets me use to make deliveries parked out front, but loading all these alone would be a real bummer.” Ben asked Lucy, hoping to coerce her into spending more time with him.

“Sure thing.” Lucy answered Ben, somehow still managing to have the energy of a maniac as she came over to help Ben with the Popping Tarts.

Loading the Popping Tarts with help from Lucy felt like an entirely different experience to Ben. In no time at all, with great thanks towards Lucy’s own energy and ideas, all the Popping Tarts were safely loaded in the Sugar Stop Truck. Ben turned towards Lucy.

“Well Lucy, I have no idea what to say. Thanks isn’t good enough on its own. Without your help, I wouldn’t even be done the Tarts yet, let alone finished loading them for delivery.” Ben told Lucy, giving her the largest smile he had ever given anyone.

“Thank you Ben. It was really no big deal.” Lucy told Ben, moving to attempt to hide her growing blush with her hair.

“No, it was a big deal. It’s the single nicest and greatest thing anyone has ever done for me. I have to go deliver these right now, but I promise I will be right back to repay you in kind for all this.” Ben explained to Lucy, catching Lucy begin to comb her fingers through her hair.

“I-If you insist. I can’t wait for you to come back in that case.” Lucy told Ben, smiling up at him with the most beautiful smile Ben had ever seen.

Ben nodded to Lucy, smiling back at her brightly, and then proceeded to head to the truck. Ben did have a schedule to keep after all. Plus, Ben had the added joy of thinking how to repay Lucy for all she had done while he set about his job for the week.

Everyone Ben met during the rest of that day got a huge hit of the energy he was exuding. Everyone asked him what had happened, but Ben casually refused to answer. In what felt like minutes, Ben was done not only all his deliveries for the next two weeks, but his baking for the Sugar Stop for the next month as well, due to all the excess Popping Tarts Lucy had helped him make. The Tarts happened to keep for a very long time if frozen or refrigerated, which is another reason why they were so requested.

On his drive back to the house, Ben finally came up with the perfect way to repay Lucy for all her help while still fulfilling his own wishes for the night as well. He would make his special ‘Pinkie Pie.’

The ‘Pinkie Pie’ was a dish that Ben had created for his personal enjoyment back when he first  discovered who his favorite pony was. Ben was still quite proud of it, but unwilling to reveal it to the world yet for fear of being mocked.

The ‘Pinkie Pie’ consisted of a pie shell sweetened by adding whip cream into the base ingredients, then filled with all sorts of different desserts, from Popping Tarts to Bombardment Brownies, who were then covered in icing themselves before being sealed into the ‘Pinkie Pie’ itself. The ‘Pinkie Pie’ was then carefully watched as it baked, to make sure just the proper amount of caramelization was achieved. This guaranteed the melting and mixing off all the other desserts within the ‘Pinkie Pie’, as well as the perfect amount of sweetness.

One removed from the oven and left to stand for a little while, the ‘Pinkie Pie’ would be decorated, making it stand out even more amongst other pies. Ben would cover the pie in pink icing and pink whip cream, and then place three special balloon shaped lollipops in the center to represent Pinkie’s Cutie Mark properly.

Ben made careful note that Lucy was asleep when he returned home, and then set about making the ‘Pinkie Pie.’ The making of the ‘Pinkie Pie’ crust alone would take two hours, due to it needing to be constantly reshaped due to the addition of the whip cream into the crust ingredients. 

Four hours after Ben returned home, the ‘Pinkie Pie’ was entering its final stage of decoration. Just as Ben finished placing the final lollipop in place, Lucy descended the stairs, no doubt awakened from her sleep by the amazingly sweet scent of the ‘Pinkie Pie.’

“Welcome back Ben. Whatcha making there?” Lucy asked Ben, taking a whiff of the air as she scrubbed the few remainders of sleep out of her eyes.

“This is your payment for all the help you gave me today.” Ben told her, seeing Lucy instantly spring to attention.

“Really? Wow. This is so super-duper uber nice of you Ben. What is it?” Lucy questioned Ben as she surveyed the wonderful dessert.

“This is my special ‘Pinkie Pie.’ I based it off of you, to be entirely honest.” Ben explained, feeling himself grow embarrassed as he finally revealed the inspiration behind this amazing dessert.

Lucy stood aghast for a few minutes, unsure of how to respond to what Ben had just said. No one, pony or otherwise, had ever thought about Lucy so much as to design a dessert after her. Not even the Cakes themselves.

“B-Ben. I-I don’t know what to say. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Lucy finally replied to Ben, still amazed at what he had done for her.

“You deserve to be treated like a Queen. Both as Lucy and as Pinkie. I’m not saying your friends don’t appreciate all you do, but I doubt that they would ever do something like this for you. You’re an amazing girl. And…I think I love you.” Ben felt shocked as he heard himself say such things to Pinkie.

Why or how Ben had finally come to terms with just what his feelings for Pinkie were, he would never know. Ben lost all rational thought processes as Pinkie proceeded to rush forward and kiss him at this news, surprising them both greatly.

Neither Ben nor Pinkie had ever experienced a kiss like this before from anyone. The whole world, time itself even, appeared to just stop for them and wait until they would break apart to resume. This was the kiss that represented a lifetime of unknown longing. The kiss itself lasted only a few minutes, but Ben and Pinkie were both locked within the feeling of it forever.

As Ben and Pinkie separated from the kiss, each of them looked into the other’s eyes. It was there that they saw the other half of their souls. Ben and Pinkie were meant for each other. They knew that now, and would never ever forget it.

Ben and Pinkie proceeded to head upstairs to talk about what to do now and sleep away the stress of the last couple of days, leaving the ‘Pinkie Pie’ forgotten below. It was what the ‘Pinkie Pie’ had represented that really mattered to them, and not the Pie itself. 

Ben and Pinkie talked for hours about anything and everything they could think of. Pinkie was the first to fall into sleep, cuddled up against Ben as she was. Ben stayed awake a while longer, simply loving the fact that he was in love with Pinkie Pie, and that she was in love with him too.

Eventually, sleep overtook Ben too as the days caught up with him, granting him an odd dream. In this dream, all he did was bake. Bake, bake, and then bake more. What Ben was trying to accomplish in this dream with all the baking, or even what it was he was trying to bake, he could not say definitely. He was only aware that the dream confused him greatly.


If only Ben had known that it was not a just a dream that he was seeing now. If he had indeed known that, Ben might never have fallen asleep again while Pinkie was there.


***


Ben was a very happy man in comparison to a lot of the others around him. The reason for Ben’s happiness was a girl named Lucy who he had been dating for two months now. She was not employed at Sugar Stop like Ben was, but Lucy constantly helped Ben with the baking he needed to do at home on his own time.

Ben had spent every day since the day he met Lucy near two months ago in a near euphoric state of mind. Today was no exception, but today Ben was a tad closer to full euphoria than he usually was when he went out and about to do his deliveries and duties.

Today, Ben hoped Lucy might become more than just his girlfriend. Ben had met with Noah and Antonio the other day to get a scholar’s opinion on what the perfect gem was for an engagement ring. Noah was an advocate of the emerald, and Antonio favoured the sapphire. Both of them had their fair points in the argument, but near the end of the day Ben had come to decide upon a pink diamond. It was his favorite color after all.

Ben had gone to the jewellers the next day to place his order. Today Ben would be picking up the ring after he finished his deliveries, and then going home to enjoy an anniversary with Lucy. Today also happened to be their official two month anniversary, an event Lucy was sure to make a big deal over.

Ben pulled up in his driveway and set about making sure to unload all the excess cargo he was carrying. This time of year was always a bad time to hold a wedding, and Ben always got stuck with some of the cancelled affair’s food. For today though, Ben was glad to have it all. This meant an easy dinner for Lucy and Ben, and that they could still enjoy the special dessert Lucy had promised earlier in the day.

“I’m home Lucy.” Ben called out as he came in the front door carrying the Crudités platter that no one else had wanted for some strange reason.

“Welcome back Ben. I hope you had a super day.” Lucy called back to Ben from the direction of the kitchen.

“Was pretty tame. Today was mostly spent on clean up. Three weddings cancelled in two days means a lot of excess food for the caterers, like me.” Ben explained, coming in to the kitchen and catching full view of Lucy.

Lucy was always beautiful when Ben saw her, but today was extra special. Ben promised himself back when he met her that he’d never get tired of seeing Lucy in her apron, making some absolutely delicious and unique dessert or simply going around the house in it because that’s what she felt like doing today.

“I see you got dinner for us.” Lucy turned to face Ben, planting a kiss firmly on his lips before returning to the dish she was supervising.

“I hope you don’t mind. I hope this doesn’t spoil anything you’re making.” Ben quickly apologized, worried he’d thought too much ahead in this regard.

“I don’t mind at all. As long as you still end up having room for my special dessert.” Lucy told Ben explicitly, poking him on the nose as she did so.

“I’ve always got room for anything you make Lucy.” Ben told Lucy, bending down to kiss her on the top of her head.

Ben and Lucy stayed quiet for only a few minutes, each of them being quite accomplished at doing very much in a short span of time. By the time they each turned to talk to each other again, Ben had already set the table with décor, dishes, and the food and Lucy had not only finished cooking but also preparing her dessert, which turned out to be a flan caramel.

“Wow. That looks amazing Lucy.” Ben told Lucy, pointing to the flan Lucy was placing in the middle of the counter behind her.

“Thanks. Your setup looks quite magical for tonight too.” Lucy replied, turning to take off her apron and join Ben at the table for their anniversary dinner.

Ben and Lucy sat down to dinner and talked about each other’s day, enjoying simply the company of each other more than the true points of the conversation. Eventually all the vegetables and appetizers Ben had brought home with him were finished, and Ben and Lucy moved on to the amazing flan that had been created by the latter of the two. Once the flan too was done, Ben and Lucy cleaned up before heading upstairs to talk more. 

As Ben set aside the now clean dishes from the meal, he decided that perhaps the kitchen where he had realized his love for Lucy was the best place to propose. It was an important area to him, and he was quite certain it was also special to Lucy. As Ben placed the last plate on the pile he turned towards Lucy and cleared his throat.

“Lucy, I have something important to ask you and I want you to know how important it is that I ask you. So first of all, I’d like to tell you I’ll be calling you Pinkie from here on.” Ben began, seeing Lucy look confused as to why exactly Ben wanted to use her real name.

“Sure. What do you need to ask me?” Pinkie replied to Ben with a question of her own.

“I’m getting to it. Well here goes nothing.” Ben announced, clearing his throat again.

“Pinkie, it was here in this kitchen two months ago that I told you I loved you. You have been the greatest and largest part of my life ever since then, and I never want that to stop. Will you be my wife and stay with me forever?” Ben asked Pinkie, kneeling down and taking out the ring he had picked up that very afternoon.

Pinkie was shocked. Sure, she was used to being lovey-dovey with Ben all the time by now, but she still wasn’t used to the occasional bit of true and pure romance that he sometimes used. This situation shocked Pinkie, but it almost made her heart swell like it was full of hot air.

“Yes! I will be your wife and stay with you! Oh Ben!” Pinkie yelled, throwing herself at Ben much the same way she had two months ago when Ben had made her the ‘Pinkie Pie.’

Ben held Pinkie tight for a very long time, happier than he could ever remember himself being, even during these last two magnificent months. Eventually, Ben let go of Pinkie so that he could put the ring he had specially designed for her on her finger.

“Oh Ben. It’s beautiful.” Pinkie whispered, seeing the shape and color of the ring Ben had now given her.

The ring was full of pink diamonds, arranged into the shape of a cupcake on the face of the ring. Having the ring designed this way had been very expensive, but no price mattered to Ben when it came to making Pinkie happier.

“I had it designed just for you Pinkie. I’m so glad you like it.” Ben told Pinkie, pulling her into yet another embrace.

“You’re wrong Ben. I would have liked it anyway. But the fact that you gave it to me in this way makes me love it so much more.” Pinkie replied, holding onto Ben as tight as she could.

Ben and Pinkie did eventually go upstairs to bed like they always did at night, but this time they did it as each other’s fiancée. This made the whole action that much more special to each of them, the immense happiness they felt even transferring over to their dreams. 

In their dreams was where Ben and Pinkie each saw their perfect wedding taking place, and both of them only held tighter to each other as the night’s dreams went on.


***


Ben often told himself that he could live everyday with Lucy for a thousand long years and never once get tired or bored of a single thing about her. Ben earnestly believed this too, the last six months of his life holding true testament to that statement.

Two months after proposing to Lucy and having her accept, Ben had taken her to Las Vegas with him so that they could officially become a married couple on Earth. They both agreed to have a full ceremony later on, either in a few years on Earth or in a few months on Equestria.

Ben knew Lucy would not be around forever, for she was Pinkie Pie, earth pony baker of the town of Ponyville in the world of Equestria. Ben also knew that it would take more than that mere differentiation to keep him from finding a way to Equestria to be with Pinkie when she did finally have to return home.

Ben pulled up to his driveway, and immediately noticed that something was wrong. The front door was wide open, blowing in the nearby breezes. Ben also saw a large amount of black smoke coming from the ventilation duct above the kitchen. Ben immediately parked the truck and hurried inside, needing to make sure his wife was fine.

“Lucy? Pinkie? Are you okay? What’s happened?” Ben yelled as he came into the house and noticed the large amount of disorder around.

Everything was out of place. Ingredients from the kitchen were strewn everywhere around the house, as though some great force had moved them all at once from their normal places. Ben went immediately towards the kitchen, certain that was where he would find Lucy if she were still there in the house.

Ben was not disappointed as he came around the corner and saw Lucy sitting in a chair in the middle of the kitchen. Lucy looked like quite a mess, with her hair all over the place and her apron being now shifted to the side of her body. Ben was glad to see that Lucy was safe, but was also quite distressed to see her in such a state. 

“Lucy? What’s wrong? What happened here?” Ben asked Lucy, moving closer to her to look Lucy right in the eyes.

“Twilight…Twilight came by to see me.” Lucy began, looking away from Ben as she did.

“You mean Meghan came by?” Ben asked, confused as to why Lucy would be in this state merely because one of her friends had come by earlier.

“No. I mean Twilight came by to see Pinkie.” Lucy explained, the words finally clicking in Ben’s mind.

Was this it then? Did Pinkie finally have to go back to Equestria now? Ben couldn’t think straight as this all bombarded him. Ben hadn’t had time to plan how to get to Equestria within such a short timeline.

“She said…she said Equestria’s in really big trouble.” Pinkie continued, feeling her own tears begin as she explained all this to Ben.

“And…and you have to go back to save it. Right?” Ben questioned Pinkie, seeing her only nod her head as she continued to cry.

Ben couldn’t believe any of this. He had expected that when Pinkie had to leave for Equestria again that it would be anything like this. He had expected to get notice and be able to give her a proper farewell. Ben wasn’t ready, and Pinkie wasn’t either.

“When?” Ben asked Pinkie, the one word hanging in the air above them both.

“Twilight said I can go home when I feel like myself again. I decided to make my special Laughter Cupcakes to feel like myself again after Twilight left. I couldn’t focus while I tried and I ruined a few batches. The last and only batch I got right is baking now. They should be done in about 10 minutes.” Pinkie told Ben, looking down at her feet and just letting every tear in her body flow out.

Ben stared at the girl he loved, knowing he should console her, but unable to do so properly. Five of Ben and Pinkie’s last minutes together passed before anything else was spoken.

“I’ll find you. I’ll find a way to get to Equestria. I know the Elements can’t bring me there, but there’s got to be some other way. And I promise I’ll find it. I love you Pinkie, and nothing will keep us apart for long.” Ben told Pinkie, lifting her up off the chair to give her one last kiss as a human.

Pinkie returned the kiss with all the feeling she could muster, still feeling as though it weren’t enough when she broke the kiss. At the moment they broke the kiss, a kitchen timer went off in the background noise of the house.

At that exact same moment, a strong wind also picked up throughout the house. Ben recognized it as the same wind that had given him the girl called Lucy, and his love named Pinkie, before him. Ben knew this was it as he looked at Pinkie one last time before she would go away from Earth forever.

“They’re done now. I hope you love them like you love me. Goodbye.” Pinkie told Ben, the last of her tears leaving her eyes before she was gone with the wind itself.

Ben knew he needed to think, to be alone with his thoughts. But first Ben had to remove the Laughter Cupcakes Pinkie had worked so hard to make and leave for him. As Ben went over to the only oven that was on and removed the Laughter Cupcakes from them, he felt a sudden indescribable urge to throw them to the ground and destroy them.

Ben also knew he couldn’t do that to the Cupcakes. They were a reminder of his pain and what he had just now lost, but they were also the last piece of Pinkie Pie Ben had left in this world. Ben set them down carefully on a cooling rack, and took the empty seat Pinkie had left mere minutes ago.


Ben never moved nor said anything for three days and nights. Ben never even slept in that time. When Ben did rise from the chair at last, he was filled with a mad determination. He felt that he at last knew the path to Equestria, and to Pinkie, and he would not stop until he was there.

> Chapter 10: Eight Months of Shyness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Oliver and Alice sat across from each other in Oliver’s living room, neither of them daring to speak due to the extreme embarrassment each felt with the other in the room with them. The drive to Oliver’s home had also been like this, with either Oliver or Alice being silent for most of the entirety of it.

As the shared silence was entering its third hour, Oliver perked up as he heard the cry of one of the animals he was taking care of. As Oliver stood to go and check on the bird who had just called out to him, Alice too rose to follow Oliver and see if she could help him at all.

Oliver headed down the hallway on the left side of his dining room and headed for the large room at the end of the corridor. Alice followed suite, making herself noticeable but not fully known to Oliver.

Oliver entered the room and saw that Bernice, the cockatoo he was looking after for this week, had both run out of water and fallen on her injured wing.

“Bernice what did I tell you? You can’t fly for another two weeks. Don’t even attempt to flap your wings or you’ll be in major trouble.” Oliver explained to the cockatoo, going over to Bernice’s cage to pick her up and refill her water.

Oliver set about carefully righting Bernice and then putting her on his shoulder so that she could make fully sure that Oliver was indeed refilling her water. Bernice nipped Oliver twice on the shoulder as he did this, but that was Bernice’s way of showing gratitude.

Eventually Oliver had been able to rectify all the problems with Bernice and put her back in her cage. As Oliver finished relocking the cage, he turned around to face Alice to explain the situation to her.

“Sorry about all that Alice. I take home some of the animals to nurse them here when the clinic is over full. I usually come home to a few problems due to the fact that I can’t be at the clinic and home watching them at the same time. It’s a problem.” Oliver explained to Alice, seeing her nervously shift her feet as he did.

“It’s okay. I have quite a few animals like that too. I just came with you here to see if I could help at all. I can see you’re quite good with animals though.” Alice answered Oliver, turning her head slightly to hide her blush.

“I suppose. It seems that just like you, the thing I’m destined to do is help out animals.” Oliver replied, looking around the room to see if any of the other animals needed his help before he left.

Oliver had only a few animals too look after in addition to Bernice. He also had a tortoise named Hustle and an iguana named Snake, and that was it for this week. Parents really should make sure to approve the names their kids pick for the animals Oliver thought.

Hustle rarely came out of his shell, and Snake merely lounged around doing nothing. Checking to make sure that Snake was indeed still alive, Oliver looked around and was surprised to see Hustle out of his shell and already warmed up to Alice.

“It seems that your gift far trounces mine though Alice. I can’t believe Hustle already likes you. I had to operate on him, and he didn’t even like to show himself to me then.” Oliver told Alice, impressed by her natural talent.

“T-Thank you Oliver.” Alice responded, startled that Oliver had said such a nice thing to her just now.

Oliver lured Hustle back into his corner cage with a piece of lettuce, and soon enough the tortoise was locked back up again too.

“Well, I have to be in the clinic early tomorrow. I believe I should get to bed. You remember where your room is I take it?” Oliver asked Alice, while stretching out his limbs. Today was beginning to catch up with Oliver it seemed.

“O-Oh yes I do. I hope to see you tomorrow.” Alice responded, jumping a bit still whenever Oliver chose to talk to her directly.

“Oh yes Alice. Before I go to bed, I need to ask you something. I’m going to keep an eye open for positions at the clinic but, as you seem to be quite accustomed to taking care of the animals here already, would you mind looking after the animals here while I’m at work during the day? It would give you something to do as well as alleviate some of my stress.” Oliver asked Alice as they exited the Care Room.

Alice was surprised. She hadn’t expected to be offered such an important job by Oliver job right away. Alice had thought of merely reading or something of the sort to pass the days semi-rapidly while she was on Earth.

“I’d love to Oliver. Thank you for having such great faith in me.” Alice replied to Oliver, stopping at the bedroom that was now to be hers.

“I can’t doubt the skills of Equestria’s number one pet caregiver now can I?” Oliver jokingly asked Alice, making her flush red.

“Goodnight then Alice.” Oliver added, turning towards his own bedroom.

“Have a good night’s sleep Oliver.” Alice called back to Oliver as she entered her own bedroom to attempt to get some sleep after this bizarre day.


***


Even though there were no actual positions open at the clinic, All Better Animals, Alice was already fully accepted as a member of the staff within three months of her ‘employment’ with Oliver. Everyone was as impressed, if not more so, than Oliver had been at Alice’s natural skill with the animals she watched over.

The director of the clinic, Josephine, had in fact already come by Oliver’s place to meet Alice and inform her that as soon as a position at the clinic opened up, everyone wanted her to take it. Alice was blown away by the news. In Equestria, she was the only animal caretaker she knew and thus had no one with whom to compare her skills. On Earth however, Alice became truly aware of just how gifted with animals she was.

Today, Oliver had been promoted to the Second-In-Command of the Clinic for his recent amazing feat of being able to save a wolverine and a dog after a fight between them. His first job at his new position was to fire one of the slacking employees at the office, and then go home to tell Alice that she was now fully needed at the Clinic.

Oliver had no trouble in following his first order, as he had worked with the employee he fired, who was named Josh. Josh was a humongous slacker, even at one point intentionally not going to the Emergency Room when he was called because he was hungry. Oliver fired him with almost gusto, and then immediately set off home to tell Alice the good news.

Within 30 minutes of firing Josh, Oliver was home and on his way inside to talk to Alice about her new job position at the Clinic.

“Alice?” Oliver called as he entered his house, unsure of exactly where Alice might be at this time of day. “Where are you? I have important news to tell you.” Oliver finished, craning his neck in every direction to visibly search for Alice as well.

“Just a moment Oliver.” Alice called back to Oliver from the care room as she heard him calling her.

Within a few moments, Alice had finished feeding the last of the puppies she was in charge of for this week and was on her way back to the main dining room to hear the news Oliver had for her.

“Sorry Oliver. I had to finish feeding the puppies for today. I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.” Alice apologized as she came into the dining room and saw Oliver sitting in a chair at the dining table.

“No need to apologize Alice. I just wanted to let you know that there’s a position available at the Clinic now, and Josephine already wants it to go to you. She promoted me to Vice-Head Veterinarian and told me to tell you that today.” Oliver explained, seeing Alice look as shocked as happy.

“Really? Oh I’m so happy! Thank you Oliver!” Alice replied to Oliver, rushing forward to hug him at the news.

Oliver was surprised at what Alice had just done, being a reserved person himself. He was nothing compared to Alice herself though. Oliver was the only person Alice had opened up to over her last three months on Earth, and even then she was still occasionally reserved. Hugging was a whole new area of interaction from what Oliver and Alice usually experienced.

Eventually, Alice came to full terms with what she was doing and moved to release Oliver from the hug. As Alice moved to end the hug though, she came to realize that Oliver was hugging her back and that was what was keeping her in the hug as well.

“Um Oliver? Can we maybe end the hug now?” Alice spoke up to Oliver, afraid of such close contact with Oliver for too long.

“Huh? Oh! Of course. Forgive me.” Oliver quickly apologized to Alice, now coming to full terms with what he had just been doing.

A complete and long silence followed the last comment made by Oliver, almost permeating the whole house itself. Eventually, Oliver chose to speak up again to attempt to return his and Alice’s relationship to what was considered okay and normal for them.

“So…I’m going to go head to my bed to try and get  some sleep now okay?” Oliver asked Alice, unsure of how Alice would react to what he did from now on.

“S-Sure. I was going to head to bed soon too. What time should I be up for tomorrow?” Alice asked Oliver, seeming to return to what Oliver called her now usual self.

“Around 9 o’clock should be good. You can just follow my morning routine from now on if you like. I’m simply used to the hours needed at the clinic by now is all, and I’d be more than willing to help you get accustomed to them too.” Oliver quickly explained, worried he was getting too intimate with Alice again.

“Okay then. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.” Alice replied to Oliver, turning to head towards her bedroom near the end so as to avoid any more awkward moments with Oliver for the night.

“Same to you Alice.” Oliver called back to Alice, heading towards his own room so that he could be alone with his thoughts to try and come to terms with what he felt about Alice.


***


“Scalpel.” Oliver called out to the room, extending his right hand in waiting for the tool he needed.

“Scalpel.” Alice called back to Oliver, handing him the tool she was now quite familiar with, having even used one herself several times.

“Forceps.” Oliver continued calling out, indicating his hand to the room at large yet again.

“Forceps.” Alice replied, again handing Oliver the tool he needed to continue his work.

Oliver and Alice were currently in the middle of major surgery on a mountain lion that had been hit by a car earlier in the day. The mountain lion had come in in bad shape, and no one was sure if it would survive the night. The rest of the staff of All Better Animals did agree though that the only ones who might be able to save it were the now Head Veterinarian Oliver and The Head Nurse Alice.

Oliver had been promoted temporarily to Head Veterinarian while Josephine was on maternal break, but he was handling himself quite well in the position and everyone agreed that it might be better if Oliver and Josephine merely switched positions when she did return.

Alice had risen to Head Nurse status in just a couple of months as well, having now been able to demonstrate her amazing gifts to all the other members of staff at All Better Animals. She was often called the only person in the world who could hope to keep up with Oliver during surgery, proving herself true to that title as well.

Six hours later, Oliver and Alice emerged from the clinic, weary and strained, but also tremendously happy. They had been able to ensure the mountain lion’s survival within the last hour and had spent the rest of the time in surgery stabilizing it. Oliver looked over to Alice as he saw her untie her hair from the bun she often had to keep it in while at the clinic.

“Amazing work today Alice. You really are worthy of being Head Nurse.” Oliver announced to Alice, moving to take off his own coat as Alice blushed at his words.

“Thank you Oliver. But it’s really your work that amazed me. I don’t think anyone else I know could have done what you did to save that mountain lion.” Alice replied to Oliver, making him smile brightly.

“Thank you for the compliment. Shall we head home now?” Oliver offered to Alice, turning to see her reaction for himself.

Perhaps it was the speed at which Oliver turned and Alice reacted, or the particular angle the sun was at behind her, but to Oliver, Alice had never looked more beautiful than she did at that moment. Oliver restrained himself though, not wanting to scare Alice away if he announced what he now felt almost certain were his feelings for her.

“Sure. Let’s get-“ Alice started, just as a huge wind swirled in an area slightly behind her.

Oliver reacted almost instinctively, moving in front of Alice within a moment’s time to protect her should she need it from whatever it was that was causing this un-Earthly wind. After a few more moments of the wind swirling, a figure appeared within its midst. A few seconds after appearing, the figure was fully definable as the figure of Meghan, otherwise known as Twilight.

“Fluttershy. I’m glad I found you. Something is seriously wrong in Equestria.” Meghan spoke up, returning to the demeanour and perception of Twilight.

Alice stepped out from behind Oliver, once again becoming the brave Fluttershy that Oliver knew could stand up to a fully grown dragon with no problems.

“What’s wrong Twilight?” Fluttershy asked Twilight, serious as anyone had ever seen her be before now.

“Discord and Chrysalis. They’re attacking Canterlot and Ponyville, and the rest of Equestria is next. We have to go back to use the Elements and try to help.” Twilight explained to Fluttershy, seeing her eyes widen greatly at such terrible news.

Fluttershy turned around to face Oliver, unsure of how to say what she needed to at that moment. She decided to merely try her best.

“Oliver…I…” Fluttershy began, only to have Oliver hold up his hand and stop her.

“I understand. You need to go. Go. I’ll be okay. Your home is what’s most important. What does she need to do Twilight?” Oliver directed his last few words at the other person in their midst.

“Fluttershy simply needs to remember who she is. That should do it. It worked with Applejack.” Twilight explained, directing her voice in equal parts at both Oliver and Fluttershy.

“She’s never forgotten who she was. I know that better than anyone. Right Fluttershy?” Oliver asked Fluttershy, trying his best to study everything he could about her.

“He’s right.” Fluttershy answered, just as a wind began to swirl around her person and begin to lift her off the very ground itself.

“Well done Fluttershy. I still have to see the other’s off. Do what you can without me. I’ll be there shortly.” Twilight blurted out as she disappeared in yet another gust of wind.

Oliver looked up at Fluttershy, unsure what to say now. Oliver decided perhaps a gesture was what would be best at this moment. Oliver extended his hand towards Fluttershy just as she began to extend hers toward him.

Just as Oliver and Fluttershy’s hands were about to touch, Fluttershy disappeared fully into the wind. Oliver remained in the same position he had taken moments ago, still feeling as though he were only mere inches away from Fluttershy.

After a few more minutes of remaining that way, Oliver also decided that it would be best to walk home today and what to say to Fluttershy should he ever see her again.

“I love you. Next time, I promise I’ll tell you that.” Oliver spoke to the air itself, somehow believing Fluttershy would hear him.


Oliver began his long walk home soon after that. He and Fluttershy had been dismissed early from the Clinic, but it would still be several hours before Oliver would stop walking in front of something he unknowingly sought. Something that he knew could help him more than anything else could.

> Chapter 11: Eight Months of Designs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Antonio was often extremely happy to own his business, merely for the fact that he could make his own hours and do whatever he needed to do in order to finish his work. It was for this reason that Antonio also had a ridiculously long driveway attached to his business so that he could pull up to it at full speed and still be capable of stopping properly.

Today though, Antonio drove much more carefully than he usually did to his workplace and home. Antonio didn’t want to frighten Isabella away after all by behaving entirely as he might if she were not there.

“Here we are. Welcome to my store, Fabulous Fabrications.” Antonio announced as he finished parking his Ferrari outside the building he knew very well.

Isabella took a few minutes to escape the car, not being entirely accustomed to such rapid speed and stopping. When Isabella finally had come to fully realize they had stopped, it turned out that she had lost some of her equilibrium as well, stumbling in her Stilettos as she exited her seat.

Antonio was right beside Isabella to catch her though, being extremely surprised how light she was when he did. Isabella was also shocked at the almost immediate intimacy she and Antonio were sharing thanks to her minor trip. Both Antonio and Isabella stayed in their respective positions for quite a long time, not wanting to full enjoy the moment, but also not wanting it to fully end either.

Eventually, it was Isabella who would break the situation by finally setting about to right herself from her fall. Antonio helped steady Isabella, and then immediately backed away from her, worried he was being far too familiar with Isabella.

“T-Thank you darling. Now what were you saying about your store? Oh my…” Isabella began asking Antonio, only to pivot her head slightly and catch the now full and unobstructed view of Antonio’s business.

Antonio’s uncle had bought the area for the store long ago, and had given it to Antonio on his graduation day telling him to use it right. Antonio set about using all his resources to design what must be the most well recognized building in the entire city. No one ever denied that Antonio had certainly achieved that.

Fabulous Fabrication’s was a store made entirely out of Marble and surrounded by various shades of blown glass to add color as well as depth, making the entire building look like a firework explosion melded with an icicle. It had not been cheap to design, but Antonio had spared no expense to make his store one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. 

Antonio now also had chains of Fabulous Fabrications stationed around the globe, but the one in front of him now was his first and greatest triumph. It was here that Antonio had designed every one of his world famous wedding dresses, and here where he still drew every single one of his designs and then created the ones that truly spoke to him.

“It’s beautiful darling. I dare say it’s even more magnificent than any building I ever saw in Equestria, except perhaps for my very own boutique.” Isabella told Antonio, turning to him and winking as she did so.

Antonio felt that was quite high praise from a girl like Isabella, who had born witness to so many still in use castles and manors in her time before she arrived on Earth. 

“Thank you Isabella. Shall we go inside?” Antonio asked Isabella, both gesturing towards the front door and offering his arm to Isabella.

“Certainly darling.” Isabella replied to Antonio, taking his arm and allowing him to lead the way.

Within a few moments, Antonio and Isabella were within the store itself, which was not as outwardly appealing as the outside indicated, but was still magical and beautiful in its own way. The walls alternated what adorned them, with one wall holding completed dresses and outfits, the second holding supplies, a third holding sketches, and the last wall holding in-progress outfits.

“I must say darling, I’m impressed. Most designers I know don’t openly display their still in-progress works and sketches. Many are afraid they’ll be stolen and replicated.” Isabella voiced to Antonio, all while taking close looks at the various outfits and designs.

“This location is not in use as a store much anymore. It is more simply my work station now, allowing me the freedom to do such things. In addition to that fact, I also have one distinct advantage over any who would attempt to steal my designs.” Antonio partially explained to Isabella, going immediately to what he called his two incomplete walls and adding the inspirations that had just now flashed into his mind.

“What might that be darling?” Isabella inquired, curious as to what Antonio meant.

“Even the most untrained eye can tell the difference between one of my own Authentic’s and a cheap stolen copy. Anyone who has ever actually managed to steal and reproduce one of my designs has been caught, and their lines suffered even more than it would have normally.” Antonio continued, smiling as he did so, content to say that at least the rest of his world viewed him as one of a kind.

“Fantastic darling. I really look forward to working with you here.” Isabella spoke up, turning now towards the wall where Antonio kept his completed, yet as of now unpicked up apparel.

“I look forward to having the insight of such a great fashion designer as well.” Antonio replied, glad to see as he turned that he had made Isabella blush profusely.

“Oh darling. You flatter me. May I ask where I can sleep? This day has been very long, and I am quite exhausted.” Isabella asked Antonio as he jumped down from the wall he was currently inspecting.

“Certainly. This day has pushed me quite far too. I too will likely head to sleep. Follow me.” Antonio indicated to Isabella, showing her to the two bedrooms that made up the lower level of the building.

Antonio showed Isabella to the largest of the two rooms, never usually sleeping there himself as he felt it left too much area for him to pace, and then to begin to ponder and reconsider his many designs.

“I do hope it’s to your liking Isabella. I usually do not have many guests over, but I do try my best to keep all the areas of this building in well off shape.” Antonio explained to Isabella as he let her into the bedroom.

“It’s quite alright dear. I am more than happy here. Is there anything you need in particular from me now or a specific time you would wish me to be awake by tomorrow?” Isabella asked, wanting to help out Antonio as much as she could to repay his large generosity in all this.

“I cannot think of anything for the moment, or an exact time to rise for tomorrow. As this is more my own personal workshop now, I simply rise when inspiration takes me and I feel compelled to act on it. Come upstairs whenever you awaken and wish to begin helping me.” Antonio replied to Isabella, glad to see Isabella smile and nod at his suggestion.

“I shall do just that then. Goodnight Antonio. Pleasant dreams.” Isabella answered Antonio, turning to head towards her bed as she did so.

“And the same to you Isabella. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Antonio added, turning back towards his other bedroom, to partake of the dreams that helped inspire many of his greatest works.


***


Four months often passed before Antonio as though it were nothing. The last four months though were a rare exception to Antonio however. Antonio had quickly come to realize that this differentiation from the normal was due to the constant presence of his beautiful new co-designer, Isabella.

Antonio had quickly realized that he had very strong feelings towards Isabella, actually having gone out on a spur-of-the-moment outing with Dan to pick up engagement rings for Zoe and Isabella herself. Antonio did not regret the decision he had made in regards to obtaining the ring, as he felt certain that he would indeed someday propose to her when he was more able to. Antonio did regret the rapidity in which he had obtained the ring though.

Antonio had yet to even ask Isabella out to dinner, let alone ask her to become his wife. Antonio hated this damnable shyness he possessed, the quality more befitting of Oliver than of himself. Antonio often believed, sometimes truly believing he was just fooling himself, that Isabella also had feeling for him due to the way she would sometimes act and speak around his person.

Antonio was going to end his streak of shyness with Isabella tonight though. Antonio had invested approximately six months or so two years ago into learning cooking from Ben, and tonight he would use the skills he had gained. Antonio couldn’t see himself making a career out of the food he could cook, but he understood at least why Ben enjoyed the act so much.

Antonio and Isabella were currently in the middle of finishing up co-designing a magnificent wedding dress, hoping to usher in a brand new age of wedding gowns with it. The gown they were designing was not white, as was tradition, but was instead ocean blue with gold trims. Other designers would argue it was by far the wrong choice to make, deviating from tradition so much, but even they never voiced the complaints once they had seen the results of the mentioned dress.

Antonio removed the last pin he had used, and stood to admire his and Isabella’s greatest creation thus far. Isabella too stood up near that moment, having also removed her last pin, and was equally smitten with the outcome.

“Amazing. Wouldn’t you agree Isabella?” Antonio asked Isabella, speaking for the first time in hours.

“I would. Although I might want to add a few more descriptive terms due to the vast vocabulary at my disposal.” Isabella concluded, giggling as she did so.

“I believe I would too, but I don’t want to become too vain. Although I do believe completing a dress such as this deserves a personal reward? Do you consent?” Antonio questioned Isabella, hoping greatly for an agreement.

“I am not one for often self-indulgence, but I dare say this is too great a victory to not celebrate in some way.” Isabella replied, smiling at Antonio as she found herself able to express her true self around him.

“Excellent. I shall cook us my finest dish.” Antonio voiced, shocking Isabella in the process of doing so.

“Darling! I had no idea you could cook.” Isabella questioned, not knowing what other skills if any Antonio might possess.

“I learned the basics of cooking higher class meals from Ben many years ago. I don’t often practice my skills, but I am competent enough in them to believe I can cook us an at least decent meal for tonight.” Antonio explained, turning to wink at Isabella as he made his way towards the kitchen.

Within an hour of offering to cook dinner hour, Antonio had created a tomato Fettuccini that could rival the ones at nearby restaurants. Antonio also decided that perhaps this was an acceptable time to open the champagne he had received as an extra thank you from a client a short time ago.

Antonio brought out the dishes and the drink to the table he kept perpetually out in the main room of Fabulous Fabrications, in case of a needed break or meal. Within a few moments of Antonio finishing his setup, Isabella had joined him and openly voiced throughout the meal that it was one of the greatest dinners she had ever partook of. Nothing overly important was said during the meal itself, Antonio and Isabella instead choosing to discuss lighter topics and possible new ideas or revamps of old ones.

Two hours after beginning the meal, both Antonio and Isabella’s plates were empty of Fettuccini and the champagne was down to mere drops remaining. Though neither Isabella nor Antonio were exactly the heaviest of drinkers, neither had the champagne made them bizarrely uninhibited. It merely allowed them to relax properly and speak easier than they normally did at meals.

“Well, that was scrumptious darling. Thank you for allowing me to taste some of your cooking.” Isabella told Antonio, smiling all the while.

“It was my pleasure Isabella. I do hope we can perhaps attempt to do this more often.” Antonio replied, turning to head back towards the kitchen with the dishes.

“Would you be advised to doing this sort of thing as…something more though?” Isabella asked Antonio, halting him in his progression towards the kitchen.

Antonio wasn’t sure what was happening, or if it even was happening at all. Antonio decided to re-broach the subject to confirm for himself what he was beginning to think.

“Are you asking me…if I’d like to do all this as a date Isabella?” Antonio asked Isabella, seeing her start to twirl her hair around her finger in embarrassment. 

“Was I too forward? I do apologize if that was the case.” Isabella quickly apologized, looking away from Antonio as she did so.

“That’s not the case at all. I’m simply reaffirming what you meant before I gave you my answer. My answer, if this is indeed the case, is that I would absolutely love to do this sort of thing as a date very soon and very often.” Antonio explained to Isabella, glad again for the excuse of the champagne as to why he was being so greatly uninhibited tonight.

“R-Really?” Isabella asked, betraying her excitement greatly.

“Absolutely. I’m so glad you asked me. I’ve wanted to ask you on a date for months now, but never had the courage too. Not even tonight.” Antonio replied, looking down slightly as he did so.

It was at that moment that Isabella got to her feet to walk over towards Antonio. Upon reaching him, Isabella gave Antonio a light kiss on the cheek. Antonio was visibly shocked for a moment before Isabella whispered something into his ear.

“I can be brave enough for the both of us then.” Isabella told Antonio, turning and winking at him as she headed downstairs towards her bedroom.

Antonio would eventually follow Isabella’s idea of going to bed after what had just transpired, but not for a great while. Eventually, Antonio did regain control of himself again and set about closing the shop completely before going to bed himself.


Just as Antonio turned off the last upstairs light and proceeded towards his own bedroom, he had the sudden courage and self-assurance to say that the next four months of his life would be even better than these last four had been.


***


Antonio was now able to say with great confidence that he had been right about what the next four months of his life would be when he had predicted it so many months ago.

Antonio had never been happier in all his life, and his designs for summer came to reflect that fact greatly. Isabella too came to radiate happiness in herself and her work, glad and surprised that the special someone she had waited her whole life for would come from Earth and not Equestria.

Antonio had also come to gain great confidence in himself too, even finally being able to convince himself that he could give Isabella the ring he had bought for her so very long ago. Even now, as Antonio returned from collecting supplies for the new season, the ring was tucked deeply within his pocket. Antonio walked through the front door to his shop, and was greeted with a strange sight.

Off in the corner of the main room of his shop was Isabella, which was not all that surprising, talking to someone who appeared to be Meghan. Just as Antonio cared to try and get a closer look though, a mysterious wind from nowhere appeared and whisked the girl he was certain was Meghan away.

“Isabella? Was that Meghan? What was she doing here? Isabella?” Antonio called out to Isabella, causing her to turn towards him and show Antonio her face.

Antonio immediately dropped all his supplies and rushed directly to Isabella’s side. Isabella had clearly been crying very hard over something just before Antonio got there, and Antonio had to know what had caused Isabella to cry so very much.

“Isabella! What’s wrong? Why were you crying? Please tell me.” Antonio pleaded with Isabella, feeling her shiver slightly as he embraced her.

“My name…for this at least…has to be Rarity.” Isabella began, unable to stomach saying anymore at the moment.

“Okay. So, does that mean that it was Twilight instead of Meghan here to see Rarity and not Isabella?” Antonio asked Rarity, trying to nudge her gently into revealing the full truth of Twilight’s presence earlier.

“Yes. She came…to tell me…that…Equestria’s being destroyed.” Rarity stated, starting to cry again as Antonio felt his eyes visibly widen at the news.

“The Elements of Harmony are needed then?” Antonio asked Rarity, deciding it was best to get through this pain as fast as was possible.

“Yes they are. And Twilight said…none of you can come with us…and we can never come back if we go.” Rarity explained, breaking down fully again at the end.

Antonio simply stayed quiet and attempted to comfort Rarity as he tried to come to terms with this news. Rarity was needed in Equestria. Rarity couldn’t stay on Earth anymore. Rarity was going to leave Antonio…forever.

“Rarity. Listen to me. You have to go.” Antonio told Rarity, forcing her to look up at him as he did.

“But…what about us Antonio?” Rarity asked Antonio, forcing him to say more things he had never wanted to.

“I…I don’t know. If I can’t come with you, and you can’t come back…I just don’t know. It doesn’t matter at the moment though. Think of Sweetie Belle. Think of Spike. Think of Ponyville. Every single one of them needs you a lot more than I do right now.” Antonio explained it all to Rarity, hating himself more and more with each new word he spoke.

After a few moments of silence, Rarity spoke up again. This time, Rarity’s voice had more strength behind it than the last few times.

“You’re right Antonio. Just like you always are. I wish I could love you more.” Rarity told Antonio, moving forward to kiss him.

Antonio did not interrupt the kiss Rarity decided to give him, knowing it was her parting gift. That was just Rarity. Always far more generous than she had any right to be.

As Antonio leaned more into the kiss, he felt and heard the wind that had blown through the meadow Dan had shown him on that fateful day many months ago. Antonio knew that this meant when he next opened his eyes, Rarity would be gone.

Antonio no longer felt Rarity’s presence after a short while and knew she was gone from his life and his world, but refused to open his eyes. Eventually though, pure need drove Antonio to open his eyes.

Looking around his shop, Antonio realized how much his life had come to include Rarity. Antonio felt almost like he couldn’t even properly breathe without Rarity anymore. Antonio walked to the chair at his table, sat down, and stayed that way for a very long time.


The next time Antonio acknowledged doing anything was many days later, when he would take out the ring that was meant for Rarity and look at it along with the first wedding dress he and Rarity had designed together. Antonio knew his creative drive was over and gone, but he also knew he could finish what he had already started. Antonio also knew he had to finish it all. For himself as much as for Rarity.

> Chapter 12: Arriving in Chaos without Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Canterlot was falling, slowly and surely before everypony’s eyes. Trottingham and Manehattan already lay defeated, with Las Pegasus close to being fully conquered. Celestia had tried her best to protect everyopony who was anywhere within her kingdom, but had to soon face the dark reality that she could not save them all from everything.

Earlier in the week, Celestia had handed out a decree that all stallions and worthy warriors who wished to fight may stay, but all of her other subject must go into hiding, protected by any and all magic that the Unicorns who were not fighting could muster. Many families had been divided because of this decree, but without it, Equestria would already have fully fallen to ruin.

Celestia had also set about eclipsing the land of Equestria indefinitely, so that she and Luna could both use their full powers to defend their subjects from the forces of Discord and the Changelings. It proved to be a vain effort though, as the only towns in Equestria that lay as of yet mostly unconquered were Ponyville, Canterlot, Baltimare, Fillydelphia and Appleloosa. 

Appleloosa was protected mostly by the settler ponies and the buffalo, Canterlot was protected by Shining Armor and Celestia, Fillydelphia was protected by a strong contingency of unicorns, Baltimare was protected by various means of magical creatures in addition to ponies, and Ponyville was protected by Luna and Cadance. Each town was slowly and surely falling though, drained from the long fight against seemingly never ending forces and misfortune.

Discord had been freed a short while after the Elements of Harmony had vanished from Equestria, the link they held with him no longer in place. Shortly afterwards, Chrysalis and her Changeling Army had reformed from all over Equestria to support and work with Discord. With the Changeling’s power to feed off of love, and Discord’s ability to create unnatural chaos, most any effort to defend by anypony was short lived.

Celestia had set up magical relay beacons across Equestria with the strongest magic users in each town. Celestia was receiving her hourly reports at this very moment from all across Equestria, or what remained of it.

“The Changeling’s have been able to bypass all the fireworks and disorientations I created and have outmaneuvered the Ursa Minor’s and Dragons we had been able to recruit to our cause. Even our Parasprite tactics proved ineffective due to Discord’s influence. I’m afraid Baltimare is lost. I’m sorry Princess.” Trixie apologized to Princess Celestia, hating herself now for not having taken her magic seriously before now.

“I’m sorry to hear that Trixie, but do not personally blame yourself. Everywhere is falling eventually. I fear it only a matter of days before Canterlot itself falls. Do try to make it here or to Ponyville if you or anypony else can.” Celestia explained to the pony she had heard about in a particular letter of Twilight’s.

Celestia turned now towards the next relay beacon just as Trixie’s signal cut out for what Celestia believed would be the last time. That thought haunted her as she strived to find good news somewhere.

“Lyra, how fares Appleloosa?” Celestia spoke up, addressing one of her former students and seeing the dead look she received in return. This war was taking its toll on everypony.

“Not well Princess. The buffalo are tiring and we have very few strong magic users here to help with additional fortifications. Fancypants and Nurse Redheart have also said that we have now exceeded the maximum amount of injured ponies that we can help here. Zecora’s also run out of potions and the rare ingredients necessary to make them, making all of us now very exhausted without them. We are also running extremely low on all supplies, including basic food and water. I fear Appleloosa will be lost within the next two days.” Lyra spoke to Princess Celestia as though not seeing her, her thoughts still with the injured Bon Bon.

“That is very regrettable news Lyra. Do tell any Appleloosan’s who can make it to the train’s to go now while they can. Attempt to make it to Ponyville at least, if not directly here to Canterlot.” Celestia told her former pupil, hoping that Lyra could still properly hear her.

Lyra’s signal ended too as Celestia turned towards the second last remaining beacon, and the last connection to the only remaining city of Equestria aside from Canterlot itself. 

“And what of Fillydelphia’s state?” Celestia asked her nephew and his new salesman allies, not expecting remotely good news anymore.

“It fares badly Aunt Celestia. Soarin was taken out early today, with Spitfire now refusing to fly again without him. Vinyl Scratch has also collapsed from exhaustion, which has allowed the enemies to close in without her magical noise interference to stop them. Minuette and Fleur de Lis have also become unable to perform any more healing magic, meaning an increase in frontline casualties. Fillydelphia won’t last another full day with these losses. We’re already in evacuation mode. We hope to make it to at least Ponyville within the next twelve hours. Flim and Flam will be able to help greatly with moving the train quickly.” Prince Blueblood explained to his Aunt Celestia, looking for the first time in his life tired and strained.

“I’m sorry to hear all that Blueblood. Do send me a message when and if you make it to Ponyville.” Celestia replied to her nephew, glad to see him nod and turn away to continue commanding like a proper ruler should in times of need.

Celestia turned towards the last relay beacon, the one which housed all the remaining hope for Equestria within its confines.

“And Ponyville my dear sister?” Celestia asked Luna, allowing herself to finally look fearful in front of her sister.

“Ponyville, at least for now, is managing to hold. Cadance’s magic is a great help here. It prevents many inner disputes, but also helps provide more energy for the Changeling’s at the same time. It is indeed a twin edged blade sister. Cheerilee has managed to keep all the children safe and unaware though, granting us that small lenience. Big Macintosh is also fully out on the front lines, managing as much on his own as an entire division. He continues to return gravely injured though, and we are losing the ability to fully heal him each time. I intend to make him stay here to protect the other injured soon. Filthy Rich and Granny Smith are continuing to be able to get small amount of useful supplies, making that area of worry fare better. My magic is beginning to dwindle though sister. I am not used to this much continuous magic use after such a long stint of magical inactivity.” Luna explained in great detail, allowing Celestia to breathe lightly if only for a moment at best.

“I am glad that Ponyville is at least still able to survive for a few more days. It is imperative that it survive a while longer, at least to act as a relay station for all the citizens coming from across Equestria.” Celestia spoke to her sister, able to relay more to her than the others.

“Indeed sister. I fear though the separation element that has begun to crop up amongst many of our numbers. Many ponies are missing the various members of their families, who are stationed all around Equestria. Cadance too is beginning to suffer due to her separation from Shining Armor. I take it he is the same way?” Luna asked her sister, seeing Celestia gravely nod in response.

“You suspect right Luna. His magic is powerful when he is determined, but more brittle than ever when he remembers Cadance is not here with him. I am losing my ability to help with the shield as well as my magic is quickly being drained by protecting all the constantly arriving and departing trains. I do not know what to do.” Celestia blatantly told her sister, seeing the same look befall Luna that possessed her.

“You do not need to know all sister. It is far too much for any one pony to bear. If only the Elements of Harmony were here, we might have been able to hold more.” Luna said solemnly, remembering the loss of the Bearers of the Elements.

“If only indeed sister. All we may do at this point is hope for a miracle.” Celestia added, turning away to let a few tears fall from her very tired eyes.

As the last of Celestia’s tears hit the ground, an enormous wind ripped through Canterlot, coming to center near Celestia herself. As Celestia opened her wings and prepared to take flight from what she assumed was a new kind of enemy attack, six bulbs of light appeared in front of her. Celestia dared not believe what her mind was telling her though, for fear of losing even more hope in this war.

As the lights intensified, and both Celestia and Luna, who still had her relay beacon connected, had to turn away to shield their eyes, six forms appeared clearly within the lights. After a few more moments, the light died away entirely and Celestia and Luna were both able to see again.

Before Celestia herself, were the six current, and before this moment missing, Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Each still bore their Element and appeared the same as when they had disappeared, but Celestia sensed a shift within the ponies themselves, somewhere deep within their very souls.

“Hello Princess Celestia. We’re sorry for being late, but we’re here now, and we’re ready to protect Equestria.” Twilight Sparkle spoke up, trying her best to harden her heart and soul as she remembered what she had needed to leave in order to return to Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle was the only of the six Bearers that could appear to say anything distinguishable at the moment. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both muttered indecipherable phrases at their own hooves, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were silent and nervously combing their manes, And Fluttershy was already openly crying, before any battles had even begun that day.

“I am glad to hear that Twilight, but what has happened to everypony? You are no longer the ponies you were when you left many months ago.” Princess Celestia asked her student, expecting Twilight to give a full and complete answer then and there as she had always done before now.

“Perhaps later Princess. I mean no offense, but I truly do not feel ready to speak of my experiences abroad yet. And I know everypony else here shares that sentiment.” Twilight replied, shocking Princess Celestia greatly and soliciting a minor nod out of the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

Princess Celestia decided not to push the issue with Twilight, fearing the kind of pony she and the other Bearers had become in their shared absences. Instead, Celestia merely nodded, stood to the side and pointed out the current positions of the Changeling’s and Discord’s Influences to the Bearer’s.

“All right girls. Let’s just do this. Equestria does need us after all.” Twilight spoke up, leading the rest to follow slowly after her.


This day would go down in Equestria’s history as ‘The Day the Elements of Harmony Truly Died.’ For while the Elements power flowed forth from the six ponies who were once the closest and best of friends, their hearts were not in it in any way but the smallest, and thus the Elements were not a permanent defence as they once were before now. Just an additional means to push the enemies away from Canterlot and Ponyville for a few hours at a time in order to grant everypony a short reprise from the horrors of this war. The Elements of Harmony were no longer whole, as both symbols and ponies.

> Chapter 13: The Paths Found
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subchapter 1: A family not Forgotten

Dan continued to work the farm, often doing more harm than good in the state he was currently in. None of his family members dared to approach Dan and tell him to stop or take a break though, for fear of how he might react in his current state of mind, all of them having been aware of just how hurt Dan was a few days ago by Zoe’s departure.

Two days after Sam had set about brining Dan his first glass of water, which had been a chore added to her routine now, another familiar figure approached Dan, ready to talk some sense into him.

“How ya doing there son?” James spoke up from his place behind Dan, seeing Dan stop his digging of many more holes in the apple orchard to plant more trees that his family did not even have.

“Please go away Gramps. It’s nothing personal towards ya. I just don’t wanna talk ta anyone at all for a might longer.” Dan replied, being somewhat rude to his grandfather for the first time in all his life.

“Ya don’t need ta talk to me Dan. Just listen some as I speak aloud ta myself alright?” James told Dan, seeing Dan give a very noncommittal shrug before turning around and returning to digging holes in the apple orchard.

“Good son. Now listen closely. I know what you’re going through right now.” James began, seeing Dan stop digging to throw down his spade and turn around to face him again at those particular last words.

“No ya don’t. Ya can’t possibly understand ma situation fully. I understand that Grammie left ya and all, same as ma situation, but ya don’t understand the key differences in ma situation at all. And I’m not up for informing ya of the differences myself.” Dan nearly shouted at his grandfather, not allowing himself to be lectured by anyone, even a man Dan greatly respected, about this issue of his.

“Oh really boy? Ya think all that? So I suppose ya think I also don’t know what it’s like ta love someone who came from Equestria too then?” James replied, making Dan go entirely silent and completely unresponsive for a few moments.

Dan had no idea how to respond to his grandfather now, nor any idea how exactly James had figured out that Zoe was really from Equestria, when he and Zoe had both worked so hard to hide the fact from everyone around the farm.

“W-What do ya mean there Gramps?” Dan spoke up, unsure of how else to begin approaching this subject.

“Don’t play dumb Dan. I knew all about your and Zoe’s situation. I kept quiet cause I was once exactly like ya boy. I too love a gal that came from Equestria. Her name was Spring Maker, but I called her Mildred here so as ta not raise suspicion, like y’all were doing with Zoe. Or should I call her Applejack?” James explained to Dan, waiting for his grandson to fully recognize the name his grandfather had just used.

“Wait…Mildred…But that’s Grammie’s name.” Dan responded, unsure if any of what he heard or said at the moment was in the tiniest way true.

“Yup. You’re right about that Dan. Spring Maker came ta Earth from Equestria one day many years ago. I fell in love with Spring Maker, and offered her ta stay here til she could go back ta Equestria, disguised as a gal named Mildred to fool the rest o’ the family. She ended up loving me back eventually, and we got married much like you and Zoe were planning ta. Mildred had your daddy and his three brothers too, before she had ta go back ta Equestria. Celestia herself came ta get her back, what with Spring Maker being one o’ tha older Bearers of tha Elements of Harmony that most no one knows about.” James explained further to his grandson, knowing he could only and would only reveal all this to Dan, the one man he knew in this world that would believe him.

Dan stayed quiet for quite a few more moments, trying to fully decipher all he had just learned about from his grandfather’s past. Eventually, Dan chose to speak up with the question that now plagued his mind greatly.

“So…what did ya do when Mildred left ta go back to Equestria? How…how did ya go on with your life at all?” Dan asked his grandfather, still mostly unsure as to whether or not James could help him out of his situation.

“It was very hard. I aint gonna lie about that at all. But I had your daddy as his brothers ta look after, and then their kids after them, and in a way, all o’ them were constant reminders o’ Spring Maker. I know that y’all didn’t have as much time with Zoe as I got ta have with Mildred, and that aint right at all, but I’m betting she still gave ya something o’ hers when she left.” James explained to his grandson, glad to see Dan reach into his pocket and take out the hair ribbon he had received a few days ago from Applejack before she left.

“She…she gave me this hair ribbon. And also she said I had all her love. Forever.” Dan told James, surprised to see his grandfather rise and come fully over to him.

“It’s true boy. I can feel her love on ya. I can feel it on that ribbon too. That thing’s magical, and it may well end up being your way back ta her, as long as ya believe strong enough.” James explained his thoughts, knowing full well how girls from Equestria usually thought.

Dan couldn’t speak, hitting himself mentally for not realizing the importance of the hair ribbon before now. It had just sat there in his pocket for days now. Dan could find his way back to Applejack with this hair ribbon, but he also realized what he would have to give up in order to do just that.

“But…If I leave…the farm…” Dan tried to explain his reasoning to his grandfather, glad to feel a hand supportively grasp his shoulder instead.

“What did I tell ya all them months ago Dan? Tha farm’ll always be here, but Zoe aint gonna be. Ya may not have realized it, being distraught as ya were, but your brothers and sisters have stepped up fully and can run the farm without ya now. They hardly even realize you’re even still here, expecting ya ta just up and vanish one day. They’ll all be okay without ya here. Follow your heart. It’s usually a might smarter than your brain.” James told Dan, turning to go back towards the house as Dan smiled fully for the first time in many long days.

Dan immediately looked down at the ribbon he held in his hands, and began to focus and think. Dan began to remember everything he could about Applejack and Zoe. As Dan started to remember the best moments of his life with her, the ribbon began to wrap tightly around Dan’s hand and Dan began to hear the same wind that had brought forth and taken away Applejack from this world.

Dan decided to open his eyes one last time on Earth, merely to fully see what he was experiencing with his other senses. As Dan opened his eyes, he came to realize he was several feet off the ground, a small hurricane seeming to appear around his person. Dan wasn’t scared at all though. Dan knew he wasn’t leaving everything he ever knew, having come to know he loved Applejack more than his family at that moment.

“Hold on a bit longer Applejack. I’m a coming for ya. And aint nothing gonna stop me this time round.” Dan yelled within his personal hurricane, just as it swallowed him completely and sent him on the way to Equestria, and to Applejack.


***



Subchapter 2: A Life without any Sparkle

Noah sat down on the street out front of the area of space that was once his grandfather’s store, wondering why all this had needed to happen right now, when Noah had already lost everything else of true value in his life.

Noah’s faulty stove element had finally succeeded in outliving its usefulness and had set about burning down both Noah’s home and his business to nothing but ashes. In addition to that, Noah’s Prius had been stolen a few days ago by a chop shop, and had just been recently found, though it was now completely destroyed.

As Noah continued to contemplate the apparent irony and cruelty of the universe towards everything he loved at all in his life, the fire chief of the city, Nicholas, approached Noah.

“Excuse me sir? We’ve done all we can now unfortunately. I’m sorry to say this, but it appears as though nothing survived the blaze. I’m sorry for all of your losses.” Nicholas explained to Noah, seeing Noah look up at him with a demented and uncharacteristic smile on his face.

“You don’t even know the true meaning behind those words you just spoke to me. I do thank you for trying to save my store and my home though. If it’s acceptable to ask this now, could you and the rest of the firefighters leave? I need to be alone for a while to consider what to do with what others might call the remains of my life now.” Noah asked Nicholas, seeing the fire chief nod in agreement at his strange yet still reasonable request.

Within about half an hour after Noah had first requested it, everyone was gone from what was the previous site of the Owl’s Nest bookstore. Everyone except Noah himself though. Noah stood up from the seat he had taken on the street beside his store, and decided to walk around for a short while to take stock of the shredded remains of his once great life.

The Owl’s Nest was gone now, beyond any hopeful repair or reprise. Noah’s home was also gone now, destroyed to the same if not a worse extent than the Owl’s Nest. The car that was once Noah’s father’s was stolen, no doubt reincarnated in a lot of different cars around the city in some way. And worst of all, Twilight was gone from Noah’s life too. Gone forever from Noah’s life were all these things he loved beyond all else. Noah collapsed onto the street as he remembered all he had lost, not wanting to go on anymore with this shamble of a life.

As Noah lay down on the street though, he began to feel an odd sensation inside his right front pocket. Reaching inside it to try to discover the cause of this strange sensation, Noah came across the ring he had gotten to give to Twilight a short while ago. Seeing the ring again brought out many emotions from Noah’s almost completely shattered mind, but the greatest feeling apparent was longing to see Twilight again.

“Twilight…I miss you…I need you…And I love you…” Noah whispered into the ring itself, somehow hoping and believing Twilight would know what Noah had just said.

As Noah stared deeply at the ring box though, he began to notice that it was cracked and something appeared to be leaking out despite how impossible that sounded. Upon closer inspection, Noah realized, that somehow, small amounts of wind were pouring from the ring box itself.

Standing up almost instantaneously from the street, Noah set himself about thinking of Twilight even more while still holding the almost destroyed ring box. Noah was certain that thinking of Twilight with the ring box in hand was the key to finding her again, just as doing it in the first place had allowed Noah to notice the wind coming from it. 

Once Noah let all of his memories and feelings flow openly through his mind and his words, the ring box expelled a burst of wind so great that Noah simply vanished from the world instantly, ring box, body, soul and all.

Noah awakened in what he could only later describe as a purple colored sideways hurricane. Noah instantly stood up and began walking the way he was facing though, certain that the light at the end of this tunnel would indeed be Twilight Sparkle.


***



Subchapter 3: The Second Sonic Rainboomer

The rev of his engine was what drew Lucas’ opponent’s attention to him finally arriving for the race that day. Chuck, the rival Lucas faced most often in his races, was the one who would speak up and goad Lucas for his choice of arrival first.

“Almost late there Lucas. Where’s your little girlfriend? She finally dump a loser like you?” Chuck laughed at Lucas, hoping he could distract Lucas enough to make him lose or crash in the race that was about to begin.

“Shut up Chuck! I warn you only once today. I promise you I will run you down repeatedly if you so much as make an allusion to Sophie again.” Lucas yelled back, surprising everyone there with the true venom he spoke with, Lucas not normally reacting at all to any sort of goading.

Just as Lucas finished speaking, the flag girl, Rachel everyone believed her name was, stepped up and began to signal the start of the race. Within a few moments, every bike at the starting line was gone with nothing but the sound of their bikes remaining in the air. Every bike except for the Rainbow Dash however.

Lucas began to think about the true reason he had come to this race, and decided that racing was no longer worthwhile at all to him when he realized it. Without Rainbow cheering him in the stands, or beside him on the track, Lucas no longer felt the urge to win or even to race at all anymore.

Lucas set off back along the way he had come from, intent on running the Rainbow Dash right out of gas this time. As Lucas took to the open road again, he began to feel the wind strongly in his hair. It did not feel natural though, as though the wind was purposely pushing Lucas straight forward down the oddly straight road.

Lucas looked around himself at these sensations, and was shocked to see nothing but a huge tunnel of wind, that cycled through the colors of the rainbow rapidly in its outer walls. Lucas had no true clue what all this meant for him, but he had a strange belief that perhaps Rainbow Dash was on the other side of this mysterious wind tunnel. And Lucas at least had an idea on how to get to the other side of this tunnel to confirm his belief or not.

Lucas pushed the Rainbow Dash to the fastest it could go naturally in this strange storm, and then floored his fully fueled nitrox booster, hoping it would give him the burst he needed to reach the other side of the storm. Lucas was not disappointed as he felt himself experience what he could only call a Sonic Rainboom from then on as he lurched forward into the unknown areas of the wind tunnel, feeling the world itself finally leave him as he raced forward.


***



Subchapter 4: The Proof is in the Cupcakes

“NO!” Ben screamed almost to the kitchen itself as he threw yet another tray of cupcakes to the already overcrowded floor of his kitchen.

Ben had been baking cupcakes for well over two days straight, not being satisfied with a single one that exited his ovens when they were done. Ben continued to throw the ruined cupcakes to the floor of his kitchen, quickly running out of space along with baking tins.

Just as Ben prepared to take yet another tray of cupcakes out of the oven, he heard the doorbell ring. Screaming at himself for not disabling the doorbell to prevent interruptions, Ben proceeded forward to open the door and came face to face with the manager of Sugar Stop, Shirley.

“What do you want with me Shirley? I don’t have any time for you now.” Ben told Shirley brutally, shocking Shirley greatly with his new demeanour.

“I-I came to check up on you Ben. No one has seen you in days, and everyone is worried sick about you.” Shirley explained, sad at not seeing Ben’s face relax at all at what she said.

“Tell them I’m fine. In fact, I quit. I don’t have time for a job with you anymore.” Ben replied, turning right around and returning to his latest batch of cupcakes, not caring that he burnt his hands as he took them out without any oven mitts on. 

Ben took a nibble of one of the latest batch of cupcakes, and then threw the entire tray to the ground like all the others. Shirley had followed Ben to his kitchen to demand an explanation for his new demeanour, but she could find none that made sense to her in this kitchen.

“What are you doing Ben? Why did you waste those cupcakes? They look good to me.” Shirley said, seeing Ben turn around and advance on her quickly.

“Oh yes. They look good. But they’re not right. Just like all the others I’ve tried. Only when I recreate them perfectly can I hope to find her again.” Ben announced, turning back towards the counters to begin mixing another new batch.

“F-Find who Ben?” Shirley asked from afar, already heading back towards the door she now regretted walking through.

“My true love. Pinkie Pie.” Ben whispered the last two words after shouting the first three, not even caring if Shirley was around anymore to berate him. 

Looking around for the vanilla, Ben came to the realization that he was completely out, and collapsed, defeated, on to the last open spot of floor in his kitchen. 

“I can’t do it. I can’t recreate the Laughter Cupcakes. I’ll never see Pinkie Pie again.” Ben voiced aloud, looking upon the last of the 6 Laughter Cupcakes Pinkie had left him with.

Ben had only tasted half of the first one before realizing that if he could recreate the experience of making them, perhaps he could get to Pinkie Pie. The other 4 of the missing Cupcakes had been ripped apart to look for indications of certain ingredients. Ben had no luck in deciphering the full recipe, and could not bring himself to eat the last Pinkie-made one until he did.

As Ben finally admitted defeat though, he felt an odd urge overtake him. An urge to fully eat the last Laughter Cupcake Pinkie had made. Ben immediately sprang to his feet at this idea.

How had Ben not thought of it before? He had felt closest to Pinkie when he had eaten the first Cupcake, and not felt close to her since then. The Cupcakes Pinkie had made were the key to finding her, not the ones Ben could not make. Pinkie herself had laid the path for Ben to come to Equestria.

Ben stood before the last Laughter Cupcake now, letting all his hope and thoughts of Pinkie flow through his very soul as he took the Cupcake into his hand and began to eat it.

Upon taking the first bite of the Cupcake, a huge wind was released from it that swallowed Ben. Ben continued to eat the Cupcake though, worried that if he did not eat it completely, he would not be able to fully go to Pinkie. Once Ben had taken and swallowed his last bite, he opened his eyes to behold a swirling pink wind tunnel before him. 

This strangely colored wind did not scare Ben at all though. Ben set about marching forward through the wind as fast as he could, feeling certain in knowing that this wind was the last barrier between him and Pinkie, and being beyond determined to destroy it quickly.


***



Subchapter 5: Ignorance Without Bliss

Oliver walked along the side of the highway, almost entirely unaware of the rest of the world around him except for a few select feet in any one direction. Oliver normally never walked at all, save for the day he went up the mountain with Dan and his friends.

Remembering that day and what had come of it made Oliver stop completely in his tracks to simply become overcome by his raging emotions. Oliver knew now what he thought of Fluttershy, and why he had been able to say what he needed to so as to inspire her to return to Equestria a short while ago.

Oliver loved Fluttershy, not having been able to come to proper terms with it though while she still inhabited his own world, and not having been even mildly aware of it before she had come there in the first place. As Oliver realized all this, a small creature came over to him.

This creature was a monarch butterfly, which had always been one of Oliver’s favorite animals. The monarch landed on Oliver’s shoulder and simply waited until Oliver would become aware of its presence there, as though it were nearly as if not more intelligent than him.

Eventually, Oliver did indeed become aware of the butterfly on his shoulder, and turned to ask it a question, unsure of why he felt compelled to do so.

“Hello there little friend. May I ask what you’re doing here?” Oliver asked the monarch, seeing the butterfly almost seem to turn its head towards him, and then slowly take off to hover next to the forest the highway passed by at this point.

Oliver was not immediately certain of what all this meant, but did acknowledge it as one of the  strangest things he had seen in his life so far. Eventually, Oliver acknowledged that the butterfly was waiting for him to follow it or not, unsure how he had been able to gleam that particular fact.

“You want me to follow you? Okay.” Oliver told the butterfly, feeling certain this creature understood him now.

The monarch turned around from Oliver, and began to fly slowly, leaving enough of a trail for Oliver to follow. Oliver followed this butterfly’s path, unsure of what to expect but certain it would be something he wanted badly.

Eventually, Oliver emerged into a wide open field, not at all unlike the one where he had met Fluttershy. As Oliver took note of his surroundings, he realized that the butterfly who had lead him there was gone.

Oliver was initially distraught at the loss of the butterfly, but then realized the true reason for his distress. Butterflies reminded Oliver greatly of Fluttershy. Thinking of Fluttershy’s name brought back various memories of her to the forefront of Oliver’s mind. Oliver closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling of the memories for a moment, before snapping his eyes wide open again at the feeling of wind in the meadow.

The entire meadow was coming alive, every blade of grass and every tree leave slowly transforming into monarch butterflies, which began to circle Oliver to create the same wind he had felt when Fluttershy had left him earlier.

Oliver suddenly knew why the butterflies had brought him here. They had brought Oliver here to return him to Fluttershy, the magical creatures somehow sharing a link between Earth and Equestria as well. Oliver simply closed his eyes, and revelled in the experience of going between the two worlds.

“Fluttershy. I’ll be with you soon. That’s a promise.” Oliver spoke aloud a moment before the cyclone of butterflies separated, and Oliver vanished forever from the Earth.


***



Subchapter 6: A Lack of Inspiration

“Yes. I’m truly sorry. Do forgive me. Of course I’ll send you a full refund.” Antonio voiced, no longer caring who he said those words to, repeating them having merely become habitual for him in the past few days.

Antonio had attempted to finish all his placed orders as he had promised himself when Rarity had left, but he had been unable to properly design a single thing since Rarity had left.

Complaints were coming in from all around the world, from the various countries Antonio sent his creations too. All of them were upset by his lack of enthusiasm, his shoddy work, or his inattentiveness to the issues themselves.

Antonio no longer cared at all, his entire reason for being able to create beautiful designs having left his life entirely. Antonio no longer cared if the reputation of Fabulous Fabrications fell greatly, or if he lost money on every single order. Antonio simply no longer cared about anything in his world.

Antonio decided that today had been enough to put up with already, and thus set about disconnecting his phones, locking his doors, and disabling anything electronic that could annoy him for the remainder of the day. As Antonio went to turn off the last light in his store, he realized exactly what the light was illuminating.

The light was connected to a podium that displayed the first wedding dresses Antonio had designed, both alone and with help from Rarity. Antonio went along the line of dresses, remembering the inspiration and reason for each dress clearly, until he reached the last dress on the podium. This dress was Antonio’s favorite.

The last dress in line was the ocean blue and gold trimmed dress, or at least the initial product Antonio and Rarity had based the eventual dress on. Antonio would always love the dress, and not merely because it was the first of his very successful Stand-Out Weddings Line. Antonio loved this dress because he felt as though he could still feel Rarity’s presence woven within the fabric itself.

As Antonio inspected the dress, he realized that a stitch had come out along the trim near the bottom of the train. Antonio pulled lightly on the trim and, seemingly magically, the entire thread came out and draped itself around Antonio’s arm. Antonio looked down upon the trim, remembering it had been Rarity who had thought gold would make the best color accompaniment for ocean blue, and let a few stray tears fall from his dreary eyes.

Once Antonio’s tears had made contact with the gold trim, the entire thing whipped up and around Antonio’s being as though possessed by a demonic wind. Antonio knew what this wind meant though, and saw it as angelic now instead of demonic.

This wind would take Antonio to Rarity, and Antonio could not have felt happier about that as the trim whipped about one last time before removing Antonio’s entire being from the world he had inhabited all his life before now.

> Chapter 14: In Three Day's Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ponyville was gone now, or at least it was to all the ponies that saw it. Luna had held the town as long as she could, protecting it by herself until the last train had passed safely through her protection and into Celestia’s. Luna had sacrificed herself to capture by the Changeling’s and Discord to allow Cadance, Cheerilee, and Big Macintosh to get on to the last train, temporarily allowing herself to tap into the power of Nightmare Moon again.

Nightmare Moon would forever been seen throughout Equestria as a Hero from now on for what Luna had done that day with her power. Luna had managed to raise the entire power of the Everfree Forest to her side with Nightmare Moon’s help, the once malevolent being now wanting nothing more than to help the subjects who now admired her.

Luna had driven Discord and Chrysalis herself back for more than 20 hours consecutively before at last collapsing due to her immense exhaustion. Luna was currently being held deep with the confines of the Everfree forest, guarded by a large number of Changelings even though she no longer had any magical energy left.

Celestia had openly cried at her sister’s fall. Celestia had then begged the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony to not let the same thing happen to anypony else. So far, thanks to the help of the Elements and the revival of some of Equestria’s stronger fighters, Canterlot was managing to hold on. For how long this would last though, nopony knew.

With the arrival of Cadance in their midst, Shining Armor was reinvigorated to double up his efforts with his shield charm. Many of the children had also helped to inspire the fighters, being deputized as nurses or allowed to visit their family members to inspire them. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had almost refused to let their sisters go upon finding out they had now returned to Equestria. Spike was nearly as firm on that issue with Twilight. None of them could deny that the Bearers were needed once Chrysalis and Discord personally arrived outside Canterlot though.

The Changeling’s shift in power had caused them to appear differently now. Instead of black and green as they once, they were now blood red with the accumulated love they had taken. They also no longer had the holes in their beings, Celestia explaining the holes had represented their starvation before now. The Changeling’s were a horrifying sight to behold now, appearing in battle to almost be small evil Alicorns.

Discord’s appearance too had shifted, reflecting the Changeling’s rise to power. Discord’s appearance always reflected the beings that were most in power, his face representing the top being in power, always being a horse before now. Discord’s face was now a representation of the Changeling’s though, giving him an even more gruesome appearance. Discord himself had also grown visibly larger due to the great ability with which to unleash his chaos. Discord was now more than twice the original height he had been when Luna and Celestia had defeated him.

Once the fighters who had yet to gleam Chrysalis and Discord personally had seen them, they realized the true purpose of this war. They were fighting monsters, monsters that would destroy everything and anything anypony cared about in Equestria.

On the second day of their arrival, Discord and Chrysalis rose to the top of Shining Armor’s shield to make an announcement to the entirety of Canterlot.

“Greeting’s Canterlot. Or should I say ‘Most of Equestria’, as all you lovely ponies have been so kind to gather in your capital city by now?” Discord began, booming his voice and laughing mockingly towards the crowds gathered below.

“Defeat is inevitable. We have the Princess of the Moon, your Elements of Harmony tire, and the shields raised by Celestia and Shining Armor are not nearly as protective as you believe them to be.” Chrysalis continued, stomping on the top of the shields and mildly cracking them to prove her point.

“We will give you three days to surrender to our rule. If not, we will have all our forces gathered here to destroy your precious Canterlot once and for all!” Discord announced, laughing as maniacally as he ever had.

“We will consent to take prisoners of those who surrender, but we will not allow any who do not to remain here. You will be banished from Equestria much as we were, and none shall ever see you again. You have heard your choices. Choose wisely ponies.” Chrysalis finished, taking to the air again with Discord by her side.

The news of the entire enemy army coming to Canterlot greatly worried many ponies and would have caused a riot were it not for Cadance. Though continuous use of Cadances’s love spell was tiring, things would be far worse without it. Once Cadance had finished her spell, Princess Celestia stepped up to make her own proclamation.

“My dear subjects. You have all heard what Discord and Chrysalis said. I will not restate it for you. I merely let you know that I will not begrudge a single pony that does choose to surrender to them. I will understand any reason, whether it is overwhelming fear, or a need to protect your family. I will stand and fight to protect my birthplace, but I cannot demand or ask any of you to do the same anymore. This war has been far too hard on far too many of you already. Choose what you wish to do and act respectively. That is all I wish to say to you. I thank you for listening.” Celestia announced, shocking many ponies by not asking anypony else to stand by her in the final assault three days from now.

“Princess, I cannot believe you did not ask a single other pony to stand by you.” Twilight stated, still in awe at her teachers bravery.

“Twilight, I have lived for a very long time. I have asked very much of my many subjects. I have never faced a threat like this though. I will not face this threat as the Princess of Equestria, like I have all other times before now. I will face this threat as Celestia, proud daughter of Canterlot, prepared to die to save what I see as the most important thing. I will not see the ponies down there as my subjects anymore. I will see them as ponies and friends who I would risk anything and everything to protect. That is my way, and I will follow it to the end.” Celestia explained to Twilight, speaking as she had not ever in all her life. 

“Well, I for one will stay to fight. I returned to defend Equestria as best as I could, and I do not intend to forget my words.” Twilight replied to Celestia, standing as though she had just now gotten her second wind.

“Ya can count on me too Princess. Ain’t no point in one o’ tha Elements staying if we all don’t stay.” Applejack added, taking a place next to Twilight.

“Applejack’s right. We must all do our very best.” Rarity spoke up, coming to stand on the other side of Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash has never run away or given up before now, and that’s not going to change in the slightest!” Rainbow yelled, landing next to Applejack.

“I’m not the Fluttershy everypony in Ponyville knew anymore. Equestria needs a warrior, and that’s what I’m going to be.” Fluttershy announced as she landed next to Rarity.

“If I want to throw an after-war party, I’ve got to be here after the war. I’m staying too.” Pinkie Pie said, coming to stand next to Rainbow Dash.

Celestia smiled down at her little ponies, glad that she could still call them that for as different as they were now. Many more ponies on the balcony came to assure Celestia that they too would stay to fight, Cadance and Shining Armor included amongst their numbers.

“Aunt Luna sacrificed herself to let me come here to help. I won’t ever forget that.” Cadance spoke up, looking as she had when she had last faced down Chrysalis on her wedding day.

“Well, I can’t exactly call myself a proper stallion if I abandon my wife and little sister here now can I?” Shining Armor added, moving to stand between Twilight and Cadance.

Down below the balcony from where Celestia spoke and her bravest ponies joined her, her bravery would in turn spurn a whole new army, revitalized by the words of their Princess, their friend, and their protector. Not a single pony would move to abandon Canterlot, the last place ponies had left to call their own in this terrible war.

> Chapter 15: The Lunar Preparations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next three days passed with much worry and haste within the confines of Canterlot’s walls. Most everypony spent the time resting, visiting with family, or preparing for battle. Most everypony knew that their greatest strengths were already drained, and that who would win this war would be decided on the natural battlefield.

Celestia, Shining Armor, and the Bearers of Elements of Harmony were constantly implored to sleep, but they would not listen. None of them trusted the word of Chrysalis or Discord, instead expecting an attack to come at any time. All of them kept their current protective charms going, but also rested as much as they allowed themselves to regain at least some strength for the final battle.

Luna had also managed to escape the Everfree Forest and make it to Canterlot, surprising everypony. Luna arrived very badly hurt and tired, but at least she was okay now. Luna had been freed in a rag tag rescue mission organized by Blueblood and including Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie, all ponies who nopony expected to be able to make it there.

Blueblood had stayed behind to fight off Discord himself when the last train from Fillydelphia left, telling Flim and Flam to take over his position until he could rejoin them. Fighting Discord had been tough, but it turns out Blueblood was more of a warrior than anypony expected. Once out of Fillydelphia, Blueblood had kept underground and had met the others just outside Appleloosa.

Trixie too had stayed behind, but to defend Baltimare from Chrysalis in her situation. It turns out that Changeling’s were weak to very sever light, a speciality of Trixie’s. Trixie had then recruited the last uninjured Ursa Major and Minor to help her escape and get to Canterlot like Princess Celestia had told her to. Trixie had let the Ursa’s behind in Ponyville to return to their families, instead using her limited teleporting powers to make it the rest of the way to Canterlot.

Lyra and Bon Bon had remained in Appleloosa to trick away some of Chrysalis Changeling’s by way of Bon Bon’s special Trottjan Candy Horses and Lyra’s magic. Bon Bon had been badly hurt earlier, and that had made escaping near impossible, until Blueblood and Trixie happened to get there. Once the new team had made sure to detain as many Changeling’s as they could, they made their way slowly to Ponyville to rescue Luna, who they knew about due to an informative group of Changelings Trixie had come across.

Once in Ponyville, Blueblood had falsely offered himself as a prisoner of war to lead the others secretly to where Luna was with great ease. Once they had found Luna, Trixie had called out her Ursa's and also used her magic to make it look like an army of Ursa Majors and Minors. Lyra was also able to put many Changelings to sleep with her magic, making the whole operation go well. Luna had helped in protecting them all from prying eyes with what little magic she had managed to regain, allowing the group to move as quickly as they could, arriving one day before the final battle.

Once being informed of the updated situation, Lyra and Bon Bon made sure to head directly to the medical ponies for check-ups while Blueblood and Trixie went about to find their squads to command them again. Though the appearance of four of the bravest ponies in the war had helped invigorate and inspire everypony else, its effect was not felt long. 

“Sister, sleep. Even I had to sleep in order to gain enough magic back to escape. I will keep the eclipse going and will make sure to inform you of any and all situations when you awaken.” Luna implored Celestia, scared to see her older sister in such a horrid fashion.

“Perhaps you are right Luna. I am needed in the final battle with as much strength as I can muster. I shall sleep. Do not let me down. We can’t afford that now.” Celestia replied to Luna, at last feeling the exhaustion of the past few days upon her.

Luna set about making sure her sister was actually asleep, and then took to circling the perimeter of the city, looking for anypony she must talk to and any enemy action she must report. Eventually, Luna came across Shining Armor at the top of one of Canterlot’s tallest towers.

“Greetings Shining Armor. I hope I am welcome.” Luna spoke up, landing on the balcony of the tower a short ways from Shining Armor.

“You are always welcome Princess Luna. I am happy to see you here. If Cadance were awake, I’m sure she would love to see you right now.” Shining Armor answered Luna, a lack of sleep clear in his features.

“And why do you not sleep as well? You must rest. You are one of our strongest fighters and we need you at maximum strength for tomorrow.” Luna voiced her worries, seeing Shining Armor wobble as she did.

“But…my shield spell is still needed. If I were to sleep, it would fall and Canterlot could be more easily attacked.” Shining Armor explained, surprised to see Luna smile at his worry.

“Allow me to alleviate that particular worry for you Shining Armor.” Luna replied, stepping back out onto the balcony.

Though Luna knew she must save much of her strength for tomorrow, she let loose one of her most powerful and useful spells. This spell allowed her to drape a dark copy over anything she chose, including other spells. With this, Luna could take Shining Armor’s place as the shield caster for a few hours.

Luna stepped back inside the tower, and as she wobbled with each step, she heard the voice of her now considered friend, Nightmare Moon, deep within her.

“Use your powers now without worry. I shall fight in you stead tomorrow. I have much energy prepared to fight those who attempt to usurp you.” Nightmare Moon spoke from within Luna herself.

“There you go Shining Armor. I will be able to hold my shield for approximately 12 hours. Use that time wisely Captain of the Guards.” Luna told Shining Armor, glad to see him smile at her.

“Thank you Princess Luna. You have done so much for me in this war. I shall repay you in kind if I am still around when it is over.” Shining Armor announced to Luna, turning towards the room he knew Cadance currently slept in.

Luna nodded towards Shining Armor, preparing to take flight again as he closed the door to his chamber. Luna took off and was slightly put off by how much more opaque her shield was than Shining Armor’s, making enemy movements more difficult to perceive. Celestia had told her not to worry too much about monitoring enemy movement today, saying that the only enemy activity within the last 2 days had been movement of Changeling soldiers flying overhead to join the main forces stationed in Ponyville.

Luna landed only one more time throughout the long night she took charge of all the security measures around Canterlot. When Luna landed this last time, it was to speak with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

“Good evening to all. I am happy to see each of you returned to Equestria, though I do wish it were under different and better circumstances.” Luna announced to the group at large, trying not to have to play the trump card she held right away.

All of the Bearers acknowledged Luna, but not a single one spoke any words to her. To most everypony else, it would appear as though they were merely extremely exhausted. Luna knew better though.

“I’d hoped not to have to say this, but I know the reason you do not properly respond to me now. I am aware that each of you is in love.” Luna continued, glad to see everypony jump to attention at her words.

“W-What do you mean Princess?” Rainbow Dash answered, shaking from head to hoof and nearly begging to fly away by flapping her wings so much.

“Loyal Rainbow Dash and others. I am not merely the Princess of the Night. Celestia and I rule over all the Elements of Equestria. I rule over Love. I am aware of when anypony is in love, and I am usually quite good at alleviating worry related to that love.” Luna explained, shocking everypony by revealing such a well-kept secret of Equestria’s Regal Pony Sisters.

“I doubt you can help us. We all aren’t exactly…in love normally.” Rarity elaborated, swishing her tail back and forth rapidly.

“I know all the logistics of your love Generous Rarity. And, to be entirely honest with all of you, I have never heard of anypony being in love ‘normally.’” Luna answered Rarity, again surprising the Bearers with her amount of knowledge.

“Well…even if ya know all the…details, ya can’t exactly really help us. We left our loves behind ta come back here and save Equestria.” Applejack added, hating herself for vocalizing that fact.

“I know that Honest Applejack. And just as you abandoned their world to come back here, so have they also abandoned it to come here.” Luna announced, no longer surprised at the shocked faces of the ponies before her.

“They’re…They’re…coming here?!” Twilight questioned, not daring to believe that what Princess Luna was saying could be true.

“Indeed they are Twilight Sparkle. They are currently between our two worlds, swiftly moving to come here. I estimate they will all arrive sometime tomorrow.” Luna explained, worried over the possible affect her words could now cause.

“T-T-T-Tomorrow? But tomorrow’s the final battle between us and the Discord and Chrysalis armies! They can’t come tomorrow!” Fluttershy exclaimed, taking to the air to circle nervously.

“I’m afraid it is already set in motion Kind Fluttershy. And I assure you, they are quite prepared.” Luna continued, encouraging confused looks from everypony present.

“Prepared? How in the hay can they be prepared for all this?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, only becoming worried later about how disrespectful she was being towards Princess Luna.

“I cannot say for certain. But I assure you they are indeed ready. Celestia is certain to know this soon as well. She rules over Time, and thus is able to know some events before they happen. An event such as this will not escape her notice.” Luna explained, hoping that the assurance that the Bearer’s loves were indeed prepared and that Celestia knew so as well would calm the ponies down.

Luna’s words did indeed have the correct effect in calming down the Bearers. Each was still extremely worried about what exactly tomorrow would bring, but each now also had a small, inextinguishable hope burning deep within them.

“Thank you, Princess Luna, for telling us this. Please forgive us for our earlier behaviour towards you.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, bowing before Luna and hoping to appease her.

“Pay it no mind Rainbow Dash. I simply felt I needed to invigorate you with energy for tomorrow, and while my sister and Shining Armor conceded to sleep, I had the particular feeling that you would not want to sleep no matter what information or persuasion I offered you.” Luna explained herself, smiling at the end and seeing her smile reflected on all the other ponies.

After a short while, Luna took a glimpse back towards the sky, being able to judge how much time had passed since she had begun her own shield spell. Luna could tell the spell would last only another four hours, and Luna had much left to do in that time.

“Do forgive me, but I must be off. I have only four hours remaining to complete my rounds and wake my sister and Shining Armor from their respective and much needed slumbers.” Luna explained to the Bearers, taking to the air as she did.

Each of the Bearers greeted Luna’s departure with a genuine smile and a wave before turning towards each other to no doubt discuss what the next day would bring in its entirety.

Luna took off around the perimeter of Canterlot again, making mental notes of all she saw as she prepared to go and wake her sister, and was greeted with a large warming feeling in her heart, meaning that the Loves of the Bearers would indeed soon be there to help just as Luna had said earlier.

> Chapter 16: The Morning Before
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	From dawn of the third day since Discord and Chrysalis’ proclamation of destruction were the ponies within Canterlot prepared. It was not then that the attack began, but that a last warning was issued to the ponies.

Discord and Chrysalis reappeared over Canterlot to proclaim what they intended one last time before it would be too late. This time it was Chrysalis who would speak first of the duo.

“Ponies of Equestria. You have not heeded out warnings and evacuated or surrendered yourselves. We are most displeased with this development, but allow you all one last chance.” Chrysalis began, scanning over the crowds below to look for any faces that betrayed doubt.

“We begin our attack at noon. Any and all ponies who wish not to fight or be conquered may come to Ponyville by then. We will not take any prisoners once our attack begins. Our numbers are far greater than yours, especially due to your losses from battling us before now.” Discord continued, again attempting to flicker the balance between night and day so as to dis-balance Celestia and Luna.

“We have told you all we must. Do what you may ponies. But know that by today’s end, Equestria will be no more.” Chrysalis concluded, taking to the air again to leave.

Discord remained behind for a few moments to add several personal sentiments to the proclamation in a way only Discord himself could do.

“Oh and you all will be happy to now that I will be temporarily retracting my influence to allow you all to either come to Ponyville safely or to fully enjoy your last few hours together. Use your time wisely little ponies.” Discord added before taking to the air himself to return to Ponyville.

As Discord left, the sky itself seemed to rise up, indicating the release of Discord’s influence, even if only temporary. It was at this point that there was a large amount of movement below the shield in the streets of Canterlot.

There was no movement by anypony towards the exits of Canterlot though. Everypony was simply intent to spend these last few chaos free hours in joy with their families or special someponies. Even the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony partook of this.

Applejack set about collecting all the members of her family, direct and extended. Apple Bloom was not among their numbers for long though, insisting and begging that she instead be allowed their last few hours to try a last few attempts to gain her Cutie Mark with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Applejack were the only ones to speak amongst the large group, but their words had the greatest meaning.

“Everypony listen here. I’ve seen a lot in ma days, but nothing like this. Remember that family is important, but don’t forget your friends in this last attack. Protect all your kin, extended or not.” Granny Smith spoke up, her words carrying the wisdom of a lifetime.

“I aint one for talking much, but I want ta inspire y’all as much as I can. So, I’m offering all y’all 2 barrels o’ cider each if ya come back after this is all over.” Big Macintosh continued, holding his head high above the rest to survey everypony in case this was the last time he saw any of them.

“I’m gonna be on the frontlines. I aint expecting ta come back unharmed, but I’m expecting ta come back all the same. Y’all better promise yourselves that too, or we might as well pack it in now and just let Discord and Chrysalis march through Canterlot like they have everywhere else. I’m fighting for all of y’all and everypony else, and I’d like it greatly if ya could do that too. It’ll make us all a might stronger.” Applejack concluded, hoping her words would spark something in her family like her words had sparked something in Twilight so long ago.

The Apple Family stayed together for an hour or so after the end of Applejack’s speech, but they eventually separated to finish preparing. All of Granny Smith’s, Big Macintosh’s and Applejack’s words beat strong in all of their hearts and minds though.

Rainbow Dash spent these last few hours with Soarin and Spitfire in the Infirmary, hoping to convince them to try to fight, despite all the odds set against her.

“Please Spitfire. You’re one of the best fliers Equestria has to offer in this war. If you refuse to fight with us all, that’s just another advantage we’re giving Discord and Chrysalis.” Rainbow Dash pleaded with her idol, hoping to inspire her to take up arms alongside her.

Spitfire sat silent the whole time, staring at her goggles and thinking about Fleetfoot, the Wonderbolt this war had already claimed. Spitfire wasn’t yet willing to fly again and risk losing another Wonderbolt, least of all Soarin. Spitfire still felt as though she had already lost Soarin once.

“And Soarin. I know you’re still hurt, but we need you too. Everypony’s doing what they can if they can move at all, and we could really use your help. We’re outnumbered as it is even with everypony in the city counted.” Rainbow Dash begged Soarin too, hoping that somewhere within him was the Pegasus she had always seen in their airshows.

Soarin and Spitfire looked at each other, and came to the same conclusion. Even if they were to lose this day and this battle, they wanted to lose fighting side by side with everypony else.

“Thanks for the encouragement Rainbow Dash. We’ll do it. And I promise you, if we make it through all this, I’ll make you a Wonderbolt.” Spitfire spoke up, taking Soarin’s hoof and looking Rainbow in the eye.

Rainbow Dash smiled at her idols before getting up to leave. Rainbow had done what she intended to, and now she had every intention of leaving Spitfire and Soarin alone to enjoy the last few battle free hours.

Rarity and Twilight stayed together in their last few free hours, both their family’s members dashing about to finish their own business. Twilight had gotten to speak with Shining Armor and Cadance though, and Rarity had found Sweetie Belle for a short while.

“Twily! Wait!” Twilight had heard Shining Armor call out as she prepared to go looking for Spike and Sweetie Belle with Rarity.

Shining Armor rushed to Twilight’s side with Cadance close behind him, and both of them proceeded to crush Twilight in a hug before speaking again.

“I’m glad I caught you. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to see you before now, but…” Shining Armor began, only to have Twilight hold up her hoof to silence her older brother’s babbling.

“It’s okay Shining. I completely understand. Wife and kingdom trumps little sister every time right?” Twilight asked Shining Armor, smiling mischievously as she did so.

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other for a moment before blushing deeply and looking away. It was Cadance who spoke to Twilight next.

“Yes I suppose so Twilight. But family is still important. Please promise to come by for tea with me and Shining Armor after this is all over.” Cadance asked Twilight, not daring to betray her own worry that none of them would be there at the end of the day.

Twilight smiled up at her old foalsitter turned sister-in-law and her BBBFF, glad that they both still thought of her as an important aspect of their lives.

“Thank you for inviting me. I promise to come by for tea after all this. I do not want to be rude, but Rarity is waiting for me to go and attempt to find Spike and her sister Sweetie Belle though.” Twilight explained to the couple, glad to see that she had not offended them.

Twilight galloped away to join Rarity as Shining Armor and Cadance turned their own ways to take care of their respective interests this morning. Shining Armor was off to co-ordinate the guards for the battle, while Cadance was off to help Celestia and Luna with the large influx of wedding ceremonies wanted this morning.

Twilight met up with Rarity shortly thereafter, and soon enough they were off on the search for Sweetie Belle and Spike. They found Sweetie Belle first, running along the streets behind Vinyl Scratch with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, a microphone in her hoof.

“Sweetie Belle! Wait for a moment please!” Rarity called out to her little sister, beyond glad to see Sweetie Belle stop and gallop over happily.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle yelled as she came up and gave Rarity the longest and most important hug of her life.

“Where are you off to?” Rarity inquired quickly, certain in knowing that while Sweetie Belle loved her, she would not want to miss much of their little remaining time to attempt a last ditch effort for her Cutie Mark.

“Vinyl Scratch said she and all the other musician ponies need help in magical noise interference, so I’m gonna go and sing to help them!” Sweetie Belle squeaked as she explained her plan to her big sister.

“But I thought you didn’t think of yourself as a singer?” Rarity jokingly inquired, glad to see Sweetie Belle smile and shrug at her.

“No time like the present to try something new right sis? I’ll tell you how it all goes later. Bye Rarity!” Sweetie Belle called back as she returned to her friends.

Twilight looked over at Rarity and saw her wiping away a few tears with her hoof. Twilight extended her own hoof to wrap around Rarity’s shoulder to show her support.

“We’ll make it. We have to. We’ve all made promises right?” Twilight told Rarity, having to try very hard not to show any of her own uncertainty about today to her friend in need.

“You’re right Twilight. Of course. Now let’s go find Spike before all this chaos starts now shall we?” Rarity asked Twilight, glad to see her fellow unicorn smile and nod at her.

Twilight and Rarity set about attempting to find Spike in all the crowds, but were unsuccessful in doing so. While Twilight was unable to comprehend just where Spike might be at this time, Rarity had a sudden idea flash into her mind.

“Perhaps he’s off leading the dragons for today’s battle? The other dragons do need a competent mind leading them, and I can’t imagine anypony other than Spike being selected for such a job.” Rarity voiced her idea to Twilight, glad to see her friend find it reasonable too.

“I can imagine Spike doing that too. We’ll have to talk to him later today then.” Twilight concluded, still mildly upset that she hadn’t been able to see her number one assistant before the final battle.

Fluttershy had no direct family to communicate with, so she set about using the next few hours to prepare herself mentally for the upcoming battle. Fluttershy worried over the fate of Angel Bunny and her other animals slightly, but was also content to believe that Angel would have protected them all from harm and was probably raising hay alongside them all right now, wherever he and the others were. That last though made Fluttershy smile as she took to practicing her meditation for the first time in a very long while, all the while hoping that Oliver would soon be there like Luna had said.

Pinkie Pie set about making it her duty to make everypony feel like they had somepony special to fight for in this battle by inviting everypony she came across to a big After-War Party. Quite a few ponies merely took Pinkie’s bizarre levels of excitement and the idea of an After-War Party as an offset of Pinkie’s imagined dementia, which did in turn make they smile and be happy for a short while before the attack. A lot more ponies took the invitation due to having known Pinkie beforehand and wanting to have even more to fight for in the upcoming battle. The largest percentage of ponies though took the invitation due to needing just a pure incentive, no matter how silly it may seem, to fight for in the battle ahead. Pinkie was quite happy as she at last finished inviting Cherry Jubilee, the last pony she had been able to find and invite before the battle. Pinkie set about hopping back to her designated position happily as she also began to hope that Ben might make it to her After-War Party too.

As Pinkie returned to her designated position alongside her friends and fellow Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, she began to realize just how late it was. Pinkie got into position and took up her most concentrated pose just as a large shadow began to appear over the edges of Canterlot.

A shadow across Equestria at this point was no real surprise due to the perpetual eclipse caused by Celestia and the occasional powerful spell by Luna, but this shadow frightened everypony because of the source from which it came.

The shadow which now darkened Canterlot even during the height of the day, darkened some again due to the eclipse, was created by the tremendous amount of Changeling’s that quickly approached the city. Even from this far away, the figures of Discord and Chrysalis could be made out clearly as the leaders of this massive force.

Discord and Chrysalis stopped a short ways away from the city walls of Canterlot, the Changeling army lurching slightly at the scale of the stop needed. Discord stepped up first to survey the ponies before him.

“So that’s it is it? Not a single pony wishes to take the easy way out of this battle? You all intend to fight us, even knowing that a miracle wouldn’t save you?” Discord taunted the ponies within the walls, letting loose his influence once more as a last ditch attempt to inspire mutiny amongst the ponies numbers.

Chrysalis stepped up next, and opened her eyes to glare at everypony as a whole, and every single pony individually.

“No matter. All of you will eventually bow before us. Not one single thing can hope to save you now.” Chrysalis added, hoping that perhaps her influence might push those who were not completely affected by Discord’s.

After another quick glance at all the ponies prepared to fight for Canterlot and for each other, both Chrysalis and Discord looked at each other before uttering a single phrase.

“Destroy them completely.”
> Chapter 17: The Second Elements Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Changeling army took a moment to move towards its command target, merely due to the tremendous size of it. The Changeling’s proceeded to cloud the shield that still blanketed Canterlot, as though in an attempt to suffocate the ponies within it.

Shining Armor kept his shield spell focused, knowing that it was integral to the initial attack of his side. Once Celestia gave Shining Armor the signal, three continuous flares of her wings, Shining Armor dissolved his shield spell entirely, forcing the Changeling’s who had piled upon it in the false belief that it would need to be broken, to fall quickly towards the ponies and other creatures stationed throughout and around Canterlot.

“Roast em!” Everypony heard somepony shout, upon which the volley of dragons in the center of Canterlot unleashed all their contained fire.

The one who commanded the dragons was none other than Spike, as Rarity and Twilight had predicted. Spike now controlled the other dragons he had once feared on many different occasions, aware of his situation both intently and ironically.

Spike had also come to glean a new ability he possessed as a baby dragon born to the most powerful unicorn Equestria had seen since before its founding. Spike began to think of all the ponies that needed him at that particular moment, all the ponies that needed him to grow up and defeat the Changelings. Upon that realization, Spike opened his eyes as they glowed pure green for a second.

Everypony who had witnessed that moment in the battle could never fully explain what they had seen then. Spike rapidly grew, far faster than he had when he had become greedy with birthday presents. Within mere seconds, Spike was larger than half the buildings in all of Canterlot. Once Spike had reached his full size, he unleashed a burst of green flame that brightened even the dark shadow the Changeling Armies had brought with them.

After the initial dragon fire volley, it was the pegasi who were next in line to begin attacking. Led by Rainbow Dash herself, the pegasi who still had the ability to fly flew up to meet the Changelings with speed that disoriented the Changelings greatly. Spitfire was able to attack the Changelings at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the pegasi, helped along by the Wonderbolt’s signature Thunder Stream. Snowflake and Thunderlane also powered through a large number of Changelings on their own. Though each pegasi was functioning on their own amongst the group at large, Rainbow Dash helped to keep them all united as a single force with two distinct goals in mind with the influence of the Element of Loyalty.

Once the pegasi had succeeded in their secondary job of directing groups of Changelings at specific targets within Canterlot, after also dealing a great amount of damage to them as a whole, Twilight, Rarity, and Vinyl Scratch began their respective attacks.

Twilight led a group of the strongest magic users Equestria had to offer, strengthened further with the help of the Element of Magic. Trixie duplicated everypony successfully multiple times, at last allowing the ponies to fight at even numbers with the Changelings. Twilight let loose the spell Pinkie had made her use against the Changelings last time, feeling all of her copies use it as well, to great affect among all the Changelings. Blueblood was also able to decimate quite a large number of the Changelings on his own, with the occasional bit of backup coming from Shining Armor, Night Light and Twilight Velvet in the form of covering fire and the occasional magical shield. 

Rarity led another group of powerful unicorns, these unicorns being less attuned to powerful feats of magic, preferring instead an artistic flair to their magic. The Element of Generosity helped to allow them all more uses of their most powerful spells though. Rarity used her detection spell to co-ordinate large scale attacks by the remainder of the group. Lyra, Flim and Flam, Lemon Hearts, and Holly Dash paved the way for the remainder of the unit, always unleashing the most amazing feats of magic against the Changelings first.

Vinyl Scratch led a group of musical assault ponies, attacking select groups of Changelings and the army as a whole. Sweetie Belle was right up front, magically magnifying her singing so as to disrupt the Changelings and allow others the chance to attack. Twinkleshine and Sea Swirl also assisted with the group, magically applying back-up to the musician ponies that needed it. Octavia stayed near the back with Vinyl Scratch, helping to co-ordinate the magical music attacks of the group and Vinyl herself towards the areas of Canterlot that needed it the most. Pinkie Pie remained in this group as well, the Element of Laughter allowing her to keep everypony inspired and focused on the task at hand.

Up next in the attacks were Applejack and the other remaining earth ponies and injured unicorns and pegasi. Applejack led the group as a whole charging at the various Changelings who dropped to the ground but were not fully defeated by the various other attacks being co-ordinated.  Braeburn and Apple Fritter were near the head of the pack and doing quite a bit on their own, but Big Macintosh and Junebug were also doing some damage on their own. Applejack’s Element of Honesty influenced all their attacks to land true, allowing a large amount of Changelings to go down and stay that way.

Last to appear was Fluttershy who arrived with a large variety of help in the form of an Ursa Minor and Major, a cockatrice, some families of Phoenix, several buffalo, a sea serpent, and a manticore. Fluttershy had volunteered to go outside Canterlot last night and attempt to convince some of the nearby Everfree wildlife to assist in their fight. The Element of Kindness had helped Fluttershy explain to the animals both why it would be good if they helped and who not to attack if they did decide to help. Fluttershy herself stayed back from the fight, instead helping the animals to fight properly.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadance also dashed about, unleashing their powerful magic wherever and whenever it would help. Celestia’s magic was extremely powerful and able to not only defeat many Changelings at a time, but also dissolve the magic that allowed the Changelings to take the form of other ponies. Celestia defeated entire portions of the Changeling forces at a time when she unleashed her magic in this battle. Luna raged across the entire city as Nightmare Moon, unleashing her power to bring misfortune upon the very Changelings who had brought misfortune to them here in Canterlot. Luna’s powers of deception as Nightmare Moon also greatly surpassed that of the Changelings, allowing her to infiltrate occasionally and cause internal chaos. Cadance, while not being accustomed to battle, was a great help against the Changeling hordes as well. Cadance’s spell of love was powerful enough to temporarily intoxicate any nearby Changelings, leaving them open to other forms of attack.

Nopony dared to believe it yet, but a feeling was beginning to spread amongst the ponies that they could win this day yet. Nopony had even yet registered that the two enemy figure heads of this battle had yet to enter it personally.

Discord leaned seemingly against the air itself, counting to himself. Chrysalis sat on her haunches, mentally watching the war through her subject’s eyes. It was Discord who spoke up first once he reached counting to 0 from 10,000.

“I think that’s enough time. Shall we show them how truly outmatched they are now?” Discord asked Chrysalis, seeing her eyes flicker open malevolently at the question.

“I agree Discord. Let us show them how foalish they were to ever think that they may win the day.” Chrysalis responded, taking to the air as she did.

Discord proceeded to glide forward to the center of town, seemingly moving the world around him to do so. Once centered in his favorite kind of chaos, Discord released another bout of his chaos by snapping his fingers. Almost instantly, tons of ponies became disorganized and unable to fight. Twilight and the other Bearers also felt the power of the Elements stop, somehow being overpowered by Discord’s stronger influence.

Chrysalis flew to the center of the winged portion of the battle, flitting between various forms and even attacking some of her subject to make the illusion complete to get her where she was needed. Once in the center, Chrysalis resumed her true form, and unleashed her contaminated love. Being the Changeling Queen, when Chrysalis fed on love, she was able to convert it into a near lethal form of magic capable of harming even Celestia in great enough quantities as she had done last time. This attack widely separated and injured many of the ponies, causing even more disorder as the ponies attempted to rejoin those they could fight better with. 

After causing the disorder they had wished, both Chrysalis and Discord boomed their laughter across Canterlot to further attack the ponies. The Changeling armies had also managed to regroup in the aftermath of the leaders attacks. Most everypony was cornered or in severe danger.

“Do you all see now how foalish you were to challenge us with your paltry power?” Chrysalis voiced aloud, shaking the city walls themselves with her voice.

“You had no chance to ever defeat us. The fact you did anything at all today was a miracle of our manufacturing.” Discord added, his voice ripping through the ears of everypony.

“You have not one single chance left.” Discord continued, turning to gaze upon Celestia and the now gathered Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

“We agree. They have six chances left.”

The voice from nowhere spoke as if from the air within Canterlot itself, shocking everypony and creature who heard it. Within moments from when the voice had begun and finished speaking, a large pulsation of light expelled every Changeling from the streets of Canterlot. A second pulse took the Changelings from the sky away. A third pulse healed all the ponies that were injured. A fourth pulse gathered all the ponies into the groups they had been mere moments ago. A fifth pulse removed Chrysalis from the city. And a sixth and final pulse removed Discord from Canterlot’s confines.

Once everypony and creature could properly see again, they saw that a large bulb of light inhabited the areas where each of the six pulses had originated. Each light was quite large, dwarfing even Celestia herself in stature.

Discord and Chrysalis rushed towards Canterlot once they regained their senses, but were quickly rebuffed by yet another pulse of light. Discord was the first to yell in anger.

“What trickery is this? What have you hidden away Celestia?” Discord pointed accusingly at the pony that had sealed him away for the first time.

“It is not Celestia that has brought us here.” A voice spoke up from one of the large bulbs of light, different from the booming one that had spoken moments ago. This voice spoke with a vast intelligence behind its words.

“Indeed. It is six other ponies that called us here.” A second voice spoke from a different bulb of light, this voice being described as artistic to the ear.

“And it is by nothing but our own wills that we are here now.” A third voice continued, speaking from yet another bulb, this voice sounding happy to be speaking.

“I have never seen such magic as this in Equestria before! What are you?” Chrysalis screamed, confused as to what it was that halted her plans this time.

“That’s cause this magic aint from Equestria.” A fourth voice answered Chrysalis, this one sounding more distinguishable from the rest due to its accent.

“This magic is our own. The magic of humans. The magic of Earth.” A fifth voice explained, sounding as though it came to learn all this as it spoke.

“And we are here to save Equestria, and be with those we love and had to leave.” A sixth voice finished, this one sounding exasperated.

As the last voice finished speaking, forms appeared in the bulbs of light, shocking most everypony. The forms in these bulbs were completely alien to all but six very special ponies among all of Celestia and Luna’s subjects. None of the ponies in question darted to say anything though, worried that speaking aloud would destroy the magic happening before them.

As each of the six men within the bulbs awakened and opened their eyes for the first time, they looked once at each other, once at all the ponies around them, once at the Six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and once at Discord and Chrysalis before speaking again in the shared booming voice that had announced their arrival in Equestria.

“And nothing you can do will ever stop us from doing just that.”

> Chapter 18: The Elements Abound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“And how do you intend to defeat us? All your powers have done so far is remove us from Canterlot. If you can do no more than that, then your attempts here are as pointless as the ponies attempts before you.” Discord challenged the mysterious beings before him who he now knew were called Humans. 

“Y’all don’t really believe that was all the power we had now do ya?” Dan asked, stepping free of the confines of his bulb, the bulb itself dissipating but leaving a light aura around Dan’s person.

“You don’t have any inkling of our true power yet. But we’re more than happy to show it to you all the same.” Noah continued, gliding smoothly from his bulb to join Dan.

“You’re bluffing. No creature in this world or any other is strong enough to defeat us and our forces.” Chrysalis taunted the Humans before her, hoping to dishearten them as she did indeed fear their mysterious power.

“Send your forces over here and prove that idea.” Ben replied, freeing himself from his own bulb as well and landing near the others.

“Unless you’re all scared to that is. In which case, just go away of your own free will please.” Oliver added, disappearing from his sphere to reappear a short ways away with the others.

“Very well. We shall do just that then.” Discord yelled back at the Humans, clearly letting anger slip through his words.

“We’re here and waiting for you to try it.” Lucas yelled back, having leapt from his own bulb down towards the others now.

“Attack my Changelings! Destroy these ‘humans’ now!” Chrysalis screeched, urging her forces forward towards the humans who now defended the entirety of Equestria.

“Oh goodie. A warm up.” Antonio spoke up from his place next to the others, having freed himself same as all the others by now.

“So which one of you want to speak up first? This is an important decision to make.” Noah questioned the group, appearing completely unfazed at the hordes of Changelings that were quickly approaching.

“I’ll go first if y’all have no objections.” Dan replied, stepping slightly ahead of the others.

As the first group of Changelings approached Canterlot’s barriers again, Dan closed his eyes to tap into the power he now knew he possessed in Equestria. The aura of Dan’s power shifted from white to orange as he did so, with large tendrils of red snaking off from his core to strike the Changelings away.

“I’m here for Applejack. I let her go in ma world cause she needed ta go and protect her family, and I felt I still had ta protect my own family too. I learned before coming here though that ma family’ll be fine without me there. Family’s important, but it aint always the most important thing. Here in Equestria and Earth, I’m tha one and only Element of Obligation.” Dan told everypony, his human form dissolving before everypony’s eyes to become the form it was always meant to be.

Dan had become an earth pony again, even more magnificent then before. Dan stood nearly as tall as Celestia herself, possessing a tan colored coat and a chestnut colored mane. Dan’s Cutie Mark was that of an orange apple with a red ribbon tied around it. The hair ribbon that Dan had received from Applejack transformed too within the magic of the Element of Obligation, snaking mildly up Dan’s left front hoof to form a single glove of sorts.

Another wave of Changelings was quickly approaching, encouraging Ben to step forward next to defeat them. Ben’s aura shifted to a rose color with a large burst of energy coming forward from it to strike many of the Changeling’s away.

“Pinkie Pie is the reason I’m here now. Pinkie taught me to not deny anything, but to accept anything and everything before your eyes as pure and not always so simple fact. I’m not great at explaining all this, but I hope you understand it all enough. I’m here as the Element of Acceptance.” Ben announced, his human form becoming that of a stallion too.

Ben had become an earth pony stallion too, though one not nearly as tall as Dan. Ben possessed a rose colored coat with a blonde mane, a stark contrast as it appeared to many of the ponies present. Ben’s Cutie Mark was that of a question mark with an X drawn through it. Ben’s memories of Pinkie’s Cupcake and her ring allowed a representation of them to appear as the Element of Acceptance, represented as a shield-like object on Ben’s right front hoof.

Yet more Changelings remained to attack though, urging Lucas to come forward next. Lucas’ aura became the color of ocean blue, with multiple rapid bolts of various colors coming off of it to strike many Changelings individually at such a speed that it appeared as a single attack on the group at large.

“Rainbow Dash. The one and only reason I came here to Equestria. Rainbow Dash taught me that wining and racing are both pointless without a reason to do them. I know my reason isn’t exactly the most philosophical thing many of you have ever heard, but it’s good enough for me. The Element of Inclusion is who I am now.” Lucas spoke up, repeating the process of his two earlier friends.

Lucas became a Pegasus stallion even Blueblood envied. Lucas possessed an ocean blue coat and wings with a jet black mane. Lucas’ Cutie Mark was that of two side by side racing stripes, the first being black like his mane and the second being colored like a rainbow. Lucas’ bike reappeared to assume the form of his Element of Inclusion, shifting to the form of an aerodynamic saddle that attached itself to Lucas, even with the exhaust pipes still connected at the end.

Still more Changelings came, though fear was becoming more apparent on some of their features as they watched their brethren fall before the new Elements. Antonio stepped up next to fight. Antonio’s aura did not shift in color, remaining pure white, but it had grown in size at Antonio’s focus. Antonio attack came in the form of a pulse much like the ones from early, except that this one passed over many of the Changelings and forced them to fall, somehow defeated.

“Rarity is the pony I am here to gain back. Rarity came into my life and inspired me in such ways as I had never been before. When she left, I lost all urge and ability to create anything. My reason for this battle is love, pure and true. I represent the Element of Inspiration.” Antonio explained, shifting easily from man to pony as he did.

Antonio became a unicorn stallion befitting of a princely title. Antonio possessed a pure white coat with a horn of the same color, and a gold colored mane. Antonio’s Cutie Mark was that of a spiral of color, spreading outwards from a circle of white with a purple streak in the middle. The gold trim that had brought Antonio here shifted from the Element of Inspiration’s power, becoming a half suit of armor that covered Antonio from his shoulders to just before his Cutie Mark.

Few Changelings remained now, but their numbers were enough to still attack a couple last times. Oliver went next, prepared now for what would happen. Oliver’s aura glowed yellow before snaking away from him to surround about half the remaining Changelings and smash them into the ground below.

“Fluttershy is the pony I came for. Fluttershy came into my life quickly, and when she disappeared, I realized just how much she had affected me. I love Fluttershy, and I didn’t realize it before she left. That will never happen again. I’m here to be the Element of Ignorance.” Oliver yelled, not afraid to speak his mind as he too became a pony.

Oliver became a Pegasus stallion in that same moment. Oliver now possessed a butter yellow coat with appropriately colored wings and a blood red mane. Oliver’s Cutie mark was that of a monarch butterfly flying next to a pink butterfly. Several monarch butterflies appeared again before Oliver, this time to become the inspiration for the Element of Ignorance. The butterflies covered Oliver’s front hooves, eventually shifting into the form of a pair of boots colored like the butterflies themselves had once been.

The last of the Changelings now charged forward, looking as though they hated every moment as they did the action. Noah stepped up now to finish the Changelings. Noah’s aura shifted to grey and was expelled from him in every manner of attack imaginable at the Changelings.

“Twilight Sparkle. Need I say more to explain myself after all the others have said the same thing before me? I came here because Twilight is the single most important thing in all my life. I will not ever lose her again. I am the Element of Love!” Noah yelled, becoming the last of his friends to shift forms.

Noah became a unicorn stallion comparable to that of Shining Armor. Noah had a gray coat and likewise colored horn along with a stark white mane. Noah’s Cutie Mark was that of a heart overlying the design of Twilight’s own Cutie Mark. The ring Noah had brought with him from Earth for Twilight responded to the Element of Love’s influence, and became a helmet with the diamond now protecting Noah’s horn and the white gold protecting all of Noah’s head but his exposed face.

All before Discord and Chrysalis lay all their defeated warriors and the newly transformed and completed Elements of Earth, otherwise known as the Elements of Love. Discord and Chrysalis could not believe that they had just born witness to six ponies defeat the entirety of their forces.

As Discord and Chrysalis remained in shock, the Elements of Love set about joining up with the Elements of Harmony still above them. It took mere moments for the Elements of Love to arrive, the Elements themselves helping them to arrive swiftly.

Each of the recently publicly announced couples looked into each other’s eyes, and knew that everything that had just been said was true. As the truth was at last fully confirmed, the Elements of Love took their places next to their respective Element of Harmony. 

“And now Discord and Chrysalis, you will witness all of our powers combined.” Every member of the Elements, both Love and Harmony, announced to the still shocked Discord and Chrysalis.

As each of the Elements closed their eyes and felt their powers flow forth, they also felt each other’s minds and hearts grow closer. To all the other ponies present, what was happening now was a sight beyond all imaginings.

All the separately colored powers of each of the Elements flowed forth, swirling and merging with one another until only an infinite spiral of color indicated their power. Once the spiral of color was completed, a twin burst of 12 unique colors was sent forth from its center. Each of the rainbows was only apart for a few short moments, almost immediately beginning to twist and swirl around one another to fully combine their powers for their final attack.

As Discord and Chrysalis realized only too late that neither of them had yet to attack or move, the power of the now completed Elements of Harmony made contact with them and pushed them forever from the boundaries of Equestria.

As Discord and Chrysalis were pushed to the farthest corner of Equestria, the Elements power split off in a multitude of different rainbows to collect all their subjects and seal them away forever as well. All too late did Discord and Chrysalis finally attempt to escape, realizing with great horror that they had already been sealed in stone.

The power of the Elements circled the area where Discord, Chrysalis, and all their subjects now lay sealed in stone, forming an everlasting dome that would contain them forever, even if they somehow managed to break free of their stone imprisonment charms again. Discord and Chrysalis both let go a scream that would never be heard as their last glimpse of Equestria vanished before their eyes.

Each of the Elements of Love and Harmony slowly returned to the ground, their powers at last fully spent in the last attack. As each landed on the ground and proceeded to again glimpse into each other’s eyes, a cheer erupted from Canterlot that could be heard even where Chrysalis and Discord now lay forever defeated.

> Chapter 19: The Linked and Separate Paths of Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subchapter 1: The Full Afterglow of Victory

The party held in Canterlot after the defeat of Discord and Chrysalis was like what no pony present had ever seen before. Even Celestia and Luna had never attended a party such as the one Pinkie now organized amongst the streets of their city.

Spike and Philomena continued to stay with their fellow species’ during the party, enjoying the afterglow of having been the strongest and largest dragon and the most powerful phoenix respectively in the battle for a short while each. Spike would no longer dare be called half-pony by any dragon ever again after his performance earlier that day, and Philomena would become an even more respected name amongst the Phoenix.

Soarin and Spitfire regrouped with the other Wonderbolts to both celebrate the victory of the day and mourn the previous loss of Fleetfoot and the current loss of Rapidfire. Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Snowflake joined the Wonderbolts in their vigil, Rainbow Dash intent to not ask Spitfire about her membership offer for quite a long time thereafter.

Cherry Jubilee, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Flim and Flam and the Cakes were set about dispensing refreshments and food to all the partying ponies around, seeing this party as both an opportunity to celebrate their victory and an opportunity to expand their business ventures across the entirety of Canterlot all at once.

Lyra and Bon Bon stayed aside from the main celebration, instead celebrating in a smaller area of the city with ponies like Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Moondancer. All the ponies in this group still enjoyed themselves the same as any other pony around Canterlot, but they also were more capable of enjoying every individual pony’s presence in the group as a whole.

Trixie, Sweetie Belle, Sapphire Shores and Scootaloo were providing entertainment for the party, Sweetie Belle and Sapphire Shores being in charge of much of the music as Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were not around to be in charge otherwise. Scootaloo performed aerial tricks for everypony with mild help from her scooter as the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash were pre-disposed at the time. Trixie also constantly sounded her fireworks to show her love of the party and her gratitude for the Bearers of the Complete Elements of Harmony.

Chief Thunderhooves and Little Strongheart led an allowed stampede through the unoccupied streets of Canterlot in order to celebrate. Luna returned to her original form and set about enjoying the party to the maximum extent she could, still regretting having missed Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding so long ago.

Cadance set about enjoying her time with Shining Armor and his parents, constantly counting all her blessings that each of them was still there at the end of this great war. Celestia set about placing the sun in the center of the sky permanently for the day, so that everypony might enjoy the party for that much longer.

It was the original Elements of Harmony who enjoyed this party the most out of everypony present though. Though each of them had to go to make certain that their families and friends were all still okay, the Elements of Harmony returned quickly to bask in the magical glow of each other’s true loves return.

The group stayed together in a single area as a whole, but nopony could begrudge each other for temporarily separating into their respective pairs to better enjoy each other’s return. Eventually though, the Elements of Love decide it was time to carry out their collective and individual missions.

“Twilight, I was wondering whether we might find your brother and your parents now?” Noah asked Twilight, earning the confused look he had expected and hoped for.

“Sure, but why do you want to find my brother and my parents?” Twilight questioned Noah, getting only a knowing smile in return from him.

“You’ll know soon enough. Let’s go.” Noah replied to Twilight, offering his hoof to her to follow him, even though it would ironically be Twilight who must lead Noah to her parents and Shining Armor’s location.

Lucas took to the air shortly after Noah and Twilight left, enticing Rainbow Dash to follow him back to Ponyville.

“Come on Rainbow. Let’s get out of here for a while and head towards Ponyville.” Lucas pleaded with Rainbow Dash, hoping to entice her rare but loving side for a short while.

“But everypony we know is here celebrating right now. What’s there to do in Ponyville that we can’t do here?” Rainbow questioned Lucas, seemingly not noticing Lucas dash his eyes away for a moment to look at his saddlebags.

“You’ll see. I know you hate secrets Rainbow. And if we don’t go to Ponyville, then I’m not telling you what this secret is.” Lucas enticed Rainbow further, glad to prod her competitive side out just enough to challenge him.

“You know me too well. It’s not fair.” Rainbow pouted at Lucas as she flew up to meet him in the sky.

“Life usually isn’t fair Rainbow. But I’d have to say right now is going pretty good, at least on my end.” Lucas told Rainbow, moving in quickly to give her a kiss on her mouth.

Rainbow Dash blushed profusely and attempted to hide her face from everypony she thought might be watching, but followed Lucas at her usual pace all the same as both of them flew back towards Ponyville together.

Oliver gave Lucas and Rainbow Dash a fair few minutes head start before suggesting a return to Ponyville to Fluttershy as well.

“Fluttershy. Would you like to go back to Ponyville and see if Angel and all your other animals are back yet?” Oliver asked Fluttershy, hoping that his presence combined with Fluttershy’s love of all her animals would play to his favor.

“Sure. I’m just so happy you’re back and that you love me. I’m up for anything at all.” Fluttershy replied to Oliver, moving forward to nuzzle him in a most un-Fluttershy-ish manner.

This time, it was Oliver who blushed, still unsure how exactly he had summoned the courage to say he loved Fluttershy openly to everypony in Equestria mere hours ago. Oliver and Fluttershy took to the air too, being the last two pegasi to travel away by air from Canterlot that day.

Antonio and Ben thought along the same lines, despite having not informed each other of their personal intents or the time they wished to execute them.

“Rarity dear. I’m afraid I have something of grave importance to do right now. I do hope you won’t mind my minor disappearance from you side for a short while.” Antonio spoke up, surprising Rarity at how open and forward Antonio was being with her, despite still being cryptic enough.

“Certainly darling. Sweetie Belle has been begging me to do a duet or two with her all day, so I shall set about doing just that while you go about your secretive business.” Rarity replied to Antonio, winking at him near the end as she headed towards the stage that had hastily been built to accommodate Sapphire Shores and Sweetie Belle’s performances.

Antonio set about locating Princess Luna, certain it was her who could best help him find the two ponies he needed to greatly.

On the other side of Canterlot, Ben was making a similar proposition to Pinkie Pie, hoping she might be busy enough with her party to allow him the time he needed.

“Pinkie. I have to find a couple ponies, and I need to do it alone. I’ll be back soon though. Is that ok with you?” Ben voiced his request to Pinkie, glad to see her turn around and smile at him as he did.

“Okie Dokie Lokie Ben! Just be back as soon as you can please?” Pinkie begged Ben, putting on her best begging face despite the fact that it was not needed.

“I Pinkie Promise I will be.” Ben answered her, moving past the now bouncing Pinkie to try to locate the Princess of the Sun he needed help from oh so badly. 

Dan was the last to make his request to Applejack, being far more forward with her than the others were being with their loves.

“Applejack. I was wondering if ya would like to have our wedding on the same date we planned ta have it on Earth, only here now?” Dan asked Applejack, eliciting a shocked look and then a loving smile from Applejack.

“I’d love ta do that Dan. But don’t ya think we oughta properly clear our relationship with ma kin first?” Applejack questioned Dan, moving to nuzzle him as she finished.

“Sure thing. Let’s find em then shall we?” Dan offered, moving slightly ahead of Applejack to allow her to walk next to him as they set about finding her family.


***



Subchapter 2: A Rarity to Have

Antonio happened across Luna while she was enjoying herself with Vinyl Scratch and Lyra in one of the non-main streets of Canterlot. Antonio took his time in approaching Luna, not wanting to have to interrupt her fun too much with his request.

Eventually, Antonio had made his way over to Luna and set about getting her attention so that he could ask her what he needed to.

“Good day… Antonio wasn’t it?” Luna began upon making her way over to Antonio, happy and surprisingly unfazed to see Antonio there despite the fact he was without Rarity and had been a human a few hours back.

“Good day to you too Princess Luna. And you are correct. My name is Antonio. I was wondering if I might ask a favor of you Princess Luna?” Antonio replied to Luna, encouraging a gentle smile from Luna as she enjoyed being asked things by ponies now.

“If it is within my power, than I am more than happy to help you Antonio. What is it you require help with?” Luna questioned Antonio, wondering why exactly Antonio had needed to come to the Princess of the Night for help.

“Well Princess Luna, I wish to ask Rarity to be my wife. I wish to do things properly though, so I was hoping you might be able to help me find her parents to properly ask them for her hoof in matrimony.” Antonio explained, causing Luna to backtrack a bit at how forthcoming and logical Antonio’s request was.

“I-I am honored to help someone with such noble intentions. Many ponies no longer do such things in my current kingdom. How would you like me to help you find them?” Luna asked Antonio, wondering just how she would get to help this stallion with his duties.

“I was hoping that you might be able to transport me to their side. I know that it is Celestia’s sun out at the moment instead of your magnificent moon, but are you still able to sense your subjects same as she can?” Antonio replied to Luna with a question, enticing a nod from Luna in response.

“Indeed I can. My powers are not as powerful as they could be at night, but I have more than enough energy to help you. Hold on a moment please while I ascertain their exact location.” Luna told Antonio, closing her eyes to focus as she did so.

Antonio did not have a long time to wait, Luna having been able to ascertain Rarity’s parents, Magnum and Pearl, locations easily thanks to the relative closeness of almost all of Luna’s subjects within Canterlot.

“I have found them. Do brace yourself for a moment.” Luna spoke up, continuing to keep her eyes closed to focus on transporting Antonio properly.

Antonio felt a cold shiver throughout his body, and then was swallowed by darkness for a moment, opening his eyes again to find he was directly beside the ponies he had sought.

“Mister Magnum. Madame Pearl. Do forgive me for dropping in on you so unexpectedly, but I had matters to discuss with you pertaining to your daughter.” Antonio explained himself to Rarity’s parents, glad to see them both relax and smile at him in turn.

“And what has our little Sweetie Belle done now?” Pearl asked Antonio, shaking her head and almost completely misunderstanding Antonio.

“I came to talk to you about Rarity, not Sweetie Belle. I do apologize for not being clearer on that.” Antonio explained, hearing Magnum choose to speak up next.

“Rarity? What do you have to talk to us to about her?” Magnum added, turning back towards his drink.

Antonio knew he could have been more delicate about what he could say or have waited for a different time to say it, but he also was a stallion of principals and had decided he’d waited long enough to do this as he moved from Earth to Equestria.

“I wish to marry her and would like to formally ask you for her hoof in marriage.” Antonio spoke up, causing Magnum to nearly choke and spit out his drink, while Pearl nearly fainted on his other side.

“Well, I certainly hadn’t expected that. I guess you’re the stallion that spoke up for Rarity from those six new ponies are you?” Magnum questioned Antonio as he moved to wake up his wife.

“Yes, I am indeed that stallion. I had a close relationship with Rarity while she was gone from Equestria, and wish to make it official and proper now that I’m here again with her. Will you consent to give me her hoof in marriage? I know you heard my speech in her defense, so you know my intentions are true.” Antonio explained to Magnum and Pearl as she reawakened from her short fainting trip.

Magnum and Pearl looked at each other for a moment, and then returned their gaze to Antonio, large smiles plastered over both their faces.

“Of course son. I can’t think of a more honorable stallion for my daughter.” Magnum told Antonio, amazed at just how much happier this day had become.

“I agree greatly. You’ll make my little girl happy. I am absolutely certain of that.” Pearl added, moving close to Antonio to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Antonio sighed quite visibly, and then returned Pearl and Magnum’s smiles with gusto as he prepared to return to Rarity with the great news soon. 

“Thank you both. You’ll be certain to be amongst the first to hear about our wedding date. I hope to see you both again soon.” Antonio told Pearl and Magnum, turning to wave and gallop away back to Rarity as he did.

Antonio rounded the corner ahead of him, and saw Rarity only a short distance away, coming down from the stage with Sweetie Belle passed out on her back.

Antonio galloped forward to help Rarity set down her unconscious little sister a short ways away from most of the party.

“She certainly is a great singer, like I always believed. But she still needs to learn to more properly control that bizarre amount of energy she has.” Rarity explained to Antonio, looking at Sweetie Belle to make sure she was safe before turning her attention fully back to Antonio.

“I wish I could have heard your duet. Your voice alone is so magical I can’t even imagine how amazing your singing must be.” Antonio replied to Rarity, moving forward to kiss her quickly on the muzzle.

“Oh Antonio. If you don’t mind me asking, what did you go away to do just a little while ago?” Rarity asked Antonio, blushing at first but then returning to gazing into Antonio’s eyes fully.

“Nothing much really. I simply asked your mother and father for your hoof in marriage.” Antonio spoke up, shocking Rarity sufficiently as he had expected.

“W-What?” Rarity exclaimed, immediately covering her mouth with her hooves afterwards as Antonio got on his front knees before her.

“You heard me. I asked your parents if it was alright if I married you and they said it was okay. All that’s left is for you to say that too.” Antonio told Rarity, removing the ring he had feared was lost in his movement to Equestria, but had transformed same as the box that once held it had.

“Oh Antonio! My answer is yes! You’ve made me so happy!” Rarity replied, launching herself forward at Antonio to kiss him as she never had before.

Eventually, Rarity calmed down and allowed Antonio to place the ring on her hoof. Rarity began to almost immediately cry tears of joy once she saw the ring on her hoof, moving forward to allow Antonio to hold her again. Antonio simply held Rarity tight and stroked her mane, knowing that she wanted him to never go anywhere else, and being happy to always comply with that wish of hers.


***



Subchapter 3: Pinkamina’s Farming Family

Ben weaved his way through the crowded streets of Canterlot, saying greetings to any ponies that sent him one first, his goal still perfectly well in mind.

Eventually, Ben came across Princess Celestia as she was preparing to take flight again towards the Canterlot Castle. Ben hurried as fast as he could and repeatedly called out her name to attempt to gain her attention.

Fortunately, Ben was able to make sure that Celestia noticed him with his yells and she turned around to see him approaching her location. 

“Princess Celestia! I am glad that I caught you before you took off. It wouldn’t have been a problem if I were a unicorn or a Pegasus, but I’m neither so it would’ve been a large problem. I was wondering if I could ask a great favor of you.” Ben hurriedly explained to Celestia, worried that if he didn’t explain himself fast that Celestia might not take him seriously. 

“What can I help you with Ben? That was your name correct?” Celestia replied to Ben, smiling down at one of her six new subjects that had saved them all earlier that day.

Ben looked up at Princess Celestia fully, happy that she was going to help him with his request, strange or not as it may be.

“Thank you Princess. You’re right by the way. My name is Ben. My request is that I want to marry Pinkie Pie, but I want to ask her parents. Can you send me to their farm and then bring me back here to Pinkie please?” Ben quickly asked Princess Celestia, surprised to see Celestia smile so much.

“I had an inkling that at least one of you six would be by to ask me this. I am more than happy to help you Ben.” Celestia explained herself to Ben, seeing him almost float off his hooves in excitement.

“I can send you to Pinkie Pie’s family farm, but if you want to return here soon you will have only a few minutes there to express your intentions. Are you clear on that fact?” Celestia added to Ben, glad to see him nod seriously and understandingly at her.

“I do understand Princess Celestia. I will be fast with my intentions. There will be much time to get to know each other fully after this. I must do this now though while Pinkie still has my ring but her parents don’t know.” Ben hurriedly explained further, shocking Princess Celestia slightly with his forethought into this matter.

“Exactly Ben. Prepare yourself. I will transport you there now.” Celestia finished, letting her power flow from her horn to envelop Ben for a moment before he disappeared.

Ben appeared a short few seconds later, out at Pinkie Pie’s family rock farm. Fortunately, Ben had appeared next to Clyde and Sue, shocking them slightly but saving time by not having to search for them. 

“Hello Clyde and Sue. You don’t know me, but I know you. I don’t have a ton of time here, so I’ll be blatant and quick. I want to marry your daughter Pinkie, but I wanted to let you know first and formally to ask for her hoof.” Ben blurted out, shocking Clyde and Sue even more than his rapid appearance just had.

Ben waited for a moment for his words to sink in, and then decided to prod the answer out of Clyde and Sue, unsure of how much time he had left there.

“So, what do you say? I’ll have you know that I do love Pinkie very much, more than anything else. I will never hurt her. I can promise you that. Cross my hooves, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Ben continued, miming the Pinkie Promise to Pinkie’s parents in an attempt to further convince them of the truth behind his words.

Clyde and Sue looked at each for a short while, whispered a few words Ben was unable to catch, and then turned back towards Ben, nodding at him their approval.

Ben sighed, and then began to feel Celestia’s aura build around him again. Ben knew he had only a few short seconds left, so he made all of them count.

“Thank you very much! My name is Ben! I’m sure I’ll see you soon! Thank you again! Good bye for now!” Ben powered through his words as he felt himself vanish and then reappear in Canterlot, next to the pink pony he had just been discussing with two other ponies.

“Heya Ben! You’re back! Did you do what you needed to?” Pinkie asked Ben, smiling at him as wide as she ever had before. 

Ben saw new beauty in that smile though, a beauty he had not been able to see on Pinkie when she had still been Lucy. Ben felt himself smile wide in return of Pinkie’s smile before moving to answer her.

“Yes. I sure did Pinkie. I just had to ask your parents the same thing I asked you a few months back.” Ben told Pinkie slyly, leaning down to kiss the pony that would soon again be his wife, and seeing Pinkie smile knowingly back at him.


***



Subchapter 4: A New Kind of Apple

“And that’s pretty much it y’all. I hope y’all understand why we couldn’t tell ya before now, and why we’re telling ya now. I still love Applejack and want her ta be my wife. Your responses aint gonna change that fact, but me and Aj’d sure love it if ya’d want ta be a part of our new family.” Dan finished, looking out and over at all the members of the Apple Family aside from the one he loved who stood next to him.

Dan had prepared what he wanted to say while Applejack had corralled all her family members here so they could all hear Dan speak up on both of their behalves.

Granny Smith moved forward from the crowd first to look right into Dan’s eyes. Dan held her gaze perfectly, knowing full well that Granny Smith was sizing him up just as James had done to Applejack when she had come to Dan’s farm as Zoe.

After a few moments of intense staring, Granny Smith’s face broke into a wide smile before she stepped closer to Dan and pulled him into the strongest hug she could muster at her age.

“Welcome ta the Family Dan. We’re happy ta have ya aren’t we?” Granny Smith told Dan, directing half her words behind her to the other Apple’s as well.

Apple Bloom ran up next after Granny Smith to hug Applejack and then Dan, all while making sure to show everypony her new Cutie Mark, which was a pair of crossed paintbrushes over a yellow apple.

“I’m so happy for ya sis! Can I be one of your bridesmaids please? I know Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would love ta come too. And Twist. And…” Apple Bloom began her rant, Applejack cutting her off by putting her Stetson hat down on Apple Bloom’s head the same as her dad had done with her when he was still around.

“Hold on there, Apple Bloom. Y’all know I want ya ta be a bridesmaid already, and all your friends too. But let’s just age slowly into this in the next few days okay ya silly filly?” Applejack asked her little sister, glad to see Apple Bloom bounce up and down as she nodded before going around to spread the great news.

Big Macintosh came up next, hugging his sister tight before moving over to Dan to tell him what he needed to.

“Y’all take proper care of Applejack now ya hear?” Big Mac told Dan, looking him up and down for any signs of fear.

“Ya can be sure of that Big Mac. I’ll take as good care of her as you did, maybe even better.” Dan taunted Big Mac, smiling all the while to show Big Mac his seriousness though.

Big Mac nodded and offered his hoof to Dan to shake as both a sign of acknowledgment and a rite of passage of responsibility.

Every single member of the Apple Family came up next to congratulate Applejack and Dan, from Braeburn to Apple Fritter to Red Gala to Golden Delicious.

Applejack and Dan looked at each other again as the last Apple, Apple Strudel, finished congratulating them, glad to still see the love in each other’s eyes, and more confident now than ever that it would stay that way forever.


***



Subchapter 5: Sparkling Conversation

“That’s the fact of the matter Twilight Velvet and Night Light. I do wish I could have met you sooner and under better circumstances to ease into this slowly, but I can no longer wait. I love Twilight, and I want to marry her. Do you consent to give me her hoof?” Noah finished, allowing the entire room to fall into near complete silence as he did.

Noah had just finished explaining the entirety of his and Twilight’s relationship on Earth, his epiphany in regards to coming to Equestria, and his intentions now that he was here. Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Twilight’s mother and father respectively, sat across from Noah in the room they currently inhabited, both shocked into silence.

Shining Armor, Cadance, and Twilight herself stood off to the side of the room, two of the three being shocked enough to leave their mouths wide open. Cadence was happy that Noah had spoken up, being able to sense the love between him and Twilight when they had come to her and Shining Armor earlier in the day to collect them for this moment.

Shining Armor and Twilight were both shocked into a state of silence though, Shining Armor in denial that his little Twily could already have someone this dedicated to her, and Twilight in shock that Noah had just so willingly announced such a thing as this to her and her parents and brother at the same time.

Eventually, Night Light came to be able to speak again, being the first pony to do so in at least a few moments.

“You promise your intentions are pure towards our daughter?” Night Light asked Noah, intent as he was to make certain of Noah as a stallion.

“I do sir.” Noah responded, conveying as much of his true intentions as he could to Night Light through his words.

“And you promise that all you said when you appeared in Canterlot is no less than the full truth?” Night Light continued, almost fully content with Noah.

“I would never say such things without fully meaning every single one.” Noah explained, hoping he was right in thinking Night Light was almost done with his questioning.

“And you promise to treat her right, for fear of mine and Shining Armor’s retribution?” Night Light finished, certain that this would test the stallion’s confidence fully.

“I would never do any less than treat Twilight like a Queen. And you and Shining Armor do not scare me enough to keep me away from Twilight, for any reason whatsoever.” Noah concluded, happy to speak his mind fully to Night Light and see Twilight blush profusely off in the corner of his peripheral vision.

Night Light smiled at Noah, and then turned towards his wife Twilight Velvet, and saw her own nod of agreement.

“Well then, I can’t think of any reason why to reject your proposition. Welcome to the family Noah.” Night Light called over to Noah, extending his hoof to shake his now son-in-law’s hoof.

Noah shook Night Light’s hoof and hugged Twilight Velvet before moving to go over to Twilight, Cadance, and Shining Armor. Cadance came over and hugged Noah too, before standing to the side of the room to allow Noah a continued path.

Shining Armor stared down Noah for quite a long time, wanting to make certain of him in the same way his father just had. Eventually, with a few prods from Twilight and a knowing nod from Night Light and Cadance, Shining Armor stood aside and allowed Noah to at last reach Twilight.

“Well Twilight. You heard what I’ve come over to do. Will you accept? Will you become my wife Twilight Sparkle?” Noah asked Twilight as he got down on his front knees to ask her.

“Yes I will Noah. You’ve made me so happy.” Twilight replied, embracing Noah as he stood up again.

Though Noah did not have a ring for her at the moment, Twilight did not even care. Noah and Twilight shared a kiss in the presence of their family, and would have been happy to stay that way forever.


***



Subchapter 6: A Pair of Rainbow’s

Rainbow Dash was stunned beyond belief. Rainbow was even more stunned than when Spitfire had just recently agreed to accept her into the Wonderbolts at last.

Lucas had just proposed to Rainbow Dash, producing the ring from a pocket of his saddlebags, stating it as the surprise he had promised Rainbow earlier in the day. Lucas did not propose in Ponyville though. Instead, Lucas had distracted Rainbow Dash back towards where she had first performed a Sonic Rainboom during the Best Young Fliers Competition in Cloudsdale to propose to her there instead.

Lucas stood quiet for a few minutes, not wanting to break Rainbow’s silence himself, but also not being able to take the wait for an answer either. Eventually, Lucas’ minor lack of patience mildly won out over his need to wait for Rainbow to naturally respond.

“Well Rainbow? What do you say?” Lucas asked Rainbow again, hoping to get an answer from her this time.

Rainbow Dash did not speak her answer to Lucas, instead merely nodding at him and beginning to cry. Lucas came up from his kneeling position instantly to hold Rainbow as she cried, wanting her to truly feel safe as she cried in front of him.

Eventually, Rainbow did calm down enough to allow Lucas to place the ring on her hoof. Rainbow Dash looked down at it once it was on her hoof and said two words to Lucas in response.

“It’s beautiful.” Rainbow spoke up, the sound of her crying still apparent in her voice as she told Lucas that.

“Not as beautiful as you are though Rainbow.” Lucas replied to Rainbow, holding her head up and pulling her into a kiss so as to solidify his feeling for her.

Lucas and Rainbow broke their kiss eventually, and took to merely sitting on the clouds around Cloudsdale for a long time, happy to just enjoy each other’s company for as long as they could, which could now be forever if they wanted.


***



Subchapter 7: A Love of Kindness

Oliver landed just outside Fluttershy’s cottage, having just gone to search about for Angel’s bunny friends and having been happy to see they were all safe in their own little hutches a short ways away from the cottage. 

Oliver walked through the door to the cottage and saw Fluttershy sending out the last of her animal friends, happy to simply be certain they were all safe again.

“Hey Fluttershy. I checked up on all the other bunnies. They’re all safe in their own little hutches.” Oliver spoke up as Fluttershy sent off a baby phoenix with its parents.

“That’s good. That’s all my animals now. I’m happy they’re all still safe after everything that happened here.” Fluttershy replied, turning towards her sofa to take a seat on it as the long day finally came close to an end.

“Not as happy as I was to see that you were still okay when I showed up earlier.” Oliver told Fluttershy, taking the seat next to her on the sofa and extending his wing to wrap around her body fully.

“Oliver?” Fluttershy replied, knowing that when Oliver did speak up it was important, so she simply wanted to let him know she was listening.

“Fluttershy, I could say this forever. I love you. I wish I’d known it all sooner. We could have done so much more before now. But we have now, and all of the future. So long as you answer one question I have for you.” Oliver explained, revealing the ring he had hidden behind his wing in a small pouch earlier.

“Oh Oliver. My answer is yes. You don’t even need to ask me. I already know the question you want to ask me. I’ve always wanted to be your wife, ever since I first saw you on Earth.” Fluttershy told Oliver, holding out her hoof so that Oliver could have simple access to it so as to place the ring on it,  and turning her head away to hide her growing blush and urge to cry.

Oliver placed the ring on Fluttershy’s hoof and then moved to turn her head back towards him, giving Fluttershy her first kiss when he succeeded in doing it.

Fluttershy stayed with Oliver on the sofa for a very long time after the kiss ended, simply enjoying the feeling of Oliver’s wing draped around her and loving the knowledge that he would always be there with her from now on. 

Eventually, Fluttershy did rise from her seat on the sofa though, intent now to tell every one of her animal and pony friends about the news, and hoping to receive some similar news in return. Oliver followed suite after Fluttershy went about her quest, as he knew he now always wanted to no matter what.

> Epilogue: Events Unfolded
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	All events are tied to one another, in both minute and major ways. This was stated at the beginning of our story, even before it properly began. I hope the entirety of this tale has helped you to realize this more so.

Though this story may not have been or is yet to be true, its intentions are. Do not fear others responses as you reveal your thoughts and feeling to them. You never really know just how long those people will be there, so take every chance you can get while you still have time to do so. 

Goodbye for now. I hope to see you again soon in another tale. Until then my readers, enjoy what you already have to the fullest extent you can.