> A New Magic in Ponyville > by Shadowboltwriter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very far away from Ponyville, on the edge of the Everfree forest, there was a place that had a small camp set up there. If somepony were to find it and look closely at it they might be able to tell that somepony didn't just sometimes use it, but that somepony actually lived there. It was used by a young stallion, who trudged out off the Everfree forest, levitating a stack of branches he planned on using for a fire later. When he walked over to his camp he tossed the stack of sticks he had into a pile he had next to a fire pit. He walked over to a tent he had thrown together out some sturdy sticks and some old fabric and tossed himself down under it. The stallion thought to himself. "I know there are a few other things I should do, but I really don't feel like doing it right now." He thought, rubbing a small cut he got on his hoof while in the forest. They put the thought aside in their head. "I can take a nap first, I'll make sure it's done before Celestia lowers the sun for the day." He thought after closing his eyes to take a nap. He was already very tired, so it wasn't hard for him to fall asleep. They woke up later and looked up, the sun was getting close to the horizon. He got back onto his hooves. "Might as well go ahead and start a fire." he said to himself. It was coming around to autumn, so it was beginning to get cold at night. He walked over to his fire pit, it wasn't anything special, it was about two feet across and was outlined by rocks. They took a moment to levitate some sticks from their pile and afterwards he summoned a cloud of black smoke and after a few seconds, he had a small flame. He made sure it would burn before going over to a small garden. The stallion didn't like working in his garden, but he kept telling himself to do it. He looked at it for a moment, it was only growing a few foods, but it was better than nothing. He quickly watered it and and pulled out anything he thought was a weed, every time he did work with his garden he always finished feeling like he was doing something wrong or forgetting something. "I'm no farm pony" He said to himself. He thought about how he first got his garden started. He got a lot of his food that he ate from sweet Apple acres, he didn't buy it though. Under his conditions he would always steal it, even though he hated doing so. He had decided to take some seeds off of the farm to try and sustain himself vs stealing it all the time. So far though, he wasn't having a lot of success with it. He searched through his mind to think of anything else to take care of. He couldn't think of anything, so he trotted back over to his tent and once again laid himself down in it, he could feel the warmth of his fire, it was burning very nicely. His eyes wondered around him before they looked toward one of the three chests he kept under his tent, this one was smaller but contained very valuable items, to him anyways, other ponies probably wouldn't find much interest in these things. He focused, a small cloud of black, purple, and green forming around his unicorn horn, the edges of the chest showing the same colors. After unlocking the chest with his special spell he pulled open it's top and looked through its contents, eventually pulling out a small little blue crystal. Most ponies would see it as any other crystal, but this one held a lot of meaning to the pony. He looked back over at the chest he had opened, it didn't have a whole lot in it, some old books on crystals that he had kept after running out here, a bottle of ashes he had been given for winning some old game between a couple of ponies, an older book with black leather on the cover... The sight of the object made the stallion return his eyes to the crystal he had removed from it. He watched as he levitate the crystal in front of him, having it floating in front of him gave a calm feeling. He could remember his past very well, but this was one of the few actual items he had from it. He looked into it, it was still very clean despite being kept where he lived. His red coat stuck out very well on its surface, he could also see his black and grey striped mane and tail that were a mess right now, his blue eyes looked the same, the small scratch that ran over his right eye, and his uniquely curved unicorn horn. He kept as good of care of the item as he could. He started thinking about when he first got the crystal, he remembered very precisely that it had been given to him by his mother one day when she was showing him some crystals. She had broken off a piece of one and given it to him, he kept it ever snice, even after... it happened. The stallion blinked and noticed he had tears in his eyes. He tried to simply wipe them away and tried to forget that awful memory he had remembered. He placed the crystal back into the chest he got it out from, and re-sealed it with the special spell he had used to unlock it. He looked off at the now setting sun, sometimes he wondered. "What would it be like if somepony found me out here?" He asked himself. His biggest fear was the ponies looking at him like he was evil, which was the only thing he could imagine happening, despite how friendly the ponies of Ponyville looked. They could look at him like he was just any other pony, they could look at him as the next big threat to Equestria, or they could see him for who he was, which was unlikely to him. He liked to think about being friends with ponies, something he hadn't had in a long time, but he dismissed the thought as it only being a mere fantasy, something he could only dream of. He had no clue how wrong he was about that. > Small mistakes, Big... rewards? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day started pretty normal for the stallion. He woke up after the sun had been shining over his eyes for a few minutes. He dragged himself out from his makeshift tent and stretched out, a few of his joints popping in response. "Hmm... what was I gonna do..." He thought. The stallion tried to remember something he had told himself the previous night. He looked around himself. Other than trying to find more sticks, he had taken care of everything he saw as necessary the previous day. "I'll go ahead and get that out of the way. One of the few days I can relax." He said to himself. He trudged out into the everfree and returned only around a hour later and simply relaxed under his tent. He looked up into the sky after a long time, the sun was somewhere near the top of the sky, a little earlier than noon if the pony took as guess. "Plenty of time to practice a little magic." He said to himself. He looked over in his tent and levitated a small book toward him. He found it lying on a bench one night and hesitantly took it back with him. He picked out a spot close to his camp and opened up the book full of spells. He flipped through it's pages for a while till he found one particular spell he was looking for. Recently some timber wolves came into his camp and the encounter made himrealiz how ill prepared he was at defending himself. He was also trying to use regular magic vs what he usually tried out of the black book he kept in his belongings. For a while he spent his time trying to fire a laser with little success. He eventually pushed it aside and started back to a firework like spell, it was the closest thing he could find. Towards the evening he was getting very frustrated with his progress. "All right, I'll try this a few more times and if I can't get it I'm done for the day." He said to himself. He focused for what he could and started another spell. His first attempt only produced a few sparks and sputters from his horn. He tried a second time, sending a ball of energy into the air, but it very quickly fell back to the ground anddoing nothing but disappear. An irritated groan came from the stallion before he tried a third time. This time the spell worked like it was supposed to, flying off right where he wanted it to, leaving a trail of sparks as it flew. He had a small moment of joy and releif that he finally had gotten the spell right, but the moment didn't last very long when he saw something else shooting through the sky. He knew Rainbow Dash sometimes flew over this area, but her timing in his opinion couldn't have been worse. Worry and concern quickly spread over the stallion. "Oh sweet Celestia if that hits her..." He hoped, trailing off towards the end of his sentence. His worries grew far greater when the rainbow trail that was being left by a pony he knew to be Rainbow Dash flew straight into his spell, going off on contact. He watched as the cyan pegasus fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground. Rainbow Dash staggered back onto her hooves in a daze. "Hey! What the heck... WHO DID THAT!" She yelled. Rainbow was smart enough to know that she got hit by some sort of magic spell. The stallion heard her clear as day, and he shot over to the edge of the trees and got behind one. He was panicking, he had just shot the element of loyalty right out of the sky and she was mad. He peered out from behind the tree a little to try and see her. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings a few times before hoping up off the ground and flew over towards the camp once she saw it. She looked around briefly, unsure what to think of the scene. "Does somepony... live here?" She thought. Rainbow flew around for a better look, this definitely didn't seem like a campsite that somepony just occasionally used, it looked more like somepony actually lived there, like all the time. Rainbow dash started flying around more, there was a fire pit that still felt a little warm, a small garden that had damp soil, a tent with three chests under it, somepony totally lived here. Another thought quickly came to her mind. "Maybe it's that pony that hit me out of the sky." She thought to herself. Out of curiosity Rainbow dash went over to the chests to see what was in them, when the pony hiding behind the trees noticed this he got very irritated. Rainbow dash went to the one that looked the biggest and opened it with little effort, she found mostly foods along with a few tools. Rainbow looked over to a chest that looked somewhat fancy, like something that belonged in a castle or a place like that rainbow thought. It was somewhat small but what struck Rainbow as odd was the wood on the chest had a distinct dark purple hue to it and the edges seemed to be covered in what appeared to be silver. Rainbow tried to open it but couldn't get it to budge. She started hitting it, hoping it would open. That was what set off her observer. He darted out from behind the trees the second she started hitting the chest. "HEY GET AWAY FROM THAT!" He yelled at her before a powerful red laser shot out of his horn past rainbow dash's head. The stallion was surprised in that moment for two reasons 1. He just performed a perfect laser spell like he'd done it a hundred times 2. In the blink of an eye an angry Rainbow Dash flew at him and tackled him. The two ponies rolled for a moment before Rainbow Dash stood on top of the other pony. "What's the big idea here?!" Rainbow demanded. Instead of an actual answer the stallion quickly managed to throw her off of him and fired another successful laser below her. The stallion quickly looked around and decided to try and escape rainbow dash by running off into the everfree. Rainbow Dash saw him and ran in after him. As soon as he noticed her running through the trees he started a spell that he knew pretty well, his horn started glowing a mixture of black, green, and purple before rainbow dash suddenly tripped over a thick line of black crystals. He quickly summoned two more along her back, pinning her to the ground. Rainbow tried to get up but couldn't break the crystals pinning her. "HEY! LET ME GO!" Rainbow dash yelled at him. The other pony didn't really want to hurt her, but he wanted her gone, he didn't want other ponies to know about him. He charged another firework-like spell and shot it at the pinned pegasus. His intent was to see if he could knock her out and maybe she's just think this was some crazy dream. Dash saw it coming and braced herself for it. Rainbow Dash was disoriented after the hit but didn't get knocked out. After a moment of looking around she noticed the shot had cracked the crystals restraining her. The stallion ran out back into the fields, thinking he might have a break, before he was again rammed and pinned by the angry pegasus. She was on top him in an instant. "Alright now what in equestria do you think your doing?!" She yelled at him. He panicked, he tried throwing her off again but it didn't work this time. He decided to try something he was pretty sure would work. His once again horn glowed a mixture of black, green, and purple again before he transformed into a mere dark mist that quickly disappeared into the everfree. Rainbow couldn't see the cloud of smoke reform back into the pony when he came together inside of bush. Rainbow was greatly surprised, a pony attacking her out of nowhere was one thing, but the same pony using dark magic? And only a good ways away from ponyville? Thoughts started racing through rainbow's head but one thing stuck out in her mind. "I totally need to tell Twilight about this." Rainbow said before shooting away towards ponyville. The other pony barely heard what she had said but he heard it. "Oh Celestia help me..." He said walking back into the open. His mind started racing, now Rainbow Dash was certainly going to come back here and chances were she would probably come back with her friends. He didn't need more ponies knowing about him but that's what it looked like was going to happen. What could he do about it? This was something he had spent years trying to avoid! His mind started trying to decide on what to do now. He could just straight out leave here and find somewhere else... no, he couldn't do that, even if he left the ponies would likely keep looking until they find him regardless, not to mention how much work that would be. Then he thought of something else, maybe he could somehow get the ponies to just leave him be out here? It seemed like the best thing he could do, he didn't have to have ponies know about him to an extent and he could stay where he was. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to do that but it seemed like the best idea to him. ...later after sunset The stallion looked back over his surroundings. "Well I think that's about all I can do." He said to himself. He was hoping that what he had done would convince the ponies that he had deserted here, and give up looking around here. He wasn't about to actually leave, he liked this place he called home and it would be a huge amount of work. He thought, how much are they really going to care about him out here? He had done a few things in and around his camp to try and give the illusion that he had ditched this place, and help him ensure that he would be around still. First he had cast an invisible force field far around his camp, if anypony came through it he would know. Secondly he had hidden and scattered many items in his camp, such as hiding the chests in the everfree and skewed many items around on the ground. With his illusion done he laid himself down under the night sky. Hardly any time had passed before he felt a small shock emit from his horn, somepony had crossed his field. He jumped up and ran over to the tree line, then shot up a tree, transforming into a cloud of smoke and reformed near the top, gazing at the horizon. He waited for a few moments before he saw exactly what he was expecting, the elements of harmony walked over the horizon, he could see all of them but he couldn't hear them. Applejack looked up at her friend. "Are ya sure it's around here Dash?" Applejack asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Her friend was always known to exaggerate sometimes. "Totally, look that's it's over there." Rainbow Dash said, pointing over to the camp she had been describing to her friends. The six ponies came into the camp and started looked around like Rainbow Dash had done. The pony hiding in the tree got worried when Twilight Sparkle walked right under the tree he was in, although, luckily for him, she didn't look up. "Do you think he ran off into the everfree?" Twilight asked her friends. Rainbow Dash answered. "I pretty sure we can say he ran off somewhere, I mean look at this place." Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy spoke up. "Or maybe he's just waiting around here, just waiting to attack us like he did rainbow dash... that..." Rarity walked over to comfort her friend. "Now darling I wouldn't imagine anything like that, that pony is most certainly gone from here, like Rainbow Dash said just look at the way he left this place." Rarity said putting her hoof on her friends shoulder. It did make Fluttershy feel better. Twilight decided to add her input. "Maybe we can just leave this pony alone." Twilight suggested. Rainbow looked over in surprise. "Excuse me? We can't leave this pony out here!" Rainbow dash yelled. How could her friend even consider that? Twilight glared at her friend. "Rainbow dash we have to consider all possibilities out here, maybe this pony wants to be away from other ponies and really isn't much of a worry." Twilight said. "Then why'd he attack me huh? Rainbow snapped back. "Maybe we can ask him that if we find him." Twilight said. The pony was happy for a few moments because it seemed like he might just get what he had hoped for, but then he heard something else that made his blood run cold. "HEY HE'S RIGHT THERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs. "Welp, time to run." He told himself. He hoped down a few branches to avoid Rainbow Dash, who he saw fly after him. Judging from how violent the tree suddenly shook he guessed that Rainbow Dash had slammed straight into it, although the shaking also caused him to lose his balance. He tumbled down several big branches before abruptly hitting the ground. He got up as quick as he could and took off into the forest. How thick the everfree's brush was didn't help him. He was constantly jumping and turning to avoid trees and branches. He knew the group of friends was chasing after him and this was only proven when Applejack tackled him. The two rolled along the ground for a moment before Applejack was thrown and hit a tree. They both got right back up. He looked behind him very quickly to see four of the six ponies running after him. He needed to slow them down somehow, he then got the idea to bring a tree down. He aimed at one he had just passed and shot a powerful laser at it, creating a big enough gash in the tree to cause it to fall in the mane sixes path. He ran for a few more moments before he saw two purple lasers shoot past him that that brought down two trees in front of him. With some quick thinking he cast a spell, causing him to transform into a cloud of smoke, passing through the obstacle before forming back into himself. His running was then brought to a halt when his vision was obscured with a purple aura and he felt himself get thrown to ground. He tried to get up but found himself unable to move. He was then lifted back to his hooves, only to see the six mares skewed around his vision. He was about to try running again, but then realized that wouldn't do any good. "Please just let me go." He said in a hurried voice. He was visibly panicking. "Not so fast there." Twilight said. "We have things to discuss." She added. Rainbow Dash flew up close to him. "Yeah! Just what is your problem here? Why-" Rainbow was interrupted when Applejack grabbed her tail and pulled her away a little. "Now Rainbow, y'all don't don't need to be all over him to talk to him." Applejack told her friend. Rainbow Dash simply responded by saying "Whatever." while rolling her eyes. Everypony was quiet for a moment. "Well is somepony gonna say something or are we all just gonna stand here?" Applejack said breaking the odd silence. All of them then heard a series of strange noises in the distance, including branches breaking and growling. The stallion quickly suggested what they all were thinking. "Umm... can we uh... get out of here first?" The stallion asked. "Good idea, give me one moment." Twilight said. Her horn glowed brightly before all of them found themselves back outside the forest in the fields near the camp. Everypony quickly returned their attention back to the stallion. "Alright, now what exactly is going on here?" Twilight asked the stallion. "Twilight dear I think we already can figure out what's going on from what Rainbow Dash has told us and what we all just took part in." Rarity said. Twilight was quick to respond. "Well I think to properly assess this situation we should get his point on this." Twilight said looking back at the stallion, still trapped in her magic aura. "Uh... You know I'm sure you have everything under control, I don't see why you care about what I say." He quickly said, not wanting to be a part of this. This was a lot for him, he so badly wanted to turn into his cloud of smoke but something in his mind just kept telling him to face what was happening, not to mention twilight still had him pinned in the air. Fluttershy spoke up again. "Um, you look awful worked up over something." Fluttershy said, who had kept quiet for a while. "Um, no, I don't know what mean by that." He quickly replied. The mares quickly exchanged a few glances. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to say here?" Twilight asked him, taking the risk of releasing him from her magic grip, trusting that he wouldn't run away. To her releif, he didn't. He just stood there, desperately trying to think of a reply, but he just couldn't seem to find his words. Twilight spoke up again. "Well I think if you just stayed out here simply to attack my friends then I'm goi-" Twilight was cut off by the stallion who just started frantically pleading. He took a deep breath before talking lightning fast. "Alright look I've been living out here for I don't even know how long any more and I was only practicing a little magic and I was doing some firework spell and Rainbow Dash just happenened to fly into it when I finally got it right and I hid for a little until she started hitting something that I care for a lot and I got really mad and that led into a fight where I eventually ran off and then you all came here and you eventually caught me after that and... I CAN'T TAKE THIS!" He said frantically before he just fell to the ground trying to cover his head. There was complete silence for several seconds. "Well then... you don't seem very happy out here." Twilight said cautiously. The stallion gave a small nod. "Well why haven't y'all just come on down to ponyville?" Applejack asked. He found the courage to look back up at them. "Well... I've always been afraid to... Afraid of what ponies might think of me." He said. Twilight and her friends exchanged a few words that the stallion didn't bother to listen to. Twilight walked over to him and nudged him to look back up. "Well I'm sure that if everypony gets to know you then I'm certain that you would have nothing to fear." Twilight said holding her hoof out to him. Was she... Offering him their friendship? That was very... unexpected to say the least. He reluctantly grabbed Twilight's hoof and stood up. "I'm not sure that's such a great idea..." He said. He he had always been uncomfortable opposing somepony. "Well it would certainly be better than being out here." Twilight responded. "We can all help you with that, right girls?" Twilight asked her friends. They all agreed, except for Rainbow Dash. Applejack glared at her friend. "Dash..." Applejack said, expecting agreement from her friend. "I don't know... Ahh alright, if you all think it's a good idea." Rainbow Dash eventually said. Everypony turned their attention back to the stallion. "This is... Awful nice of you all... I guess I accept?" He managed to say after some time. "Am I really doing this?" He asked himself. He had always been trying to avoid something like this, and now he was doing the opposite. "Well I guess we should all head back to ponyville with... Oh I'm sorry, we don't even know your name." Twilight said making a slightly shy gesture. He hadn't had to tell anypony his name in forever, it felt ancient to him. "Well what is your name?" Twilight asked him. He took a breath. "... Void... Crystal... my name is Void Crystal." ... Shortly afterwards the girls and the new pony they now knew as Void Crystal started back toward ponyville. It hadn't been long before they all heard. "Hey, you know what we need now?" Pinkie said eagerly jumping to the front of the group as she said so. "Let me guess, you want to throw a party for me?" Void replied. "OF COURSE!" Pinkie shouted. Fluttershy came up to the excited party pony. "Um, Pinkie Pie, do you think you can at least wait until the sun is up?" She asked. "Hmmm, yeah I can do that. But it means I just have more time to plan! Speaking of whiiiich..." Pinkie said before speeding back towards ponyville at lightning speed, leaving a puff of pink where she had been standing. "I will never understand that pony." Rainbow Dash commented. They all kept walking for a while longer until Ponyville soon came into view. "Well there's ponyville darlings, well I must be off, I should already be asleep right now. Well good night everypony." Rarity said before trotting back to ponyville. Fluttershy spoke next. "I uh... think I'm with rarity on that, good night everypony." Fluttershy said before flying away. "I'm gonna second that, night y'all." Applejack said before walking in the direction of sweet Apple acres. Only Twilight and Rainbow Dash were still with Void. "Well I might as well head out." Rainbow Dash said. Twilight stopped her before she could fly off. "Rainbow Dash, promise me you'll help Void rather than give him a hard time." Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash still wasn't completely sure of Void "Hmm... ok I'll help the guy." Rainbow replied. "Good, you can go now" Twilight told her. In an instant rainbow dash flew off, leaving just void and twilight. "Umm... Do you have anywhere to be?" Void asked. "Of course I do, and your coming with me." Twilight said. Why did Twilight want him to come with her... "Why?" Void asked. "Well you clearly don't have anywhere to stay, so you can sleep on the extra bed at my library." Twilight explained. That actually made a lot of sense once Twilight pointed it out. ... Twilight unfolded the extra bed for Void to sleep on. "This is awful nice if you." Void said. He didn't fell as though he deserved such treatment. "That's what friends are for." Twilight responded. Void climbed into the bed, it was a million times better than the ground he thought. Spike was already asleep. "I'll have to introduce you to Spike in the morning, and then I can teach you about some friendship lessons with you, then..." Twilight looked to see void had already fallen asleep. "Somepony's tired." She said to herself. She crawled into her own bed, she wondered what Void already knew about friendship before eventually falling asleep herself. > Starting in ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Void was still sound asleep well after the sunrise. Twilight, after listening to Void sleep for another thirty minutes, eventually decided it was time to wake him up. She trotted over to the side of the bed he was in and gently pushed him. "Time to wake up void." Twilight said in a half kind, half demanding tone. Void only stirred and tried to lazily push Twilight's hoof away, only for Twilight to respond by yanking the covers off of him. Void got the message after that. "Ugh... alright... I'm getting up." Void said groggily, but loud enough for Twilight to hear. "Good, you can clean up your space here and come downstairs." Twilight told him before going back downstairs. Void REALLY didn't want to get out the bed. He hadn't slept so nicely in months, maybe years. Eventually he rose out of the bed and made it up the best he could before coming downstairs. He came down the steps to see to Twilight talking to her good friend, Spike. Spike noticed Void and eagerly ran up to him. "Hey there, so you're Void Crystal huh? Twilight told me all about you, living by yourself out there right next to the everfree forest like that, pretty cool if you ask me." Spike exclaimed. Spike was impressed with how Void had been living his life. Void smiled at the dragon and decided to change his mind on that idea. "Oh trust me spike, it's nothing fun, trust me." Void told the little dragon. Spike gave an uncaring look. "Ah whatever, well I'm right here to help you here!" Spike said, doing a little solute at the end, earning a grin from Twilight. Twilight walked up next to Spike. "Spike here can help you with anything around here, he also fixed breakfast for everypony , it's already on the table over there." Twilight said after rubbing Spike's head. Twilight seemed to remember something shortly after speaking. "You know what, I think one of the first things we should do around ponyville is making sure you feel comfortable in ponyville." Twilight said. Meeting other ponies... Void got nervous thinking about that. It was something he had always wanted to avoid after all, but then again, he had always imagined himself making friends here. "Um... are there any reasons you're thinking of doing that?" Void asked. Twilight started pacing around around the library. "Well you did say it yourself that you've been afraid of ponies thinking about you in a negative way, so I think that's one of the first things you should work on here." Twilight said. That made enough sense to void. "Did you have anything in mind to start doing that?" Void asked twilight. "Well I'm not much of a teacher but I think we can talk more about this at sugarcube corner, you know where that is right?" Twilight asked, an idea forming in her head. It didn't register in Void's mind immediately quite what Twilight had told him. "I'm gonna take a guess and say it's the big gingerbread house looking buildi- WAIT later?!" Void said. Twilight maintained herself. "Well I just think that would be a better time then, besides I... have a lot of stuff to do around ponyville today anyways. Well I'll see you too later." Twilight said in a hurried manner before disappearing from the library with a teleportation spell. Void stood still for a moment "What in Equestria was that? She just went and left me here!" Void said letting himself get angry. He didn't like it when ponies just left him high and dry like that. Spike came up to him. "Ah don't worry about void, Twilight always has a good reason for doing stuff like that." Spike told him. Spike had a point, Void thought. "Well what now then?" Void asked Spike, assuming Twilight had given him some sort of plan to follow. "Well first we can eat the delicious breakfast I made and then we can head outside, although before that you should probably do something about your hair." Spike said motioning his hand over his head. Void took a look at his reflection in one of the windows and sure enough, it was a disaster to look at. "Oh, you're right spike." Void said, talking more to himself than Spike. Spike seemed excited over something. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go ahead and eat!" Spike said running over to the table, Void walked over. Void practically devoured his food. Eating fruit from Sweet Apple Acres for so long makes you grow sick of them. "Jeez void were ya hungry?" Spike asked him while biting into his own food. "What do you think? Of course I was." Void replied blankly. When the two finished their food Spike grabbed the plates and silverware off the table and placed them into the sink. "Well now that that's all done we can head out into ponyville." Spike said. Void thought for a moment. "That sounds- wait into ponyville? Where all the other other ponies are?" Void asked despite knowing the answer. Spike didn't see what was wrong. "What's the problem? You walked though ponyville last night didn't you?" Spike asked void. "Well... yeah I did, but it was the middle of the night. There wasn't anypony out to see me then." Void explained. Spike smiled at him. "You'll be fine Void. I'm sure other ponies won't care about how you look or stuff like that." Spike told void, trying to ease up his sudden worry. Void felt a little better at that but still felt uncomfortable about it. "Do you at least have a hat or something I can wear?" Void asked. Spike didn't think much about it. "Sure thing" he said, running over to a coat rack and grabbed a simple gray hat off of it before holding it up to Void. Void levitated the hat out of Spike's hands and placed it on his head, which reminded him "Oh yeah, hair." void thought. He walked over to the bathroom part of the library, he saw a light purple hair brush laying on the counter, although Void decided to leave it there, thinking Twilight might not want him using it. He opened one of the drawers and found an older brush that didn't look like it had been moved in a while. "That'll work" void told himself, leviting the brush in front of him. Voids first choice was to pull the brush through a part of his mane, only for said hair to pull on his neck from the bad knots in it. "Ow! You little..." Void stopped talking when he realized he was about to insult the brush. He tried pulling it through a different area and got some success, tons of loose hair fell out of his mane once the brush went through it. Eventually Void managed to make his hair look nice enough to where he was comfortable with it. He looked at his work in the mirror, his mane ran along his neck before moving along his right shoulder, with some areas of his mane moving outward, and with a similar style for his tail. Happy with his look, Void placed the hat Spike had given him on his head, putting it far enough forward to where it covered his horn, it was pushed awkwardly forward but Void didn't mind it like that. Spike saw that Void was done with his hair got back on his feet. "Great, now we can head into ponyville, what do say?" Spike asked. Void still felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, but something in him told him that it would be fine. "I guess so..." Void answered reluctantly. "Great! Let's go then." Spike said running toward the door of the library, Void following him. Void had a good feeling that they weren't just going to sugarcube corner right away. "Hey Spike, where are we going first?" Void asked. Void looked at the areas around him, he didn't see any other ponies yet. Spike pulled out a scroll he had been carrying. "Well according to this list Twilight made the first we'll go is the carousel boutique, that's where Rarity is." Spike said with a hint a joy in his voice. It would be like Twilight to plan out his entire day Void thought. "What are we heading there for?" Void asked, curious as to why Twilight would want him to go to Rarity's. "Well I heard from Twilight that Rarity said she would show you around ponyville, maybe a meet a few ponies while we're at it." Spike explained. Thinking about talking to some of the other ponies made Void nervous, the idea was still so foreign to him. "I guess we can do that." Void said, still uncertain about this. The two walked through the streets of Ponyville for a while on their way to the boutique. They passed by several ponies on the way there, Void could see them look over at him, he tried to just not look toward them. They were close to the Carousel Boutique when suddenly something ran into Void, which sent him to the ground and startled spike to where he went back a few paces. Void quickly started to get back up. "Ugh... what the..." Void muttered before looking back in front of him to see a gray mare getting back up as well. Void noticed she had a satchel on her, envelopes strewn about on the ground. "Ugh... oh I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to crash into you like that... I just... hey, I haven't seen you here before, are you new here?" The mare asked him. "Uh... yeah I am. Who are you?" Void asked her, trying to sound nice. The mare, with spikes help, quickly collected the envelopes she had dropped. "I'm Derpy Hooves, what's your name?" Derpy asked. To her it was always nice to see new faces around Ponyville. "I'm Void Crystal, nice to meet you." Void said. Void realized shortly after he had told Derpy his name that he hadn't been nervous about it, like he did Twilight and her friends. Void then noticed Derpy's unique set of eyes. "Hey, what's with your eyes? If you don't mind me asking." Void asked, very curious. Derpy seemed to shy away at the question. "Oh, I guess you would notice my eyes... oh well, maybe we can talk about that later, or other things for that matter?" Derpy asked. Void shifted a little, realizing Derpy didn't wish to speak about that topic. "Oh, sorry to bring that up, but yeah, that sounds good." Void replied. Derpy smiled and tested her wings. "Great, I can head over to Sugarcube Corner after I'm done working, how's that sound?" Derpy asked. "Yeah, I think it will." Void responded. "I'm supposed to head there anyways." He added after thinking about it. Derpy flew up a little. "Great then, bye Void." Derpy said before flying off to continue her job. "Bye Derpy." Void said. Derpy seemed like a nice enough pony, maybe somepony he could be friends with... although that was still a longshot to Void. Spike came up to void after a few seconds. "That was cool of you to bump into Derpy Hooves, you seemed to get along with her pretty well." Spike said. Void thought about it, he did seem to get along with derpy pretty easily. Maybe talking to other ponies wouldn't be as bad as he imagined. The two continued their walk to the Carousel Boutique until they were at the front door of the building. Spike nudged him after Void stood in place for a moment. "What?" Void asked, not sure what spike wanted him to do. "Go ahead and knock on the door." Spike told him. Void eyed Spike for a moment before deciding to go along with the dragon. Void reached his hoof up and banged it on the door three times. "Uh... hello? Rarity?" Void asked, not raising his voice very loud since he felt uncomfortable doing so. He and spike could hear things moving around inside the building. "Just a minute darling." Void heard from a voice that sounded like it belonged to Rarity. No less than a minute later the door to the boutique flew open, barely missing Void and Spike, before a small white filly ran out of it, stopping once she saw the two. She looked up at them for a moment. "Hi Spike, hi... hey, who are you?" The filly asked in a squeaky voice. Rarity walked out behind her a few seconds later. "Sweetie Belle that's no way to greet somepony." She told her. Sweetie belle turned her attention back to Void. "Oh, sorry about that, my names Sweetie Belle, what's yours?" Sweetie belle asked void. Void couldn't help but smile a little at the filly. "My names Void Crystal, nice to meet you." Void said. Sweetie Belle looked over to her sister, looking like she was about to burst from excitement. "Alright Sweetie Belle, you can go now." Rarity told her sister. Sweetie Belle immediately took off towards the direction void believed to be sweet apple acres was in. Rarity sighed, "She always wants to do something with those two." Rarity said to herself. She turned back to Void and Spike. "Well hello darlings, good to see you two today." Rarity told them. "Nice to see you too rarity." Void said, unsure of how to reply. Rarity raised her hoof to her chest. "As Twilight has likely already told you already, I have volunteered to give you a tour of Ponyville, having said that I believe we should be off." Rarity said, starting to walk. Void followed behind her, raising Spike on his back beforehand. Void walked up beside Rarity. "So what places do you have in mind?" Void asked. "Well there are plenty of icons around Ponyville, I was thinking about showing you to the town hall and town square first." Rarity replied. Void figured there would be a lot of ponies there, but oddly enough he didn't feel as nervous. "Lead the way I guess." ... Void marveled the impressive structure that was the town hall. As void thought there would be, there was a lot of ponies present in the town square. Rarity started talking about the structure and the area "And this is the town square darling. There's always a lot of ponies around here, a beautiful place to have a nice chat too, and just look at the gorgeous fountain over there..." Rarity went on. Void was trying to listen to her but couldn't help the feeling like he was being watched by somepony, not like they were glancing at him, ponies had been doing that all day. It was like somepony was starting intently at him. He tried to ignore the feeling and go back to talking with rarity. Although somepony did in fact have their eyes fixed on void. She was laying on one of the benches present in the area, her grey coat standing out from her surroundings, her rose red mane shined in the sunlight. Her dark blue eyes didn't leave void as he and rarity went around the town square "Looks like there is another one of them around here that shouldn't be..." The mare said quietly to herself. She took a second to push a bit of her mane that had fallen in front of her face "I'll have to get to him soon, although most ponies like him are too stupid to get the message immediately." She said seeing void go up to some other ponies. Rarity had seen and walked up to two other mares that had waved her over, void decided to follow her over "Hey rarity, how are you doing?" One of the mares said. She had a tan coat and a curly mane, with dark blue and pink colors in it. "Hey rarity" the other happily said. She had a mint green coat and mane. Rarity spoke as calm as ever "Hello Lyra and Bon Bon, I'm doing splendid today. How might you be doing?" Rarity asked in response. "We're doing great today, we were just taking a little walk and happened to see you out here." Bon Bon said. Lyra then noticed void behind rarity "Who's this stallion here with you?" Lyra asked, interested in the pony. Void turned to face Lyra, deciding to answer that question himself "I'm void crystal, I'm new here." Void said "Rarity here was showing me around ponyville." He added. Lyra and Bon Bon shared a smile "That's cool, hey if you're going to be staying here you should come by our place, i've got some cool stuff that I can show you." Lyra said. "We." Bon Bon corrected. "Well it was cool to meet you void, but we've gotta head back home, see ya later." Lyra said waving at him as she started to walk off. "Bye you two." Void replied. Rarity looked over to him "That was nice for you to meet them, those two are such nice ponies." Rarity said "Now I think we should be off ourselves." She added. They started off to see what else ponyville had to show void, a pair of eyes still fixed on him until he fell out of their sight. ... It was the afternoon before rarity finished voids tour of ponyville. The last thing she went to, as void suspected, was sugarcube corner. The three of them came up to the door of the building "well void I believe you know this place?" Rarity asked void. Void nodded in response "Yep, once you hear the name it's easy to figure out which building it is." Void joked. Rarity smiled at that statement "I would have to agree with you on that. Well darling I believe my job is done here and that you have a meeting with ms. twilight." Rarity stated. "Yeah, I guess that means your leaving for now?" Void asked her. "Why yes dear, but I would love to see you again, I had a wonderful time with you today. You're also a very interesting pony for certain, not to mention I can help you with your fashion sense." Rarity said gesturing toward the hat void had been wearing. Void laughed a little "Knowing you I'm surprised you didn't try and drag me into the boutique when you saw me." Void said. "Oh believe me, the thought crossed my mind." Rarity addmitted. Rarity sighed "Well I shall be off void, goodbye darlings." Rarity said, starting to walk away. "Bye rarity" void said. "BYE RARITY" spike shouted at her. Rarity turned and smiled at the dragon before continuing on. Void turned to sugarcube corner. "Since when do I make jokes?" Void asked himself. "Maybe you're getting more comfortable in ponyville than you know." Spike suggested. Void shrugged at the idea. "Maybe." Void said. Void turned to look at the entrance of sugarcube corner "Here we go then" he said to himself before entering. When he walked in he stopped and looked around a little. There were several tables spread out across the room and booths along the walls. Behind the counter a mare with a cyan coat and pink mane, styled in a way that reminded void of a cupcake, came up to him "Hello there sir, I'm Mrs. Cake, I'm guessing your void crystal?" Mrs. Cake asked with a smile on her face. "Yeah... wait, how do you know my name?" Void asked her in suspicion. We're ponies already getting their ideas about him? Mrs. Cake just smiled at him "Oh, princess twilight came here earlier and told me to expect a pony like you." She explained. Voids nerves calmed down hearing that "I guess twilights here then." Void asked. "Oh yes, she's right over there." Mrs. Cake said pointing over to twilight, who was sitting in a booth. Twilight noticed and waved and waved to them in response. Mrs. Cake turned back to void "if you need anything while you're here just ask me, you can ring the bell on the counter if nopony's here." Mrs. Cake said. "Alright then, thank you Mrs. Cake." Void said before walking over to twilight. Twilight looked over to void and spike, who hopped off of voids back to sit next to her "Hey spike, hi void, have you had a good day?" Twilight asked him. "It's been good, although I'm pretty sure you had it planned out for me." Void said. Void could see twilight blush a little "Was it that obvious?" Twilight asked shyly "It kinda is when the first thing spike did when we went outside was pull out a list that he specifically said you made." Void replied. Twilight let out a small giggle "Well since you figured that out was there anything that happened that wasn't planned for?" Twilight asked void. "Well... on the way to rarity's I did bump into derpy hooves. We actually agreed to try and meet here later." Void told twilight. "Oh, well it's great that you're talking with other ponies." Twilight told void, happy to hear that he had started talking to other ponies. They were quiet for a short moment "Well is there anything else you might want to get off your mind?" Twilight asked void, wondering if void wanted to talk about anything else. Voids mind immediately jumped to the feeling he had in the town square "Actually yeah, when rarity showed me the town square I... couldn't help but feel like somepony was staring at me, not like just glancing at me, but like they were fixed on me. It was just really bothering me while we were there." Void said, recalling the odd feeling. Twilight gave him a cheerful smile "That's ok void, I wouldn't worry about something like that, but tell me about that if it keeps bothering you." Twilight told him. Twilight's attention seemed to get caught by something near the door. Twilight quickly returned her attention to void "Besides, I'm pretty sure you have other things to worry about right now." Twilight said. Void only gave a confused look "What's that supposed to mean?" Void asked twilight. Twilight didn't respond immediately "Just... just go outside for a moment, you'll see what I mean." Twilight said. Void got up and walked towards the front door and started to open it "What could she be talking abo-" was all he got out. The next thing he knew there was an explosion of confetti right in his face. When he could actually see again he saw a pink blur dart behind him who proceeded to drag him out into the street. Said pink blur darted back in front of him. "Heeeeey there void." Pinkie pie said leaning her head towards void. "Gah! Pinkie pie... what are you doing here?" Void asked her, recovering from his initial surprise. Pinkie pie took a large breath "Well after I met you back there by the everfree and we were all walking back and I suddenly realized, oh my gosh, since you'll be new to ponyville that I TOTALLY need to throw you a welcome to ponyville party but it was night so I just ran back to my house and started getting bunches of stuff together for your party and of course I got some help from my good friends and now I've run all the way here to get you and bring you to your party!!" Pinkie said. Void was more surprised pinkie said that all in one breath than she was throwing him a party. Pinkie jumped towards him again "Well what are we waiting for? There's a party we need to head to!" Pinkie shouted before grabbing void and start dragging him to the party site she had created. Twilight had stepped outside and watching the two ponies "Hopefully pinkie doesn't bother void too much." Twilight said to herself before flying up and start heading to the party site. ... Pinkie had blindfolded void on the way there, and only took it off when they arrived. Pinkie got behind him and untied the knot keeping the blindfold on "Pinkie is the blindfold really necessary... whoa." Void said looking at his surroundings. Pinkie had strung up garlands and streamers across the area and many more of her usual antics, along with a large sign that read welcome void crystal on it. Void had seen pinkie put up her party decorations before but being right under and around them made him look at them differently. The party pony bounced around him excitedly "So do you like it? Huh? Huh?" Pinkie kept asking him, hoping for a positive reply. "Uh, yeah, it looks amazing pinkie pie." Void told her. Pinkie pie did a huge leap into the air "That's perfect then! Oh but what's a party without other ponies to enjoy it with?!" Pinkie said before knocking the grey hat off of void and popping a party hat onto voids head. Pinkie then started running back into other areas of ponyville "Come on everypony! There's a party to be had!" Void could hear her say as she ran off. Void took a second to put the party hat over his horn "Hopefully this doesn't go badly" He thought. Void watched over time as several ponies walked or ran into the area of the party. Most of them didn't notice him immediately. One group of mares decided shortly after seeing him to welcome him "Hello there, you must be void crystal right?" One of the three asked him. She had a tan coat and a dark red mane. "Um... yeah, that would be me." Void told them. The mares gave him a few cheerful looks "Well we wanted to tell you that we're sure you'll love it here in ponyville. The ponies are just great to be around, lots of activities to pick from, nice flowers here and there, there's just always something nice to say around here." The three mares told him. They all seemed pretty nice to him "Well that's good to hear then, what are all your names by the way?" Void asked after noticing they had t said them. "Oh yeah, I'm roseluck, this is lily to my left and daisy to my right." Roseluck said. Void nodded at them "Alright then, nice to meet you three." Void replied. "Nice to meet you too void. Enjoy the party." Lily said before the trio walked away to continue enjoying the party. Speaking of which he should probably try and figure out what pinkie was going to get him to do later. ... Pinkie was making sure ponies had been staying on their hooves during her party, especially void. She had first dragged him off to have him play a few party games, first being pin the tail on the pony, then she eventually got him to play a few games of darts. Pinkie had tried to get void to bob for apples but eventually gave up on it, with void not wanting to take off his party hat to play. Pinkie afterwards had let him off to do his own thing. After a few minutes of walking around void felt a light tap on his shoulder. Like anypony would they turned to see derpy standing behind him "Oh hey derpy" Void said. "Hi void, I know we said sugarcube corner but this still works I guess." Derpy said. The two shared a brief laugh "Well what have you been up to?" Derpy asked void. "Well rarity pretty much gave me a thorough tour of ponyville for most of my day, had a few chats with some other ponies we came up to, then I was talking to twilight for a little while before pinkie surprised me and dragged me over here." Void summarized "Have you done a lot since I talked to you? I know you said you still had to work." void asked. Derpy thought for a moment "hmm... no, I was working for a while, but I have been having fun down here." Derpy said. The two ponies socialized for quite some time, eventually they somehow worked the topic of when they met earlier in the day "We probably could have run into to each other in a much nicer way." Void commented. "Yeah, I think that was mostly because I was pretty tired that morning." Derpy said. That was reasonable, void though. Then another thought crossed his mind "Any reason you were tired?" Void asked. Derpy looked through her memory for a moment "I think that it was because I had gotten into an argument with somepony the other day, so I was up later than usual." Derpy explained. Derpy didn't seem like a pony that would get into fights. Void dismissed the thought as another took over his mind. Void eventually noticed that derpy seemed to have been glancing at something for the past few minutes "What do you keep looking at?" Void asked, curious. "Do you see the filly with the purple coat and blonde mane?" Derpy asked, pointing behind void. Void looked and did see a pony like that socializing with some other young ponies "Yeah I see her." Void said. "She's my daughter, she means the world to me." Derpy explained, still smiling at the young filly. "Oh, well that makes sense then, motherly instincts I guess." Void said. Voids mother had sometimes mentioned stuff like that. "Yeah. Speaking of her..." Derpy looked around for a moment, like she was looking for something "She and I should be heading back home about now, it's getting pretty late." Derpy said. Void was aware that the sun had set a while ago. That was late for a filly he assumed "Well alright then, nice talking to you derpy." Void said as she started walking away. "You too void, goodnight." Derpy told him, waving. "Goodnight." Void replied. Void watched for a little as derpy came up to the little filly and started walking away with her. Void thought about it and thought that he was pretty tired himself "Might as well head back to the library." Void thought before beginning to walk back to twilight's. It had been a peaceful walk back, the night sky was cloudless in its beauty, no other ponies on the streets as he was, he could hear the distant noises of the dying down party, void found it very peaceful. He wasn't far from being able to see the library when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye what appeared to be sparks from a magic spell. He just dismissed it before he suddenly saw it again, much more noticeable this time. He tried peering behind some of the buildings he had seen it by cautiously, right before getting startled from hearing the words "Looking for something?" Right behind him. He quickly turned to see a mare with a grey coat and rose red mane that shined in the moonlight. The mare cleared her throat "I asked you once already, are you looking for something?" She asked him again in a demanding tone. Void collected himself after being startled by the stranger "Oh sorry, I was just seeing some magic stuff back here and I was just trying to find what was causing it." Void explained. Instead of a positive reply, the mare responded with what sounded like criticism "Humph, I guess you were just seeing things then, although maybe I shouldn't be surprised." The mare said. Void got irritated at that statement "And what's that supposed to mean?" He asked her, bothered by her comment. The mare started pacing around in what space they had "Well I guess it just means that somepony like you would simply be a little... what's the word... shortsighted maybe?" She said in a manner that was assertive rather than apologetic. Void didn't know what she might have meant by that but he took it as an insult "If you're just not going to be nice here then why are you talking to me?" Void asked her, clearly irritated. "Well maybe I looking for something as well." She responded. This mare was not making a lot of sense "And what does that have to do with me?" Void asked, more annoyance making its way into his voice. The mare raised her hoof to her chin "Mmm... I think I'm done here." The mare said before walking behind one of the buildings. "Hey get over here!" Void said starting to follow the mare. The conversation was not over to him. But for the mare it was. Void turned the corner quick enough to just see the mares unicorn horn light up in a dark red aura before she disappeared in a flash of light. Voids first thought was "Who was THAT?" He wondered. He thought for a moment "Maybe twilight knows who she is." He thought while walking back out into the street. He knew twilight would be at the library, she had told him early in the party she had was going to go to the library to work on something. Void finally saw the large treehouse and soon entered it to find twilight sitting at her desk looking through a scroll. The alicorn immediately noticed him come inside "Oh void, I'm so glad you're here, I've got amazing news for you!" Twilight said enthusiasticly. Void raised an eyebrow at her "What's the news?" Void asked twilight. Twilight levitated the scroll she had been looking at back onto her desk "Well I'm sure you're tired so I'll give you the short version. I've been sending messages to princess celestia and she's been sending messages to me, and in the last one she sent me she's asked me to take you as my own student! How cool is that!" Twilight exclaimed. Void was stunned "The princess of friendship... wants me... to be her student..." Void kept thinking. He couldn't seem to make sense of it at the moment "Well um... wow... I think I might just have to sleep on that if you don't mind." Void said. Twilight gave him a nod "Of course you can void, we can discuss this more in the morning." Twilight told him. Void made his way up the stairs while twilight resumed whatever it was she was doing. He walked past a snoozing spike and onto his own bed, not really bothering to get under the covers. Void quickly fell asleep, but not before remembering he had forgotten to ask twilight about that mare. > New student > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight had woken up at her normal time, right after the sunrise. She was still very excited about princess celestia asking her to take void as a student in magic and to help guide him in his new life. Twilight had already taken time out of her morning to create a schedule for void's first magic lessons. Spike later walked over to her while twilight was writing at her desk "Are you sure you're not getting ahead of yourself?" Spike asked her. Twilight turned and looked at her dear friend quizzically "Of course not, what makes you think that?" Twilight asked in response, turning back to her work. Spike had to think a moment before replying "Well it's just... void's only been here for one day and you're planning out all this different stuff you want him to do." Spike said. Twilight thought about it for a moment "Well that's why I'm making them in a way that will suit him." Twilight said. Spike shifted uneasily "Um... alright then. Do you want me to go wake him up?" Spike asked, giving up on his concerns. Twilight looked up from her work and looked over to a clock that was on the wall, which read 9:41 "Oh my gosh, I got so caught up in my work I didn't even realize what time it was!" Twilight said getting up from her desk. Twilight quickly recovered from her mini-panic attack "Spike, you can go ahead and cook something for everypony, I'll wake up void." Twilight said after regaining her composure. "Yes ma'am." Spike said before walking off to the kitchen and grabbing a pan. Twilight trotted up the steps to see void still sound asleep on his bed. She reached out her hoof and shook him a few times "...Ugh... do I need to get up?" Void asked groggily. "Yep, go ahead and get on your hooves." Twilight told him. Void slowly got up from his bed and stood up and gave a long yawn before moving over to twilight's side. Twilight led void down the stairs "So do you remember what I told you last night?" Twilight asked void. Void looked through his memory of the previous night "...Something about me being your student now or something." Void said. "That's right! When I first saw that you were capable of dark magic I was obviously worried but I was also... interested by it. When I brought you here one of the first things I did was send a message to the princesses about you." Twilight said. Well... now the princesses know about me. Void thought "What all did you tell them about me?" Void asked. Twilight grinned "Oh how we found you, what all you were saying to us, pretty much everything I knew about you." Twilight said. "Well then... what did they think about me?" Void asked, not knowing what else he should say. Twilight thought for a moment "Well... you know what, here, this is the last letter celestia sent me. Go ahead and read it for yourself." Twilight said levitating one of the scrolls on her desk in front of void. Void gripped the scroll in his own magic and unrolled it and started reading celestia's message. Dear Twilight Sparkle, All of this information of this void crystal has been very fascinating and concerning at the same time. As you know, dark magic is a very powerful and very dangerous form of magic that can influence and corrupt the ponies that use it in terrible ways. What most intrigues me is that void may have been using this magic for years and does not show signs of such corruption from what you have told me. This leads me to believe that void may posses a very strong magic and mind that can be lead down many paths. This and the other information you have presented me has lead me to decision. I personally ask you twilight to take this void crystal as a pupil of yours. Help him learn to control his magical abilities, help show him true friendship, and help lead his life down a new and brighter path. I sincerely hope that you will and accept and excell in this task. -Signed, Princess Celestia Void didn't know how to respond "Well what do you think?" Twilight asked void, eager to know his response. "Well... I'm not sure what to think of that." Void said, his mind thinking about celestia. It was a letter so void couldn't know if celestia was caring or concerned over him. He returned his attention to twilight "So... I'm guessing you've already started planning out lessons for this... I guess mentoring would be a good word." Void said. "Not just planning, I've already planned out entire lessons to teach you!" Twilight responded. "Of course you have." Void said to himself. Void then noticed something off to the side of the room he had failed to notice the night before "When did my chests get here?" Void asked, walking up to the three chests stacked against the wall. Twilight levitated the scroll she had given void back over to her desk "Applejack and rainbow dash took a lot of time out of their day to go back out to the edge of the everfree forest where you had hidden them and brought them back here. You'll have to thank them the next time you see them." Twilight explained to him. Void opened one of the larger ones to see if its contents were still inside "How did they find them? I hid them in the everfree." Void said. "Well to be honest, applejack said you found a good spot, you just didn't cover your tracks to getting to it well." Twilight told him. Void thought about that statement "Fair enough." Void said. He put his special purple chest aside and looked through the two others, the one he kept food in was empty, and the one he put most things inside only had a handful of missing items. He was about to express his irritation, but them put it aside, eventually coming to the conclusion that applejack had simply taken anything out of the chests that belonged on the farm, which he thought was fair. Void returned his attention to twilight "So when do you plan on starting your first lesson?" Void asked. Twilight noticed that spike had finished cooking "I was thinking after breakfast, is that good with you?" Twilight asked. Void made up his mind quickly "I obviously don't have plans, I'm fine with that." Void told her. "Great then! Let's all go ahead and eat so we can get started." Twilight said while taking her seat at the table that spike was currently laying plates on. Void muttered under his breath, he felt bothered about this for some reason. Void had made a mental note not to devour his food this time like he had the previous morning, he was semi-successful with this. After everypony had finished twilight walked over to her study area while void brought his special chest upstairs and placed it next to his bed before meeting twilight downstairs, who had an unusually thick stack of index cards. Void studied twilight for a moment "Well you look like you're ready for studying." Void commented. "I do not, I look ready for lecturing." Twilight corrected. Twilight's response amused void and spike as well. Void dismissed further comments "So I assume you're going to lecture me for a while first?" Void asked, suspecting the answer to be yes. Twilight brought her hoof to her chin "Well... I've already witnessed that you're capable of powerful magic, so I think we can skip that part and do some more hands on practice if you want." Twilight offered. Void perked up at twilight's offer "I... would actually like that." Void said. He liked the idea of not having to sit through twilight only talking about magic for celestia knows how long. Those thoughts were slightly crushed from twilights next sentence. "Just remember, this doesn't mean you'll never have lectures." Twilight continued. Void considered it for a moment "I can deal with that." Void said. Twilight walked over to the front door of the library "Great then, meet me in front of the library when you're ready." Twilight said, exiting the library. Void then realized that twilight would be having him practice outside, right where anypony could see them, which made void get more nervous thinking about it. Spike noticed his discomfort "What's the matter with you?" The young dragon asked. "It's that twilight wants to practice where everypony can see us." Void explained. Spike didn't show much concern "Yeah so? You got through yesterday just fine didn't you?" Spike asked. Void recalled he had become less nervous throughout the day "Well yeah but... I didn't do anything magic related yesterday I front of anypony, as far as I know nopony but twilight and her friends even know I have a horn." Void said, irritation evident in his voice. Spike only shrugged "Again, I wouldn't worry about any of that. See you outside." Spike said before exiting the library with what void assumed was a comic. Void's mind started racing over his worries, what might ponies think of him using magic, especially if they saw his dark magic abilities, assuming they knew what it was, or even just his horn. Void eventually calmed himself down "Just don't think about it." He kept telling himself. Sometimes trying to forget something seemed to help void. After void finally brought himself to exit the library he found twilight pacing back and forth in front of the library while spike was sitting of to the side, reading what void was now sure was a comic. Void looked around, twilight was the only pony he could see, much to his relief. Twilight noticed void come outside "Ah, great to see you're ready." Twilight said with a hint of excitement in her voice. "Umm... twilight?" Void said weakly. Upon hearing her name twilight turned her attention to void "Yes void? Is something wrong?" She asked him. Void waited a moment before speaking again "Umm... are you sure practicing out here is a good idea?" Void said, putting a little strain on the word here. Void kept thinking that twilight might change her mind. He would definitely like that. Twilight never expected void to ask that kind of question "Of course I'm sure it's a good idea. Why do you ask that?" Twilight asked, her excitement now being mixed with confusion. Void thought for a second "Because I don't want other ponies seeing me practice, especially if it's my dark magic. Look, maybe we can just do this out behind the library at least?" Void was hoping twilight would agree with him. "Oh come on void. That's silly, you went all around ponyville yesterday and did fine." Twilight stated. Definitely not agreeing "Yeah... ponies were able to see me, but my horn was covered and they all still hardly know me." Void said in response. Twilight gave a stern glare "Void, if you want to get settled into ponyville you can't hide like that. Who knows, maybe ponies will be impressed by your magic if they walk by." Twilight said. Void realized his mentor wasn't going to budge on the argument "Fine, fine, we'll practice here." Void said. Twilight however wasn't convinced "Void, you need to take this seriously for everypony's sake." Twilight said before adding: "This is what's best for you." Those exact words echoed in voids ears for a few seconds. Void shut his eyes and raised his hoof to his head out of frustration. Twilight was confused again when she saw this "Void? Is somet-" Twilight managed to say before being cut off by void. "Never. Say. That. To me. Again." Twilight could easily feel the seriousness in voids tone when he said that "You can say something along the lines of 'this can help you' or other things, just not that please." Void continued. Twilight stood silent for a moment "Um... Ok then. I will not say that again." Twilight assured, curious as to why void didn't like the phrase. Void was pleased at twilights response "Thank you... now that that's done with I think you were about to start a lesson." Void reminded twilight, trying to change the topic. Void hated hearing that phrase, it was all too haunting to him. Twilight resumed her focus to the lesson void had reminded her of "Well alright, one of the first things I want to do is how capable you are with the magic you already know. Let's start with what's basic to you." Twilight instructed. Void wasn't sure what he thought was basic, to him he had always just learned what he could "Well... levitation is pretty easy I guess... so is that laser I learned literally two days ago, it's pretty easy too... and a few dark magic spells are also somewhat easy to me." Void said. Twilight was of course writing on an index card "You said you learned that laser spell only two days ago?" Twilight asked. "Yeah... I... first learned to do it shortly after I accidentally shot rainbow dash out of the sky... why do you ask?" Void asked, wondering where twilight was going with this. Twilight recalled a few events for her answer "Well it's just that for at the time you had only known the spell for a few hours... yet during our little 'chase' you were able to perform it so precisely and so powerfully that you were able to knock down an entire tree. And a pretty think one if I remember." Twilight explained. Void recalled those events "Yeah... sorry about that whole thing." Void said, suddenly feeling guilty Twilight tried to assure void "That's ok void, that's behind everypony. Now... if that's all true then that's super impressive magic for a unicorn. Hmm... hold on, I wanna test something." Twilight said before levitating her saddlebags next to her and pulled out a small disk that was clearly painted to be a target "What are you gonna do with that?" Void asked as he eyed the disk curiously, wondered just what was going on in twilight's head. "I want to experiment with that laser of yours, for now... just shoot at the target when it pops up in front of you." Twilight said. A thought came to void's mind "Are you going to do things like this for most of my magic?" Void asked. "For now." He heard twilight say. Void knew what he was going to be doing for a while. ... Around two hours had passed since twilight had started her lessons. Twilight was still writing various notes on her index cards while spike and void were currently sitting at a nearby table, spike reading a comic and void plain bored. Void let out a sigh "When am I gonna get to learn something new rather than learn about th things I already know?" Void asked, lifting his head up. "Probably soon, we're getting through these first things quite quickly." Twilight answered. Twilight put her cards and quill into her bag "There's just one more thing I want to talk to you about." Twilight said. Void wondered what twilight still wanted to know. His mind cycled through different possibilities until he thought of one thing. His curiosity was then replaced with anxiety "What is it?" He asked anyways. "I want to know more about you're dark magic abilities, like how you use them, when did you start or discover it, stuff like that." Twilight said, seeming to get excited as she spoke. Void had thought correctly "Are... you sure about that?" Void asked hesitantly. "Of course I am, there's so much I want to know about it!" Twilight said, her eyes full of wonder. Rather than protest, void just stood where he was, letting twilight ramble "Dark magic is a magic hardly known to ponies at all, there's so much that it could do or be capable of doing. I could probably write an entire book exploring it and studying it and..." Twilight seemed to realize that her imagination had taken over her mouth "I started rambling didn't I?" Twilight said sheepishly. Both spike and void nodded at her, grinning. Twilight sighed "Well I still would love to learn about it from you. We can talk inside if you want." Twilight offered. "Sure." Void replied. Void figured trying to deny twilight her possible knowledge wouldn't do any good, besides, maybe this could be beneficial. The three came walked back inside the library and twilight turns around to face void after giving spike her bag. Spike put away both twilight's bag and his comic before moving to stand next to twilight "Well I think i'll start with more important questions first." Twilight stated. Void figured twilight's 'more important' questions were just whichever ones she wanted to know the most "So now if you don't mind me asking... how did you first discover dark magic? It's by no means something a pony just wakes up to having." Twilight asked. Void was quiet for moment , recalling a few bad memories while trying to remember the answer "I uh... I have a book that I learned it from." Void said. That was only half true, he had learned most of what he knew out of the book, but the book itself wasn't where he originally learned it from. Twilight eyes once again lit up with wonder "You have an entire book on dark magic?!" Twilight acce accidentally shouted. "Yeah... It's... It's in my personal chest, the one I put on my bed earlier today." Void told twilight. As excited as twilight was, her excitement was dampened by void, who hardly sounded interested, almost upset. Twilight's expression switched to one of concern "Are you alright void? You sound upset." Twilight asked. "I'm fine" Void said quickly, trying to forget about the issue. Twilight wasn't convinced "Void you don't have to hide anyth-" Twilight said before she was cut off by void. "I said I'm fine." Void said more sternly. Twilight still wasn't convinced "Void just tell m-" Twilight said before she was abruptly cut off again. "I SAID I WAS FINE! WHAT PART OF THAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!" Void yelled. Voids yelling was accompanied his sudden outburst with his horn becoming charged with magic, his horn glowing very brightly and fiercely. Twilight was startled by void's sudden outburst, charging her own Lviv in response, ready to react if void did something else crazy. Spike had run behind twilight's leg. They all stood silently for a moment, nothing but the sound of their magic radiating off their horns. Twilight stared down void while he did the same in his angry state. In the few seconds they stared down each other twilight could see trails of purple mist forming at the corners of voids eyes. Twilight could then see the rage in his eyes fade away along with the fierce magic he had charged along with it. Void took a step back at a loss for words. He had nearly attacked one of his only friends here in ponyville because of some memories she hadn't meant to remind him of. He felt horrible. Void took another pace backwards "I- I... I'm sorry twilight I- I just..." Void kept stuttering on his words. Twilight could see he was getting tears in his eyes, he must really feel bad about what just happened. "Void..." was all twilight said before void laid himself on the floor of the library, refusing to look up. Twilight looked over to spike for a moment before returning her attention to void. Twilight moved and stood over void, looking down at him. She tried nudging him to get him to look up at her, to no avail. Void was expecting twilight to scold over what he had nearly done, but then twilight did something else he never expected... she got down next to him and hugged him... of all things that could've happened... Void lifted his head up "Uh... twilight... what are you doing?" Void asked, relieved but confused by her actions. "Void, I'm sure that you didn't want to hurt me or spike, so it's alright. But something provoked you to act like that... may I ask what it was?" Twilight asked, trying to sound as comforting as she could. "... You're question just... reminded me of a few things..." Void said. "I can only guess that they aren't pleasant things." Twilight said, although it was obvious. "No. They're not." Void muttered. Twilight got back on her hooves and held her hoof out to void "Well if you want to talk about it, or anything else for that matter, I'm right here." Twilight assured him. Void could tell twilight meant those words and took her hoof and pulled himself up "Thanks twilight... you're a good friend." Void told her. Twilight gave a meaningful smile "I'm glad I can be." Twilight said. Void shifted his view around the room some before returning his attention to twilight, he still looked uncomfortable to twilight "Twilight I... I know you're trying to make me feel better about this but... I just don't feel like I deserve it, I mean I almost attacked you and spike." Void said. Twilight tried to reassure void "That's ok, I'm technically the one who provoked that anyways. Now then, how about we forget about this and go do something else?" Twilight suggested. "That... sounds good to me." Void agreed "Do you have anything in mind?" Void asked. Twilight thought about it for a moment "How about we go to sugarcube corner and get some lunch there?" Twilight suggested. "That sounds pretty good." Void said. "Well let's go ahead and go then." Twilight said. Void started to follow her, he still felt bad about what had happened, but maybe getting away from it for a while might help. ... Twilight and void had been walking for a few minutes in an awkward silence. Twilight eventually decided to break the silence "So have you... thought about anything you want to do in ponyville yet?" Twilight asked void, trying to start a conversation. "Well... I actually haven't given any thought to that. I've really just been doing what you say now that I think about it." Void said. Once twilight thought about it, void was right. Come to think of it, twilight had plans for the rest of the day too "Hmm... that is true now that you say that... you know what, how about after we eat I give you some time to yourself here in ponyville?" Twilight suggested. Void had planned on doing whatever twilight had in mind, the idea of him going around freely filled him with uncertainty "That sounds... cool I guess." Void said, unsure how to feel about the offer. Twilight seemed to sense the uncertainty in void's voice "Well think about it, whatever you please. Maybe you could try chatting with somepony new, or maybe try finding the CMC and help them on one of their adventures, or you could just go and read a book at the library if you want." Twilight explained "Aren't the cutie mark crusaders a little young for me to be hanging out with?" Void responded. Interesting response twilight thought. Twilight made a mental note that void apparently already knew the full name of the CMC. Come to think of it, void seemed to already know a lot of things about ponyville before she brought him here. Twilight's mind returned to her conversation "Why worry about the CMC?" Twilight asked "Well, I don't know if fillies these days would care about a pony like me." Void said. Twilight only smiled "Oh I doubt that, knowing those fillies they would love somepony like you." Twilight said. Both twilight and void tried to imagine what it would look like if void met the CMC. Void raised an eyebrow "You think they would like me?" Void was skeptical about twilight's statement. "I'm certain they would." Twilight said. The three finally came upon sugarcube corner and went inside. Void didn't see a lot of ponies inside, much to his relief. Twilight was stopped by pinkie, who was behind the counter "Hiya twilight, spike, void. What brings you three here?" Pinkie asked in her usual happy tone. "Well we w-" Twilight said before pinkie put a hoof to twilight's mouth. "NO WAIT! Let me guess!" Pinkie said. Pinkie put her hooves to her head while void cast a look to twilight that asked 'what is she doing?' Twilight only shrugged in response. Pinkie put her hooves back down "You're here... to have some lunch at ponyville's best bakery!" Pinkie said, eagerly waiting for a response. "Yeah... great guess pinkie." Twilight said, deciding that was the best way to reply. Pinkie bounced up in glee "Heah! Score one for pinkie pie! Anyways, what can I do for you all?" Pinkie asked. Twilight looked over to void as if she was asking him for what he wanted. Void thought about it for a few seconds "I don't really care. Just pick for me." Void said. Twilight turned back to pinkie pie "Just bring us some muffins for now." Twilight answered "Great, go ahead and find a table, I'll bring them out to you." Pinkie said before disappearing into the kitchen. Twilight picked a booth and took a seat at it with spike while void sat across from them. Pinkie pie quickly came out balancing a tray of freshly baked muffins on her muzzle before placing it on the groups table "Voila, fresh muffins for everypony. So what have you three been up to?" Pinkie asked, taking her own seat next to void. Twilight answered first "Well for most of the day I've started to give void lessons in magic." Twilight said. "Cool! Can you do anything super duper cool yet?" Pinkie asked while turning to face void. "Oh uh, no not yet." Void answered. "Aww, I was really hoping you could show me something cool. Oh well." Pinkie said. Twilight spoke up next "So what have you done today pinkie pie?" Twilight asked. "I'm glad you asked, I've got sooo much I want to share." Pinkie said moving her hoof through the air for emphasis. Twilight and spike were used to hearing the party pony ramble on about just about anything. Void was not "Here she goes." They all thought. ... Void was certain after pinkie pie's talking that it was impossible for the mare to run out of things to say, or breath for that matter "... and then I saw you three come in here and I was like 'oh my gosh two of my best friends and one of my new best friends are here!' so obviously I-" Pinkie pie continued before twilight being quieted by twilight. "That's great pinkie pie but we know what happens after that." Twilight said. Pinkie only giggled in response "Well of course you do silly, you were there after all." Pinkie stated. The time pinkie pie had spent recaping her day she had also spent talking about much much more than her day, often getting sidetracked talking about a part of her day or when one of the others around her reminds her of something and she feels like talking about that. Twilight spoke up once more "Well as much as I would like to keep talking to you pinkie pie I think you may have been away from work for a while." Twilight informed pinkie. Pinkie looked down at her hoof, which suddenly had a watch, drawn on in marker, on it "Oh my gosh you're right twilight! Well sorry everypony, see ya later!" Pinkie said before once again disappearing into the kitchen again, bringing the now empty tray with her. Twilight also got up from the booth afterwards, placing spike on her back "I guess we're leaving now?" Void asked while getting up himself. "Well me and spike are heading back to the library. What you do for the rest of the day is up to you." Twilight told void. "Oh yeah" void said, recalling twilight's earlier statement about it. "Do you know what you're going to do?" Twilight asked out of curiosity while they exited the bakery. Void considered his options "... Not really, but I think I might just walk around for a while. That always helps me think and it's just nice in general." Void said. "That's ok then. Pacing around can help me think too. Well whatever you do I hope you have a good time." Twilight told him. Void turned to twilight again "Thank you twilight." Void said. They were simple words but they could mean a lot more to void. "You're welcome void." Twilight said in response "Now then, it seems like a nice day to reorganize the library doesn't it spike?" Twilight jokingly asked to spike, who had lost interest in the conversation. "Oh uh... sure twilight." Spike said drifting back to his own thoughts. Both twilight and void grinned at the dragons comment. "Well anyways, see you later today void." Twilight said starting back towards the library. "Bye twilight." Void said before she left. Void turned toward the opposite direction he had been facing "This way I guess." He said to himself. Void had probably been walking for no more than a few minutes, avoiding the different looks from ponies that he received, letting his mind wander, when he felt a light tapping on his shoulder. Like anypony would he turned his head to see who was there. Void stopped walking to see a unicorn mare behind him. She had a white coat accompanied with an electric blue mane and tail in light and dark stripes. She stopped shortly after void did. "Sup?" was all she said. "Um... hello?" Void said. There was a brief silence between the two. "Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me? I mean I know I'm cool and all but-" She said before void suddenly spoke up. "Oh, sorry, I was just..." Void said before the mare spoke up. "Ah that's alright... Void right?" The mare asked. "Yeah... that's right. What's you're name?" Void asked. The mares smile seemed to grow a little "Well you probably already know me by the name DJ-PON3, but you're probably asking for my real name, which is vinyl scratch." Vinyl answered. Void only stared for a second "DJ... what?" Void said. Void couldn't see vinyl's eyes roll underneath her goggles "Oh come on, DJ-PON3, you can't say you've never heard of me?" Vinyl asked, skeptically. "No, I haven't. Should I?" Void said. Vinyl levitated her goggles off her eyes and onto her forehead, they were full of surprise "YOU'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THE GREAT DJ-PON3?!" Vinyl shouted, earning some strange looks from the ponies around them. Void tried to ignore the looks for what he could "Is that a bad thing?" Void asked. Vinyl recovered from her initial shock "Dude. I don't know where that head of yours has been for so long but I name some of the best music in equestria." Vinyl said, seeming to take pride in the statement. "I... guess I'll take you're word on that." Void said. "Dude I don't know what to tell you... but I know what we can do, follow me." Vinyl said, gesturing her hoof for void to follow before she started to run in the direction they had been walking. Void also started running, easily keeping up with vinyl "Where are you going?" Void asked, having to shout slightly. "We're going to my place so I can show you what you've been missing." Vinyl responded. ... Twilight and spike had been making good progress in reorganizing the library, much to spikes dismay when he realized. Only someone like spike, who had been around twilight most of her life, would notice her lack of enthusiasm in the task "Is something wrong twilight? For once you don't seem to actually want to reorganize the books." Spike said walking over next to her. "Oh I don't know, it's just... I'm worried about void. You saw his outburst earlier today, what if something like that happens again? Maybe I should just..." Twilight said attempting to walk outside the library before spike jumped in her path. Spike tried to assure twilight "Oh come on twilight, I'm sure void is fine." Spike said. "But what if something makes him angry again? I just-" Spike stopped twilight again. "Stop worrying twilight, I'm sure that whatever void is doing right now that he's having a good time." Spike said. Twilight took a deep breath and reassured herself "You know what? You're right spike, I should stop worrying. I'm sure void is doing fine." Twilight said. Spike perked up hearing twilight "That's the spirit." Spike said. Twilight grinned at her assistant "Yeah, speaking of which... I think there's still some history books to put on the shelves." Twilight said. Spike's expression quickly turned to one of boredom "Now I kinda wish I didn't saw anything." Spike said to himself. Twilight heard him and only smiled to herself. ... It had taken void and vinyl around fifteen minutes to reach vinyl's home. They had both slowed to a trot when the building came into view "That's it over there." Vinyl said pointing over to her home. To void it was... unique to say the least. The house seemed to be divided perfectly in half between blue and purple colors and brown colors... weird. Void continued to examine the intriguing structure while vinyl proceeded to unlock the door and then lead them both inside. Just like the outside the inside was split perfectly. Such a strange design choice void thought. "Uh, vinyl?" Void asked. "What's up?" Vinyl asked in response. Void looked around a bit more "Why is your house split in half like this?" Void questioned, very curious about the design choice. "He he... that's a story... long story short me and my best friend, who is also my roommate, first got this place a long time ago and we couldn't agree on how to decorate it sooo..." Vinyl said, allowing herself to trail off. Void picked up the sentence "So you literally just split the house in half for you to decorate." Void said. An odd compromise void thought. "Yep, that's what we did." Vinyl said casually. Another thought crossed void's mind "Who's your friend? If you don't mind me asking." Void asked. "She's an earth pony from canterlot. Her name is Octavia. We're like besties, even though we have like completely different tastes in music." Vinyl said. Void looked at both sides of the house and sure enough, vinyl's side had her huge set of speakers accompanied with turntables, along with a stack of records in noticeable disarray, and several other details that pointed towards vinyl's taste in dubstep and pop. To the other way on Octavia's side of the house void could see several details that pointed towards her taste in what void guessed was classical and orchestral music. Void looked back towards vinyl, who had pulled a record out of her pile a dead twirling it around with her magic "Get ready to have a listen of this!" Vinyl said placing the record on her turntables. "Um, is this gonna b-" void didn't finish his question before vinyl's speakers started blaring music at near full volume. For void: when you live on the quiet outskirts of the everfree for so long, the blasting of vinyl's speakers were near deafening to him. After several minutes the music finally stopped and vinyl plucked the record off "YEAH! What did you think of that?!" Vinyl shouted while pulling her goggles onto her forehead. "...WHAT?" Void yelled, not even realizing he was yelling. "I said what did you think of that?!" Vinyl shouted a bit louder. All void could hear was ringing "I CAN'T HEAR YOU... I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!" Void yelled. Vinyl failed to suppress a little laughter "I'll give him a few minutes." She said to herself. ... A couple hours later void was still hanging out with vinyl at her home, with vinyl always finding something to talk about or do "So you were just living out there by yourself like that? Cool." Vinyl said. Void had hesitantly told vinyl about how he had come to ponyville after she kept asking him about, although he left out certain details. "Well... I guess it sounds cool but but it's much less fun to actually do." Void told her. "If you say so." Vinyl said, who was currently laying on her back on a couch in the room. Void was standing next to her. Vinyl gazed over to void "What did you think of my beats?" Vinyl asked void for what felt like the millionth time. "They were cool other than you blared the music so loud that you made me temporarily deaf. Turn it down next time." Void suggested. Vinyl gave a light chuckle "Pff, if you turn it down then everypony might not hear it." Vinyl said "But... whatever." Void said, giving up on the debate. "Besides, the knob for my volume only goes on way, right." Vinyl said followed with another light chuckle from vinyl. "Ok then..." Void said. Vinyl gazed out of a window for no particular reason to see celestia had started to lower the sun and Luna had started to raise the moon "Celestia's lowering the sun, you gonna head back to twilight's?" Vinyl asked while moving her eyes over to void again "I guess I should, twilight is probably waiting for me." Void said. Vinyl stretched her legs after laying still for a long time "Sounds good, oh hey before you go..." Vinyl said before she reached her hoof out to void. Void only looked at her, not sure what she wanted him to do "oh come on, high hoof me dude." Vinyl exclaimed while flipping onto her stomach, waving her hoof around for emphasis. "Oh, my bad." Void said, facehoofing mentally. Void reached out his own hoof and hit it against vinyl's, making a distance clop sound. "Cool... see ya void." Vinyl said returning to her earlier position on the couch. "Bye vinyl." Void said before walking outside where he was greeted with a beautiful night sky. Void had always had a fondness for the night. Void quietly trotted his way through the streets of ponyville, no other ponies walking around, the soothing sight of the stars in the sky, the occasional sound of a bug of some kind, very peaceful void thought. "Huh, I made friends with derpy hooves yesterday... and Lyra and Bon Bon I guess... and I made friends with vinyl scratch today... if making friends is this easy then why didn't I do this years ago?" Void asked himself, thinking back to his youth times. His thoughts were the interrupted by a voice. "Yeah, I wonder why." He heard. The distinct voice was immediately recognized by void. Void quickly turned his head to see the same mare he had run into the previous night, her grey coat and bright red hair shined under the moonlight, her darker blue eyes staring into his own "Excuse me?" Void asked. "I wonder why you never made friends years ago like you said." the mare stated. Void only eyed her for a few moments "Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to say something?" She asked "it's rude to stare you know." She added. Void spoke with irritation in his voice "I didn't mean it like I never had friends I just... didn't have a lot of them." Void said trying to sound confident toward the end. "I doubt that. You're not the type of pony that other ponies would want to friends with." The mare said. That statement got void's anger stirring "What?! I can be a great friend." Void said. "Unlikely, you're uncaring, ungrateful, you don't even look friendly." The mare said, her face showing little emotion, although the tone of her voice had plenty in it. Void was getting really irritated with this mare "That's not true. You're just saying lies." Void said, his voice rising in volume. "Not to mention you're cutie mark. No doubt it represents you and you're little obsession with that unusual and evil magic you do." She continued. Void took a quick glance at his flank, a black star with three small striped trails in the pattern purple, green, purple, all following behind one another. Void's irritation only grew "It's my talent in it. It is NOT an obsession." Void said, his voice on the verge on yelling. A ghost of a grin crept onto the mares face "Oh and you sound sooo confident about it, or anything you say." She taunted. Void's anger snapped at that point "OH WILL YOU SHUT UP!" Void yelled along with his horn beginning to glow a bright red before a powerful laser struck the ground where had the mare had been before she teleported to the side. "Oh, attacking somepony now are you?" The mare said, her face sneering at void. "ALRIGHT, I don't know WHO you are, I don't know WHY you're bothering me, but will you cut it out?!" Void yelled, his horn still glowing feircly. The mare was silent for a moment, just staring into void's anger filled eyes "... Ruby. That's who I am." Ruby said before void saw her teleport away in a flash of light. "Come back here!" Void said, voice still raised. Void stood still for a few minutes, during which his anger and frustration eventually faded from him and he was left wondering "What did I just do..." ... After more time had passed void eventually arrived back at twilight's library, entering without hesitation. Like the previous night spike was already asleep, but twilight this time was laying in the floor reading a book instead of a scroll. Twilight noticed void walk in and looked up from her source of information... or maybe it was a novel of some kind, void isn't really care "Hello void, did you have a good day?" Twilight asked him. "Yeah, it was great." Void replied, continuing towards the stairs. Twilight noticed the irritation in void's voice "Void is something wrong?" Twilight asked, getting to her hooves. "I'm fine twilight." Void replied, still not stopping his walk toward the stairs. "Void you said the same thing this morning... what's bothering you?" Twilight asked again, flying over in front of void, forcing him to stop after he had taken only two steps up the stairs. Void was quiet for a moment. Twilight was right, he had tried to dismiss and hide his frustrations in the morning and that that turned out very badly. Void looked up at twilight "Might as well not make a repeat of this morning." Void muttered. "Well...after you let me go and do whatever I pleased for the rest of the day I did end up having a good time for the most part. Spent most of it around a pony named vinyl scratch, do you know her?" Void said. Twilight nodded at his question "Well after the sun set I started heading back here and..." Void trailed off, recalling the earlier events. Twilight nudged him a little "Come on void keep going." Twilight told him reassuringly. "Yeah... well I... was waking back here and I should say I have a habit of talking to myself sometimes and in this case I was doing it somewhat loud I think. Well I said something about why I never tried to make friends years ago and I... suddenly heard a response from this mare leaning against one of the buildings. I'm gonna be blunt here, she's a huge prick." Void said. Twilight was surprised at void's chioce of words "What did this mare look like?" Twilight asked, curious about this mare. Void tried to recall what ruby looked like "Well her name is ruby I think, her coat is grey, her eyes are blue like mine but darker, her mane was a bright red color and it kind of ran flat down her neck to her shoulders, and I didn't really get a look at her cutie mark." Void recalled. Twilight could see void was getting irritated thinking about ruby "It's ok void, you don't need to talk about this if you don't want to." Twilight assured void. Void looked sternly at twilight "No I- I want to." Void said. Twilight could see the seriousness in void's eyes "Alright then , but only if you're comfortable with it." Twilight said. Void decided to step off the stairs and walked toward the middle off the room with twilight "I guess I should ask... what exactly was this mare doing that seems to irritate you so much?" Twilight asked sincerely. Void went through his memory again "Well she pretty much was just... saying all these different things that just bothered me so badly. Constantly making little remarks at me being evil or bad at something or something along those lines." Void said. Twilight nodded for void to continue "And to make things wors, if I tried to defend myself or try to say something good she would pretty much just challenge me about it. She was just... erg... so irritating." Void was clenching his jaw towards the end of his rant. Twilight brought a hoof around void's shoulders "Don't worry void, you don't need to be angry over ruby. I can't say I know a pony like that but you don't need to stay mad at her." Twilight said. Void seemed to mutter under his breath "If it helps I can see if anypony in ponyville might know her." Twilight offered. Void raised his eyes, which had fallen to the floor earlier "...Thank you twilight." Void said. "What are friends for?" Twilight said in response. Void seemed to cheer up "... Well I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go to bed while you... keep doing whatever it was you were doing." Void announced. Twilight recalled the book she had been reading when void came inside "I was reading 'equestrian history volume 3' since you mention it." Twilight informed void. Of all things in the library she was reading a history book... whatever. With their conversation over the two exchanged their good nights before twilight returned to her reading while void trotted up to his own bed and crawled into it. Thanks to twilight, he was able to sleep relatively nicely.