Chapter 01 - Ember's Flame

Chapter 1 - Ember's Flame

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1. Street Thief
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The soft rays of the rising sun made its way through the transparent glass window of a moving train that was heading to Fillydelphia, and landed softly on the eyelids of a sleeping black changeling inside one of the train's private rooms. The soft rays weren't enough to wake him. Soon however, the train finally started to stop, and rocked the room which woke him up by surprise.

"Alright, I'm up! Geez..." he groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He let out a long yawn as he slowly disguised himself as a green alicorn pony. His name was Henry Hoof. He levitated his glasses to his face that fell from the table to the red soft carpeted floor.

Finally, the train went to a full stop. Through his window, he could see that the train stopped inside a large structure; Fillydelphia's Train Station. A lot of ponies stood and walked and flew around the busy place. It didn't look as orderly as Canterlot's train station.

Here, small business stalls were circling the large pillars of the structure. Sales ponies shouted their products at the ponies who passed by their stalls. The four ticket booths were having long lines of ponies, and the wide staircases leading outside to the city was crowded as well. Some ponies even sat on the stair steps, where some were playing their guitars and drums, and some were just begging for Bits.

Suddenly, just right in front of him, he saw a fast-running unicorn pony being chased by three other ponies who wore police uniforms. Henry stuck his head on the glass window, hoping to catch a few more of the action. The other ponies ignored the event while some just tried to extend their hooves to make the running unicorn get off of their balance. Henry didn't get the chance to see the conclusion of the event, for it was now blocked by ponies who were now exiting the train.

"Rarity was right..." he slowly said, "...that book I read about this city truly was outdated..."

He sighed as he turned to the red wide chair of his private room where his sister's brown sidebag lay, and as well as his white journey hat that little Rarity made for him. He smiled as he remembered showing little Rarity his sister's drawing of Daring Do, and he requested to make him the very same hat on the drawing. Little Rarity complained about the out-of-fashion hat request, but she did it anyway.

He wore his sidebag, wore the hat and headed out the door. He moved towards the train's exit and felt kind of nervous and doubtful of stepping outside, but he needed to, because he was already creating a line of annoyed ponies behind him.

As he went out, he immediately felt the weird atmosphere of the area, and the dusty air. His nervousness quickly vanished when he spotted a vendor stand selling Daisy Bread, his favorite bread. He managed to slowly walk towards it, despite the large number of ponies walking pass him in random directions. He was only a few feet away when his path was finally cleared from ponies. He smiled as he continued on until a random pony bumped into him, but fortunately, none fell off of their hooves.

"Oh, I'm so sorry...!" said the yellow mare earth pony with a dark-blue messy mane and burned tail.

"No no, it's no problem," and Henry bowed, but the mare earth pony hurried away, leaving the alicorn confused .

He payed her no mind as he walked towards the stand and made his order. Five Bits seemed to be a bit expensive for one Daisy Bread, but he still wanted one. He used his magic to open his sidebag to get his pouch bag where he kept his Bits and...

"Hm..." he couldn't sense his pouch bag inside, so he moved his sidebag in front of his face.

"Is something the matter, sir?" the orange male middle-aged unicorn pony asked.

Henry dropped his sidebag from the brown aura, revealing a shocked look on his face. His pouch bag was not there, he just got mugged!

Who could have—that yellow earth pony that bumped into him!
He quickly turned to where that thief went, but the crowd of ponies blocked him from seeing further ahead, so he flapped his wings to get airborne, and after he scanned the area...there! The thief was making her hasty escape on the wide starcase! She quickly ran to make her escape out of the station without looking back.

He needed to chase after her, but before that, he landed immediately in front of the vendor, "I'll be back!" and with that, he flew straight to the stairs.

Outside, he immediately felt the dusty wind of the city, but he payed it no mind. He quickly looked around, and to his right, he saw a glimpse of a running pony in the shadows of an alley. He smiled as he dashed after her, only to be stopped by a pony police.

"Whoa there, youn' fellah."

"Sorry officer! I just got robbed!" he quickly replied and ran around the police unicorn pony to make chase.

The police pony called the attention of his two other comrades who were eating on a doughnut stand. They then quickly followed the green alicorn.

The alleyway was a dead-end. The yellow earth pony disregarded this fact and continued running towards it with her current speed. Henry just got inside the alleyway and saw the earth pony jumped towards the wall and managed to take a few more steps on the vertical wall to reach the top, and immediately jumped to the other side. Henry was somehow enjoying this little chase of theirs. He flapped his wings hard to immediately bring himself in mid-air.

The yellow pony however thought that her victim was a unicorn, so she was now convinced that she won't be followed as she slowly decreased her speed until it seemed like she was just walking with the other ponies in the street, as if nothing happened. With her black sidebag, and with the weight of the pouch bag she snatched, she grinned for she caught a big one today.

Fillydelphia, a city full of grey buildings and dusty streets where ponies walk towards their destinations. Each mind their own business, unless they meet someone they recognize in the streets. She crossed the street on the pedestrian lane after the traffic light was red for carriages to stop, and for ponies to cross. She was heading towards the city's oldest bridge that connected the city to an island from a distance. She flashed a smile as she stared at the island.

The bridge was full of moving carriages. Under the bridge, on the sandy shoreline stood a small house built from wood and different worn-out clothes stitched together. This part of the city was quiet and free from a crowd of ponies. The yellow earth pony climbed up the bridge's fences and finally went to the other side, where the ground was now sand instead of cement. She then slowly walked towards the house, smile gone, replaced by a worried look on her face. She heard a weak set of coughs coming from the house.

"Brother..." she softly said as she moved a clothe with her hoof for her to enter, where on a dirty brown thick folded blanket lies a small red earth pony with an orange mane under a blue rag he used as a blanket. Under his closed eyes are very black eye bags. Though it wasn't cold, he was shivering, and coughing weakly. The very sight broke the yellow earth pony's heart as she slowly sat beside her sick brother. She puts her hoof on her brother's head, and slowly rubbed his head. Their poor house had no ceiling, though the bridge took care of that.

"...big sis..." he slowly moved his head, but he was hushed by her sister.

"Don't exert yourself, brother... Please..." she then took the pouch bag she snatched and placed it in front of her, and oh how her eyes widened when she saw a large amount of Bits. "Brother... I can finally get you healed...!" she whispered, making her brother flash a weak smile.

"That must mean you have a large amount of Bits there!" said a loud voice from outside.

She gasped, for she knew who that voice belonged to. She quickly placed the pouch bag back inside her bag, and then she went outside, where three unicorn stallions stood a few feet from her, grinning mischievously.

"Hello Ember," greeted the gray unicorn, "a fine day we're having, huh?"

"What do you want this time!?" Ember, the yellow earth pony, snarled, "I thought I already entertained you guys earlier this morning!" she continued as she wagged her burnt tail twice.

"Entertained is right!" laughed the blue unicorn.

"Well, Ember," said the white unicorn, "we just happened to pass by, and oh, what good news did we just hear!"

"You heard nothing but nonsense, Whitey!" she spat.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase then," the white unicorn said, unamused by the earth pony's attempt of hiding it, "give us the dough and we will not hurt you this time."

The three unicorns' horns started to radiant some magic aura, making the earth pony feel nervous.

The gray unicorn grinned. "Looks like our leader here wants to end this fast."

"So we'll have to count from one to ten," the blue one said, "...one..."

A sweat ran down from Ember's nervous face.

"...two...NINE...!"

The earth pony gulped as she closed her eyes. No way she was giving the Bits to them. She needed them, more than anything right now, even if it would mean be burned by the three unicorn's magic.

"TEN!"

And in an instant, the three unleashed beams of energy from their horns, all directed to the earth pony.

She expected to be fried right about now, but after a few seconds of nothing, she slowly opened one of her eyes, only to see before her the three bullies being enveloped within white magic from three police officer ponies.

"You sirs, are coming with us!" said one of the police unicorn ponies.

Startled, she took a step back, but she bumped into another pony behind her. She slowly and nervously turned her head to see who it was. It was a tall and very familiar green pony with a horn, like those of a unicorn, and he was wearing black glasses and a white hat, and he was angry at her.

"I'd like to get my money back, if you please." Henry said sternly. He then heard a set of weak coughs, but he decided to ignore them for a while.

She couldn't run from this, she thought. Tears started to form on her eyes as she slowly took Henry's pouch bag out from her bag. She slowly put it down on the sand as tears started flowing down her face.

A police pony rolled his eyes as he walked towards the green alicorn while the other two walked away, bringing with them the three unicorns. Henry used his magic to put his pouch bag back inside his bag.

"Trust me sir," the white police unicorn pony said as he reached them, "these street rats are better than actors when they're caught."

Though the earth pony did stole his money, she at least had a good excuse of committing the crime, unlike those three. He turned to the police who was about to envelop the thief with his magic.

"Please wait," Henry said, catching both ponies' attention. He turned to the earth pony, "Ember, right?"

She slowly nodded, and looked down on the sand.

"I forgive you," he smiled.

Both ponies couldn't believe what they heard from him. Ember shook her head in disbelief.

"Sir, this here is a criminal."

"Yes, I am aware," he looked at the police pony, "but there won't be a reason of putting them in jail if their victims forgive them, right? (at least, that's what I read in the books)"

"Er... I...suppose." He looked around, doubtful. "Alright then," the police pony sighed, nodded, and walked away.

"You didn't have to do that..." the earth pony slowly said, looking down on the sand, trying to hold her tears as she heard another set of weak cough.

"Tell me, are you from that island over there?" Henry looked at the island in a distance, and even pointed with his hoof.

Ember didn't bother moving her head. She knew what island he was talking about. "Y-yes..." she said as she closed her eyes.

"If you needed money that badly," Henry looked at her, "maybe I could hire you as my tour-guide?"

That didn't seem to make her feel anything near better. Yes, she needed money for her brother, but now she has to work to get them, plus, she has to go back to her home. She shook her head.

"No thanks." she replied coldly, to Henry's surprise.

"B-but..."

"I said 'no'! Now get lost!" she shouted angrily at him, making Henry take a step back.

He frowned, he only wanted to help. Of course, earlier, he wanted this thief to be brought to justice, but while we was stalking her, he saw her smile when she saw the island far away. He also saw her little brother's condition while he was hovering above their little house. If she doesn't want his help, then he won't force her. He slowly turned and started walking away, but he stopped after he heard a weak voice.

"S...sister..."

It was quiet for a while. None moved an inch. Finally, Henry heard a heavy sigh behind him.

"I'll...take the job..." Ember said, completely hating herself for this decision.

Henry smiled as he turned to face her. "Thanks." Though his smile quickly evaporated when he saw her worried look while she stared at her house. "First thing's first..."

Ember looked at him.

"Let's get your brother to a hospital."

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2. A Favor
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In a white clean room inside Fillydelphia Radiant Hospital, Ember's brother is lying down on his back on a white comfy bed. He is wearing an oxygen mask and on his right foreleg was a thick and small tube connected to a hung-up dextrose. On the left side of the bed was Ember, sitting on a white chair, her head and both her front hooves were resting on the bed, asleep.

Earlier that afternoon, the doctor confirmed the filly's recovery, and he'll be back in good shape in two weeks time. Though it was good news, Ember felt like a heavy gravity is pulling her down. Where would she get the money for her brother? Even though she got hired as the island's tour guide for that green alicorn, it wouldn't be enough.

But after Henry noticed the grim look on her face, he flashed a small paper in front of her. She read whatever was written on it, and she was surprise after finding out that it was a receipt. Henry already payed for her brother's stay in the hospital. Tears immediately formed on both her eyes, but Henry asked her not to cry and not to hu---she quickly hugged him tight, thanking him. He joined the hug.

Henry soon left the hospital and he flew back to the train station to get himself a Daisy Bread. He flew back to the hospital after he bought two pieces of bread, only to see the sleeping brother and sister in the room.

Near the room's door was Henry, seated on a white chair. With his brown magic, he floated his notebook and quill, writing down the things of what happened earlier. He thought that maybe those events will be useful for his book, or a sequel if he gets the chance. He stopped writing after he noticed Ember slowly waking up. He's been wanting to ask her about, with her age, why hadn't she got her cutie mark yet.

She looks as old as Cheerilee, maybe older, but she...maybe she hadn't figured out her special talent yet?
Or maybe she hadn't found her special place in the world?
He wants to ask her, but on the right time.

Ember smiled as she gently rubbed her brother's head.

Finally, she's awake. Henry's been wanting to go now. He took a deep breath, and...
Ember suddenly stood up and quickly turned to face him with a determined look and smile on her face.

"Let's go." she announced towards the startled alicorn.

Both ponies walked out of the hospital and took a carriage in front of a line of carriages in the parking area of the hospital near the entrance. Henry told the drivers(since they're also the ones who'll pull the carriage) their destination.

Ember has never been inside a carriage before. She was looking really excited and cheerful as she turn her head left and right to see the scene outside of the carriage's windows. Henry just smiled, for she somehow reminded him of his little sister.

It took them roughly twenty minutes to get to the island.
Near the bridge was a little town. Henry and Ember went off of the carriage and with his magic, he lifted some Bits towards the earth pony drivers.

"This is Little Filly Town," she said as they both started to walk on the earthy path of the town.

The small town, aside from the bridge, is surrounded by trees. The houses are made from wood, and the houses' roofs are made of bamboo stalks. Unlike PonyVille, the town has a less number of residents. It was because everypony on the island dreams to live big in the big city, Ember explained.

"Is that why you and your brother were in the city?" Henry asked, but all he received was a frowned look on Ember's face. He didn't bother to ask further.

Ember took him to the other side of the town, where an earthy path in between the trees lies ahead.

"This route will take you to Ember Town. It's the nearest town if you want to visit the ruins." Ember explained, looking straight at the path. She took a deep breath, and exhaled.

Both looked at each other. Ember then smiled.

"Well, I'll be here to wait for you."

Henry didn't like that idea.

"What? You have wings. You can fly there no problem."

He arched his eyebrow. A sweat ran down her face.

"Is something wrong with going to Ember Town, Ember?" he asked, though he couldn't hold his smile. She and the town had the same name though.

She looked down to the ground with a weak laugh. "N-no, of course not."
She then looked back at her client, "But uh, maybe we should, y'know, stay for the night?"

Henry blinked. He didn't realize the time. The sun was already setting, and it'll be dark soon. He sighed.

The town only had one inn, and it had two available rooms on the first floor, and four on the second floor.
The two of them were the only customers, so Henry took the two rooms available in the first floor, despite Ember's plead that they'll take the available ones on the other floor.

"Why spend two rooms?" Ember asked out loud as she opened her room's door, which was just in front of Henry's.

Henry remembered about what his sister had taught him a year ago. He laughed weakly and greeted her good night.
There was also one reason, though. He doesn't want her to find out about him being a Changeling. Who knows what she'll do if she ever finds out.

Henry's room was small and dimly lit by a candle on the windowless wall. The other two walls each has a window, showing the town under the evening blanket. Each were partially covered by brownish-white curtains. His bed was medium-sized, made out of wood and has a white matress on top, covered by a lavender-colored two-layer blanket, and one small lavender pillow. There was also a wooden table and chair near the right window. He took off his hat and sidebag with his magic and puts them on the table. He turned to his bed when he heard three soft knocks on his door.

"Oh, uh, come in..." he said, startled a bit. He wasn't expecting anyone.

The door knob turned and the door slowly began to open, revealing a sad-looking Ember. She took a few steps inside.

"Um, may I come in?" she asked, nervous.

Henry gave her a flat look. "You already are..." he sighed.
"Something the matter?"

"Well..." her voice trailed off as she pulled the door back with her foreleg, and continued to close it with her hind leg.
Henry needs to take a note of that.
"I have a lot of questions..."

This will take long, Henry thought. He invited her to sit on the chair as he sat down on his bed.
He nodded after Ember sat down.

"Well uh..." she stared at the foot of the bed, "...why'd you help me and my brother?"

Henry formulated some words in his head before he answered.
"I just felt sorry for the two of you. I mean..." he scratched his throat, "your brother needed help."

"I know that..." she said with a cold voice, "But that's not the answer I was expecting."
She slowly faced him, making eye-contact, "...We've been there for almost two years now, and no one ever helped us, except you." she immediately closed her eyes and lifted a hoof to wipe the forming tears on her eyes.

Henry was about to get off of bed to pat her shoulder or back, but she quickly stopped him without looking.

"Don't stand, I'm fine..." she said, her voice slightly squeeked on the word "I'm"...
She sniffed as she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I just...wanna know, why?"

Henry couldn't really answer that question. He doesn't know as well.
Maybe because he remembers his little sister when he sees her? Probably not...
Maybe he just really felt like helping them because they needed help? He already said that...
He sighed.

"Are all...alicorns like to help, whenever they can?"
Henry was surprised a bit. She turned to the foot of the bed once again.

"I'm..." Henry started slowly, "...not really an alicorn, though..."

"Then what are you?" she immediately replied, angry a bit as she faced him.
"You have a horn, you can use magic, and you have wings so you can fly."

Henry looked at himself before he answered.
"Well, yes, I have those, but I think Princess Celestia is a proper example of an alicorn."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, she's powerful, of course, and much...bigger(?), in size, and she's royal, and...uh..." he trailed off...
Those were the only things he could think of.

"So, you've met her?"

"Well yes, I have---wait..." he just noticed that their conversation switched direction.
"What are we talking about again?"

She tilted her head slowly to the floor as her expression changed to sadness.

"C-can I ask a favor?"

"Hm?"

"Please...?"

Yes or no, Henry couldn't decide.
"What is it?" a safe counter-question, he smiled.

But she didn't respond.
After a few minutes of silence, she stood up and walked towards the door.
"Forget it... Thanks anyway, and good night."
And with that, she closed his door, leaving him alone in his room.

He sighed as he used his magic to lift his glasses off of him and puts it down on the table.
Table... No, she couldn't be...!

He immediately used his magic to lift his bag towards him, opened it and...the pouch bag is still there, as well as his notebook and quill and ink bottle.

A relief. Finally, he no longer has to worry about her taking his stuff.
He puts his bag back on the table and used his magic to turn the candle's flame out and he went to sleep.

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3. Tied Together
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It took them two hours of walking to reach Ember Town.
Henry now is wondering one thing. From the time they woke up, Ember hadn't said a word, even now that they reached the small quiet town. She kept wearing an angry look.
During their journey, Ember was in front to lead the way. She didn't complain about taking breaks.

Ember Town is looking the same as Little Filly Town, except, this town's bigger and has more houses, and more ponies.
But unlike the previous town, the residents here are all Earth Ponies, from the looks of the ponies around town.

"Let's get this over with..." she grumbled as she started to walk until Henry called her name, making her stop and turn to him. "What?"

"Is there a reason why you're angry all of a sudden?"
'All of a sudden' wasn't really the set of words Henry wanted to use, but...

"Nothing." she plainly replied, "Let's just go and..."

A pale-red earth pony walked behind Ember and greeted them. Henry smiled and greeted the young colt back, disregarding Ember's shocked expression. Henry soon noticed that the colt hasn't acquired his cutie mark yet.
Another sweat ran down her face. The colt's voice sounded familiar, and she doesn't like it, not one bit.
She felt a hard pound on her back.

"Hey, Ember!" the colt patted her back with his hoof as soon as he was standing beside her.
The young colt's voice was loud enough for the other pony's in the area to hear. They all smiled and started to whisper to each other as they gather around them.
Henry wasn't really liking what's going on, and he's clueless, adding to his confusion.
Ember started to drift back to reality as a series of questions were thrown at her by the excited ponies.

The young red stallion hushed everyone so Ember will get the chance to talk as Henry hid himself in the crowd. Luckily for him, he's as tall as the rest of the middle-aged ponies.

"Now, com'on Ember," the colt started, removing his hoof on her back, "sorry if we all don't 'ave a welcomin' party for yeh return, but welcome home!"

"Home?" Henry asked himself as the crowd cheered.
He felt a bit nostalgic. The cheering made him remember PonyVille for some odd reason.
Maybe it's because of that little Pinkie Pie.
Whenever he needs to go away from PonyVille, Pinkie Pie throws him a goodbye party, and everytime he comes back, the pink earth pony floats in mid-air again and, as if by magic, his house became a welcome back party.
Even the night before he took the train here to Fillydelphia, she threw another goodbye party.
He shivered. Maybe he's going to have to attend another welcome party. He sighed at the thought.
"Too much cake..." he whispered.

Ember responded with an awkward and nervous laugh. And suddenly, to her surprise, the young colt grabbed her right hoof with both his hooves. He looked at her romantically, blushing slightly, while Ember was both blushing and feeling nervous. The crowd's eyes were glittering, while Henry was looking at the two ponies awkwardly while sticking his tongue out.

"And here I thought you'd never return..." the young colt whispered, making the green alicorn roll his eyes.

Ember was feeling really nervous. She needs to do something. Without moving her head, she scanned the audience, and there!

"Um..." she managed to say.

"Yes?" he responded, his head slowly getting closer to her.

"Actually...I ah..." she gulped, "...I'm...engaged..."

The crowd gasped. The young colt, feeling his heart just break, immediately let her hoof go and took a step back.
Henry is busy taking down notes on what is happening.

"S-say that again..." the young colt dared her. He couldn't believe it. How could he believe it?

"I'm...engaged..." she lied as she nervously turned her head to the audience, and lifted her hoof and pointed one of them.
"I'm engaged...with him."

The audience cleared the way to reveal a green alicorn busy taking notes. Henry, noticing like a lot of eyes were looking at him, returned his attention to his surroundings and found himself being pointed by Ember.
He blinked. "What?"

The young colt stomped his hoof angrily on the ground.
"What in tarnation is this!?" he snarled as he walked towards him. Henry returned his quill and notebook back in his bag.
"You mean to tell me that you are engaged with this green skinny slime horn-headed featherback pony!?" and he stopped right in front of him.

Henry blinked once more, slowly processing what is happening. The young colt angrily turned his head to Ember.
"Prove it!"

Ember gulped as Henry finally caught up to what was happening. He flashed an angry look.

"Now wait a minute! I've got n---"

Ember quickly dashed to him, stopped beside him, grabbed his head, closed her eyes and pulled his head to her and kissed.
Henry was shocked, while the young colt felt his heart shattered.

Ember and Henry broke the kiss, and she immediately turned to the young stallion.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do..." Henry angrily whispered to her ear.
"Just play along." she whispered back.
"Was this the favor you were about to ask me last night?"

A number of ponies overheard him say those last two words, and repeated them around as if they were an endless echo.

"Yes!" Ember announced, "We've talked about it last night."

"Where are you going with this?" Henry whispered, but Ember payed him no mind as she took a step forward.

"And we're going to have our honeymoon at the ruins."

Henry lowered his head in embarrassment and covered his face with his hat.
'This will not end well...' he thought.

The crowd however, slowly flashed a smile. It was a sign that they respected her decision. Unfortunately for the young colt, who was crying now, suddenly ran away.
Ember felt pity for him, but...

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4. The Ruined
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Ember was once again reunited with her parents. She twisted the truth a bit when they asked about her little brother.
She said that she was lucky to have fallen in love with Henry (Henry felt the cold shivers). If it wasn't for Henry, she wouldn't have been able to send her little brother to a hospital.
She told them that he will fully recover in two weeks time.
That was a big relief to hear from her parents.

Henry however, received a lot of back pats (and even hurtful ones) from Ember's family relatives, especially from her father, who was really happy and started treating him like his best buddy.

Henry just...played along. He sighed.

It was time for sleep. Ember's family cleaned her old room for them to stay for the night. The moonlit room was somewhat bigger than his room back in the inn. The only thing Henry was worried about is the bed. There was only one bed in the room, and he didn't like where this is going.
Ember's parents pushed them inside and immediately closed the door behind them and greeted them good night.

They looked at each other; Ember flashing a weak and 'please forgive me' smile while Henry flashed a very very angry glare.

Ember escaped the death glare and walked towards the bed. Lucky for Henry, the room has a wooden stool and table. He didn't bother to remove his hat or glasses as he sat down on the chair and puts his head on the table, looking all tired and satisfied.

Ember jumped on her old bed and lied down, and just noticed her alicorn companion.

"Aren't you going to join me in bed?" she asked with an annoyed tone on her voice, "We are couples, after all."

Henry just replied with an angry stare. He then covered his face with his hat and then he closed his eyes. Ember rolled her eyes and went to sleep. A lot of things are running around in Henry's mind, but one thing's certain, he needs to be awake for the whole evening.

After an hour, he heard Ember's soft snoring. He waited a couple of minutes before he stood up and slowly went to the door. He went outside the room and slowly worked his way out of the house. He's sleepy, and he plans to sleep in the nearby trees. He only needs a five-hour sleep anyway, so when he wakes up, he'll just return to the room and pretend like nothing happened. But after he got out of the house, he saw the young stallion who Ember dumped ealier, sitting a few feet and blankly staring at the wooden roof, his mind deeply lost in thought. Henry was just standing in front of the door, blankly staring at the colt.

Finally, after a few minutes, the young colt let out a heavy sigh and slowly brought his sight towards the door, where he just noticed the green alicorn who stole the one he loves the most. The door slowly closed itself, creating a quiet sqeaking noise in the process.
Anger quickly grew in his face, but before he could say anything, Henry raised his hoof towards him.

"Er... I know you're angry and all, but uh," he slowly looked around the dark and quiet town, "ponies are sleeping at this hour, so, uh..."

"I don't care 'bout nothin', you good fer nothin' piece of sh**!"

He cursed! Henry couldn't believe it. It was his first time to hear a pony curse.
He'll definitely have to take a note of that.

While Henry was a bit lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that the young stallion was already in front of him, and punched him hard in his face, throwing him to his left. His glasses escaped his face as he landed hard on the ground. He was about to get back on his feet when the stallion kicked him with both his hind legs, throwing him further, and bumping on a neighboring wooden house, enough to wake the residents nearby.
Completely blinded by fury, he dashed towards the slowly rising alicorn and delivered a nasty headbutt, slamming him back to the wall. Henry was still in shock. He couldn't believe how powerfully strong and violent earth ponies are!
In front of him, the enraged stallion lifted his body in the air, preparing both his front hooves to drop on him, only to be stopped by a yellow earth pony who tackled him on his side, slightly throwing him to the ground.
Angered, he quickly rose back up and turned, only to be stopped, this time, by himself, when he saw Ember in front of him.

"Ember, I..."

A small crowd quickly formed, bringing with them some torches, providing enough light for him to see what he has done to the green alicorn. Blood was flowing down both his nose and head, and several bruises on his body. Henry was terrified.
He looked at Ember, trying her best to hold her tears as she stood strong in front to stop him from harming the alicorn.

He didn't mean it. No, maybe he did, but...
He's confused. He's broken, he's hurt, and he's not thinking straight anymore.
And finally, he could no longer stand to see her looking at him like that.
He ran away.

"W-wait...!" Henry, despite his injuries, shouted at the fleeing pony, but he was ignored.

Ember sighed, and slowly turned to the alicorn with a worried look. Henry didn't bother to look at her as he got himself back on his four feet. He's feeling angry, but not towards the colt.

He took a deep breath, and exhaled. He then faced her.
"Ember," he said, trying his best to hold his anger, "fix this before it gets worse."

Her parents quickly rushed to aid the alicorn back inside the house, leaving Ember on the spot, no longer sure what to do next.

Henry sat down on a stool and he was quickly being nursed by the family members in the house, even though he asked them not to worry about him too much.
They wiped his blood and tied a handkerchief on his head to hold the ice bag they put on his head. He didn't like it though. It felt like his brain's about to freeze.
A female earth filly came inside and gave him his glasses. Luckily, it wasn't broken or anything.

"Why did Ember left this place, anyway?" he managed to ask them after noticing that they finally slowed their pace.
Ember's mother dragged a stool in front of him and sat down, facing him. She let out a sigh.

Ember entered the nearby forest.

"When she was young, Ember, like many other young ponies, had always dreamed to live in the big city of Fillydelphia. She and Flame, the one who, injured you, were very close friends."

Ember stopped after she reached a large clearing, where a pond is silently reflecting the full moon's image, and on the edge of the pond was Flame, silently sitting down, his back facing her, head looking up to the moon.

"They have always spent almost everything together, despite their different dreams in life. While Ember dreamed to live big, Flame however, just wanted to have a normal peaceful life here in the town."

"Flame...?" Ember slowly and nervously said as she slowly walked towards his childhood friend.

"Go away, Ember... Be with your alicorn. And tell him I'm sorry..." he sobbed soon after, somehow, Ember felt her heart broke, and continued to walk towards him.

"Two years ago, if I could remember, she decided to go to the city for her to find her place in the world. She promised us that she'll return wealthy and successful, but Flame didn't want her to go."

Ember sat beside Flame, which he quickly turned his head away from her.

"I said go away, Ember..."

"Flame, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to---"

"You didn't mean to!?" he quickly faced her angrily, startling her.

"To try and stop her, there, right in front of us, and in front of her, Flame told her he loves her, more than just best friends. But my daughter already set her mind, and refused to accept his love. She was not being prideful. She has another reason why she wanted to go there. She wanted to earn a lot of money to cure our sick son, her little brother."

"I love you, Ember. Of all the ponies in the world, you're the only one I love..."

"A year ago, our son was gone, leaving behind a letter. On it, it said that he missed his sister and he wanted to go and look for her. The young filly couldn't possibly be serious, so we searched the entire town and the nearby forest, but there was no trace of him. My husband and I decided to go to the city, and Flame came along with us."

Ember looked down on the ground, blushing, and unsure of what to say.
"I'm...sorry..."

Those words were too hurtful to hear for Flame. He tried his best to pour all of his feelings, but still rejected. Hurt, he slowly looked down on the ground as well.

"I'm...just...not ready..." Ember slowly said.

Somehow, it ignited a faint glow of hope. Flame slowly faced her. Ember slowly shook her head.
"I mean... I don't...I don't know how to say it, but I...!"
Flame, from out of nowhere, kissed her, startling her, but soon returned the kiss.
And without them noticing, both their flanks shined, and finally, both acquired their cutie marks; a half red heart that seemed to be wrapped by a flame.

"Even with the police's help, their whereabouts are unknown... But now, at least we can finally breathe freely."
Her mother, and old yellow mare earth pony with dark green mane and tail, smiled. Her husband, nephew and niece already went back to sleep.

Henry smiled. He at least was able to help them out.

"Tell me," the old mare said, her voice, clearly, it'll be a change of topic, "how does a changeling like you end up being a wanderer?"

That took him by surprise! How did she know? Is his disguise down? He immediately looked at himself, hurting his head in the process.

"Calm down, dear, it's okay," she smiled, reassuring him as she fixed the ice bag on his head. "I won't tell nopony."

He nodded as the front door slowly opened, and a happy-looking Ember came inside.
Both him and her mother smiled at her.
"I'll take that," Henry started, "that things went well?"

Ember blushed, "More than well..."
She looked at her flank, specifically, at her cutie mark, but the old mare thought differently.

That however, evaporated her mother's smile.
"I'm not ready to have grandchildren, you hear!"

Ember was surprised to hear such a thing.
"Mother! That's not what...!"

"I don't want to hear about it!" and she walked back inside her room, leaving the two of them alone.

Henry looked at her and grinned, making Ember blush even more.
"I didn't...! We didn't...! Oh, nevermind!"
And she grumpily walked to her room, leaving Henry laughing a bit as he floated his notebook and quill.

----------
5. The Ancient Relic Castle
----------

A new day has arrived, and Henry was all set to go into the ruins after joining Ember and her family eating breakfast (hay and milk, his most disliked meal combination). He looked south and he can see the brownish-red pyramid-like ruins from afar, sticking out of the green leaves. He took a deep breath, stretched his wings, jogged in place, exhaled, and then...

"Wait up!"

He turned around and saw both Ember and Flame walking towards him.

"Good morning, love birds." Henry teased, making the two blush.

"Uh, yeah, uh..." Flame scratched his head as the two looked away in opposite directions.
He then faced him with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry 'bout what happened last night, Henry sir..."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled, "what happened last night was truly going to be useful for my book."

"You wanted to get hurt on purpose?" Ember innocently asked, making Henry frown.

"Of course not!" he fixed his glasses, "who'd want to get hurt, anyway?"

"Well," Ember smiled, "shall we head to the ruins?"

Henry nodded, and faced her lover.
"Want to come along?"

"A-actually, I better stay here. I need to fix the wall I destroyed last night."

"Oh," Henry recalled, "right, that...well..."
He grinned at Ember, who replied with an angry look.
"Are you sure you want us to go there alone?" he teased.

"What are you trying to say?" Flame asked, clearly not amused.

Henry laughed, a clear sign that he was joking. The two eased up.

"But seriously though..."
Henry wasn't sure if it is really okay for them to go alone in there.

Flame just nodded.
"You're good with that magic 'n stuff, so I'm pretty confident that you both will be safe."
Henry smiled, but quickly replaced by fear when Flame gave him an angry glare.
"But if something DOES happen to her, I'll turn you 'to an earth pony, if ya know what I mean."
Henry gulped and nodded countless times.

Flame smiled, "Good! Well, good luck!"
And before he walked away, he snatched a kiss from Ember, and went to his merry way.
Henry simply rolled his eyes.

They soon began to take the earthy path leading to the ruins. As they walked, Ember couldn't help but tell him how happy she was with Flame, telling him that she was such an idiot for running away and go around the big city for nothing.

"That reminds me..." Henry managed to ask, "why didn't you just return home?"

"Well..." she slowly turned onward, "...I really wanted to but..."
She took a deep breath and exhaled.
"I was stupid back then, holding me and brother because of some stupid promise I made that I'll return rich and successful."

"Well," Henry looked onward, "you are."

"I am?" she looked at him with a confused look. "How?"

"You have a family to return to, and a stallion to take good care of you."
She blushed as Henry felt a bit sad on what he just said.
He felt a bit envious, but he shook the thought.

It took them an hour of walking to reach the entrance of the ruins.

The Ancient Relic Castle, surrounded by trees, and standing on the center of the island.
Long ago, the invading unicorn ponies built this castle when they first arrived in Equestria.
It stood tall and strong from the attacks of the ruthless pegasi nation, who were winning the war against the earth ponies during those ancient times.
In those times, the unicorn aided the earth ponies, and soon the tables have turned.

Now, the ruins is now a home for bats and fireflies, and other small rodents and snakes and some other bugs.
The fireflies however provided them enough light to see everything.
They entered the ruins, and inside was a small pathway made by rocks and clay. Ember lets him notice the brownish red walls which has holes in them. She explained that the unicorns used their magic to walk on the entrance. Henry noticed, as he took a step, a block he stepped on moved downward for inches. Ember told him that those were triggers, to trigger the traps for invaders. She pointed at the holes on the wall and explained that sharp arrows would shoot out from them when intruders step on the trigger blocks on the ground.
Henry was impressed as he took a note about it. They then moved on, and at the end of the path was a spacious hall. A number of sun rays have managed to creep inside the ancient ruin.
Staircases, some broken, were on each corner of the ruins, leading to a second platform for ponies to walk on, supported by pillars, and on that second platform were other set of stairs leading to another platform above them, and so on.
Each platform had large cave-like holes on the walls, used to house the unicorn ponies.
On the opposite side of the entrance was an elevated floor, and on it stood two ancient-looking chairs, standing side-by-side. It was for the royal king and queen of the unicorns.

They slowly approached the royal seats. They stepped on the elevated floor, and as soon as Henry had all of his feet on the floor, something sparkled underneath the left chair that caught his attention. He walked pass Ember, who just wore a smile. With his magic, Henry lifted the object right in front of him for what it seemed like a...

"A goblet?"

He asked out loud as Ember walked beside him.
The old goblet was full of dark-green mold and dried mud, but it did gave them an idea of what would it truly look like.
A small part on the goblet was clear of any molds or mud. It was pure yellow gold, and it shined brightly when the sun's rays touches it.
Both were curious as Henry used his magic to remove the molds and mud, and afterwards, the goblet was looking new. He hovered the goblet vertically and started to slowly spin it horizontally for them to see the markings engraved on the item.
The markings looked like a story-comic strip with four horizontal panels.
The first panel shows a unicorn pony on the left part and an earth pony on the right part.
The second panel shows a unicorn and an earth pony on the left part and a griffin on the right.
The third panel shows the three on the left, looking ready for battle against a pegasus pony on the right.
The fourth panel shows a unicorn pony on the left, and a griffin on the right, handing a cup to the unicorn.

"So..." Ember slowly said, "...you understood what the drawings meant?"

Henry looked at her, who was looking confused. He simply smiled.

"Well," he started, "from the looks of it, the unicorn and earth ponies teamed up with the griffins to defeat the pegasus ponies."

That managed to satisfy the yellow earth pony's confusion. Henry then puts the goblet inside his sidebag.
They started walking to the second platform and looked at some of the caves.
Most of the caves were dark and moldy and dusty. Some had pieces of earth on the ground where grass started growing, and some had a number of pony bones.

Henry managed to write every detail he needed on his notebook as they looked around.

It took them almost two hours inside the ruins before they decided to leave the quiet place.
Upon leaving, they both saw a pale-red earth pony standing outside of the ruins. Ember quickly walked pass Henry and hugged the young stallion.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"I just arrive, 'onest."

They broke their hug as Henry reached them.

"So, Henry sir, how was the ruins?"

"Pretty ancient." he laughed.

And they soon walked back to Ember Town.
Henry stayed in the town for one more night in Ember's room, while Ember slept with her younger relatives in another room.
After breakfast, Henry went back to the city, accompanied by Ember and Flame. They rode a carriage to the city when they arrived in Little Filly Town. Their first stop was in Fillydelphia Radiant Hospital, where Ember's little brother was annoying a nurse in his room to call his sister. He settled down after they entered the room.
Ember quickly hugged her little brother, and Flame rubbed the little filly's head.
Unknown to them that Henry noted the scene down as well. The curious unicorn nurse pony was staring at him, who soon shook her head and left them.

Ember's little brother needed to stay in the hospital for a week and a few more days.
Henry however, needed to go back to PonyVille. After they exchanged goodbyes, he hugged the little filly and made him promise to get better and grow up into a strong and honest stallion. The little filly nodded happily.

"By the way..." Henry said as he turned to the couple.
He floated the golden goblet out of his sidebag and hovered it towards Ember.
"I hope this is payment enough for the tour?"

Ember hesitated, "B-but I thought my brother's hospitalization was the payment?"
The couples looked at each other confused, and then back at the alicorn.
"Was it?"

Henry shrugged, "No idea."

"What do you mean, 'no idea'?" Ember asked, a bit annoyed.
"Henry sir," Flame slowly said. "I believe you should keep that thing."
Henry raised his eyebrow in confusion. Flame simply nodded.
"You were the one who found it, so it belongs to you."

The goblet slowly hovered back to the deep-in-thought alicorn. Finally, he had an idea.
He turned to the little filly, who was lying down on the bed. He slowly puts the goblet beside him.

"Henry, seriously..." Ember said. "We don't need that thing."

"I want it!" her little brother cheered as he grabbed the goblet.

Ember simply sighed, defeated.
"Fine..."

Henry smiled.
"I need to get going now," he bowed at the couple, "thanks for your help."

Flame shook his head, "Please believe me when ah say this, Henry sir, but we should be the one thankin' ya."
Ember smiled, and nodded in agreement.

And after another exchange of goodbyes, Henry went out of the hospital, took a deep breath of the dusty air as he spread his wings, and as he expected, someone calls out his name from behind.
He turned to see the source of the feminine voice, only to be stunned by a sudden tight hug.

"Thank you," Ember slowly said, trying her very best to hold her tears.

Despite the large number of ponies in the area, he payed them no mind and returned the hug.
They broke the hug as Flame reached them. Henry and Flame then faced each other.
"Take good care of this young filly," Henry smiled, "and don't make her run on walls," he joked.
Ember looked angry for a while, then she smiled, "Take care as well."
"Visit us some time, ei?" Flame suggested, and Henry simply nodded.

And with that, he flew to the train station. He needed to head back home.
He has a book to write.

Chapter 02 - PonyVille Diaries - First of Many

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Chapter 2 - PonyVille Diaries - First of Many

----------
1. Welcome Back
----------

The train from Fillydelphia arrived in PonyVille's train station in a cloudy afternoon. As the train's doors opened, passengers exited the train, but after no other pony seemed to exit, nor enter, the conductor of the train was about to enter when a fast green blur came out from the doors. Startled, he quickly turned to where it went, but spotted nothing out of the usual, except of a wobbling wooden barrel with a white hat on the cover. He shrugged and went inside.
The lid of the barrel opened, and a green hoof came out, slowly taking the hat, and after it got a hold of it, it quickly pulled it back inside and the lid closed.
Then, the barrel lifted up, showing four green hooves, and slowly worked it's way away from the station, and heading straight to the town's most noticable giant tree a few meters ahead.
Ponies in the area awkwardly stared at the walking barrel, unsure of what to do.
The barrel unknowingly and softly bumped on Cheerilee, who was awkwardly staring at the thing.
The lid slowly opened, making the confused earth pony look at what's inside. In the darkness, she saw a set of brown nervous eyes.

"Oh, sorry Cheerilee..." the mysterious creature in the barrel slowly whispered.

"Henry," she replied, "what on earth are you doing?"

"Shhh..." he turned left to right, as if he would see his surroundings from the thing.
Cheerilee gave him a flat annoyed look as she stepped to the side.
The lid closed and the barrel slowly walked onward, leaving Cheerilee shaking her head as she walked away.

Finally, the barrel bumped on the giant tree's door.
As if by magic, the door knob was glowing brown, turned, and the door mysteriously opened, giving entry for the moving barrel.
The barrel however, stopped after taking a few steps inside.
"Wait..." echoed the voice from inside the barrel, "why is the door unlocked?"

Henry poked his head out of the barrel and instantly, the lights went on as a little pink pony jumped right in front of him and shouted "SURPRRRIIIISSSEEE!" making him jump from the suddeness, and making the barrel and him fall to the floor as confettis flew around and party horns echoed in all corners of the library.
The little Pinkie Pie jumped on top of the barrel with a very wide smile and faced the annoyed-looking green alicorn.
"Nice costume!"
And she jumped off of the barrel and greeted the other welcomed guests as Henry went out of the barrel.

Henry saw the little pink earth pony shaking hooves with some of the ponies he met inside the train.
He sighed in relief, for at least he's not the main focus of the party this time.
He went towards the pink pony and suddenly lifted his hoof and rubbed the poofy pink mane of the filly.
She turned to him with a smile.
"So, do you like it?"

Henry returned his hoof and looked around.
Party banners were everywhere, confettis were on the floor, and some even worked their way in between the books, on the small space of the shelves.
A lot of cleaning is needed here today.
He looked back at the earth pony, who was still waiting for his reply.
He smiled, "fun as always."
She bounced in place a few times after getting his reply.
"Though..." she stopped, eager to listen, "...I do wonder how'd you manage to get this up so quickly."
He once again looked around the place. He now noticed a few number of tables that weren't originally in the library before he left. On the tables were cakes and other pastries and two bowls of orange and purple punch.

"Well," she said with her happy voice as Henry looked back to her, "I just set these up a few hours ago!"
She bounced again. "It was no biggie!"

A few hours ago? Henry didn't believe it, but he smiled.
"If you put this party up that quick," the little Pinkie Pie was eager to listen once again, "then you have probably used a cannon blowing party stuff around the place."
He once again looked around, looking at the ponies chatting to each other, and even talking to the new ponies that arrived in PonyVille. They were sharing some small talk, some laughs, and some cheers.
He brought his attention back to the little filly and, to his horror, the little Pinkie Pie's eyes went wide and sparkled like the evening stars with her wide smile like some great realization just hit her.

'Uh-oh...' Henry swallowed a huge lump of fear.
He's not going to like the next party set-up.

---

The party lasted for an hour and a few minutes before the last of the pony guest left, carrying with him two slices of cake, saying that he wants to give some for his little fillies. Pinkie simply nodded, and now, Henry and Pinkie were left alone, cleaning the whole place up.

Pinkie, as usual, is talking, like she's not running out of energy, about how happy she was for meeting new friends, how happy she was to see him again, how happy she was that the party was a success, how great it was to see everypony smiling, and so on and so forth...
Henry just listened to every word the jolly and cheerful earth pony said as they cleaned the entire library that took them half an hour. He left the barrel outside, beside the mailbox of the library.
And after the whole party items were now inside Pinkie Pie's little wooden box (Henry wondered how'd everything fitted in the small thing, even the tables!), she waved her hoof goodbye with a smile on her face, went to the door, helped herself out and closed the door.
Henry, now alone in the library, sighed in relief. As he started to walk up to the second floor, he wondered why he didn't use his magic instead to clean the library. It would have saved him a lot of time. He sighed in disbelief.

As he reached the second floor, he noticed the table had a piece of paper and a slice of brown chiffon cake on a plate. The white circular plate was pinning the paper down. He walked towards the items and looked at the paper.
It has a mouth-drawn tree and a large 'WELCOME' word on the top of the leaves, and 'BACK' below the root of the tree, and on the lower-right corner of the paper was a pink head of a pony wearing a smile.
That made Henry smile as well, and he slowly stared at the cake.

"Yep..." he chuckled.
"...too much cake..."

----------
2. Daring Do
----------

Daring Do, a golden-yellow pegasus pony with gray mane and tail has swiftly landed outside the forest of, from what she learned, was the forest homed by the forest guardian, Ahuitzotl. She would not go inside the forest if it weren't for the news that reached the pegasus' ears of the guardian's plot. In order to save the world, she has to...

"It sounds a bit rushed..."
And with that, Henry used his magic to erase what he just wrote on the paper floating in front of him.

It's been four days since Henry came back to PonyVille from Fillydelphia. And he's back to his regular daily routine of being the town's librarian, but he's not yet bored in the slightest. In fact, he's excited to go to work, since he is now also working on his...'their' book. He just finished writing the 'author's notes' and 'dedication', but he is having difficulty in writing a 'prologue'...

He is sitting in front of his desk on the first floor of the library, leaving the door open so he would no longer need to stand up to open the door or use his magic to do it.
If anypony needed something, they'll just have to enter the already open door.

The gloomy morning haven't offered him any customers for two hours now, to his relief, for he could focus on his book.
Earlier when he arrived, he just simply used his magic to remove every dust and dirt in every inch and corner of the library. He normally wipes the dust and dirt off of the things, but now that he's busy with his book, he needed to finish cleaning as quickly as possible.

He already wrote a summary of how the story will go, but never did he expect that it would be difficult to actually start writing the story.
He looked around, trying to find inspiration, even though he still has a lot in him, though some were already wasted.

He took a deep breath, and exhaled, and then he went back to writing again.

Daring Do, a young gol---

It started raining, and outside the wide open door, Henry can see the ponies were rushing back to their homes. Henry, with his magic, closed the door without moving away from his desk. He sighed, and slowly smiled. At least he got the whole library to himself, and, since it's raining, nopony will probably need to be in the library.
He lifted his paper and quill back and started to formulate some words in his head.

---den-yellow pegasus pony, with gray-colored mane and tail, has finally landed outside the forest that she needs to enter to reach the legendary temple that was long lost and forgotten in time, until now.

"Hm..."
Henry re-read what he wrote, and sighed. To him, it sounded like he already started the story, and not the prologue.
Maybe the story doesn't need a prologue?
This is the first book of Daring Do, so, no prologue it is!

Finally, as determination grew inside of her, she confidently flapped her wings, and soon, she is high above the sea of leaves to see...the sea of leaves. She landed back onto the ground, scratching her head in confusion. The temple should be sticking out of the trees, or maybe inside a clearing, but she saw none of those. She looked ahead, doubting to enter the forest, but somehow, it was inviting her to enter. Will she? Of course she will. What could possible happen? She is, in fact, Daring Do.

Henry stopped writing after feeling like the story is starting to sound a bit off for him.
He re-reads it again, trying to figure out where is needed to be fixed.
"Somehow..." he whispered to himself, "it feels like it's been written by that Rainbow Dash filly..."
He scratched his head.
'Oh well', he thought. Daring's personality does resemble the filly, from her sister's written notes.

She entered the forest, full of confidence.

And he added some details of the forest.
The forest in mind was the one that he took from the lone mountain to PonyVille.
He stopped writing after every bits of detail were written.
Re-reading it to see if he didn't put too much detail that could bore the readers.
He smiled, feeling satisfied of what he has written so far.
But suddenly, he forgot to describe the weather in the story.
He re-reads it again to see which part of the story could he insert the weather's description.

"Daring Do, a young golden-yellow pegasus pony, with gray-colored mane and tail, has finally landed outside the forest that she needs to enter to reach the legendary temple that was long lost and forgotten in time, until now."

He smiled. Maybe he could insert a new sentence after that for the weather.

The summer sun has worked its way to the young adventurer, but she payed it no mind.

"A bit lame..." he said to himself as he erased it, returning the used ink back to his ink bottle.

Despite the cold wind above, the summer heat has weakened her during her flight, but now that she's here, the energy that she lost somehow came back all at once.

He smiled. It fits perfectly.
"Now, onward..."

Daring Do has been walking through the forest for ten minutes when she started to feel like she was being followed. At first, she thought that it was just her imagination, but as she worked her way deeper into the forest, she started to hear like something just walked pass the shrubs behind her, but there was nothing when she turns around to see her pursuer. She still continued her journey, but is now alert to anything that might come out. She remembered the rumors that, aside from herself, there is someone who is also looking for the treasure in the ruins.

Satisfied, he puts the paper on the table and lifts his notebook towards his face.
Now he needs to add a little chase that would accidentally disable her from flying.
He formulated some words inside his mind as he both slowly puts his notebook down on the table, and lifts the paper back in front of his face.
Finally, he smiled, and started to write again.

She suddenly saw a shadow on the corner of her eye, but when she turned to see what it was, there was nothing but the forest. A trick of the light, she thought as she continued, but as she turned her gaze back to where she was going, she was sure that what was in front of her was no trick of any kind.

"And for Ahuitzotl's intro..."
'Weird name...' Henry thought.

Seemingly from out of nowhere, a grayish blue four-legged creature, almost twice her size, has appeared right in front of the young adventurer. As surprised as she might be, she quickly shook herself back and managed to jump back right before the creature's tail smashes onto her. As the creature regained its momentum, Daring noticed that its tail had a hand on the end of its tail. Not wanting to waste precious time, she leaped up with full force, evading another bone-breaking swing of its tail. She flew up to the leaves, and continued to fly higher than the trees, and planned to land to the other parts of the forest, preferably, away from the mysterious creature.
As she glided a few meters above the trees, unknown to her that the creature was swinging through branches, following her. And as she stopped after she was satisfied that she was away, a large tree branch suddenly flew out of the sea of trees, and hit Daring Do on the head, losing her consciousness as she fell.
She quickly regained her conscience, and was immediately greeted by a sharp pain coming from her wings. She was now back in the forest floor as she took her bandages and wrapped her aching wings. She suddenly heard a snapping twig. Daring has no time to spare. She needs to move on.

"Hm... Maybe I could turn this into a prologue."
Henry smiled as he puts it down on the stack of other already-written papers.
Now that he has a prologue, he can finally start writing the story.
He lifted another clean sheet of paper and began to write.

"Chapter one, the forest."

As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky. But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. The mosquitoes buzzed loudly. The macaws cried from the high trees. Yet all of these distracting noises were not enough to cover the sound of the predators following her every step.

----------
3. Spring Cleaning
----------

Two weeks have passed, and things are going smoothly for Henry as he continued his daily routine, with an additional writing of his and her sister's first book.
His writing didn't become an obstacle for ponies who wanted to borrow books from time to time. All except for the little Applejack, who told him that staying indoors for a long period of time isn't healthy.
He just gave her a smile as he promised her that he'll help them in their farm soon.

He also visits the cottage near the Everfree Forest to check on the little pegasus filly, named Fluttershy, at some days after he closes the library.
The little filly, despite her young age, has been really helpful to the animals in the area. Even the scary predators learned to respect the little pegasus.
It would seem like she is able to take care of herself, but the cottage was starting to smell like...Henry couldn't find a not-so-hurtful word to describe such an awful smell, or stench...
Has the little yellow pegasus filly gotten used to this kind of smell?
Maybe that was the reason why nopony else ever cared of going here. He no longer even noticed the rainbow-maned pegasus filly around the place.

Henry decided that this Sunday, he'll visit the cottage, and will try his very best to help the young filly clean the place, and hopefully, remove that awful stench.

---

As the Sunday morning sun started to rise, the sleepy town of Ponyville was still blanketed by the silence of sleep. All are still under the spell of dreams except for a green alicorn pony, wearing his glasses and his white hat, and is walking through town, heading towards the edge of Everfree Forest.

Ever since he settled down in this peaceful town, he has heard quite a number of terrifying stories about the forest.
Should he be afraid or not, he doesn't really know unless he sees the stories he heard himself, but never found the time to explore the forest.
Besides, if it really was that scary, then why does a shy and scardy-pony like Fluttershy lives on the edge of the said forest? She doesn't seem to be afraid of the forest, or does she?

Finally, he can see the cottage from afar, and he could already see the filly flying around as she feeds her animal friends with bird seeds and whatever else other animals eat.

He was now meters away when the horr---the unplea---the very ba---oh, the stench hit his nostrils.
His happy smile immediately died and fell down and turned into a frown. He holds his breath.

"Oh, why hello Mister Henry sir..." greeted the young pegasus with the sweetest smile ever.
Now if only the smell could also match up... Henry could only wish.

"G-good morning, Fluttershy..." he managed to crack a forced smile, despite the protest of his nerves.
"You're up early."

She simply nodded as she flew down to her chicken coop.
"Well, I need to wake up early," Henry slowly walked towards the fence of the coop as a little white rabbit was also hopping towards it.
"I wouldn't want my friends to be hungry."

"T-that's..." he needed air, "...so, nice of you..."
He felt something soft was poking his forehoof. He turned his head down to see the little white rabbit.
Now that it got his attention, it gestured him to go inside the cottage.
The air inside the cottage would probably be at least a bit...pleasant...than out here.
If he says another word, he might run out of air and would probably inhale the...air...outside the cottage, so he quickly went inside without asking for the little pegasus' permission, and finally permitted his lungs' request.
The air inside the cottage was somehow a bit better than outside. It was probably because of the hanging leafy vines on the ceiling and the small plants inside, transforming carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen air.
Though, inside could use some cleaning. The wooden brown walls looked like they're screaming for it.

The living room has a soft maroon-colored carpet, a large wooden table on the center, a yellow sofa on one corner, a wooden stand-thing that has bird's nest on every extension, and the little white rabbit bouncing on the sofa, probably trying to get his attention.

He held his hoof up at the rabbit, hopefully, it'll understand that he meant to give him a moment as he walked to the window to look outside.
The outside seriously needs cleaning. Fallen decaying leaves everywhere, and animal business all around the ground.
Luckily for him, he didn't stepped on any of the land mines lying outside.

He then turned and went to the sofa, and he sat down on the sofa next to the rabbit. Soon, the yellow pegasus went inside the already opened door, and was startled a bit when she saw the green alicorn was inside.

"Is something wrong?" he calmly asked.

"Um...no..." she softly shook her head as she softly landed near the doorway.
"It's just...um..."

Silence fell...
Henry blinked while the little rabbit was looking annoyed at her.
Fluttershy lowered her head, making her mane cover her sight from seeing them as she slowly scratch her front hoof with the other.

Silence...
More silence...
Even more silence...

The rabbit had enough and fell on its back on the sofa.

"Okay..." Henry finally broke the silence.
"This is getting awkward..."
He moved out of the sofa and faced the yellow filly, who was now slightly looking at him.
"Fluttershy..." he took a deep breath...
"The cottage smells," she rose her head a bit and blinked.
"...bad." and he exhaled.

"Oh..." as if a miracle, she finally spoke!
"...it does?"

Both Henry and the white rabbit, who was now standing on the sofa, nodded three times.

"Fluttershy," he began with a friendly smile, "you have a lot of animal friends here that could help you..."
He trailed off on purpose, thinking that the little filly might get the idea.

"That could help me with what, Sir Henry?"
She scratched her hoof again and lowered her head, "...if, you don't mind me asking..."

He sighed.
"Let's get outside."
The white rabbit hopped on his back as he went outside, immediately greeted by the awful stench, which broke his face.
Fluttershy followed him and stopped beside him, wondering.
The three of them then looked around the cottage. The birds were flying around, chirping their melodies in the air. The chickens walked around the fenced chicken coop. Rabbits and beavers were around the ground. Squirrels are playing on the trees around the cottage, while the lazy bears are using the trees to scratch their backs. The wolves are sniffing around. And other animals doing other animal stuff.

"It's spring, right?"
He saw Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"Well, have you ever heard of 'Spring Cleaning'?"
He looked at her as she shook her head. He sighed in disbelief.
"This is going to take a while..." he whispered.

---

After Henry explained what Spring Cleaning is, he asked the little filly to call her animal friends to group together.
Henry tells her the instructions of what each animal may be able to do, and Fluttershy 'translates' it to her friends, while the white rabbit was on her head, busy delivering the instructions through body language.
Henry wondered if she could actually communicate with the animals, or the rabbit does the communication.
He shook his head to dismiss the thought.

As soon as the animals (to Henry's surprise) all nodded, confirming that they understood, they spread out and started 'cleaning'. Henry then took a shovel with his magic and started digging a hole a few meters from the cottage's right.

The bears, with their paws, took the...animal business...on a wooden wagon. The birds are picking up the dried leaves on the cottage's roof. The wolves are helping Henry in the digging site. The small rodents were busy cleaning the inside of the cottage, wiping the walls, stairs, picture frames, and clearing (abandoned) cobwebs.
Fluttershy and her rabbit are cleaning the chicken coop, for the chickens were the only ones who somehow didn't understand what they're suppose to do.
Some of the deers were inside the cottage, and on their backs were squirrels, holding a broom as they swept the floor.
The deers outside also have squirrels, holding a wooden rake to gather up the fallen leaves, for bears to take and put on the wagon.
When the front yard was clean, wolves started to pull the wagon towards their dug-up dump site.
The larger birds, who were standing on the right fence of the cottage, started flapping their wings to blow the awful stench away as Henry and the wolves started to cover the dump site with the earth they dug.

Henry wiped his sweating forehead with his hoof, leaving a trail of dirt in the process.
Cleaning was done, and he couldn't believe how quick it took them to finish.
Fluttershy landed beside him, wearing a smile, for she too, couldn't believe how clean the cottage is now.

The air around the cottage is finally breathable, to Henry and the rabbit's relief.

"I just hope 'Spring Cleaning' didn't mean that you will only clean the place during spring." he joked, though he did mean it.
He looked at her, who was still amazed. He feared that maybe she'll only be cleaning once in a while, but he saw the rabbit on her back, assuring him that they'll clean the place. At least, that's what Henry understood from the rabbit's gestures.

Henry now needs to do one more thing.
Go home and take a shower.

----------
4. Rivals
----------

Another sunny Sunday, and Henry has nothing to do, since Sunday is his only day off.
Spring is almost over, and the temperature is starting to heat up.
Summer is Henry's most hated season. He hates the heat. It drains him to even dare empty the ocean.
He could stay home and continue the book, but even writing bored him.

He bought a Daisy Bread at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast, where Mr. Cake was on the counter, telling him that the hyperactive Pinkie Pie is still sleeping. To Henry, that was news.

Last night was the school's annual talent show, and Pinkie had a blast.
Henry wasn't able to watch the talent show last year, and he wasn't able to watch it last night.
He was tired from a full day writing, and immediately fell asleep when he got home.

The green alicorn is now on his way to Sweet Apple Acres to help the Apple family with apple bucking.
Apple bucking is usually done when spring is almost over. The harsh summer heat will destroy the apples.

He was greeted by the little Applejack, who just made her way out of the red barn to help her big brother.
"Mornin', Henry sir!"

"Good morning, Applejack," he greeted her back.
They soon went to the apple farm where Big Macintosh already filled quite a number of barrels.

He remembered the first time he helped them with harvesting apples.
They told him not to use magic, for it somehow destroys the fine quality of the fruit.
He didn't believe them though, so he compared a magically-picked apple with the bucked one, and tasted the truth.
Strangely, magic does ruin the quality of apples. It made him want to know why, but he never got the answer from the books in the library.

"Well, howdy Henry sir!" greeted Big Macintosh who just finished bucking the tree behind him and apples started falling to the two barrels lying on the ground next to the tree.

Henry lifted his hat with his hoof and bowed.
"Good morning, Big Mac."
He puts his hat back on.

"Hey," Applejack poked his hoof, "how come you ain't bowin' to me when you greet me?"

Henry was about to answer when they heard a grunting sound from above. The three of them looked up and saw a small puff of cloud slowly falling towards them.
As the cloud gets nearer to the ground, the sound is also getting louder, and soon, the cloud landed in front of the three, where a blue pegasus filly with rainbow-colored mane was sweating as she kicks and pounds and punches the cloud with a merciless look.

The three looked at each other with confused looks on their faces, and then they returned their gazes back to the young blue filly.

"Um... Rainbow?" Henry managed to ask.
Rainbow took a glimpse of where the voice came from, and saw him, and she stopped momentarily to have a good look at him, and then she went back to torturing the cloud.
"Oh, hey Henry," she said in between her punches and kicks, "what are you doing up here?"

Henry and Applejack both arched an eyebrow.
"Rainbow, what in tarnation are you doin' with that cloud?" Applejack asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Rainbow replied without stopping, "I'm clearing this cloud!"

"It doesn't look like it's been cleared yet." said Applejack.

"Yeah, well, just you wait and..."
Rainbow Dash stopped after realizing that it was Applejack's voice.
She immediately turned and face her. She couldn't believe her eyes!
"How'd...!? How did you get up here!?"

"Gee, I dunno Rainbow..." she replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
She then pointed at the tree. "Ya might wanna ask this tree how'd it got 'up' here as well."
Henry and Big Macintosh chuckled.

Rainbow, haven't realized the obvious yet, opened her mouth wide open in disbelief.
"How did that get up here!"
And finally she came to her senses.
"Wait a minute..."
She walked over the edge of the cloud she was standing on and leaned her head over and saw the green flat earth.
She pulled herself back and let herself fall into a sitting position in the middle of the cloud, blushing.
"Uh... Oops?" Applejack started laughing a bit.

"Well," Applejack said after laughing, "since it's down here, might as well try and see how a cloud feels like."
And she then brought a hoof to touch the cloud, but it went through, and she immediately felt cold.
She took her hoof back and noticed that it was a bit wet.

"Looks like clouds really are made of water." Henry smiled.
He did wonder if he could also walk on clouds as an alicorn, like Princess Celestia, so he lifted his hoof above the cloud's height, and tried to step on it, but his hoof just went through to the ground.
"Hm... Looks like I couldn't walk on clouds..." he said, disappointed, as he shook the water off of his hoof.
He then brought his attention to the blue pegasus.
"Why are you beating the life out of this poor ol' cloud, anyway?"

"For the weather team of course!" Rainbow Dash said proudly as she flapped her wings.
"The weather team is---"

"Yeah, yeah, we know what those airhead ponies do in the sky."
Applejack interrupted the blue pegasus with an annoyed tone in her voice.
That however, annoyed the pegasus filly, especially the chosen words the young farmer had said.

"Applejack!"
Both Henry and Big Macintosh said in unison.
Both looked at each other, and Henry lifted his hoof as a gesture for Big Macintosh to speak first.
The red stallion nodded his head and looked at his little sister, who seemed to be clueless as to why they both yelled at her.
Henry then faced the blue pegasus.

"Now Applejack, that was not a very nice thing to say."
The stallion said to her little sister, looking angry.

"I'd like to apologize for what Applejack said, Rainbow."
Henry bowed to the annoyed and hovering pegasus pony.

"But, what did I say?"
Applejack asked, having no idea what she did wrong.

"That's nice of you, Henry, but I'd like it hear it from her."
The pegasus said as she crossed her front hooves.

Applejack looked at the blue pegasus with a confused look, while the pegasus stared at her with a narrowed angry look, waiting for her apology.
Applejack slowly opened her mouth, raised her hoof, and immediately stomped the ground angrily, startling the others.

"No!" she started, "I don't need to apologize to nopony!"

"Now Applejack, be reas---" Henry said, but she cut him off.

"No!" she shook her head in anger, and then glared at the annoyed pegasus.
"I don't see reason why I need'a say sorry!"

"Hey," Rainbow Dash said calmly, though she's about to burst as well.
"just because we're always up in the sky, doesn't mean we're dumb!"

"I said nothin' 'bout you bein' dumb!"
Applejack stepped forward.

"Oh, sorry," she rolled her eyes as she hovered closer to her, her hind hooves already touching the cloud.
"but I thought I heard you saying that we pegasus ponies are 'airheads'!"

Henry and Big Macintosh, who was biting his lower lip, looked nervous at each other.

"Well, I didn't thought it was a hurtful word!"
Applejack said in all honesty, though angered.
Rainbow Dash, however, didn't believe her.

"Likely story!"
She landed on the edge of the cloud and leaned her head closer to the earth pony.
"I bet you just said that 'cause you're jealous."
She said with an angry grin, annoying the yellow earth pony.

"Jealous!?" she snarled as she leaned closer, their heads now pulling against each other.
"I need no wings like yours to puff a cloud!"

"Oh yeah!?"

"Yeah! Muscle is al'ya need!"

Rainbow quickly brought her head up, making the yellow earth pony drop herself forward through the edge of the cloud, and to the ground.
The pegasus grinned as she angrily brought herself up to face her.
"Prove it."

"Now Applejack..."
Henry said slowly, but Applejack already lifted her forehooves, and immediately stomped the cloud as the pegasus flew high to evade her, and the instant the earth filly's hooves went through the cloud, it began to split through and became two smaller clouds and disappeared seconds after.
The blue pegasus, couldn't believe what she just saw, dropped her jaw as Applejack, feeling proud of herself, turned to face her with an accomplished smile on her face.

Henry prayed that this whole argument would end now.

The blue pegasus, after recovering herself, landed in front of her, looking annoyingly defeated.
"Muscle, huh?" Applejack nodded.
"I bet I have enough to match yours!"

"You couldn't even puff a cloud."
Applejack confidently said as she went pass her to her brother, furthering the pegasus' annoyance.

She turned to her as she stomped her forehoof on the ground, catching her attention, but not enough to wipe her smile.
"I can prove that I'm as strong as you! Maybe even stronger!"

"Prove it." Applejack dared her with a grin.

Rainbow accepted her challenge with a grin.
"How?"

"Yah know how to buck these apple trees?"
The earth filly then looked around them, staring at the trees.

"Yeah... So?"

"So..." she looked at the pegasus.
"Whoever bucks the most apples in one hour wins."

"What? Is that it?" the blue pegasus smiled as she threw her hoof around.
"Pfff..."

Henry and Big Macintosh looked at each other once again, both looking nervous and uncertain how things will turn out.
They could try and stop these two, so they could save the apples from whatever harm the two fillies will do, since they're preparing for the annual Apple Cinder Season, but...
They sighed, they know too well that once these two agrees on something, it'll be almost impossible to turn things around.

---

Henry, as what Applejack asked, used his magic to lift the barrels that her brother already filled as Big Macintosh went back to the barn to get their hourglass.
Henry then puts up barrels next to each tree in the farm.
And after everything was ready, both Henry and Big Macintosh stood a few feet behind the two fillies, who are both ready to run to the nearest tree in their designated side of the farm.

"Just to be clear..." Rainbow Dash said as they looked at each other.
"I could use my wings here."

"Heh," Applejack grinned, "you sure that's all ya need to win?"

"Er..." Henry, with the hourglass in between him and Big Macintosh, lifted the hourglass with his magic and turned it up-side-down to start the countdown.
"Start?"

And with that, the two fillies quickly went to the nearest apple tree.
Rainbow Dash, with the help of her wings, was the one who got to a tree first and quickly punched the tree with her forehooves a few times before giving up.
Angered, she looked at Applejack, who just got to a tree and quickly turned her back and used both her hindhooves to deliver a back kick, shaking the tree and apples started falling and filled the barrels.
Applejack gave her a grin before she ran to the next tree.
Now that she figured out how to do it, Rainbow Dash immitated her and gave a mighty kick, making the apples fall as well, but the barrel was only half filled.
She kicked it again, and finally, the barrel was full. She quickly flew towards the next tree.

Henry and Big Macintosh just sat on the same spot when the fillies little competition started, staring blankly at them.

"So..." Henry started, "you have an idea who will win?"

"Nnnope..."

---

Ten minutes passed, and Henry was wondering something.

"Hey, Big Mac..."

"Hm?"

They started talking without taking their gazes away from the two fillies.

"Applejack seemed to be clueless about the word 'airhead' that angered Rainbow Dash..."

"Uh..."
Big Macintosh started to scratch his head.

Henry then looked at him.
"I was wondering if you knew why...?"
He noticed the stallion was looking a bit uneasy. He got his answer immediately.
"You know..." he started as he looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Siblings immitate their elders."

Big Macintosh immediately stood nervously and started walking to the barn.
"Comin' grandma." He shouted.

Henry swore he didn't hear anyone calling the stallion.
He sighed.

---

Twenty minutes passed, and they were still going.
Big Macintosh's grandmother left them with tea.

"So..." Henry started again, breaking the silence.
"you have a mare that you've been seeing lately?"

"Yyyep."

"Aside from Applejack and your grandmother?"

"Nnnope."

And they fell quiet again as they watched the two fillies still determined to defeat the other.

---

Another twenty minutes passed, and both were still going, but they have already slowed down.
The tea was already empty, and Henry wished he brought along his notebook and quill.

"Do you have any paper and quill back in the barn?"

Big Macintosh brought a hoof on his lower lip and gave it a thought.
He then brought his hoof back on the ground as he shook his head.
"Nnnope."

"Okay..."

---

Only a few more minutes left before the whole competition thing ends.
The two fillies are beyond tired, but still were going on, even though none of the apples were falling down from their very tired and painless kicks.

---

Henry was feeling sorry just by looking at the two of them. He turned his attention to the hourglass where only a few more seconds left.
And finally, one full hour passed.

"Game over!"
He shouted in relief, and immediately, the two fillies let gravity pull them down to earth.
Oh, how their bodies ached. They turned their heads and found themselves lying a few feet from each other.
Though tired, they both flashed victory-yet-tired smiles.

"Never...thought...you had it...in you...partner..."
Applejack said to the pegasus in between her deep inhales and exhales.

"Heh... Told you..."
The pegasus smiled.

Henry, with his magic, lifted the barrels and separated them by two as Big Macintosh counted them. Henry then used his magic to lift the two fillies near him while Big Macintosh was still busy counting.

"Good job, you two." he smiled as he looked at the apple farm.
Both the two fillies bucked quite a lot of apple trees.
He grinned. He thought that Big Macintosh now has less apple trees to worry about.
The two fillies were still too tired to bring theirselves back on their hooves.

"Sorry 'bout what I said earlier, Rainbow..."
Applejack said sincerely, and Rainbow Dash sensed it.

"Aw, it's nothing." She smiled.
"But... That doesn't mean we're friends."

Both grinned.
"Rivals then?" Applejack suggested.

Rainbow spat on her forehoof and extends it to her with a grin.
Applejack did the same and, hoof to hoof, they were now rivals.

Finally, Big Macintosh finished counting and announced who had won, only to be hushed by Henry as he points his hoof at the two fillies, both have fallen asleep.
As Big Macintosh, with his sister on his back, went back to the barn to put her to her bed, Henry, with the pegasus asleep on his back, flew up to the nearest puff of cloud and put her on it.

Afterwards, he landed in front of the barn and said goodbye to the red stallion, and after an exchange of goodbyes, Henry walked back to PonyVille.

----------
5. For A Gem
----------

A week after the Summer Sun Celebration, Henry was feeling grumpy from all of this heat.
He's just lucky that the sun was still rising when he goes to the library, and the sun already setting when he goes back home.
The giant library tree was cool inside, enough for Henry to manage to keep a cool head.
Though it became a bit hot inside.

But Sunday, he'll be stuck inside his oven-like-house.
He could go to the library, but...
Wait, there are no 'buts'! So what's stopping him?

He wore his glasses, his hat, and his sidebag, and finally went outside his house, only to stop himself after seeing the little Rarity, who was wearing a very 'fashionable' saddlebag, and who seemed to just arrive in front of his doorstep.

"Oh, hello Rarity," Henry smiled, "what brings you here?"
But before Rarity answered, he remembered the cape she gave him, and immediately used his magic to put the cape hanging on the upper bed from being his pillow case.

"Good morning, Mister Henry." she smiled back.
"I'm going to Rocky Fields to find some gems. Wanna come?"

An out-of-the-blue invitation. Henry blinked.
"What, you mean now?"
Rarity nodded happily.
"But, why me?"

"My parents are away again, travelling the world." She rolled her eyes with an annoyed tone.
"And I need someone to go there with me."

Henry wasn't quite sure if he has to go.
Rocky Fields. Fields. Fields.
Under the summer heat. He twitched.

"Mr. Cake and Ms. Cheerilee are busy today, and Big Macintosh as well, so that leaves you."
She smiled widely.

Henry sighed.
"This is for one of your 'fashion projects', is it?"
Of course it is, Henry thought.

"Of course!" Rarity sang.

---

Rocky Fields was on the other side of the tree-filled hill in between the fields and PonyVille. They went over the hill, to Henry's relief. At least the leaves shielded them from the rising sun, but as they got to the other side, the almost-black fields was full of dirt and rocks, but no trees. The field was surrounded by other tree-filled hills.

Henry sighed.
But hey, they only need to get some gems, right?
This will be over quickly, he hoped.

"How did you know about this place, anyway?"
Henry asked as they walked through the fields. He never knew about this place.

"A little research, of course." she smiled.
"This is my first time here." she turned to him, "My parents didn't want me to come here,"
She then turned and continued to walk.
"But now that they're gone, I can go here, with someone watching me, of course."

Henry looked at her with an annoyed look on his face, but it was useless. She wasn't facing him, anyway.

Soon, Henry saw some magic aura on the ground in front of them.
With her magic, Rarity dug the ground and a green gem, wrapped with magic aura, floated in mid-air, but then it fell back to where it was as soon as the magic aura that surrounded it vanished.

"That was a gem, right?" Henry asked the obvious.

Rarity nodded.
"Yes, but it was not the one I am looking for."
She walked on.
"Green is such an awful color."

Henry stopped as he arched an eyebrow, and Rarity quickly realized what she just said, and quickly turned to him with an apologetic look on her face.
"Uh, the gems, I mean..."

"Right..." he lowly replied sarcastically.

"Eheheh..." she weakly laughed as she thought for something to escape.
"Uh, oh, we're wasting time standing here," she said with different tones as she awkwardly turned, "we must go and look for the perfect gem!"

"Whatever you say..." Henry sighed.

---

As Rarity went on with looking for her 'perfect' gem, Henry was starting to ask himself why she dragged him all the way out here.
To look after her was the only thing on his mind, and he was convinced by it earlier, but now he's doubting it.

"Why am I here, anyway?"
He asked her calmly as she examines a baby-red ruby.

"Oh, because I asked you to be here, darling."

'Darling?' Henry arched an eyebrow.
He sighed. That was an automated response from her if ever she's busy doing something.
Finally, she brought the ruby back to the ground, he asked her again.

"Oh, because I need someone to look after me, of course."
She replied without looking back to face him, nor stopping from walking.

She stopped yet again as a sapphire erupted from the ground and she started examining it.

---

Henry got tired of following her around in circles, so he sat down on the ground with a large leaf above him to shield himself from the sun, as he concentrates his magic to another leaf to hover above the little white unicorn filly.

To look after her. He wondered, from what?
There seems to be nothing here, except for the birds flying above the fields.

---

Rarity was meters away from the lazy-sitting alicorn. Henry yawned.
What felt like hours, Rarity finally found a black gem, an Onyx, if Henry recalls the gemstones correctly from the book he read.
She then made her way towards him after she puts the onyx inside her saddlebag when something huge emerged from the ground behind her.
Both were startled, and Rarity noticed that whatever was behind her, she was under its huge shadow.
Without looking back, she screamed as she ran as fast as she can towards Henry.

Henry, as he ran towards her, immediately slapped the large leaf to the creature's face to blind it for a little while.

Henry stopped after he reached her, who also stopped behind him, shaking from fear as she poked her head behind his hindhooves.

Henry recognizes the creature as a Diamond Dog, twice his size when it was standing on all four, and from what he read, they collect gems for unknown reason.
It wasn't clear in the book as to why they attack, but it was rare for them to go out in the surface and attack other creatures.
Lucky for them to get this rare chance, he sighed.

He looked around as the dog stood in all four, preparing to run at them.
Henry could only use the rocks around. He hoped it'll be enough to scare the dog away.

As the creature started charging towards them, Henry, with his magic, lifted the nearby rocks and threw them at the dog, managing to land some nasty hits, but none managed to slow it down.
If this keeps up, it'll ram them, so just before that happens, Henry blasted a brown bolt of beam from his horn, sending the dog rolling a few meters back.

"How did you do that?" Rarity asked behind him, her tone clearly amazed.

He didn't answer as he quickly looked around, and spotted quite a number of dug-up gemstones.
Diamond Dogs love gems, so he lifted them as the dog went back to its feet and began charging back again.

Henry grouped the gems into one and gently puts it in between them and the dog, but it just rammed intself through the small hill of gems, and continued running towards them.

"Shouldn't you be running now?" Henry asked the unicorn filly as he blasted another beam, which this time, the dog easily dodged.

Startled, Henry received a nasty punch to his side, and with the dog's other hand, it grabbed Henry by the throat and slammed him to the ground without letting go.
Henry's lungs ran out of air in an instant as the unicorn filly was petrified by fear.

Sensing the alicorn no longer holds a threat, it then dragged him as it turned to the unicorn, who was now starting to randomly summon gems from the ground and throws it at the creature, yet she accomplishes nothing as it grinned and started walking towards her.

Rarity slowly walked back as she continued to throw gems at the dog.
Its mouth was watering with it's saliva as it grinned.
It stopped after it felt the alicorn was trying to struggle.
It looked at him, only to see another Diamond Dog.
Startled, it immediately let its comrade go. Rarity screamed as she fell to the ground.
Two Diamond Dogs, how in Equestria will she save herself?

As the other Diamond Dog catches its breath, the other turned back to the filly.
Henry, now recovered his strength a bit, and currently disguised as a Diamond Dog, grinned as he went to his feet.
With his magic, he lifted a very large boulder in silence and slowly lifted the boulder above the hungry creature.

The heavier the object, the more magic force Henry needs.
He struggled to keep it afloat, his four hooves started shaking.

He met Rarity's eyes, and he immediately brought his hoof in front of his mouth, telling her to keep quiet.

Soon, the boulder was above the dog's head, and it noticed its shadow was casted on him.
Curious, it looked up.

"RUN!"
Henry shouted as he dropped the boulder on its head and as Rarity ran for her dear life, escaping both the boulder and the unconscious dog.
A dust cloud swallowed both the dog and the boulder.

She stopped beside Henry, who was too tired now to put his disguise up.
Henry dropped himself to the ground.
She is a bit startled to see him as a Changeling, but she knew who he is, deep inside, that he was still the Henry she knew.

The dust cloud cleared.
Breathing deeply, Henry managed to smile as they both stared at the unconscious creature lying down on the ground, pinned by a boulder.

"Promise me not to come here again..."

And she slowly nodded.
"I'm...sorry..."

"Not your fault, kid..."
He laughed weakly.
"At least you got your gem."

Rarity, despite feeling guilty, flashed a small smile at him.

"What's it for, anyway?"

Rarity took the onyx out of her saddlebag as Henry used his small amount of magic to bring the two large leaves above them to sheild themselves from the sun.

"It's for a gown I'm making..."

Henry arched an eyebrow.
"A gown? For who?"

Rarity looked at him and her smile became natural.
"For Mister Cake's fiancé, of course!"

Henry blinked two times.
"He's getting married? When?"

"Well," Rarity puts the onyx back inside her bag.
"I don't know, but they came to me yesterday, asking to make his chubby marefriend a gown for their wedding."

'Chubby?' Henry arched his eyebrow again.
He smiled as he slowly stood up on all four.

"C'mon, let's go back home."

Rarity nodded and walked in front as he changed his disguise back.
He smiled. Today wasn't as boring as he thought it would be.

They heard the dog's weak moan, making them rush back to the forested hill.

----------
Originally Written on July 15, 2012
Updates...
- September 18, 2012 - Added AppleJack and Rainbow Dash Image
- September 24, 2012 - Added Pinkie Pie and Henry Hoof inside the library

Chapter 03 - Reaching The Dream

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Chapter 3 - Reaching The Dream

----------
1. Dream Come True
----------

Henry woke up inside the train's private room. He got out of the red wide chair as he puts his glasses on him with his brown magic. As he took a few steps toward the glass window, he changed the way he looked as a green alicorn pony.
The sun was still rising, yet, Canterlot was already in sight.

He originally planned to go to Manehattan, but he decided to go to Canterlot to publish his book instead.
Why? Because Canterlot was closer than Manehattan.

As he went back and sat down on the comfy chair, he smiled as he remembered the things that happened a month before.

He attended Mister Cake's wedding with a mare that little Rarity described as 'chubby', and indeed, she was a bit chubby.
But hey, he's not the one to judge. Love has no boundaries, at least, that's what he read in the books and novels in the library.

Cheerilee was sick for a week, so the mayor asked him to be the school's substitute teacher.
He didn't mind. It also gave him a chance to talk to the little Applejack about Manehattan.

From what the little filly described, it was a city just like Fillydelphia.
He sighed after hearing about it.
At least he knew he needs to update the books in his library.
He already filed a request at the mayor's office.
The shipment for new books will be a month or so.

And then he remembered his chat with Mister Cake about Pinkie having a blast at the school's annual talent show.
Pinkie Pie threw him another 'goodbye and be back soon' party, and indeed, she 'blasted' all around with her pink cannon, instantly transforming an entire room into a party.

Oh, why did he even mentioned the word 'cannon'...
And once again, too much cake.

He smiled again, realizing how great his life is, minus the getting hurt part.
He shrugged as he realized that the train was already starting to slow down.
Canterlot was already a few minutes away.

He then took a black shirt from his sidebag, and wore it.
Canterlot has a strange way of looking at ponies without wearing any clothing, even though it was completely natural to not wear anything.
He didn't understand the high class ponies' logic...
He sighed. He didn't want to get some unwanted attention, anyway...

With his magic, he wore his hat, this time, covering his horn, and wore his brown sidebag.

A memory hit him again.
Rarity insisted to make him a new sidebag as her way of saying sorry for what happened to them in Rocky Fields.
Henry didn't need a new one, though his old one could use some fixing.
She happily fixed his sidebag, and wow, it looked brand new.

Finally, the train went to a full stop, sending a rocking wave through the train.
He glanced out of the window. The train's inside Canterlot Train Station.
Unlike in Fillydelphia, the Canterlot Train Station has more organized ponies walking around.
Though crowded, even at this early hour, order is like the top priority here.
Plus, no vendor stalls on pillars. Oh well, there are bakeries outside the station, anyway.

He exited the train and felt the warm atmosphere. It was now summer.
He walked straight to the wide staircase leading out of the station and directly turned left to his usual bakery stop.

He pulled the glass door open and entered the building. He smiled as he went to the counter.

"Ah! Sir Henry!" a cheerful young orange mare pegasus pony with white mane and tail greeted him.
"The usual, sir?"

"Yes, please." He smiled as he got to the counter.

Even though he's disguising himself as a pegasus, the young orange pegasus already knew him as an alicorn.
She was also the one who told him to hide his horn under his hat so he'll look like an ordinary pegasus pony.
He used his magic to lift three Bits and put them down on the counter table as the mare pony took a Daisy Bread inside the glass stand and puts it inside a brown paper bag.
After the exchange, they thanked each other and said their goodbyes.

The royal capital city of Canterlot is built on the side of one of the tallest mountains in Equestria, where the rising and the setting of the sun can be witnessed.
Canterlot, it has tall buildings and cemented streets, where trees were given way to grow to add nature in a civilized city. Unlike Fillydelphia, Canterlot definitely has a lot of ponies who are 'living big in the city', and he didn't like any of them.
Ponies are too proud of their wealth, reputation, and looks.
And unlike Fillydelphia, this city has no street beggars and 'street rats' and other lower class ponies. Something about this city that's trying it's best to look perfect.
Maybe because this is where Princess Celestia lives?

He puts the bread inside his sidebag and quietly made his way to his first destination.

---

Henry quietly walked inside Canterlot Cemetery, and walked his way towards his sister's resting place.
He sat in front of her tombstone, staring at the engraved letters and her cutie mark.

He said some things on his mind, as if he's trying to talk to his little sister in his mind.
He told her about what he experienced.
A tear ran down his face. He missed her.

He took his Daisy Bread, and split it in half with his hooves, and puts the other half on the grass near the tombstone with a smile.

His sister always bought the same bread back in PonyVille, and they would eat together either in their home or in the park under their favorite tree.
Even inside the library, too.

Oh, how the time flew...
Another tear ran down his face as he slowly took a bite on his share of the bread.
Ants already started to swarm on the bread on the ground.

Suddenly...
He felt warm. The sun wasn't even up that high.
It was a different kind of warmth.
It was as if, the warmth was only around his neck and back.
He felt comfortable, secure, and loved.
He closed his eyes, and imagined his sister was hugging him from behind.

"Thank you, sis..." he whispered.

And as he slowly opened his eyes, the warmth slowly faded.
Another tear escaped his eyes.

---

A carriage stopped in front of the Caterlot Castle. Henry got off of it and payed the drivers.
He looked at the castle. How magnicifent it looked, from the ground to the highest tower.
He smiled as he slowly turned around.
The castle is not why he was here, but the building he's facing on the other side of the road.
The Canterlot Book Express.

As he got in front of the glass door, two security unicorn ponies who were inside used their magic to open the door for him. He thanked them as he entered the building.

The floor was air-conditioned and spacious, with chairs on the left and right corners, where a number of ponies are seated. In the center of the room was the counter, separated by three sections; information, inquery, and the one with the longest line, publishing.

Information is where ponies will ask questions related to the building and publishing.
Inquery is where ponies will ask about the status of their books, novels, poems, and other written items. It is also where ponies will ask for book shipments.
Publishing has two lines; one for those who are going to publish their books, and the other to publish their rights on the book, if the company will publish it.

He went in line in the publishing section.
Lucky for him that the city prioritize orderliness, he got to the counter in less than twenty minutes.

Alicorns are rare, if he remembered correctly, so he pretended that he was a pegasus pony.
With his hoof, he brought his bag in front of him, and with his mouth, he puts the envelop where all his papers of the story are stored, and puts them on the counter desk.
The middle-aged blue mare unicorn pony used her magic to open the envelop and take the first piece of paper.
The paper was a drawing of how the book's cover would look like.
It was his sister's mouth-drawn work.

She arched an eyebrow as she took the next page.
Still unsatisfied, she took the next few pages until she saw the prologue of the story.

She read it for a few moments, and finally returned the papers back in the envelop with a smile.

"Adventure, Sir Henry?" she asked as she flipped the envelop and with her magic, she stamped on it with a red 'For Review' stamp, and puts it down on the stack of other brown envelops.

Henry simply smiled back at her.

"Well," she said, "I do hope it'll get published. I got bored of all these fantasy love and romance stories being submitted here."

Both chuckled.

"Be back here tomorrow in the Inquery section about the status of your book."

Both smiled as Henry worked his way out of the building.

As he got out, he felt so, so relieved.
Finally, his sister's dream is about to come true.

He was about to call an empty carriage when he heard his name being called.
He turned to the castle, and saw a little purple unicorn filly waving her hoof at him behind the large castle gates.
He smiled.

It's not illegal to fly around, except beyond the castle walls, so he flew to the other side and landed in front of the gate, where two royal guards were just standing there.

"Hello Twilight."
He greeted her as he rubbed the little filly's head that was poking out of the gate.
"Shouldn't you be studying?"

"I was until I saw you."
She smiled.

Henry took his hoof back and pretended to be offended.
"Oh, so it's my fault now?"
And they both laughed.

He then noticed a large white pony walking out of the castle door a few meters away, and slowly walked towards the gate.
The little purple unicorn filly noticed him, and turned to his direction.

"Oh, Princess Celestia!"
She said as the princess caught up to her.

She smiled at the little filly, and then brought her eyes to the green pony outside the gates.
"How are you, Henry? Care to come inside?"

Henry bowed before he answered.
"I'm doing fine, princess. Thanks for asking. And oh, I was about to look for an inn until Twilight called me."

"Well, if you need a place to stay for the night, you are very welcome to stay in the castle."
She then looked at the guards and nodded her head, a gesture to open the gates for the green pony.

"Thank you princess, but, uh..." he slowly scratched his head.
"I shouldn't be troubling you like this..."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all."

The guards opened the gates for Henry to enter the castle.
The princess then asked her protegé to lead their guest to the guest room, and Twilight immediately nodded her head and ran towards the castle.

"I should probably follow her before I'll lose sight of her..."

"I think you should."
Both laughed, and then Henry bowed again before he followed the little unicorn filly.

----------
2. Magic Training
----------

Princess Celestia has already started to rise the sun from the horizon when Henry woke up. He was excited to know the status of the book, but the building was still close.
To kill some time, he went to the castle's garden where he found Twilight practicing her magic.
He decided to watch her train.

Henry, unlike other changelings, can use his magic other than disguising himself.
When a changeling leader dies, their ability to use magic is passed down to the next changeling to rule the tribe.

Though convenient, Henry never liked to use his magic other than lifting stuff, and blasting beams to protect himself.
But for the filly's sake, he tried some, until the publishing building opens.

Twilight made him read a dark-purple covered book.
The book was already opened to a page where Twilight was currently training.

"Teleportation Spell? This spell will allow you to---"

He cut himself off when he noticed the little filly was already concentrating, her horn was glowing purple and white, and instantly, her whole body became white and she disappeared, and she reappeared a few feet from where she was.
Henry smiled, he was impressed.

"Not bad," he admitted.

"I did it! I did it!"
The little filly cheerfully hopped around.

The spell might be useful one day, so he brought his attention to the book once again and started reading the procedure.

"There are two different ways to use the spell. The first is the easiest one, where you need to see the spot where you want to teleport yourself into. The second is extremely difficult, where you'll need to picture in your head the place you wish to teleport yourself into."
He brought his hoof on his chin as the little filly walked beside him.
"I think I'll try the first method. I'm not really that good with magic..."
He then read the instructions carefully.

He allowed Twilight's magic grip to hold the book as he started to concentrate some magic energy around his horn, flowing to all parts of his body, as what the book instructed.
He wanted to teleport himself beside the small bush a few meters away from his current location.
Now that he has a destination, he concentrated his flow of magic energy on that spot, and suddenly, his sight became white, and then it instantly became normal, where he's now in front of the bush.
Startled, he jumped a bit as he heard the little filly cheered for his achievement.
He smiled. He didn't really thought he could do it.
He then brought his attention to himself, checking if he was still in one piece.
Still the same green alicorn, with glasses and hat and sidebag.

"That was great, Henry!" cheered the little Twilight.

"Indeed," said an unfamiliar voice. "very impressive, changeling prince."

Both Twilight and Henry turned to where the voice was coming from, and they saw a black old-looking earth pony with a very white and messy mane and tail, who seemed to just arrive in the garden.
He is wearing dark-yellow glasses, and has a cutie mark of two brown hands of a clock.

"Good morning, doctor!"
Twilight greeted the newcomer, who just reached her and patted her head with his hoof.
Henry walked towards them.

"Good morning." Henry bowed as he reached them, catching both ponies' attention.

"Allow me to introduce myself."
He cleared his throat with a cough.
"I am Doctor Psycho."
Henry was glad he could hold his laughter, though failed to hide his cracked smile.
He hoped the doctor wouldn't notice.
"I am a scientist residing here in the castle's lab."

"My name's Henry, Henry Hoof, and I think I'll stick to calling you as 'doctor'."

"Suit yourself," the doctor shrugged.
He then looked down to see the little purple unicorn filly who was poking his hoof.

"Doctor! Doctor, did you see that? Henry can teleport, too!"
She announced excitedly.

The doctor smiled, while Henry let out a shy laugh.

"Indeed I have." the black pony nodded and faced the green alicorn.
"And I am quite impressed. Never knew changelings could do that."

Henry was about to say something when the doctor suddenly turned around to leave the garden.
"Anyway, I best be back to my studies."

"Bye doctor!" Twilight waved a hoof.

"He seems nice."
Henry said as the doctor was now out of sight.

Twilight then turned to him.
"I wanna practice the teleportation spell some more."

Henry smiled as he nodded.
"I'd like to join you."
He then lifted the book in front of him from Twilight's magic grip.
"That spell might come in handy one day."

---

The two ponies practiced the spell for fifteen minutes when Princess Celestia arrived in the garden.
They both bowed before her as they noticed her walking towards them.

Twilight then told her about Henry being able to use the teleportation spell.
She smiled, and then asked the filly to fetch something to eat for their guest.
She immediately nodded and ran to the castle.

Now that they're alone, Princess Celestia looked at the green alicorn and frowned, to Henry's confusion.

"So, you were able to do the teleportation spell?"

"Yes I have, princess..." Henry replied, doubting if it was best for her to know about it.
But after he said it, a realization came into his mind.
"No..."

"If you are able to perform magic spells..."
Princess Celestia closed her eyes as she slowly nodded her head.
"...Chrysalis might be, as well..."

Henry, after hearing the very name of the queen of the green-eyed changelings, ignited a flame of anger inside him.
The princess then opened her eyes.
"The search teams I've sent has yet to find her whereabouts..."

Henry looked down on the ground.
"The other tribes... Were they informed of what happened?"

Although he wouldn't see her, she nodded her head.
"I've already sent a written letter. They are aware."

"I'm sorry..." Henry slowly said.
"I'm sorry, really, to be troubling you with this..."

The princess shook her head as Henry returned his gaze at her.
She was about to say something when they noticed a white young-adult unicorn with blue mane and tail who just entered the garden.
He bowed at the princess.

"I'm sorry to disturb you princess," he then looked around the garden.
"I-is my sister here? We were supposed to eat brea---"

"Hey Shining!" Twilight greeted the young stallion as she ran passed him, being followed by a wooden tray with bread and milk.
She stopped in between the two alicorns, allowing Henry's magic to grab the tray.
The white stallion slowly walked towards them.

"Thank you." Henry smiled.
It wasn't a Daisy Bread, but at least he got something to eat for breakfast.

"Twilie," the stallion said as he stopped behind the little filly, who then turned to face him.
"We were suppose to eat breakfast together..."

"I know, I know... But you were still asleep when I woke up."

The white stallion sighed.
"You could have just, oh, I don't know, 'woke' me up?"
He replied sarcastically with a smile.
"Let's go Twilie, I need to eat something before my training begins."
And with that, the unicorn bowed before the princess, and walked away with his little unicorn sister.

The two alicorns looked at them leave with a smile on their faces.
Henry then sighed in relief and envy.
The very sight of the brother and sister made him remember him and his little sister.

That reminds him of his and her book!
He quickly faced the princess and bowed.
"I just remembered, I need to check the status of our book."
The princess returned her attention to him.
"Is it okay to bring the matter in another time, princess?"

She smiled.
"You don't need to talk formal, Henry."
She nodded her head.
"And yes, maybe another time."

And with that, he left the garden, bringing with him the bread Twilight gave him.

----------
3. Stranded
----------

In an early afternoon, a train is running on a plain desert tracks.
Even with the train's normal speed, the number of cacti can be counted.
On the horizon stood sandy hills, and beyond them are tall dark-brown mountains.

Henry and a number of passengers are seated in the coach car of the train.
Each seat can accommodate two ponies.
He's alone on a seat, simply putting his head against the glass window, blankly staring at the plain desert with a smile.
He still couldn't believe that his sister's book is going to be published.

---

Earlier, Henry went inside the Canterlot Book Express building and joined the line of ponies in the Inquery section.
After a few hours, Henry got out of the building, wearing a smile.

After saying his goodbye to Princess Celestia and Twilight, with her baby dragon, he went outside the castle's gates.
A vacant carriage stopped in front of him, and he went inside.

He couldn't believe that his and his sister's book has been approved and will be published.
The very first copy of the book will be sent to him in a few days' time.
And since he was already there, he asked about the status of the books being delivered to PonyVille library.
The arrival of the books will be a few week's time.

He went back to the quiet cemetery. He spent a few minutes telling his sister the great news.
He shed a few tears at that moment.
He may no longer see her, but he knew that she was also very happy that her dream came true.
He thanked his sister before he slowly left the cemetery, and started to walk towards his destination.

His destination, Canterlot Train Station, so he can head back home.
The sudden thought of Pinkie Pie gave him the cold shivers, but he then shook his head, dismissing the thought.
The Daring Do book is going to be published.
He sighed. It's worth a party, he thought.

---

He covered his horn with his hat, so he could appear as a green pegasus pony to the other ponies' eyes.
There are two stops the train will make from Canterlot to PonyVille.
If his calculations are correct, he'll be in PonyVille by morning.
He smiled. At least he bought himself a Daisy Bread for dinner later.

"Is this seat taken?" asked a feminine, young, and very familiar voice.

Henry turned to see who it was, and saw a young orange pegasus pony with white mane and tail.
The very pony who served him Daisy Bread in his favorite bakery in Canterlot near the station, was right in front of him.
"Aurora?" he said, a bit startled.
"Um, no. This seat's available."

She smiled as she sighed in relief, and sat beside the green alicorn.
"Thank goodness. I was starting to get uncomfortable in the other car..."

"Why so?"

"I don't know anypony there, so I decided to check this car, and I found you."
She finished her sentence with a smile.
She then started to look around.
"I'm going to PonyVille for a short vacation."

Henry managed to hold his chuckle.
Pinkie Pie will be busy when they arrive.

He doesn't really know much about this filly, except for some facts that she's working, despite the strict Canterlot law not allowing minors to work. She's cheerful, at least, to the customers. She has an aurora-like cutie mark, green to blue in color, standing out from her orange-colored coat.
From their little small talk in his every visit in the bakery, he also learned that she earned her cutie mark after her friends liked her painting in art class one day.
He didn't ask about what she painted. He just concluded that she maybe painted an aurora, thus earning her cutie mark.

The pegasus pony then faced him with a smile.
"So, how's your book?"

"It's going to be published soon."

"Really?" she sounded really excited and happy. "Congratulations!"
She then closed her eyes, faced forward and lifted her right front hoof, to Henry's confusion.
"I promise I'll buy one of your books when I can save some Bits."
And she then returned her hoof, and returning her gaze to him.

Henry laughed weakly.
"T-thanks..."

They became quiet for a while, and Henry noticed her looking from left to right, probably looking through the windows.
"Want to be next to the window?" Henry offered to exchange their seats, to Aurora's convenience.

They exchanged seats, and now, Aurora's gaze was locked on the desert scene through the glass window.
Henry just rested his head on the comfortable chair, leaning his back and his head, closing his eyes.
He sighed in relief.

---

The train later started to slow down for the first stop of the journey; a small town in the desert, in between two tall cliff-like mountains that shields the town from the harsh sun, except during noon.
The town at least has a number of trees to give off a cool breeze, and small patches of grass.
There's also a small number of hoof-operated water pumps, where some ponies are pulling the lever up and down to bring water up to their little buckets.

The ponies are somewhere in between friendly and unfriendly towards strangers, from the looks on their faces as they saw a small number of ponies who exited the train.

"Who would live in a place like this?"
Aurora asked no one in particular, her tone mixed with confusion and sadness.

"Ponies who call this place their home."
Henry said in a low-toned voice.

Aurora slowly shook her head, though what the alicorn said did made sense, but still...

"Listen up everypony!"
The conductor's voice echoed all around the car they're in as soon as he opened the door.
"There's a very big and nasty sandstorm up ahead,"
The passengers's whispers started to echo around.
Henry and Aurora looked at each other, both looking worried.
"and so, we're going to have to wait for it to subside."

"I guess we're stuck here for a while."
Henry said as they both stared at the conductor, who started making his way towards the other car.

Aurora unlocked the locks, opened the sliding glass window, poked her head and looked ahead.
Miles ahead was a huge black cloud, flashing white around, probably lightning, and the cloud, the sandy horizon was obscured.
She then returned to her seat and closed the glass window.

"Well?"
Henry asked as she faced him.

"There's a nasty storm up ahead..."
She then turned her head to look around with an annoyed look on her face.
"...and I don't want to saty here..."

Henry blinked, and now noticed the whole car was starting to get a bit noisy from the whispers and chatters of the other ponies. He looked through the window, examining the small town.
Aurora noticed him, so she turned her gaze to the town as well.

The ponies in town, some stared at the storm cloud far away. Those who did, grinned and started to look like they need to be prepared.

---

They both exited the train after they got the conductor's word that the train will wait for them to return before the train starts to move.

Aurora wasn't feeling confident in the town, but thankfully, she has Henry to be with for a while.
She is following the green pony as he asks a number of ponies around for an inn.

Soon, they stood in front of a wooden building. Ropes were tied on the ground and the cliff's wall behind the building, securing the roof.
They looked around, and noticed that the other wooden houses also have ropes securing the roofs.
Henry slowly went inside as Aurora looked up, noticing the small parts of the black storm cloud already reached them.
She then followed the alicorn, who was already talking to the bored-looking old white unicorn mare on the counter.
Only one room was vacant.

"I'll take it, then."
Henry said.

Without moving an inch, she used her magic to hover the key to the counter.
Henry took the key with his mouth, and bowed at the mare as a gesture of thanks, and went to the wooden stairs.
Aurora was confused as she tailed him.

Finally reaching the wooden door, Henry held the key with his hoof and unlocked the door.

"Why aren't you using your magic?"
Aurora asked with a low and confused tone as Henry opened the door.

"Well," he said as they both entered the room.
The room was small, having only one wooden bed with a blue thin matress, and with a candle lamp on a small wooden table.
The windows were covered by thick plywood, hammered a bit unprofessionally.
"...alicorns are rare though..."

"So?" Aurora asked as she closed the door behind them as Henry sat on a wooden stool near the table.

"Well, I just don't like to get unwanted attention..."

"Why not?"
She asked as she noticed him settling his sidebag down on the table.
"Wait... You're not going in bed?"

Henry looked at her and shook his head.
"You look a bit tired, so the bed's yours."

"Well, thanks, I guess?"

They heard a faint thunder roar as she went to the bed and covered herself with the blue blanket.
Aurora held a comfortable smile as she lied there.
"I've never been on a comfy bed for a while..."
She sighed, and followed it with a surprised gasp.
She quickly went to a sitting position, and saw Henry looking at her confused.

"Uh... I'll pretend I didn't hear anything..."
He said as he returned his focus on his notebook and quill, writing down something with his magic.
He's been wanting to write a few things for a while, but he couldn't do it.
Disguised as a pegasus and all...
He doesn't know how to write with a quill on his mouth.

Suddenly, they heard rattling noises and strong wind gusts from outside.
The strong wind must have been swirling a large amount of sand, and hitting the wooden houses all around.
They can feel the room was waving a bit.

They then heard a set of knocks on the door.

"Come in."
Henry said, a bit loudly.

The doorknob was enveloped by white magic, and then the door opened, revealing the old unicorn mare from the counter, lifting a tray of bread.

"This here storm's gonna be runnin' wild all night long."
She said, still wearing a seriously-bored look.
She then hovered the tray to the rear-end of the bed.
"You couples need somethin' ta eat."

Aurora and Henry both looked surprised.
The old mare however just shook her head as she turned to leave.
"Worry non', lovebirds. It's on the house."
And she shut the door closed with her magic.

"I'm too young..."
Aurora whispered as she went to the tray.
They were given two pieces of bread.

Henry then took out his Daisy Bread from his bag.
"Don't worry. I'm sure she just misunderstood us..."

"I sure hope so..."
She then took a piece of bread with her hoof.
"I mean, you're old enough to be my dad..."
And she then took a bite.
"...not that I mind..." she whispered, but Henry failed to hear it from the noisy sounds the wind was making from outside.

----------
4. Storm In The Night
----------

They were quiet for a while. The wind was still busy outside.
They already finished eating dinner.
Aurora was just lying down on the bed, staring at a wall where Henry was sitting on a stool, still busy writing some stuff on his notebook.

"Hey Henry..."

"Hm?"
The green alicorn responded without stopping from writing.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Well..."
she shifted a bit so she could look a him directly.
"...do you have parents?"

The quill suddenly stopped writing as Henry blinked.
He then, with his magic, returned the quill to the ink bottle as he faced her.

"Yes, I...had..."
He fixed his glasses on his face with his hoof.
"What brought you to ask?"

"Well, two things actually..."
she sat up and took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Aside from the princess, you're the only alicorn I've met, and it made me wonder..."

"I see."

"...and...nevermind about the second one..."

"Uh... Okay?"

"So... You said you had parents... Can I ask, what happened to them?"

Henry felt sad all of a sudden.
He thought he was okay now, and he thought that if someone asks him about his parents, he wont feel sad or anything.
He sighed, he thought wrong.
"When I was young, my father died trying to protect my mother from monsters..."
He slowly brought his gaze back to his notebook.
"At that time, my older sister risked her life to protect me..."
He then took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"A year and a few months ago, my mother was...ambushed, by the same monsters when she was moving away to a new place..."

"Oh... I'm...sorry..."
Aurora whispered.

Both then became quiet, not moving from their current positions.

Henry then took a deep breath and exhaled.
He then faced her with a sad smile.
"Well, that's a bit unfair for my part..."
Aurora blinked in confusion.
"Your turn."

"What? Oh... M-my parents?"
Aurora asked, sounding confused and unsure.

Henry simply nodded.

Aurora looked down on the blanket, unsure if she's willing to tell him.
She's been trying her best to mask her sadness with a smile, though when she's alone, the mask often wears off without her realizing it.

"If you don't want to talk about it..."
Henry slowly said as Aurora slowly looked at him.
"...then you don't have to."
He then looked at his notebook and lifted his quill with his magic.
"As the saying goes, 'some things are better left unsaid'."
And with that, he went back to writing some notes.

"T-thanks..."
she managed to smile.
"But I'll tell you about it, but maybe not now..."

She saw him nod his head.
Sleep was starting to get into her, so she slowly lied down and went to sleep.

---

Henry was starting to feel sleepy after what felt like hours.
He wrote a descent amount of notes for a new book.
The goblet he found in the ruins will play a vital role in the next Daring Do book.
He smiled as he remembered Ember and Flame.
Those two should be getting along pretty well.
He was about to open his bag to put his stuff back when he heard a small commotion from downstairs.

He went outside the room.
As he got himself to the stairs, he saw the old unicorn mare standing a few feet from the door.
Beside her stood two old unicorn stallions.
The three used their magic to lift three hayforks.

Despite the violent sound of the wind from outside, they heard a loud slamming sound from the door, and was quickly followed by scratching noises.

The three unicorns stood in their stances, forks lifted and tilted, their pointed spears facing the door.
One of the stallions took a quick look at the stairs, and saw Henry on the upper end.

"Don't worry son!"
He returned his gaze at the door, where a hole was starting to form on the lower-left.
"We'll handle this."

"Handle what?"
Henry asked in complete innocence.
Sandy wind started to enter from the hole, scratches echoed through, and soon, Henry saw a yellowish-brown paw, scratching the door.
The torches inside were starting to dance with the wind.

And suddenly, another loud slamming sound erupted as the wooden door was destroyed to pieces, and instantly, three golden-brown wolves leaped inside, jaws open and ready, only to get stabbed by the hay forks of the unicorns, who appeared confident and prepared.
The instant the wolves were stabbed, their whole bodies suddenly became sand and fell down to the wooden floor.

"Water!"
Shouted the mare unicorn as the pile of sand slowly started to rise, taking forms of wolves, the size of adult ponies.
"Water, darnit!"
She angrily looked at her companions, but both shook their heads.

As the first wolf came to be, it instantly jumped at the mare, to the three's surprise.
A brown beam them hit the wolf, sending it back outside.
Henry, who was now on the floor, quickly blasted two beams at the other wolves from his horn, sending both outside.

Henry, now revealing his horn, quickly used his magic to tie the strings of his hat under his head, so it wont fly off from the strong wind. Aurora and the other ponies renting the other rooms just got outside of their doors to see what happened.

He again blasted a beam at a wolf who was about to enter the inn.

"Fill me in on how to defeat these things!"

"Water!" the old mare shouted as one of the old stallions ran back to a room.
"Pour them some water while they're not wolves!"

Henry again blasted a beam at a wolf.
"Before they turn into wolves, got it."
He was about to fly out of the door when he heard Aurora called his name.
"Aurora," he said without looking, "stay here and be safe."
And he flew out of the doorway.

The whole town is blanketed in darkness, filled with sounds of the wind, growls of the wolves, scratches on wood, battle cries of ponies, and splashes of water.

The dusty wind is giving him a difficult time to focus his sight.
He then landed on the sandy ground, hoping that the wind would be a bit less violent, but it didn't make a difference, but to put himself in danger as he heard snarls and growls all around him.

Aurora, with a candle lamp on her mouth, flew out of the inn and hovered above the alicorn, shedding enough light for him to see.

Henry, despite feeling a bit angry at her for not listening, was glad she was here to help.
Seeing a bit better now, he fired a number of beams at the wolves.
After knocking one out, he saw a nearby water pump.
That little distraction gave way to a wolf, landing its sharp claws on the alicorn's back.
Fanged mouth wide open, it prepared to bite his neck when a hay fork stabbed the wolf, turning it into sand.
Henry's back was showered by sand. He shook it off.

Other ponies were already fighting the wolves outside, shedding some more light around town.
He was backed by the three old unicorns. Taking this opportunity, he concentrated his magic on the water pump, trying to sense the water deep underground.
Finally, he was able to summon a large amount of water, enveloped by his brown magic, lifted in the air.
He turned around to witness a wolf being stabbed, and quickly melted into sand.
Using his magic, he took a small amount of water and poured it on the sand where the wolf melted, and the instant he did, the wet sand exploded, leaving a long howl in the process.

The event managed to capture the attention of other ponies, and those who are unicorns started to take some of his water to help defeat the wolves.

Things were starting to be great with the ponies until they saw, on the far end of town, opposite to where the train tracks were, a huge wolf was starting to take shape, half the size of the cliff.
The ponies' jaws dropped, allowing fear to hit them into their very souls.
The smaller wolves went towards it, and melting themselves to join the huge sand wolf.

Its eyes glowed yellow as it howled to the stormy heavens above them.

Though in panic, the ponies stood their ground, preparing to fight, while those who gave in to fear, ran to the train.
Strating it up was impossible. The coal-powered engine car was swallowed by a hill of sand, and so were the rest of the cars.

The giant wolf took a step forward.
Henry, though terrified, need to think of something fast.
Aurora landed beside him, looking terrified.

"We should leave...!"
Aurora shouted out of fear.

Out of all the ponies, only the pegasi ponies would be able to leave the place unharmed, but...

Henry looked around, and he saw the scared-yet-determined looks on the ponies.
He has an idea, but he's not sure if it'll work.
He quickly ran to the old mare unicorn, and upon arrival, he caught her attention.

"Can we pour water on that thing!?"
Henry shouted so the mare could hear him through the harsh sound of the sandy wind.

"No! We can't do that!"

"And why is that!?"

"Sand wolves won't be able to become sand again if they get wet!"

"So!?"

"If the sand wolves do get wet, they become a solid permanent figure!"

"How bad could that possibly be!?"

"They become more powerful if they do!"

Henry didn't understand the logic there, but these old ponies look like they're experts on that matter, so he'll just have to trust them.
He turned to look at the slow-approaching giant sand wolf.
He needs to do something to turn the sand wolf back to sand, but how will he---
The cliff's walls!

He quickly turned around with a determined smile.

"I have an idea!"

The ponies nearby heard him and slowly walked towards him.
Aurora joined in.

"I need you and the rest of the ponies to gather up a huge amount of water from the water pumps!"

"That's good and all," yelled one of the ponies from the crowd.
"but how are we gonna turn that thing into sand!?"

Henry turned, and raised his head to see the wolf straight forward.
And then, he tilted his head up, staring at the cliff's walls with a grin.

The crowd of ponies looked at where he was looking at, and a smile flashed on their faces.

"Well son! Don't you dare fail us!"

Henry nodded, and soon, he concentrated a large amount of magic energy on his horn, aimed at one of the cliff's walls.
His horn glowed in brownish-white light, and the slow-moving sand wolf sensed it's threat.
On it's dragged feet, small wolves came out, and started running towards the ponies.

"Incoming!"
Aurora shouted while the unicorns were busy summoning water out of their water pumps.
The earth and pegasi ponies went a few feet in front of the green alicorn, carrying hayforks and wooden sticks on their mouths, preparing themselves for battle.

"Water ready!"
Shouted one of the stallions behind the alicorn.

Henry, despite appreciating the ponies' attempt to help him, he doesn't want to see them get hurt just for his sake.
Though he's not yet satisfied of the intensity of the energy he gathered in his horn, he hoped that it would be enough.

After a few seconds of checking his aim, he fired the intense brown beam towards the high parts of the cliff walls.
A huge explosion erupted from the impact, and huge chucks of rocks and boulders started to fall on top of the giant wolf.
It howled in pain. Its legs sank, chucks of rocks fell on its back, leaving holes as the rocks got through.
Henry quickly fired a weaker beam at the cliff again, creating a small explosion, enough to move another huge boulder, smashing down on the wolf's head.
The event made the fast-approaching sand wolves to melt into sand before reaching the ponies.
Quickly, the other unicorns levitated the large gathered water on top of the wolf, pouring it down before the wolf could return its form again, and after, a huge explosion of sand erupted.

After a few seconds, the wind started to calm and the black clouds started to fade, allowing the moon to shine down.
The ponies started to cheer as the old unicorn mare thanked the green alicorn with a hug.

Aurora just stood there with a smile on her face.
She was amazed of the alicorn's work.
She remembered what she said, that Henry was old enough to be her father.
A tear ran down her face. She wished her father would have been as cool as this green alicorn.
Even though he didn't know the ponies living here, Henry was willing to help them.

After they broke their hug, Aurora quickly flew towards him and surprised him with a hug as she cried.
Tommorow, she'll tell him about her parents...

Henry, after recovering from the state of slight shock, returned the hug.

----------
5. Welcome To A New Life
----------

The train became operational again in the early morning.

The conductor made sure that no passengers were left behind before the train started moving.

Henry and Aurora were back on their seats, enjoying some bread the pony folks gave them.
There were too many to carry, so they made it into a little feast where every pony can have some, while they only took two pieces each.

They were having small talk while they were eating inside the train.

"---and then when the rocks fell over on that giant wolf, my heart was really pounding hard!"
Exclaimed the happy Aurora, mixing it with movements of her hooves.
Henry just smiled. She's been talking about what he did.
She then looked at him, "Why did you help them, anyway?"

"Well, they needed some help."

"Yeah, but you don't know them..."
Her face was turning to confusion.
"Do you really help out a lot?"

Henry weakly laughed as he scratched his nape.
"Well, I suppose... It's my nature, I think?"
He doesn't really know.

Ever since he settled down in PonyVille, he learned the value of helping others, even if they didn't asked him to help them.
They did help him when he was starting out. Maybe he was just returning the favor?
Maybe not...

Aurora, suddenly looking sad, turned her head down, staring at the gray carpet of the car.
"I wish my dad were like you..."

Henry's smile evaporated.

"I never liked my dad...and my mom..."
She turned to the window, staring at the golden horizon.
"...they kept on fighting... And then they left me..."

Henry puts his hoof on her shoulder.
She held his hoof with her own.

---

I was born in Cloudsdale with my parents.
My father was born there as well, while my mom was from PonyVille.

My mom loved us so much.
So was my dad, I think, until one day, when I was still a little filly, and I learned how to fly.

I don't understand why.
Before, my dad would always encourage me to try to fly.
He and my mom always smiled at me when I try, and it really cheered me up.
But when I did learn how to fly, that's when things went bad.

My mom and dad started fighting.
I don't know why. I never understood why.

It went on for weeks. I kept crying...
Maybe I shouldn't have let myself learn to fly...
But it was too late.

One day in art class, I read myself a filly book, and I saw a drawing of an aurora.
Somehow, it made me smile.
I don't know why, though.
So, since I couldn't bring the book with me, I decided to draw it.

My teacher saw what I was doing, and she liked it, and so were my classmates.
And, that's how I got my cutie mark.

My teacher said that it'll really make my parents happy.
And it gave me hope.
Finally, they'll stop fighting when they see my cutie mark...
...but...
...I guess...my hopes were too high...

---

Henry haven't really realized it yet that he was already brushing her mane slowly, trying to make her feel a bit better.
It doesn't seem to work, but Aurora didn't want him to stop.
Tears were already flowing down her face as she shared with him her life.

She was still staring outside the glass window, but staring at nothing.
She sniffed.

"My dad became a very violent pony..."

Henry does understand why her father acted that way.

In ancient history, the pegasi were a very proud nation of warriors.
When their young finally learned how to fly, they are directly sent to training during the great pony war of heaven and earth.
And although history is long gone, Cloudsdale still practices the method of leaving their child once they already knew how to fly, no matter what age they might be.
It's the law, and Cloudsdale is strict in following their laws, as well as their citizens.
Those who couldn't handle the law fled to neighboring settlements.

Henry concluded, that Aurora's father might be trying to leave her, but her mother, coming from PonyVille, doesn't want to leave her. If ever they're caught, they'll be either jailed or banished.

One day though, Aurora will learn the truth, but her young mind might need to rest for a while.

"My mom and dad disappeared one day... I was left alone..."
She sniffed as she wiped her teary eyes with both her hooves.
"I didn't know what to do. Flight school was too much work for me... I couldn't keep up."
She sniffed once more.
"Every night, I wished to see my parents again, but it never happened. I was teased, bullied..."
She choked a bit.
"It took me years to gain the courage to leave that damn place!"

She shook her head in anger and quickly burried her face on Henry's chest, wrapping her hooves around him as she shed her tears.
Henry returned the hug, rubbing her back.
"There there..."

Though he read a few books with scenes like this, actually feeling it in real life is strange.
He doesn't know what to say to calm her down. Should he just stay quiet?
No, he needs to say something, but he lost all words.

Henry thought, that maybe she's not really going to PonyVille for a vacation.
Maybe she's going to try and look for her mother?

But what if she's not there?
What would she do? Where would she go?

The thoughts saddened the alicorn.

Aurora then broke the hug, and started to wipe her tears.
"S-sorry... I just needed to hug someone..."

Henry smiled weakly.
"It's no problem."

The train started to slow down.
The train reached the second stop of the journey.
They both turned to the window, and saw a small town surrounded by trees and hills.
Aurora noticed small hills were separating the grassy and forested fields from the plain desert field.

"Mister Henry..."
Aurora said with a low tone, still staring at the small town through the glass window.
"...if I couldn't find my mother... can I stay with you, for a little while?"

Henry thought about it for a moment.
If she does stay with him, then, she'll find out what he really is.
He does want to help, but...

"It's okay if you don't... I understand..."

"I'll..." he paused. He really needs to think this through.

Aurora slowly turned her head, looking at him.

---

It was late afternoon when the train arrived in PonyVille.
A number of ponies exited the train, and among them were Henry and Aurora.

Aurora smiled after seeing the peaceful and merry town.
She's going to have a new life here, she assume.

Up ahead, the new arrivals were greeted by a little pink earth pony, shaking their hooves with a smile as she hands them some pink invitation letters.
She eventually worked her way to Aurora, suddenly taking one of her front hooves and started shaking them, and stuck an invitation letter on her mouth before she could say something.
The pink pony then walked towards the green alicorn.

Henry smiled.
"Hey Pinkie---"

Pinkie Pie stuck an invitation letter on his mouth, disabling him from talking.
He gave her an annoyed look.

"Sorry Mister Henry. But lots of new ponies in town! I better give them these invitation letters fast so I can set up the party!"
And with that, she quickly went towards a couple, welcoming them and handing them invitation letters.

'I thought you can quickly do that with your party cannon.'
Henry thought bitterly as he took the letter off of his mouth with his hoof.

"Is she always like that?"
Aurora asked.

Henry smiled in defeat, "Yep, that's our Pinkie Pie..."

They then worked their way to the library, where Henry is hoping that the second floor's spare room will be okay for her.
They were half-way there when a dark-orange pegasus mare pony with red mane and tail called the alicorn's attention.
They both turned to the source of the voice, and saw the pegasus slowly landing in front of them.

"About time you got here. Mister Mayor wants to see you."

While they continued talking, Aurora couldn't help but stare at the pegasus.
Eventually, the pegasus' gaze went to her, and was startled a bit.

They were quiet for a while, to Henry's confusion.
After looking at them both, he knew what was going on and smiled.

"Aurora? Is...is that you?"

Aurora's eyes suddenly went teary. She couldn't believe it.
She hugged her mother tightly as she allowed her tears to fall.
"Mom, it's you! It's really you!"

Her mother quickly returned her hug.
"Aurora... Oh, how I miss you..."

Reunion...
Something Henry felt a long time ago.
And no matter how many times he read those scenes in a book, nothing is more satisfying than experiencing it in real life.

----------

Originally Written on July 20, 2012

Updates...
- November 7, 2012 - Added An Image

Chapter 04 - The City of Darkness

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Chapter 4 - The City of Darkness

Aurora and her mother had settled down in PonyVille. Her mother is working in the mayor's office, while Aurora decided to become Henry's assistant in the library.
She never got the chance to go to school, and with her age, she's a bit uncertain of going back to a filly school, so working in a library would be convinient; working while learning.

Sunset, Aurora's mother, explained that she and her husband were sent to Cloudsdale trial for having a filly that already knew how to fly. As punishment, her husband was sent to jail, and as for her, since she was not born in Cloudsdale, she was no longer allowed to be in the city, thus, she was exiled.

Aurora didn't care. What was important was she found her mother back, and they are reunited and will spent the rest of their days together again.

For a while, Aurora accidentally called Henry 'father'. She apologized soon after.
A young filly like her still need someone to guide her and take care of her, and for someone to fill the hole on the filly's heart where her father should have been.
Henry however would rather appreciate it if she would call him 'uncle' instead.
She's okay with it, and now, Henry had a niece.

A month flew by fast. Henry and Aurora were able to replace the old books inside the library with new ones. Henry's book also became a best-seller, and he's been receiving a lot of fan mails and invitations to conventions from different cities of Equestria.

After hearing the news, a lot of ponies wanted to borrow his book, but the library only had three copies, not including his very own personal copy.

He became a bit of a buzz around the town, about his well-written adventure book. He didn't like the attention though. He never knew writing a book could lead to this so much attention, but eventually, the flow returned to normal.

He appreciated the first few days of receiving letters, but now, he literally put the barrel beside his house's mailbox just to accommodate the flood of letters.

Frustrating as it may be, he did appreciate every single one of them, though he can't find the time to actually read them all.

It also allowed him to have some small talk with his friend Ditzy. Her job required her to fly all around Equestria, delivering mail and packages, thus they were unable to see and talk to each other, until now.
Ditzy bore a daughter she named Derpy. Henry didn't believe her at first, until one day when she flew to PonyVille to deliver some mail for him, she actually brought along her little foal.
Henry was beyond happy for her friend, but a little concern grew inside him after he learned that his friend's husband was naturally born in Cloudsdale.
He did tell her about it, but she assured him that he's not like Aurora's father.
He hoped so, for her and her baby's sake...

Henry was also starting to write another Daring Do book; Daring Do And The Griffin's Goblet.
The inspiration came from the goblet he found in the Ancient Ruins in Fillydelphia. He already made his research about the griffins, and was already planning to go to an ancient castle of the griffins far north of Equestria.
Aurora agreed to take care of the library during his absence.
Things were flowing smoothly until he received a letter from the Book Express Company, stating that his presence is required in Manehattan in a few days time for a convention.
The letter also stated that it would greatly boost the book's popularity, and an apology for a short-noticed invitation.

Henry didn't wrote the book for popularity. He only did it to achieve a dream. Didn't they read the dedication page? He sighed.
Something is telling him to attend. The company were the ones who made his and his sister's book to life, so, return a favor?

Well, at least he can still go to the ancient castle after the convention.
The train will make a stop in Manehattan if he wants to go there anyway.
So, why not? Why not, he asked...
Aw well, for the fans, he thought.

Manehattan it is.

----------
1. The Dark City
----------

The busy city of Manehattan, lit up by light bulbs of all sorts of colors and sizes, lighting everything except for the dark alleyways in between tall concrete buildings, the only parts of the city where the darkness of the night can touch the city floor.

Police ponies running around, chasing criminals on the run, either an escapee or recently commited a crime in some parts of the city.

Mares on the street, busy chatting to each other as they wait for stallions to call them for 'fun'.

Traffic lights for carriages and ponies to have order, were usually ignored. Ponies cross the street despite incoming carriages, dodging each passing carriages just to get to the other side of the road, ignoring the annoyed yells of the drivers.

A treeless city were dust is their oxygen. A city where ponies and rodents could almost live side by side.

Secret societies, crime masters, drug lords, gang mobs...
Everything is 'alive' in the city of darkness.

Two teenaged unicorn stallions ran for their lives, taking each alleyways just to escape from their pursuers. Both their horns lit up to remove obstacles on their way, and return them on their tails to slow the angry mob behind them.

Panic and exhaustion filled their faces, they're living a nightmare of no chances of ever waking up.

One quick turn into an alleyway was the only move they needed to meet a dead end.
Gasping in disbelief, they could no longer run anywhere but the road behind them.
Unfortunately, the only way out was blocked by a number of grinning stallions.

"Well, well, well..."
A scarred earth pony walked in front of their pursuers.
"I'd admit, I had fun chasing you two around..."
Shaking off the fear in him, a golden-brown unicorn stallion with a sky-blue mane and tail, stood in front of a scared and shaking dark-blue unicorn stallion with an evening-black mane and tail.
"...but, too bad it ended so darn quickly..."

The other ponies laughed behind him; two unicorns, two earth ponies and a pegasus pony.

"B-brother..." the dark-blue stallion managed to say despite his trembling lips.
Tears were already forming in his eyes.

The other was looking aggresive, determined to protect theirselves from them.
"Mignight..." he whispered, "I'll create a diversion."
His horn started to glow.
"...run and jump on my back when I say so...and whatever happens, run and don't look back."

"B-but Daybreak... I can't leave you behind."
Midnight's voice was loud enough to echo around the walls of the alleyway.

"Yeah, Daily," said one of the ponies, "don't leave your weak bro behind."
The others broke in laughter.

"Midnight..."

"Listen, kiddos," said the pony in front, "let's make a deal."

"Predictable..." Daybreak snarled.

"We only want Midnight, so hand him over, and we'll leave you alone."
The others grinned, worsening Midnight's fear.

"Yeah, hand that brat if you value your flank!"
One of them spat.

"That 'brat' you refer to is my twin brother."
He stomped his forehoof.
"And you'll go through me first if you want to get to him!"

"Oh, well, have it your way, kid."

"Daybreak, don't do this!"
Midnight begged.
"I'll go with them!"

"Too late, kid."
They prepared theirselves, grinning as each of them thought of how to end them.

Midnight closed his eyes. He was crying now.
Oh, how he wished he didn't butt into their business.
"SOMEBODY HELP US!"

"GET THEM!"

"MIDNIGHT! NOW!"

Daybreak's shout caught Midnight's attention.
At that moment, he wanted to do what his brother planned.
Him, run towards him, and jump on him to get himself to safety.
"NO!"
He snarled.

Midnight's horn glowed in dark-purple, instantly lifting a nearby trashcan and throwing it at the mob, where only the pegasus managed to fly away on time and quickly dived down at him.
The others quickly returned to their feet as one of the unicorn used his magic to lift the garbage bin, and threw it at Daybreak.
Daybreak however, caught it with his magic and in the nick of time, used it to shield himself from the pegasus, and slammed it directly on his face.
Midnight quickly looked around, searching for something to use, and there, behind him were a couple of bricks.
Quickly lifting them up, he quickly turned to face them, prepared to throw them, only to be stunned, witnessing his brother, Daybreak, being held hostage by the group of ponies.
A knife magically floated, the sharp edge making contact with the unicorn's neck, while the other unicorn used his magic to disable Daybreak's horn from using any magic.

"Throw that brick at us and we'll throw his lifeless body to you." grinned the scarred earth pony.
"Your choice, kid."

More like no choice.
He dropped the bricks in defeat as he dropped his gaze to the ground.
"I'm sorry, brother..."

"Yeah, you both will be sorry!"
The pegasus, flapping his wings in mid-air behind him, laughed.
He grabbed a hold of Midnight's mane and neck, forcing his head to face his brother.
"You don't wanna miss the climax of this event."
He grinned.

Midnight's eyes went wide open in fear.
"Don't hurt my brother! Please!"
A tear ran down his face.

"Hurt your brother?" the scarred earth pony looked surprise as he took a step back.
And then a grin grew in his face.
"Nah, more like killing him right in front of you."

Daybreak struggled, only stopping himself after feeling his throat rubbed against the knife. It managed to give him a small cut, and red blood slowly flowed down his throat.

"Picture this kid..."
He walked in front of Daybreak, looking a bit startled that the unicorn already hurt himself.
He then looked at Midnight.
"We, that's us, will slllooowwwlllyyy cut your brother's neck rrriiiggghhhttt in front of you," and he pointed his hoof at him, "and that's you, of course. And then..."
He brought his gaze to Daybreak, "we'll drop him here to rot," he turned to Midnight, "and then we'll take you back to the boss. Sounds fun, right?"

Midnight was in the state of shock now.
His brother's going to die right in front of him, and he's powerless to stop it from happening.
He does nothing, his brother dies. If he does try something, his brother will still die.

"Bro..."
Daybreak slowly said, snapping Midnight back a bit.
He felt the magic that is blocking his horn is loose a bit.
A little chance, and he's willing to take it.
"...whatever happens, don't blame yourself..."

"Well then."
The scarred earth pony smiled evilly.
"It's showtime."

And in an instant, Daybreak became white and vanished, reappearing behind both Midnight and the startled pegasus. With all his might, he gave the pegasus one nasty punch in the chin, knocking him cold on the ground. He then quickly lifted the bricks as the others just got their senses back. Daybreak shouted as he ripped the bricks in midair, turning them into small pieces, and started shooting at them. One of the unicorns took the trash bin and used it as his own shield as the others received nasty injuries, knocking them down.
The unicorn, still having the trashbin in front of him, was terrified. The trashbin then instantly slammed onto him as Daybreak gave it a double back kick.

It's their chance to escape. Daybreak quickly looked at his brother, who was still under shock.
"Bro! Let's get the hell outta here, now!"
But Midnight didn't move an inch.
"B...bro?"

Daybreak ran in front of him, and softly punched his brother's shoulder.
"Bro, let's go!"

He annoyingly shook him, but still nothing.
He sighed as he brought his own hoof high up, and then quickly gave his brother a slap on the face, throwing him down to the ground as he regained himself.

"Bruhhh...huh?"
He quickly shot a glance at his attacker.
"Daybreak!"
And he quickly got to his four hooves.
"You're okay!"

"I told you to get away, you d---!"
Daybreak cut himself as Midnight hugged him, crying his heart out.

"Bro, I'm sorry...!"

Daybreak however, annoyingly broke the hug.
"Whatever, let's just get the hell outta here, and I mean right now."

Midnight nodded, and they quickly ran away.
The scarred earth pony regained his consciousness, despite receiving a nasty injury on his neck and head. Barely able to move any muscle, he angrily stared at the two fleeing unicorns.

"This...isn't...over..."

----------
2. The Convention
----------

The train has arrived in Manehattan. Henry stood in front of the train's door, waiting for them to be opened by the conductor. With his hat, sidebag and glasses, he's quite...not ready to enter the city...of uncertainty...

He sighed as he exited the train. He wasn't able to read the new book about Manehattan, so all he has with him are little Applejack's sketchy description of the city, and he dreadfully admitted to himself that the city is far too sketchy from the filly's description.
This city is worse than Fillydelphia from a scale of twenty-one out of ten.

He had hoped that the city would look at least the same as Fillydelphia, but the morning sun is almost looking misty from the dusty cloud forming above the city. The air is definitely full of dust. How in the world would ponies around this place could even survive a minute here?

The city buildings are made of cement and concrete, gray and full of worn-out and/or torned paper posters. Garbages almost in every corner. Ponies acting no care whatsoever in their environment. Police ponies lazily sat on doughnut stands, giving no flying 'ef' of jaywalkers around the streets. Ponies fighting in alleyways. Ponies quietly working their hooves on elderly ponies' bags, taking whatever was inside. Teenaged ponies talking about 'something' Henry never thought would have already been in their youthful minds. Rats almost in every alley.

Henry thought that he must only be in the 'dark parts' of this huge city, but still. If this is how the city welcomes their visitors, might as well visit hell instead.

How was Applejack managed to get through this city, he'll never find it out.

"New in town?"
Henry was startled as he took a step back and quickly turned to the source of the voice.

A driver of an empty carriage stopped beside the road, a few feet from him.
He nodded slowly.

"Wont be surprised if you're already disliking this dying city."
He laughed.
"Well, you also look a bit lost."

Henry gave a weak smile.
He hired the driver to take him to the convention.

---

"Bro..." Daybreak annoyingly said to his brother as he locked his gaze outside the window.
"We, for the millionth time, are NOT going to that place."

The two unicorns were inside a small, messy and dirty room with a broken glass window.
The room was full of dirty clothes lying around, leftover food, some were already decaying.
A single bed was already taking half of the room's space, slightly buried from the piles of clothes.

Midnight was seated on the bed with a brown book on his magical grasp.
"Aw, c'mon. It'll only be for a little while."

"Have you forgotten what happened last night?"
Daybreak asked, not moving an inch.
"They're still out there, and they will get us if they get the chance."

Midnight was saddened by that fact. If they weren't lucky enough, one of them, or maybe even both of them could have died that night.
If his brother wasn't lucky enough to cast a teleportation spell on himself, then...
He shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Still, his brother was able to perform such an advance magic. He never knew he could do it, and neither was his brother.

"I don't know how I did that teleport spell, so don't raise your hopes that I can use it again to save us."

Midnight sighed as he levitated the book in front of him and turned the book to a random page.
All he wanted was to get this book signed by the author who was visiting the city at this very day.

He sighed again.
They went through all that trouble just for him to get this book.
After the exchange of drugs and a huge amount of cash, Midnight was determined to use his magic to get some of that cash, but things didn't turn out so well.
Not only did he exposed the secret deal in public, but he even got the nerve to steal some money from one of the city's most feared crime lord.
The police were of no use. Even they feared them. As pathetic as they were, he had no other choice but to run for his dear life.
Eventually running into his brother, he explained what happened as Daybreak reached him.

They mug people to survive, and with their magic, they can do it easily, but what Midnight did was far beyond their capabilities.

"I don't want to live like this..."
Midnight whispered...

Daybreak closed his eyes and sighed, sadness drawing on his face.
He slowly turned to his brother.
"I know... I am, too..."

They have been wanting to leave the place, but where will they go?
They were lucky enough to find this abandoned building. They're not even sure if anypony beside themselves knew that this small apartment building was abandoned.
The room they're in was the only room available with a solid floor.
They don't know what happened to this place, and they don't care.
This place is their home at the moment.

Midnight dropped the book from his magic grip, landing on the piles of clothes.
Daybreak stared at the book in anger.
All that trouble to buy one stupid book.
What. The. Hell.

---

Henry was amazed by how large the crowd was inside the building of Book Express Manehattan.
He went inside, and he recognized the earth pony who was standing near the entrance.
He was the one who interviewed him before Henry got his approval of publishing it a month ago.
After an exchange of greetings, he introduced himself as the owner of all the Book Express companies around Equestria. Henry never knew that. His jaw almost dropped off from his head.

He led the alicorn to a small stage right in front of the seated crowd.
After the introductions, he welcomed the author of the Daring Do book, Henry himself.
He introduced himself (minus the one thing, about him being a Changeling), and told them of what inspired him to write the book.
Afterwards, the crowd were allowed to ask him some questions.
Some were about the book, and if he plans to write another.
Some were personal, about him being an alicorn, if he's single or married, if he reads the fanmails, and some other things. He answered each one sincerely.
Afterwards, the crowd took out their own copy of the book and went in line to have their book signed by him.

Henry was glad that he decided to show himself as an alicorn instead of a pegasus. He had no idea how to sign all of their books with his mouth. He shivered at the thought.

After what felt like hours, Henry finally signed all the books, and the crowd finally started to leave. The owner of the company then introduced to him a middle-aged unicorn, a director, and asked if Henry would allow him to make a movie of his book.
Wow! A movie. Henry never thought that the book would reach the big screens.
He accepted the offer, and after he signed the contract, they exchanged goodbyes and they left.
The owner of the Book Express gave him a pat on the shoulder, saying in a joking manner that he can't wait for them to publish the second book.
Henry just replied with a smile.

---

Midnight is starting to hate himself.
Not only that he's out in the open, he also disobeyed his brother for going outside.
With the book inside his saddlebag, he silently went outside the apartment and started walking towards the convention.

No turning back now. He was finally here. He saw a green pony went out of the building. At first he thought he was a unicorn. The pony smiled as he walked pass him.
He didn't manage to return the smile though. No stranger has ever smiled at him before.
He looked back at him, seeing the green pony on the side of the street, waiting for an empty carriage.

He shrugged as he walked towards the building's door, only to be stopped by the guard.
Asking why, the guard tells him the convention was already over.
Wanting to be sure that he still got the chance of meeting the author, Midnight asked if he's still inside.
The guard shook his head as he informs him that Midnight just met him; the green pony on the side of the street.

Oh no...
He quickly turned, and saw the green pony, already on a moving carriage.
Quickly asking where he might be going, the guard gave a guess that he is probably heading to the train station.
Satisfied, he thanked him and quickly ran after the carriage.

But as he ran after the carriage, he stopped momentarily as a realization hit him.
The carriage isn't heading to the station, but elsewhere.

The two unicorn drivers grinned at each other as they used their magic on their passenger.
One to hold him tight on his seat, and the other to block Henry's horn from using any magic.
Henry was surprised from the magic wrapping him. Afterwards, he realized that they're not heading to the train station.

"Hold on tight, sir." said one of the drivers with a grin.

Henry was startled and angry at whatever was going on.
"I already am..." he replied sarcastically.
He's already being held tight by their magic. Extra safety? Pffft.
"Mind telling me where you two are taking me?"

"What?" the other unicorn replied with a grin, "that would ruin the surprise."
And both laughed, to Henry's annoyance.

"You wouldn't mind if I'll scream, right?"
He asked sarcastically as he took a deep breath, ready to shout, until a piece of cloth suddenly flew inside his mouth, stuffing it, disabling him from either shouting or spitting it out.

"There," said the other driver, "now we won't mind if you'll 'shout'."

Henry couldn't move his body, and he couldn't shout for help.
He tried to use his magic, but he found it impossible.
He's seriously in need of help, but who will help him?

----------
3. Three Way
----------

"Where the hell did that idiot go!?"
Daybreak whispered angrily as he walked away from the building where the convention was held.
He knew his brother was planning to sneak out of the apartment to get the book signed, and he waited almost three hours, and Midnight hasn't come back yet.
It's already noon. The summer heat was intensifying Daybreak's anger.
How could he have been so darn stupid to just let his brother sneak out.
He knew the consequences, yet he let him be!
Now, he's more of an idiot than his brother.

He's cursing in whisper as he went to a certain place where he knew his brother usually hangs out.

---

The cloth that covered Henry's head was removed, and he was immediately greeted by the dim-lit room, where he found himself strapped on an iron chair.
He's incabable of moving, except for his head.
The cloth stuffed inside his mouth was then removed with magic.

In front of him was a long table, were a group of bad-grinning ponies were seated around.
His sidebag and hat laid on the table in front of him.
On the opposite end of the table seated a pony hidden in darkness.
Henry could hardly see the small outline.
The little light could hardly reach that area. Not even any of the room's walls were visible from the darkness.
Smoke and dust filled the air, to Henry's annoyance. He never liked the smell of cigarette.

Henry looked at the other ponies. He recognized the two unicorns, the ones who abducted him.
He wanted to ask, but best keep his mouth shut for a while.

He's angry, and he wants to use his magic so badly to either escape or knock these ponies unconscious.
The train must have already left.

"Bet your wondering why you're here."
A scarred pony asked, holding a grin.

Henry rolled his eyes.
"Gee, that thought never came into my mind."

He was immediately slapped on his cheek with a water pipe, almost losing his consciousness.
His glasses fell off from his head.
He didn't return his head for a while. The painful attack was too much for his unready mind to handle.
The pipe floated back into the darkness.

A magical aura surrounded Henry's head, and forcefully made him turn his head back at them.

"I think you get the idea, bub."
The scarred earth pony said.
"You say things we don't like, we'll beat the crap out of you."

The magical grip on Henry's head vanished, dropping his head down as he took some deep breaths.
He weakly nodded his head. Fluid started to roll out of his open mouth, and started to drop down to the floor. Darkness swallowed even the floor, but he knew it was blood.

His sidebag floated in mid-air, and with magic, it opened and the contents hovered out of the bag: a brown envelop with pieces of paper, a quill, an ink bottle, and his pouchbag.
The items dropped into the table except for the pouchbag. The pouchbag opened, revealing large numbers of Bits.

"A hundred Bits!?" the unicorn who was using the magic exclaimed in disbelief.
"Seriously!?"

"I knew something was off..."
Said the pony hidden in the darkness, his voice too dark and cold, yet calm.
The other ponies turned their heads to him.
"Who are you?"
The ponies then turned their gazes to the green alicorn.

Henry lifted his head up a bit to at least see the pony in the shadows.
He didn't want to tell them his name, but...
"He...Henry..."

Silence reigned in the room while the two unicorns opened their mouths in disbelief, one of them dropping the pouchbag and the Bits to the table, creating a momentary noise.
The scarred earth pony immediately stood up, brought both his front hooves on the table, reached to grab one of the unicorn's mane and dragged him in front of his face.
"You FOOL! We said to 'nab the director! NOT THIS GREEN SLIMY PIECE OF SH**!"

Henry cracked a small smile. Somehow, it made him remember Flame.
He dismissed the smile immediately. Now's not the time for recollections.

Both ponies were enveloped in white magic and returned them to their seats.
"What's done's done," sighed the pony in the shadows.
With white magic surrounding the unicorns' heads, he forcefully turned them to him.
"As for you two..."
The two unicorns were trembling from fear.
"...a second chance. Do not fail this time."
As calm as his voice were, every pony in the room sensed the danger underneath his voice.
Despite the magic grip, they were able to slightly nod their heads.

With the magic grip no longer holding their heads, the two quickly dashed away from the room. Henry was able to see where the door was. Now he knew where to go, all he needs now is a plan, if he won't be released 'safely' and 'properly'.

"So, what will we do with this one?"
Asked the pegasus, pointing his hoof at the alicorn while he's facing the pony in the shadows.

All they heard was a sigh. Henry was able to see an outline of his hoof, rubbing his forehead.
"Get rid of him."
And instantly, a ring flew towards Henry's horn, and locked itself in place at the base of his horn.

Henry felt an extreme painful wave echoing inside his body. He wasn't even able to control himself from shouting from the pain. It ached his brain, his body.

And after half a minute, the pain was gone, dropping his head again. He almost lost his consciousness there. Taking deep breaths as he stared at his black set of hind hooves. He heard gasping sounds, but he didn't care. The sudden pain he felt still locked him in the state of shock.

---

Midnight was nowhere in sight. Daybreak was beginning to worry. Was his brother captured? If he was, then...
He quickly looked around, trying to spot his brother. This quiet park held a small number of ponies. He quickly came back to his conclusion that his brother was not here.
Where in Equestria did that idiot go? This is where Midnight usually spends his time worthlessly staring at the blue ocean.

The park was right next to the seawall. The breeze here's refreshing and clean.
Daybreak took a deep breath, and exhaled. Somehow, he felt good inside.
No wonder his brother hangs here a lot. The wind here's soothing.

He shook his head. No time for silly filly moments. He needs to find his brother.
If he got himself caught by those bastards, then he knows where to go and look.

---

Midnight stopped in an alleyway, shielding himself from the sun. He's tired, and he's taking in deep breaths. He lost sight of the carriage. No...
How will he be able to get his book signed?
He dropped himself to a sitting position, scaring some rats around and ran away.

He sighed in disbelief. He missed his chance.
The Daring Do book is a really good book.
He's not yet done reading the whole thing, but he's planning to, but he's not sure when...

Wait. The author needs to get back to the train station.
He didn't go to the direction to the station, so that means, he went somewhere else, and then if he's done doing whatever, he'll go to the station!
The perfect plan!

Midnight got back up and started running to the train station.
This time, he's certain that he will not miss him.
What was he again?
A unicorn, with black glasses, white hat, brown sidebag, green coat, brown mane.

Yeah, he's certain he'll see him there.

---

"So this little...winged...unicorn's a...monster?"
Asked the pegasus.

"A changeling," said the pony in the shadows.
"A creature capable of changing his appearance."
Strangely, Henry sensed the pony was grinning.

Henry was still weak to raise his head back, taking slow and deep breaths.

The scarred earth pony smiled.
"Heh, hey, he might be useful."

The pegasus and the other earth pony grinned.

"Sorry..."
Henry managed to say the words.
"..I'm not willing to work with the likes of you..."

"Oh, don't worry..." said the scarred earth pony.
"You won't do anything."

The changeling wondered what he meant, but suddenly, the iron straps around him snapped and he floated in mid-air, enveloped by white magic.
He felt a strange sensation going inside his body, and a painful feeling in his mind was starting to develop as he slowly changed into a blue earth pony out of his will.
He grunted in pain has he turned into a small version of Princess Celestia.

He continued to change himself out of his will as the ponies watched him, grinning.
'Oh, the posibilities,' they thought.

---

Midnight just turned to the staircase leading down to the station as Daybreak just happened to run pass him as he worked his way to his destination on the side of the street.

Reaching the end of the stairs, Midnight quickly looked overhead, trying to spot the green unicorn, but so far, no luck.
He saw the ticket booth with a long line of ponies.

After a pony got his ticket, he immediately went in front of the line.

"Hey!" shouted the pony who was next in line.

"Zip it, bub. I only need to ask a question!"
And with that, Midnight turned to the pony on the other side of the glass.
"When's the next train to..."
He blinked. He had no idea where the unicorn will be heading.
"...er...will be arriving?"

"Um... Less than twenty minutes..."
The mare pony replied nervously.

"Thanks beautiful."
Midnight winked and walked back to the staircase, ignoring the killer glares of the ponies in line.

Twenty minutes.
He could wait.

---

Daybreak ran pass two police ponies. Both ignored him, even though Daybreak was on the bottom list of criminals to be put behind bars.
After realizing that the police would rather eat doughnuts than to run and chase him, Daybreak confidently continued running.

---

Midnight was walking up and down the staircase, trying to kill his boredom.
After he got up the stairs, he saw two very familiar unicorn ponies from the side of the road.
Startled, he immediately hid himself behind a group of elderly mares yelling at each other (their ears no longer serve them properly).

Taking a peak, he saw them talking to a middle-aged unicorn, and suddenly, one of them punched the unicorn out cold and both put him in a nearby carriage.
He couldn't believe that, from the large number of ponies around, no one seemed to be aware of what they just did, and off they go.

Should he go after them?
Wait, no, why should he?

---

Daybreak stopped for a moment, leaning on a traffic light, catching his breath.
He's still a bit far from his destination.
Damn it. His brother could be already lying dead now!
He needs to continue, even if he still has a slight chance of saving him, he'll take it.

A carriage stopped near him. A red light. Time for him to cross.
He turned around, and as usual, the traffic lights were most certainly ignored.
But what caught his attention the most was the carriage beside him.
He recognized the two drivers, and it was a really good thing they haven't noticed him yet.
He took the chance to quietly sneak inside the carriage, disregarding the unconscious stranger being held in a sitting position.

He needs to save his brother, he will take him back, and they will take him there.

----------
4. Limit
----------

Henry was forced to change into the ponies that look like the ones in Manehattan's government, snapping his picture with mares and with drugs and alcohol.
Despite doing this against his will, he's a bit thankful that he did nothing on the mares, didn't take any of the drugs, and no alcohol went down his throat.
The group planned to blackmail the officials, and make tons of Bits in the process.
After their 'activity', the pegasus pony took the water pipe and slapped him unconscious.

---

The carriage stopped in front of a bar. The drivers quickly lifted the unconscious unicorn, and instead of going inside the bar, they went inside an alley, and went inside the door, heavily guarded by muscular earth and pegasi ponies.

Daybreak remembered his first visit in this place. He was lucky they let him go after he mugged one of them months ago. They took him inside, beat the hell out of him, and threw him outside.

Now's not the time to think about the past.
He needs to think of a plan to get inside...but how?

He couldn't believe that none of the ponies walking around gave an 'ef' to those two unicorns, lifting an unconscious pony in the middle of the street.

---

The train already closed its doors, and it slowly started to move out of the station. Midnight was sure he didn't saw the unicorn he was looking for. Twenty-seven minutes, wasted for nothing. He was beyond frustrated after he learned that the next train will arrive in less than an hour.
His brother must be thinking of a lot of ways to kill him when he gets back. He shivered in fear from the thought.

"What the hell is taking that unicorn so long to get here?"
He mumbled to himself.

---

Henry woke up after hearing the door slammed open. He was startled a bit after he saw a unicorn being dropped on the table in front of him, and what was worse, even with his blurry sight, he recognizes the unicorn; the director who wanted to put Daring Do in the big screens.
The unicorn however, was still out cold.

He found himself strapped on the same chair again.
The two unicorns took their seats as white magic enveloped the unicorn on the table, and was then lifted in the air and from the shadows, a rope came out and wrapped the unicorn.
The pegasus pony took flight and grabbed the unicorn and he took him inside another door.

"We'll deal with him later."
Echoed the voice of the pony in the shadows.

Then, from him, he hovered photographs to the center of the table, the photographs of Henry disguised as other ponies.
Henry could not believe how powerful that pony is. He was able to even change his facial expression by just tweaking some things inside his mind.
It was painful, and what's worse, he could not put it out, to at least ease himself a bit.
If he survives this, he swear to the sun that...

"Yeah, it looks so darn real, boss!"
Exclaimed the scarred earth pony.
"Cash will be flowing like flood."

The pegasus pony just got back in the room and quickly flew back to his seat, and started looking at some of the photos.
"Using the mares in the club upstairs wasn't such a bad idea."
The pegasus grinned.

The changeling simply listened to their talk, unable to save himself. He's weak, powerless...
He can't use his magic, not with that weird ring stuck on his horn.
He wished his sister would come and save him again.
He quietly sobbed as a tear ran down his face.

---

Daybreak had no other choice. He can't fight them all on his own.
Not only was he lucky enough to cast that teleportation spell, he has no knowledge to any magic than just to lift stuff.
When they first found the apartment, he found a piece of paper lying on the floor. It was a torned page from a magic book, and the page was about the safe way to perform the teleportation spell.
Thinking that it was nonsense, and feeling a bit hungry, he ate the paper.

The Boss, one of Manehattan's most wanted crime lords, will be in hot water.
He went to two nearby gangsters, both knew him and Midnight, for they all grew up together in the streets before they found the apartment.
Both gangs, consisting of fifty-eight ponies in total, may be young and weak, but together, they're one force even The Boss should fear.

Daybreak grinned as both gangs settled down their differences for this day and to help their fellow pony. And, both had been holding a long grudge against The Boss. From stealing their hard-stolen money, to beating some of them, to actually killing a few of them, it's about time for revenge.

Without wasting any more time, they brought up a plan as other pegasi members flew to gather even more of their members.
Yeah, from the looks of things, they're about to bring hell in the city.

---

Midnight has been sitting on the staircase for a while now, bored out of his skull, waiting for the unicorn. He saw a number of his friends on the street, busy talking to each other, but he didn't bother talking to them. He might miss the unicorn.

---

Traffic has hit the streets of Manehattan. The road in front of the bar was filled with teenaged ponies, all eyes locked on the single floored establishment.
The bar already summoned ponies to block both the bar's entrance, and the alleyways.
Shouts of drivers and passengers echoed in the streets.

The plan?

"ATTACK!"

Unicorns lifted bricks and stones and other things and started throwing them at the establishment, as pegasi ponies battled other opposing pegasi ponies in the air. Earth ponies went to physical attacks. Far outnumbered, Daybreak and a number of ponies worked their way towards the alleyway, and after clearing the ponies in the way, they quickly went inside the door.

---

Midnight sighed as he turned towards his friends a few feet away. He then saw a pegasus landed near his friends. After talking a bit, his friends immediately ran to one direction.

The pegasus was about to fly after them when he heard Midnight's call.
He turned to see him.
"Midnight! Glad you're---wait!"

"Wait what?"

"You---You're---! Why are you here!?"

---

Daybreak slammed the door open, immediately greeted by a scarred earth pony, punching him on his face, and throwing him back from the impact. The other ponies who were following Daybreak stormed inside and started beating the ponies inside.
Daybreak managed to get back into his hooves, and witnessed a number of ponies running towards another door. Another group of ponies went inside before he got himself in.

Ignoring the battle inside the dimly-lit room, he ran towards the other door.
Three ponies followed to assist him.

Daybreak found himself inside the sewers, were the disgusting water was only a few inches in height. They spotted the running ponies, and quickly gave chase.

---

Midnight and the pegasus arrived at the block, where ponies are running in panic, carriages were left empty in the road. The scene was not what Midnight expected.

Blood flowed on the battlefield. Ponies breathless and lying on the road, ignored as others continued the battle. Pegasus ponies flying in the air, beating each other.

Fearing for the worse, Midnight cried as he ran towards the scene, only to stop himself after a series of explosions echoed in the streets and the whole scene was covered in grayish gas.

Quickly landing beside him was a full-grown pony, wearing a black and familiar disguise.
Black mask, black cape, black outfit, with a yellow-colored bat on where the cutie mark was supposed to be.
Standing tall and proud. Beside him stood the city's well-known crime-fighting vigilante, Batmare.

As the smoke cleared, all of the ponies lay on the bloody floor, either dead or unconscious.
And as soon as Midnight heard a group of hooves behind them, he turned to see a large group of police ponies running to the scene, as Batmare, with her high-tech devices, pulled herself up to the top of a building with her fast-shooting rope.

---

Cornered, The Boss and the scarred earth pony found theirselves in front of a dead-end of the sewers. Behind them, Daybreak, two pegasi and one unicorn ponies stood behind him.

The Boss, an adult gray-colored unicorn with long black hair and mane. On his back was Daybreak's brother, Midnight, unconscious.
In front of the unicorn stood his most loyal scarred earth pony, grinning.

"Give my brother back, you scum!"
Daybreak commanded, receiving laughter as a reply.

The scarred earth pony quickly ran towards them. Daybreak and the other unicorn however, easily enveloped magic around the earth pony and slammed him on the walls of the sewer.

Unconscious, the four brought their focus on the gray unicorn, who was just smiling calmly.

"For the last time," Daybreak snarled, horn glowing, "give me my brother back!"

But to their surprise, Midnight suddenly jumped off of the gray unicorn's back and slowly walked in front of him, facing the teenaged ponies.
Happy at first, it quickly turned to confusion after seeing Midnight's serious look at him, horn glowing intensely.

"Midnight! What's with you!?"
One of the pegasi ponies shouted.

---

'S...sister...?'
Henry thought as he watched his own body move against his will.
The blurry image of a yellow pony a few meters away.
Is that is sister? Is she here to save him?

Henry's too weak to even listen to his own ears. The pain waving inside his head was too much burden to bear.

---

Midnight blasted a brown beam towards Daybreak, who immediately dodged it in time, hitting the two pegasi ponies instead, and quickly knocking them unconscious.

"Midnight! What the hell!?"
Shouted Daybreak.

"Sorry 'break."
Said the other unicorn as he fled away in fear and confusion.

Daybreak was left to face his own brother. The gray unicorn simply smiled behind Midnight, annoying him.
There's no way Midnight would attack him like that.
He dodged another beam in time, and barely escaped the follow-up beam.

"Midnight! Snap out of it!"
Daybreak only has one idea of what is going on.
"Let my brother go!"
His brother is being controlled.

----------
5. Broken
----------

Midnight has been standing on the spot, blasting beams towards the dodging Daybreak. He's starting to wear out.
How in the world would Daybreak save his brother if he can't even get close to...that's it!
But can he do it? He has to.

He continues to dodge the beams as he secretly casts his magic beside his target.
He is not sure if this will work. The spell would require him to stay still.

After dodging yet another beam, he tried to act like he's completely worn out.
And it worked. Instead of firing another beam, the gray unicorn gave him a moment.

"Before I'll end you," said the gray stallion, "I'd like to tell you that your brother is not here."
And with that, another quick beam was fired at him.

But as soon as the beam was about to make contact, Daybreak's whole body became white and disappeared. Startled, the stallion quickly noticed a white light beside him, and before he could react, Daybreak gave him a powerful punch on his neck, and he followed it quickly with another punch on the head.
Quickly turning around, he gave him a powerful double kick, throwing him on the wall of the sewer.

Before Midnight collapses, Daybreak caught him.

"Brother! It's me! Wake up, you idiot!"

But Midnight's body suddenly turned into a darker shade of black, and the Midnight he's holding turned into a monster.
Surprised, he let reflex drop the unconscious creature off of his hold, collapsing on the water.

Anger quickly filled within him, but before he could let it out, he was enveloped by white magic and he was slammed on the other wall of the sewer. His lungs immediately ran out of air as he slammed.

"I told you..." the gray unicorn slowly stood up as an iron snapping sound echoed through the sewers.
"Your brother is not here."

No... Was he too late?
Was he too late to save him?
Despite his weak body, a tear managed to run down his face.

Daybreak was lifted in the air once again.

"Now..." the gray unicorn said with a calm smile.
"Your time's up."

And in an instant, he slammed the golden-brown unicorn on the wall, and Daybreak spat blood from his mouth before he fell to the watery ground, his back severely bruised and bloody.

Breathless...

The gray unicorn slowly walked away. He sighed.
He'll have to rebuild his guild once again.
No matter. Cash will flood this time. He still has the photos.

He suddenly felt his energy draining away from him as he noticed brown aura enveloped him.
He quickly turned around and saw the lying changeling's horn was glowing.

He forgot!
Changelings can absorb emotions!
The ring on his horn... It's gone!
That must have been the snapping sound earlier.

Slowly rising on his feet, the changeling's brown eyes glowed intensely, his face full of anger.

"Big mistake."
The gray unicorn used his own magic to envelop the changeling.
He commanded his magic to lift him, but to his surprise, it failed.

His vision started to get blurry.

"Oh... I've never fed like this in a long while..."
The changeling whispered out of pure anger.

The gray unicorn noticed his hooves were getting thin. His ribcage was already visible from his thin body.

Out of nowhere, a black-dressed pony appeared and immediately threw three bat-shaped boomerangs at the changeling.

The changeling simply used his magic to stop the boomerangs in front of him. But after a few seconds, the boomerangs exploded, consuming the whole area in black smoke.

Batmare quickly activated her mask's heat sensor, but to her surprise, the changeling was already gone, leaving the gray stallion, scarred earth pony, and two teenaged pegasus ponies behind.

She was about to approach The Boss when, unknown to her, white magic enveloped her and slammed her onto the walls. The gray stallion, despite his weak state, managed to get back on his hooves, and made his escape.

---

Henry flew back to the dimly-lit room, carrying with him the unconscious Daybreak on his back, assisted by his magic. After sensing his glasses, he immediately floated it on his face to see his...sister?
No. He took a step back, dropping the young stallion on the floor.
That is not his sister...

He heard voices nearby. He immediately took his items inside his sidebag, took his hat and flew back to the sewers.

Police ponies suddenly came inside the room. Some lifted the unconscious bodies of the ponies in the room.

---

Midnight was eagerly waiting for the police ponies to get out for him to see the ponies. He feared that his brother may be one of them.
He already took a look at all the other ponies who were sent to the hospital, and those who were sent to jail.

As he saw each ponies being lifted, his hope crashed landed.
None of them was his brother.

---

Midnight stayed in the area until the sun was ready to set, where no other pony but him was there.
He could not believe it. All this trouble, all this deaths, and his brother, just because of one stupid book!

He quietly left the area, heading nowhere in particular...

---

"I don't want to live like this..."
Midnight whispered...

Daybreak closed his eyes and sighed, sadness drawing on his face.
He slowly turned to his brother.
"I know... I am, too..."

They allowed the silence to govern for a while.
Finally, Daybreak sighed, and smiled.
"One day..."

Midnight looked at him.

"...we'll be able to meet the author of that stupid book of yours and let him sign it."
Midnight smiled at him.
"That's a promise."

---

"If only I listened..."
Midnight whispered to himself, staring blankly at the book lying beside him as he sat on the train station's staircase.

The evening has already goverened the sky.

A green pony walked down the stairs, and stopped after he noticed the sad unicorn.
He smiled as he grabbed the book with his magic, startling the unicorn.

Midnight saw his book being signed by the author himself, Henry Hoof, a green alicorn pony, with a brown sidebag, white hat, and black glasses.

Henry returned the book to the unicorn's hooves.
He smiled at Midnight, who was under the state of shock.

---

In a quiet alleyway, a gray unicorn stallion was lying on the ground, breathing deeply. His life has been absorbed. How could he revive his guild again?
No, he has to revive it, no matter what!
But first, he needs t---

"GAH!"
He shouted as his back was slammed on the walls of the alley, yellow magic locked him in place. Before him was a levitating yellow pony, eyes glowing in pure gold, his face full of anger.

"Daybreak, please!"

But without warning, the gray unicorn's neck bent to an unimaginable angle. The yellow aura around the gray stallion vanished, allowing his lifeless body to drop on the dirty floor.

"You killed my brother..."
He whispered, his whole body, still enveloped by his own yellow magic, allowing him to levitate in mid-air.
"I'll kill you..."
He slowly turned to face a new arrival, a black-suited pony with black cape.
"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

Batmare prepared herself.

Chapter 05 - The Heart of Midnight

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Chapter 5 - The Heart of Midnight

----------
1. Puppeteer
----------

Henry Hoof, a brown-eyed changeling, has woken up from a weird dream.
He found himself lying down on a wide blue chair of the train's private rooms.
Slowly rising into a sitting position, he stared at the table right in front of the wide chair where his hat, his glasses and his sidebag rested.
He looked at the wide glass window. The dark sky is slowly greeting a pale blue light of the morning.
The land however, was still blanketed by the evening darkness.

He had dreamed, for the first time in a long time.
The last time he had a dream was when he fed on his sister's emotion of love.
Her love for books made him love books as well.

Now though, he didn't understand the things he saw in his dream.

...

Now that he thought about it, he thinks he now knows what it meant.

A gray, lifeless and wooden pony lied on the darkness on its belly, all hooves spread apart.
Suddenly, a giant gray hoof appeared above the wooden pony.
The giant hoof held a number of strings which were attached to different parts of the wooden pony.

The giant hoof moved slightly upward, and the wooden pony stood up.
Then, the giant hoof started moving and shaking, while the wooden pony started dancing in place.

A puppet and a puppeteer...
That was what he saw in his dream.

Was that supposed to be a dream about the gray unicorn's ability?
It was most likely.
It was probably the unicorn's talent; to make other ponies become his puppet.
And Henry became the puppeteer's little puppet.

Wait...
Henry acquired his sister's love for books after he fed on her...
Her way of drawing the characters, noting their roles, summarizing the story...
...Henry acquired his sister's ability to write a story.

...did Henry also acquired the unicorn's ability to turn ponies into his puppets?

Henry took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
Not only that he broke his promise not to leech other's life, but now he probably acquired a very scary ability.
Wait, no. That ability will come in handy when, if fate decides, he'll come face to face with Chrysalis once again.

He smiled. That witch better watch out.

A sudden knock on his room's door startled him.
He quickly disguised himself before the door suddenly burst open.
A dark-blue teenaged unicorn stallion quickly went inside the room and immediately shut the door closed with his magic.

"Quick!" the stallion quickly said to the surprised green alicorn.
"Hide me! I'll explain later!"

"And..." Henry slowly said after he recovered himself a bit.
"...why would I do that?"

The unicorn was about to reply when they heard somepony was knocking on the door.

"Come in."
Henry said loudly, so whoever was on the other side would hear him.

The unicorn gasped. A sweat dropped from his head down to his neck. Fear was completely visible in his face.
Suddenly, he felt the air slightly ran pass from above.

The door then opened, revealing the train's middle-aged earth pony conductor.
The conductor saw their passenger, smiling at him.
He lifted his hat as a gesture of greeting the green alicorn.

"Good morning sir," greeted the conductor.
"Sorry to be disturbing you this early."

Henry simply smiled while his horn was glowing brown, in front of him was his ticket, enveloped in brown magic.
He hovered it towards the conductor, for him to stamp it.
Afterwards, Henry hovered the ticket back to him as the conductor lifted his hat once again.

"Thank you sir. We'll be arriving in Talon Valley in less than two hours."

"Thank you."
Henry replied, and then the conductor closed the door and slowly went to the other rooms.

Henry then angrily tilted his head up to the room's ceiling where he's using his magic to stick the unicorn up there.
The unicorn however, simply stared back at him with a merciful smile.

Henry sighed as he slowly hovered the unicorn down on the other seat in front of him.

"Thanks," the unicorn said as he landed on the chair.
"Name's Midnight, by the way."
He then sat down and used his magic to lift a book from his saddlebag.
He opened the book to a page and started reading it with a smile, ignoring the angry stare from the alicorn.

"Mind telling me why you're here?"
Henry asked, staring angrily at the unicorn, who's black coat is starting to reveal its dark blue color from the soft rays of the rising sun.

"Oh, no reason."
The unicorn replied without removing his eyes from the book.

The alicorn however, arched an eyebrow.
"Riiiggghhhttt..."

He noticed the unicorn didn't have a cutie mark yet.
Well, maybe he'll get himself a 'stowaway' cutie mark if he keeps this up.

---

The train has arrived in a flat grassy field, where a number of wooden houses stood near the station for ponies.
Henry and Midnight stepped out of the train's door and were immediately greeted by the cool fresh air of the valley.
Tall and flat mountain sides on the east and west, where the griffins build their homes.
Outside the small town was the field.
The fields, full of three-meter grass and a number of tall trees, has given way to a grassy pathway leading north.
The sky was perfectly blue, where thin clouds roll by. A number of griffins may be spotted flying around.

While Midnight fed his eyes with nature's art, Henry locked his sight on the far north, where the valley's two mountain sides meet, where the ancient castle of the griffins still stand.
Beyond the castle, above the cliff on the north, was the frozen desert of snow and ice, under the thick and gloomy clouds.

Midnight couldn't believe how beautiful this place is.
Unlike the dusty and dying city of Manehattan.

They both started walking towards town.

---

Henry and Midnight went inside the local restaurant.
The wooden establishment looked like one of those western bars, except here, they serve food and not liquior.
They sat down on the chairs near the counter and made their order.

"You're going to pay for those, aren't you?"
Henry asked after Midnight got his hayfries.

Midnight just started eating, eating like doomsday's around the corner, and simply ignored the alicorn's question.
Henry sighed as he received a loaf of Daisy Bread.

As Henry started eating, Midnight choked and immediately asked for a glass of water.
Henry simply ignored him.

---

The green alicorn walked out of the restaurant alone. Midnight had to use the colt's room.
This little pony town is peaceful and quiet.
Not much ponies wandering around. Maybe because it was still early in the morning.
There are also some griffins walking around, while some are talking to ponies.

He went under the tree beside the restaurant, and as soon as he got there, a yellow bird landed on one of the tree's branches.

Henry wondered if...
No... He shouldn't try...
Maybe just a bit?
No. But...

Locking his gaze on the innocently chirping bird, he concentrated his magic around it.
Usually, when he wants to lock something within his magic grip, brown magic will envelop them, just like how he lifted Midnight to the ceiling in the train.
Now, he finds it weird. He couldn't see his brown magic around the bird.

Wait...
Why is the bird just standing there? Not moving, not chirping.
Also... A weird sensation.
He can, somehow, feel the bird inside his mind.

Raise right wing...
The bird raised it's yellow right wing.

Henry gasped, losing his focus.
The yellow bird rapidly shook its head and afterwards, it flew away.

"Hello!"
Midnight shouted as he reached him.

Henry shook his head a bit before he turned to face him.
Midnight however, noticed a hint of fear on the alicorn's face.
"Hey, wazzup? Somtin' wrong?"

"Yes," Henry sighed to calm himself.
It did the trick.
He then looked at the unicorn with an annoyed look.
"...you."

Midnight blinked twice.
"Me? What did I do?"

"Why are you following me, anyway?"

"Oh! That?"
Midnight then smiled.
"Just 'cuz!"
But he immediately dropped himself to the ground, his two front hooves grabbing one of the startled alicorn's hoof.
"Please let me come with you!"
He begged, his voice loud enough to put every ponies' and griffins' eyes on them.

Henry tried removing his hoof from the begging unicorn's hold, but he couldn't.
He looked around, and they definitely have created a scene for ponies and griffins to stare at.
He looked down at the unicorn in anger.

"Stop this!" Henry hissed.
"You're making a scene!"

"PLEASE! LET ME COME WITH YOU!"

Henry immediately used his magic to lift the unicorn, but he still couldn't pull him off of his hoof, no matter how hard he tried pulling him away with his magic.
The unicorn was actually crying. Tears were flowing down his face.

"Okay, okay..."
Henry finally said in defeat as he puts the unicorn down on the ground.

Midnight however, quickly leaped back into his hooves, a very wide smile flashed on his face, and tears already gone.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you!"

Henry was startled, taking a step back by reflex.
Midnight then levitated his book and opened it to the page where he's currently reading.
Henry sadly sighed.

'Nothing like the good ol' begging plus some fake tears approach. Hahah.'
Midnight cheerfully thought to himself.

----------
2. Griselda
----------

Henry and Midnight finally reached the ancient castle of the griffins.
It took them two hours to reach the castle from the small town.

Normally, they would get tired, but they kept theirselves busy.
Henry led the way, with his notebook and quill in his magical grasp, he took down some notes of the magnificent valley.
Midnight tailed behind, busy reading the book has he levitated it in front of him with his magical grip.

Henry would be irritated by the summer heat, but the fresh cool air was blowing nonstop, tall grasses and leaves of trees danced with the wind. It was as if the sun's only purpose was to shed light. The sun's heat could no longer reach the alicorn's senses.

The journey was quiet, except for some questions by Midnight about the story.
Henry just answered, though he couldn't answer one question about one scene in the story.

"How the hay did Daring gather so much force from a limited turn of her head to throw her hat, for it to actually bounce wall to wall to push the lever?"

Henry couldn't answer that.
He just followed his sister's notes.
Oh, so now he's blaming his sister... Henry apologized to her mentally.

Midnight already finished the story, and he admitted to the alicorn that it was a really good story.
Henry wasn't sure if the unicorn was praising his work, or was just simply saying that so he could still tail him around whereever he goes. He's betting on the latter.
Midnight decided to read the story again.

Now, they stood before the huge and old castle of the griffins.
Their eyes went wide from amazement, mouth left wide open.

The castle, built from whitish-gray clay, proudly standing up against nature for all these centuries.
Griffins are still homed here.

"Whoa..." Midnight slowly said.
"Okay, that there is amazing." Midnight admitted after regaining himself.
"But how the hay are we getting up there?"

The castle is built on the flat vertical surface on the cliff.
According to the book, the height from the ground to the castle was more or less five hundred feet.

Both looked at each other. Henry however, smiled slyly as he spread out his wings.
Midnight replied with an annoyed look.

"You aren't leaving me here, are you?"

Henry wanted to, but he decided to play.
He brought his hoof to his chin, pretending to think.
A grin grew on him as he slowly returned his gaze at the confused unicorn.

"Sling shot..." he slowly said.

Midnight was surprised.
"W-what!? You're not serious!"

Henry sarcastically sighed in defeat.
"Well, you'll be staying here then."

"No, wait," he began.
He then took a deep breath, returned the book in his saddlebag, and exhaled, looking serious and confident.
"Let's do it."

It was Henry's turn to be surprised.
"You're not serious."

Midnight however, grinned as he nodded his head.
Henry then looked high up to the castle.
Midnight did the same.
Oh boy...

"Well," Henry smiled, "it might work, but what then if we decide to go down?"

"Er..."
Midnight's confidence went down the drain.
'Pony pancake,' he thought.
A cold shiver ran down to his spine.

Up above, a quietly gliding griffin spotted them down below.
After noticing that no griffins wanted to go down from their morning flight to greet the visitors, she slowly worked her way down towards them.

The two ponies stopped their little argument after a shadow passed them from above.
They looked up and saw a griffin, larger than an adult stallion, was flying down towards them.

"Good morning, ponies!"
She greeted them as she rapidly flapped her wings to avoid crashing down on the ground.
Landing in front of them, she then shook herself from head to tail, stretched herself, and then faced them.
"So," the young griffin said, "you boys wanna head to the castle?"

Both ponies smiled. Midnight however, smiled wider.
No idea why, but he finds her hot.

"With you babe, I'll let you take me anywhere."
Midnight said as he bowed. Henry rolled his eyes.

The griffin chuckled.
"Ooh, we have a sweet-talker."
She then went towards the unicorn, examining his shape as she intentionally-accidentally rubbed her folded wing against his coat, her swinging tail accidentally went to his face.
Turning from his behind to his other side, slowly walking until their eyes meet.
"I can go out with a pony like you anytime."
She said with a sly smile as she walked back in front of the two ponies.

Henry just shook his head from the lame scene as he took a note of it.
Maybe one day, he can apply that to a colt in his book, trying to seduce Daring Do.

"Name's Griselda, by the way." She winked at the unicorn.

"Midnight..."

Henry needed to finish rolling his eyes first.
"Henry..."

Taking this opportunity, he spreads his wings and takes flight to the castle.
He hoped that neither of them will notice him.
Unfortunately, even though he was under an unknown spell, Midnight still snapped himself back as soon as Henry took flight.

"H-hey! Wait!"

But the alicorn ignored him.

Midnight then suddenly felt two strong talons wrapped around his chest, and with one strong wing flap, the griffin lifted both of them in the air.

"Whoa!" The only word Midnight managed to say from the suddeness of the event.
Strangely, he's feeling sick all over, and couldn't stop himself from shaking.

The griffin laughed.
"Aw, don't tell me you're afraid of heights..."
She said, pretending to be hurt.

"N-no, of course not..."
Midnight replied, trying to sound cool, but he quickly needed to bring his hoof on his mouth to stop himself from throwing his breakfast.

Griselda simply laughed at him.

Finally reaching the castle, Griselda gently puts the weak unicorn down on the castle's solid ground.
Midnight simply lied there, feeling woozy.
She landed beside him, and quickly looked inside the castle.

"Looks like your friend went ahead." She said after failing to spot the green pony.

Midnight, after pulling himself back a bit, slowly went back to his hooves.
He rubbed his head. "Ow... Never knew I was scared of heights..." He whispered.

"Aw... Don't worry," she gently patted his nape.
"you'll get used to it." she winked.

Whoa, is she serious?
Midnight was just playing around.
He's not actually trying to win her.
Or maybe she's just playing along.

Midnight gave a weak smile.
That's the only smile he could put up from all the wooziness.

The griffin offers to give him the grand tour, and Midnight gladly accepts.

---

Long ago, during the ancient pony wars, the griffins waved to be sparred from the chaos the war has brought to the land of Equestria.
The griffins, despite their fierce and warrior-like nature, have stayed out of the war, until the pegasus ponies started to attack their kingdom.
Defenseless, they quickly fell. Many lives were lost.

Fleeing, the remaining griffins were allowed to stay and rest in the earth pony kingdom.

The griffins want to take their kingdom back, and decided to be allies with the earth ponies.

The earth ponies, unicorn ponies, and griffins.
The three races went to war against the pegasus kingdom in the heavens, and eventually won.

---

Griselda and Midnight finished reading the encrypted texts on the castle's main hall under the large engraved images of the historical events.

Midnight blinked before he turned to the griffin, who looked back at him with a smile.

"So..."
Midnight gulped.
"You're not planning on ambushing me and rip me apart, right?"

Griselda became confused.
"Why would I do that?"
And then she smiled.
"Ambush you, I might. But rip you apart?"
She leaned forward, her beak near his ear.
"If you'll break my heart, then it's a deal," she whispered.

Midnight laughed weakly.

The main hall is a spacious area. Walls made out of grayish-white clay, is now homed by a number of griffin families who built their little houses made out of wood.
The castle is considered to be the main capital of the griffins settlement in Talon Valley.
The area where the royal seats used to be is now having a small wooden house, usually homed by the leader of the griffins.
The castle has other platforms high above, yet the only way of accessing them is through flight or climbing the wall with sharp talons.

Midnight is into the adventure thing, but he lacks the attitude of exploring places.
He wants to go to places, but he doesn't like to explore what is in that certain place.
So, Midnight didn't bother to see what was on the other platforms.

Griselda then introduced him to the leader of the griffins, Grievald.
Grievald, unlike the golden-brown griffins, his feathers are brownish-red in color, and of course, much bigger.

"Griselda," said the red griffin, his voice dark, calm, and a bit rusty.
"back so soon, child?"
He then took his gaze to the dark-blue unicorn beside the young griffin.
"Ah! You must be with that green pony."

Midnight nodded nervously.
The griffin's beak is big enough to snap the unicorn's head off of him.
Those talons could even do the very same thing.

"Dad, this is Midnight."
Griselda announced.
"My boyfriend."

The red griffin gave the unicorn an arched eyebrow.
Griselda's dad is this red large griffin?
Midnight is now feeling more nervous.

Griselda nudge the terrified unicorn.
"Hey, I was kidding," she laughed.
"no need to be petrified!"

Midnight laughed weakly and nervously.

Feeling that the unicorn's not convinced, she gave him a friendly punch on his cheek.
"Hey, I'm serious! Don't worry!"

Midnight looked at her, carrying a very readable question on his face.

"Hey, relax!" She smiled.
"I'm engaged, silly!"

She has no idea how relieved Midnight felt after hearing that.
He couldn't imagine dating a griffin. Well, in all honesty, he could...
But... Yes, Griselda's looking charming, but she was not the right mare---or griffin.
Yes, he knows he's flirty, but he prefers to listen to his heart when choosing for the right mare for him to love.
Until that day comes, he's enjoying himself with flirting mares.

His brother didn't like him flirting mares for fun however...
His brother...

"Aw..."
Griselda said, catching the unicorn's attention.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there will be somepony out there for you."
And she finished it with a wink.

Midnight could only smile at her.
"T-thanks, I guess?"

The red griffin closed his eyes as he held a smile.
His daughter's been treating pony guests like this for a long while now.

----------
3. Griffins: Helios and Pyrois
----------

"So, you're engaged with Griselda?"
Henry asked as he and a griffin flew towards the last platform on the top of the castle.

When he came inside the castle, the griffin welcomed him.

"Yes, and I couldn't be any happier."
The griffin replied.

"Ooookkkaaayyy... That stupid unicorn might need that information."

"She's flirting ponies again?"
The griffin chuckled.
"Don't worry. She does that all the time."

Henry looked at the griffin with a confused look.
"And...you're okay with it?"

The griffin simply smiled.
"She doesn't mean it. She may look that way, but she's still young at heart."

While the griffin was guiding the alicorn around, Henry somehow managed to ask about the red griffin.
Eventually, their little chat reached to the point where he and Griselda were childhood friends and rivals.

When they were young, they both tried their best to outshine the other.
Over the years, they soon fell with each other.
At first, they were not willing to admit their feelings to each other.
They were, in fact, rivals.

"I'm quite interested to know how you discovered each other's feelings."
Henry said as soon as they landed on the platform.
"If it's okay with you, Griever."

Griever smiled awkwardly as he scratched his head.
"Well... We were having a race, and I was winning, but..."
He took a deep breath.

...

I slowed my speed for her to catch up.
And after we reached the finish line, we were panting for breath.
We smiled at each other.
And, that's how I confess to her about what I feel towards her.
I cursed to myself during that time.
She might use it to beat me in our next match but...
...she told me she felt the same.

...

Henry flashed a smile as he stared at the ceiling as he took some notes.
He's not writing about the ceiling, but the story of Griever and Griselda.

"You won't mind if I'll take your story as part of my book, right?"

Griever simply shook his head.
"I don't mind."

---

The brownish-red griffin came out of his home and went towards his daughter and the dark-blue unicorn.
He was carrying something on his right front foot.

After reaching the two, the red griffin showed them the item.
A bright-yellow feather, shining under the sun's rays.

Two newcomers landed near them; a griffin and a green pony.

"This is the Golden Wing."
The red griffin explained to them while Henry was busy jotting notes.
"This was from our ancestor, from the griffin leader who helped in the war to defeat the pegasi."

"Whoa, so the griffin was a made of gold!?"
Midnight gasped, only to receive four 'what the hay' looks.

The red griffin coughed to clear his throat.
"Anyway, as ruler of the griffins, it is my duty to protect this ancient treasure."
He extends his foot to the alicorn.

Henry was able to have a good look at it.
Levitating it with his magic, he scanned the feather.
Each strand of the magnificent feather was noticable.
He took a few notes.

"Hope you don't mind me asking..."
Midnight said, catching the griffins' attention.
"...but, what's so important about one single feather?"
He stared at each of the griffins.
"I mean, sure, it's from a griffin from ancient times, but why the need to protect it?"

"Helios," Griever said, "was the only known griffin that can use magic."

The red griffin nodded.
"We believe that his golden feather might hold some of his power."

"But, does it?"
Midnight asked.
A griffin that could use magic. Now that's something.

The red griffin nodded once more.
"Indeed it does. Only griffins are able to use it."

"Griffins from other parts of Equestria are after this feather."
Griselda added.
"That's why we are protecting it."

Henry hovered the feather in front of the red griffin.
The griffin took the feather.

"I have read about Helios in the books."
Henry said, all attention was on him now.
"Helios can use magic, but he only focused on fire magic."
The red griffin nodded.
"It gave him the title, 'The Fire-Breathing Griffin', and 'The Dragon', during those times."

The red griffin smiled.
"You know a lot. Knowledge is indeed a wonderful gift."

Henry smiled back.
"Helios was able to use the magic of the Elements of Balance. How he did it was not known."

"We do not know as well."
The red griffin said as he slowly shook his head.
"But it greatly aided him during the war."

"So..."
Midnight slowly said.
"Griffins are the only ones that can use it?"
The griffins nodded their heads.
Midnight smiled.
"Could you give us a demonstration?"

"Predictable..."
Griselda smiled.
"All tourists says the same."
She laughed a bit.

The red griffin stuck the feather on his neck ,and then opened his clawed hand, his palm facing to the heavens.
Suddenly, fire was burning above the griffin's palm.
The two ponies were amazed as Henry took a few notes.
They never knew it was possible for griffins to use magic.

"After the war..." the red griffin slowly said, staring at the fire he summoned.
The fire became bigger, and suddenly took shape of a griffin, flapping its wings.
"...Helios and the other griffins worked hard to rebuild the kingdom."

The griffin became a fire again, and then it turned into a burning kingdom.
"...but after a few years of peace, Helios died and the kingdom went into chaos."

The fire took the shape of a feather.
"...and instead of burying his body, the griffins greedly took his feathers..."

The fire showed them a number of griffins fighting against each other.
"...griffins battled against each other, bearing with them the thought that whoever will stand victorious will become their next ruler..."

The fire then showed them an image of a griffin.
"Pyrois, grandchild of Helios, has acquired his grandfather's feather from his father. Instead of using the magic against his fellow griffins, he followed his father's failed attempt to use it to try and save their tainted hearts."

The fire then turned into four stones of different shapes.
"But the magic of the feather was not enough. Pyrois learned about the Elements of Balance, and used them to restore the griffins' hearts."

The fire then turned into a feiry feather.
"After the griffins realized their mistake, the feathers they held burned into ashes, much like how the greed in their hearts turned to ashes..."

The fire then turned into a shape of a burning heart.
Henry smiled. It made him remember Ember and Flame...
"The griffins believed that Helios' feathers can connect with the strongest emotion in the weilder's heart. That time, greed of power consumed their hearts, but after those emotions disappeared, so were the feathers."

The flame turned into a feather once again.
"Now, only one feather remained. Helios' and Pyrois' feather..."

And the flame burned brightly before it disappeared in thin air.
The red griffin shook his foot to ease the numbness growing on his foot.

"So..."
Midnight broke the momentary silence.
"...what are the Elements of Balance...?"

But none gave him an answer.

The red griffin coughed to clear his throat.
"Child, some things are better left hidden and unknown."
He stared at the castle's entrance.
"The world is a wonderful place, yet it is also full of mystery."
He returned his gaze at the unicorn.
"If all creatures in this world know everything, would the next morning still give us a reason to look forward to?"

Midnight absolutely has no idea what the red griffin was trying to say.
But Henry figured it out, and he smiled. He agrees.
There are a lot of things around the world, waiting to be discovered.

"Wait..."
Midnight said, his face still full of confusion.
"...you said Pyrois restored the griffins' hearts. And earlier, you said you are protecting the feather from other griffins..."

The red griffin smiled. He thought wrong about the unicorn.
He actually pays attention.
"Indeed, I said those. Unfortunately, the heart and mind are vulnerable to change."

---

The heart and mind are vulnerable to change.
Those words echoed in the unicorn's head.
Even after they left the castle, and were now walking back to the small town, he still couldn't figure out why those words are in his head.
Maybe there's some hidden message behind those set of words that he needs to figure out?

"What's troubling you?"
Asked the green alicorn who was walking beside him.

After they left the castle, Henry enjoyed the cool air that greeted him again.
Being inside the castle, and learning about the griffins made him forget about the soothing air in the valley.

Midnight simply shook his head.
"I dunno... That red griffin is really stressing my brain..."
He sighed.

Henry has no idea what he meant.
After their little history talk, Henry gave them a few Bits as a 'thank you' gift.

Maybe he could think of something to try and cheer the unicorn up?
...he has no idea about this unicorn's past.

Asking him about it might not be the right time.
The unicorn is really looking confused.

"Hey," he got the unicorn's attention.
The town was only a few more hooves away.
"maybe some hayfries will cheer you up?"

And it did.

----------
4. Uncertainty
----------

The two ponies are on their way to PonyVille.
This time, Midnight proudly took a hold of his ticket.
He's no longer a stowaway.

Such small things do mean a lot to other ponies, Henry thought.

They are both seated in the coach car.
They're the only ones in that coach car.
Midnight was beside the glass window, busy feeding his eyes with the beautiful green forested hills and magnificent green mountains from afar.

It will take them a day to reach PonyVille.
So, Henry will have a lot of time to get to know this unicorn.

The train will make its first stop in Manehattan.
Both ponies didn't like that.
Henry will only remember the event that happened to him.
Midnight will only remember his friends that risked their lives there, and his brother.

His brother...
Whatever happened to him?
The police ponies didn't find his body.
Did The Boss...took care of him?

"So," the alicorn started, facing the unicorn.
Midnight turned to face him with a weak smile.
"tell me about yourself."

The unicorn's smile faded into his confused face.
"Why?"

"Of course..." Henry sighed.
"If you want to follow me around, at least let me know a few things about you."

Midnight simply blinked.
He's not sure if telling him about himself will satisfy him.

"I still don't know you, to be completely honest."

"I don't know you that much as well..."
The unicorn fired back.

Henry didn't like where this is going.
"If you'll stay being difficult, then I'm dropping you off of this train."

Midnight however, simply smiled, and then he returned his gaze at the scenery through the window.
"Nah, you won't do that."

That's it.
This unicorn simply knows nothing about respect.
A sudden thought rang in his mind.

Puppeteer...

He shook his head to dismiss the scary idea.
He needs to think of something.

...open the window and hang him there 'till he talks?
...levitate him up-side-down until his head turns red?
...won't let him eat hayfries ever again?
...tickle him to death?

Henry sighed in defeat.
But then an idea. Small things mean a lot to some ponies, huh?
He grinned as he focused his magic, opening Midnight's saddlebag.

The unicorn felt his saddlebag being opened.
He turned, only to witness his ticket levitated away from him to the green alicorn.
"Hey!" he yelled, "Give that back!"

Henry however, gave him a sly smile, as he focused his magic around the unicorn, disabling him from reaching the ticket.

"So you wanna play rough, huh?"
Midnight used his magic to try and take the alicorn's ticket.
Henry allowed him to open his sidebag, levitated his ticket, and hover it to...

Henry's ticket was now enveloped with brown magic, disabling Midnight's magic from taking control over it with his magic.
"H-how'd you do that?" He asked, startled.

Henry however, arched an eyebrow.
"Magic, obviously..."

"I know but... three objects at once?"

Henry cannot see what is the big deal is all about.
Little Rarity could lift a piece of clothing, needle, string, buttons, and all other things for her fashion projects.

"Seriously, how do you do it?"
Midnight was looking really confused and eager to know.
"I know you can lift a lot of stuff, but only if they're related to your special talent..."

"Really?"
Henry never knew that.
But of course, he's not a pony, so he's not limited from using his magic only for special talents.

Taking advantage of Henry's sudden deep in thought moments, Midnight used his magic to get both tickets in his magic grip, which he finally did and now, he quickly levitated both to him.

"Ha! Now I have both tickets hostage!"

Henry simply gave him a bored look as he easily overtook the unicorn's magic grip with his own magic, and easily took the tickets back to him.
Henry sighed as he levitated the unicorn's ticket back to him.
After the unicorn got his magic grip on it, the alicorn removed his magic grip on the ticket and on the unicorn.

"Fine. If you do not wish to talk, then I won't let you."
Henry then returned his ticket inside his sidebag.

Midnight did the same and quietly returned his gaze on the scenery outside the window.
Henry hovered his notebook in front of him and started reading his notes.

"Hey..." Midnight quietly said, making the alicorn look at him.
Midnight opened his mouth, but hesitated to talk.
After a few seconds, he shook his head.
"...s-sorry...nevermind..."

Midnight is still a complete stranger to the alicorn.
The only thing he knows about him, is that he's probably from Manehattan.
That, and some other things, like, he loves hayfries, he's afraid of heights, he loves the Daring Do book, and he's willing to follow the alicorn around.

He left him be as he continued to read his notes.

Midnight was staring blankly at the window.
A lot of things are running wild inside his mind.
Henry asked him to tell him about himself.
Midnight however, has no idea where to start.
He's also not sure if telling him about himself is a good idea.

Most of his life were about struggle.
He never enjoyed his childhood.
And it felt like he grew up fast, and broken.

He let out a heavy and frustrated sigh.

What about his brother?
Is he still alive?
If he is, is he still looking for him?
Will he look for him as well?

What if he's gone?
Looking for him would be all for nothing, then?

Daybreak...
"Whatever happened to you?"
Midnight lowly whispered.

Henry heard him, but didn't bother to ask.
Whatever he was thinking, it's not a good idea to ask, not at this moment.

---

The sun was already starting to set when the conductor left them after he stamped their tickets.
The train's first stop, Manehattan, will be an hour.

Midnight was slowly eating some of his hayfries, still locking his gaze on the scenery.
Henry wasn't feeling hungry, so he still kept himself busy by reading some of his notes, and writing down a few more things on his notebook.

"Hey..."
Henry turned to the lonely unicorn.
Midnight was still staring through the window, with the occasional movement of his hoof, from grabbing some hayfries to his mouth.
"What is PonyVille like?"
The unicorn asked, his voice a clear mixture of sadness and worry.

"Hm..."
Henry thought for a moment.
"Well, it's like that small town near the station, only with more colorful buildings and more ponies walking around, and no griffins."
He forgot about the wind, but oh well.

And it was quiet once again.
Henry went back to his notebook.

PonyVille is like that small town.
Green, fresh, peaceful...
Midnight might like that town.
But will he be staying there?

"The library has a spare room."
Henry slowly said. Midnight turned to him.
"You can stay there if you want."

What the hay is Henry thinking?
Giving the stranger a room to stay?
Henry shook his head a bit as soon as Midnight returned his gaze back to the scenery.

"T-thanks..."
Midnight slowly said, making the alicorn look at him.
Midnight didn't bother looking at the alicorn.
"I...I guess I could use a change of scenery..."
He flashed a small smile.
"I mean... Manehattan is my home, but..."
He trailed off, his smile evaporated.

Henry was slowly getting into the unicorn.
It'll be soon when the unicorn will start to talk about himself more.
Henry smiled as he returned to his notes.
"It's no problem. But I don't want you to become a freeloader."

Midnight quickly turned to the alicorn, stomping his hoof on the soft chair.
"I AM NOT A FREELOADER!"

Henry was startled, quickly turning his head to the unicorn.
Midnight quickly returned his gaze back to the window.

"I'm not a freeloader..."

"I'm sorry..."
Henry slowly said.
Well, it only took him one sentence to bring him back to square one.
He sighed as he returned his attention to his notes.

---

Midnight has fallen asleep, his head leaning on the glass window.
Henry was only able to notice the unicorn's state after he started snoring a bit...loud.

The night has already governed the sky and land.
The land was enveloped by black, while the sky was blanketed with a dark-blue color, where stars twinkled gracefully.

Henry used his magic to dim the car's coal-powered lights.
He too, was ready to have some shut eye.

Just in case, he left a note on his chair before he quietly went out of the car, heading to the other car where the private rooms are.

----------
5. Midnight
----------

A light flashed.
Midnight ran around to nowhere in particular.

Feeling like he's heading the wrong way, he stopped.
Quickly looking around the slowly dimming area, he settled on running to his left.

He felt his heart beating fast.
He's terrified, for unknown reasons.
His breath, fast and shallow.

Where is he going, he has no idea.
He was running, and he will keep on running.

The area flashed in white once more, blinding him, but he didn't stop running.
Something in him is telling him that if he stops...

"Stop...!"

"No...!"
He shouted back, to whoever was shouting at him.

The voice sounded awfully familiar, echoing in every direction.

"Stop...!"
The feminine voice shouted once again, keeping the same volume.

Midnight ignored it and kept on running.
And suddenly, right in front of him were two shadows of fillies.

Their faces, too familiar, and he's running straight at them.

"Stop...!"

And this time, he listened, he stopped.
But he couldn't.
His hooves slid on an unknown surface.
He stopped running, but he kept on moving straight at the fillies.

"Stop...!"

"I can't...!"

And he decided to do the only thing he could do at the moment.
He closed his eyes, awaiting for him to crash at the two fillies.

Midnight woke up after he felt the floor.
He was breathing fast and shallow.
The moderately air-conditioned car wasn't able to help him keep a sweat drop from his face.

After calming himself a bit, he slowly rosed up, and immediately saw a piece of paper on the alicorn's seat.
Levitating it with his magic as he sat down on his side of the wide chair.
He read the note. Henry went inside the private rooms to sleep?

Midnight arched a eyebrow as he ate the note.
He then went off of the seat and slowly went to Henry's room's door.

And as usual, the alicorn forgot to lock the door.
He helped himself inside the dark room, where he managed to see some of Henry's outlines from the lunar light.
He closed the door behind him, and sat down on the other chair of the room, locking his gaze outside the window.

"Henry?"

No answer. He looked at him.
He can see Henry breathing from the outlines.

"Henry? Are you awake?"

No answer.

Midnight sighed.
The green alicorn's asleep, he convinced himself.
He put his gaze back to the window.

He had a bad dream...
Before, when he wakes up from a bad dream, his brother would simply tell him to ignore them.
They were just some things inside his head, and nothing more.

He sighed once more.

"I know you're awake. So stop pretending to be asleep."

But once again, he received no answer.
Aside from the sound of the train's wheels against the train tracks, he could also hear Henry's quiet breathing.
He must be really sleeping.
Should he wake him up?

Wake him up, for what?
He doesn't know.
But he wants to see him awake.
He wants to know someone's there to listen to him.

To listen to him?
Henry was willing to listen to him earlier, but what did he do?
He kept his mouth shut.
He might do it again, so best leave the pony in his sleep.

He stared at...nothing.
There was nothing to stare out of the black landscape and the evening-black starry sky.
At least the cresent moon's up there.
He could stare at the quiet moon while he thinks.

But, he has a lot of things in his mind.
How can he think of one thing out of all the chaos inside his head?
Talk to himself?
It might work, but it also might wake the alicorn up.
He sighed... Have they passed Manehattan already?
They probably already have...

Well, he's really going to stay in PonyVille now...
Is he really going to leave everything behind?
...everything...is a funny word for him.

He doesn't even have anything...except for his brother...
Should he find him?

He used his magic to unlock the window.
Slightly opening the window, he was immediately greeted by the cold evening wind.
Unprepared for the sudden cold, he lost his focus and the wind slid the window close.

He could try again, but what then?
Will he jump?
If he does, where will he go?
To his brother...? Is he even waiting for him...?
Back to Manehattan? Back to struggle?

He used his magic to take his book, but he felt something else inside his saddlebag.
Lifting the other object in front of him, it was a train ticket.
...his train ticket.

His very first item that he received without using stolen money.
The very first somepony has given him without threatening or forcing them.
...well, Henry was forced a bit...but still...

And it really felt good.
Getting something not from stealing.

Staring at the ticket, he managed to smile.

If he stays in PonyVille, then he wouldn't have to steal anymore...maybe...?
But, it's a town. Maybe he can easily find a job there, unlike in Manehattan.

He and his brother couldn't land on any job there, with so many requirements and qualifications.
They weren't even able to go to school to at least finish basic education.
They learned how to read, how to speak, and how to count, in the streets.
And they learned to do what it takes to survive.

Magic, steal, run, escape...
Laugh, hurt...
Smoke, drug, sex, crime...
Repeat, repeat, repeat...

He has no future there.

His thoughts went to a halt after he blinked, and the first thing he saw, was the ticket, hovering in front of him.
And then, a thought...

"I don't want to live like this..."
Midnight whispered...

Daybreak closed his eyes and sighed, sadness drawing on his face.
He slowly turned to his brother.
"I know... I am, too..."

He's about to achieve that dream.
To live a new life, outside that damned city.
He could only wish that his brother would forgive him, if he's still out there...

The pegasus was about to fly when he heard Midnight's call.
He turned to see him.
"Midnight! Glad you're---wait!"

"Wait what?"

"You---You're---! Why are you here!?"

His brother grouped two large gangs to attack The Boss, believing that Midnight was taken by them.
His brother and The Boss were not found...

A tear escaped his eye.
Is his brother really gone...?
He never had the time to think these things until now.
They both were alone together, but now, he's all alone on his own.

Going back there might only make things worse.
Maybe he'll become even more broken than before...

The heart and mind are vulnerable to change.

He sighed, rubbing his teary eyes with his hoof.
He sniffed. He thinks he already knows what that griffin was trying to say.

He inhaled, and exhaled.
He repeated the process until he's no longer felt so down.

He looked at the sleeping bookwriter.
Still asleep.

He yawned. He could use some sleep as well.
He returned his ticket inside his saddlebag and rested himself on the wide chair.
He took one last look at the cresent moon before he shut his eyes to sleep.

He could start a new life in PonyVille.
It may be difficult at first, but, he'll be fine.

Henry was awake. He woke up when Midnight asked if he was awake.
He didn't reply. He feared that if he gives any indication that he was indeed awake, the unicorn might see him as a changeling.
It was a good thing the darkness of the room aided him to hide his true self from him.
He saw Midnight's expression.
He was deep in thought.
He must have been through a lot.
Henry could relate.

Midnight was now asleep. Proof was his snoring.
Henry could only smile as he used his magic to lock the window.
He still needs a few more hours of sleep, so he went back to sleep.

----------

Originally Written on July 27, 2012

Updates...
- December 9, 2012 - Added An Image

Chapter 06 - The Blue Sea

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Chapter 6 - The Blue Sea

After arriving in PonyVille, Henry and Midnight went straight to the library.
Aurora was busy cleaning the books when they got there.
After a small introduction (and some flirting from the unicorn), they went up to the library's second floor.

Henry and Midnight cleaned the spare room inside the library's second floor.
Midnight was happy with the room. He didn't mind some of the library's old stuff inside.
There's still plenty of room for his convenience.
Now, all they need is a bed, but Midnight convinced him that he's okay without having a bed.
He plans on using some of the empty cardboard boxes as his bed.
Henry didn't like the idea, so he will buy him a bed sooner or later.

He left the unicorn alone to settle down.
Aurora didn't like the unicorn. Henry just tells her to understand him.
He had a rough life.

Aurora also asked Henry about what she heard; about him being a changeling.
She told him that she made some research, and she started to grow some concern.
Midnight came out of the room as Henry assured both of them that they have nothing to worry about.
And, he showed them his true form.
Midnight finds it awesome, to Aurora and Henry's annoyance.
Aurora also tells him that the ponies told her not to worry, so she felt a bit okay.
They both ignored Midnight's rumble about how cool Henry is.

Since Aurora didn't like to give the unicorn a tour of the town, Henry did it instead.
Midnight met the friendly faces of ponies in town, and he was not really used to this kind of atmosphere.
Smiles were everywhere.

Well, Manehattan also had smiley faces, but those were dirty smiles.
Here, the smiles are, heartwarming.
It's going to take him a while to get used to it.

Midnight is also trying to look for a job.
They reached the town hall, where Midnight was able to look at the nearby bulletin board.
Pieces of paper were stuck on the board, and he put all of his focus on the Job Hiring list.
He scanned the whole paper and found a job that he thinks he can do well; a mailpony.

Henry suggested that he should apply as the town hall's accountant, but Midnight's not confident with his math skills.

They went to the post office, and the unicorn got the job.
He couldn't hold is excitement, so he kept on screaming as soon as they got out of the establishment, catching a little pink filly's attention.
The stallion's parade went to a halt after he saw the filly gasped and disappeared in thin air.

They then went to Henry's house, where the first thing they noticed was the barrel, full of letters.
Midnight arched an eyebrow, while Henry laughed weakly.
He let the unicorn inside, since he needed a shower.

Little Rarity happened to walk by, and noticed the green alicorn pushing the barrel inside his house.
Calling his attention as she approached him, she handed him an invitation letter.

After opening it, he read the contents.
He is invited to join the school's summer beach activity in Seasaddle Beach.
It was the school's annual event of saying goodbye to summer, weeks before the Running of the Leaves.

Goodbye summer?
Henry liked the idea.
Plus, it will be held this Sunday.

Seasaddle Beach it is.

----------
1. Beach Day
----------

The Sunday morning sky was blue, clear of clouds, and extremely hot.

A group of fillies, led by Cheerilee and Henry Hoof, are hiking through forested hills to reach Seasaddle Beach.
Some of the fillies' parents joined as well.
Aurora and Midnight also came along. Both were arguing a bit, like brother and sister.

It was only three hills away from PonyVille.
Henry was forcing himself to smile, holding his inner anger from this heat.
Cheerilee only gave him an apologetic smile.

And after they reached the end of the third hill, they were immediately greeted by the fresh salty breeze from the sandy beach a few hooves away.
The fillies smiled at the beautiful sea right in front of their eyes.

From all their walking, the sea is really looking as if its inviting them.

They continued to walk until they reached the sandy beach.
Cheerilee turned to face her students, which were twelve in total.

While Cheerilee gave them a few instructions and reminders about safety and precautions, Henry immediately took the blue umbrella he was carrying and set it up on the sand, only to be blown back to the forest by the strong wind.

"Darn it..." he whispered.

"I'll get it!"
Aurora shouted as she flapped her wings to chase the umbrella.

The fillies giggled from the event.

Midnight puts their picnic basket on the sand.
"You're looking really irritated..."
He said with concern.

"Thank you for noticing..."
Henry hissed.
"Sorry... It's just this heat. I hate the heat..."

Midnight laughed a bit as Aurora landed near them with the folded umbrella.

"But, I think I'm going to be fine now."
Henry looked at the calm sea.
He's still feeling irritated, but, it's starting to fade.

Aurora was setting the umbrella while the fillies already ran to the water, swimming and splashing each other.
Midnight looked around until he saw the little Pinkie Pie doing something with her party cannon.

"Er..."
Midnight started.
"I'm gonna try and stop that pink filly from...whatever she's planning to do."

He remembered the whole library became a disco house when he came back after taking a shower in the alicorn's home.
It was all thanks to that pink filly, with her party cannon.

He gulped as he approached the filly.

"That won't end well."
Aurora chuckled.

A few hooves from the shore, Big Macintosh was busy building a sand castle with his sister Applejack.
A few hooves from them were three fillies, also making their own sand castle.
The other fillies were swimming in the sea.
Cheerilee was busy talking to some of the fillies' parents.

Pinkie Pie went inside the mouth of the cannon as soon as Midnight reached her.
"Pinkie..." he lowered himself a bit to see the darkness inside the mouth of the cannon.
He could hear some metal pounding sounds echoing from inside.
"...what the hay are you doing?"

"Oh, hi Midnight."
Pinkie's voice echoed with the pounding sound.
"I'm fixing my cannon, duh~"

Midnight could sense her rolling her eyes.
"Pinkie, get outta there."
And he puts his head inside to try and pull her out, but he got stuck when he's about to insert his shoulders inside.
"Gah... Darn it..." he whispered.

"Hey~!"
Pinkie's loud voice echoed to Midnight's ears, which irritated him.
"Where'd the sun go~?"

"Pinkie, stop yelling!"
Now, Midnight's own voice irritated him.

"I can't see a thing in here... Oh! I know!"
Midnight could hear Pinkie brushing her cottoncandy-like mane.
"Where's that matchstick..."

Midnight's eyes went wide from horror.
"Pinkie! Don't you dare---!"

Scccrrraaatttccchhh...

Suddenly, everypony heard a loud explosion. All eyes looked to the source, and all they saw was a pink cannon, it's mouth was smoking.
Suddenly, they heard a huge splash a few hooves away from the shore.

Pinkie Pie came out first, and then she was lifted further up.
Midnight gasped for air as the little pink filly cheerfully slides to his back from his head.
He then gave her an angry look.

"Oopsie..."
She giggled.

The others laughed.

"Can I join them?"
Aurora asked the alicorn.

"Of course you can."
Henry replied.

Aurora then flapped her wings and flew above the unicorn, and immediately retracted her wings.
"Cannonball!"
She shouted, where Midnight was able to panicly swim away in time before she could land on him.

Midnight gave her an angry look as well.
Both Pinkie and Aurora laughed.

"I hate you two..."
Midnight whispered.

"Aw..."
Pinkie hugged the unicorn's neck.
"We love you too, Midnight!"

Aurora laughed as Midnight tried to get the pink filly off of him.
She then turned to the sandy beach, and saw her green alicorn uncle writing on his notebook.
The sight saddened her, and then an idea.
She called Midnight's attention, and whispered something on his ear.
Midnight's curious look turned into an evil grin.

Henry took a look at Midnight and Aurora, only to witness the pegasus trying to stand on the unicorn's head, allowing her to take flight.
Aurora swiftly flew above the water, talking to some unicorn fillies enjoying their swim.
He smiled as he returned his gaze on his notebook, writing some notes.
He felt like he already had enough notes to start coming up with a story for the second Daring Do book, but a few more couldn't hurt.
Maybe he could even make Daring Do enjoy a summer beach vacation at the end.
After all her adventures, she could use some relaxation.
The second book's going to be easy to write with all---

Henry suddenly noticed a heavy sensation.
He tore his gaze away from his notebook and looked around, only to see himself surrounded by Midnight, little Rarity, and other unicorn fillies, all wearing sinister grins.
Henry gulped, and then gave a weak chuckle.
"H-hey guys... Wh-what's going on?"
A sweat ran down from his head.

The unicorns' horns glowed, all their magic focused on the green alicorn, lifting him up in the air.
Henry struggled to set himself free, but he couldn't. The sudden weird event made him lose his focus on his quill and notebook, and his hat fell off of him from his struggle.
What is happening to these ponies?
Should he try and defend himself?
No, he could hurt them!
Maybe using his pupp---

Henry was tossed to the sea.
Still enveloped in magic, he couldn't open his wings to fly.
He simply closed his eyes, and just before he lands on the water, the magic around him vanished.
Sensing it, he immediately opened his wings to---

Splash.

The unicorns cheered as Aurora flew above them, cheering as well.

Henry was still underwater.
Those ponies...
He smiled. What on earth was he thinking?

Facing the ocean floor, he opened his eyes to see, a blur.
Oh, his glasses fell off.
His horn glowed for him to sense where his glasses landed.
Out of all the sandy blur, he spotted his brown blurry magic on a blue blurry thing on the sand.
He couldn't lift his glasses back. It must be stuck.

He swam down to the sea floor, and after putting his hooves on the floor in front of his glasses, he discovered that his glasses were on this blue blur thing sticking out of the sandy floor.
He'll need air soon, so he didn't bother figuring out what it was.
He was about to extend his hoof to grab his glasses when the glasses itself worked its way to his face.
Startled, he allowed his glasses to land on his face.
Now that his vision became clear, he can now clearly see the blue blur is a...

He was really surprised to see what he saw, making him lose a few air inside him.
He quickly swam back to the surface to get away from the blue thing and to give himself air.

"GAH!"
Henry gasped as he got his head out of the water.

"Uncle! You scared us to death!"

He saw Aurora flying above him, looking worried.
Midnight, after spotting him, started to swim towards him.

"I'm fine..."
He managed to say after coughing some water out of his mouth.
"My glasses fell off..."

"You okay Henry?"
Midnight asked after reaching him.

Henry simply nodded.

Midnight and Aurora looked at each other, both their worried expressions turned into light chuckles.
Henry flashed a weak smile.
Though he kept on trying to make sense of what he saw down there.

He went down again for him to see the sea floor.
With his glasses on, he got a clear view of...the sea floor.

Nothing out of the ordinary.
The blue thing was no longer there.

The blue pony with a fish-like tail was no longer there...

----------
2. Ocean's Pearl
----------

Midnight, Aurora and Henry both sat on the sandy beach under their blue umbrella, enjoying some sandwiches for lunch.
The unicorn and the pegasus were talking about something while Henry was busy sketching the blue pony on his notebook, while taking a few bites on his sandwich.

And he draw that pony pretty well, despite only managing to land a glimpse on him...or her...

His notebook suddenly hovered away from him, and stopped in front of Midnight with his magic.
Henry felt a bit annoyed, but he let him be.
Aurora leaned to Midnight's head to have a closer look.

"A maremaid?"
Midnight chuckled.
"You're going to add maremaids in the next book?"

To Henry, that's a perfect excuse to why he drew that.
He grinned, "Why should I answer that? I don't want to spoil any of my readers."

"It's a really good drawing..."
Aurora slowly said, taking the notebook to her hooves, breaking Midnight's magic grip on it, which gave him a little headache.

"Don't do that...!" He hissed.
But the pegasus ignored him.

"It looks so real!"
She exclaimed.

"Oh please..."
Midnight rolled his eyes.
"Maremaids aren't real. They're just make-believe!"

Aurora looked at him angrily.
"Oh, what do you know?"
And she angrily stuck her tongue at him.

Both opened their mouths, ready to fire words at each other, but sandwiches suddenly stuffed their mouths.
Henry chuckled as he levitated his notebook to him.
The alicorn received two annoyed looks.

Both decided to go back to eating.

Henry looked at his maremaid drawing.
He was sure he was not hallucinating, or imagining things.
He did see one. But telling anypony about it would be a bad idea.
Who would believe him? Aurora, maybe, but...

He sighed as he stood up.
"I'm going to take a walk."
With his glasses, and notebook returned in his sidebag, he started walking, leaving Midnight and Aurora under the umbrella.
"Behave, you two."

Henry forgot his hat. Something's on his mind.
Both looked at each other, and from their looks, they could already communicate with each other.

'Should we follow him?'

'Yeah, we should.'

And they both nodded.

---

Henry was slowly walking on the sand where the sea waves could reach his hooves.
He's thinking about that blue maremaid.

He had to admit, he thought maremaids are only created in imaginative minds of ancient ponies a long time ago.
They have influenced the tides of history.
Creating stories of their voices could drown an entire ship.
Or creating illusions in the sea to fool a greedy heart.
Or they drown unlucky ponies to the bottom of the sea.

Even the fictional land of Atlantis was created, where the mythical sea ponies lived, but a catastrophe sunk their land to the bottom of the sea.
No evidence of such fiction, of course.

But Henry saw one of those sea ponies!
He could uncover so many things, if only he'll see him, or her, again.
He sighed. What would be the chances of that?

Their first meeting, and Henry already sent it an 'oh my goodness a sea pony get away from me you freak of nature' message...

He stopped, and slowly looked back.
Wow, he's already a bit far away from the others.
He didn't notice he already walked quite a distance.
He smiled, and continued to walk.
He could simply fly back there anyway.

A huge boulder was lying on the sand, where Midnight and Aurora hid themselves after they noticed the alicorn was about to look back.
The pegasus took a small peak, and after seeing the alicorn continued to walk, she informs the unicorn.

They need a safer way to follow the alicorn.
And Midnight had an idea.
He pointed his hoof on the edge of the forest.

---

Midnight and Aurora hid behind a bush in the forest's edge.
Taking a small peak, they both saw the green alicorn, simply sitting on the sand, allowing the calm sea waves reach his hind hooves and his tail.
The alicorn was simply staring at the blue horizon.

Henry was closing his eyes, simply feeling the soothing salty breeze.
The quiet melody of the sea was interrupted after the alicorn heard a faint splash sound.

He opened his eyes, and there, a few hooves in front of him was the blue pony.
Surprised, he quickly got back on his hooves and took a few steps back, mouth wide open in shock.

His action startled the blue pony, and immediately sank herself back to the water, only her eyes and a part of her head remained visible.

They remained in their current poses for a few minutes.
Henry shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
And...the blue pony was still there.
And...he's definitely not dreaming, or hallucinating, or imagining it.
That blue pony is actually there, well, it's head at least.

Henry opened his mouth, he wanted to apologize for startling the pony but...
Does it understand Equestrian language?
Well, according to the book about Atlantis, all language did came from them, so...

"Uh... H-hello...?"

He only received a blink.

"Uh, um... Hi? I ah um...sorry, if I scared you...earlier...if, that was you? I mean..."
'Now I talk like Fluttershy...'
He punched himself mentally.

Another blink.
But this time, the pony rose her head a bit.
Now, her mouth is visible, well, not really.
She's covering her mouth with her hoof, and she's...blushing?
Henry thought he was seeing things again, so he levitated his glasses as he rubbed his eyes.
Nope, he's definitely seeing it correctly.
Why is she blushing? Afraid? Shy?
He needs to say something...

"Um..."
He stopped. He just noticed the pony's ears resemble a fish fin.
"You have...nice ears?"
He punched himself mentally once again.

Surprisingly, the blue pony chuckled a bit.
"T-thank you..." she whispered.

Henry heard her voice. A very soothing, melodious, calm, lovely voice he has ever heard.
Wait... She can understand Equestrian! And she can talk!
A discovery! Should he write it down?
No, maybe he'll startle her.

"Muh...my name's Henry..."
'Why am I introducing myself?'
"What's your name?"
'And why the hay am I asking her name!?
He was about to punch himself mentally again when the blue pony removed her hoof from covering her mouth, revealing a very beautiful plus lovely smile.
Henry missed and punched his heart instead, and again, and again, like a drum.
His heart was pounding.
He has never seen such a lovely smile before.

"Pearl... I'm Ocean Pearl..."

Oh, her voice echoed inside Henry's head like crazy.
He's feeling hot around his face.
Wait...is he blushing?
He quickly shook his head, and gave a weak smile.
"P-p-Pearl... It's---"
Recalling some lines...
"---a lovely name..."
He mentally slapped himself for a cheesy line.

Pearl simply chuckled a bit.
"I've heard worse..."
And she slowly swam towards him.

Wait... She's approaching...
What should Henry do? Run? Fly?
Wait, why should he?
She's just a pony.
A sea pony, maybe?
A very cute sea pony...
Wait...cute?
Where did that word come from?

Pearl stopped a few hooves from him.
She sat on her fish-like tail.

Henry was able to have a good look at her.
She's as tall as a fully grown earth pony.
Her shiny blue fur. Her sexy figure.
Her beautiful scaly fish tail. Absent of hind hooves.
And a white pearl cutie mark on her fish-like tail.
Her long beautiful bluish-white mane, almost reaching her front hooves.
Those gorgeous black pupils---er---eyes.
Her soft lovely smile...
Wait...he's staring! He's staring!
It's impolite to stare!

Henry quickly turned his gaze away, cheeks blushing red-hot.
"S-sorry..."

Behind the bushes, Aurora and Midnight left their eyes and mouths wide open.

Pearl however, was saddened.
Is approaching him a bad idea?
He's looking away...
She tilted her head down, staring at her front hooves.

"I-I'm sorry..."
She slowly said.
Henry slowly returned his gaze back to her.
"I shouldn't...have...let you see me..."

Henry felt his heart broke from her sad voice.
Why is he feeling weird towards her anyway?
He never read anything like this before...maybe?
He needs to do some research.

"No, no... It's not your fault..."
'Well, it is really... You look lovely and all...'
"It's just...not polite to stare...I...think...?"

"Oh..."
She quickly looked at the alicorn straight in the eyes, instantly burning his cheeks.
"...is it?"

"Well uh..."
Henry, a well-read alicorn-disguised-changeling, has lost all words.

None of them knew how long it took them to keep on staring at each other's eyes.
A lovely smile appeared on the blue sea pony's face, while Henry kept a nervous look.

"Well... Staring is nice..."
She softly said.
"...I like you---'re eyes..."

She quickly tilted her head back to her hooves, blushing, and hoping the alicorn won't notice the slip.
Henry simply blinked. It made him feel easy a bit.
No one ever commented about his eyes like that before.
And strangely, it felt, good?

"T-thanks...?"
He scratched his nape while Pearl returned her gaze at him.
"So uh..." finally he was starting to recover.
"..." but his mind went blank again, just by staring at those lovely eyes of her.
"...uh...lovely day we're having, huh?"
Henry mentally slammed his face on a boulder.

Pearl looked at the sky, and Henry became breathless.
It was as if the world went slow.
The way she tilted her smiling face to the sky was...beyond magnicifent.
"It is..." she softly replied as she stared at the rolling puffy cloud above.
"I wonder...what clouds feel like..."

Oh, an idea!
Wait... Why would he---
"I could fly you there..."
Why would he offer---
"...if you like..."
'Why...?'

Pearl quickly looked at him, with an excited smile.
"Really? You'll do---"
But she then retracted herself, her gaze on her hooves.
"No... I shouldn't trouble you..." She slowly shook her head, disappointed.

Now she sounds and looks like Fluttershy, Henry thought.

"It's no trouble at all."
'I have no idea why I am saying all of these...'

Pearl looked at him with a smile.

----------
3. Ripples
----------

Aurora and Midnight watched as the green alicorn enveloped the blue sea pony with brown magic, and as soon as he flapped his wings to get himself airborne, he lifted the sea pony up in the air.
Soon, they both went high up, noticing the sea pony's nervousness.

Aurora was smiling, contrasting Midnight's frown.

"Aw... Aren't they sweet?"
Sang the pegasus.

Midnight rolled his eyes.
"I didn't know Henry was into this lovey-dovey stuff..."

"Unlike you..."
Aurora teased.

"Now what does that mean?"
Midnight asked, annoyed.

"You flirt every mare you meet!"

"Well, I can't help it if I meet a lovely mare!

Aurora then grinned as she land her gaze on him.
"So, I'm a lovely mare?"

Midnight blushed.
"N-n-ye-uh..."
He turned away.
"Hey, don't get the wrong idea, kid!"
Aurora chuckled.
"You're too young for my taste!"

"Yeah, but you flirted me..."
She teased, annoying the unicorn.
"Don't worry, when I'm older, I'll go out with you."
She sheepishly stuck her tongue at him.

Midnight, still blushing, gave her an annoyed look.
"When you're older...I'll be even older..."

"I'll still go out with you. Hahah."

"Now look who's flirting."
Midnight grinned.

Aurora slapped him on the face.

---

After noticing Pearl was really looking scared, Henry let her rest on his back, where she quickly wrapped her hooves around his neck, choking him in the process.
It helped the sea pony feel at ease, while Henry was burning up inside.
Assisted by his magic to carry the sea pony, he continued to fly up until they're near a puff of cloud.

All fear forgotten after seeing a cloud, she slowly extends one of her hoof to touch it, but her hoof went through.
The air is cold, but touching the cloud was even colder.

Satisfied of how a cloud would feel like, she returned her hoof to Henry's neck.
She smiled. She never knew a cloud would feel like that.
...she never knew this was how it feels like to have somepony like Henry.
She rested her head on Henry's nape, feeling his rough brown mane on her face.
"Would you catch me if I fall?"
She softly whispered.

"What? Of course... But..."

Pearl suddenly pushed herself away from the alicorn, landing her whole body on the puff cloud, and she simply went through the cloud, and was now heading straight back to earth.

"Pearl!"
Henry quickly flew down, and he retracted his wings, straighten his body to gain speed.
At least, that's what he read from the books.
And it's working. He's nearing the sea pony, who was simply smiling at him.

Henry grabbed the sea pony, and quickly opened his wings to stop their fall.
He then quickly used his magic to aid him from carrying the sea pony.
Now that they're safe in the air, Henry noticed that he wrapped his hooves under the sea pony's shoulder, their faces facing each other.
Both blushed deeply. Henry forgot the anger that grew inside him.
Taking this as a hug, she wrapped her hooves around him to return the hug, and intentionally locked his wings back.

Henry, though felt really good with the hug, was more worried that they're falling, literally.
"Pearl! What are---!"

He wasn't able to finish when Pearl landed her lips on the alicorn's.
Somehow, all of his worries melted away, and returned the kiss.
No experience in romance, they both let instinct take over, until they felt the water around them.

They slowly parted their lips, smiling at each other.
They then slowly swam up to the surface, and Henry gasped for air.
He then stared at the lovely face beside him.

"You...are crazy..."
He whispered with a smile.

Pearl chuckled.

---

Aurora and Midnight were still spying on the two ponies behind the bush.
Aurora was feeling envious at the scene, where the alicorn and the sea pony sat beside each other, both staring at the horizon.
Midnight was resting his head on one of his hoof, looking bored as he slowly ate some leaves of the bush.

Henry was now sure he's in love...with a sea pony.
His notebook is wet, but he didn't care. His attention was on them both, staring the horizon, his wing around the sea pony's back.
Pearl was resting her head on the alicorn's shoulder, smiling, feeling safe and secure.

But they both are worried about one thing; will they part soon?
Henry's a land pony, while Pearl's a sea pony.
They can't be together.

Pearl sighed, making Henry look at her.
"I'm sorry..."
She smiled at him.
"It's nothing..."

"You can tell me..."

"Well..."
She looked down.
"...you're going to leave soon..."

Henry felt her sadness.

"...and...I'll be alone...again..."

Henry has no idea how to deal with this problem...
...if only he didn't let himself fall for her, then they won't feel like this.
...but he couldn't change it now. He needs to face the consequences...

It's true, Henry needs to leave soon.
They can't be together.
Henry lives on land. Pearl couldn't live on land.
Pearl lives in the sea... Henry couldn't breath underwater, even if he change himself into a sea pony.

A tear ran down the sea pony's face.
"I don't...want to be alone again..."
She sniffed as she rubbed her teary eyes with her hoof.

Henry wrapped his hooves around her, giving her a comforting hug.
Henry absolutely has no idea how to deal with this kind of problem.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled.
She looked at the alicorn, brought her hoof behind his head, and slowly pulled it for their lips to meet.

Their lips soon parted.
It didn't help them solve their problem, but it did made them feel at ease a bit.
She smiled, her lovely smile made the alicorn smile back.

But then, Henry felt like he's lying at her.
He's not a pony. Should he tell her?
What if she hates him?
Well, they're going to part any time soon, so...
"I need to tell you something..."
Henry whispered, his voice filled with fear.

Pearl smiled as she brought her hoof on the alicorn's mouth.
"You're not a pony, I know..."
Henry was surprised. He blinked while her hoof was still on his mouth.
"We sea ponies can see through magic."
And she lifted her hoof from his mouth to his horn, and tapped it before she ran it down from his head, running through his mane, down to his shoulder.

"You...you knew...? Yet you still...?"

She simply nodded.
"I like you whether you're a black figure or a green pony."
She kissed his nose.
"It's what's on the inside that counts."

Henry smiled. That was a big load off of his chest, but now...
He wished there's a way for them to be together.
He sighed.

They stared at the horizon.
They're enjoying each other's company, for they know it won't last.
Pearl rested her head on the alicorn's shoulder.

"Can...I ask a question?"
Henry asked, without turning his gaze away fromt the horizon.
He felt Pearl nodded her head.
"...Where do...sea ponies live?"

"Under the sea..."
She chuckled.

"I know..."
Henry felt stupid for asking such a vague question.
"...I mean...where, exactly?"

"Well... we have little settlements on deep oceans... I think in comparison to land ponies, you call them towns..."

Henry tried imagining a town underwater.
Maybe the houses are made out of seashells and coral reefs?
Or maybe the sunken ships from long ago?

"So...why has nopony ever seen you sea ponies?"

"Well, I'm not sure... I didn't like history..."

Oh, they also have schools. Nice.

"...but...from what I remember, um...we hid ourselves because we're afraid of the power or something about the sky ponies...or something."

"But...even today?"

Pearl simply nodded her head.
"We are afraid to get hurt... That's why we hide."

"So... Why did you allow yourself to be seen by...me?"

Pearl chuckled.
"Well, I ah...don't know. When I first saw you, I felt weird. I wanted to swim away as far as I could, but...I kept on thinking about you."

Henry felt his cheeks blushed.

"I just don't really know. I mean, I've been secretly looking at land ponies, but I felt strange when I saw you."

"You mean...love?"
Henry was hoping so.

Pearl simply smiled.
"Nope..." her voice had a mix of teasing, to the alicorn's relief.

"Well, I don't love you either."
Henry played along as he rested his head on her head.
"But, I envy your courage to let me see you again."

"I was really afraid. But I'm glad I did it."

Glad...
But if she didn't, it would have been easier for them to part.
Henry would likely convince himself that he just imagined her.
Now, parting is difficult.

"Will...I ever see you again...?"
Henry slowly said, with a sad tone on his voice.

Pearl's smile faded.
So they'll really part ways after this.
But, he's willing to see her again...
Is that enough?
"I...think so."

'Think so?'

She removed herself from the alicorn's comfortable shoulder.
Both looked at each other.

"...can't you stay with me...?"
She asked, but she quickly shook her head.
"No...I'm sorry... What was I thinking."

Henry folded his wing back as he brought a hoof to her cheek.
"If there's a way, I'll take it."

She smiled.
"T-thanks. That means a lot but..."
She used her hooves to gently take his hoof off of her cheek.
"I shouldn't... I mean. You belong here, on land, I mean."
She took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"I really want you to be with me but...I don't want to lock you, with limited freedom..."
She brought her gaze down. Tears started to form on her eyes.
"...I don't want you to be like I was..."

'Like she was?'

Henry was about to give her a hug when she quickly hugged him, her head on his chest.
She started crying.
She was free now, and she found love, but she's setting him free, and it hurts.
"I don't want you to go..."

Henry hugged her, gently rubbing her back with his hoof.
Pearl doesn't want him to become what she was?
What does that mean?
But, it's not important now.
The sea pony doesn't want him to be trapped in a small space.
Henry exhaled sadly; his quiet way of sighing at something.

After a few minutes, Pearl stopped crying.
Henry felt that she was about to break the hug, so he removed his embrace from her, and she did the same.
She looked down, wiping her teary eyes with her hoof.

"I like you... I really do... Even if I don't know much about you..."
She softly said in between sobs.

Henry smiled weakly.
"Strangely... I feel the same towards you..."

Pearl looked at him with a smile.
She looked down, and let her head land on the alicorn's head.
"Well, at least we still have some time together..."

And they stayed quiet, staring at the blue horizon, allowing the ocean's breeze to comfort their hearts.
Henry doesn't want to part, but...
As Daisy's mother said, life goes on...
If it means he'll be seeing Pearl again or not, life indeed goes on.

Well, for now, he can sit with his lovely sea pony, watching quietly on the horizon.

Pearl slowly removed her head on the alicorn's chest.
"Want to go for a swim?"

Or, he could enjoy swimming with her.

----------
4. Under The Sea
----------

"I am so glad we left that place..."
Midnight yawned as he and Aurora walked back to the other ponies.

Aurora was following behind the unicorn, looking annoyed.
"You are such a joy-kill."

"Look, let's leave those lovey-doveys alone."
He said with a smile, a smile of relief.
He couldn't stand watching silly romance.

"Hmph..."
Aurora kicked the sand, and continued walking.
She was still not wanting to leave that place, but after Henry and Pearl started to go swimming, Midnight took that chance to leave, using his magic to drag her with him.
"Why didn't you just left me there?"

"Look kid, you're still too young for those kind of things."

"And you're old enough for it?"

"Well, yeah..."

Aurora smiled evilly.
"You're probably right, but you're sure not good at it."

Midnight shot an angry look at her.
"Hey, watch it, kid."
The unicorn returned his gaze to their destination.
"There's a reason why I don't put myself in a relationship."

"Oh?"
Aurora was curious.
"Do tell."

"Er..." Midnight suddenly felt sad.
"It's...something I don't want to talk about..."

Aurora wanted to ask why, but the tone the unicorn used made her decide not to ask instead.
She could relate however. There are things in life that one shouldn't share with one another, if they don't feel like talking about it.

"Still..." she slowly said.
"That doesn't explain why you flirt a lot."
She teased.

"Zip it, kid."
Midnight replied, annoyed.

"You even flirted Miss Cheerilee during her class!"

"I said zip it!"
Midnight hissed, trying to stop himself from looking back to her to hide his blushing cheeks.

That was when he was delivering a letter to her and---why is he thinking about it?

---

"So..."
Henry said while he and the sea pony where swimming, their heads above the sea level.
"There are sea ponies who could use magic, and some couldn't?"

"Uh-huh. Like myself, I couldn't use magic."
She replied cheerfully, while circling around her alicorn.
"But at least I could swim faster than those who could do magic."

Henry smiled as he compared it to the land ponies.
Earth ponies are stronger and faster than unicorns.
Now that he thought about it, maybe ponies are divided into three races: sky, land and sea.
Winged ponies have magic users and non-magic users, although alicorns are truly rare.
Land ponies have earth ponies and unicorn ponies.
So maybe sea ponies have both as well.

Henry was brought back to reality when he felt a soft kiss on his cheek.

Pearl parted her lips from the alicorn's blushing cheeks.
"You think too much."
She smiled.

"S-sorry... I tend to do that a lot..."
He laughed weakly.

"Oh, hey, I know..."
Pearl stopped in front of the alicorn, making him stop swimming as well.
"Want me to show you the beauty of the sea?"

"I'd like that."
Henry nodded.

The sea pony smiled before she turned her back on him.
"Grab on..."
She softly said, blushing slightly.

Henry brought his hooves around the blue sea pony's neck, making her blush even more.
Hopefully, the alicorn wouldn't notice.
"O-okay... A d-deep breath..."
He'll notice for sure...

Henry chuckled a bit before he took a deep breath.
Afterwards, he allowed the sea pony to dive, bringing himself with her.
He used his magic to lock his glasses in place, and he was able to see the beauty of the sea.

She swims fast, must faster than what both expected.
She doesn't want him to see all of these boring starfishes and shells and rocks lying around.
No, she wants to show him the real beauty of the sea.
She continued to swim a few hooves above the sea floor.

After a minute, Henry looked up, and saw the surface of the sea was too far above.
He could only hope that Pearl could swim up as fast as she is swimming now.

The blue sea pony finally slowed her pace.
"We're here."
Pearl said, her voice sounded strange under the sea, but was still lovely to the alicorn's ears, nonetheless.

Henry looked at the sea floor to witness in front of his eyes the magnicifent art of the sea.
Corals of different colors stood like towers.
Giant clamps, lazily lying on the floor.
Schools of different fishes, swimming above them.
Other sea creatures, doing their habitual tasks.
Pearl suddenly stopped after she startled a flouder in front of her. It angrily swam away, to the couple's amusement.
Three sea turtles swam above them.
And to the alicorn's horror, he spotted a large white shark swimming towards them.
He tried informing the sea pony.

"Relax, he won't bite."
Pearl chuckled.

The shark was getting closer, and the alicorn could only close his eyes, awaiting for...nothing...
He opened his eyes to see the shark was gone.
He turned to the opposite direction, and saw the shark swimming its merry way.

"See? I told you he won't bite."
Pearl laughed a bit as Henry gave a very mental relieved sigh.

With the shark out of his worry, he returned his gaze on the wonderful aquatic scene.
As much as he adored the world under the sea, his lungs are starting to hurt.
He nuzzled his nose on her nape, which tickled her a bit.

"Hey, stop that... Oh! Out of air? Okay."
And she quickly swam upward.

Henry took some air as soon as he was out of the water.
Now that he's okay, he settled down on staring at the beautiful blue face in front of him.

"So, what did you think?"
Pearl asked.

"It was lovely."
Henry smiled, nodding his head.
He then brought his hoof to her head, slowly dragging it down on her mane down to her neck.
"...but not as lovely as you..."
And he admitted, it was cheesy, but it was full of love.

The sea pony blushed, holding his hoof with her own.
"Thanks..."

She slowly leaned her head towards his for their lips to meet.
She wrapped her hooves around him, and the alicorn did the same.

They parted after they heard heavy flapping sounds.
They both turned their heads to the source, and they found a young orange pegasus pony flying a few hooves away.

"Eew..."
She said as Pearl quickly swam behind the alicorn to hide herself.
"Okay... From afar, you two looked really sweet, but this close, bleach..."
Aurora stuck her tongue out.

"Sorry..."
Henry shyly smiled at the pegasus.
He turned to the sea pony.
"Pearl, this is my niece, Aurora."

Pearl submerged herself underwater.
Only her eyes and her upper head were visible.

"Er..."
Henry then turned to the pegasus.
"Aurora, this is Pearl."

"Hi Pearl!"
She cheerfully greeted his uncle's marefriend.

The blue sea pony slowly showed her head.
"Um...hi..."
She slowly swam behind the alicorn.

"Oh, hey, uncle, everyone's already preparing..."
Her smile faded after remembering what it would mean.
"...to...go..."

Henry was saddened by this fact.
It was time for them to part.
Wait, why does Aurora also feel the same?

"Aurora... Why are you saddened by this?"

The pegasus scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly.
"Well, uh... Midnight and I kinda...stalked you..."

Henry blinked.

"So uh...we kinda...um...found out about your...marefriend...as a...maremaid..."
She quietly continued, feeling guilty that she stalked her uncle.

"Promise not to tell..."
Pearl suddenly said, still hiding behind the alicorn.

Aurora nodded her head.
"I promise, uh, Pearl, right? And don't worry. I'll make sure to shut Midnight up!"
She saluted them.
"So, uh, I'd best be going back. Wait for you at the beach."
And she flew off.

Henry stared at the direction where she was heading, and he found himself quite a distance from the beach.

"She seemed...nice..."
Pearl quietly said.

Henry smiled at her.
"Yeah, she is."

"Um...so..."
Pearl was looking sad.
"...this is goodbye?"

Henry was sad hearing those words.
"Not yet..."
He smiled weakly.
"You still need to put me back where you took me."

Pearl laughed weakly.
"Hahah... What if I don't?"

Henry closed his eyes, tilting his head to the sky.
"Then I guess I'm stuck here."

"Don't worry..."
Pearl smiled.
"...I'll make sure that shark will accompany you."

"Please no!"
Henry immediately looked at her with a worried expression.

Pearl simply laughed.
"You're cute when you're startled."
She then turned her back on him.
"But I'll take you back..."
She slowly said, her smile evaporated.

Henry slowly wrapped his hooves around her neck.

"But...I want this moment to last so... I'll swim slower."

Henry rested his head on her nape.
"Whatever makes you happy."
He smiled, making the sea pony blush as she swam.

----------
5. Goodbye...For Now
----------

Midnight and Aurora sat on the beach, blankly staring at the setting sun.
Miss Cheerilee and the other ponies already left to PonyVille.

Midnight was starting to get irritated from all this waiting.
Aurora was simply humming a random tone.

Finally, they heard a faint stroke of water.
Turning their heads towards the source, they saw Henry and Pearl on the shore.
Henry freed the sea pony from his embrace and walked beside her, enjoying a few more moments with each other, staring at the sunset.

Midnight sighed in frustration.
This would mean he'll have to wait a few more minutes, plus, he has to watch them, or not.
He lied down on the sand, closing his eyes.
Aurora was once again loving the scene of the couples.
She leaned on the annoyed Midnight.

Pearl rested her head on the alicorn's shoulder, while Henry rested his on her head.
They both want each other.
Both doesn't want to part.
But both accepted the sad truth.

While they were slowly swimming to the beach, Henry told her that he's a writer.
His first book became popular, and he's already writing on a second book.
Now, he has an idea of the third book; Daring Do And The City Under Water.
He wants to express his discovery of the beauty of the sea, and his love for a certain sea pony.
Pearl liked the idea.

Pearl had told him the reason why she was here.
Ever since she swam away from home, she stayed here in Seasaddle Beach.
There is a cave underwater, where she lives, all by herself.

If they're going to part today, it would be best to set out the sea pony's burden, so at least, she would feel a bit at ease.
She doubted at first, but, it sounded a good idea.
She doesn't want to add another burden in her heart.

---

I was born in Coral Edge. It's a faraway settlement from Seasaddle Beach.
Surrounded by large coral reefs, and homed by a large number of sea ponies, both fish-tailed ponies like me, and the magic-using seahorse-tailed ponies.
I lived with my parents, and we were, in sea pony statistics, the richest sea ponies in the entire ocean.
You could say I could have anything I wanted. Yes, I can have what I want, but I couldn't get what I need...
My parents were always so busy.
Ever since I grew myself a conscience, I never actually spent half an hour with them...
Though they're my parents, I feel like I don't know them.
I don't even know if they loved me.

As for my education, I was educated at home.
My tutor wasn't the nicest sea pony around, but she's very patient.

One day though, I think it was three year ago, my parents came home early with a male sea pony of my age, or maybe older by a few years than me.
I didn't understand why they sent my tutor home early for me to spend some "quality" time with a sea pony I don't even know, until dinner came.

They told me that I am to marry that sea stallion.
An arranged marriage.
They said that it would give me a great future.
The said stallion is the son of the third richest sea ponies in the ocean.

Marrying someone was a dream come true for sea mares.
I liked the idea at first, and the wedding was a few months away.

But, the more I spent some time with him, the more I started hating him...
He doesn't like my long hair. He doesn't like it if I do things wrong.
He doesn't like it if I look down when he's talking.

...and I think you get the idea...
...I could tell everything but...

...anyway, instead of liking him, I grew to not want to see him again.
I told my parents about it, but they told me to adjust to the stallion's standards.
They told me to try my best to be the "perfect" mare for him.

I couldn't go against my parents, so I listened to them and tried my best.
I did everything the stallion wanted me to be.

But the more I tried to be perfect for him, the more I felt...imprisoned...
Like I was his personal pet eel.

I told my parents I couldn't live like someone I wasn't, but they didn't listen...
My own parents wants me to be someone I'm not.

They never let me out, they never gave me love, and then they won't let me who I am...
...it was too much.

Then one night, when all ponies were sleeping, I did the only thing I could think of...
...I swam away.

No idea of the world outside my home was terrifying, but I kept on swimming.
I knew that if I stop, or swim back, my life would be a mess.

I didn't want money. I never wanted a perfect life.
All I wanted was for someone to love me as who I am...

...and I found this place.
A quiet and peaceful place.

I've been living here, for three years...
...all by myself...

I knew that if someone spots me, either I'll get hunted, or I'll be sent back to Coral Edge.
So I stayed hidden...until I saw you...

I...don't know what came into me.
When I first saw you writing on the sand...I started to like you.
I saw you thrown to the sea, and I felt really worried.
So I quickly swam towards you.
I saw your glasses fell off, so I took it.

During that time, I was fighting my thoughts of either swim away or talk to you...
I knew that it would be risky if you saw me, but...
Something in me wants to talk to you.

---

Pearl removed her head from leaning on the alicorn's shoulder.
They both brought their gazes on each other.
"Well..."
She smiled, weakly, with teary eyes.
"...I guess, now, this is goodbye...?"

Henry sighed.
"I...guess so..."
He flashed a weak smile.
"But...I'll see you again, right? And please, don't say you think so..."

Pearl smiled, despite her tears flowing down her face.
"Fine... Then I won't..."

They slowly leaned towards each other, their lips finding the other.

Aurora squeeled silently, ignoring Midnight's loud snore.

After their lips parted, Pearl brought her hoof on his cheek.
"You better come back here."

"I promise."
This time, Henry will make sure that he will not break that promise.
"Maybe after I publish my second book, I'll come to visit."

"You better..."
And she blushed.
"Could...could I have your hat?"

Henry blinked.
His hat. He forgot about his hat.
He looked around, and saw Aurora and Midnight, meters away.
On their picnic basket was his hat.
Using his magic, he levitated his hat towards him, to Aurora's confusion.

Henry grabbed the hat with both his hooves, and slowly put it on Pearl's head, careful not to hurt her fin-like ears.

Pearl blushed even further.
"H-how do I look?"

"Honestly..."
Henry smiled.
"...you look weird."

They both laughed.
After their laughter subsided, they kissed each other once more.
After, they broke the kiss and Pearl quickly hugged him.

"I'll miss you."
Henry whispered as he returned the hug.
A tear ran down his face.
And he admitted to himself: he was officially in love.
All those novels and books about romance. At first he thought of them as rubbish or over-exagerrated.
But now, he understood every book and novel about romance.

"I'll miss you more."
Pearl slowly said after they broke their hug.
She sighed as she wiped her tears with her hoof.
"Well, I shouldn't keep you long..."
She looked at the two ponies meters away who were waiting for the alicorn.
One of them looked like he recently woke up.
"Some ponies are waiting for you."

Henry looked at them. Aurora was waving a hoof.
Midnight was rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah, they did waited for me, didn't they?"

They looked at each other, and after one quick kiss, they said their goodbyes.
Henry slowly walked towards the ponies waiting for him as Pearl slowly swam back to the sea.

After reaching the ponies, Henry looked back at the sea pony, who was waving her hoof goodbye at them.
Henry and Aurora waved back, while Midnight did so as well, in a bored manner.
Midnight was just glad they're heading back to PonyVille. He still needs to wake up early to deliver some mail.

And after Pearl was satisfied, she submerged under the sea, swimming swiftly with a smile and the alicorn's hat on her hold.

Henry stared at the quiet sea a few more minutes before they started heading back to PonyVille.

Maybe one day, they can be together, forever...

Chapter 07 - Warning Signs

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Chapter 7 - Warning Signs

"I couldn't believe how much I've missed you..."
A blue sea pony with fish-like tail said as she leaned herself comfortably on her beloved green alicorn's shoulder as they sat on the sandy shores of Seasaddle Beach, staring at the magnificent golden sunset on the horizon.
She wore a hat, previously owned by the alicorn, as she held one of the alicorn's hoof with her own.

"Neither would I..."
A green alicorn slowly said, wrapping one of his wing around the sea pony's back while he rested his head on the blue pony's head.
He too, was wearing an identical hat. Rarity made him another after he told her about his old one.
She squeeled and quickly started making him another hat.

It took Henry two months to finish writing the second book.
During those two months, Henry kept on visiting Seasaddle Beach every Sunday.

He managed to dry his wet notebook with his magic.
Though the ink were almost unreadable, he could still make out the words.
After all, he was the one who wrote them.

The season of autumn already came.
The wind has become cooler than when it was during summer, to the alicorn's delight.

Those two months were a bit difficult for the love-sick alicorn.
But he tried his best to fix himself to write his book.
Midnight has been busy with delivering some mail around PonyVille.
The majority of the letters are for Henry.
Aurora has kept herself busy as an assistant librarian.
She was already starting to be a natural at books.

Midnight and Aurora were getting along, with the usual arguing, and with Henry as their usual medium of breaking their argument.

Ponyville became a bit busy lately.
Autumn was the starting point for ponies to take a vacation.
Some go to PonyVille for a vacation, while some, who were working in other areas of Equestria, came back home to their families in PonyVille.
Pinkie Pie could barely manage giving parties to newcomers and returnees.
Rarity started to get busy as well. She received a number of orders. Despite her young age, she already created quite a name as a 'fashionista'.
AppleJack was as usual helping her family in Sweet Apple Acres in removing the dried fallen leaves of their apple orchard.
Fluttershy was busy helping her animal friends prepare for the winter season.
Rainbow Dash however, kept herself busy by helping AppleJack in Sweet Apple Acres, helping Fluttershy with the animals, or busy taking a nap on a nearby cloud.

On the quiet beach, there were no other ponies but them.
They have been sitting there for hours, simply enjoying each other's presence.
Having some small talk and a few kisses...or maybe a lot.

"Well, I'd best be heading back..."
The alicorn softly said near his lover's ear.
"The train will be leaving soon."

The blue sea pony was saddened.
It's still too early for her alicorn to leave.
But she shouldn't be a burden to him.
She softly smiled before they gave each other a kiss.
"Be safe..." she said after their lips parted.

Henry smiled.
"When I can save enough Bits," he kissed her forehead as he slowly brushed her mane.
"I'll build a house here, so we---"

Pearl brought her hoof on the alicorn's lips.
"I'd love that," she smiled, and then she frowned.
"But, would it be okay? You're leaving everything behind, for me?"

"Well, I may leave everything behind, but not forever."
He smiled at her.
"I could always visit PonyVille, that is, if you'd let me."

"Of course I'll let you."
She slightly laughed.

"Then it's settled then."
And another kiss.

Afterwards, they said their goodbyes.
Henry flew back to PonyVille as Pearl swam back to her cave.

----------
1. Gray Castle
----------

Henry woke up on a white comfortable bed inside the castle's dimly lit guest room.
He slowly rose up to a sitting position as he rubbed his eyes.

The room was, if he could still recall correctly, was the same in size as the room when he first woke up in the castle. The only difference however, is that outside the window, he could see the castle garden instead of the sky.
The darkgrey walls and ceiling hold nothing of interest.
A wooden table stood on the right side of the bed, where his hat and sidebag are.
There was a window on the right wall.
A wooden door on the left wall.

He blinked. It was still night time.
Well, he is still feeling a bit sleepy, so he brought himself back to bed, slowly remembering the day to put himself back to sleep.

---

He arrived in Canterlot a few hours before noon.
After a quick visit in his favorite bakery, he quietly walked his way towards the cemetery.
Spending some time in the quiet.
He talked to his beloved sister mentally, sharing the experiences he had in Manehattan, Talon Valley, and even under the sea.
He sighed as he tells her that he finally fell in love with a pony.
He then tells her that he's going to publish the second Daring Do book.

The air was cold, but he payed it no mind.

He wiped his eyes before a tear ran down his face.
And after saying goodbye, he headed to Canterlot Book Express.

As soon as he got inside, he was instantly given a warm welcome by the owner of the company himself.
He was excited to publish the alicorn (disguised himself as a pegasus)'s second book.

Afterwards, he was once again about to call an empty carriage when the purple filly unicorn spotted him, and called his attention.
Princess Celestia offered him a room in the castle.
He couldn't say no to the princess, so...

---

Henry once again woke up from a dreamless sleep.

He rose into a sitting position, and looked through the window.
Still night time? Is it really still night time?
Well, he is feeling excited for the book to be published.
Maybe that was making him not being able to sleep properly?
No, he's not feeling tired anymore.

He went out of bed and changed his looks as he used his magic to wear his hat and his sidebag.

He opened the door. As the door opened, what revealed on the other side horrified him.
The little Twilight Sparkle was grey and, not moving. She looked like she was about to open the door with a lot of force.

He poked her, but his hoof went through her.
Horrified, he took a step back. He quickly looked around, and touched the grey walls.
The walls are still solid.

He shook his head. He needed to figure this out.
He went outside, careful not to touch the filly. He wasn't sure of whatever damage he might give her, if possible.

He looked around the quiet and gloomy hallway.
Nopony was there. He looked back at the filly, still grey and unable to move.

He took a deep breath, exhaled, and walked towards the royal hall.

---

The door to the royal hall was locked. No matter how hard he tried to open it, both physically and magically, it didn't move. He'll have to go back and try the castle's gardens.

---

To his relief, the door to the garden was already open, though he couldn't move it.
Why was his room's door the only door he could open?
He shook the thought as he walked outside.
Sure enough, everything was gray, except for the darkblue evening sky.

He looked around. Royal guards were still standing tall, but all were gray.
He went to the nearest guard. He stared into his eyes, but he saw nothing but gray.

What is happening, he asked himself, but he received no answer.

Now that he was outside, he flew to the front of the castle.
Maybe he can open the door to the royal hall from there.

---

He was now above the castle's front yard. He was about to land when he noticed something...
He couldn't see anything beyond the castle's walls.
The buildings, the mountains... Nothing was beyond...

He slowly landed in front of the castle's large doors, where four royal guards stood, frozen in gray.

He tried to open the door, but just like before, the door didn't move.
He decided to fly around and see if there are any windows available for him to get inside the royal hall, but none was available.

He could try and smash through the used-to-be-colorful glass windows of the hall, holding important drawings of the history of Equestria.

But...

---

He smashed through one of the windows of the royal hall, but the shattered pieces all stopped in mid-air.
He used his magic to grab all the suspended pieces.
He dragged the sharp pieces down on the ground, near the wall.
He'll clean that up later.

He landed in front of the two royal seats, where he saw Princess Celestia, looking angry and seemingly preparing to attack, but attack who? Or maybe what?

He looked towards where the princess was facing, but saw nothing but the gray environment, and the large doors at the end of the hall.

He whispered the princess' name as he tried to wrap her around his brown magic, but he achieved nothing from it. He couldn't even manage to surround the princess with his magic. It was as if the princess was not a solid figure.

---

He flew outside from where he entered, and tried to fly beyond the castle walls.
But the instant he got over the walls, he was thrown back to the ground by a magical force of some sort.
He groaned in pain.
Never in his life was he thrown that fast. He saw the ground before him.
He left a nasty trail on it. Luckily, his sidebag absorbed most of the impact.
He'll need to ask Rarity to fix his bag later, if he gets out of here.

---

He was flying around for a few minutes, trying to figure out what is happening when he saw an open window on the highest tower of the castle.
Curious, he flew towards it.

Cautious, he looked what was inside first before going in.
It seemed like an abandoned storage room. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Convinced, he went inside.

Out of all the things, the first thing he noticed was the open door.
He wanted to get outside the room, but he decided to look around the room first.
Maybe he'll find something.

---

All he found was that this room was full of old worn-out books, rusted shields and spears, and other scientific junk; both around the room and inside old and dusty boxes.
He sighed as he went out of the door.

He found himself on a staircase spiralling down on the walls of the tower.
He jumped down on the center, and with his wings, he slowly got himself down to the next door, which was also open.

The first thing he noticed after he landed, was that the room beyond the slightly opened door was eluminated with light.
It wasn't gray light, but from a fire.
He quietly took a deep breath, exhaled, and prepared himself for whatever will be inside.
Without touching the door, he went inside quietly.

The room was lit by a number of torches (where their flames are moving normally) around the walls.
The room was full of bookshelves on each possible corners, large wide tables on the room, eating almost all walkable space.
On the tables were stuff related to scientific chemical experiment stuff, some books and papers.
What caught his attention the most was that this room seemed to be not affected by...whatever was happening that turn things gray.
He could even see and faintly hear the bubbles of some of the chemicals inside glass tubes.

On the opposite end of the room where he entered was another door, but it was closed.
He flapped his wings to get himself airborne and scanned the entire room, but he saw no one.

He slowly landed in front of the closed door, and brought his hoof to the doorknob to try to open it.
It was closed shut, like the other closed doors.

He sighed and turned around, only to be startled by the presence of a baby purple dragon floating right in front of his face.
The instant he saw the dragon eye-to-eye, his vision of the room started to turn gray, and he felt his body started to go numb, until his vision went black.

Henry Hoof, a changeling, disguised as a green alicorn pony, was frozen gray.
The levitating purple baby dragon giggled from the pony's horrified-and-petrified reaction.
It then floated towards the door behind the frozen alicorn, and, as if by magic, the door slightly opened for the dragon to go inside.

----------
2. Preparations
----------

"It's almost time..."

Somewhere, hidden in the darkness shadows, five figures stood in a circle.

"...are things in order?"
Asked a figure, shaped of a pony, with a pointed horn on his forehead.

The other four figures nodded their heads.

"Very good."
The pony sighed.
"Though it pains me to know that Silver String is no longer with us..."
Oddly, the pony's voice gave a hint of his age; a young teenaged filly.

"Yes, it is sad news..."
Another pony-figure said, his voice deep, and he followed it with a sigh.

"That reminds me..."
Said another one, with a quiet swirling water surrounding half of his body.
"...you said you already sorted things out with your visions."

"Have you forgotten, my friend?"
Said another one, his figure resembling that of a pony, but he's taller and has a sharper horizontal shape of his head.
"...he has told us about his vision."
He sighed.
"That on our next meeting, only five of us will be standing here again..."

The figure with a swirling torrent of water acted surprised.
He has completely forgotten about that small detail.
He lowered his head.
"I apologise... It seems my busy schedule of putting things in order has led me to forget such detail..."
He coughed, clearing his throat as he returned his gaze.
"It would seem that my old age is getting into me..."
He sighed.
"I certainly will miss the lad. His talent showed us quite a future for our plans."

The four looked at the unicorn pony.

"It is in the past now. The future is still clear, even without him."
The unicorn nodded his head.
He noticed the fourth of their member was busy in thought.
"What of you, doctor?"

"Ah, young lad."
Said a figure. His voice old and rusty. The visible outlines of his mane gives it a messy feel.
"I am flattered you have noticed my presence."
He bowed.
"My part of the plan worked perfectly. It'll only be a matter of time now."

The figure with a horizontal-pointed head smiled.
"Funny that you mentioned about time, yet it is not what we're after."

But the one with a swirling water finds this disturbing.
"...I still think we should get our hands on that..."

The unicorn-figure shook his head.
"You may be right, but it will not grant us victory."
He brought his hoof on his face, and lifted some of his hair out of his eyes.
"It took me years to see the future of available options. It was stressful."
He nodded his head.
"But after analyzing all possible course of actions, this will grant us a perfect chance."

"Flawless."
The pony with a deep voice said, flapping his wings twice.

"...but..."
The one with the swirling water said.
"...is there a chance, not that I'm implying, that our plans will fail?"
He received all the ponies' eyes.
"...I do not want to waste all our time and effort to simply fail."
He shook his head a bit.
"I trust you completely, but, if there's a slight chance of failing, I would like to destroy that chance."

For a while, it was quiet.
Only the soft water was heard from the swirling vortex.
Finally, the young-voiced unicorn pony spoke.

"...indeed, there is."

All except for the pony surrounded by the vortex of water gasped soundlessly.

"...and that is why we have gathered them."

The figure with the messy mane laughed.
"You mean, we still have to gather them, right?"

He received the other's nodding heads, but the pony with the young voice shook his.

"I have seen the flow. They will be gathered."

"It's sad to be reunited with her like this..."
The pony around the vortex sighed.

"Relax, it's for the best."
The winged pony replied.
"It's not like we're going to kill her."

Somehow, the figure around the vortex lifted his head up with hope, but after noticing the pony with a young voice lowered his, his hope crashed.

"...she will die, but not at our hands..."

"...is there a way to save her?"

The pony shook his head slowly.
"...no."

"It's just one mare."
The messy-maned pony chimed.

The figure around the vortex quickly took his gaze at him with an angry look.
"You'd best watch your mouth."

"The conflict between the two of you is also ahead."
The four figures turned to him.
"...the end result is important. Telling you about it will change the future I saw."
He sighed.
"For now, it's best for the both of you to do your part."

"One of us will die?"
Asked the messy-mained pony.
"Excellent! Don't care about any of you, but these old bones need their rest."
He said cheerfully, receiving the three figures' shocked expressions.

"You're actually looking forward to die?"
Asked the winged pony.

The receiver simply shrugged.
"Hey, no use to fear death when it'll come to you eventually."
He coughed a bit, to clear his throat.
"Besides, it's best to live each day to the fullest!"

"Tell me why you're here again...?"
Asked the winged pony.

"To do my part, of course. Although the plan is painful to bear at first, but the end-result would benefit a lot of ponies."
He nodded his head.
"As a scientist, sacrifices is common to achieve something great."

"You mean, 'sacrifices are common'..."
The figure inside the vortex corrected.

"Oh, hush, you swimming dictionary."

Suddenly, they heard loud flapping sounds from above them.
The five broke their circle to welcome the newcomer; a dragon, seven-times the height of a regular stallion.
The dragon's scaly color blended with the shadow of the area, it's red crimson eyes glowed despite the little amount of light available.

"Late as always..."
Sighed the winged pony.

The dragon landed as quietly as it could.
It took a few steps back before he went on all four, and lied down on its belly to get itself with the others' view.
The dragon said nothing.

"It's time for phase two..."
The unicorn pony with a young voice said.

The four nodded their heads, and their outlines faded into the darkness.
The dragon stared at the remaining pony.

"Where is Chrysalis?"
Asked the pony.

The dragon simply closed its eyes as it slowly shook its head.

The pony sighed.
"...as I saw it..."

----------
3. Second Phase
----------

The sun was about to rise when Midnight woke up.
As he yawned, he rubbed his eyes. After, he stood up from his flat cardboard bed and stretched his body as he yawned once again.
He stood out of his cardboard bed and he jogged in place, stimulating a normal blood flow around his body.
He stopped after he heard a familiar female voice calling his name from outside.

He walked to his only window, pushed it open, and poked his head out to see who it was.

At first, there was none, until a big orange head appeared right in front of him.
"HAI!"
Aurora greeted with a sheepish grin, sending the startled unicorn back on his tail hitting the wooden floor.

"Aurora! You scared the sh...crap out of me!"
Midnight yelled as the young pegasus chuckled.

"Good morning too, grumpy face."

"Not funny..."
Midnight sighed as he went back on his hooves.
"Why are you up early, anyway?"

"Oh nothing..."
She cheerfully said as she worked her way inside the unicorn's room through the open window.
"Just checking to see if my favorite unicorn's already up."
Midnight arched an eyebrow as Aurora got on the floor, fixing herself.
Aurora laughed. "I was kidding y'know."

"Yes you were..."
Midnight replied sarcastically.

"Anyway, I came to get the keys of the library before you head out."
She started looking around his room.
"I don't want to look for you like what happened yesterday."

Yesterday, Aurora caught him flirting two mares at once in PonyVille market.
Taking this as a chance to enjoy herself, she quickly hugged the startled unicorn and started lying about their fun activity the previous evening was a blast.
Midnight's cheeks burned furiously.

Midnight sighed.
"The keys are downstairs..."
'How are you going to ruin my day this time...?'

---

"Good morning, beautiful."
Flame whispered to his beautiful beloved mare on her ear after the soft sun's rays landed on his eyelids.

Ember moaned as she pulled the blanket to cover her head.
"Five more minutes..."

Flame smiled as he rose up from the bed, slowly walking to the rear-end of their bed, and pulled the blanket, revealing a sleeping dark-blue maned yellow earth pony.

"Wake up, sleepy head."
Flame said as he walked to Ember's side of the bed.
"The grapes ain't gonna pick themselves, y'know."
He nuzzled his nose on the sleeping earth pony's neck, tickling her in the process.

"Okay, okay... I'm up..."
Ember yawned as she opened her eyes.
She rose up and walked out of the bed, being assisted by her colt.

"Careful now."
Flame said as he held her hoof.
"Don't wanna wake the baby just yet."

"What baby?"
Ember teased. She's pregnant for a few months now.
"If you don't want it to wake up, then put me back to sleep."
She slowly said, smiling at Flame.

"Now now, sleepin' in isn't all healthy."
Flame laughed a bit as Ember rolled her eyes.

Ember took her hoof back from Flame's hold.
"I can take care of myself just fine, Flamey."
And she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she walked to their room's door.

Flame quickly dashed to the door before her, and opened it for her.

"Flame, really..."

"Aw, com'on... At least let me help you."

"Faaayyynnn..."
She said, a bit annoyed.
She doesn't really want Flame to assist her in everything, just because she's pregnant.
It makes her feel, helpless.

---

The calm Seasaddle Beach was as peaceful as it was.
A lone blue sea pony wearing a white hat was busy collecting some seaweeds on the sea floor.
After she was satisfied, she quickly swam towards the shore.

She never actually spend her time eating breakfast on the shore, but it all changed ever since she met the green alicorn.
As she sat there, slowly eating the seaweed, she remembered the times she spent with the alicorn.

Her love to him was enough to disregard the intimidating alicorn's true black figure.
She love everything about him, and truly wished she could go spent each day with him.
She yearns for the day the alicorn can finally start to build a home on the shore.
If that were to happen, then they could finally be together for the rest of their lives.

As dreamy as the thought is, she's feeling a bit sad.
Sad at the fact that she's somehow locking the alicorn in this place.

If only she was born as another pony, then maybe they could truly be together.
But, if she was born as a different pony, would she be able to meet her handsome and loving alicorn?

There might be a chance, but she doubts that she'll fall to him the same way she fell the first time she saw him.

She smiled. At least she knows she loves him, and he loves her back.

She sighed, wishing the days will go fast so Sunday will come quickly.

She ran out of seaweeds, and she still feels a bit hungry.
All this thinking must have made her hungrier than she thought.

She went back to the water to get herself some more.

---

A dusty street of Manehattan was abandoned by all life.
The building's windows were shattered, carriages were flipped over, some destroyed.
Traffic lights fell on the cracked roads.

Police ponies hid themselves behind a corner.
Fear was visible in their faces, but they're determined to do their duty this time.
All the need was the right opportunity.

On the center of the dead-silent street stood two ponies, furiously facing each other.

One, the city's most wanted crime-fighting vigilante. Her mask was already ripped in half, revealing half of her face. Her cape was burned, her outfit was dirty and bloody.
She's hurt, tired, and severely wounded, but she's not going to give up this fight.

The other was a golden-coated unicorn, enveloped by his own fierce magic, levitating himself from the cemented road.
His eyes glowed in gold, his tail and mane danced as if he had his own wind blowing them. His face full of rage.
Unlike his foe, he has no wounds, but he's tired.

For a while now, he has killed quite a number of ponies who are wanted by the law.
Now, he was one of them, but he doesn't care. He'll rid this city from criminals like the black pony that is standing before him.

Of all the ponies he has faced, BatMare has been the toughest one.
Her lack of magic made him confused of her ability to withstand almost any of his magic.

Of all the criminals the mare has faced, this one's the most frightening of them all.
Her skills were pushed to her limits, but she was still unable to bring the criminal down.
She will not lose.

---

"...we need to remove those who would be able to stand up against us..."

---

Midnight and Pearl were seated outside SugarCube Corner, enjoying their breakfast.

Ember and Flame were busy picking the grapes hanging down on their garden.

Pearl is enjoying her seaweed as she sat on the sandy beach, staring at the blue horizon.

BatMare jumped to the side on time before she got herself evaporated from Daybreak's mighty blast of golden-yellow magic beam.

---

"...we need to remove those who would be able to stop us..."

---

"Hello, young one."

Midnight and Aurora turned their heads to the source of the old and rusty voice.
It was from an old black earth pony with a very white and messy mane and tail.

"My name's Doctor Psycho and---"

Aurora tried her best to hold her laughter, while Midnight bursts in laughs.

"Y-yes, well, anywho, I'm here to deliver a message."

Aurora glanced at Midnight angrily, shutting the unicorn up.
He wiped his eyes from the tears that had formed.
Aurora then faced the earth pony.

"Hello doctor."

"Yeah, hi doc."
Midnight chuckled a bit.

"Well, anyway, to the point."
He coughed to clear his throat.
"I'm here to collect this lovely pegasus here."

---

Flame and Ember have gathered enough grapes in their baskets.
As they turned, they saw a tall white pegasus stallion with long black mane and tail.

"Howdy!" Flame greeted the pegasus, despite feeling intimated by the pegasus' muscular body and scary look.
"Can I interest you with some grape fruit or grape wine?"

"Actually..."
The pegasus smiled coldly, enough to bring some shivers to the couples.
"...I came to deliver a message..."

"O-oh? A message?"
Flame said, his fear a bit visible now.

The pegasus nodded.
"I'm here to collect an earth pony by the name of Ember."

---

Pearl was enjoying the quiet melody of the sea when suddenly, a small whirlpool started forming a few hooves in front of her.
Curious, she was about to jump back into the water when a pony so familiar appeared in the center of the whirlpool.
She gasped. "D-dad...!?"

A blue-green seahorse-tailed seapony slowly nodded his head, a great sadness painted on his face.
"Pearl... It's good to see you again..."

Pearl just sat there, frozen in shock.

Pearl's father looked at his daughter in great sadness.
He does not want to hurt his daughter.

---

BatMare was once again slammed onto the road. This time however, she could no longer manage to stand up.

Daybreak slowly levitated towards the mare as he began to envelop her with his yellow magic.

BatMare could only stare at her foe's death-yellow glowing eyes.
She was at his mercy. One more, and she's sure her life will escape from her grasp.
Her breathing was shallow and slow. Her vision was starting to blur.
Her aching body was too much for her mind to inform her how hurt she was.

The police ponies have finally started to run at them, with their magic already focusing on the threat at hand, but Daybreak easily sent out a wave of magic, enough to push them back with unimaginable force, knocking them unconscious before they could get back to the ground.

"I'll rid this city from criminals like you..."
Daybreak whispered after he was finally beside his pathetic foe.

The mare closed her eyes slowly, awaiting for her fate.
Daybreak lifted her higher than him, preparing to slam her one more time on the ground.

A shadow flew past him, and the source landed a few hooves in front of the golden pony.
Before him was a brownish-red griffin, staring straight at him.

"Daybreak, correct?"

The levitated mare managed to turn her eyes to the source of the voice.
If that griffin's here to save her, then thank Celestia, but if not then never mind.

Daybreak said no word, nor made any action.

The griffin nodded his head.
"Right. Anyway, I have come to deliver a message..."

Still no response from the golden unicorn.

The griffin sighed.
"I am here to collect a yellow unicorn..."

---

"...whatever they will do, they will not escape the already written lines of their destiny..."

---

The black earth pony immediately installed a weird device around his left hoof, and immediately fired at the startled pegasus.

"Aurora!"
Midnight shouted as he tried to stop whatever with his magic, but it was of no use.

Aurora was hit by a thin ray, and instantly turned her gray and petrified.

The ponies who witnessed the event ran away in panic while some called the police.

The doctor immediately pressed some buttons before focusing the device at the pegasus, and soon, Aurora was absorbed to the device.

Midnight, fueled by confusion and anger, ran towards the old earth pony.

Henry thought him about respect, but he won't apply that now.
He pointed his fiercely glowing horn at the offender as he ran with his might, but in a flash, the black earth pony became white and vanished just before Midnight could land his attack.
He stopped, leaving a trail on the ground. He quickly turned around, just in time to witness a white flash and the doctor was back on his spot, unharmed.

"I'd say, I'm impressed."
He laughed as he turned to the unicorn, managing to catch a glimpse of police ponies running towards him from a distance.
"I never would have thought my experiment would be flawless!"

"Give me back Aurora!"
Midnight demanded, his horn still glowing fiercely.

The black earth pony shrugged.
"Get her if you can."
And with a flash of white light, the pony was gone, leaving the furious unicorn cursed his name.

---

"...I have studied every possible outcome of different courses to take. And I am confident that no one will be able to stop us..."

---

The white pegasus instantly appeared in front of the pale-red earth pony, and with a mighty punch, Flame was out cold, leaving Ember to shed tears of fright.

Managing to snap herself back, she quickly ran to her lover, but she was stopped by a strong hoof holding her neck, and lifting her off the ground.
She swung her hind hoof, managing to land a kick on the pegasus' side, but he was unaffected.

"I'd suggest you cooperate if you don't want your foal to die inside of you."
He grinned, to the mare's horror.

The pegasus was about to fly when Flame gave him a powerful double back-kick, managing to drop the mare back to the ground.

"Run Ember!"
Flame shouted as he quickly got back to his hooves.

Ember ran away as fast as she can while Flame docked to dodge a powerful punch.
He then rolled to his side to avoid a powerful stomp, but before he could regain his momentum, the pegasus gave the earth pony his own version of a back-kick, throwing him back on the ground.

"Strong..."
The pegasus grinned as he spat blood out of his mouth.
"...but not strong enough..."
He said as he flapped his wings and gave chase, leaving the unconscious earth pony lying on the ground.

---

"...I have gathered the most talented ponies in all over the world."

---

"Pearl," the blue-green musculin sea pony slowly said as he gave chase to his daughter.
"please, don't make me do this...!"

Pearl did not answer, and continued to swim as fast as her fins could do.
She could not believe her father would show up just to ask her to come with him.
She could almost not believe her father was faster than her.
And no matter how much she tried to lose him, he was still behind her tail.

"Pearl! Listen to me!"
He shouted. He could use his magic to stop her, but he couldn't do it.
He couldn't use his magic against her own daughter.

Ever since she left, he began to realize how much he cared about her.
Now however, the world needs her to be gone for a moment.
It's for the best. It's for his daughter to have a brighter and peaceful world to live in.

"Pearl!"

"Go away!"
Pearl finally shouted back. She picked up a rock and threw it at her pursuer without slowing her speed.

Her father however, managed to reroute the rock with his magic.
He swallowed a lump of guilt. There is no other way to stop her daughter.
His horn started to glow.

Pearl was about to pick another rock when she suddenly felt strange all around her.
And in an instant, her vision went black.

'Henry...'

Pearl crashed on the seafloor, leaving a long trailmark on the floor.
She was unconscious, to her father's sadness.

---

"...Not even the princesses of the seven kingdoms of the world could stop us."

---

Daybreak quickly removed his grip on the black-suited mare as he quickly shifted all his power on the griffin.

The griffin however, spreads his wings, breaking the yellow magic that was surrounding him, sending a shock of pain in the yellow unicorn's head.
The sudden pain made him lose his magic around him, making him land on the ground, to his surprise.

The griffin took flight, and summoned a fierce flame from his mouth, burning the golden unicorn.

The flames vanished, revealing a burned unicorn, still on his hooves, eyes glowing golden-yellow.

Daybreak sent a massive bolt of magic energy towards the griffin, but it was easily evaded.
The griffin swiftly worked his way towards the unicorn, giving him an uppercut.

Daybreak was sent flying, but not unconscious.
While the two were still in the air, Daybreak blasted another massive beam of magic energy, and this time, the griffin was not prepared to dodge it.

The griffin cried in pain, to Daybreak's delight as he enveloped himself with his own magic once again to levitate himself, cancelling gravity from slamming him on the ground.

The griffin recovered his flight and immediately flew towards the unicorn.
Daybreak blasted a beam of magic, and the griffin countered with a fierce flame.
Both their attacks collided, and soon, a huge explosion.

---

"...We will change this world."
The pony said as he turned to face the dragon.
"...phase three."

The dragon roared with all its might, rumbling the dark area they were in.
It stretched its strong wings, and flapped to make itself airborne.

----------
4. Aftershock
----------

Henry woke up feeling horrible and found himself lying on a gray floor. He saw his glasses and his hat on the floor in front of him.
He groaned as he brought himself on his four feet. With his magic, he wore his hat and glasses back.

Now that he's up, he found himself on the same, yet gray room where he saw that terrifying purple dragon face to face.
Now that he thought about it, the dragon looked like...Twilight's pet baby dragon...Spike...

He looked around, and sighed in relief. At least the dragon was no longer around.
He turned around to try the door again, only to make himself fall into a sitting position with horror after he saw his own disguise in front of him, gray.

"T-that's..." he managed to stand back up, though still shaking from fright.
He looked at his gray disguise, looking quite terrified.
"...me...?"
He slowly touched the face of the gray alicorn, and his black forefoot went through.
He quickly brought his foot back in disbelief.

He shook his head to calm himself. It seemed to work.
He then concentrated his magic around him to disguise himself as the green alicorn, but he failed.
Startled, he tried again, only to achieve the same result.

Confused as he stared at his gray disguise in front of him, he formulated some thoughts, and finally settled on a theory that the 'Alicorn Henry Hoof' no longer exist, for the time being.
If the dragon can indeed wipe creatures' existence, why was he still here?
As he thought about it, he noticed the door was now slightly opened.
Probably, the dragon opened it, and he's not going inside that door only to face the terrifying dragon again.

He instead turn around and slowly started to walk as he was deep in thought, until his attention landed on pieces of paper on the table, each were stacked in a messy way.
With his foot, he tried to separate the papers, but he couldn't move them either.
Sighing, he instead started to read the paper on top of the stack.

"Research On Space and Time"

Space and time, he wondered.
He wanted to learn more, but that was the only words written on the paper.
Eager to find out more, he searched the entire room for other papers, but found none.
The lifeless and frozen gray room started to terrify him.

He needed to calm himself, so he closed his eyes and started breathing deeply.
Soon, he got himself a bit calm and opened his eyes, staring at his gray disguise.

If his disguise, somehow, saved him from being frozen, then he needs to disguise himself again.
He thought of disguising himself as a pegasus pony, and so he concentrated his magic energy to his disguise, but it failed.
Confused, he decided to try and be a unicorn, but it failed as well...
An earth pony? He tried, but failed once more.

Did he lost his ability to disguise himself?
He tried to be a Diamond Dog, but failed again.

He's starting to feel fear once again.
How will he save himself the next time he'll see that dragon again?

Suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, he heard a faint and long yawn coming from the door behind his gray disguise.
He finally started to grow some courage, despite feeling scared.
He slowly went to the door, and slowly poked his head to see what was on the other side.

He saw yet another set of spiralling staircase leading down.
'Well', he thought, he is on the highest tower of the castle.

He jumped to the center and used his wings to slow his fall to the surface floor.
Once again, an open door was in front of him.
He took deep breaths to calm himself down, and finally poked his head slowly to see what was on the other side.

This time, he saw a large yet gray library.
This must be the castle's royal library. He quietly walked out of the door, and found himself on a raised platform, much higher than the very high bookshelves occupying the room filled with large numbers of books and quills.
In front of him was a staircase leading down to the floor. A gray thick carpet was lying from the end of the staircase to the opposite end of the room, ending on the two large double doors.

In the middle of the room, he saw the baby purple dragon, curled on the carpet, sleeping.
Right next to the dragon was an empty potion bottle, lying on its rounded side, resting on the carpet.

'Okay, so the dragon's asleep...' to his relief.

Henry thought...
So far, the dragon can float, and can freeze anything to gray.
He, on the other hand, can...blast beams, lift stuff, fly, and...he's doomed.
The dragon was yawning as it slowly stood on its two feet.

Wait, he can use his puppeteer skill.

The dragon stood up on its two small feet, its back on the changeling.
Henry immediately casted some magic around the dragon as soon as it was about to turn around.

The dragon stopped, to his relief.
Now, he can once again feel his puppet.

He remembered the gray unicorn managed to make him change his disguise.
Maybe the gray unicorn used his magic to get inside the changeling's head.

He could try to use it on the dragon.
Maybe he could reverse everything than has been happening here.

He'll try to make sense out of all of this later.

He managed to make the dragon float, though he has no idea how he did it.
Maybe it has something to do with that potion?
No, no time to think about anything else.

What else...
The dragon can open doors.
We flew and landed behind the dragon.
He levitated the empty potion bottle and put it inside his damaged sidebag.
Afterwards, he slowly walked forward as he controlled the dragon to hover forward towards the tall double doors.

---

Midnight and Aurora's mother immediately took the train to Canterlot.
They knew their changeling friend is there. Maybe he can help.

---

Flame, after recovering his consciousness, immediately got himself back on his hooves, only to drop himself back to the ground after he felt pain around his body.
But he has no time to lie down.
He slowly went back on his hooves.

"Flame!" Shouted a familiar young voice.
Ember's brother ran towards the beaten earth pony, and assisted him.
"W-what happened?"

"I don't know... Ugh..."
They slowly went back inside the wooden house.
Just then, Ember's and Flame's parents were seen in the distance, running towards them.
"Ember... Where's Ember...?"
The young filly didn't respond.
"She...no..."

The young filly nodded with great sadness.
Tears were already forming on his eyes.

---

The police ponies slowly regained their consciousness.
Some have already managed to get back on their hooves, and started to search the streets for any sign of the two criminals, but all they found where the leftover effects of a fierce battle.

BatMare finally allowed herself to rest.
She lied down on top of the tall buildings on the street.

She breathed deeply, and although she hated herself for losing, she thanked Celestia she was still alive and breathing, and currently suffering from a severe aching body.

She knew who that griffin was, but she has no idea why he took the yellow unicorn with him.
She needs to find the reason, but she first need to recover her strength.
It would be a while for the police to try and search the buildings anyway.

----------
5. Phase Three
----------

The morning of Canterlot was full of surprised and worried ponies, as they gather around the castle, only now, there was no castle, but an empty hole on Canterlot.
A number of royal guards blocked the crowd of ponies; both to prevent any stupid pony from falling through the huge hole, and to provide space for invetigating ponies to do their job.

There was indeed, no more castle, and the hole is real.
Clues to any logical reasoning were nowhere near their grasp.

Suddenly, behind the royal guards, a bright light occured, revealing two tall and mighty alicorns, the same height as their princess.
As the light subsided, the new arrivals allowed the audience to see them clearly.

A brown alicorn, with black long mane and tale, carrying an hourglass in front of a starry background as his cutie mark.
The other was a pale-blue alicorn, with black long mane and tail, and holds a vertical white line in the center of a starry background as his cutie mark.

Those ponies who have read the legends recognizes them.
Sure enough, all the royal guards are educated well, and all of them bowed before the two mighty alicorns.
The ponies followed to bow down, despite having no idea who they were.

The pale-blue alicorn rose his hoof, and the instant he did, a soft wave of wind swept all over the area.
The royal guards rose their heads.

While the pale-blue alicorn looked frighteningly serious, the other looked childishly bored.

---

Henry was able to open the double door after a few minutes of trying to sense how the dragon can open them.
He found out that the dragon couldn't, but he strangely sensed a weird aura swirling around the dragon.
Carefully controlling the dragon's mind, he let the aura run through the dragon's senses, and sent his request to open the door.
Finally, the door did open.

Behind the doors was a hallway that circles around the library's outer walls.
He silently walked the gloomy hallway behind the levitating dragon, still under his spell.
He soon found a stairway leading down.
He took a deep breath before he started walking down the stairs.

If only he remained there for a few more seconds, he would have noticed a strange white light swirling above the castle's walls.

After reaching the end of the stairs, he found himself in another hallway.
This hallway however, will lead him to the castle gardens, or to the castle's royal hall.
He slowly walked towards the later, but later stopped after noticing a frozen royal guard standing near the hallway's walls.

He took this as an opportunity to try and see if he can 'unfreeze' the ponies here in the castle.

He levitated the dragon right in front of the royal guard's face.
Sensing the dragon's sight was eyeing the guard's eye, he concentrated himself to sense the aura around the dragon, absorbing it to the dragon's mind, and...he has no clue what to do next.

He thought about it for a moment as he released the aura out of the dragon's mind.
It might stress the dragon's brain.

---

Sensing that this is beyond the capabilities of Fillydelphia Police Department, Flame decided to take the train to Canterlot. He needs the help of the royal guards.
With him was Ember's brother, Coal.

Their parents would have wanted to join them, but Flame needed them to run the grape business while he's away.

---

Finally recovering some of her strength, BatMare stood up and slowly worked her way back to her base to recover.

---

Sunset, Aurora's mother, is trying to calm the angry dark-blue coated unicorn.
Midnight has been complaining of how slow the train is, despite knowing the fact that the train is already running beyond it's normal speed after the train driver received a special order to do so from PonyVille Police Ponies.
The police ponies riding the train needed to head to Canterlot as soon as possible.

---

The pale-blue alicorn is concentrating his magic on one spot of the used-to-be Canterlot Castle.

Out of all the ponies present, he's the only one who could still see the castle.
He explained, that the castle is still there, but was standing on another dimension.

Now, he's trying to create a portal, so he could fly inside and return the castle back.

The other alicorn however, has already grown bored.

"Are you done yet?"
Despite his adult-looking form, the brown alicorn's voice was strangely sounding young.

"Patience, brother."
Replied the pale-blue alicorn, his voice more mature than his brother.
"The magic surrounding the castle is surprisingly powerful than I expected. It will require me some time."
He continued, his voice calm, despite having a hard time trying to stabilize the portal he's creating.

"Are you pulling my leg here?"
Asked the brown alicorn, clearly surprised from what the other alicorn just said.
"You? Require time to control space?"

"I see no reason to repeat what I just said."
He was clearly annoyed at his brother for the question, but he kept himself calm.
"From your question, you have clearly heard me correctly."

"Then I guess I should help."
He spreads his wings and lifted himself up.
"I'll see what I can do from the inside."

"Do not add to the stress of the unbalanced fabrics inside."
'Why is it taking me so long to stabilize a simple portal?

The brown alicorn nodded and flew through the portal.

Knowing that his brother managed to get inside indicated that he's in fact opening a portal, but the reason why he couldn't stabilize it to keep it open without the aid of his magic is something he couldn not understand.
There must be something inside the castle that is stopping him.

His river of thoughts stopped and his focus on the portal almost broke after a mighty dragon's roar echoed around the city.
From a distance, a black dragon was flying towards Canterlot.
Panic struck on the crowd of ponies.

'Brother, get out of there, now!'
He tried to communicate with his brother through telekinesis, but strangely, he could not connect himself with his brother.
If he closes the portal, his brother will be trapped inside until he tries to reopen it again.

The dragon was now above Canterlot, where the castle was supposed to be.
It flapped its wings slower to get its head in front of the pale-blue alicorn.

"Begone, you fiend!"
The alicorn shouted.

The mighty black dragon ignored the alicorn's message, and instantly opened it's mouth, and snapped the alicorn inside its mouth.

Inside, the alicorn's magic focus was broken, aching his head.
The dragon however, started to fly away.

"You shall not get away with this!"
Yelled the alicorn has he focused a huge amount of magic energy on his horn, providing him light to see himself standing on the slimey tongue of the beast.

And, he found himself surrounded by a green gas coming from inside the dragon's neck.
Before he could realize what was happening, he lost his balance, and slowly felt his power and strength flowed away.

---

The brown alicorn, standing a few hooves from the castle's closed doors, heard a loud electric snap from the vortex.
He quickly turned around to witness the portal slowly vanished.

'Hey bro, what's happening?'
He tried to connect his thoughts to this brother, but he couldn't.
'Bro?'

He then heard the castle's doors opened.
He turned to see who or what opened the door, only to witness a brown-eyed changeling walking out, wearing a white hat and a brown sidebag, along with a levitating baby pruple dragon with green spikes.

The changeling was startled after seeing the presence of the brown alicorn.

Chapter 08 - Early Winter

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Chapter 8 - Early Winter

----------
1. Retelling
----------

An old black earth pony with a messy white mane and tail bowed before Princess Celestia, and beside her was her student, a young purple unicorn filly, Twilight Sparkle, and beside her was her baby purple dragon, curled into a sleeping position on the carpeted raised floor of the royal seats.

With the old black earth pony was a potion bottle, filled with gray liquid of some sort.
He raised his head to meet the Princess' smiling face.

"It is good to see you, princess."

The princess bowed to him with a smile.
"You need to get out of your lab often, doctor."

Both laughed a bit, managing to wake the sleeping dragon.
The little Twilight Sparkle tried to help the dragon go back to sleep.

"Quite..." the doctor said a bit loud, to clear his throat instead of coughing.
"Ahem... Anyway, I'll do just that, princess."
He opened the potion bottle and placed it on the floor in front of him.
"As you can see, my research is complete. Hahah!"

"Research about what, my dear doctor?"
The princess asked, still holding the same lovely smile.

Both Twilight and her dragon stared at the doctor confused.

"This, my dear princess..." the doctor took the potion with his hoof.
"...is a potion that can stop both time and space!"

A tall brown alicorn and a black changeling gasped as they watched the event that happened before the castle became gray.
With the alicorn's magic, they were able to see the events that happened in the royal hall of the castle.

The princess frowned the instant she heard what the doctor had said.
Twilight however, looked impressed.

"You can stop time? Really?"
The little purple filly asked in excitement.

The doctor simply nodded his head, quite feeling proud of his achievement.

"Doctor," the princess began, still frowning, "although it is a great discovery, I do not think messing with time and space is such a good idea."

"Indeed," the doctor nodded, still feeling proud, "and I should inform you, princess, that I have taken extreme measures of not disturbing space and time with this."

The princess shook her head, somehow disbelieving the doctor's words.
"I am sorry doctor, but I find it difficult to believe your words with only months of research."

The doctor grinned.
"And, that is why I only made a small amount."
He shook his hoof a bit to emphasize the potion.
"And as proof that I am right, I would need a test subject."

"No, doctor."
This time, the princess is flashing anger on her face.
"I am sorry, but I would like to ask you to dispose what you are holding."
Mentally, the princess is surprised that the doctor isn't surprised after hearing what she just have said, but she disregarded it for the time being.
"We shouldn't create such things to cause uncertain events in the peaceful flow of time and space."

Still grinning, the doctor puts the potion down on the ground and instantly installed a metallic device around his hoof and pointed it directly at the princess.
Instantly, he fired a thin ray of light towards the princess, who was about to counter the sudden attack, but unfortunately, the ray of light was too fast.
The princess turned gray in an instant.

Twilight quickly recovered from her sudden state of shock.
She quickly ran towards a door to the guest's rooms.
The doctor immediately gave chase, leaving the potion vulmerable to the curious crawling purple dragon.

The purple baby dragon, after reaching the potion, drank the contents.
The instant the dragon finished every drop, it looked around, trying to find more, but the area where it's eyes land, it turned gray, until the whole royal hall turned gray.

The brown alicorn and the black changeling continued to watch the dragon, who suddenly began to float in mid-air, and flew towards the door where Twilight and the doctor took.

Satisfied, the alicorn stopped his magic, and the whole royal hall then dimmed.

"So," the alicorn said as he turned to face the changeling.
"this is caused by that dragon."
He lands his gaze on the floating dragon beside the changeling, making eye contact.

Henry wanted to stop him, but he remembered that the alicorn's magic is strong enough to counter the dragon's eye.

---

The brown alicorn heard the castle's doors opened.
He turned to see who or what opened the door, only to witness a brown-eyed changeling walking out, wearing a white hat and a brown sidebag, along with a levitating baby purple dragon with green spikes.

The changeling was startled after seeing the presence of the brown alicorn.
The alicorn immediately went to his fighting stance, summoning great amounts of magic to his horn.

"Who are you!?" the alicorn asked, his voice enough to send the changeling into a startled state.

The changeling took a step back, lost his balance, and went into a sitting position.
"W-wait! I have nothing to do with this!"

"A changeling shouldn't be inside a castle of ponies!"

"I-I can explain!"

"You better!"

---

Henry slowly shook his head to dismiss the thought.

The alicorn then summoned magic on his horn, making it glow.
"Sending the dragon back in time might cause some damage in the chains of time..."
He tilted his head for his horn to touch the dragon's head.
"But I will try and fasten the time of this dragon for the spell to wear off quickly."

Fasten the dragon's time...
It really didn't sound like a good idea.
What if it'll last for years? What would the little filly Twilight do?

The alicorn was about to do what he planned when the dragon suddenly fell back to the carpeted ground.
Henry sensed the small pain that the dragon received after landing on it's tail, making him lose his focus on his puppetry skill on the dragon.
The changeling rubbed his head as the alicorn looked around, noticing the castle was beginning to regain it's true color, and then a sudden crash sound, which startled him a bit.

"Don't worry..." Henry said after the pain he felt was gone.
"...that was probably the sound of the window I crashed into..."

The alicorn arched an eyebrow, and then looked at the windows, which were slowly regaining their color, and he did notice a broken window.

Henry then felt a flow of magic energy coming inside of him. He wondered what it was until the strange feeling vanished. Remembering about his disguise, he tried to become a green alicorn again, and to his relief, he's a green alicorn again.

"You know... You can't hide your true self from the alicorn's eyes."
The brown alicorn said as he stared at the princess, who was slowly regaining her color.

"Ha!"
Princess Celestia shouted after she recovered from being frozen gray.
She immediately blasted a powerful bolt of energy, to her surprise, towards the startled brown alicorn.

Unable to prepare himself, he took the powerful magic attack, sending him towards the slightly opened castle doors, losing his consciousness.

"Goodness!"
The princess exclaimed as she immediately ran towards the brown alicorn.

Henry immediately ran towards the alicorn as well, leaving the sleeping baby dragon, and disregarding his name that echoed around the castle, and a loud slamming sound of a wooden door that followed.

---

"What the...!?"
The only words Midnight was able to say after he was surprised to see that the castle was gone.

Sunset also couldn't believe what she's seeing.
The castle is gone.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here!?"
A pale-red earth stallion exclaimed after reaching Midnight and Sunset.

Coal was looking confused as to why everypony in the area where looking shocked at a giant hole on the ground.

---

"Prin...cess..."
The brown alicorn slowly said in between his short and slow intakes of breath.
"...I know...you're still...angry at...me but..."

"Hush, child..."
Princess Celestia slowly said as she concentrated some of her magic to heal the brown alicorn's wound on his chest.

Henry and Princess Celestia immediately used their magic to carry the brown alicorn inside Henry's room to rest and recover.

"Don't talk just yet... Rest up."
The princess continued, looking worried.

The brown alicorn simply nodded with a smile before he closed his weakly-opened eyes and went to sleep.

Almost everything in the castle has returned to normal.
The only thing that remained was the barrier around the castle's walls.
Henry Hoof was outside the castle's doors, trying to use his magic to sense whatever was beyond the castle walls.

The royal guards and as well as Twilight Sparkle tried to ask him to stop, but he didn't listen. If the brown alicorn managed to get inside, then there should be a way to get out.
Unfortunately, he has no clue how to do what he is achieving. And he's already exhausting himself, already too weak to keep his green alicorn disguise.

He only stopped trying after he heard Princess Celestia whispering to the little purple filly to get back inside the castle.
He turned to meet the princess, taking deep breaths.

---

A strange wave of energy was starting to form around the large hole where the castle used to stand. The ponies around the area were all shocked and confused from the event.
The strange wave started to swirl around the hole, and then, a bright white light flashed.

The instant the ponies recovered their sight, the castle was back in its rightful place.

----------
2. Regroup
----------

A yellow earth pony with brown mane and tail, and wearing a black belt, has arrived in Canterlot, and was now working her way towards the castle.
If she wasn't busy thinking, she would have noticed the awkward silence in all the streets she has walked on, despite it having ponies, who were looking rather trying to move on with their lives after witnessing something impossible to see.

Ever since that brownish-red griffin appeared in Manehattan, things were starting to get...colder, than usual.
Winter was still two months away, and, why did that griffin took off with that golden-yellow unicorn?

---

As soon as the ponies around the castle snapped back into their senses, they immediately tried to go inside the closed gates, where the royal guards, both outside and inside the castle's gates, barricaded the group of ponies.

Sunset flew to get away from the chaotic crowd, leaving Midnight to work his way towards the gates by pushing the other ponies blocking his path.

Flame had to carry the young Coal out of the crowd. Things will start to calm down after a few moments, and he was right.

Princess Celestia appeared behind the castle's gates, and the crowd immediately stopped from pushing each other, except for a dark-blue unicorn who continued his way towards the gate.
After he got in front of the crowd however, he was stopped by a royal guard.

"Get outta my way!"
Midnight snarled, breathing deeply.

"Sir, I'd like---"

"I said get outta my---!"
Midnight failed to finish what he was going to say when he noticed a green alicorn, smaller than the princess, walked beside her.
"H-Henry!"
He disregarded the guard and ran to the gate, only to be stopped by two other royal guards.

"Midnight?"
Henry was surprised to see him.
"What are you doing here?"

Hearing the green alicorn's words, the royal guards assumed that they indeed know each other, so they allowed the unicorn to get near the gate.

"Henry! Thank goodness. It's Aurora... She's..."
He trailed off and tilted his head down. He still could not believe what happened to the pegasus.

"Henry sir!"
Another voice came out from the crowd.

Both the alicorn and the unicorn turned to the source, and from the crowd came out a pale-red earth pony with a red filly on his back.

"Flame!?"
Henry exclaimed, both surprised and glad to see him.

---

A yellow earth pony found herself behind the crowd of ponies in front of the castle's walls.
She could not see what is beyond to see what is all the commotion was about, but she is not willing to wait for the crowd to disperse.

---

Henry led his friends in the castle's garden. Whatever they wanted to say, he could tell that it's really important, judging from their expressions.

Satisfied, he turned around to meet their gazes.
He took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"Right, so..."

"Aurora was kidnapped!"
"Ember was kidnapped!"

All of his four friends said in unison, startling the green alicorn.
The four ponies looked at each other, looking worried and confused.

"Aurora and Ember? Kidnapped? How?"
They were about to shout once again in unison when Henry raised his hoof.
"One at a time, please?"
He begged, and he received all four's nodding heads.

"After you, sir."
Flame nodded at the unicorn.

"Henry," Midnight started, "there was this crazy black earth pony who...shot something to Aurora. She..."
He couldn't bare to lock his gaze at the alicorn. He felt weak when he does.
Not because the alicorn was draining his power, no, it was because he couldn't even save the pegasus when it happened.
"...became gray...frozen...absorbed..."
He lowly and slowly said.

Henry wasn't convinced, but seeing that Aurora's mother was also here, he forced himself to believe what Midnight just said.
He brought a hoof on his forehead, rubbing it slightly.
He then turned to Flame.

"Right..." Flame slowly said, inhaling, and exhaling, to try and bring himself together.
"...earlier this morning, this muscular pegasus pony came out of nowhere and knocked me down. When I came to, the pegasus was gone, and...so was Ember..."

Two of his friends were kidnapped. By who?
Chrysalis, maybe? Probably, but it's not a good idea to jump into conclusions.

"Funny how all of this happened at the same hour..."
Said a yellow earth pony who just arrived in the garden.

Everypony turned to the newcomer, and Henry was taken aback.
Sunset was startled as well.

"D-D-Daisy...!?"
Henry said, nervously, with a slight hint of hope, and disbelief.

The earth pony simply shook her head as she reached them.
"Not even close." she said.

Henry and Sunset find it hard to believe. The earth pony before them looked exactly like Henry's younger sister. Her coat, her mane, minus her judge's hammer cutie mark, looked exactly like Daisy.

"The name's Rose Hammer," she bowed, "president of The Rose Industries in Manehattan."

"And...why are you here?"
Midnight asked, annoyed at her sudden appearance, and thinking that she is only eating their precious time to save somepony.

Henry however, was still finding it difficult to accept that Rose is not Daisy.
They looked alike, if his memory is still serving him properly.
The only differences are her cutie mark, her voice, and her serious look.

"Midnight, correct?" Rose asked, receiving the unicorn's confused nod.
She then brought her gaze on the green alicorn.

Henry looked at her in the eye, and, somehow, he's not quite sure, but he noticed her eye pupil in her left eye was strange.
It was only for a second until it appeared normal once again.
Was he just imagining it?

"Earlier this morning, in the streets of Manehattan, a griffin appeared and kidnapped a yellow unicorn."

"Yeah, so?"
Midnight asked in annoyance. Rose looked at her.
"What does that have to do with our problems?"

"That griffin kidnapped your brother."

Midnight's mouth opened wide in shock and disbelief.
His brother was kidnapped!
No...his brother is alive! And he was kidnapped!
"D-Daybreak? Alive?"

Rose gave a simple nod before she tilted her head up to the sky.
"Also, a few hours after that, well..."

The others looked up as well, and noticed thick gloomy clouds completely covering the entire blue sky.

"A storm?"
Flame guessed.

Princess Celestia quietly walked towards the garden.

Rose shook her head.
"I've analyzed the clouds. Those are Windigo clouds."

Sunset, Flame and Henry quickly turned to the earth pony with shock.
"Windigo!?"

Coal poked Flame's hoof, managing to catch the pale-red earth pony's attention.
"What's a Windigo?"

Midnight would love to know as well, but his mind was busy accepting the information that his brother is still alive.
But, should he worry about his brother, or Aurora first?
Wait... Why does he concern himself about Aurora?
She's just some brat who annoys him every single day.
But...

"So my assumption was right..."
Princess Celestia said, holding a worried look, as she reached the ponies.
"But to be sure, I have sent a message to Cloudsdale to see if this is their doing."

"It's not their work."
Rose replied.
"I've already asked them."

How, Henry would love to ask, but there are more important things to worry about.

"So, what now?"
Flame asked, receiving the ponies' attention.
"Our loved ones are kidnapped, an' then a winter storm's a comin'..."

Everyone then noticed a snowflake gently falling to the ground in between all of them.
The snowflake quietly landed on the short grass of the garden, sparkling a bit from the little available light.

Coal walked towards it, and bent down to investigate it.

"Windigos feed on hatred..."
Rose slowly said.

'Like us...' Henry managed to thought to himself, despite the large amounts of thoughts rushing inside his head.

"...Equestria is full of hatred. It'll only take them a few hours for snow to cover the lands."
Rose continued, noticing a large amount of snowflakes falling.

"'kay, so I'll ask again..."
Flame said, his tone mixed with anger and confusion.
"What do we do now?"

"We can't just wait here..."
Sunset said, voicing her thoughts.

Henry and Princess Celestia nodded in agreement.

"Wait here..."
The princess informs them as she walked back to the castle.

"Sunset just said we shouldn't just wait here..."
Henry whispered to himself after the princess' ears was out of reach.

Flame and Coal sat on the grass. Flame was assuring the little filly that everything will be okay.

Henry sat down with Midnight and Sunset, gathering some information of the event. He might find something that would give him small hints of...whatever was going on.

Rose simply sat by herself, staring at them, busy with her own thoughts.
She was about to stand to ask Flame and Coal about the pegasus' features when Henry exclaimed.

"A white messy mane!? An old black earth pony with a white messy mane!?"

"Geez, blackie... You don't have to shout!"
Midnight complained as he rubbed his ear with a hoof.

'Blackie?' Rose thought.
'They know of him?'

Henry stomped his hoof on the grass.
"That's not...! No... But..."
But it did made sense. He tore his gaze away.
"The doctor...kidnapped Aurora?"
Unfortunately, that piece didn't made any sense.

At least now she knew who the other one was, now she needs to know the pegasus.
She stood up and walked towards the two earth ponies, and sat after she reached them.
She then asked about the pegasus.

Muscular. White coat. Long black mane and tail. Cutie mark?
Flame failed to get a glimpse on the pegasus' cutie mark.

"Rose?"
Rose turned to face the chan---green alicorn.

"Yes?"

"You said Midnight's brother was taken by...a brown-and-red griffin?"

Rose nodded her head.

"Henry..." Midnight said, catching the alicorn's attention.
"You're not thinking of...y'know... Griselda's father?"

Henry was about to assure the unicorn that he was not thinking that Griselda's father was the culprit, but Rose nodded her head.

"Indeed, it was him that took your brother."

Henry turned to her, with a doubtful look.

"Fire."
Rose added, making the alicorn open his eyes wide in disbelief.

Midnight was left speechless.
How could that good old griffin do that?

The heart is vulmerable to change...

'What did he mean by that?'

----------
3. Choice of Harmony
----------

If it was like any ordinary day, Henry would probably feel a bit angry to hear that publishing his book will be delayed.
He disregarded that news. There are more things to worry about than publishing a book.
He's sure his sister will understand.

The sky is starting to snow.
Aurora, Ember, and Midnight's brother, were kidnapped by Doctor Psycho, the brownish-red griffin named Helios VI, and a white pegasus.

Henry and the others were called by a royal guard, telling them that the princess wants to see them in the royal hall.

After reaching the spacious hall, they saw Princess Celestia, standing on a raised platform of the royal seats.
They were about to bow when the princess immediately spoke.

"I have received disturbing news. Cloudsdale is not causing the snow. They could not even control it. Also, a dragon was seen in Canterlot when the castle was...absent. They say that a large black dragon has taken the alicorn of space. Royal guards were able to follow it until they got knocked out by a...strange magic. The last sighting of the dragon was it was flying towards the Crystal Mountains in the Frozen Nurth."

Dragon?

Alicorn of space?

Crystal Mountain?

Frozen Nurth?

Those were echoing in the minds of the ponies, except for the busy-thinking yellow earth pony, who is trying to tie all the information together.

"This 'Crystal Mountains'..."
Henry asked.
"...are those the icy white mountains north of Talon Valley?"

The princess nodded.

"So, dis dragon kidnapped an al'corn..."
Flame said, sounding doubtful.
"...does dat mean 'd beast also works with those ponies who kidnapped 'r loved ones?"

The princess nodded as a royal guard, who just arrived in the royal hall, was walking towards the princess.

"It would seem so..."
Rose said, still deep in thought.
Her hoof on her chin.
"Helios also flew towards that direction. The others must be there as well."

The royal guard bowed before his princess, and with his magic, he lifted a golden box towards her.
The princess took it with her own magic.
The guard bowed before he left.

The princess opened the gold box, and gently puts it down in front for the ponies to see what is inside.
Inside was five small orbs with symbols engraved on each of them.

"Elements of Harmony?"
Both Henry and Rose asked in unison.

The princess nodded.
"If we are to rescue them, you need to prepare yourselves."

With her magic, she lifted the orbs, and summoned great amounts of magic, making the five levitating orbs to glow in different colors.
Then, the princess stopped, but the orbs were still in mid-air, glowing.

"The elements will choose its wielders."

Slowly, the orbs floated towards the ponies.

The red-glowing orb stopped in front of the nervous Flame.
The pink-glowing orb stopped in front of the curious Coal.
The blue-glowing orb stopped in front of the doubtful Henry.
The white-glowing orb stopped in front of the determined Midnight.
The blue-glowing orb stopped in front of the busy-thinking Rose.

The orbs glowed in white, and transformed into necklaces, and locked themselves around the chosen's necks.
The ponies' eyes glowed in white.

---

Flame... You have stayed waiting, even though you were in doubt if Ember was ever going to come back.

"Huh...?"

And, you have even tried to save her. Unfortunately, you have failed, but you are still determined to save her.

"Well of course!"

You have showed enough loyalty to be chosen.

"Loyalty? Of course! I love her! She's everything to me!"

...fair enough.

---

Coal...

"Yes? Who is it?"

I am the Element of Laughter. And I chose you because you have showed enough reason for others to smile.

"...uh..."

But, you have caused your family to be sad after you disappeared.

"...but..."

But, you did it because you were needed elsewhere. Your sister needed someone to bring her back to the right path when she found herself lost. You gave her a reason to smile, despite being lost.

"I don't...uh..."

You have showed enough reason to give me a smile.

"Is...is that a good thing...?"

Hahah. Of course.

---

Henry... Despite being different, you chose to become a pony. Was your reason was so you could leech ponies' lives?

"What!? Of course not!"

No, I didn't think so either. Your only intention was to live like a normal pony. You wanted to get away from a boring changeling life.

"...Well..."

But you achieved more than that. You gave a pony someone to look up to. You helped a pony to be reunited to her family. Not one, but two ponies. Also, you helped a pony find a good place he can call a home. And, you gave a pony someone to love.

"Er..."

Aren't you generous? And you did all those from your heart.

"I...only did those things 'cause they felt like the right thing to do."

Uh-huh. Your heart is pure. Don't ever change that. Because you have showed enough generosity for me to choose you.

"Wait... I get to carry the Element of Generosity?"

Sorry if I disappointed you...

"What? No! Of course not. I...uh..."

---

Midnight...

"A voice? Who's there? Show yourself!"

I am the Element of Kindness.

"The element of...what? I can't see you from all of this white...ness..."

Your life has been a struggle.

"Hell...yeah, it was..."

You have never seen your parents. You have never seen the proper road.

"..."

But, despite all those, you stayed with your brother.

"O-of...course."

You grew up together, in the streets. You have made friends, as twisted as the two of you.

"Hey, watch it!"

You mug ponies, even threaten to kill them just to get what you want. You never showed pity, you never showed kindness.

"And how are we suppose to survive if we did just that, huh?"

You even thought your brother was dead.

"..."

After all you've been through, you simply gave up on believing that he must still be alive.

"...shut up... You weren't there when it happened..."

Yes, that is correct, but I can see everything in you. Even the...naughty ones.

"...get the hell away from my mind!"

I can't see a reason why you are qualified to carry the Element of Kindness.

"And I thought you can see everything..."

Tell me. Why are you qualified to carry me?

"Gee, I wish I knew."

...Who is Aurora to you?

"What? She's a brat. She's annoying. She always puts her nose in my business."

...And yet...?

"...and yet what? Sure, she's annoying and all, but...she...she's just a little pony. I feel...I feel like I should keep a watchful eye on her, to prevent bad things from happening."

...and yet...?

"...but I failed to save her..."

...save her?

"You heard me! I failed to save her, okay!? So now what, you're going to tell me how much of a fail I am as well of not being able to save my brother!?"

...I could do that, but did you even realise it?

"...realise what?"

You are kind enough to watch out for Aurora.

"...I...no. You got it wrong. I was just...just..."

Simple kindness. Your heart is full of darkness, and yet, one small spark of kindness managed to grow inside of that dark heart of yours. Tell me, out of all the obvious choices inside your heart, you prefer to choose that small, almost-invisible light. Why?

"...heck, I don't know. All I know is I shouldn't be wasting time talking to a stupid voice! I should be preparing myself to kick that Psycho guy so hard to the pits of Tartarus!"

...unkind words for a kind action... I think you'll qualify.

---

Sunset stood beside Princess Celestia as they watched the five ponies surrounded by a bright white light.

Soon, the radiant white glow that surrounded the ponies started to fade, revealing all five ponies with their eyes closed. The five slowly opened their eyes, seeing the alicorn and the pegasus standing in front of them; the alicorn wearing a smile while the pegasus was looking worried.

"I never would have thought that the Elements of Harmony will decide to choose you."
The princess said with a smile.

Flame and Coal looked at each other. Flame was looking uncertain while Coal was looking excited.
Henry and Midnight looked at each other. Midnight was looking determined, while Henry was looking doubtful, but he's keeping a determined smile.
Rose was looking confident, trying to disregard the things the element has told her.

Suddenly, a royal guard came inside the royal hall, rushing towards the princess.
"Forgive me princess, but we've received news that Manehattan and Baltimare are currently suffering from severe snowstorms."

And then, another royal guard came in.
"Princess, we've received information that Los Pegasus is having severe snow weather conditions!"

And another royal guard.
"Princess, please forgive me, but we've receive reports that the city of Cloudsdale is slowly falling to the ground!"

And another royal guard, and then another.
The six ponies looked at each other with worry.
They carry the Elements of Harmony, but how are they able to save their loved ones, and to stop the sudden snowstorms?

----------
4. Towards The Destination
----------

The City of Canterlot is now having a severe snowstorm.
Stronger than an ordinary rain of snow, but weaker than a blizzard.
The wind carried the echoes of the Windigos' cries of delight.

The castle's garden, now covered by white snow.
The five wielders of the elements were there after Rose asked them to follow her there.
After they arrived, the yellow earth pony held a device and started pushing the buttons.

Curious, yet they kept silent.
They knew she wouldn't be doing whatever just to waste precious time.
Flame carried Coal on his back for them to share their body heat.

Soon, they heard a strange noise from afar, and from the grayish atmosphere surrounding the far-reaches of their eyes, they could see a black silhouette approaching towards them.
Soon, a huge black aircraft appeared from the grayish horizon, and stopped above the castle's gardens.

With a press of a button, the bat-like aircraft slowly started landing down.
It soon landed a few hooves in front of the yellow earth pony.

The four left their mouths open in disbelief.
Midnight shook his head, and a big realization struck him.

"You...! You're BatMare!?"

Rose smiled, not turning to face them.
"No reason to hide my identity for long."
And she turned to face them.
"But I trust you'll keep this a secret."

The four nodded their heads as Princess Celestia reached the group.

The princess smiled.
"So this is the famous aircraft of the famous crime-fighting vigilante?"

The four looked at the princess in disbelief.
She knew?

"I will come with you."
The princess smiled.

The aircraft's windshield slid open, revealing one pilot seat and two passenger seats.

"Wait!"
Cried a female voice.

Everypony turned to the source, and saw Sunset, just landing near the group.

"Please, let me come with you."
She begged.
"I want to save my daughter as well. I don't want to lose her again..."

Henry was about to say something when Midnight walked towards her, and placed a hoof on the pegasus' shoulder.

The unicorn smiled warmly.
"I think it's best if you stay here. Don't worry, I'll save Aurora, and bring her back to you."

"B-but..."

Midnight shook his head.
"Look, without an element, you can do nothing... The only thing you can do is to stay here and prepare a warm hug for Aurora."

Henry smiled.
He never knew Midnight had something like that in him.

Sunset cried as she immediately hugged the unicorn.
"Please stay true to your word..."

Midnight returned the hug.
"I promise."

After they broke their hug, Rose asked Midnight and Flame to take a seat inside the aircraft.
Midnight hopped on first, followed by Flame, and then carried Coal inside, and rested beside him. Rose sat on the pilot seat, and turned to the two alicorns.

"We'll fly slower for you two to keep up."
Rose said as she hit a button for the windshields to slide close.

The two alicorns simply nodded their heads.

Soon, the aircraft flew up, and boosted forward to their destination.
Princess Celestia and Henry soon followed.

Sunset was left in the garden, staring at the black aircraft as it slowly faded into the grayness.

---

A blue sea pony finally regained her consciousness.
She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself surrounded by water... A water inside a large sphere.

Near her were three other spheres, and inside those spheres were other ponies, still unconscious.

She looked around, but she could see nothing else from the darkness.
She tried to break the sphere with her hooves, but after trying for some time, she gave up.
She couldn't set herself free.

She tried to remember why she was here, but the only thing she could remember was her father chasing after her...

Her father...brought her here...?
No... How could he...? Why would he...?

She tried breaking herself free once again, but to no avail.

Devastated, she allowed gravity to gently pull her to the bottom of the sphere, her head hanging low with sadness and disbelief.

---

'Henry...'

"Ah...?"
Henry was startled a bit, but quickly recovered and continued to follow the aircraft.

"Something wrong, Sir Henry?"
Princess Celestia asked as she flew near the green alicorn.

Henry shook his head a bit.
"No, I am fine, princess... Just, feeling a bit cold..."
As much as Henry loved winter, this kind of cold is too much for him.

Despite the severe snowstorm, the two alicorns fought against the strong wind to tail the aircraft.

Was he dreaming or imagining it?
He was sure he heard his lovely sea pony call out his name.
Is she in trouble?
No... She's probably safe inside her cave. The snow couldn't possibly get to her there.
He's sure. He sure hope so. After all of this is over, he will fly directly to the beach and see her.

---

"There is trouble approaching..."
The young unicorn pony said.
"Get rid of them..."

The dragon simply nodded and flew upward.

"Is it them?"
The white pegasus asked.

The unicorn simply shook his head.
"No. It is Chrysalis, and Time Keeper."

"Ah! The changeling queen? Here?"
The doctor asked to no one in particular.
"Interesting..."

"Why would the changeling queen come here?"
Asked the griffin.

"I invited her."
The unicorn simply replied.

The pegasus grinned.
"Ah, I see. Clever thinking, boy!"

"Clever?"
Asked the blue-green sea pony.
"She can drain our energy! Why did you invite her!?"

"To remove her from existence."

"What?"
The sea pony gasped, almost losing his magic focus on his swirling vortex of water.

The unicorn nodded.
"Changelings are freaks of nature. They need to be removed."
And he smiled.
"Chrysalis saved us the work of getting rid of the other changeling races in Equestria."

---

"Heeeyyy!"
Shouted a voice from afar.

Henry and Princess Celestia turned their heads without stopping from flying, and both spotted a familiar brown and winged pony flying from behind them.

Soon, despite the strong snowy winds, he caught up with the two.

"Princess..." the brown alicorn began, facing the princess as he flew in between the other two alicorns.
"...first you attacked me, and then you left me all alone in the castle?"
He frowned.
"...do you really hate me that badly?"

The princess reflected the alicorn's frown.
"No, of course not..."

"Hate him?"
Henry asked, but he was ignored.

"The royal guards said you are going to where a black dragon was heading. They also said that the dragon took my brother! So I'm coming along, whether you like it or not!"
The brown alicorn said, a determined tone in his voice.

The princess opened her mouth, but decided not to speak. She shook her head and lands her gaze on the aircraft a few meters in front of them.

---

Griselda was launched into the castle's walls with great force, surrounded by green aura of magic.

The castle of the griffins, standing tall despite the strong snowy winds, was homed by a number of griffins who took shelter from the sudden snow.

The griffins however, have now fallen into unconsciousness after a large number of green-eyed changelings invaded the castle and started attacking them.

Griselda was lifted from the ground once again, and levitated in front of a large black changeling.

"I'll ask once again, missy."
Chrysalis slowly said to the weakened griffin.
"Where is your father?"

"I have told you..."
She said despite weakened from the number of attacks she took from the changelings.
"...I don't know..."

Chrysalis, however, smiled evilly.
"If that's the way you want it...then---"

She was cut off after a loud and strong flapping sound echoed around the castle.
She turned to the castle's doorless entrance, and was horrified at the sight of a large black dragon's head, its red glowing eyes staring right back at her.

The dragon suddenly let out a mighty roar as it flew higher and used its feet to kick the castle's walls, creating a large hole for it to enter.

The changelings inside began to panic.
All their lives, they have feared a dragon.

---

Princess Celestia and the brown alicorn were flying a few hooves behind the green alicorn.
The entire flight was quiet, aside from the rushing sound of the wind mixed with the cries of the Windigos.

If only the Windigos were a solid figure, then Henry would have tried to deal with them directly to stop the snowstorm. He knows how to stop the Windigos, but it would desperately require him a lot of time and effort in explaining to the ponies, plus, he still needs to rescue Aurora and Ember, and Midnight's brother.
He could only hope that the elements they hold is enough to achieve their goals.

The brown alicorn suddenly heard a faint echo of cry from below. He wasn't sure what it was, but it kind of sounded like a dragon.

"I'll catch up."
The brown alicorn simply said before he dove down.

The princess wasn't able to say anything to ask why, so she decided to trust him to catch up and continued to fly.

---

The brown alicorn was right. What he heard was indeed from a dragon.
A large black dragon, attacking a damaged castle.

Anger quickly filled his horn, and immediately blasted a large bolt of beam at the dragon, sending it down to the ground.

Chrysalis however, took the chance and escaped, being followed by her changeling minions.

The brown alicorn landed on the snow-covered ground, meters away from the rising dragon.
"Where is my brother, you beast!?"
He asked, his horn still radiating with magic aura.

The dragon roared as it summoned a fierce flame from its mouth at the alicorn.

---

"And then..."

The four looked at the young unicorn.

"...phase four."

----------
5. Face-off
----------

"I am detecting a number of heat source from that area."
Rose pointed at the flat surface of white-covered snow which was surrounded by a small number of icy hills and large mountains.

She detected quite a number of heat source earlier, including a very large entity. She decided not to trouble themselves with a dragon.

She wasn't being honest, but no one asked her if she detected something ealier, so that doesn't count as lying, is it?

She began to land the aircraft on the deserted snowy area.
Princess Celestia and Henry soon followed.

After the aircraft landed, the windshield slid open, and Midnight quickly jumped out of the seat and landing on the soft snow-covered ground.

Flame jumped next, and helped Coal get off of the aircraft.
Rose soon jumped off as well, and the windshield slid closed after she pressed a button on her small device.

The two alicorns soon landed near the group.

"So!?" Flame shouted for his voice to be heard from the loud sound of the wind.
"Where to!?"

Rose pointed her hoof at a large hole at the snowy ground a few meters away.
They then started walking towards it.

The hole was an underground diagonal tunnel.
Coal climbed on Flame's back as Midnight summoned some magic on his horn to give them light to see through the dark tunnel.
Rose took a strap from her belt and wore it around her head. Pressing a button on it, a light flashed from it, facing the direction of her head.

Henry was impressed. BatMare does have a lot of handy gadgets.

They were about to enter the tunnel when they heard something landed a few hooves behind them.
All turned around to see a tall black changeling, and behind her were her small changeling minions.

"CHRYSALIS!?"
Both Henry and Princess Celestia snarled as they both went to their fighting stances, their horns started to glow.

This is it. The moment Henry can avenge his family and his beloved sister.

Chrysalis however, simply smiled.
"Well well, look who's here. Princess Celestia, wonderful to see you again."

"I wish I could say the same, queeny..."
Princess Celestia said calmly, despite the dangerous anger she wore as an expression.

"And Henry darling, never knew you're still alive."

"You won't be when I get my claws on you!"
Henry snarled. Anger has immediately filled his heart and mind.

'Henry...'
Henry heard the princess' voice inside his mind.
He was startled but he didn't show it.
'Go with them. I'll handle her...'

'But...no!'
Henry's not even sure if the princess can hear his reply.
'I'm fighting her!'

'Henry, you need to go with them.'

Henry couldn't see the logic on that, but, strangely, the princess' voice sounded like she's telling him where he's really needed to be.
He can't believe, after almost two years, where he finally got his chance for revenge, he's letting that chance go.

"Chrysalis, today might not be the right time to fight you..."
He only wished he won't regret saying that.
"But if you dare follow us inside, I swear to the sun you're toast!"

Chrysalis only grinned.
"Funny, I wonder how that'll work from all this snow."

Ignoring her, Henry turned around and quickly ran inside the tunnel, and the others immediately followed him.

"If you're the obstacle I need to take care of, then so be it."
Chrysalis laughed a bit, while her minions prepared themselves.

"You will not defeat me."

---

"A dead end!?"
Henry and Midnight shouted in unison.

After walking for a few minutes, they found themselves in an almost circular space, with no other available paths.

Flame began to touch the walls of the cave, but they were no illusions.

"Are you sure this is the right place!?"
Midnight snarled, directing it to the yellow earth pony.

Rose simply ignored him as she tried to fix her device.
Clearly, it was going out of whack ever since they got inside the tunnel.

"If this is some sort of puzzle," Henry said, his voice was still mixed with anger.
"then we have to figure a way through this."

"It's a plain ol' dead-end! How can this be a puzzle!?"
Midnight shouted at the alicorn, who was a few hooves away.

Henry was getting annoyed at his volume, but he tried to keep himself calm, despite the raging anger inside him.
"Look, I'm trying to find a way through---"

Suddenly, Henry found himself surrounded by a white magic sphere. Midnight was inside one as well. Rose as well. Flame and Coal were inside one sphere.

"W-what's going on!?"
Flame asked in confusion, before their surroundings became dark, despite the light they have with them.

---

Henry summoned a small amount of magic on his horn for it to glow, but it couldn't penetrate the darkness around the sphere.

Suddenly, the darkness faded, as well as the sphere.
Henry landed on a watery ground, inside a chamber of some sort, where there was no way out.
In front of him was a water-filled sphere, and inside surprised him that even his anger quickly vanished.

"Henry!"
Pearl shouted after she saw the green alicorn, but did so not because she was glad to see him, but to warn him.
"Behind you!"

Snapping back, he quickly turned around to see a muscular and large blue-green seahorse-tailed sea pony with a sharp horn on his forehead. He was surrounded by a quiet swirling vortex of water.

Despite the fact that he's looking at a green alicorn, his eyes can filter any magic disguises, and can clearly see the newcomer's true identity.
He will not let a changeling defeat him.

---

Midnight landed on a cemented chamber, where the area was clear of any exits.
In front of him was a sphere, where Aurora was looking happy to see him.

"Midnight!"

Midnight flashed a smile.
He was about to run towards her when a so familiar black pony suddenly appeared in between them.

"Ah, hello there."
The old doctor bowed to the angered unicorn.
"So good to see you again!"
He grinned.

"You're dead!"
Midnight shouted.

---

"Flame! Coal!"
Ember immediately shouted after seeing the ponies she dearly loved.

Flame and Coal immediately ran towards her.

"Stay clear, Coal!"
Flame said.
"I'll crush this sphere open!"

He was about to lift his two front hooves when they heard something large landed behind them on the grassy ground of the chamber.

"Do that, and she'll die."
The white pegasus grinned.
"As well as your baby."

Flame shot the pegasus with an angry glare, preparing himself to fight him, while Coal hid himself behind Flame's hind hooves.

---

Rose found herself on a rocky surface inside a chamber.
Even the chamber's walls looked like the surface of a mountain.

She disregarded her whereabouts as she focused on the two breathing entities in front of her.
One of them, her most feared opponent, the golden-yellow unicorn pony, trapped inside a sphere.
The other is Helios, the brownish-red griffin.

Is she here to save the criminal who almost killed her?

Daybreak couldn't land a glance on her.
He recognizes her after he managed to cut her mask in half during their battle in Manehattan.

"How strange of you to come here to save the pony who tried to kill you."
The griffin grinned.

"Believe me, I would be happy to choose another option if I was able to."
Rose replied, slowly putting one of her hooves on her belt.

---

Above the cities of Manehattan, Los Pegasus, Cloudsdale, Canterlot, PonyVille, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare, the thick gloomy gray clouds started to flash an image.
An image of a unicorn pony in the darkness.

Nopony were able to notice, until a voice echoed all throughout the wind.

"Ladies and gentlecolts..."

A young voice echoed. Ponies who were near a window looked through their windows, trying to find the source of the voice.
They however, found the image on the clouds above them.

"...as you are aware, Equestria is suffering from a horrifying storm of ice and snow."

---

Midnight forced himself to stop to listen to the voice as he stared at the image on the chamber's ceiling. Aurora and the doctor did the same.

"I would like to thank every pony, for it weren't for you, for any of you, none of this would be possible."

"What the hay?"
Midnight whispered.

---

Henry was staring at the image on the ceiling of the chamber. The two sea ponies were as well.

"Windigos... Elemental spirits that feed on hatred. The ponies of Equestria is full of hatred."

Henry stayed silent.
He knows that wasn't true.

---

Rose was looking on the image on the ceiling of the chamber she was in, as well as the griffin and the yellow unicorn.

"Ponies became corrupted by greed, anger, lust... Ponies even kill each other just for them to be above the rest!"

'Sad but true...'
Rose thought.

---

Flame and Coal looked up on the ceiling, where an image appeared.
Ember and the white pegasus did the same.

"Ponies driven by such emotion, will do anything to gain more. Have they seen the effects they caused? Of course not! And even if they do, did they do anything to change themselves? No..."

"What's he talking about?"
Coal innocently asked.

Flame couldn't argue. All the things that pony is saying is true.

---

"Fillies are supposed to look up at the older ponies as their role model. If their role model is corrupt by heart, what will happen to the fillies? Yes, they will become one of them one day. And the cycle will continue. I will not allow this to happen! Realize what you have done! You all have created a great amount of heartaches among your fellow ponies! Every place is the same. And now that I hold the power to change the course of the future, I do not want a future where I will be filled with corrupted ponies! No! I want a world where ponies can live together in peace and harmony! That's my dream! That's my goal! And that's what I am planning to do with my power! I will freeze this land, and then the rest of the world, and begin a new era of ponies for a brighter future! But do not fear. The Windigos will only freeze those who are corrupted by heart. Yes, the pure ones will be spared, but how many? That, I do not care. Enjoy the rest of your pathetic lives while it last! But don't give up hope. Who knows? Maybe one of these five ponies will be able to stop me. I present to you all, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony! The five ponies who are fighting my comrades to try and stop me. Watch them, and pray that they will stop me, if you want a corrupted future!"

And the image changed into four images, where Henry and the others were inside chamber-like areas.
The others felt glad that the others are okay, but, do they have to fight?

They noticed the chamber was starting to freeze. Their time inside is limited.
They indeed need to fight, but win or lose, what then? How will they escape?

"Battle...start..."

Chapter 09 - Breaking The Limit

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Chapter 9 - Breaking The Limit

Midnight and Daybreak left their gazes on the ceiling. They could not believe what they were seeing.
The other was still alive and breathing!
Now, they both wondered if they could hear each other.

"Daybreak!"
Midnight shouted.

"Don't waste your breath, boy."
Said the doctor calmly, as he points a hoof at him with an installed bracelet-like device.
"He can't hear you, and don't worry... I'm here." He grinned.

Midnight turned to him in anger, dismissing the fear he's feeling at the device aiming at him.
He managed to dock in time before the fast ray of light could hit him.
He did a barrel roll to dodge a follow-up attack.

He need to do something to fight back.
He couldn't concentrate his magic while desperately trying to evade such a scary and freezing attack.

The black earth pony laughed at the unicorn's pathetic display.

"Stop it!"
Aurora cried.

Midnight, after jumping out of the way, bumped on the wall of the chamber, losing his balance.
The doctor immediately took this chance to end him.
As much as he was enjoying this, he doesn't want to waste precious time. There are still a lot of things to be done.

He fired a ray of light, hitting the startled unicorn.
The doctor grinned as Aurora shouted the unicorn's name.

---

Daybreak quickly got up on his hooves after seeing his brother was in trouble.
Disregarding the yellow earth pony that managed to dodge in time before catching herself in fire, Daybreak immediately spotted a safe place to concentrate his magic.

Rose immediately took a folded metallic boomerang from her belt while in mid-air, and instantly unfolded and threw it at the griffin the moment she got back on the ground.

With the griffin's burning claws, he easily held the boomerang on his grasp, managing to melt the metal, but then a beeping, to the griffin's confusion, and just before he got the chance to react, the item he held exploded fiercely.

Rose could not see the conclusion of what happened from the black thick smoke that enveloped her foe.
But just in case, she prepared a hoof on her belt.

But as quick as a blink, a fast cloud of flame flew towards the startled mare.

---

The white pegasus installed a meter long sharp sword-like claw on both his front hooves, giving Flame the message that talking this out is not an option.
Coal shivered in fear as the pegasus rubbed the two sharp metallic blades against each other as he grinned devilishly.

Ember begged the pegasus to stop, but her pleads were simply ignored as the pegasus took flight, and after satisfied of the height, he dove straight at the two earth ponies, his hooves ready to cut them in two.

Flame has no idea how to counter, so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment...
Just mere moments before the blades could reach them, Flame pushed the young Coal out of the way.
Ember immediately closed her eyes.

---

"Darn it!"
Henry snarled as he flew out of a suddenly bursting geyser from where he stood.

The pressure of the water was too powerful, that if he didn't flew away on time, he'd probably hit the ceiling pretty hard.

Taking aim, he fired a brown bolt of beam towards the oricorn, but the sea pony swiftly dodged the attack, sliding on the watery surface of the area, slightly levitating from the water, the vortex still followed him.

"Dad! Stop this!"
Pearl shouted, to the alicorn's surprise.

"D-dad?"

The oricorn quickly summoned another geyser, which the alicorn managed to dodge again on time.
The other geyser weakened and vanished.

Henry took notice of the vanishing geyser, to the sea pony's advantage.
He took this chance to instantly fire a blue beam from his horn towards the alicorn.

"HENRY!"
Pearl shouted, allowing the alicorn to turn just to witness the fast beam flying towards him.

---

"Something's not right..."
The young pony hidden in the shadows whispered to himself, ignoring the exhausted grunts of the pale-blue alicorn a few hooves in front of him, who was using his magic for the pony to watch the four chambers, and to send the images all around Equestria.
"...who is that changeling...?"

---

Flame could not believe that he docked in time.
The pegasus flew pass him, only to cut a small amount of the earth pony's mane with his blades.

"Too close fo' comfort..."
Flame nervously said as he ran towards the young filly, while the pegasus stopped in mid-air, turning to face them once again.

The pegasus grinned.
Not only was this earth pony strong, but also quick.
Guarantee, he'll enjoy this.

He dove towards them as he wondered; would he kill them quickly so he could get it over with, or would he kill them slowly to enjoy himself?

Flame noticed the pegasus was flying lower this time, probably to get a higher chance of cutting him if he docks again.
He has an idea, but he hoped it'll work.

Coal quickly ran away in panic.

Just before the pegasus could land his blades on him, Flame jumped towards him, higher than the startled pegasus.

The moment the pegasus was below the earth pony, Flame tried to grab the pegasus' mane, but the speed of the pegasus made him grab the tail instead.

The sudden carried weight slowed the pegasus' speed, and the sudden pain from the his pulled tail made him lose his balance, and both ponies fell back on the ground.

---

Daybreak, after satisfying himself with the amount of magic he focused on the spot outside the sphere, immediately surrounded himself with magic to teleport himself to his destination.
His sight turned white, as it should be when he uses the teleportation spell.
But after his vision came back, he found himself still inside the sphere.

'No use...'
A voice inside him said, a voice so familiar.
'I suggest you reserve your energy, B---Daybreak...'
The young pony's voice echoed in his mind.

Confusion and anger sparked inside him as he tried to envelop himself with his own magic.
He can't just sit inside a sphere doing nothing while his brother's frozen gray!
He ignored the voice's sigh.

Fire and smoke cleared their respective areas, revealing a severely burned earth pony, still on her hooves, and a large griffin, forcing himself to bear the pain from losing a claw.

A bright red feather on the griffin's neck turned green.
Grass began to grow underneath the griffin, and instantly, the griffin extends his clawless feet forward, and the nearby grass flew and circled around his arm, seemingly bandaging his wound to stop the bleeding.

Rose took this chance and threw another boomerang.
This time, the griffin flew out of the way while the grass continued to heal his wound.

At least now she knew how to deal with him.

---

The black earth pony frowned.
The fun was already over, he thought as he sighed.
Oh well. At least there are still quite a number of unfinished work that needed him.

He turned around, and was startled as he saw the unicorn's flank a few hooves in front of him, giving him a back kick.
The black earth pony was thrown back towards the petrified unicorn, which instantly fade after he got into contact with it.

Midnight quickly turned around to face his foe, his horn glowing intensely.
All he needed was to be still to use his magic, and he had no idea that even he could perform the teleportation spell.
Staying inside a library made him read some of the books to kill his boredom.

The unicorn grinned.
Being petrified felt weird, but he could at least concentrate his magic.

The earth pony was still startled as he stood up.
He shook his head to give way for a grin.
"I'd say..." he said as he pressed a few buttons on his device.
"I never saw that flaw on my work."
He chuckled a bit.
"I'll make a few modifications later."
And he gave the unicorn an evil grin.
"...Right now, let's enjoy ourselves!"

Midnight has already contentrated enough magic around his horn.
He blasted a black beam of magic towards the earth pony, but before his attack could reach the old pony, the doctor flashed in white and disappeared.

Startled as he noticed a flash of white on the corner of his eyes.
He turned, only to witness the black earth pony beside him, giving him a few punches on his face, and finishing it with a nasty headbutt, throwing him a few hooves away.

The old earth pony grinned as the unicorn looked at him with shock.
The old pony packs quite a punch, he admitted as he slowly got back on his hooves.

---

Henry was hit on his chest, throwing him towards the walls of the chamber.
His back absorbed all the impact from the wall, almost losing the air in his lungs.
He fell down on the watery surface, trying to recover himself fast.
Suddenly, he felt the ground where he sat was becoming soft.

The oricorn summoned a geyser just underneath the startled alicorn.
The pressure immediately sent the alicorn to the ceiling, his back and head hit the ceiling, his glasses falling off of his face.

Pearl cried to her father to stop, but the oricorn tried his best to ignore her.
Everything that is happening is for his own daughter's sake to have a better world to live in.

The oricorn quickly moved towards his prey, with his horn glowing intensely.
He tilted his head to stab the slowly rising alicorn with his horn.

Despite his blurry vision, the alicorn could tell that the oricorn is fast approaching.
Firing a beam of magic might not be enough. Levitating him off the ground isn't a good counter either, for the oricorn could simply deflect his magic.
Just before the oricorn could satisfy his horn with the alicorn's flesh and blood, he suddenly stopped himself, completely against his will.
The vortex of water around him disappeared, as he slowly flew up.

Henry is focusing his magic on the oricorn with his puppetry skill.
His horn glowed intensely. He never knew he needed a lot of magic strength to take over an oricorn's mind.

"W-what's this?"
The oricorn managed to say as he tried his best to move his head.
He realized that he's under some sort of skill, a skill that only one pony could perform.
Seeing the changeling can perform the skill was impossible for him to believe, but...

Despite feeling sorry for her father's situation, Pearl felt really glad to see her alicorn was taking control over the battle.
But, she saw something that immediately evaporated her smile of relief.
"Henry! Beside you!"

If the alicorn was wearing his glasses, his clear vision would have seen the warning on the corner of his eyes.
An oricorn immediately fired a magic ray from its sharp horn, pushing the alicorn to the other wall.

"A changeling like you..."
The oricorn said after taking a few deep breaths.

Henry, with his blurry vision, looked at his attacker as he groaned in pain.

His poor eyesight managed to inform him that the oricorn he used his puppetry skill on was still in midair, but was already deforming into water, and it soon fell to the watery ground.

"...aqua mirage...?"

"...able to perform Silver String's ability?"
The oricorn continued, his horn started to glow once more.
"You disgraced my friend's name!"
And in an instant, Henry found himself slammed on the ceiling once again.
"A lowlife changeling like you must die!"
And before him, two oricorns formed from the water, each horn glowed intensely, and quickly dashed towards the weakened changeling.

"FATHER! NO!"

Henry, already too weak to keep his disguise, tried his best to stand back up.

---

Unknown to the pale-blue alicorn, the unicorn pony just opened his eyes, and a confident smile flashed on his face.

"So..." he quietly said to himself.
"...things became...or will become even more interesting than I thought..."

---

Flame quickly got back up and quickly ran in front of the pegasus.
He dodged the pegasus' attempt of stabbing him before he gave a few punches right to his face.

That was only for distraction. The real attack, he immediately turned around, and gave him a double back kick, and this time, he exerted a lot of force on his attack, sending the pegasus flying and landing on the ground on his back.

Taking this opportunity, he once again ran and stopped in front of the pegasus' face, immediately lifted his front hooves, and with great force, he stomped on the two sword-like blades with each his hooves.
The force managed to break the swords in half.

He overheard his beloved earth pony and her brother cheering for him.

The pegasus however, flew up in the air, just in time to avoid the earth pony's hooves.
He wore a grin on his face as he dove down again.

Flame was not expecting the pegasus would do the dive attack again.
Completely off-guard, the pegasus stabbed whatever was left of his sword on the earth pony's chest, and pushed him further to throw him away from the pegasus.

Flame lay on the ground a few hooves in front of the sphere.
Ember cried out his name as Coal ran towards him with tears running down his eyes.

The pegasus, still in the air, removed whatever was left of his weapon from his hooves with annoyance, yet he grinned.

Now that the shepherd is gone, it's time to deal with the sheep, he thought as he lay his eyes on the crying little filly, trying to wake the pale-red earth pony.

---

Even though the griffin was not using any fire attacks, Rose still finds him a difficult foe to beat.
The griffin's sharp hind talons left her with nasty slashes around her back, and the griffin's strong wings can pound her really hard.

Taking the feather off of the griffin wasn't as simple as she thought it would be.

And Daybreak's yellow magic light is distracting her at some point.
If he's trying to break himself free, she could only hope that he'll help her, instead of him helping the griffin.

She jumped to the side just in time before the griffin's wings or talons could give her another wound.
After she got her hooves in the ground, she immediately turned, using her body's momentum to throw yet another boomerang.

This time, this boomerang exploded, and instead of a boomerang, a wide net flew towards the griffin.
The net has caught its target, and locked itself, disabling the griffin's ability to fly or get away.
As soon as he hit the ground, the net electrecuted the griffin, making him scream in pain.

She was about to sit down to catch her breath when the griffin started to burn, snapping the net, and setting the burning griffin back in the air.

She cursed. She should have taken the feather!
Now, she'll be dealing with a phoenix-like griffin.

She jumped back to get away from the griffin's burning tackle.

---

The black changeling turned white, and instantly, he vanished from the spot, startling the oricorn, losing his focus on the other oricorns under his magic. The other two oricorns immediately became water, and created a splash as they hit the wall.

The oricorn turned around to witness the changeling just got his glasses on his face.

The changeling summoned a bit of magic around his glasses so they will not fall off again.
He dropped his sidebag and used his magic to untie the string of his hat under his head, and shook his head a bit for his hat to fall off.
He immediately jumped back after he felt a familiar sensation under his feet.
He was right that the oricorn as once again summoned a geyser, but instead of landing on his feet, he flapped his wings to put himself in mid-air.

He dodged a beam of magic from the sea pony.

He's too weak to use his magic now.

---

The pegasus grabbed the little filly by his mane, lifting him to his eye-level.
He grinned as he watched the filly trying his best to set himself free from the pegasus' hoof.
The filly's four hooves couldn't reach his hoof, nor his face.

This is too easy.

Then, he felt something grabbed his hind hoof.
He turned his head to see what it was.

"Let...him go..."
Flame managed to say.
His face was resting on the ground. He couldn't make eye-contact with the pegasus.
He weakly wrapped his front hooves around the pegasus' hind hoof.
"Let him...go..."
He's breathing was shallow. He has lost a lot of blood from the stab wounds.

His condition has only widened the pegasus' grin.
He easily lifted his hoof away from the earth pony's grasp, and used it to kick his head, sending the pony away from him.

"Flame...!"
Coal shouted as he cried in fear.

---

Midnight landed on his back after receiving another punch.
He managed to get back up, but the doctor immediately disappeared from his sight.
He then felt a strong kick on his side, which threw him against the wall.

The doctor laughed maniacly before he vanished, only to reappear far away from the unicorn.

'Darn it!'
He thought to himself as he tried to stand without the wall's support.
'How am I suppose to win?'

---

Henry found himself trapped inside a tornado of water. The water spun fiercely fast, making his heart race in fear.

Focusing a bit of magic, he managed to surround himself with magic, to try and shield himself as he plans to get through the torrent of water, but he was too weak to hold his magic to form a barrier around him.

The magic energy around himself exploded outward, creating an invisible shockwave which instantly evaporated the tornado of water.

He blinked.
'That'll do.'
He thought as he flew away as the oricorn snapped back from his startled state.

He caught a small glimpse of his friends on the images being flashed on the ceiling.
They were not doing so well...

'Wielders of the elements...'
He thought, but then he got hit by another sudden geyser, slamming on the ceiling.

'...how...are we suppose to win...with these...?'
He thought as he landed on the watery ground hard.

He heard his sea pony's voice, crying out his name, but he could no longer find the strength to even stand up, or even move.
He then felt a rushing water lifting him, and the rapid air moving down.

---

Daybreak was now satisfied with the intense amount of magic energy that is flowing inside and around him.
His body was covered with yellow magic, and his eyes glowed golden-yellow.
He's planning on creating a powerful shockwave, and so he did.

But the wave of powerful magic bounced back towards him after it hit the walls of the sphere, enveloping his entire body with powerful pain instead, that he couldn't even manage to scream the pain out.
He immediately lost his consciousness as he dropped himself.

'...I told you so...'

Rose threw another boomerang, landing on the griffin's burning wing, and exploded on impact.
The griffin screamed as he fell down to the ground.

Now's her chance.

She ran as fast as her weakened body could, and locked her eyes on the feather.
She noticed the feather turned green again, and felt vines wrapping her in place as the flames around the griffin's body disappeared.

Vines wrapped her hooves, her neck, and her body, dropping her on the ground as the griffin slowly got back to his feet.

---

"You can't keep this up forever, boy!"
The doctor said and followed it with a maniac-like laugh, as he punched and punched nonstop on the weakened unicorn's barrier.

Midnight admitted to himself that he could not keep his barrier up for long.
Also, where did this old earth pony got all of that strength!?

Midnight stared at the pegasus he's trying to save, and the pegasus locked her teary eyes on him as well.
'I made a promise... A promise... A stupid promise...'

---

'...that one day...we could live...together...forever...'
Henry thought as he started falling down to the watery ground.

---

'...to live in peace...to love...each other...'
Flame thought as he helplessly watched Coal receiving a painful punch on his stomach.
'...but...I'm too weak...'

---

'...I couldn't even protect myself...'
Midnight thought as his barrier shattered into pieces, letting the doctor's punch reach his face.
'...Elements of Harmony...what garbage...'

---

Rose was starting to lose her consciousness, her lungs burning the desire for air.
The griffin has pinned his talon on the earth pony's neck, pressing it down.

She couldn't believe it...that after all this trouble...she would end here...
...so...all that talk with the Element of Honesty...were they really the truth...?

---

Rose... You have lost your parents at a very young age.

"I do not wish to talk about my past."

The past hurt, does it not? But you should try to dismiss your past. It will help you turn into the proper 'you'.

"...it did."

No, you did not. You turned into someone you shouldn't be. Yes, the past is difficult to let go, but you should learn to l---

"Let it all go!? Are you insane? Those criminals killed my parents, and you want me to just let it go!?"

...the past, yes, I think it did helped you carry such anger, turning you into a mare you should not have become.

"Those fools needed someone to bring them to justice!"

...why not leave tha---

"Leave them to the authorities!? Ha! The very same 'authorities' who got paid so the ponies who murdered my parents would not get into prison!? F*ck that!"

...just...let it go...

"And why should I?"

...because you have turned far away from the truth.

"What truth?"

...the truth of who you really are.

"Just shut up if you're talking nonsense."

...I am indeed not talking nonsense, child.

"Then what are you saying?"

...the simple truth. Live your life to the fullest. Stop living with a lie...

"Living a lie? I fail to follow."

...you have been living your entire life as...BatMare... A pony who brings justice to ponies who needs to be judged. That is not---

"Not the real me? I chose to be who I am, and the city needed someone to bring those fools behind bars!"

...if you won't step out of the path of shadows, you will never see the light of truth...

"I plan to be who I am until I can no longer be."

...you...are not qualified...

---

'Maybe you can reconsider?'
A voice echoed inside Rose's mind.

Despite losing her consciousness, she felt as though time slowed down, allowing her to talk to the voice inside her mind.

"Who...?"

'...I admit, I'm hurt... You forgot about me all that quickly? You have been wearing me all this time, just to give you a hint...'

"The Element...of Honesty...?"

'Indeed, it is I.'

"...I'm...dying... Go bother...someone else..."

'...yes, I can feel that you are on the brink of death. So...'

"...Have...have I been...really...living on a lie...?"

'Well, in all honesty, no. But you do live almost all of your life as someone whom you are not. BatMare is...a fictional character, created by pony's creative imagination. You did a good job of bringing that to life, but that is not you. Of course, avenging your parents' deaths is understandable, but you need to learn to let go and move on. Sure, they're gone, but they will still be inside your heart, guiding you to the right path.'

"...You talk as if you know how it feels..."

'...let me share a short story from a very long story. We of the Elements of Harmony used to be living beings.'

"...Oh?"

'...we helped Princesses Celestia and Luna bring peace in Equestria, but unfortunately, that was no easy task. With the princesses' magic, they materialized our souls into the elemental stones. So don't you dare tell us we don't know how it feels to be alive.'

"...I'm...sorry..."

'...I...suppose I could accept your apology. Now then, why don't we start from the beginning, shall we?'

---

Midnight was lying on the ground. His body, full of bruises, his eyes, both were closed.

"What a sad sight."
The old black earth pony sighed.
He slowly turned around, and started to walk towards the sphere, where inside, a crying pegasus was sitting down, her head facing her hooves.

'You're not dead yet, are you?'

"I...might as well be..."

'Oh, you compared me to garbage... That was not really a kind thing to say...'

"I...suppose...watching me to die...is a kind thing...to do, huh...?"

'S-sorry... I couldn't help you if one of us couldn't accept one of you to wield us...'

"One of us...?"

'Yes. But now, I think he can accept her now...'

"Her...? Rose...?"

'But...I'm sorry... With your current state... I can't...'

"...garbage..."

---

'Hey, hey!'

"Hhhhhh..."
Flame could no longer see anything, even though he weakly opened his eyes earlier to witness the little Coal beaten by a larger white pegasus stallion.

'Hey! Don't you dare die!'

"..."

'Flame!'

---

The black changeling was pushed towards the sphere by a fierce beam from the oricorn's horn.
His back slammed on the sphere, losing most of the air in his lungs.

He dropped himself on the watery ground in front of the sphere.

Pearl cried out the changeling's name as she began to tackle and punch the sphere to escape and do her best to help her beloved.

Henry was no longer moving.
He could no longer feel any of his senses, yet he's still aware that he's breathing slow and deep.

'Henry...'

"I...could use...some help..."

'I'm sorry... I wish I could, but you are no longer in good shape...'

"...I see... I'm...good as dead then?"

'No! Don't give up so quickly!'

The oricorn stood in front of the weakly-lying alicorn, still surrounded by his vortex of water.
He looked angry at the changeling, and trying his best to ignore the pounding sounds from his daughter's attempt of breaking herself free.
Now that he thought about it, why is his daughter trying to set herself free?
To stop him? To stop him from killing this lowlife changeling?

He shifted his stare to his daughter, his crying daughter, desperately trying to set herself free.
She has been shouting the changeling's name.

Did the changeling do something to make his daughter act like this?
Wait...did the changeling do something to make his daughter act this way!?

A sudden torrent of anger fueled the oricorn's bloodstream as he immediately focused all of his magic power on his horn, levitating the changeling in the air.
He aimed his horn at the changeling's heart.
One quick stab, and this will be all over.

"DAD!"
Pearl shouted as she tackled the sphere with her numbing shoulder.
"PLEASE! STOP!"
She tackled the sphere once more.

The oricorn ignored her.
He wants to end this now. Just one stab and---

"I LOVE HIM!"

The oricorn gasped, completely losing his magic from his horn, dropping the levitated changeling back on the ground.

---

"Oh, look at that..."
Grinned the white pegasus after he finished beating the poor filly, who was now lying on the ground.

Ember was crying. She could no longer bring herself to look at either of the two ponies who tried to rescue her.

The pegasus grabbed the filly's mane and lifted him up.
He turned him around so he could see his poor face.
"...the little filly wants to go to sleep."
He grinned.
"Any last words, kid?"

Despite his weak and beaten body, Coal managed to weakly half-open one of his eyes, and slowly lands his gaze on his big sister.
"I...do..."
He slowly said, making her sister look at him.

Oh, how she wished she didn't.
Her little brother...

Coal weakly flashed a small smile.
"I...wish...my...sist...er...could...smile...ag...ain..."

"Aw... Ain't that sweet?"

Ember doesn't know if she could still shout, but...
"PLEASE LET HIM GO!"

"Not yet, just one...last...punch."
He prepared his other hoof to deliver the blow, but then...
"Wha-ack!?"

Coal's necklace glowed brightly white, and quickly enveloped the little filly's entire body.

---

Even as an element, Honest is still taking a lot of time to prepare himself...

"H-huh...?"

Oh, Coal. It's nothing. Anyway, with the five of us now fully accepted all of you, it's time.

---

The white pegasus took a few steps back, one of his front hooves in front of him to cover his eyes from the bright light coming from the little filly.
Suddenly, a beam of light reached the pale-red earth pony.
Flame was then enveloped in white light.
Soon, he managed to take a breath and weakly opened his eyes.

"Uh...wha...?"

Flame was not sure if he's seeing things, but he could see his blood, flowing back inside of him through his wound instead of the other way around, and he was regaining his strength.

'You scared me for a moment there, Flame...'

Flame blinked. This was no dream.
He ignored the startled pegasus who was near the bright light as he tried to stand up.

"Flame! Thank Celestia, you're okay!"
Ember exclaimed.

Flame turned to meet her eyes.
He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Stay loyal t' every pony I love 'till da end."

Both earth ponies were surprised to Flame's necklace, which suddenly began to shine brightly white.

---

A beam of light came out of nowhere, and hit the earth pony.
The griffin, startled, flapped his wings a few times by reflex, setting himself a distance from the earth pony.

Rose wasn't sure if this comforting sensation was because she's already dead, or something else, but she was betting on the former.

'Guess again...'

The voice of the element irritated her.
She opened her eyes, and found herself still wrapped by vines.
She sensed her strength was returning, so she tried standing up, snapping the vines in the process.

"Wh-what's happening...?"

'Laughter's grand entrance. Took her a while, though...'

Rose, somehow, found a strange reason to smile at that.
"Hahah... I guess laughter really is the best medicine..."
She whispered.

She looked at the griffin a few meters away. He was covering his eyes from the light with his clawed foot.
She turned to see the unicorn inside the sphere.
Daybreak was slowly getting back on his hooves. He looked exhausted and hurt, but he wore a smile, not a mysterious or an evil smile, but a genuine smile.

She brought her attention to the griffin as the light around her began to fade.
"Let's finish this."

'Oh? Why is that?'

"So I can get back to my life."
She answered, with determination and confidence.

'Your life...?'

Rose smiled.
"My life. The life of Rose Hammer..."

The griffin was glad the light was bearable now, but as soon as he brought his foot back on the ground, the earth pony's necklace began to glow in white, making him cover his eyes once again.

---

The black earth pony stopped as he noticed a bright light was shining from behind him.
He turned around, and instantly brought his hoof in front of his face to cover his old eyes.

Midnight wasn't really sure what was going on, but as long as he can stand up and continue to fight...

The unicorn quickly dashed towards the black earth pony, stabbing his horn on the earth pony's chest as he brought all of his strength on a headbutt, throwing the earth pony back with a stab wound.

"Sorry, pops, but you are so f*cked now!"
Midnight said with a grin as the earth pony slowly got back on his hooves, one of his front hooves on his wound to try and lessen the bleeding.

'Sigh... That was not a very kind thing to say...'

"Oh? So now what? Be kind to my enemies who tried to beat me to death?"

'...Good...point...'

"So, the elements have activated?"
The doctor asked, his face was in pain from the headbutt and the stab.
Despite the feeling of pain, he managed to smile.
"Interesting... I might add this to my research after this."

"Hey pops, guess what?"
Midnight began to summon large amounts of magic on his horn as the bright light began to fade.
"You're so darn dead after this!"

Finally, he saw Aurora smiling once again.
Strangely, it warmed his heart, almost reconsidering to spare this old pony's life, but...

'You could do that...'

"No! Ponies who don't show kindness to other ponies must be taught a lesson!"
Midnight shouted as he stomped his hoof on the ground.

He was about to blast the doctor a mighty blast of energy beam, but his necklace suddenly shined brightly white.

"W-what the...!?"

'Sigh... Unkind words for a kind action... I don't think I can get used to that...'

---

"You...love...this changeling...?"
The oricorn slowly asked, still in shock.

Pearl was exhausted from trying to set herself free from the sphere, but she still continued, but now, her tackles and pounds deliver no power.
She still locked her gaze on the unmoving changeling.
So close, yet, he's so out of reach...

"Pearl!?"
The oricorn shouted, still disbelieving what he just heard.
No, this changeling did something to his daughter!
"This changeling did something to you!"

"He did!"
She stopped, this time, she looked at her father angrily.
"He gave me something you nor even mother could not give me!"

"Nonsense, child!"
The oricorn snarled.
"We have given you everything you have asked! We---"

"Everything I ASKED!? You weren't there when I had a bad dream!"
She began to cry, but her tears where impossible to notice from the water inside the sphere.
"You weren't there when I hurt myself inside the house!"
She could not call it her home. It was a house. Simply a house.
"I couldn't get out to make friends! I couldn't leave the house to enjoy the surroundings!"
Her voice broke a bit in mid-sentence.
"You imprisoned me inside that house! You never cared about me! You never loved me!"

"Child, we only did that---"

"And then you want me to be someONE I'M NOT FOR A PONY I HATE! YOU WANT ME TO BE WITH A PONY I HATE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! THAT IS NOT WHAT I HAVE ASKED FOR MY LIFE!"
She quickly tore her gaze away from her father, and somehow found its way to her changeling.
"All I asked was for someone to love me, to take care of me... To make me feel that I'm worthy to continue to live..."

"Ch...uh..."
The oricorn was angry, but the guilt and shame he felt from the realization that he did not become a good father to his daughter outweighed the anger he felt.

Pearl once again locked her gaze to her father.
"I love Henry, because he made me feel like an important pony in the world... A feeling you never made me feel, not even my own mother..."
She brought her gaze back on her changeling.
"...I don't even know if you love me as who I am..."

The chamber was quiet for a while.
The oricorn dropped his sight to the ground.
Sadness was now in the cold wind.

Both sea ponies noticed a shining light from the chamber's ceiling, but none payed any attention to it.

"I'm..." the oricorn started, but...

"No... I can't forgive you..."
Pearl said, interrupting the oricorn.

Silence of sadness once again reigned.

The silence broke after they heard a series of coughs, not from the sea ponies, but from the changeling.

"Henry!"
Pearl exclaimed, thankful that he was still alive.

Henry groaned weakly, as he tried to stand up, but after he did, he fell back to the ground, but before he could meet the watery ground again, a magic force stopped him, and brought him back on his hooves.
He looked up to see the tall oricorn using his magic to...aid him?

Henry no longer had any idea what was going on.
Earlier, this oricorn wanted to kill him, but now, he's...helping him?

The oricorn looked at him, his face a mix of sadness, anger, confusion and shame.
"Tell me something..."
He said with a low tone.
"...you didn't fight with your best. Why?"

Henry was not sure if he should answer his question.
His mind wants to make him turn around to see his beloved sea pony, at least for a short moment.
But, a part of him is stopping him from doing that. He could anger the oricorn, sending a message that he would rather put his back on the oricorn.
"I..." he began, "...couldn't..."
He coughed a bit.
"...don't get me wrong...I wanted to fight you, but I couldn't bring myself to it..."
He slowly turned to face a beautiful blue face inside the sphere.
"...you are an enemy, but...you are Pearl's father..."

Pearl smiled slightly, trying her best to reflect the changeling's smile.

The light from the ceiling faded.

'Laugh's healing magic doesn't affect changelings!? That's just sad...'

Henry ignored the element's voice.
He has no clue what the voice meant.

"You...showed me mercy...?"
The oricorn asked, making the changeling face him.
"...because I am Pearl's father...?"

Henry smiled, and shook his head.
"That...and..."
He brought a hoof to touch the element necklace.
"...I was waiting for something to happen with this necklace."
He brought his attention back on the oricorn. This time, his smile faded.
"...I couldn't bring myself to...kill...you... I was hoping there was another way to stop you, and I thought the element could help me with that... That's why I tried to wait."

'Please excuse me to say that your idea was definitely a stupid idea.'

Henry looked up at the ceiling. He wanted to see his friends' condition.
He was surprised to see them, glowing in color with their element, and fighting their foes.

The sea ponies looked up as well.

The changeling smiled.
"Freezing Equestria to begin a new era is something I would not agree on. Yes, I agree that Equestria is now full of...corrupted...ponies. But I believe there is another way to change them."

---

The unicorn hidden in the shadows smiled.
Every word those ponies inside the chambers can be heard by every pony in Equestria.

---

"Stay loyal to those you care."

"Always bring a warn smile to everywhere you go."

"Live your life with honesty."

"Be kind to every pony."

---

"The Elements of Harmony..."
The changeling said.
"...not only did they brought peace to Equestria in ancient times, but they are also the elements to unite every ponies' hearts into friendship. Loyalty, Laughter, Honesty, Kindness, and Generosity..."

The changeling brought his gaze back on the oricorn, who was already staring at him, with a weak smile.

"You should be willing to help those in need, share your blessings, and assist those who need help."

The three were startled after the changeling's necklace began to shine in bright white light.

'I never knew a changeling could be so dramatic...'

---

"So... Do you think the five of us can do it?"

"Sad that Magic isn't around to help us."

"I agree. It would be almost like the good old times."

"Sigh... Oh well. Even without him, I believe we are enough."

"I think my wielder's foe is no longer willing to fight us."

"Really? The oricorn?"

"Yes. So I'm just going to sit back and watch the show."

"Hey, hey, you're being unfair!"

"I'd like to see it as...you four are being unfair. I'm missing all the action..."

"Hahah, good point. Too bad for you."

"Okay, let's do it, then."

---

The bright white flash faded, revealing a dak-blue unicorn, wearing a mighty white armor around his body. He opened his eyes to see his frightened foe, taking a few steps back.

"Doctor Magnifico Psycho."
Midnight said, his voice a mix of his own plus another.

---

Before the griffin was a yellow earth pony, now wearing a blue-plated armor around her body. She opened her eyes to see the startled griffin.

"Helios the Sixth. Ruler of the Northern Griffins."
Rose said, her voice a mix of her own voice plus another.

---

The pegasus returned his hoof on the ground after the light faded.
Two earth ponies stood a few meters in front of him.

Flame and Coal were standing tall, proud and confident. Both ponies now wore full armor.
Flame wore a crimson-red armor, while Coal wore a dark-pink armor.

"Sonic Wave."
Flame and Coal said in unison, their voices were mixed with two other voices.

---

"You have brought pain and suffering to the hearts of your victims. You have poisoned their reason to believe in the future. You have given them the pain to thicken the walls in their hearts. Ponies like you, no longer value change and acceptance, must not be allowed to continue to hurt another. Your hearts are full of darkness. Your minds are full of evil. We, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, and the spirits of the Elements, will put you in your proper place!"

The four wielders of the elements said in unison.
Their eyes then glowed in white, enveloping their foes with bright white magic.

---

"S-Sonic...Wave...?"
Aurora slowly said as she gazes at the white pegasus on the ceiling.
"D...dad...?"

---

The three ponies screeched in pain.
Their minds want to escape the piercing pain they're feeling, but they find it impossible.
It was as if their hearts and minds are about to break.

The doctor managed to reach his hoof with his other, and started pushing some buttons.
Immediately, he flashed in white and disappeared, leaving the armored unicorn to dismiss his magic.

"Coward."
The unicorn simply said as he began to walk towards the sphere.

The other two now have fallen into unconsciousness.
They were slowly brought back on the ground as the magic around them faded.

They then slowly walked towards the spheres.

Reaching the spheres, they used their magic around it, and soon, the sphere slowly disappeared, allowing freedom to the imprisoned ponies.

Soon, the ponies' glowing eyes returned to normal, and the four instantly brought a hoof to rub their aching heads.

---

A green alicorn wearing a full blue armor was facing the sphere, his glowing eyes slowly fading after the sphere disappeared, allowing the water and the pony inside to be set free.
As soon as the alicorn's eyes returned to normal, he immediately brought a hoof to rub his aching head.

"Ow..."
He slowly said.

Realizing that her Henry Hoof has returned, she jumped towards him and gave him a tight hug as she cried.

The startled alicorn returned the hug, rubbing her beautiful long mane.

The oricorn could still not believe his daughter was in love with a changeling. There has to be something going on here, but, he's an expert on magic, and even he can tell if a changeling is using magic on itself or on others.
The fact that the changeling was only using his magic to appear as an alicorn and nothing more saddened him.
His daughter and this changeling really do love each other.

Love...truly is a weird emotion...
The oricorn flashed a weak smile.
He can no longer do anything but to accept his daughter's decision.
If this is what will make her happy, then so be it.
He only wished he saw it sooner.
Now though, he felt bad for trying to kill the changeling that brought his daughter happiness.
As much as he hated it, he had to do something to make it up for it...him.

He returned his gaze at the two, and saw them in the middle of their passionate kiss.
He turned around to give them a little privacy, but the instant he did, he saw a flash of light, and it revealed a wounded black earth pony with a white messy mane and tail.

The doctor coughed a bit before he faced the oricorn.

"Ah, my friend. It's---"
He stopped himself after he noticed the two ponies behind the oricorn, who just broke their hug and brought their attention on him.
A sudden anger flashed in the doctor's face.
"You...! How dare you!"
He pointed a hoof at the oricorn.
"How dare you allow this to happen!"

The oricorn sighed.
"I have told you, professor... I will do anything for my daughter."

"Then what is all of that!?"

The oricorn was now reflecting the doctor's anger.
"If that cha... If that alicorn brings my daughter the love and happiness that I could not give, then I will leave them be."

"Nonsense!"
The doctor, despite his aching body, stomped a hoof on the watery ground, creating a splash that reached his face.
He ignored it, however.
"We are going to change this world!"

The oricorn, despite his anger, nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, that is why I joined. I admit, at first I thought it was a good idea, but now I see with my own eyes that there is another way to fix the world."

The doctor laughed.
"The Elements of Harmony!? Are you really that stupid to believe that mere stones can change the world!? Your brain must be filled with water!"

The brain does need water to function properly.
However, the doctor used that fact for a different meaning, and the sea ponies didn't like it.

"Don't you dare talk to my father like that!"
Pearl shouted back, disabling the oricorn who was about to reply to the doctor's insult.

"Oh?"
The doctor said, grinning.
"You are defending this pony who tried to kill your lover?"

Henry walked and stopped beside the oricorn, providing himself a little distance to avoid the oricorn's swirling water.

"This sea pony beside me has the heart to see his actions."
He said, his voice a mix of truth and justice.

The oricorn couldn't believe the alicorn is willing to fight for him, despite everything he has done.
He shook the thought. Now's not the time.

"Unlike you, who is blind to see the power of harmony and friendship the Elements hold!"
Henry continued.

"Don't make me laugh, boy!"
And instantly, the doctor disappeared.

The alicorn and the oricorn heard Pearl's gasp from behind them.
Fear immediately struck in their hearts and minds as they turned, witnessing the sea pony was held hostage by the doctor, his device, threateningly aimed at the sea pony's neck.

The doctor laughed maniacly.
"Don't you dare make a move! I've adjusted my device to only freeze a part of her body."
He grinned.
"Imagine what would happen if she will suffer from a petrified throat?"
His grin grew even wider.

Henry could not believe how stupid he was for leaving Pearl there alone.

The oricorn, despite his strong magic, found himself useless in this situation.
He has finally realized how to make his daughter happy, but now, he couldn't do a thing to---

"Gah...!"
The doctor screeched, as he found himself unable to move his body.
His hoof allowed the sea pony to leave his hold.
He knew something was up, and noticed the alicorn's eyes were glowing in angry white.
'Mind control...?'

Henry was using his puppetry skill, but then, he felt a sudden rush of magic energy inside him.
His body began to glow in blue, his anger faded into neutrality.

The doctor's entire body was enveloped in white, and began to levitate in the air, still unable to move.

"Doctor Magnifico Psycho."
Henry said, his voice was mixed with another voice.
He summoned a swirl of magic around the black pony's device, breaking the device in the process.
"You, who are unwilling to change your dark ways, must not be allowed to continue to bring harm to the ponies of this world. You have caused enough damage, and it is time to end your parade."

The doctor looked at him with fear.

"Death will suffice your wrong-doing, but it is also a severe punishment. Allowing you to continue to live will be too generous. Allow me to let you taste what its like to be taken something from you."

The two ponies glowed in white, and soon, the light faded.
The earth pony fell down on the watery ground, unconscious.
The oricorn was just in time to use his magic to stop the alicorn from falling to the ground.

"T-thanks..."
Henry smiled at him.

---

The chambers began to shake, and it soon stopped.
The startled ponies looked around, only to find a new set of stairs standing from where the spheres used to be.
The staircase was leading upward.

A sudden cold wind greeted them, and reminded them that the chamber was slowly starting to freeze.

Flame carried the unconscious pegasus on his back as he, Ember and Coal walked up the stairs.
It would have been a better idea to leave the pony who tried to kill them to freeze back there, but...
Coal was complaining about his armor, making it difficult to climb the stairs.

Rose began to walked up the stairs, who was followed by Daybreak who was using his magic to carry the heavy griffin.

Midnight and Aurora walked up the stairs.
The sudden revelation of Aurora's father surprised the unicorn a bit, but he asked her to pay it no mind for a while.

Henry used his magic to levitate Pearl as they went up the stairs.
The oricorn was hesitating to follow them, but, if he was to die here, would his daughter forgive him?
He sighed.

He used his magic to carry the black earth pony and began to follow them.

---

The ponies have no idea how they reached a dark place, where a little light was the only thing that made them identify each other.
Midnight and Daybreak used their magic to shine some light from their horn.

At first, they were all quiet.
Midnight and Daybreak really felt glad to see each other again, but they don't know how to act.
Henry felt really glad to see everypony again, but he has no idea how to greet them.
Aurora saw her unconscious father on Flame's back. She doesn't know if she would be happy, or angry at him when he wakes up, if he wakes up...

Henry broke the silence.
"So, uh..."
He scratched his nape.
"...weird place for a...reunion, huh?"
He flashed a weak smile.

Flame, Coal and Ember smiled as they nodded their heads.

They suddenly heard hoofsteps from somewhere.
They turned to the source, and from the shadows of darkness appeared a young unicorn.
He has a pale-yellow coat and a black mane and tail.
His young blue eyes locked on the ponies.

What the ponies, and even the elements, didn't expect to see, was the unicorn was wearing a same kind of necklace.

"Welcome..."
The unicorn calmly said.

Chapter 10 - Melting The Ice

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Chapter 10 - Melting The Ice

Henry allowed the oricorn's magic to hold Pearl as he, Midnight, Daybreak, Flame, Coal and Rose stood in front, preparing themselves to battle the young unicorn pony.

Ember and Aurora stood near the levitated sea pony.
They took a few steps back for safety.

Suddenly, the unconscious ponies lying on the dark floor were enveloped in darkness, and disappeared.

Those who witnessed the event gasped in horror.

The pale-yellow unicorn shook his head.
"No reason to worry of them."
He returned his gaze on the five armored ponies plus one yellow unicorn, all looking prepared to battle him.
"I simply took them away. You'll see them in due time."

"Magic! What are you doing!?"
Flame's necklace sparkled as the Element of Loyalty spoke.
The voice gasped.
"What the...?"

"The space here is unstable."
The unicorn simply said.
"Your voices shall be heard if you decide to speak."

Suddenly, the shadowy walls started to flash some images of them battling their foes earlier.
They don't know whether to put their attention on them, or focus on the unicorn.

The unicorn however, took a look at one of the images, where it shows them Midnight battling the griffin to save his brother Daybreak.
One of the images show them Aurora's mother, Sunset, battling the pegasus pony to save her daughter.
The other shows Rose, battling the oricorn to save the blue sea pony.
And the last one shows them Flame and Coal, battling the black earth pony to rescue Ember.

"These images you see..."
The unicorn slowly said, managing to catch Henry and Rose's attention, while the others continued to watch the images.
"...were suppose to be the events that have occured earlier today."

An image displaying Midnight, using the element to defeat the griffin flashed before them.

"Midnight here was suppose to defeat Helios and to rescue his brother."

The image disappeared, and then an image flashed where Sunset just used her element power to defeat the pegasus.

"That one was suppose to be a little family reunion of Aurora's mother and father."

The image faded into the darkness, and then the other image flashed where Rose had killed the oricorn.

"Rose here would have defeated Pearl's father, even without the aid of the Element of Honesty."

The image disappeared, and the last remaining image flashed before them, where the black earth pony decided to escape.

"And here, the doctor makes his escape, allowing the two earth ponies a free win."

And the image disappeared.

The oricorn wasn't sure what to feel that he was supposed to die at the hands of the yellow mare earth pony.
Pearl, despite the anger that was still hanging inside her, managed to give her father a hug. She doesn't know what to feel if she saw him die in front of her. The oricorn smiled and returned the hug.
Aurora hung her head low. A family reunion? Her father left her, and then a sudden family reunion?
Midnight and Daybreak simply looked at each other, not knowing what to feel that he was supposed to rescue his brother.
Rose remained quiet. What she saw will not affect her. She knows that she has chosen the right path.

Henry however, was confused. Why was he not in any of those images?

"As for you, Henry..."
The pony calmly said, managing to grab every pony's eyes.
"...you...are a mistake in the flow of time and space."

Henry felt a bit surprised to hear those set of words.
"A...mistake...?"

The unicorn nodded.
"Three years ago, I already saw the future; the future that I just showed you. But, during your battle, I quietly looked back in the past. Your so-called sister was supposed to survive, and you were supposed to die during that day."

A flame of anger was ignited inside Henry, but he's willing to listen further.

"Your sister, Daisy..."

Rose was startled a bit after hearing the name.
That was the name the changeling called her when he first saw her.

An image flashed in front of them, showing Henry's sister, writing a book inside the library, wearing a smile.

Rose's left eye adjusted, focusing on the image.
She really does look like her.

Henry's sudden anger was blown into sadness after seeing his sister, looking so peaceful and happy. A tear would have run down his face if he didn't wiped his eye with his hoof on time.

"...would have continued to live in PonyVille, writing a book of her dream, with you as her inspiration, and..."

The image before them shows them a red earth stallion walking beside her, and both gave each other a kiss.

"...she would have lived a normal happy life with a stallion named Macintosh."

The image then slowly faded into the air.

"...as I have said," he stared calmly at the startled alicorn-disguised-changeling, "you are a mistake in time and space. Your very existence ruined the already written future."
He shook his head a bit.
"But enough of that. What's done's done. Now, however, my plan will still come to fruition, no matter what course of time was taken."

"Yes, about that..."
Midnight said sternly.
"...you're toast, kid."

Daybreak gave him a confident smile.
"...I can't believe how much I've missed my stupid brother."
He faced the pale-yellow unicorn, and summoned magic around his horn and went to his battle stance.

The others did the same while Henry looked back at the others behind them.
He locked his gaze on the oricorn, who also stared back at him.
He smiled.
"Protect them."

The oricorn nodded.
"Do not worry."

The alicorn returned his gaze at the foe at hand.

"Magic... Seriously... Why are you doing this?"
Rose's necklace spoke.
"This isn't like you!"

The unicorn shook his head.
"That name no longer exist."

"What?"
Both Henry and Flame's necklaces exclaimed.

"Magic is...controlling that child...!"
Coal's necklaces exclaimed, her voice sounded shocked from the grim revelation.

"No! He couldn't! He...shouldn't..."
Realizing Laughter was right, Generosity grimly accepted the sad truth.

The unicorn smiled.
"I can see you are still capable of your magic."

"Please, Magic... Don't let us do this!"
Honesty pleaded.

The unicorn simply shook his head.
"No."
He slowly turned his back on them, and right before him, a large image appeared, where Equestria was now covered by white snow.
"How is it that the five of you can accept the reality of our world? This world is full of ponies, corrupt by heart, evil by mind."
He slowly turned to face them again.
"Tell me, is this the world we sacrificed our lives for? If I knew this will be the future of our sacrifice, then I would have left it with Discord's care! At least he can easily manipulate each and everypony's hearts and mind! Unlike us, sacrificing our dear lives for this!?"

The unicorn before them flashed great anger on his face.
The other five elements were left silent.
Henry, Rose and Flame felt the feeling the unicorn was going through.

Finally, Kindness broke the silence.
"Starswirl... Please..."
The oricorn, Henry, Flame, Ember, Midnight, Rose and Aurora gasped after hearing the Element of Magic's true name.
"...don't do this..."

"I have made up my mind, Radiant... Even with the five of you, you can't surpass my magic."
The unicorn once again turned his back on them, locking his gaze on the frozen image of Equestria.
"With my magic skills, and this unicorn's ability to see both the past and the future, I can see no logical reason of you winning against me."
He slowly turned to them once again.
"If I were you... I'd leave, and wait for the snow to melt. The Windigos will not see you fit to be frozen, anyway."

Silence has governed the place once again.

Midnight stomped his hoof, and he did not expect to create such a loud noise, but he didn't care.
"Do you really think we'll let you continue with your crazy plan!?"
He summoned large amounts of magic on his horn.
"Yeah, so this world's full of crap ponies. So what!? You can't just decide to kill every single ponies for your bright future, old geezer!"

"Learn your limitations, dear Midnight."
He looked at him calmly.
"You wouldn't want to accidentally hurt, or better yet, kill, your younger brother, would you?"

Midnight was taken aback.
"W-what are you talking about!?"

"Like I said, with this child's ability, I am able to see the past, and future."
He turned his back on them, and before him flashed a big image of two baby unicorn foals; one yellow, and one dark-blue, sleeping on a cardboard box in the busy streets of Manehattan.

Daybreak and Midnight were shocked to see themselves as foals.
What was even more shocking to them was a pale-red unicorn mare weakly watching over the two foals. She has a lot of bruises in her body.

"T-that's..."
Midnight's trembling lips managed to say.

"...mom...?"
Daybreak finished.

Then they saw a white pegasus, a pegasus so familiar. The pegasus lied down next to the unicorn mare, and nuzzled her neck.

"Sonic Wave...?"
Aurora asked quietly.

"That Sonic-dude's our...! No!"
Midnight couldn't accept the truth he was seeing.

The unicorn shook his head.
"This is nothing but the truth you are seeing. Believing it or not is up to you."

"That's a lie! That has to be a lie!"
He turned to Aurora.
"'Cause if that's the truth, then...!"

"Yes, Aurora's this unicorn's big sister."
The pale-yellow unicorn said calmly.

Midnight quickly turned his head back at the unicorn with a shocked expression.
Aurora couldn't believe what she's hearing.
Midnight's her...big brother...?

The image changed where the two foals were crying beside their mother, who was lying down on the alleyway, bathed with her own blood, as Sonic Wave was being beaten by a group of ponies.

Everypony could not find a single word to say something, anything...

"Sonic Wave was devastated by the death of his mare."

The image changed where the two foals were sleeping quietly inside a cardboard box, and the bruised pegasus was looking at them with a neutral expression. He then flew away.

"He left the two of you alone."

The image changed into the magnificent city of Cloudsdale, where Sonic Wave was talking to Aurora's mother.

"Sonic lived in Cloudsdale for years. Since he was born in Cloudsdale, he easily got a job, that he hoped would help him erase his past. There, he met Sunset."

The image changed where Sunset and Sonic were arguing inside a house, and behind one of the cloud-made chairs, was a little pegasus filly, hiding in fear.

Aurora looked down. The memories were flashing right back into her mind.

"Years later, their love bore a pegasus filly they named Aurora. But the day she learned how to fly, things started to get sour on their relationship. Sunset and Sonic knew about the strict rules of Cloudsdale about fillies learning to fly. Sonic was okay with it, but Sunset was not. She had a plan, that they should move out of the city of clouds, but Sonic disagrees, for he feared that he may one day meet his unicorn children on earth."

The image changed, where it now displays Sonic in front of the Cloudsdale trial court.

"After two weeks since he was imprisoned, he was also sentenced to exile."

The images changed where Sonic was getting drunk inside a bar, where a number of sexy mares were comforting him.

"He became a broken pegasus. Always drinking, always spending time with random mares."

The images changed where Sonic was confronted with a mare, using her magic to carry a unicorn foal, a pale-yellow unicorn foal.

"And a few years later, Sonic was confronted by one of the mares that he pregnated, demanding support for their child. That foal, was this unicorn before you."

The image changed, showing them a poorly built house, where the two twin foals were taken care of by two old earth ponies.

"An old couple found the two foals, and decided to take care of them, and with hopes to raise them as their own."

Daybreak and Midnight felt their heart ached. Not only that they need to accept that some ponies did took care of them, but the place the old couples were was awfully familiar: their apartment back in Manehattan.

"The two of you were named after their names; Crimson Daybreak and Midnight Star."

The image changed, displaying again the scene where the two foals were crying beside their dead mother, and Sonic was beaten.

"Notice the group of ponies beating the white pegasus."

After a few seconds of silence, everypony heard Rose's gasp.

The unicorn nodded his head.
"Indeed. The unicorn pony beating Sonic, is Rose's father."

The image changed, where Rose's father was holding a blood-stained knife, and in front of him was the shocked Sonic, and the dying mare.

"Rose Petal, the name of your mother, was also the wife of Silver String, Rose's father."

"No..."
Rose whispered.

"After finding out that Rose Petal bore twin foals with another pony, Silver String was beyond angry. He was suppose to kill Sonic, but Rose blocked the knife."

The image changed into a scene inside a beautiful garden, where a crowd of high-class ponies where gathered to witness Rose Petal and Silver String being wed.

"Your mother, Rose Petal, was wed to Silver String, in an arranged marriage. Silver String loved her so much, but Rose Petal didn't return his love. Still, they bore a foal, and they named it after the mare herself, Rose."

The image changed where Silver String led a group of ponies in the shadows.

"Losing his beloved mare, and unable to kill the pony who stole her from him, Silver String lost the sight of the light, and became the most feared crime lord in Manehattan."

The image changed where two young filly twins where beaten unconscious, beside the old couple.

"A few years after, the old couple were killed by Silver String's group of ponies. That was during the time he was testing his ponies to see if they were capable of robbing and killing."

The image changed where Silver String was behind Midnight, firing a brown beam of magic at the dodging Daybreak in a sewer.

Daybreak and Henry gasped, while Midnight was confused. He did not remember facing his brother.

"After a few years, where the ripples in time and space occured, Henry Hoof, a brown-eyed changeling, was captured by Silver String, and used his form-changing ability in hopes to make big money out of it. But a large number of teenaged ponies, led by Daybreak, has broken into his layer, bearing the thought that Silver String has his brother, however, what he didn't know was that the Midnight attacking him was no more than the changeling himself."

Rose remembered that event.
She even tried to kill the changeling there.

The image changed where Daybreak was enveloped by his fierce yellow magic, levitating himself in front of the thin Silver String in the dark alley.

"Daybreak, angered, killed Rose's father."

Daybreak looked down on the black ground.

The image changed where a young pale-yellow unicorn pony was taking shelter under a thin tree, from a rain.

"The unicorn before you lived by himself. Both his parents left him, hoping he would die in the streets, but he, however, tried his best to survive, despite his young age."

The image changed where the filly found an orb inside a cave.

"And here, this was the time we first met each other. He heard rumors that this old abandoned cave held treasure, and he wanted to get it so he could get enough money to survive, and he indeed landed on a treasure."

The image faded into the darkness.

"...me."
The unicorn turned to face them.
"The story of your lives is one perfect example as to why I want to change this world. In today's time, the world is full of twisted and corrupted ponies. No, I didn't mean those who are greedy of money alone, but those who are twisted, corrupted, and the likes! Silver String and Sonic Wave have settled their affairs after I have gathered them to aid me to bring a perfect world!"

"And that, my friend..."
Henry spoke.
"...is a perfect example of friendship."

The pale-yellow unicorn took a step back, his face wore confusion.
"I beg your pardon?"

"You said it yourself. Silver String and Sonic Wave, despite their past, have agreed to be in peace. That is a perfect example of friendship. That is a perfect example that even the most twisted, broken, and corrupt ponies, they still have the ability to change and accept the light of friendship!"
Henry spoke proudly.
"Sure, they aimed to achieve a wrong goal, but their friendship was strong, was it not?"

The pale-yellow unicorn flashed anger, and was about to speak when Midnight interrupted.

"So our family is full of broken ponies, big deal."
He turned to Rose, who then stared back at him confused.
"The past doesn't matter."

Rose was not sure if it was merely coincidence, or he really did aimed it at her.

Midnight turned to Aurora.
"What matters is the present! Because every minute, every second of it, is a gift!"

Aurora flashed a smile.

Midnight turned to his brother.
"And what's more important, is to live the present with the ponies you love!"

"You don't have to shout, brother..."
Daybreak said with a smile.

Flame nodded in agreement.
"True that, partner. So, the world is full of ponies like those. That ain't no reason to freeze everypony."

"There is always a pony, or even not a pony, who has a pure heart, and who is willing to help other ponies!"
Ember added.
"Their example will always be seen by other ponies, and I am sure they will carry that in their minds, and begin to hope that they too, can be like that!"

"Yeah! And what's important, is that everypony can smile and be friends!"
Coal added.

"So I really did lived with a lie, but that doesn't mean I should stop on believing in other ponies!"
Rose finally got the courage to say it.
"If my twisted father was able to forgive someone, then why couldn't the other ponies?"

"Give them a chance and they will start to change!"
Aurora shouted, now feeling that she should give her father a chance to redeem himself.

"And who knows, maybe one of them could be the pony who you'll be spending your entire life!"
Pearl added, making her father arch an eyebrow.

"The heart is vulmerable to change!"
Midnight shouted at the startled pale-yellow unicorn.
"Every heart has the ability to accept change, no matter how twisted the mind is!"

"Forgiveness and acceptance..."
Pearl's father added.
"That is important as well, for foes to be friends."
He smiled.

"Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter."
Henry added as their necklaces began to glow in white.
"The elements that bring harmony in the world. These are also the elements that will bind every heart as one, for every pony to see that the power of friendship is as strong, or even stronger than Starswirl himself!"

"You dare fight me!?"
The pale-yellow unicorn filly shouted back at them, his necklace glowing intensely as his horn as well.
"You prefer to fight for the world of the corrupted!?"

"Is he deaf or is it only just his old age?"
Midnight asked.
"We just told him that every pony can change their ways."

"Ignore him."
Rose smiled.
"Old people are mostly like that."

"Ahem..."
Pearl's father said aloud.

"I said 'mostly'..."
Rose said.

Suddenly, Daybreak's neck shined in white, and what revealed was a necklace, mirroring the pale-yellow unicorn's necklace.

In an instant, Daybreak's entire body glowed green, and when it faded, he was now wearing a green-plated full armor.

The pale-yellow unicorn took another step back in shock.
"What is this!?"

Daybreak was startled, but dismissed the thought immediately and prepared himself with the others.

The six necklaces glowed with their respective color.

"I guess we now have a new Element of Magic..."

"The Element of Friendship?"

"Hello..."

"Whoa! It's a she!"

"Easy, tiger..."

"Right...ahem..."

The six ponies arched their eyebrows, but they then resumed to their poses.

The six was now enveloped with white light, and levitated above, as white magic began to lock the pale-yellow unicorn in place.

"You can't win against me!"

The unicorn's body glowed, and revealed before them a rainbow-colored full armor worn by the unicorn. His eyes glowed in white, and blasted a rainbow-colored beam at the six ponies.

An invisible barrier stopped his attack from reaching them.

"Starswirl of the Element of Magic..."
The six ponies and the six elements said in unison.
"You who founded the arts of magic, you who were always the wise, you who always tried to believe in a peaceful conclusion, you who always saw the good in other ponies...have turned to become someone who you are not. You believed that with your power, you can change the world alone, where sacrifices must be made to fulfill your goal. We of the Elements of Harmony will not allow your evil ambition to reach it's conclusion. Allow us to cleanse you from the corruption that stained your pure spirit!"

"Yes, I, who hold the greatest magic ever known, will not allow the six of you to stop me from cleansing this world from all the corrupted spirits. Now, you have made it clear that you will indeed stand in my way, I will eliminate all of you. It is such a shame. We could have worked together!"

The pale-yellow unicorn pony fired yet another rainbow-colored beam, and the six countered his attack with their own.

The two beams collided, sending a powerful wave of magic in the area, as they brought their force on their beams to push the other.

Soon, however, the colliding beams exploded, blinding the whole area with bright white light.

After everything returned to normal, the oricorn, Pearl, Ember and Aurora brought down their hooves, only to find themselves on the flat snowy surface, where in the far distance, a black aircraft stood.
The oricorn immediately casted a blue force around them to protect themselves from the blizzard.

Before them were the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony, lying unconscious on the ground, and a few hooves in front of them was the pale-yellow unicorn, standing and breathing deep.

Behind the pale-yellow unicorn was a pale-blue alicorn, the black earth pony, the griffin and the white pegasus, all lying on the snow unconscious.

The four could not believe it; the Elements of Harmony...lost?

Their armor began to fade, bringing a grin on the pale-yellow unicorn's face.
"Hahah..."
He laughed weakly.
"Now you see... I will---"

He stopped himself after he noticed something bright high above them.
He looked up, and saw a large burning heart, glowing and burning warmly.

Princess Celestia and Time Keeper quietly landed behind the unicorn.
The brown alicorn then rushed to his brother.

The strong wind was starting to weaken.
The cries of the Windigos in pain were mixed with the wind.

"Child..."
The princess said.

The unicorn slowly turned to face his princess.
"...Princess Celestia... Not you too..."

The princess flashed a warm smile.
"You have proven your point. There is no need to go further."

"But...!"

"The land of Equestria as received your message, and..."
She pointed a hoof at the six unconscious ponies.
"...as well as theirs."
She brought her gaze on the burning heart as she brought her hoof down.
"...The burning fire of friendship..."
She brought her gaze on the unicorn.
"...tell me, what does that mean?"

"Uh..."
The unicorn lowered his head in shame. He knows what it meant.

The princess smiled as she nodded her head.
"Indeed. The hearts of the ponies in this land has accepted friendship. It will forever burn in their hearts."

The previous fire of friendship died a few centuries ago...
It's probably the time for a new one, the unicorn thought.
He accepted his defeat with a sigh.
"I...accept defeat...my princess..."

The princess chuckled.
"Starswirl, you haven't changed a bit."

---

The land of Equestria.

Long ago, this land was at war against many opposing foes. The chivalrous pegasi, the powerful unicorns, the fearful dragons, the frightening changelings, the serpentine Discord, the fiery phoenixes, the icy Windigos...

The land has faced a lot of bloodshed, and I was there to witness all of them. Along with my five friends, we overcome all obstacles that comes our way. We have proven so many times that our friendship can win over battles, and even wars.

Only one foe has taken us down... Princess Luna.
We could not bring ourselves together to fight our friend.

Despite what happened, we didn't regret anything.

But, now that I think about it, has my old age made me forget the true value of friendship? Has my old age blinded me to see the possible spark of change in the hearts of each ponies?

I have come to a conclusion that it was I who became corrupted. I only hope my friends could forgive me one day.

Until then, I will remain hidden, for myself and for Equestria to enjoy peace.

I know one day I will be needed. And when that day comes, the power of friendship will summon me, the same way Friendship herself was summoned before us.

It's time for this old timer to take a long nap.

Forever your faithful subject...
The Element of Magic...

Starswirl The Bearded.

P.S.
Allow my five friends to rest in the old castle in the forest.
Please believe me on this one.
And no, this is not for them to have a private time alone.
How many times do I have to repeat that?

---

One month later...

---

"Ah still can't believe that awful snow disappeared just before Zap Apple Season!"
Applejack said excitedly, hopping on the spot as she waited to the Zap Apple Leaves to appear on their leafless apple orchard.

The weird thundurous storm from the Everfree Forest has already made its way above the Apple Family's orchard.

Henry, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith sat behind the excited little filly.

Henry was busy taking down notes.
He still did not quite understand how electricity can magically grow leaves on trees.
He saw it last year, and he wanted to see it again this year.

Finally, they heard a fierce zapping sound coming from every trees' roots.
It crawled up to the branches, and with a white flash, the once leafless trees were full of fresh-green electric leaves.

Applejack jumped so high. Every year, the Zap Apples always cheers her up.

Big Macintosh and Granny Smith shared a nod, while Henry groaned in disappointment.
That white flash blinded him from seeing exactly how the leaves grow on the branches!

He sighed, to Big Macintosh and Granny Smith's amusement.

They then heard a faint howl of a wolf, which immediately brought the old earth pony back on her hooves and ran to the barn as fast as she can.

"The Timber Wolves ah'comin'!"
She repeatedly shouted.

---

Henry joined Midnight and Daybreak, who were having lunch in the park.
They were enjoying loaves of Daisy Bread when a fast-approaching blue ball hit Midnight on the face, stuffing his mouth with the bread he held on with his magic.

Henry and Daybreak were shocked.

The ball allowed gravity to pull it back on the ground, allowing the annoyed unicorn to see the apologetic look on Aurora.
He angrily stood up as he spat the bread out of his mouth and chased the filly, who was flying away in panic.

"Yep... That's my brother..."
Daybreak sighed as he took a bite.

They both shared a chuckle.

"So, how's your work as an accountant?"
Henry asked the unicorn.

The unicorn shrugged.
"It's okay, I suppose."
He turned to his flank, where three numbers rest as his cutie mark.
"Never knew my special talent was about math."

He remembered earning his cutie mark during his first day of work.
That inspired him to continue to work, despite how boringly easy it was.

Midnight finally caught the pegasus with his magic, and dragged her in front of his face.
He was about to give her a mouthful of shouts when they heard soft chuckles of mares from a distance.
They turned to the source, and they saw two lovely mares sitting under a tree, waving their hooves at them.

A scarlet blush appeared around the unicorn's cheeks, losing his focus on his little pegasus sister, dropping her on the ground.

And as predicted, Midnight floated himself towards the mares with a stupid look on his face.
Aurora grinned mischeavously as she flapped her wings to make herself airborne.

"Well, that won't end well."
Henry chuckled.

Daybreak nodded in agreement.

---

A carriage stopped in front of a construction site.
Rose went off of the carriage, gave her payment to the drivers, and worked her way towards the engineer-in-charge of the construction.

"Ah! Miss Hammer! Good afternoon!"
Greeted the unicorn engineer.

"Drop the miss, or I promise you, I won't be in our wedding day."
She smiled as she nuzzled the engineer's neck.

The unicorn chuckled.
"Sorry dear."

"How are things, anyway?"

They both looked at the nearly complete structure.

"Only a week from now 'till the orphanage is complete."
The engineer smiled as well as the yellow earth pony.

Looking at the structure made her remember that day where she came along with Midnight and Daybreak, to relive their past memories on the abandoned apartment before they'll let Rose reconstruct the place.

It sure gave them a lot of awful memories, but it also opened some hidden memories.
Memories that they never knew existed in their minds.

They remembered the old couple.
They remembered the times they'd eat some soup together.

They could almost remember all of those bits and pieces.
They offered a quiet prayer before they left the place.

"Watch out!"
A construction worker from above shouted.
A large piece of metal was falling towards the startled engineer.

Rose jumped to him, grabbed him, and immediately did a barrel roll to avoid the metal bar.

Though terrified, the engineer flashed a smile.
"Saved by BatMare, once again..."

She smiled, and kissed him.

---

A loud whistle echoed through the grassy fields outside of PonyVille, where pegasi fillies were lined up.

"Listen up, squirts!"
Sonic Wave shouted for them to hear him.
"It's been two weeks now, and believe me when I say this, that all of you have made quite a remarkable progress!"

The cyan filly with a rainbow mane and tail grinned.
She knew what the next lines will be.

"And now, it's time for you to put yourselves into the test!"
He stopped in front of the center of the line.
He turned around and pointed at a small puff of cloud above the entrance of the Everfree Forest.
"The first filly to fly to that cloud and return to the starting line wins the hayfries!"
He then pointed his hoof behind the line of fillies, where Sunset was preparing the bags of hayfries.
"Of course, everyone can have a chow, but the winner will have the BIGGEST bag!"

The fillies whispered to each other excitedly. They knew that Sunset's hayfries is very very good, and the rainbow-maned pegasus is sure to get herself that big bag of hayfries all to herself!

Sonic saw Sunset, giving him the sweetest of smiles.
It almost make him forget where he was right now.
He shook his head a bit.

"Right. On your mark!"

The fillies prepared themselves.

"Get set!"

Rainbow Dash locked her gaze on the cloud from the far distance.

A loud whistle rang in the atmosphere, and the fillies quickly vanished, allowing the white stallion to walk towards Sunset.
He was only a few hooves away when a fast cyan blur landed on his back, pushing him towards the ground.

Rainbow Dash excitedly flew above the annoyed white pegasus.

---

Ditzy arrived in front of the library, where Henry was about to open the door to resume his work after his short break.
With her were five books, and all were the second Daring Do book.
One of them has a different cover than the other, indicating that it was the alicorn's personal copy of the book.

She didn't brought her little foal, to Henry's disappointment.
Oh well.

Henry invited his friend for a cup of tea, which she happily accepted.

Aurora immediately took the four books, stacked the three, and stole the other one and brought it to the second floor, where she settled down on reading it on the table near the window.

---

Doctor Magnifico Psycho decided to teach in Celestia's Magic School, in the subject of science of course.
He was on a wheelchair now. The elements took his ability of balance, so he will now forever need the aid of a wheelchair to go around places.

He didn't mind it though.
It somehow added to his greatness in science, and it also increased his determination to teach.

Twilight however, would rather study magic than science.
She boringly rested her head on her desk, imagining all sorts of cool magic when the bell rings, but then something called her attention, and it wasn't the bell.

"Miss Sparkle!"
Yelled the black earth pony.

The purple filly leaped in surprise, making her classmates chuckle.

"If my discussions are boring to you, you may head out of the classroom!"
He turned to the blackboard.
"Such a waste for a talented young filly such as yourself to not be educated with science! Aw...what a loss!"

The filly felt sad about her teacher's words.
"No! It's not boring! It's just...!"

"Not about magic, I know..."
He turned to face the filly.
"But realize this, Miss Sparkle. Not all magic-using unicorns rely on their horns."

"Huh?"

"They rely on potions as well! And where do potions come from?"

"Um... From science?"
She answered hesitantly, not sure if it was the right answer.

"Bingo!"
The earth pony exclaimed, surprising his nearby students.
"But we will get there in due time. Right now, you should understand a few laws before we step into potion-making."

Twilight smiled and nodded.
Science wouldn't be as boring as she thought.

---

"Father, I still cannot believe what you have done!"
Griselda shouted her lungs out at her father.
"I told you to put the butter first! Not the dough! Now look at it!"
She angrily pointed at the black used-to-be-yellow-white dough on a pan under a moderate fire.

"Ack..."
Helios sighed.
"Why is cooking so complicated...?"

Because of what he did, the griffins no longer want him to be their leader.
The griffins have voted Griever to be their next leader, but the griffin protested.
He will be their leader on two conditions, he informs them.
He wants Griselda to be his wife, and her father to stay in the clan.
The feather of Helios was already destroyed, and he has a disabled wing, and lost a claw.
The last thing the old griffin needed was exile.

Now though, Griselda's having a hard time trying to be a wife and a caretaker.
She angrily melted the butter on the pan, allowing her father to watch.

"S-sorry..."
Helios said in sadness.

Griselda stared at him angrily, and she then sighed.
"You know I can't be angry at you forever..."
She hugged her father, and they soon broke their hug.
"But you owe me Twelve Bits for the dough!"
She said with a serious look.

"Twelve Bits!? That's outrageous!"
The old griffin shouted.

The griffins near their home overheard them, and they chuckled.
They have gotten used to their father and daughter argument.

---

Rose stepped out of a carriage and payed the drivers.
She walked towards the gates of Manehattan's Magic School.
And whoever was the one who greeted him but the little pale-yellow unicorn pony.

"Aunt Rose!"
He shouted as he excused himself from his friends.
He then ran towards her and gave her a hug.

Rose returned his hug.
"Goldie, it's good to see you."

Since Rose was wealthy, she asked Sonic Wave if he'll allow her to take care of Golden Time, the pale-yellow unicorn pony.
Sunset and Sonic didn't see a problem with it, though, and since he was a pegasus, he could visit his son any time he wants.

"What brings you here, Auntie?"
Gold asked after they broke the hug.

"You were supposed to be home three hours ago."
Rose scolded him.

"Huh? Oh? Oh! Uh...oops?"

Rose sighed.
"Whatever, go back to your friends. I'll give you an hour, and THEN we'll head home."

Gold nodded happily.
"Thanks, auntie!"
And he ran back towards his friends.

---

"Imagine ourselves, brother and sister, dating each other! Eewww..."
Aurora stuck her tongue out at Midnight.

The unicorn mail pony was near the library's door, who brought some mail for the alicorn.

Midnight gave her a glare.
"I promise, you do that again in front of the mares I flirt, and I'll buck you to the Mare On the Moon!"

Henry rolled his eyes.
Here they go again...

---

Rainbow Dash was enjoying her victory with her friend Fluttershy inside her cottage near the Everfree Forest.
She was telling her about how fast she flew earlier, which she repeated for countless of times now. She adds some arm and wing gestures to emphasize her story, which disables her from grabbing some hayfries to eat. It would even appear that she has completely forgotten about them.

Fluttershy was simply listening to her with a smile as she and Angel ate some hayfries.

---

Daybreak was not happy in the slightest.
After enjoying lunch with his brother and Henry, he came back to work, only to find the whole town hall became a party house, where even the employees began dancing around.

And who else to lead the party but the party pony Pinkie Pie herself.
The celebration?

"Happy One Month Of Getting Your Cutie Mark And Your Job As An Accountant Party?"
Daybreak boringly read the giant banner hung on the ceiling of the establishment.

He still has a lot of papers to finish.

Suddenly, the pink pony hopped towards him and handed him a large pile of papers.
He was surprised to see them.
They were all blank when he took his lunch!

"Oh, silly!"
Pinkie chimed, making Daybreak look at her wide happy smile.
"I finished them all for you! You can't enjoy a party if you're busy thinking about your paperwork!"

Daybreak double-checked some of the papers...
They were correctly labelled!
How did...!?

The pink pony grabbed all of the papers, zoomed to his table, which was pushed to the side to make room for the dance floor, put them inside the drawer, zoomed back in front of the yellow unicorn, smiling as wide as she can.
"Come on!"
She quickly dragged his hoof to the dance floor.
"And while you're at it, meet my friend!"
She zoomed away, and zoomed back, now bringing a startled young white unicorn mare.

The party pony pushed her a little too close for the yellow unicorn.
"You can't dance without a partner!"

The two unicorns looked at each other's blushing faces.

Daybreak smiled weakly.
"A-ha-hah... Um... Hi?"

"Hi..."

And they both were lost of words as they looked around aside from each other.

This isn't good, the party pony thought.
And then an idea.

She zoomed to the music player.
She's not really into all of this romantic stuff, but hey, this party's for Daybreak, and he definitely needs a day break!
She slid a romantic tune, which quickly changed the atmosphere of the room.

Daybreak, realizing what was happening, blushed further.
He could just walk away. Right. That.
He should excuse himself first though.
He looked at the mare, who was also blushing as she stared at him.
Just. Excuse. Yourself.

"Um... Shall...we dance?"
He nervously extends his hoof as he slammed himself on a brick wall mentally.

The mare shyly accepted his hoof, and they soon began to dance.

'Mission accomplished!'
Pinkie Pie yelled inside her head as she ate some cupcakes.
'But all this romantic stuff's boring... Oh well...'

---

Aurora has no idea how she got into this mess.

The little Rarity has been using her as the one to test her latest designs, and she's not liking it in the slightest.

Wait, now that she thought about it, she did remember.
Henry gave her a letter he received from Midnight.

Inside the letter states that Rarity wanted to see her.

She used the letter as a bookmark to indicate which page she left the Daring Do book and she soon flew towards the filly's boutique.

She's going to get her revenge once she gets out of here!

The door opened, hitting the bells above, indicating a customer!
"Cooommmiiinnnggg~"
Rarity sang, to Aurora's relief.

At least Aurora can rest from posing.

"Hey sis!"
Midnight grinned as he took a photo of her wearing a tight blue swimming suit.
"You look incredible!"
He tried his best to hold his laughter.

Aurora quickly hid herself behind Rarity's mannequins.
"Get that thing away from me!"

"Oh? Do you like it?"
He waved his hoof holding the camera.
"I just got it, and it'll be pretty useful."
He grinned evilly.

"Honestly Midnight, it's rude to play pranks with your little sister."
Rarity said as she walked towards the pegasus.

"Yeah, yeah. Just having some fun, yah know?"
He returned his camera inside his bag.
"Still got plenty of letters to deliver. Bye Rarity! Bye, little sis~ter~"
He chuckled as he left the boutique.

"Ugh, boys will always be boys!"
Rarity said to herself.

'Okay, it is on!'
Aurora thought to herself.

---

He knew Aurora will get him, so he'll have a delay-revenge if she does get back to him.
He walked outside of PonyVille, and spotted her mother and their father.
He grinned.

---

"Now these are pancakes!"
Helios said as he took another bite.

Griever and Griselda smiled at the old griffin as they continued to eat.

---

"Mom!"
Pearl shouted as her mother already took five wedding gowns for her to try on.
"Dad! Help me!"

Her father only gave her an apologetic smile.
He did try to stop his wife, but her sudden joy of knowing that her daughter's in love gave her so much energy that she had literally dragged the two of them from mall to mall.

"Mom! Please! I'm tired...! This is the seventeenth mall we've visited!"
Pearl complained like a little filly.

But her voice somehow didn't register on her mother's brain as she was joyfully muttering to herself about how wonderful she would look. She already took ten wedding gowns now.

"I wish I never came back home..."
She sighed as her father patted her shoulder.

It took her a month to gain the courage to tell her mother she was already in love, and now, she regretted it.

---

'I wonder how Pearl is doing...'
Henry thought to himself as he began to write the second chapter of the third Daring Do book.
He gave it the title, Daring Do And The City of Atlantis.
It has a nice ring to it than the original planned title of the third book.

"HENRY!"

Henry shook from surprise, making his chair fall behind with him as the library's door suddenly bursted open and Aurora shouted his name.

"MIDNIGHT IS UNBEARABLE!"

"And I thought something was new..."
Henry sighed as he got back up.
"...what is it now?"

---

Frustrated that the alicorn wouldn't help her get back on the unicorn, she flew towards a nearby cloud to rest her mind, but as she flew nearer, a grin grew on her face.

"The perfect revenge..."
She smiled evilly.

---

Flame and Ember helped each other in carrying the heavy basket-full of grapes back inside their home, leaving the little Coal watering the roots of the grapevines.

Winter is fast approaching, and they need to finish the thousand-bottle of grapewine that was ordered by the Rose Industries in Manehattan.

"That Rose fellah sure knows how tah make a business, huh?"
Flame chuckled as they slowly puts the basket down beside their wooden table.

He quickly took the towel on the table, and wiped Ember's forehead, to her annoyance.
"Flame, please..."

"Now, now... No complainin'."
He smiled.

Ember rolled her eyes.

---

Midnight just gave Cheerilee her letter in front of the school teacher's door when they heard a voice from above.

"Look out below!"
Aurora grinned as she pushed the puff of cloud through the startled unicorn.

Aurora laughed seeing the unicorn slightly wet and shivering from the cold, and was looking angry at her.

Cheerilee managed to hold her chuckle.

---

"Crazy party, huh?"
Daybreak said as he and the unicorn mare walked towards the park.

During their dance, he managed to ask her name; Snow Flake.
It matched her snowflake cutie mark.

The mare shyly nodded her head.
"Ye-yeah... That Pinkie Pie sure is something..."

Her voice was very lovely to hear.
Maybe she's a singer, Daybreak thought.

They stopped and took a seat on a bench, staring at the fillies playing around the park.
Both were feeling nervous and uncertain about all of this.

Yet, it felt really great being with each other...but...

"So, uh... Snow..."
He has no courage to look at her, so he locked his gaze on the golden sky.
"What do you do for a living?"

She looked at him, and found him kind of cute, staring at the sky like that.
"Um... I...sing..."

"Really?"
Daybreak quickly looked at her, but they both then blushed, and quickly turned their heads away, feeling awkward.
"That's...that's great. Honest..."

Snow Flake smiled.
"T-thanks..."

Behind a nearby bush, Pinkie Pie was sneaking up on them.
'They're not doing a good job! I need to think of something, and fast!'
She sunk her head back to the bushes.

---

"EEK!"
Aurora screeched from embarrassment after Sunset showed her the photo Midnight took in the boutique earlier.

"Aw, honey..."
Sunset flashed an apologetic smile.
"You look really lovely on this outfit."

Her father, however, was not doing a good job hiding his laughter.

Aurora began to cry as Sunset rubbed her back.

"Hey gang!"
Midnight greeted them as he reached them.

Aurora shot him a venomous glare and kicked his stomach, sending him to the ground in pain.

"Serves you right!"
Aurora said as she flew away.

---

Daybreak has no idea where that rose beside him came from.
It wasn't there before, but it did look lovely.
He picked it up, stared at it for a moment, took a deep breath, faced Snow Flake, called her name, and shyly gave the rose to her.
"For...you..."

Snow Flake's cheeks blushed crimson red.
She extends her shaky hoof to get the rose, and managed to grab it.

Daybreak lets go of the rose, but it fell off from the mare's grip.

"Oh!"

They both said and they both leaned down to get the rose on the ground, only to have their hooves touch each other.

Their cheeks burned crimson red, their hearts pounding really hard.
They quickly retracted their hooves and quickly apologized to each other, only to find themselves looking at each others eyes.

'This is it!'
Pinkie thought to herself, her eyes wide, her grin wide.

After all that research and attempt to bring Mr. and Mrs. Cake together, she's sure she won't fail this one.

Their heads moved closer.

Pinkie's eyes went even wider.

Closer. Wider. Closer. Wider. Just a bit more.

A blue ball hit Daybreak's startled head.

The two unicorns turned to the source, and saw a cyan pegasus filly with a rainbow mane and tail taking the ball.
"Who-oops... Sorry..."

Pinkie Pie angrily went out of the bush and started walking towards the pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash! Do you have any idea how difficult it was to bring these two together!? Huh!?"
She glared at the frightened pegasus.

"I-I'm..."

"And don't say you're sorry 'cause you are definitely not!"
And she kept yelling at him.

Applejack sighed and went towards them to calm the pink pony down.
It was an accident anyway.

The two unicorns blinked, and then faced each other.
Both flashed a shy smile, as they moved their heads closer, and their lips met the other.

They soon, however, stopped after they heard two disgusted voices from the fillies.

"Come on, AJ, let's go away from all this sappiness."
Rainbow Dash flew away, disgusted.

"Ahm with yah on this one, RD..."
She hurried to the pegasus.

Pinkie Pie cheerfully hopped away.
"I'm gonna leave you two alone!"

And the two of them were alone on the bench.

"So, uh..."
Daybreak managed to say.
"Invite you to dinner?"

Snow Flake smiled warmly at him.
"I'd like that..."

---

Aurora landed on the sand quietly near Henry and the three sea ponies.

Henry just introduced himself to Pearl's mother, but the sea pony did not like her daughter to be wed with a changeling.

Pearl's parents swam a distance away from them to talk, leaving their daughter with a worried look.
Henry rubbed her long mane as he gave her a reassuring smile.

"She'll come around, eventually..."
Henry said.

"I sure hope so..."
Pearl said with sadness.

Aurora was not sure if they noticed her presence, so she sat beside the alicorn.
"Hey Henry."

The alicorn and the sea pony turned to her.

"Hi Aurora. Sorry if I closed the library without you."
Henry said, flashing an apologetic smile.

Aurora shook her head.
"It's okay. Midnight's been bugging me all day, anyway."

The three looked at the sea ponies in the distance, and from their gestures, they could tell that things aren't going well.

"What if...my mom will not let me be with you?"
Pearl asked.

"We've been through a lot."
Henry smiled.
"I'm sure something weird will happen."

Pearl chuckled a bit.
But he has a point.

They've been through a lot.
Maybe something will help them bring themselves together.

Chapter 11 - PonyVille Diaries - Second of Many

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Chapter 11 - PonyVille Diaries - Second of Many

----------
That There Zap Apples
----------

"Why hhellow there Mister Filthy!"
The old lime-green earth pony greeted a young-adult smiling brown earth pony walking towards her.
She just got out of the red barn to smell that good old sunrise air.
"What ken Ah do for ye today, Filthy?"

He flashed a weak smile.
"Granny Smith, I prefer to be called Rich, if it's no problem."

"Aw, shucks, Filthy. You are so modest."

Filthy Rich has no idea if she clearly heard what he said, but anyway...

"Ah reckon yah're here for the'e Zap Apple Jam?"
Asked the old earth pony with an old smile.

The brown earth pony smiled, nodding his head in agreement.
"You read me like a book, Granny Smith!"

The old pony blushed.
"Aw, stop it, Filthy. I ain't no young 'un no more to carry 'em books 'round."

The brown pony sighed.
The same every year, he smiled.
"Well, Granny Smith---"

A static electric spark sound echoed from the apple orchard of the Apple Family.
The two earth ponies turned their gazes on the farm, where electricity was flashing and sparking on the roots of every tree.

A sudden white flash, and the gray apples became electric red, and then rainbow rays started to beam from apple fruit to the other, and another, and another, until all apples got rainbow-colored patterns on them.

The gloomy cloud quickly returned to the Everfree Forest distance away.
What echoed next was the excited cheers of the young AppleJack, who was already pushing her brother to the nearest tree to start harvesting the apples.

The two earth ponies looked at each other.

"The usual, Granny Smith."
He blinked with a smile.
"The first one hundred bottles."

"Sure thing, Filthy!"
She sang.

"Please, Grann... Oh nevermind. Good day!"
He bowed down before he turned around to leave the farm.

Granny Smith waved a hoof at him.
"Such a nice youn' fellah."

---

It took the green alicorn a lot of hours and effort to bring the dark-blue unicorn with him to Sweet Apple Acres.

The alicorn wore a brown sidebag, black glasses and white hat.
He was busy jotting down some notes as they worked their way to the apple farm.

The unicorn wore nothing but frustration.

"I can't believe I'm spending my Saturday bucking apple trees..."
Midnight complained as they arrived.
He turned to the green alicorn, who was busy jotting a few notes on his notebook.
"Can't I go back to the library? I think I can hear my cardboard bed calling my name..."

Henry laughed a bit. That was a nice personification.
He might as well add that on his notes.
"Trust me, if that cardboard ever calls your name, I'll burn that thing to ashes..."

Midnight just replied with an annoyed stare.

Henry looked at him with a weak smile.
"Aw, come on... It'll only be for a few hours..."

"Four...precious...hours...!"
He hissed.

"Hey, you two!"
AppleJack called their attention.
"If y'all here ta help, then stop yer yappin' and start buckin'!"

"Every time I hear that word..."
Midnight grinned.

Henry lifted his notebook over the unicorn's head and gave him a pound before the unicorn could finish what he was about to say.
"Your dirty mind stopped yet?"

Midnight grunted, and mumbled a few impossible-to-decipher words as he grumpily went to the nearest apple tree to get it over with.

Henry watched him, a bit amused
He then returned his quill and notebook inside his sidebag and went to a tree to start bucking.

---

"Hi Aurora."
A white unicorn mare greeted the pegasus.

Aurora lay the basket of vegetables down on the ground for her to speak.
"Good morning Snow Flake!"
She smiled widely. She just finished buying all the ingredients her mother asked her to buy in the market.
"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much...really..."
She blushed a bit, giving the pegasus a little hint.

Aurora smiled widely.
"Ohhh... You wanna ask where Daybreak is, huh?"
Her eyes sparkled.

Snow Flake blushed further, tearing her gaze away from the pegasus, and locks onto her basket of vegetables.
"Y-yes... That..."

"No need to be shy about it!"
She patted her shoulder.
"I think he's still asleep. He worked overtime yesterday. Damn lots of papers for him to fill!"
She looked worried for a moment, but immediately replaced it with a smile before Snow Flake faces her again.
"But I wouldn't worry. He's a tough pony."
She nodded.

Snow Flake smiled, and then frowned.
"Oh, I see. I better not disturb him then..."
She turned around, only to stop herself after seeing the flying Aurora in front of her.

"You know, I could give him a message. I'm not a mailpony, but at least I do a good job than Midnight!"

They both chuckled.

"Thanks."
Snow Flake smiled.
"Could you tell him that..."

---

"She wants us to go where again?"
Daybreak asked the pegasus.
His ears are still working properly, and he heard her clearly, but he needed to hear it again, just in case.

He woke up a few minutes just before Aurora got back in their parents' house.
He's still saving up to get himself his own house.
Now, he was sitting on the sofa.

Aurora puts the basket on the dining table.
She then faced her brother, who was looking at her with a shocked look on his face.
"For a moment, I thought you weren't as deaf as Midnight!"
She sighed.
"Anyway, she told me that if you are not busy today, she wants to invite you to go to Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't tell me why though."
She knows, but she'd rather hold that information from her brother.
The two unicorns have been getting along great.
Not knowing the reason will definitely give her tough brother something to be nervous about.

And he did felt nervous.
He got up on his hooves and wobbled his way towards the bathroom to take a shower.
Sunset, who was washing the dishes, saw the nervous look on the unicorn, and chuckled slightly.

"I think I'll go to Sweet Apple Acres as well."
Aurora told her mother after they heard the bathroom door's lock clicked.
"Snow Flake said that this Zap Apple Jam is one of the greatest things in Equestria!"
She hopped in excitement.

Sunset nodded in agreement.

Aurora then went to her room upstairs and leaned down under her bed, as she tried to reach her saddlebag.
She rose up after she got her hooves on it. Shaking it a bit, she heard a small rattling sound of coins against a glass jar.
She smiled. She needs some Bits if she wants to get herself a jar of that Zap Apple Jam.

She quickly flew down the stairs and was about to grab the doorknob when she heard her mother called her.
She turned to see her mother walking towards her, with a pouchbag on her mouth.

Sunset grabbed her daughter's hoof, and placed the pouchbag on them.
"Save your money, dear."
She smiled as she rubbed her daughter's head.

"Thanks mom."
Aurora smiled.

The bathroom door opened and came out a yellow unicorn, with a towel hanging over his neck.
He took a toasted bread on the dining table as he rubbed the towel around him to dry himself.

"Might as well eat something first."
Aurora chuckled.

Daybreak used his magic to hover a toasted bread towards his little pegasus sister.

---

"Why, hellow there Snowwy!"
Granny Smith waved a hoof at the approaching white unicorn mare.

Snow Flake smiled as she approached the old earth pony who just got out of the barn, wearing a white hat and carrying a basket.

"Good morning Granny Smith!"
Snow Flake greeted the old mare as she got to her.

She heard a few bucking and grunting sounds from the orchard, making the two mares turn their heads to the source.

Midnight was furiously sending a lot of force on his kicks on the apple trees as he mumbled something out of his angry and sweaty face.
After the zap apples fell down to the barrels, and some fell down on the ground, he grumpily walked towards the next nearby apple tree, turned around, lifted his hind hooves, and let out a powerful back kick.
But instead of the sound of the rustling leaves and the falling apples, the tree emitted an electrifying sound and sparked from leaves to the two hooves touching the tree's trunk.

Midnight was electrecuted by the tree for a few seconds before the electricity stopped, making him fall on the ground flat on his face.

Henry sighed as he stopped beside him.
"I told you to take it easy..."

Midnight angrily lifted his head so the alicorn can hear him clearly.
"And I told you I prefer to go back to the library to sleep!"
He angrily got back on his hooves.
The unicorn then angrily stared at the alicorn.
"This is your idea of a fun Saturday activity!?"

Henry blinked.
"But it is fun..."

"Fun? No sleep, no magic, just good ol' kicking some stupid electric trees is fun!?"

Henry smiled.
"Prefer to wear a bunny costume with Granny Smith?"

Midnight was shocked.
"Hell NO!"
He angrily faced the tree that electrecuted him, and pointed his hoof on the leaves.
"You shock me one more time, and I'll buck you so hard y---"

"It'll zap you again."
Henry chuckled, receiving an angry stare from the unicorn.

"This is the last time I'm going to somewhere you call 'fun'!"
Midnight said with a tired-angry voice as he turned his back on the tree, and kicked the trunk, sending a forceful wave to the top of the tree, rustling the leaves, and a few zap apples fell.

AppleJack and Big Macintosh shared a chuckle before they went back to bucking the Zap Apple trees.

Granny Smith and Snow Flake laughed a bit.
They then turned to each other.

"Well, 'ung one, I'd best be on my way! The Zap Apples won't jam 'emselves, now wou' dey?"
She was about to walk when she noticed few more visitors.
"Oh! Didn't expect to 'ave so many visitors today."

Snow Flake, curious, turned to where the old mare was facing.

Daybreak and Aurora were walking towards them with a smile on their faces.

Snow Flake smiled after seeing her unicorn.
She wanted to walk to meet them on the way, but the sudden nervous chills ran down to her hooves, locking her in place.

"Oh! Midnight's here!"
Aurora said. Finally, she found a good excuse to leave the two lovebirds alone.
She quickly flapped her wings and glided towards the unicorn and alicorn.

Daybreak nervously continued walking until he reached the two mares.
Still not gaining enough courage, he started with the old mare.
"G-good morning. Granny Smith, right?"

The old mare nodded.
"My, you're a strong 'ung pony. Bet you can buck 'em apple trees like my gran'son Macintosh."
She then shifted her head to face the white unicorn, who was nevously looking down on the ground.
If her eyes were still in perfect functionality, she would have noticed the unicorn's blushing cheeks.
"You 'ave a little som'ing on yer face there, kiddo."
Or, she could still notice, but she failed to identify them as blushes.

Curiosity got Daybreak, as he quickly looked at the white unicorn's face. Was something wrong with her?
Snow Flake gasped, immediately lifting her head.
The two unicorn's eyes locked at each other. Both faces were burning scarlet red on each of their cheeks.

The old mare shrugged.
"Best be on my way. Don't wanna go in between da two of yah."
And she walked away.

How to break the stare?
How to break this silence?
Should I smile? Should I tore my gaze away?
Should I say something?
How long have we been staring at each other like this?
Ow, my heart is pounding so hard right now...

"How long are you two planning on staring like that?"
They heard a voice from above them.

Finally, an excuse to tore their nervous gaze on each other.
Both looked up and saw a small puff of cloud hanging above them, and on one side was a cyan pegasus pony with rainbow mane, poking her head, looking annoyed and disgusted at them.

"Oh!"
A new voice from behind the yellow unicorn.

The three ponies looked at the source, only to find a wide-grinning Pinkie Pie and a nervous Fluttershy.

"Hello Daybreak! Hello Snow Flake! Hello Rainbow Dash!"
Pinkie Pie greeted them with a loud voice.
"Wat'cha all doing here?"

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, instantly sending herself airborne, and landed in front of the two fillies, making the yellow pegasus leap behind the happy pink earth pony.

"For the jam, of course!"
The cyan pegasus revealed her mission proudly in front of her two friends.

Hearing the jam, Fluttershy smiled as she slowly walked her way beside the pink pony.

"Oh? A jam!?"
The pink pony quickly turned her head around, trying to spot something.
"Is there gonna be a dance party here? When is it?"
She asked excitingly, to the cyan pegasus' annoyance.

"I meant the Zap Apple Jam, Pinkie..."

The pink pony's eyes grew wide in horror.
"The apples do the dancing!?"
And she smiled.
"Oh! That's great! We should make a---"

Rainbow Dash brought a hoof on the excited pink pony's mouth.
"Apples." She said.
"Turn. Jam. For. Bread. Get it?"

The pink pony nodded.
"Oh! That makes perfect sense!"
She said after Rainbow Dash removed her hoof, covered with the pony's saliva.

The cyan pegasus disgustingly rubbed her wet hoof on the ground, shivering a bit.
She then brought her attention on them again.
"Why are you two here, anyway?"

The pink pony rolled her eyes.
"Well, duh! For the jam, of course."

"Wait..."
Rainbow began.
"...you knew about the jam all along? And then...?"
She stopped herself and brought a hoof on her face.
Pinkie Pie was just being so random again.

Daybreak and Snow Flake were only staring blankly at the three fillies.

"Why, hello everypony!"
Greeted a newcomer.

The five of them turned their attention on the white unicorn filly with a blue expertly styled mane and tail, wearing black shades, bigger than her eyes, and an umbrella stuck on a blue saddle that was wrapped around her back.

"Hello Rarity."
Fluttershy greeted as Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to make herself airborne, and she crossed her forehooves, looking annoyed at the unicorn.
"What brings you here?"
Fluttershy continued with a friendly smile.

"Oh, Fluttershy. I just happen to remember that today is the last day of the Zap Apple Season."
She said as she rubbed her mane with her hoof.
"We don't usually eat those lower-class food and the like, but the Zap Apple Jam is too hard to resist!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"We should probably leave them alone..."
Daybreak whispered, leaning a bit close to Snow Flake.

Snow Flake simply nodded her head, and the two quietly worked their way towards the green alicorn and the dark-blue unicorn in the apple orchard.

As the two were walking away, AppleJack was heading to the opposite direction, bowed her head at them as they continued on their destinations.

"Howdy y'all!"
AppleJack greeted the four fillies.
"What brings you here to our farm?"

"For the Ja---"
Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof above, only to stop herself.
"I mean... For the Zap Apple Jam."
She carefully looked at Pinkie Pie, trying to see if it correctly registered on her head.
Nothing out of the usual happened, so it probably did reached inside her ears correctly.

The other fillies nodded in agreement.

"AppleJack, your family makes the best jams."
Rarity said with poise.
"Even a pony such as myself finds it difficult to resist!"

She could go on forever, Rainbow sighed.
The cyan pegasus flew back on her cloud, lowering it a bit.
She then took a few bits of cloud and stuck them on each of her ears.

"There is nothing to compare to its greatness!"
Rarity's eyes were twinkling now.
"The color, the taste, the moisture, how it fills your tongue with every perfect sweetness and bitterness, mixed perfectly that my own words could not reach it's greatness-perfection!"

"It's simply marvelous."
Fluttershy simply said.

"Yeah! And they make a great frosting to cakes and cupcakes!"
Pinkie Pie cheerfully added.
"Oh! And cookies and crackers and muffins, too!"

Noticing that Rarity was no longer the one talking, Rainbow Dash removed the small puffs of cloud she stuck on each of her ears.

AppleJack smiled at each of them.
"Aw, shucks. Thanks y'all."
She blushed a bit.

A sudden electric sound caught their attention.
They all turned to the orchard, only to witness the dark-blue unicorn getting electrecuted by a tree.
When it ended, the unicorn was still. Smoke was flying up from his charcoal coat.
He gave an angry glare at the alicorn, a few hooves in front of him.
"Don't...say a word."

Henry gave him an apologetic smile as the unicorn shook himself to remove the black dust around his coat.

"You really should take it easy."
Aurora said as she landed beside the angry unicorn.
"It's like, if you're angry, then the tree is also angry."

"Wanna be a tree?"
Midnight hissed.

The two siblings stared at each other angrily.

"Now now you two..."
Henry said, trying to stop them from arguing.
He walked in between them and pushed them with his hooves so the two angry ponies will be away from each other.

Midnight slapped the alicorn's hoof off of his chest and marched towards the earthy path leading to town.
"I'm outta here!"
He angrily shouted as he walked pass the angry Aurora.
His horn glowed, taking the keys from the alicorn's sidebag.
"I'm going back to the library, lock myself in, and go to sleep!"

"Yeah, go to sleep!"
Aurora spat.
"That's all your good at, anyway."

Midnight stopped and looked over his shoulder, staring angrily at his sister.
"I dare you say that again."

"Clean your ears, for Celestia's sake!"

Henry immediately ran in between them to stop the two from reaching each other.
Despite their young age, they're very strong, and the alicorn's having a difficult time pushing them away from each other.

"Ya know, I'm still angry at you for kicking me in the gut!"
Midnight shouted over the alicorn's head.

"You deserved that, you stupid lazy featherbrain!"
The pegasus shouted back near the alicorn's ear.

Midnight grinned.
"Featherbrain, huh? Funny, who has feathers here?"

Aurora felt even angrier.
"Take that back, you---you---!"

"Midnight..."
Daybreak said as he stopped a few hooves behind the struggling alicorn.
Midnight and Aurora turned their heads at the yellow unicorn, allowing the alicorn to rest a bit.
"...you're acting like a child."
He sighed.

"Yeah? Says you."
Midnight then turned to the pegasus.
"You called me lazy, huh?"

Aurora angrily faced him.
"Finally, did you just cleaned your ears?"

Henry began to push them away from each other again.

"You two, stop this..."
Daybreak calmly said, despite flashing a small hint of anger on his face.
"Midnight, be kind to our sister."

"Oh, I'll be kind when she starts being kind to me as well!"
Midnight shouted.

"I didn't even do anything today!"
Aurora shouted back.

Henry's ears were begging for mercy now.

The two continued to shout at each other.
Daybreak tried to calm them, and even Snow Flake joined him.
The five young fillies gathered themselves meters away from the two arguing ponies.
Big Macintosh then joined Daybreak and Snow Flake to calm the two ponies.

It went on for a few minutes before Henry had "Enough!"
He shouted, brown magic radiating on his horn, immediately lifting the two ponies in the air, and hitting their heads against each other, and then dropped them on the grassy ground in front of him, turning the two of them to face him.

The two ponies rubbed their aching heads with their hooves as the brown magic around them vanished.

Henry was now the one looking angry at them.
"You two are acting like small fillies fighting over a thrown hat!"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at each other.
Rarity gave her an angry stare while Rainbow Dash gave a weak smile.
She flew beside AppleJack to hide from the unicorn's death glare.

"You two are supposed to be brother and sister! But you both are acting like you owe the other a huge amount of Bits, trying to kill the other!"

"Geez, Henry... This is how you get angry---ow!"
Midnight was cut off by his own hoof hitting his forehead.

Henry slightly used his puppetry skill on the unicorn.
"Trust me, you don't like me when I'm completely angry. You both are lucky I can still hold my own anger."
He coughed a bit, somehow, it calmed him down a little.
"Anyway, please respect each other."

"Yeah yeah..."
Midnight annoyingly said, putting his gaze on the grass around his hindhooves.
"You told me that for so many times now."

"Sorry, but I needed to repeat it to make sure it goes deeper into your head."
Henry then turned to Aurora, who was also looking down.
"As for you, I expected something different from you. Where did the cheerful Aurora I knew went off to?"

"Midnight killed her."
Aurora grimly said.

"Yeah right..."
Midnight annoyingly said.

Henry sighed.
He knew too well he can't bring these two at peace.
If the three of them will continue like this, he's almost certain that high blood pressure will be his cause of death in the near future.

"Yah know..."
AppleJack said, making the ponies land their gazes on the young filly, except for the two angry ponies, who were still looking on the ground.
"...Henry here's right. You two shouldn't be actin' this way. Why, my brother and I always work things out after our fight."

"Work things out huh?"
Midnight grinned, confusing the young filly.
He lifted his head.
"That's a good idea."
He grinned further, making the pegasus beside him look at him with anger and confusion.
He stood on his hooves and walked a few hooves away from his sister.
He then turned to face the confused alicorn.
"We should see which one of us can work this out."

"I don't follow..."
Henry, Daybreak and Aurora said in unison.

"Duh! It's obvious!"
He then grinned at his sister.
"We're gonna have a contest!"

"A what now?"
Henry and Big Macintosh asked in unison.

Midnight points his hoof at the pegasus.
"You..."
Midnight then points himself.
"...me..."
And he points his hoof at all the apple trees.
"...contest."

"What!? Nu-uh!"
Aurora turned away, closed her eyes and crossed her hooves.
"I'm not going to compete against a loser like you."

"Hey! Why not? You should go for it!"
Rainbow beamed.
She then looked at the other ponies, who were giving him strange looks.
"What?"

"Rainbow, please."
Rarity said, as if she was disgusted.
"A silly competition will not fix the issues between siblings."

"Oh, what do you know, anyway?"
Rainbow waved a hoof at her.

'Uh oh...'
Henry gulped. He can now see where this is going.

"You don't have any siblings."
Rainbow continued as she lifted and examined her awesome hoof.

"Neither do you..."
Rarity whispered, trying to hold her patience.

"Yeah, you're right. That's why a competition will be ~awesome!"
Rainbow said with excitement, and added a tune on the last word.

Rarity closed her eyes and removed her attention away from her.
"Hmf! Ruffians like yourselves never consider a peaceful conclusion of problems."
She aimed it at Rainbow Dash and Midnight.

"Pff... Rarity, you're just saying that 'cause you're a chicken."
The cyan pegasus filly said, waving a hoof in the air.

Rarity shot her with a glare.
"Is that a challenge!?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her with a grin.

"Then it's on!"
Midnight and Rarity shouted.

"We're not agreeing to this..."
Aurora, Henry, AppleJack and Daybreak sighed.

---

On a clearing in the apple orchard, the ponies were grouped together by pairs: a young adult and a filly.
The five pairs: AppleJack and Big Macintosh, Fluttershy and Daybreak, Pinkie Pie and Snow Flake, Rainbow Dash and Midnight, and Rarity and Aurora, were standing in line, facing the green alicorn with half-a-meter-tall hour glass.

The green alicorn sighed.
'Here we go again...'
He looked at them, all were looking from nervous, to uncertain, to doubtful, to confident.
"Uh, right... This will be a one-hour competition."
He announced.
"The pair who can buck the most Zap Apples will be declared the winner 'of course'..."
He then turned around to the twenty-five barrels behind him, which were also grouped by five, with indications of which group owns a group of barrels.
"Each pair has five barrels to fill. If however, a pair fills all five, and there's still time remaining, a barrel will be automatically added 'by me with my magic'..."
He turned to the players.
"By the way. No magic, and no wings."

Those who were offended complained.
Henry brought a hoof.
"Now now. Magic ruins the quality of the apples 'and I still have no idea why', and wings gives the pegasi an advantage, so..."
He used his magic, lifting a few ropes, and before the pegasi ponies could complain, their wings were tied on their back.

Rainbow Dash annoyingly tried to remove the ropes, but her small hooves couldn't reach them.
Fluttershy has no idea what to react to this situation.
Aurora was annoyed, but decided not to complain.

"Now then..."
Henry's horn glowed, and picked a single Zap Apple on a nearby tree.

Everyone stared at the fruit that was levitated in front of them.
The fruit suddenly turned brown, to their surprise (except for the Apple Family members).

"I think this is a perfect example as to why we shouldn't use our magic on these fruits."
Henry explained.

"Oh my... The poor poor thing..."
Rarity whispered as she brought a hoof on her mouth.

"Yer gonna pay for that, right?"
AppleJack asked innocently.

Henry nodded his head with a weak smile.
"Of course. And also..."
He looked at each one of them.
"A little bit of useful information... Don't use your magic on shaking the trees as well..."

The unicorns arched one of their eyebrows.

"Oh! Yah mean like what happened last year?"
AppleJack asked.

Henry weakly smiled, recollecting the event.
"Ye-yes... All the apples became brown on that tree when I did that..."

The unicorns were shocked a bit.

"A-anyway... Shall we begin?"
Henry asked, lifting the hourglass with his magic.

"Wait!"
Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Can you just remove these ropes? It's making me feel itchy and I really need to stretch my wings..."

"Oh, Rainbow!"
Rarity said.
"Such you make a weak lie just so you could use your wings on this competition?"

Both fillies glared at each other.

Fluttershy took a step forward, catching the alicorn's attention.
"A-actually... I would really appreciate if you, um, untie the ropes..."

Henry flashed a 'why?' look.

"Well, um, you see..."
She looked around.
"Uh, we pegasi aren't normally...you know...strong...unlike unicorns, and earth ponies..."

"Hm..."
Henry brought a hoof on his mouth, thinking about this consideration.

"I think it would still be fair if we could use our wings, um...if that's okay..."
Fluttershy added.

Only the quiet dance of the leaves with the wind was heard for a few moments.

"I wouldn't mind at all!"
Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, startling her partner Snow Flake.
"It's kinda like dessert! You see, earth ponies are like cakes, big and huge and deliciousy sweet! And then unicorns are like cupcakes! They're also like cakes but they're the size of a cup! And then the pegasi are like cookies! Oh, a chocolate-chip cookie! They're small, almost flat, but they're still quite delicious! They're all different kinds of dessert, but no matter what shapes or sizes they look, they're still desserts!"
And then a wide happy grin.

...

......

.........

............

...............

Henry simply used his magic to remove the ropes with a forced smile.
"Thank you for that, Pinkie..."
He said as he puts the ropes on the ground near him.

"You're welcome!"
The pink pony happily said.

Midnight shot the alicorn an ultimately confused look.
From his look, Henry could already read what was on his mind.
'You actually understood what she just said?'

And Midnight has read the alicorn's reply through his weak smile.
'I have no clue...'

Rainbow shook her head to remove the pink pony's weird statement.
She happily stretched her wings, flapping them a bit.

"Hmf!"
Rarity raised her head with eyes closed.
"I hope you're happy."

Rainbow retracted her wings and rolled her eyes.

"By the way..."
Henry said after a realization struck him.
"...why am I the judge? I've been looking forward to buck some Zap Apple trees today, but I only got myself four trees before this silly competition popped up."

"No complaining!"
Midnight and Aurora shouted in unison.
They glared at each other for a while, and then moved their heads on the opposite direction.

Henry sighed.
"Fine..."
The alicorn used his magic to lift the hourglass.
He then looked at each pair carefully.
"Ready!?"

The pairs turned around, facing different trees.

"Set!"

"One moment!"
Rarity cried, instantly using her magic to remove her umbrella-saddle, and putting it beside the green alicorn.
A few quick fix of her mane, and she then prepared herself to run.

Aurora arched an eyebrow on her filly partner, but whatever.

Henry flipped the hourglass up-side-down.
"Go!"

And the pairs ran and flew to their target.

Henry quickly puts the hourglass down on the ground, and used his magic to lift five barrels, moving each one near each pair.

AppleJack and Big Macintosh had a great start; bucking a tree together, making all the Zap Apples fall on the ground. They quickly picked each one and put them inside their barrel.
They smiled at each other. This will be an easy win, they thought.

Snow Flake and Pinkie Pie stared at their tree.
The white unicorn was not sure if she can buck a tree, but she has to try.
She looked at the yellow unicorn, who just gave a powerful back-kick on a tree, making some of the apples fall.
Daybreak flashed her a smile, making her blush and nod.
Okay, she can do this.

She turned her back on the tree, lifted her hind hooves, and kicked, and...nothing happened.
She tried again, this time, putting a lot of her energy on a kick, and still nothing happened.

"Hey!"
Pinkie Pie exclaimed, making the white unicorn wonder.
"At least you made a leaf fall off!"
She said with a happy smile.

Snow Flake blinked, and then a leaf fell right in front of her.
Her ears dropped from disappointment.

"Aw, don't feel bad..."
Pinkie Pie patted her hoof.
"I know just the thing!"

And out of nowhere, Snow Flake was surprised to see the pink pony's pink cannon, aimed closely at the tree.
She happily pulled the trigger, and a loud "BANG!", startling the other ponies in the area.

She smiled widely as all the Zap Apples on the tree fell on the ground.

"Hey! That's cheating!"
Rainbow and Midnight shouted in unison.

"Nope!"
Pinkie Pie happily said as she and Snow Flake began picking their apples and putting them on their barrel.
"Henry only said no magic, silly."
She smiled at Rainbow Dash so happily and cheerfully and innocently.

"But-uh!?"
Rainbow looked at the alicorn, who only shrugged.
"Grrrfine!"

She sent all her frustration on a powerful kick, making the tree shake, and Zap Apples started falling. She and Midnight hastily picked the apples.

Rarity angrily looked at each pair.
"Uh, just look at them, hurting these innocent trees."
She then faced the tree she and Aurora picked, and flashed it a lovely smile with sparkly eyes.
"But I'm not going to do that to you," she hugged the tree, to Aurora's confusion, "you sweet sweet little apple tree you..."

"Rarity, why are you talking and hugging a tree?"
Aurora asked, completely puzzled.

"Hush darling, I'm working here."
She waved a hoof at her, and continued to sweet-talk the tree.

Aurora was about to drag the filly out of the way so she could buck the tree, but then the apple fruits started to fall, to her surprise.

"See darling?"
Rarity said, softly brushing her mane.
"There's no reason to act like those ruffians."

Aurora could not answer.
Somehow, she felt her widely opened mouth was stuck.

"Oh, the poor poor tree..."
Fluttershy whispered as their barrel landed behind her and Daybreak.
"We're so sorry if we're going to hurt you, but your apples are really delicious, especially when they're turned into jam."

Daybreak quietly watched the filly in annoyance and confusion.
'Is she always like this?'

"There there... No need to be scared. Just one not-so-hurtful kick, and we're done."
She smiled at the roots of the tree.

Daybreak sighed.
'We are so not going to win at this pace...'
Yet somehow, a small smile flash on him.
'Not that I mind, anyway...'

Henry boringly watched the pairs around as he concentrated his magic on the barrels to follow them.

After another loud 'bang' from Pinkie Pie's cannon, the Zap Apples on the apple tree fell on the ground.
Snow Flake and Pinkie Pie quickly put the apples in their barrel, finally filling their first barrel.

Seeing the pink pony waving her hoof at the alicorn, Henry levitated the marked barrel and puts it on the ground a few hooves behind him.
He removed his magical grip on it, and focused it on an empty barrel nearby, levitating it towards the pair who first got a full barrel.

"Ahoy Henry-sir!"
Shouted the smiling AppleJack, waving a hoof at the alicorn.

Henry turned to her, and noticed their barrel was already full.
He levitated the barrel and puts it on the ground, a few hooves away from the other full barrel, and then hovered an empty barrel towards AppleJack and Big Macintosh.

He sighed once again as he slowly turned to the hourglass.
Seven minutes had just passed.

'This is going to be a loooooong day...'
He sighed yet again.
Instead of bucking the apple trees, he's sitting on the grass.

"Hey, Henry!"
Henry opened his eyes and saw Rainbow Dash flying above the ocean of leaves, pointing her hoof down on their full barrel.

He levitated the barrel, and hovered an empty one towards her and Midnight.

Another bang echoed in the apple orchard.
This time, it's not as loud as the first two, but it still made the Zap Apples fall off to the ground.

Rainbow Dash and Midnight shot an angry glare at the pink pony and her cannon for a short while before they began bucking their apple tree.

Fluttershy was rubbing both her ears.
She and Daybreak were the closest pair from the cannon.
Daybreak bucked the apple tree, making the Zap Apples fall on the ground.
One managed to land on FLuttershy's head.

"S-sorry..."
Daybreak immediately walked towards her and rubbed her head.

"It's-it's okay..."
Fluttershy managed to say, blushing a bit.

Snow Flake saw them, and blushed a bit.
Daybreak really is a caring pony.
A sudden pink smiling filly face appeared right in front of her, and immediately brought her hooves around the starled white unicorn's burning cheeks.

"No time for blushing! It's time for bucking!"
Pinkie Pie said excitingly.
How'd she reached the tall mare's eye-level was one of the things running in the white unicorn's mind.
"If we're gonna win this thing, then you best start moving!"

A weak smile and a few nods was enough for the pink pony to vanish from her sight, making way to see Daybreak chuckling a bit, and made her blush further.

"Yoo~hoo~"
Sang Rarity, slowly waving a hoof at the alicorn.

Henry levitated their full barrel, and hovered an empty one at them.

---

Granny Smith arrived in the farm, and noticed quite a number of ponies bucking their Zap Apple orchard.
A warm smile grew on her face as she enters the barn to start making the Zap Apple Jam that was already harvested.

"Haven't seen the farm so lively for quite some time."
She smiled as she brought her basket down on their dining table.
"Maybe we can pre'are a li'l ol' Apple fam'ly reunion."

A loud boom echoed inside the barn, but she didn't move an inch.
"Oh my, ah sto'm's ah comin'. Might as well get started den..."

---

"Pinkie!"
Rarity shouted.
"Keep that thing away! It's hurting my delicate ears!"
She whined.

Rainbow Dash, as difficult as it sound, has to agree on the whiny white unicorn.
She flew near the pink pony.
"Yeah, Pinky."
The cyan pegasus filly crossed her forehooves.
"If you can't keep this thing quiet, I'm gonna have to drag this thing to the junk shop!"

Pinkie Pie brought a hoof on her chin as she thought about it.
And then, few face brightened up as a light bulb of an idea was switched on above her head.
The light bulb faded into the air as she went inside the mouth of her cannon.

Everypony stopped for a moment and looked at whatever the pink filly was up to.

"What's she up to?"
AppleJack asked her brother, her face totally painted in confusion.

And so were the rest of the ponies.

"Aha!"
The pink pony's voice echoed out of the cannon.

She got herself out, her whole body now covered in black ash, and on her hoof was a...black...box...thing...
She shook herself to remove the ashes off of her, making Snow Flake and Rainbow Dash move away to avoid the slowly forming black cloud around the pony.
As the black cloud faded in the air, Pinkie Pie stood with a very wide smile, and on her hoof was a speaker box.

The ponies blinked.

"What the hay is that?"
Asked the confused cyan pegasus filly as she hovered near the pink pony.

"It's a soundbox! See?"
She extends it in front of the curious cyan pegasus.
With the pink pony's other hoof, she pressed a button behind the box, and what followed was a loud 'bang' sound.

Shocked, the cyan pegasus fell on the ground, her heart was racing, and her ears were aching.

The pink pony giggled, and hid the box inside her cottoncandy-like mane.
"With that out of the way, my cannon won't make a sound!"
She quickly grabbed her cannon and instantly aimed it at the startled Snow Flake.

"Wait!"
Both Snow Flake and Daybreak shouted.

The pink pony quickly pulled the rope-trigger.
The cannon let out a powerful force of air that knocked the white unicorn back.
But...no sound.

Daybreak quickly rushed to Snow Flake, and helped her get back on her hooves.
"You okay?"

"I'm...fine... I think?"

Their faces locked into each other, and a scarlet blush painted their cheeks as they quickly moved their heads away from each other.

The other ponies were still confused.
Rainbow Dash annoyingly got back on her hooves.

"So...lemme get this straight..."
AppleJack began.
"That there soundbox o'yours was the one makin' that loud boom sound?"

Pinkie Pie cheerfully nodded. She then looked around excitingly.
"Oh hey! Game's not over yet, right?"

Snapping back, the other pairs quickly went back on their trees.
Daybreak nervously smiled as he bowed before running back to Fluttershy.

---

Hooves kicking, cannon firing, trees shaking, apples falling, barrels filled, barrels floating...
As the minutes flew, so were the energy of the ponies, and even Henry.

Lifting heavy barrels full of apples was also tiring.
He turned back, and saw quite a number of barrels, full of shining Zap Apples.
He turned to the hourglass: fifteen minutes left.

He turned back to see the ponies bucking the apples.
Some of the pairs were already far, where the trees and the leaves obscure his vision of seeing them.
But as long as he could still sense the barrels, he knows where they are.

He turned back on the barrels once again.
So far, Pinkie Pie and Snow Flake were leading, followed roughly by AppleJack and Big Macintosh, and Rainbow Dash and Midnight.
Daybreak and Fluttershy are currently tied with Aurora and Rarity.

Now that he thought about it, why are they having this silly competition anyway?
There's no prize at the end, is there?
This all happened because of Midnight and Aurora, and somehow, Rarity and Rainbow Dash ignited it even further, dragging everyone with it.

He overheard Midnight's tired voice.
He levitated their barrel behind him, and then he hovered...wait...
He turned around, and saw that there were no more empty barrels available.

The original plan was to use twenty-five barrels, but as the competition progressed, he was forced to use the other empty barrels nearby, and now that there were no more available barrels to use, should the game be stopped?

His river of thought was stopped after a cyan pegasus filly flashed in front of him with an angry stare.
"What gives!?"
She yelled right in front of the starled alicorn.

"Er... No more barrels?"
Henry said awkwardly.

Rainbow Dash looked puzzled, hovered sideways, and saw no more empty barrels to fill.
She flew higher to spot a few more, but she spotted nothing.
She slowly landed in front on the alicorn.
"Er...oh..."
She scratched her nape, looking apologetic.

Henry flashed a small smile and gently patted her head.

Soon, other pairs called his attention.
He shouted back that the game is over, and suddenly, numerous voices sighed in relief, echoing out of the apple orchard.

The ponies dropped themselves on the ground, panting, except for Aurora and Rarity.
Aurora weakly laughed at the ponies who looked really exhausted, while Rarity was fixing her mane.

"Oh, what better way to finish a competition but to look as good as you began."
Rarity said to herself, making Aurora roll her eyes.

Aurora then lands her gaze on a dark-blue unicorn, slowly rising on his hooves.
She grinned.
"Ready to lose, bro?"

Midnight, panting, smiled.
"Hahah. As if...!"

---

The pairs were all gathered in line, awaiting for Henry to announce the winner.
Henry was busy counting the barrels, listing them on his notebook with his quill, both held on his magical grasp.

Daybreak and Fluttershy already knew they lost, but they shared a smile.
Aurora noticed the small amount of barrels she and Rarity had filled, and it made her lower her head in embarrassment. Rarity somehow didn't seem to mind. She was more focused on readjusting her saddle umbrella.
Snow Flake was looking uncertain, while Pinkie Pie was hopping in place, humming a random tune with closed eyes.
Midnight was trying to hold his laughter after noticing Aurora, while Rainbow Dash was standing proudly.
Big Macintosh was playfully rubbing his little sister's head, and AppleJack playfully tried to dodge her brother's hoof from rubbing her head.

Soon, Henry walked in front of the group of ponies.
He cleared his throat a bit before he began.

"First, let me just say that everyone did a fine job in bucking apples."

Midnight chuckled, only to stop after he saw the alicorn's glare.

"Anyway," Henry adjusted his glasses with his hoof as he looked at his notebook.
"Aurora and Rarity..."

Aurora blushed from embarrassment.
Rarity stood tall and proud.

"You both have filled the least of barrels..."
Henry slowly said with an apologetic smile.

"WHAAAAAT!?"
Rarity gasped, as if her life depended on it.
She looked terribly troubled, looking around, trying to look for a reasonable answer.
"But but but...!"

Midnight and Rainbow Dash laughed, who were beside them.

Rarity glared at the two, while Aurora kept her head low, ashamed.

"Now then..."
Henry said, a bit loud, making the laughing ponies to stop.
"Daybreak and Fluttershy, er...also filled the same amount of barrels as Rarity and Aurora."

Midnight was surprised; his brother filled the least barrels?
He looked at him, completely confused.

Daybreak replied with a simple smile as he shrugged.

Rainbow Dash simply sighed.
She knew too well that Fluttershy must have caused the pair's defeat.

"Third in place is Midnight and Rainbow Dash."

"What!?"
Midnight and Rainbow Dash shouted in unison.
They glanced at each other for a short while before they looked back at the alicorn.

Henry simply smiled.
"Numbers will be later. Now then..."

Both dropped themselves into a sitting position.

"Hey," Midnight started, giving the filly a soft punch on her shoulder.
"at least we're on third place."

Rainbow Dash looked at him with a weak smile.
"Y-yeah... I guess..."
She looked down on the ground again.
"I just...hate losing..."

"Aw com'on..."
Midnight patted her head.
"...it's not that bad. 'least we're not on last place."

Rainbow Dash looked at him again, seeing Midnight winking at her, and then pointed her head on Aurora and Rarity.
She smiled. Somehow, it made her feel better.

"Second place goes to Big Macintosh and AppleJack."

"Here that brother? We're in second!"
AppleJack cheered.

"And that means!?"
Pinkie Pie shouted, throwing her front hooves in the air, releasing confettis out of nowhere.
Confettis of random color flew in the area.
"We won!"
She exclaimed, grabbing her pair's hooves and circled around, making the white unicorn feel dizzy.

Henry simply let them be.
"Aurora and Rarity, and Daybreak and Fluttershy. Both pairs filled seven barrels."

Aurora now dropped herself on her belly, frowning.

Rarity was feeling furious a bit, but waved a hoof on the air to dismiss it.
"Still, it's a great effort, coming from us ladies."
She raised her head proudly.

Midnight and Rainbow Dash both rolled their eyes.

"Midnight and Rainbow Dash filled fourteen barrels."

"Not bad."
Midnight simply said, raising a hoof.

Rainbow Dash flew up and brought her own hoof to meet with the unicorn.
Both shared a chuckle.

"Big Macintosh and AppleJack filled eighteen barrels."

"Whooo-wee!"
AppleJack cheered.
"That's even more than twice the number of barrels we normally fill in one hour!"

Big Macintosh smiled as he nodded in agreement.
"Eeyup."

Daybreak was beginning to worry.
Pinkie Pie and Snow Flake were still going in circle.
He could already hear the white unicorn's beg to stop.

"And finally, Snow Flake and Pinkie Pie filled twenty-two barrels."

A loud gasp echoed from the pink pony, who immediately stopped, looking surprised at the alicorn.

Snow Flake found herself on Daybreak's back before she fell on the ground.
Both blushed a bit.

"T-thanks..."
Though her world was still spinning, she knew too well who owned those shades of yellow that caught her.

"N-no p-problem..."

Midnight and Rainbow Dash rolled their eyes yet again.

Pinkie Pie quickly ran in front of the green alicorn.
"So what did we win what did we win what did we win!?"
She excitingly asked.

"Uh..."
Henry gulped.
He then flashed a weak smile.
"Imaginary cupcakes?"

Pinkie Pie brought a hoof on her chin to think about it.
She then brought her hoof back on the ground, smiling and nodding.
"That'll do. So when do we get it?"

Henry blinked.

---

Inside the barn, everypony were enjoying a few Zap Apple Sandwiches.
To them, the sandwiches are the best reward they could have earned from a hard day's work.

Everypony were happily chatting with one another.

Midnight was enjoying a few small talks with Rainbow Dash before the cyan pegasus' attention was caught by Pinkie Pie who sat beside her.
The dark-blue unicorn was left without nopony to talk to, but that was okay.
He turned to the table in front of them, and tried to grab another sandwich with his hoof, only to grab an orange hoof.

Midnight and Aurora quickly retracted their hooves as they shot a glare at each other.
The pegasus was the first to break their glare, turning to the other direction.

Somehow, Midnight was annoyed by her action.
Not annoyed-to-get-angry, but annoyed-to-be-guilty.
She didn't really do anything for him to shout at her.
With a heavy sigh, he collected his courage.
"Hey, Aurora..."

Aurora didn't move.

Midnight sighed.
"Listen... I'm...sorry..."
The last word sounded like a whisper.

Aurora slightly turned, stopping after she can see him on the corner of her eye.
"What was that?"
She slowly asked.

The other ponies were staring at the two, but neither of them noticed.

Midnight sighed again.
"I said...I'm... I said I'm sorry...okay?"
He closed his eyes as he dropped his head.
"I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. I was just so...frustrated...and I flushed it all down at you. I'm sorry. I'm rea---"

Aurora quickly hugged her big brother, startling him.
"Because you were stupid!"
She cried, allowing her tears to roll down.
"...and I both hate you and love you for being...stupid..."

Midnight smiled, returning her hug.
"Sorry for...being...stupid?"

Aurora chuckled a bit.

The ponies around the table smiled warmly at them, even the rainbow-maned pegasus filly.
They then broke the hug, smiling at each other.

"Hey!"
Pinkie Pie shouted.
"You know what this calls for!? A pa---"

Her wide mouth was stuffed with two hooves: one cyan, and one yellow.

"No!"
Both Daybreak and Rainbow Dash shouted in unison, making the others laugh.

'Missing out on bucking Zap Apples turned into a good thing, after all.'
Henry thought as he took a bite on his sandwich.

Granny Smith then stood up from her seat.
"Now, who wants to sing ze alfabeth with me?"
She asked with a smile.

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof excitingly.
Fluttershy and AppleJack raised thier hooves as well.

Midnight and Aurora both looked at each other, and the unicorn flashed an evil grin.

"Oooh no."
Aurora warned, giving the unicorn a death glare.

Henry sighed.
'And here they go again...'

Chapter 12 - Midnight's Melody

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Chapter 12 - Midnight's Melody

Dear Henry Hoof,

I am writing to you in reply of your letter. Everything here is fine, believe me. Gold is not really doing a good job in school, but what can I say? That filly still needs to focus more on classes than casting magic with his friends. Now that I have thought about it, I remember him planning to try and manipulate the snowy weather here with his friends. I'll be looking for him after I leave this letter in the post office.

As for the orphanage, it's doing quite well. You can't imagine the number of fillies in there. Such poor souls. But to see their warm smiles as you help them is...sorry, I'm not really the type of pony that goes all emotional.

Anyway, you should visit us here some time. I promise you, Manehattan has dramatically changed after the Windigo incident. Of course, there are still criminals running around, but it's nothing to worry about.

And also, BatMare is no more. So please stop teasing me in your letters. It's getting annoying, in all honesty.

Hope to see you soon.

Respectfully Yours,
Roselyn Hammer

P.S.

Attached with this letter is the mouthpiece you asked me to make. It will filter the water so you can breath underwater. If you don't mind me asking though, what is this for?

----------
1. Blind Attempt
----------

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?"
Asked a fish-tailed blue sea pony as she swam a few meters above the sea's floor.

With her was a green alicorn pony, his front hooves wrapped around the sea pony's neck. With a metallic mouthpiece on his mouth, he is able to breathe under water for their travels.

Henry Hoof was already planning to write the third book, but he has no idea how to write a good description of the sea. He already wrote a few notes of how will Daring Do end up in the fictional land of Atlantis, but he needs to experience an underwater journey towards their destination.

He has read about a story of the great sea traveler Ferdinand Unicorlian. One of his sunken ships was believed to be carrying many relics that was supposed to be used to expand the religion to another land.

His plan is to make Daring Do ride a ship, which then sank by Atlantis' gate guardian creature. He's quite not sure if it's going to be a good book, but he'll do his best.

Pearl slowed her swim after they began to swim across a trench. The darkness beneath has given them the shivers. Not a lot of sea creatures swam above this trench, in Pearl's knowledge.
No seapony ever dared to swim down below to find out what was down there.

Henry has spotted a large number of sea turtles swimming in the distance.
Far beyond were large blue whales. Their cries echoed softly to his ears.
Now that he thought about it, he did read that whales can swim down the trench. If only he could talk to them to find out what's down below. He's sure it'll be something worth to be shared to the world by writing it in his book.

The vast blue ocean was spectacular. To Henry, it was as if he was on a flying pony in the blue sea up above. The turtles, the whales, the rays...they looked like they were swiftly flying than swimming.

"Henry..."
Pearl said with worry.
"...are you really certain we're heading on the right direction? The trench down below is scaring me..."

Henry could not answer her. If he would, then the mouthpiece might float off.
He only tightened his embrace and softly nuzzled the sea pony's nape.

"That's not helping..."
Yet she smiled.
"But...thanks."

A mountain-like land-form stood above the trench a distance in front of them. A few distance below the peak was a wooden ship, looking as if the mountain had stabbed it.
It was still too far away to see it properly. Even with Pearl's top speed, it would still take them a minute or two to reach it.

"Is that it?"
Pearl asked.
She felt the alicorn nod his head.
"I have seen ships before... But none looked like that..."

---

Midnight and Daybreak were seated on chairs, both were facing each other as they read a bundle of papers floating in front of them, levitated by their respective magic.

"Why are we here again?"
Complained Midnight, as he lowered his papers down to see his brother, still looking focused on reading the papers.

A week after winter began in Equestria, Daybreak and Midnight received a letter from Snow Flake if they could help them with their annual play.
The brothers arrived in Canterlot two hours ago.

"Just think of it as a change of pace."
Daybreak simply replied, not even landing a glance on his brother.

Midnight snorted. Both of them had to play the rolls of the two unicorns that play a very important role in the play.
The actors to play the roles fell ill however, and no one could take their place. That's when Snow Flake got the idea of asking Daybreak and Midnight.

"And the play is tomorrow!"
Midnight yelled, disregarding the number of busy ponies around the theater.

The ponies were practicing their piece, preparing the props, practicing the musics.

"Yes, and that is why you should concentrate, bro..."
Daybreak calmly said.

Despite the loud environment, both could hear the lovely voice of Snow Flake, practicing her song on a corner, with her vocal teacher, who was closing her eyes, listening to her voice.

Daybreak, despite that fact, could still focus on memorizing his lines.
Midnight annoyingly read his lines.

---

The large old sunken ship was...really old.
Henry let go of the sea pony, and slowly swam around the old ship, and over it, for him to have a good look.
Pearl was only following him. She too, was as curious to see the ship up close.

The ship was now covered with pale-blue sand. Henry swam over the deck, and tried to wipe the sand off, but after touching the sand, a weak crack echoed, making him stop his attempt of wiping the sand off.

Pearl was busy staring at a number of crabs on the deck, picking something on the sand with their claws, and eating whatever they pick up.

---

Midnight has been trying to memorize one sentence, and it's driving him insane. How the heck can he memorize a fourteen-word sentence if the place is full of all sort of noise?

He was about to stand up from frustration until his ears heard a soft tune. He looked around, and found the source.
On one corner, he could see a caramel-colored earth mare, stroking her violin, swaying with the tune she creates with closed eyes and warm smile. Her black silk-like mane and tail followed the rhythm of her body swaying with the tune.

Her swaying body, her closed eyes, her warm smile, her soft tune...
It was as if the only thing he could see and hear was that mare a few meters from him.
He felt his heart was pounding out of the usual, his mouth hung open, his eyes widely open, but he noticed none of it.

Her violin, he could see the notes dancing around her swaying brown body.
It somehow made her shine. Shine. Shine.

"You okay, bro?"
Daybreak asked his brother as he slowly waved a hoof in front of his stunned face.
Convinced that his brother was gone, he turned his head to where his brother was facing, and saw Snow Flake reading her paper, a number of fillies listening to a unicorn mare, a brown mare playing her violin, and a pegasus colt practicing his acting.

There was nothing out of the usual.
Daybreak turned his attention back to his brother, only to see Midnight staring at him.
"You okay, bro?"
The dark-blue unicorn asked.

Daybreak blinked twice.
"What?"

Midnight brought a hoof on his brother's forehead.

Annoyed, Daybreak grabbed his brother's hoof with his own and removes it from his forehead.
He decided to dismiss whatever his brother was looking earlier and went back to memorizing his lines.

Midnight stood up.
"I'm going out."
And he started walking to the door.
"The place's too noisy..."

Daybreak didn't mind him. Midnight might need to clear his head or something.

---

With his horn providing some light, Henry and Pearl swam inside the large sunken ship with care. The pathways were gloomy. The floor was also full of sand, were a number of crabs, shells and starfishes rest on it. The decaying wooden walls were dangerously weak.

Pearl wanted to leave, but her curiosity got the better of her. She swam slowly, tailing the alicorn in front of her.

Soon however, they reached the part where the rock mountain's wall was visible inside the passage, and on the wall was a cave.
Henry shed some light inside the cave, to see what was inside, only to find that the cave was leading downward.

He turned to see the sea pony, who only nodded, signalling him that they should explore the cave.
Henry was not sure if they would but...

---

It was a good thing that a park was nearby the theater. Midnight used his magic to rid the snow blanket, and sat on the grass under a leafless tree.
Who needs the shade of the tree if the snowy sky is covering the sun anyway?

He has been sitting there for an hour now, where he was able to concentrate on memorizing his lines.
Although the park didn't provide the quiet atmosphere he seek, at least it was not as loud as it was inside the theater.

In the park, a number of fillies were building some snowponies, while some were playing with snowballs.
Adult ponies were also in the park: watching over their kids, dating, talking, ice-skating on the now-frozen small lake.

But despite this, Midnight could still not remove the image of that brown violinist in his head.
He has been shaking his head for a few more times now to dismiss the thought so he could go back to memorizing his lines, but as he continued, his mind drifts to that pony.

He flirts a lot of mares, yes. Even gets the chance to spend a night with some of them, but that was it. It was all for fun and pleasure, and nothing more. Easy to flirt, easy to get, and easy to forget, and the cycle goes on, if no interruptions from a certain young pegasus, however.

But that brown mare. He didn't know her, and heck, he didn't even flirted her, so why is he thinking about her a lot?
He grinned. Maybe his body wants her tonight.

Well, at least he has a goal today, and she's part of the play, so he can easily grab the opportunity to ask her out.

Satisfied, he went back to memorizing his lines.
...why is he participating in this stupid play, anyway?

Sure, he knows how to act. He and his brother used to act when they were stealing stuff from ponies, but that was a long time ago.
He's not even sure if he's up for acting, in front of the high-class ponies.

A snowball suddenly hit him on his head, covering both his eyes.
He dropped his papers as he shook his head angrily, sending the snow flying around.

Oh, whoever did that is go---

His sight landed on a brown mare, sitting on a bench a few meters in front of him.
Her eyes were still closed as she plays a quiet tune that couldn't reach his ears.
Unlike before, the mare was only moving her hooves as she plays her music, but the soft wind caught her mane, making the dark-blue unicorn stop breathing.

"This is your fault!"
Cried a unicorn filly at the other filly, who was looking really apologetic as he stared at the dazed Midnight.
"You froze his brain!"

"I-I...I didn't...I didn't mean it!"
The pegasus filly cried as he faced his friend.
He was apologizing to the unicorn a few times now, but both of them did not receive any reply whatsoever, and they feared the worse.
"Waaahhhh!!!"

The unicorn filly grabbed both his shoulders and shook him.
"Stop crying! We should go and ask for help!"

The pegasus filly slowly stopped crying, and nodded weakly.
But before the two could begin to run to ask for help, they felt a big hoof over their heads, and gently rubbing their head.

Midnight brought his two front hooves on the fillies' heads, and rubbing them slowly.
"You two froze my head earlier..."
He received two apologetic faces from the fillies.
"...but I'm alright now."
He smiled.
"Now run along before I-ah...uh...just go and play..."

He removed his hooves on the fillies, and they both nodded with a wide smile, and ran.

Midnight closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stood up.
He opened his eyes, and lands his gaze on the violinist.
He grinned.
"Okay, time to do some magic."

He took a step forward, only to step on his papers.
"Oh yeah..."
He levitated the papers and puts them inside his saddlebag.

Okay, no more distractions.
He took another step, only to stop after he saw a gray earth filly jumping on the bench, and sat beside the brown earth pony, where she rests her head on the brown mare's hind legs.

Midnight took a step back, gasping silently.
"She... She has a child?"
'But she looks so young...!'

----------
2. Heart's Song
----------

Midnight quietly sat under the leafless tree in Canterlot's Western Park. Though he looked like he was reading pieces of paper levitated in front of him, his mind was focused on the brown mare, sitting on a bench and playing her violin a few meters in front of him.
He often times take a glance on the mare, before returning his gaze on his papers.

He knows that he should concentrate on memorizing his lines for the play tomorrow but...
...he just couldn't get into it.

Earlier, he was sure to ask the mare out, but after seeing that she has a child...

'So what if she has a kid? She still looks sexy anyway...'

He took another look at the mare.
Her brown coat caught a few falling snowflakes. Her silk-like black mane also caught a few snowflakes. Her closed eyes, her warm small smile... Her slowly moving hooves, stroking her violin with its bow.

A black middle-aged earth pony slowly walked towards the mare, and after reaching her, he coughed a bit, to clear his throat.
Hearing the cough, the mare stopped playing her violin, and opened her eyes; her grey eyes.
The filly rose her head and stared at the newcomer, while the brown mare didn't faced the newcomer.

"Let's go."
The black colt simply said, receiving the slow nods of the two ponies on the bench.
The black earth pony turned around, and started walking towards the exit of the park.

The filly jumped to the snow-covered ground, as the brown mare slowly and carefully puts her violin back on the case.
She wore the violin case like a saddlebag, and slowly and carefully brought her hooves on the ground.
As soon as she got on the ground, the gray filly lifted one of the brown mare's front hooves, and placed it on the filly's back.
The filly then slowly began to walk, following the black earth pony, who was already a few hooves ahead.
The brown mare followed, not removing her hoof on her child's back, to Midnight's surprise.

The dark-blue unicorn only looked at them as they slowly walk towards the black earth pony, who was already standing on the street, with an empty carriage.
'She... She's...blind...?'
Midnight could only watch them. He couldn't believe that a lovely mare such as her was not given the gift of sight. How cruel!

The black earth pony helped himself inside, looking rather annoyed at the two slow-moving mares.
The filly said something as soon as they reached the carriage, probably informing her mother that they'll be going inside a carriage.

Midnight felt disgusted. That black earth pony didn't even bother helping that brown mare to get inside!
What felt like an eternity, the mare finally got herself inside.

The black earth pony shouted something to the drivers, probably to signal them to move.
The brown mare, who was still standing, stumbled down on her side of the seat as the carriage began to move.

"...the hell!?"
Midnight cursed, turning to his other side to see the carriage.
He quickly returned his papers inside his saddlebag.

He is disgusted at how insensitive that black pony is.
He is even more disgusted that he himself only sat there, doing nothing but to stare!
But he's not going to do nothing this time.

He got up and ran after the carriage.

---

Henry and Pearl were swimming straight down for minutes now.

The semi-circular cave has a diameter of five and a half meters.

The walls of the cave hold nothing of interest whatsoever.
There was no life here.

Finally, they reached the very bottom of the cave.
The blue-gray floor held nothing but a meter-long broken piece of wood.

Pearl quickly picked it up and gave it to the alicorn.
It held nothing of interest...

They looked around until their gaze landed on a horizontal tunnel.

They looked at each other, and after a few seconds, both nodded and began to swam inside the tunnel.

---

"Hey Daybreak."
Snow Flake greeted the yellow unicorn as she reached him.
Her voice, still lovely, with a hint of tiredness.

Daybreak lowered the papers and smiled at her as he stood on his four hooves.
"Hi."

Both gave each other a small and quick kiss.

"So..."
Snow Flake began, blushing a bit.
"Thirty minutes before lunch. Where to?"
She smiled.

Daybreak smiled weakly.
"A-actually..."
He looked around.
"...this is my first time here in Canterlot, so..."

"Oh? Really!?"
Snow Flake gasped, blush faded.
"Well, there's a nice restaurant nearby, if you want to eat there..."

Daybreak nodded with a warm smile.
"That sounds good."

Snow Flake smiled, and then looked around.
"Say... Where's Midnight?"

'Oh yeah...'
Daybreak sighed.
"He went out... Not sure when he'll come back..."
Snow Flake looked at him with a worried look.
"Don't worry."
Daybreak smiled, patting her shoulder.
"He's not stupid to die out of hunger."

They shared a small chuckle before walking towards the exit.

"So..."
Daybreak asked.
"What's the name of the place...?"

---

Midnight stood a few hooves away from the carriage.

After seeing that the black earth pony has no intentions of helping the mare out of the carriage, he began to march towards them, anger clear in his face.

He didn't get the chance to reach them however, seeing that the brown mare finally got off of the carriage. She then lets her filly put her hoof on her back.
The black earth pony sighed from frustration as he got himself off of the carriage.
He payed the drivers, and followed the mares inside a restaurant.

Midnight began to walk and stopped in front of the restaurant.
He's not sure if he should go inside such a fancy place or not.
He tilted his head up to read the name of the establishment.
"Indigo Music Restaurant..."
He whispered to himself.

He walked towards the glass doors, where a white unicorn stallion wearing a black tux opened the door and bowed.
"Good day to you, dear sir."

Midnight nodded weakly, not bothering to face the pony.
He scanned the place, and spots his target: the black earth pony was talking to a high-class earth pony with glasses, and the brown mare slowly went to a seat on a raised stage where ponies play music. She was being assisted by her child.

"Right this way, sir."
Said a pony wearing a tuxedo, gesturing to the unicorn to follow him to a table.

Midnight followed as a carriage stopped in front of the establishment.

Daybreak went out first, and gave a hoof to help his Snow Flake off of the carriage.

Midnight seated on a table near the corner of the establishment. The tux-wearing pony left him with a menu.
He took a quick look at the crazily overpriced food.

"May I have your order, sir?"
Asked a unicorn waiter.

He settled on the cheapest one on the menu.
"Yeah. Give me this Alevines del Heno-thing."
He said awkwardly as he placed the menu on the table.
'What the hey did I just ordered?'

The waiter calmly wrote his order on a notepad.
"And your drinks, sir?"

"Water. Not in the mood for any other at the moment..."
Midnight replied, a little fast and annoyed on his tone.

The waiter bowed and left him.

Daybreak and Snow Flake were seated on a table, near the other corner of the establishment.
They each gave their order, and soon, the waiter left them.

After sharing a stare and a smile, Daybreak let his eyes wander around the establishment.

A windowless restaurant, a bit spacious, and dimly lit. The tables on the center of the establishment only has chairs for two, where a number of them were filled by ponies of high-class.

On one table, if it was not occupied, Daybreak would have seen Midnight on the corner, and Midnight would have seen his brother.

A microphone echoed quietly as a black earth pony on stage grabbed it by his hoof.
"Hello everypony," he calmly greeted the seated customers of the restaurant, receiving their attention.

Midnight eyed him, like a falcon ready to dive down on a clueless mouse.

"I hope you all are enjoying your meals."
He smiled.
"I'd like to introduce to everypony," he turned to face the brown mare, already in position to play her violin.
"Miss Melody."

'Melody... So that's her name...'
Somehow, it made him smile a bit, but a sudden realization made him gasp silently.
'Wait... Miss? Miss!?'

The place echoed a soft round of applause.
Soon, the brown mare lifted her head up a bit, and started to play a soft tune with her violin as the black earth pony went down the stage.

----------
3. Broken String
----------

"Your order, sir."
A unicorn waiter arrived, slowly putting the dark-blue unicorn's order in front of him on the table.
He bowed before leaving him.

He didn't know how long it took for him to get what he ordered. His mind was locked on the brown mare on stage, playing a soft and melodious tune with her violin.
And just like the first time he saw her, she swayed her body as she stroked her bow on the strings of her violin.
Her black mane followed softly with the rhythm of her body.

His hypnotized state was broken after the delicious smell of food entered his nostrils and made his stomach growl a bit.

A pony seated nearby arched him an eyebrow, but Midnight payed him no mind, as he blankly stared at his food.
'Hayfries!? That Avalanche-thing is a small bowl of hayfries!? And for twenty-four Bits!?'
He wanted to shout all of those, but rather not cause a scene. He would not dare ruin the performance of that brown lovely...yet blind...mare.

He took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
He took the fork with his magic and started eating slowly, as he stared at the brown mare, still playing her violin.

'Damn... She sure looks sexy, but...she's blind...and she has a kid...yet she's a "miss"...? Does that mean she's single? Doesn't mean she's available... Sigh...'
Midnight has never met this kind of trouble before when flirting with mares.
'I spent with mares who have kids before... Why am I having trouble with this one?'

There was a small stain on the side of Snow Flake's mouth that she didn't notice.
Daybreak lifted a napkin with his magic, and softly wiped it off.
The white mare blushed and looked apologetic after the yellow colt showed him the stain.
Daybreak only replied with a warm smile. He cursed a bit that they're seated on opposite ends of the table.
He wanted to give her a small peck on her cheeks.

Midnight was once again brought back to reality after he heard the fork softly pounded on the bowl.
He already finished his food without even realizing it, and he's still hungry.
'It's like I've wasted twenty-four Bits for nothing...'

A waiter arrived, handing him his bill.
Midnight forced himself not to complain, and puts twenty-five Bits on the black tray.
The waiter bowed and left.

Midnight lifted his glass of water and drank.

---

Twenty minutes had passed.
Midnight finds it a bit surprising that he's allowed to stay inside a few more minutes even after he finished eating.
Plus, free water.

But in truth, he wanted to leave, yet here he is, and he has no solid reason why he's still inside.
Is it probably because of the brown mare?
What the hay? There are far so many mares here in Canterlot!
So why is he stuck in his seat, thinking of ways to talk to her?

He growled lowly, angry at himself.
Angry... Anger...
Why was he angry earlier anyway?
Why is he here anyway?

Is he here to bring some sense to that black stupid old earth pony?
Hell yes, but why? Why would he even bother?
She's nopony in his life anyway.
He never meddled with the lives of the mares he goes out with.
All he cared was a night of fun, and the next day, it was as if the mare never existed.

No mare has given him trouble. Not even those who played hard-to-get.
No mare has ever made him do something like this. None.
No mare... No mare...except her...and he doesn't like it.
But...he wants to do it. No. He needs to do it.
Why? He didn't bother answering.

The brown mare finished her music, receiving a lively round of applause.
Midnight even sent out an appreciative whistle. Nopony mind, though.
Her music was perfectly soothing.

Her...Melody...is perfect.

---

After a few minutes of swimming, the sea pony and the alicorn pony found themselves in a dead-end.
However, something in the tunnel made their swim worth their while.

A treasure chest was lying on the cave floor, near the dead-end wall.
It is dusty, old-looking, and rusty.

It was chained and locked, but even those were rusty, and a small effortless pull unlocked the lock.
Pearl excitedly removed the chains and opened the chest, to Henry's amusement.

Inside, the ponies' eyes went wide in disbelief.

---

As the black earth pony was once again on stage, saying a few thanks, the brown mare was guided by her gray earth filly towards the backstage.
The high-class earth pony with glasses walked on stage, and both ponies shook each other's hooves.
Both then bowed to the audience, and went to the backstage.

Scanning the place, nopony seems to be focusing on the stage now.
He took another deep breath, exhaled, and slowly went to the stage, and towards the door of the backstage.

"Daybreak..."
Snow Flake said, staring at the stage, confused.
"Isn't that Midnight?"

Daybreak, confused, turned over his shoulder, and he saw the dark-blue unicorn pony who just went backstage.
"What's that idiot doing?"
He angrily stood up.
"I'll be back."

Daybreak went towards the stage after receiving Snow Flake's doubtful nod.

"That was a lovely performance, Miss Melody."

Midnight heard a voice behind the curtains.
He lowered himself, poked a hoof under the curtain, and lifted it up a bit, enough for him to see the earth ponies.

"You never disappoint me when it comes to your violin."
The glass-wearing earth pony smiled genuinely.
He took something from his tuxedo, and gave the black earth pony a piece of rectangle paper; a cheque.
"I look forward for your next performance, Miss Melody. Tomorrow, was it?"

The brown earth mare smiled warmly, nodding her head.
"Yes."

Midnight's heart pounded hard for a few seconds.
Even her voice sounded lovely, even lovelier than Snow Flake, or any other mare he met in his life.

"It would be an honor to have you there."

The glass-wearing pony smiled.
"I wouldn't dare miss it. Now, please excuse me."
The pony then bowed at them before turning away, walking to another door, probably the kitchen, for Midnight heard a series of chopping sound when the door was opened.

The black earth pony smiled wickedly, slipping the cheque inside his saddlebag.
"Nice work."
And he took out a pouch from his saddlebag, and gave it to the filly.

Judging from the looks of the pouch, and how easy the filly took it, it must have only a few amounts of Bits inside.
Strangely however, it sparked a fire inside the dark-blue unicorn.
And seeing the depressed look on the filly as she stared at the contents of the pouch bag, the fire turned into a wildfire.

Daybreak got through the door, and arched an eyebrow after he saw his brother, sneaking under the curtains.

"Now hold on a minute!"
Midnight suddenly shouted, startling the earth ponies as he quickly got up on his hooves.

Daybreak gasped in surprise.
'Idiot! What are you doing!?'
And now, it was his turn to sneak under the curtain after Midnight angrily marched towards the black earth pony.

"Just who the f*ck do you think you are, taking this lovely mare's hard-earned Bits, huh!?"
He glared as he stopped a few hooves in front of the startled black earth pony.

The earth pony however, quickly returned to his high-class state.
"It is none of your business."
He countered a glare.
"And if I were you, I'd leave before I'll call the authorities."

Midnight smiled. He's used to that.
He used his magic to take the cheque and the pouch bag at the same time.

He took a look at the cheque first before the black angry earth pony took it back with his hooves.

"Stealing is an unforgivable act, son."
The black earth pony warned him as he returned the cheque inside his saddlebag.

"Fifty Bits..."
Midnight calmly said as he levitated the Bits from the pouch bag.
"This mare here earned Fifty Bits, and all she's receiving is...fifteen Bits!?"
He scrowled.

After hearing this, the brown mare's ears dropped, lowering her head in sadness.
The gray filly slowly rubbed her head on her mother's front hoof.

The black earth pony doesn't seem to be affected by this.
"Your point, son?"

Midnight returned the Bits inside the pouch bag, and levitated it towards the filly.
"You said it yourself... Stealing is an unforgivable act."
He angrily stared at the earth pony.

"I asked; what is your poi---"
A sudden realization struck the black earth pony, making him take a step back.
"Y-you're...! You're a wielder of the elements!"

Both mares gasped.

Midnight arched an eyebrow, but quickly flashed a smile.
He, nor any others, no longer wield the elements anymore, but he might use this for his advantage.
"Oh, so you recognized me?"
He grinned.
"Yes, I do hold an element, a pathetic one, in fact: kindness."
Midnight took a threatening step forward.
"Now then, if you don't want me to go all elemental on you, I suggest you show kindness to this mare here."
He extends a hoof, pointing at the brown mare.

"I-ah...Y-yes...! Of course!"
The black earth pony responded, shakingly terrified.
He took another pouch bag, counted the Bits inside, and gave them to the filly.
He then turned to the angry unicorn with a weak smile.
"T-there... Sixty Bits... That's k-kind enough, right?"

"Yeah..."
Midnight hissed.
"Now leave."

The black earth pony bowed panicky, and quickly walked towards the curtains, only to stumble down the floor after he accidentally walked over a yellow sneaking unicorn.

Midnight and the gray filly looked at the event.

"D-Daybreak!?"
Midnight gasped.

Daybreak brought a hoof on his head, rubbing it slightly as he rose up.
"Hey bro..."
He weakly smiled.

----------
4. Melody of the Heart
----------

Midnight was slowly walking on the street. His head was held up high, and his eyes on the path in front of him, but his mind was elsewhere.
Daybreak and Snow Flake walked behind the dark-blue unicorn, both looking worried at Midnight.

"You shouldn't have done that..."
The brown mare's voice echoed inside Midnight's head as he remembered what happened.
"You shouldn't have troubled yourself..."

"What do you mean?"
Midnight asked, disregarding the fact that Daybreak is with them.
"I couldn't just let him get away with the money you earned!"
It's difficult to properly earn Bits, and somepony taking advantage of somepony else's disabilities is...in truth...Midnight doesn't care about other ponies, but...

The brown mare shook her head.
"I'm sorry..."
She lifted her hoof, and trying to find her filly.
"...'Tavie...?"

The small filly grabbed her mother's hoof, and lets it land on her back.

"...Let's go..."

"What?"
Midnight gasped.
"Where are you going? Hey!"

"Bro?"

"Huh?"
Midnight turned over her shoulder.
"What's up?"

"Is something bothering you, Midnight?"
Snow Flake asked.
They haven't told her anything about what happened yet.

Midnight flashed a smile before returning his head.
"Of course. Why'd ya ask?"

"Well..."
Snow Flake blushed a bit. It's not like her to say things like these.
"A...We ran to quite a lot...of mares... Lovely ones, for your taste, but...you didn't seem to...flirt...any one of them..."

Daybreak chuckled.
Midnight might be a good faker about that he's okay, but he missed to master the perfectly obvious one.

The dark-blue unicorn scratched his nape awkwardly.
"Um... None of them qualify?"

"Bro..."
Daybreak said as the three of them stopped as they reached the entrance of the park.
"What's really the matter?"

Midnight only shook his head and walked on.
"Nothing. Don't worry. I'm perfectly...fine...!"

Snow Flake and Daybreak looked at each other.

"He's in love."
Daybreak smiled.
"We better leave him alone."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Snow Flake asked, concerned.

Daybreak nodded his head.
"I think it's something he should fix by himself."
He patted her shoulder.
"And if he needs help, he's stupid enough to ask me nonsense that's related to these kind of stuff."

---

"Mom?"
Asked the gray filly, looking worried at her mother, as they slowly walked through the snowy park.
She has never seen her mother so troubled before.

"What is it, 'Tavie?"
Asked the brown mare, her front hoof on her little filly's back, who was guiding her.
"Is something the matter?"

"Yes... You..."

"Oh..."

The filly then stopped after they reached an unoccupied bench.
She removed the snow on it and informs her mother to sit down.
She jumped on the bench and lied her head on her mother's hind leg.

"I am okay, sweetie."
The brown mare smiled warmly.
"I'm just...thinking."

"Why didn't you thanked him, mom?"

"Thanked him?"

"Yes. That unicorn... He helped us."

True, that was indeed true, however, the brown mare was saddened.
She flashed a weak smile.
"I'll thank him later..."

The young filly rose her head and stared at a pony who was slowly approaching them.
"Well... You can thank him now..."

"Oh?"
The brown mare gasped.

Midnight stopped a few hooves in front of the two female ponies.
"Listen..." he turned his head down, as if it would help.
"...I'm sorry."

"For what, my dear?"
The brown mare asked, a bit surprised.

Midnight stared at her with an arched eyebrow.
"For what I did earlier... I mean..."
He scratched his nape.
"...I tried to help you out. I think, I thought I was helping you out but, you looked as if you didn't need it... So... I'm...sorry..."
He's still not quite used to apologizing much, and when he does, he feels rather awkward about it, especially if he has no idea what he did wrong.
He sighed.

"Thank you."
The brown mare simply said.
"But, I should be the one to apologize..."

Midnight lifted his head to meet with the mare, and was startled a bit that their eyes locked at each other, until he remembered that she's...

She was simply holding a small yet warm smile.
"...I should have thanked you earlier."

"Eheheh..." Midnight laughed weakly.
"It's...it's no problem, really..."
'Damn it! Why am I feeling so stupid near her?'

They allowed a few moments of awkward silence, until the brown mare spoke.
"So, do you have a name?"
She asked with a smile; a smile that made the unicorn blush.

"Uh... Oh... Yeah uh... Midnight..."
He planted a hoof on his face, making the filly chuckle a bit.

"Midnight..." She echoed with a smile.
"It's a nice name."

'Nice...name?'
Of course, he heard those words from other mares before, but coming from her, it sounded so beautiful.
He smiled a bit.
"T-thanks... Melody's a nice name, too."
'Ugh... What happened to me...?'

"Would you care to join us?"
The brown mare asked, still holding her lovely smile.

"Um...thanks, but I already ate..."
'Wait! No! Why did I rejected her offer!? Stupid!!!'
He planted another hoof on his face.

Melody chuckled slightly.
"No no. You misunderstand."
She then patted the available space of the bench beside her.

'Oh, right... To sit, of course...'
"Uh..."
'It's a damn simple offer... Why is it so hard to accept!?'
"S-su-sure..."

He nervously sat beside her, giving himself a respectable distance from the mare.
Melody turned her head, to her guess, to where the stallion was.

"You're too far."
She smiled.

"I-I'm happy here, thanks!"
He blushed.
'Oh, I just rejected an offer to cuddle her... Swell...'

"Well, if you are, then I won't force you."

The filly lied her head back on her mother's hind leg.
Melody gently brushed her filly's mane with a hoof.

"So uh..."
Midnight began, but the following words went stuck in his throat.
It was a sensitive topic... Might as well change it.
"...you play...nice."

"Thank you."

Silence...

"You uh...look nice..."

"Thank you."

Another set of silence.

---

Henry and Pearl finally decided to head back to the beach.
With them, they carried a golden cross from the treasure chest they found.

The treasure chest was full of worn-out and wet paper. The context were already unreadable, to Henry's disappointment.

"So, what are you going to do with that cross?"
Pearl asked.

---

'I can't go on like this...'
He took a deep breath, and exhaled.
Okay, he can do this.
"Uh---"

"Thank you..."

"Uh...for what? I haven't said anything yet..."

"...for your help earlier."

"Well of course!"
Midnight replied, a bit loud.
"I mean, that stupid pony shouldn't be stealing YOUR hard-earned money like that!"
He said with gestures of his front hooves to emphasize his point, not that she'll be able to see it though.

Melody simply smiled as she listened to him.

"Nopony, and I mean nopony should take advantage of you! Just because you can't see, doesn't give any pony the permit to do something like that!"
Midnight continued, allowing all of his anger to flow out of him.
"You are a great musician! You play the violin so well! You are a lovely mare! And you are as perfect as anypony else is!"
He didn't even notice the things he just said.
"And I will not let anypony take advantage of you like that stupid freakin' sli---"

"He's my father..."
She simply said, still smiling.

"---meyerablvhtlasrtlyhy-huh?"
Midnight's words scrambled in between his tongue after he heard what the mare just said.
He was beyond surprised.

"...and I know he takes a few Bits that I get from playing my violin..."
She continued, and though she was still smiling, there was a small hint of hurt in her tone.

"He's... He's your father!?"
Midnight angrily asked.
"And he did that to you!? No, wait... You allowed him to do that to you!?"

Melody simply nodded.

"I-I can't believe this..."
He shook his head.
"Why? What kind of father would do that to their child!?"

"The forgiving one..."
She simply replied.

"The forgivi-what?"
He was confused.
"I don't follow..."

Now though, Melody no longer holding her smile.
Sadness now reigned in her face, and Midnight was hurt to see her like that.

"Wait, no. I'm sorry."
Now that he was calm to think, he couldn't believe that he said all those things.
"...sorry... I really am."

Melody simply shook her head, smiling slightly.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Midnight..."
She said, with a tone contrasting her sad face.

His heart pounded hard after hearing his own name from the mare's mouth.
It was the loveliest thing he has heard all day, and he wanted to hear it again.

"And I should thank you... Nopony has ever helped me the way you did..."
She lifted her head to face the thick and gloomy clouds of the heavens.
"I really thought that I will forever live in the darkness..."
She slowly shook her head.
"But... After you helped me earlier, you made me feel that...there's still a chance for me to live out of the darkness..."

'Too poetic... I don't follow...'

She then brought her gaze down to her filly.
"I thought there won't be a pony that will help me..."
She sighed a bit.
"I mean... Look at me..."
She turned to Midnight, and he was indeed looking at her.
"I'm just a simple pony. Might be a nopony. What's worse, I'm blind..."

"Now stop."
Midnight spat.
"I don't wanna hear you beating yourself up!"
He jumped off of the bench, and brought his front hooves on her shoulders.
"Listen, I don't know if you remember what I just said about you, but I don't care, 'cause I'm going to repeat them."

Melody has no idea what to feel right now.
The unicorn was holding her shoulder firmly, which is scaring her.
She doesn't want to experience the fear she experienced before.

"You are a perfect mare."
Midnight said, each word emphasized by the powerful beating of his heart.
"You are a great musician. You are a good violi-whatever you call the ponies that play the violin."

"Violinist."
The filly said.

"Yes, that."
Midnight accepted the correction.
"You are a great musician. You are a great violinist! You are a great mare."
He turned to the filly.
"She is a great mare, right?"

The filly smiled, nodding twice in agreement.

Midnight brought his hooves on the ground.
"See? Even this little kid kn---"

"Octavia."
The filly happily announced her name.

"Whatever. Point is, don't beat yourself up. Yes, you're blind, but so what? You do great in things others aren't. Things that either has anything to do with your cutie mark or not."
He took a glimpse on her cutie mark; a violin, obviously.
"Yes, ponies will be saying stuff about you, but don't you dare let their words push you down. Use them as encouragement, to prove that they're wrong! You have a kid, for Celestia's sake. Most parents couldn't even handle raising one, but you sure did a fine job at raising her."
He turned to the filly once again.
"Am I right, Octie?"

"I prefer, 'Tavie... But yes, my mom is the best mom!"
She cheerfully said.

"And also...uh..."
Midnight stopped himself after he saw Melody crying quietly.
"Oh, no, I didn't...oh, shoot..."
He levitated a handkerchief from his saddlebag as he took a step to reach the crying mare.
With his magic, he wiped her tears.
"I'm sorry..."
He whispered.
"I didn't mean to make you cry... Damn it... I'm so insensi---"

Melody grabbed him by the neck, pulled him closer and hugged him as she cried over his shoulder.

Midnight was stunned, no, petrified.
Yes, mares have embraced him, but there's something about this specific mare that made her special, and made him unable to return the embrace.
Snapping back to his senses, he nervously returned the hug, slightly rubbing her black silky mane.

The little filly gave her mother a hug as well.

Melody wasn't crying because of hurt, or pain.
No. She's crying because she has discovered a pony that doesn't see her as a liability.
She has found a pony that sees her as a mare.

As they broke the hug, so did the filly.
"Does this mean I can finally have a dad?"

Both ponies gasped, immediately turning to the filly.
"'Tavie!"

Both of their cheeks blushed, making the filly chuckle.

----------
5. Song of the Heart
----------

After my mom left the world, my dad has been really overprotective of me. That is why I don't know any other ponies, except for a few of my neighbors.
I was blind at birth. I never got the chance to see what colors are. What trees look like, what ponies look like...
But it didn't become a hindrance to feel happiness during my early years as a filly.
I have friends. We spent a lot of fun times in our home's front yard.
The front yard was the only place I was allowed to go, where my father could keep a watchful eye on me.

One day however, my dad had to leave to attend a business meeting. He made me promise not to go beyond the front yard.
That was seven years ago. And what was worse, I am blind, so I have no idea where my friends were taking me.
They told me that we were heading to the backyard of our house, so I was fine.

At first, I thought everything would be fine, until they tied my hooves and put something on my mouth so I couldn't scream.
And...that's where the worst of my nightmares happen.
My friends...raped me.

And because I am blind, I didn't know who did it...
As what you said... They took advantage of me...

Since then, I never talked to anypony anymore.
I have brought all my trust to my father, but I never told him about what happened.
He started to worry about me when I decided not to go out of the house to play with my friends.
I don't want to hear their voices...

One day however, I felt sick.
That day, my dad sent me to a hospital, where we found out that I was pregnant.
It would be an understatement if I tell you that he got angry at me.

Back home, he wanted to know the truth, and was willing to beat me to know everything.
I told him what happened, but it was a losing battle.
I don't know who did it, and even if we knew, those who did it were still minors, and they wouldn't be brought to justice.

I was too young to carry a baby, my father pointed, and wanted me to go through the process of abortion...
But I couldn't... It's like I agreed to kill an innocent pony.
He gave me an option: abortion and live with my father, or I'll have to live by myself and raise my baby by myself.

I love my father, but I would never thought that he would let me choose.
But...if I do live with him, the guilt would forever linger withing me...
So... I chose the latter.

Midnight quietly listened to Melody's story.
She said that if he wants to be with her, he needs to hear her life story.
They let the filly play with the other fillies in the park before she began.

"That's..."
Midnight sadly said.
"...that's..."

Melody shook her head.
"No need to say anything."
She took a deep breath, and sighed.
"Now you know..."

"Y-yeah..."

"So...what now?"

"What now?"
Midnight asked.
"What do you mean?"

"Well... In all honesty, Midnight..."
She slowly turned to Midnight.
"There have been a number of colts who flirted with me. But after learning about my story, I never heard about them again..."

"That's 'cause those guys were cowards."
Midnight said annoyingly.
"And I thought I was the insensitive one."

Melody was clueless.

"What now, you asked? Simple."
He took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"I said I like you, didn't I? And after hearing your story, I liked you more. Honest."
He's blushing but he didn't care. She couldn't see his face anyway. That doesn't count as taking advantage of her, right?
"I don't know why, but I like you. I wanna be with you. Heck, I need to be with you. And I swear, if anypony does take advantage of you, I'm going to bring hell at them; Celestia please help them."

Melody simply shook her head.
"You're...too kind, Midnight. But, you deserve somepony who's bett---"

"Nopony's as better as you!"

"B-bu---"

"And no 'buts' and other excuses."
He said in annoyance.
"I love you and nothing's going to change that!"

Melody blushed.
Did he mean it, or was it a slip of his tongue?
"You...love me...?"

"Wait, what?"
Midnight blushed further, after realizing the slip-up.
"No! No-nononononononononono! I meant to say that I like you!"

She smiled, blushing.
"I thought you said that there's nothing that will change that."

"Yes! Wait, no! I mean..."
He sighed.
"Sometimes, I hate myself..."

Melody chuckled as Midnight took a deep breath and sighed.
"Fine, you got me. Happy?"

The mare nodded.
"Yes."

"Now then... Can you play me a tune? My heart's acting crazy at the moment..."

Melody nodded and took her violin from the case.
She grabbed the bow, and positioned her hooves.
"What tune do you want me to play?"

"Anything."

"Anything?"

"Yeah."

And soon, she started playing a soothing-and-cheerful tune with her violin.

"You look lovely when you play the violin, by the way..."
Midnight said in awe, making the mare blush, and stroking the wrong key.
"S-sorry..."

"It's okay..."
She simply replied as she continued playing the tune.
"I'm making this up, anyway."

"Really? Sounds like you played it a hundred times!"

'Yes, I have indeed played this tune a hundred times. That was during the time I lived in darkness. Each day, I've always hoped to live out of the fear of my thoughts of other ponies. It was my heart that kept me going, my heart kept playing this tune, giving me hope each day, that one day, I could finally be able to live happily, and with a pony that will accept me.'

Chapter 13 - Cold Winter

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Chapter 13 - Cold Winter

----------
1. Post War
----------

The war of heaven and earth has finally reached its conclusion: the winged ponies has accepted their defeat after years of battle against the earth ponies, along with their unicorn and griffin allies.
Achieving such victory was an almost impossible dream, but to those who fought in the war, it was the greatest thing they have ever achieved.
Finally, their land is free from the tyranny of the pegasi. They have saved the future of their children, and for the next generation.

A yellow unicorn, wearing the smile of victory, is now on a journey back home, where his family awaits his arrival. And finally, he can be wed to the mare of his dreams. The very mare that made him fight in the war, to save her dream, no, to save both their future dreams.

He walks quietly, yet excitedly, in the leafless woodland covered by the blanket of snow. The sky is gloomy and gray, and snow was softly falling from the heavens.
Snow... The war ended a few weeks after winter came. Snow has made the pegasi weak and shiver. They live above, afterall, and without food, their defeat was inevitable.

Snow... It gave him the strength to continue to fight, for it always reminded him of the mare he wished to be with until his last breath. He will go back home to see her again, to feel her warm embrace, and finally, to receive her sweet approval. They then can finally live together in a new peaceful future.

He looked over his shoulder, and he saw his sword. The sword that has slayed countless of pegasi, and the very same sword that saved him so many times.
He still has a reason to carry such a weapon. The war is over, yes, but the creatures, of course, he needs to protect himself from them.

He was never good with casting magic. He can only use it to carry his sword and fight.

Soon, beyond the exit of the forest, a quiet town was in view.
Seeing his home, he began to increase his speed, until he went to running.

Ponies around town saw the newcomer approaching.
An old couple smiled at the sight, and yelled his name.
"Daybreak! My son!"
The old couple ran towards him as fast as they could.

"M'ma! P'pa!"
Cried the yellow unicorn.
He quickly gave the two a hug, letting his tears flow down from his eyes.

It has been years since he last came home.
Oh, how he missed his parents.

"You're home, son..."
Spoke his crying mother.
"Welcome home..."

"Daybreak?"
Said a voice from behind the couple.

The yellow unicorn lifted his head to see before him the white unicorn mare, smiling warmly at him.
The old couple broke the hug, and took a step to the side, to give way for their son.

Daybreak smiled, yet nervously walked towards his mare.
"Snow Flake..."
He slowly extends a hoof to give the mare a hug, but halfway there, the mare quickly wrapped her hooves around the startled yellow unicorn's neck, crying over his shoulder.
He returned the hug.

"Don't you ever leave me again!"
Cried the white mare.

"I promise..."
He gently replied as he softly brushed the mare's mane.

"Prepare the wedding!"
Joked an earth pony in the crowd, and the others soon cheered, making the young couple blush as they broke their hug.

In the center of the town stood an old church. A dark-blue unicorn watched the crowd a few distance away with a serious look. With his magic, he wrapped himself with an old-looking brown coat, and covered his head under a hood.
He then slowly went down the stairs, heading to the crowd.

The crowd gave way for the young couple.
They slowly walked back to their home.

As they reached the front of the door of their home, they both turned to see the new arrival.

Daybreak smiled.
"Brother!"
He quickly ran towards him, and gave him a hug, throwing the unicorn's hood back to reveal his startled face.
"It is good to see you!"

The dark-blue unicorn returned the hug with a small smile.
"Likewise, my brother."

They broke the hug, both wearing warm smiles.
They then took a step back, their faces became serious as they used their magic to quickly draw their swords.
The two blades rubbed against each other. The two unicorns grinned.

"You still got it, brother."
The dark-blue unicorn said, returning his sword back.

"Midnight..."
The yellow unicorn said as he returned his sword.
"...how could I forget?"

Both shared a small laugh.

"Anyway, brother."
Midnight said, wearing his hood back.
"I must be on my way."

"So soon, brother?"
Daybreak asked.
"Can't you stay longer? A feast is under way!"

Midnight shook his head with a smile.
"Believe me brother. I am happy to finally see you again, and I would be even happier to join the celebration, but alas, I must go to Canterlot to announce your return."

"My return?"
Daybreak asked in confusion.
"Brother, I am of no importance."

"T'is my duty, brother."
Smiled the dark-blue unicorn.
"You have created such a name during the war, if you are not aware. Hence why to announce your safe return is a must."

"Have I?"
Daybreak looked confused, and turned to Snow Flake.

The white mare smiled warmly as she nods her head.
"Indeed you have, my love."

"I...didn't know."

Midnight shook his head slightly.
"Please brother... You are so modest. It does not suit you."
He laughed.

"Believe me, brother."
The yellow unicorn said, quite annoyed.
"I hold no knowledge of such information."

"If that is so, brother."
The dark-blue unicorn smiled, and bowed before him.
"Or should I say, Knight of Equestria."

"Knight!?"
Daybreak was shocked, taking a step back.
"Me? A knight? Of Equestria?"

"And your ears still work well, I see."
Midnight joked.

Daybreak shot him a stare.
"That's not part of the script."
He whispered.

"I can improvise, can't I?"
Midnight smiled.
"Brother, again, t'is good to see you back."

"But brother. Luna's night is almost upon us."
Daybreak looked at the clouds.
"Must you head to Canterlot at this hour? Surely, the creatures of the night will trouble your path."

Midnight shook his head.
"Worry not, brother. I am a warrior, if I need to remind you."

"Well, that is true, but..."

The dark-blue unicorn patted the yellow unicorn's shoulder.
"Brother, please. A child, I am not."
He smiled.
"Besides, must you trouble yourself with me instead of your lovely mare?"

Daybreak sighed in defeat.
"If you must, then go."
He then hold a serious look.
"But promise me to be safe."

"I have travelled the same route for years since your absence, brother."
Midnight replied, quite annoyed.
"I know my way around, believe me when I say so."
He flashed a weak smile.

"Then I shall hold you no longer."
Daybreak smiled.
"Be back soon."

"But of course."
Midnight smiled back.
"But while I'm gone, you best be practicing your sword."
He grinned.
"I wish to be the first to fight one of the Knights of Equestria."

Daybreak confidently smiled, and nodded.
Though not brothers by blood, they grew up together with Snow Flake when they were still foals.

The dark-blue unicorn bowed to the white mare before he walked away.
He walked through a leafless forest, and up a hill.
After he reached the other side of the hill, five pegasi ponies from above landed around him.
Midnight however, simply stopped and eyed them.

"Has he arrived?"
Asked one of the pegasi.

Midnight nodded.
"Yes, he has."
He then turned to the gloomy sky.
"By nightfall, things will begin to change."
He smiled.

---

Luna's night has governed the gloomy sky. However, instead of blessing her with dreams, the ponies of a small town lit their torches around to give light for their celebration.
Ponies danced around, while others enjoyed a chat and the food.
Daybreak and Snow Flake sat on stools, having some talks and sweetly giving each other a bite to eat.
Some ponies even teased them to get married soon, or ants will begin to eat them because of how sweet the two were.

But the cheerful celebration went dead silent after a swarm of pegasi hovered around and above the town.
The earth and unicorn ponies were startled and scared, while those who are brave of heart began to pick up whatever would be considered as a weapon, and prepared themselves.

Daybreak stood and angrily stared at the winged ponies.
"The war is long over!"
He yelled.
"Go back to your ruined kingdom!"

A bulky pegasus pony, blue in coat, with black mane and tail, landed in front of the yellow unicorn.
Daybreak stood in front of the white scared mare.

The pegasus grinned.
"Indeed, the war is over. And yes, our kingdom fell defeated. We are here in search."

"Then what is it that you seek?"
Daybreak barked.

The pegasus drew his sword, holding it with both his front hooves.
Daybreak drew his with his magic.

"We seek vengeance, of course."
He waved his sword in the air, and then points it at the unicorn.
"And we'll start by killing one of the Knights of Equestria!"

The other pegasus ponies drew their swords.
Things are not looking well. Daybreak may be a good swordspony, but fighting while protecting the townsfolk would be too much for him.

"Your king gave word that you will not attack us!"
Daybreak yelled.

"He might have, but we don't serve our king."
The pegasus grinned.
"Not anymore, after he cowardly surrendered!"

"Daybreak!"
Yelled his father, who was holding two large woods on his magical grasp.
"We'll hold them off! Run! Save yourselves!"

"No chance!"
The pegasus yelled and attacked the yellow unicorn.

Daybreak blocked the attack with his sword.
The other pegasus ponies soon dove down and began to attack as well.
Cries of the terrified ponies echoed to the sky.

"Daybreak!"
Yelled his father.

"No!"
Daybreak yelled back.
"I am a warrior, and I will protect my home!"

"I understand child."
He hammered the head of a pegasus.
"But understand this, you are still young! Do not waste your life here! Go and live!"

Daybreak pushed his sword, but the pegasus wasn't budging.

"Daybreak!"
Yelled the white mare.

In horror, Daybreak turned over his shoulder, witnessing Snow Flake on the ground, about to be stabbed by a pegasus' sword.
"Snow Flake! No!"

A dark-blue unicorn tackled the side of the pegasus. He quickly drew his sword and stabbed him on the neck.

"Midnight!"
Daybreak shouted in relief.
He quickly turned to the pegasus he was fighting.
He swung his sword back, making the pegasus push himself forward.
Daybreak took a spin to the side, and slashed the pegasus on the back.

Just when he thought things would be easier now, another set of pegasus ponies landed in town.

"Daybreak!"
Midnight yelled after he helped the white mare back on her hooves, receiving the yellow unicorn's attention.
"You two should leave, now!"

"What!? No!"
Daybreak barked, as he prepared himself to attack a nearby pegasus, busy fighting an earth pony.
"I'll stand and fight!"

"If they'll kill a Knight of Equestria, the news will greatly cause an impact to the other ponies on the land!"
Midnight yelled back, holding off a pegasus pony.
"Leave now, or I'll force you to leave!"

Daybreak looked at his brother in disbelief, but the dark-blue unicorn only replied with a confident smile.
Should he leave them? Should he leave---

"Stop thinking and run, brother!"
Midnight yelled, annoyed.

Daybreak quickly ran behind his brother to get the scared white mare.
"Brother... Don't you dare die on me."

"I'm not planning to."
Midnight said with a smile.
"Now go!"

Daybreak nodded and turned to Snow Flake.
"Let's go."

Snow Flake nodded, and both fled from the town.

The two unicorns ran with their might to flee from their pursuers.
Two pegasi ponies gave chase, and were inching closer to them.
In a leafless forest, there was nowhere to hide.

And finally, they stopped after they reached the edge of a cliff.
Daybreak quickly turned around, and saw the two pegasi ponies grinning as they landed.
The yellow unicorn took a few steps forward, with his sword ready.

"Daybreak..."
Snow Flake whispered despite her trembling lips.

"Do not worry, my love."
Daybreak confidently said.
"I will not let them harm you!"

The pegasus ponies flew straight at him, swords ready.

Daybreak slammed his sword against the first pegasus pony's sword as he flew pass him.
With a twist, he dodged the slash of the other pegasus, and with his momentum, he waved his sword, slashing the pegasus' belly.
The pegasus crashed on the ground, and rolled until he fell over the cliff.

The other pegasus flew back towards him, and swung his sword.
Daybreak countered, pushing the pegasus back.

The pegasus recovered his momentum, and was about to strike back, when he instead clashed his sword against a newcomer's sword.

"Run!"
Shouted Midnight.

Snow Flake and Daybreak nodded and made their escape.

----------
2. Snow Carol
----------

As the large red curtains covered the stage, the choir entertained the audience with music while ponies behind the curtains started removing the snowy set and replacing them with a new scene.

"I thought Midnight was a villain."
Complained Aurora.
"Why did he helped Daybreak and Snow Flake escape?"
She faced the green alicorn who was seated beside her.
"That doesn't make sense."

Henry smiled at her.
"Well, the story just began, so we'll probably know his true intensions later on."
He looked back on the stage, where the choir were on the left part of the stage, and as well as the ponies who are playing the music.
"Besides, it's a way to make the audience eager."

"It's annoying."
Aurora sighed.

---

"Seriously, that was not part of the script."
Daybreak said.

Midnight only replied with a chuckle.
"Aw, com'on. It was boring to memorize my lines, and it's even more boring to just say my lines. I'm just adding some fun."

Daybreak sighed.
"Just don't overdo it."

"Three minutes, ponies!"
Yelled an earth pony mare.
"Make haste!"

---

"I'm going to get myself something to drink..."
Aurora said as she jumped off of her seat.

"You do realize..."
Henry said, making the orange pegasus look at him.
"...that you are not allowed to bring anything to eat or drink inside, right?"

Aurora shot him a confused look.
"Really?"

Henry only nodded.
"This isn't a movie theater."

She blinked, and turned to her mother, who was seated on the other side of her seat.
Her mother only gave her an apologetic smile.
Aurora sighed.
"Fine... But I'm still heading out for a drink."
And after receiving the two ponies' nods, she quietly went out of the theater.

---

As Aurora got out of the door, she was immediately greeted by a soft winter breeze of the evening city.
She inhaled deeply, enjoying the chilly air running inside her lungs, and sighed in delight.
Finally, she was outside.

Establishments and lamp posts lit up the streets.
Snow were falling softly.

She flapped her wings, and stretched them as she turned her head around, trying to spot a building that serve drinks.
She locks her sight on a simple establishment.
'Hm... "Doughnut Joe's Doughnuts"... Aw well...'
She shrugged, retracted her wings, and began to walk down the steps, and stopped after she got on the street.

A carriage stopped in front of her.
She took a few steps to her side to make way for the door, and walked towards the traffic light.
After she arrived, she looked at the pony who was inside the carriage as she waited for the traffic to stop.

An old-looking black earth pony, wearing a stern look, went out of the carriage.
He payed the drivers, and made his way towards the theater.

As Aurora crossed the street, her eyes were locked on the establishment: part of it, however, as she stared at a young yellow pegasus filly with a fiery-orange messy mane and tail, and on her mouth was an empty plastic drinking bottle, where inside were bent bottle caps.
The filly was shaking her head, creating sounds of bottle caps, as she poorly stared at the large glass window of the shop.

As Aurora got to the street, an old angry earth pony came out of the building, and glared at the young yellow filly.
"I have told you! Go. Away!"
And he quickly collected snow from the ground, and threw it at the fleeing filly.

"What the hay!?"
Aurora exclaimed, catching the earth pony's attention.
"What was that for!? Why'd you do that!?"
She asked furiously as she got in front of the earth pony.

"Mind your own business, kid."
And with that, the earth pony turned back and went inside the shop, failing to notice a teenaged caramel unicorn pony who sneaked out just before the old pony turned to enter the establishment.

With the teenaged pony was a brown paper bag.
He puts the bag down on the ground and faced the furious Aurora with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry for my grandfather..."
He then turned to where the yellow pegasus filly ran off to.
"She's gone..."

"Who's gone?"
Asked Aurora, still angry, yet now she's confused.
"The filly?"

The unicorn pony nodded.
"Yeah... She often comes here, carolling."
He then turned to the orange pegasus.
"I feel sorry for her though. So, I always sneak a few doughnuts to give her."

"That's nice of you."
Aurora managed to smile.

The caramel unicorn pony smiled.
"Thank you."
But he then frowned as he slowly turned back to the direction to where the pegasus filly had fled.
"But I got out too late..."
He sighed.
"I told her not to carol, but she wouldn't listen..."
He slowly turned to the orange pegasus.
"My grandfather hates beggars... Can't blame him though. He was mugged a few years ago."

"Still..."
Aurora started, her tone a mix of sadness and anger.
"...he shouldn't have just sent her away like that."
She looked at the direction to where the filly ran off to.

The unicorn pony did the same.
"I agree."

Both then looked at each other.
"Name's Joe, by the way."

Aurora arched an eyebrow.
"Joe? As in, the name of this shop?"
She points a hoof on the sign of the shop.

Joe let out a weak laugh.
"Yeah, kinda awkward, I know."

"Joe! Get back here, this instant!"
They heard the old pony's voice through the closed glass door.

"I best be going back inside."
He said as he gently pushes the paper bag towards the orange filly.
"Could you do me a favor?"
He asked.

Aurora smiled as she nodded.
"Of course. Bring this to that filly, right?"

Joe nodded.
"Thanks. Thanks, so much."

"No problem."
Aurora smiled as she grabbed the bag with a hoof.
"Any idea where she went, though?"

"Not sure, but try the park."

"Joe!!!"

"Comin'! Sheesh..."
Joe's angry look faded into an apologetic one.
"Sorry about that, um..."

"Aurora."
The pegasus smiled, and she then bit the bag to carry it with her mouth.

"Right. Aurora. Well, good luck."
Joe smiled warmly.

"Nnnn frobllmmmm."
She nodded as she flapped her wings, and soon, she was gliding in the air, towards the park.

----------
3. Cold Life
----------

Aurora, Sunset and Henry arrived in the park near the theater.
Daybreak couldn't let them inside yet, because the theater was busy preparing everything for tonight's play. He asked them to go and wait for him in the park.
Now that they were here, they did not expect to see Midnight sitting beside a brown mare on a bench meters away from the park's entrance.

Aurora and Henry sighed.

"He caught another one..."
Aurora slowly said.
She then grinned. Another great time to play a prank.

"Aurora..."
Henry said cautiously.
"Please don't..."

She flapped her wings, and glided towards her prey.
Henry sighed in defeat.

'Never did I expect Midnight to actually settle on one mare.'
Aurora thought as she landed on the entrance of the park.

The park, blanketed by snow, leafless trees, and lamp posts shedding light in the area.
A number of ponies were around: couples dating and fillies playing.
Shouldn't be difficult to spot that yellow pegasus filly, Aurora convinced herself.

She smiled as she began to walk around the park.

Aurora landed quietly behind the dark-blue unicorn, and quickly wrapped her hooves around the unicorn's head, covering both his eyes.
"Guess who, sweetie?"
She grinned.

"Not amused, Aurora..."
Midnight annoyingly replied.

The brown mare, who was busy playing her violin, stopped.
"S-sweetie...?"
She sounded hurt.

Midnight angrily grabbed the pegasus' hooves and threw them away from him.
"Don't mind my sister..."
He turned over his shoulder, and shot a glare at Aurora, who was playfully sticking her tongue out.
"She does this all the time..."

"Oh... I see..."
Melody didn't sound convinced.

Midnight turned to her and puts a hoof on her shoulder.
"Hey, don't be like that..."

Aurora happily landed in front of the two, and was about to say something when a gray filly ran and stopped in front of the orange pegasus.

"Who are you?"
She angrily asked the pegasus.

'I didn't actually mean it...'
She thought as she turned her head right.
And there, the yellow pegasus filly - probably the same age as her - was lying down on a cardboard box right next to the lamp post, crying quietly.
Aurora felt her heart ache.

"C-can you spare s-some Bits, sir?"
A young orange filly, sitting on a street, asked a pony who was about to pass her by.

The high-class earth pony gave her no mind, and continued walking, as if he had heard nothing.

The poor filly looked down on the cemented street as the pony passed her, and then slowly lifted her head up, staring at a unicorn mare, about to pass her by.
She begged her for Bits, but just like the other ponies, she was ignored.

Often times, other ponies tell her to die somewhere else, others even laughed at her, and some even called the police ponies to get rid of her.

Aurora shook her head to rid of the awful memory.
It did the trick, but it failed to stop a tear run down her face.
She sniffed, inhaled, exhaled, and stared at the yellow crying filly.
She then started to walk towards her quietly.

"It's okay, 'Tavie."
Midnight patted the gray filly's head.
"She's my annoying sister... Aurora..."
He shot her a glare.

Henry and Sunset arrived, and greeted the unicorn.

"Henry! Sunset!"
Midnight exclaimed as he jumped off of the bench and hugged the two.
"Glad you guys could make it!"

Henry arched an eyebrow as the hug broke.
"Midnight... Are you okay?"

"Huh?"
Midnight's smile faded, replaced by confusion.
"Of course!"

"Huh..."
Henry didn't sound convinced.
"You just hugged me. Are you feeling ill?"

"What's wrong with hugging?"
Midnight asked the alicorn, annoyed, and ignored the brown earth mare's chuckle.
He then smiled as he turned to the brown mare.
"Hey, Melody. Meet my family...well, most of them."

Aurora stopped after she reached the filly, who just rose her head up and stared at the orange pegasus with teary sad eyes.
The orange pegasus swore she just heard her heart crash.
She brought the paper bag down on the ground, and smiled weakly.
"Hey there..."

She was about to push the bag towards the filly, but the yellow pegasus quickly stood up and stepped back.
"No, don't!"

Aurora was confused.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
She pushed the bag, and touched the filly's cardboard bed.

The yellow filly however, took another step back, her face full of fear.
"Please, don't...!"

Aurora was now confused as ever.
She opened her mouth, about to say something, but she was cut off after a long whistle sound echoed in the park.

"Oh no!"
The yellow pegasus filly quickly flapped her wings and flew away.

Aurora turned around and saw a police unicorn pony running towards her.
'Oh no...'
She thought.

"You are coming with us."
Said one of the two unicorn police ponies.

"W-why?"
Asked the orange pegasus filly.

"Sorry kid..."
Said the other.
"But ponies like yourself aren't allowed in the city."

"Sorry miss..."
Said the unicorn police pony.
"...but I need you to come with me. Ponies are not allowed to give anything to beggars."

Aurora shot him a glare.

The orange filly, scared, took a step back, and felt sand and dust on her hooves.

"She is not a beggar!"
She secretly collected snow on her front hoof.

The orange filly secretly collected the dust and sand on the ground.

"She didn't beg!"

The orange filly was now surrounded by an aura of magic.

She grabbed the snowball.
"And I am not as heartless as you!"

The orange filly threw sand towards the ponies' eyes, and made her escape.

She threw the snowball directly on the police pony's face.
She quickly turned around, bit the bag, and flapped her wings and flew after the yellow pegasus filly.

---

A yellow pegasus filly, with a messy fiery-orange mane and tail, quietly landed on top of a tall building of Canterlot.
She quietly cried, letting her tears run down her face, as she settled down on a corner.

She sniffed.
She didn't want a life like this, yet, here she was: poor, starving, homeless...
If Cloudsdale wasn't strict with laws, then she would still be in Flight School, enjoying each day taking every class, and coming home to see her parents again.
But alas, those were but mere dreams ever since she learned how to fly.
Her parents abandoned her, as the law stated.
She sniffed.

She heard gentle hooves landing quietly in front of her.
She opened her eyes, and saw the orange pegasus from earlier, still bringing the paper bag with her.

Aurora puts the brown paper pag on the ground, smiled, and pushed the bag gently towards the filly.

The bag was now beside the yellow pegasus.
She hesitated, but her hungry nose smelt the warm smell of doughnuts.
She lifted her hoof to grab it, but she stop midway, and looked at the smiling orange mare.
"W-why...?"

Aurora shrugged.
"No talking. No crying."
She smiled as she walked towards her, and patted her shoulder with a hoof.
"Just eat up."

---

There were five large doughnuts inside the paper bag.
The yellow filly ate the first three, took another one, and she wants to eat it, but hesitated.

"What's wrong?"
Aurora asked, as she sat beside the yellow filly.

The yellow pegasus stared at the doughnut on her hoof for a short while until she brought it back inside the paper bag.
"Thank you..."
She said lowly.
"But I'm going to save these...for tomorrow..."

"Oh..."
Aurora said, turning her head down.
But then, an idea. She smiled.

---

The two pegasus fillies glided down to the ground and faced the entrance of a bakery.
Aurora smiled wide, while the other looked confused and scared, and a paper bag on her mouth.

Through the glass door, an elderly earth pony was about to flip the 'Open' sign to 'Close' when he noticed the two pegasi fillies outside.
A warm smile was on his face as he opened the glass door.
"Aurie? Is that you, dear?"

Aurora smiled, fighting hard to hold her tears.
"Hey Gran'pa."

---

Aurora was crying in an alleyway. Hungry, tired, homeless...
She sobbed.

"There there, little one..."
Said a soft-yet-old voice from behind her.

She was surprised. She wanted to fly away, but her wings refused to do so.
She was too tired and hungry, but her nose was suddenly filled with a delicious smell.
She turned her head, and saw an old earth pony, extending a hoof towards her.
On his hoof was a piece of bread. On his face was a warm smile.

---

After Aurora and the earth pony broke their hug, the two fillies were allowed inside, and both were now seated on chairs around a round table.
The old pony brought tea.

"Aurie, I am really glad to see you again."
Said the old pony with a warm smile.
"And I am glad, that you found your mother, as stated from your letter."

Aurora smiled, and sipped her tea.
"Thanks, gran'pa. Really."

The old pony smiled and nodded, and then turned to the other filly.
"What's your name, dear?"

"Um..."
She hesitated. She haven't even touched her tea yet.
"S...Spitfire..."

The old pony smiled warmly.
"Spitfire. It is a wonderful name."
He turned to Aurora, and smiled.
He turned back to the yellow filly.
"Tell me, Spitty..."

Aurora chuckled.
He's still quick at thinking of good nicknames.

"...can you help this poor ol' pony in running this here bakery?"

"...huh?"
Spitfire was confused.
She looked at the orange pegasus, who only replied with a smile.
She turned back to the old earth pony.

"I could use some help 'round here, you see..."
He raised a hoof, and waved it around slowly.
"These old bones get tired so easily..."
He brought his hoof back down, and sipped some tea.

Spitfire looked down on her cup of tea.
She's not sure whether to accept or not.

"Tell you what..."
The earth pony said, grabbing the filly's attention.
"If you decide to help, I have a spare bedroom upstairs."

"I used to work here."
Aurora said, averting the filly's attention from the earth pony to her.
"Gran'pa's really a nice pony. Trust me."
She smiled warmly.

Spitfire slowly looked down on her cup of tea, and thought about it for a few minutes.
The other two ponies let her be, and decided to chat with each other.

After minutes of thought, a small smile appeared on her lips, turned her head up, and faced the earth pony, who quietly ended his chat with the other pegasus, and slowly turned to her with a warm smile.

"I'll help out."

----------
4. Tangled String
----------

'What is taking Aurora so long?'
Henry thought as he got outside the theater.

He walked down the steps slowly as he turned his head, trying to find the orange filly.
As soon as he reached the street, he finally found the pegasus.

Through the wide glass window of a shop, he saw Aurora, sitting on a stool, eating some doughnuts on a table, and she was talking to a caramel unicorn pony.
Though he felt relieved to see the pegasus was okay, he's feeling a bit angry, seeing her talking to a teen-aged unicorn pony.
She's too young to date a pony.

---

Aurora and Joe stopped their chat as the door swung open, hitting the chimes above the door.
Both turned to the customer: a green pegasus pony with a dark-brown mane and tail (Henry's horn is under his white hat).

"Good evening, sir!"
Greeted the unicorn pony as he stood up.
"What can I get you?"

Henry shook his head a bit, looking a bit annoyed, and turned to the orange filly, who was only staring blankly at him.
'Don't jump to conclusions...'
"Aurora," he points a hoof at the unicorn pony, "who's this?"

"Oh, he's Joe."
Aurora happily informs him.
"He works here with his stingy grandfather."

"Hey hey..."
Joe said, facing the filly.
"None of that 'bout my grandpa."

Aurora wanted to argue, but decided to take a bite off of her doughnut.

Henry took a breath and sighed.
"You've been gone for a while, Aurora..."

"Oh yeah..."
Aurora laughed weakly.
"I helped a filly earlier..."

"Helped?"
Henry arched an eyebrow.

Joe nodded.
"Indeed she has, sir."
He said with a smile, catching Henry's attention.

---

"I see..."
Henry said.

The three ponies were now seated around the table, where Aurora and Joe explained what had happened earlier.

"I never knew this city is too strict with..."
He trailed off.
He shook his head, and faced the pegasus.
"Anyway, we should head back. The play is already over."

Aurora gasped.
"Already?"

Henry nodded, smiling.
"Yes."

---

Daybreak, Midnight, Snow Flake and Melody were chatting on a corner behind the stage.
They, and the other ponies on the set, have enjoyed tonight's play, and were now waiting for the large audience to leave so they could start helping out with removing the large sets of the play.

A middle-aged black earth pony arrived and walked towards them.
He coughed a few times, both to clear his throat and to grab the four ponies' attention.

"What do you want?"
Midnight asked annoyingly.

"To take my daughter home, of course."
He replied calmly.
"I am her father, if I need to remind you."

Midnight shot a glare.
"No need. I'll walk her home."

Daybreak arched an eyebrow.
He could not believe his brother would give such an offer.

Melody, despite feeling great tension, blushed after hearing the dark-blue unicorn's words.
He'll walk her home. That was a sweet thing to say.

The black earth pony, however, shook his head.
"Don't trouble yourself, son."

"Trust me..."
Midnight said, holding his anger.
"...it's no trouble at all."

He is angry at the black earth pony, yet he also needs to control himself.
He is, in fact, Melody's father.
If he wants to have her for the rest of his life, then he needs to win her father's approval.
And that is one tough goal to achieve, Midnight admitted to himself.

"Are you suggesting that I would leave my daughter's safety to the hooves of a pony I don't even know?"
He calmly said, arching an eyebrow a bit.

"That's one way of putting it, pops."
He said as he gritted his teeth.
He's not really doing a good job holding his anger.

The black earth pony, however, smiled confidently.
"Sorry, but I will not allow that."

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to!?"
Midnight raised his voice out of anger.
There is absolutely no way in Tartarus that he won't walk Melody home.

"Don't make such threats, son."
The black earth pony grinned.
"You no longer hold the elements, as far as I've heard."

Midnight had to hold himself from gasping.
'Darn it, he knew!?'

The black earth pony then turned to his daughter.
"Now come, Melody."
His grin then turned into an annoyed frown, seeing his daughter's head tilted to the ground, looking sad.
"Octavia needs her mother back home."

Melody slowly nodded.

"I said I'll walk her home..."
Midnight hissed, staring angrily at the earth pony, who simply faced him with an annoyed look.
"...and I will walk her home, and I'm---"

"Brother, stop."
Daybreak took a step forward, extending a hoof in between the two ponies.

Midnight shot him a glare.

Daybreak simply smiled.
"I do not want you to use the spirit of the element."

Midnight shot him an angry and confused look.
'...the f*ck are you talking about?'

Daybreak winked as the black earth pony suddenly felt a cold shiver running down his spine.
Finally, Midnight received the message, but he needed to hold his grin.

The angry unicorn slapped his brother's hoof and took a step forward, casting fear around the black earth pony.
"Like I said. I'm going to walk her home, and I will walk her home."
His voice slowly raising with each word.
He took another step, shooting a killer glare at the frightened earth pony.
"And I'll make sure she gets back home."
He whispered angrily, receiving the fast nods of the black earth pony.

Midnight quickly took a step back, washed his anger away, replaced it with a wide smile, and pulls the startled mare beside him.
"There! You see Melody?"
He happily extends a hoof towards her father.
"Pops here will let me walk you home."

"T-t-thanks...?"
Melody was not sure what just happened, but learning that Midnight will walk her home made her feel safe and easy inside.

The black earth pony sighed in defeat.
"I'll prepare some tea then."

"Aw, don't trouble yourself, pops!"
Midnight happily said.
"I'll just walk her home, and then I'll be on my way."

That however, made the brown earth mare frown.

---

Outside the theater, Midnight and Melody were not sure how to get back to the brown mare's home.
Yesterday, she invited him over for dinner in her place, and Midnight could still remember which street to take to get there.

But a problem... How will Melody follow him?
Midnight's taller than her, so putting her hoof on his back was not a good option.
Carry her? No, Midnight said he'll walk her home, not carry her all the way there.
He doesn't want the mare to feel helpless.

Bite or hold his tail?
That would be awkward.

"Um..."
He heard the mare.
"We could...take a carriage."

"No!"
Midnight immediately replied as he spun around to face the startled mare.
He immediately regretted his actions.
"I'm sorry..."

Melody shook her head.

Midnight sighed in defeat.
"I guess, the carriage...sounds good."

"Why would you want to walk, anyway?"
Melody asked him.

Midnight took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Because... Because I want to spend a few more minutes with you..."
He turned his gaze away from the mare.
"...before I...leave."

"Leave?"

Midnight raised a hoof, a gesture to call an empty carriage.
He looked back at the mare, and felt his heart shattered into tiny pieces.
Melody was looking confused, sad, and hurt.

"Believe me..."
He slowly said as the carriage arrived.
"...I really want to be with you, for the rest of my life, but..."
He brought a hoof over her shoulder.
"...My home is back in PonyVille..."

---

"Midnight went where again?"
Henry asked. He could not believe what he just heard.

Daybreak and Snow Flake were using their magic to fold a large red curtain.
Aurora and Sunset were waiting for them outside the theater.

"He walked Melody back home, uncle."
Daybreak said once more, not even glancing back at the alicorn, as he focuses on folding the curtain.

"I...see..."
Henry replied, uncertain if things would go well or not.
He needed to make sure the two will reach their destination safe and sound.

---

"Just leave them alone."
Aurora said as she rolled her eyes.
"He's old enough to take care of himself, anyway."

Good point, Henry had to admit, but still...

After he got out of the theater, he immediately lets Aurora and Sunset know of his intension.
But, now that he got a few minutes to spare, he thought...
...what is he so worried about?

He sighed.
A clear answer will forever be the obvious one.
"Midnight..."

----------
5. Crying Heart
----------

Midnight and Melody quietly rode a slow-moving carriage, which is taking them to Melody's home.
Both sat beside each other, holding a hoof with the other, but Midnight focused his gaze on the direction opposite to where the mare was seated.
He sadly stared blankly at the buildings they pass by.

As much as Midnight wanted to be with the mare, he just couldn't.

"Why...?"
He heard the low voice of the mare beside him, making him turn his head to face her.
"Why are you leaving me...?"
She simply hung her head low. Midnight felt even more sad, seeing her like that.

"I'm..."
He sighed.
"I...love you, Melody. Really, I do. It's just that..."
He trailed off, staring down on the carriage floor.

"Is...is there another...mare in your life?"

"What?"
Midnight quickly turned to her, disbelieving what he just heard.
"No! Of course not!"
He replied, with a raised voice, not caring if the earth pony driver could hear them.

"Then why...?"

Midnight swore he could literally hear the mare's heart breaking.
His heart is in worse condition.
"It's just...I just...ugh...! It's because I'm a mailpony...!"

Melody rose her head in confusion, and turned to where she guessed Midnight was.

Midnight turned to the opposite direction from the mare, to avoid seeing her face.
He took a deep breath, held her hoof tighter, and exhaled.
"I'm a mailpony... The pay is not enough for me to support you and 'Tavie..."
He forced a tear not to run down from his eyes.
"I don't even have my own place... I'm temporarily living inside a library where my uncle is working..."
He cursed, for he failed to hold a tear. He wiped it off with his other hoof, and sniffed.
He turned back to the mare, who was looking apologetic.
"...but please believe me when I say this... I love you, and I will come back for you, and 'Tavie. I'll find a good job, save up for a house, and then I'll come back and get the two of you. I don't know how long it'll take me, but I promise you, I will come back and get you."
He dragged her hoof over his chest, where his heart was pounding real hard.
"I promise, with all my heart, Melody."

A tear ran down from Melody's eye. She slowly took her hoof back, and tried to locate his shoulder.
Midnight guided her hoof, putting it on his shoulder.
Melody quickly extends her other hoof, and wrapped it around his neck, hugging him as she quietly cried.
Midnight returned the hug, allowing a tear run down his face.

"I don't want you to go..."
Melody whispered.

"I know..."
Midnight replied.
"I don't want to go either, but..."

Unknown to the driver that a brown bird was on his back, quietly watching the couple.
The bird's head turned down, facing the moving snow-covered ground, for a short while before it flew away.

---

Midnight levitated some Bits towards the driver as payment.
The driver looked at the Bits on his hooves, blinking a few times before turning back to the unicorn.
"Um..." he began, "you payed too much, sir."

"Keep it."
Midnight simply replied, looking sad as he turned to the mare.

"Um...thanks...I suppose?"
The earth pony whispered, even though his passenger won't hear him.
He then slowly moved away.

Midnight and Melody now stood in front of a large gate of a two-storey building.
A single light was eluminating the lower floor of the building.

Midnight sighed as he brought his hoof to press the doorbell.
Soon, a few hooves in front of them, the building's door opened, revealing the mare's father, looking sleepy.
He dragged his hooves as he went towards them to open the gate.

"Something the matter?"
The black earth pony asked the two ponies as he pushed the gate open.

Midnight simply shook his head.
"It's nothing."
He then turned to the mare.
"Well, good night, Melody."

And Midnight did something that caught her father off-guard.
Midnight gave the mare a small peck on her cheeks.

Though she was feeling sad, she couldn't help but blush, and feel a bit happy.
Though it was not a solution they seeked, it was at least enough, for her, to continue, and try to live her life, without her stallion.

"Take care of 'Tavie, 'kay?"
And after receiving the mare's sad nod, Midnight bowed at her father, said his goodbye, and turned, only to stop in shock as he saw before him a well-familiar green alicorn pony, smiling at him.
"H-Henry?"

"Hi Midnight."

Midnight took a few steps to the side to give room for the alicorn.
Henry took a few steps forward, and greeted the two earth ponies.

"Sir Henry."
The black earth pony bowed, with a sleepy smile.
"It's great to finally meet you."

"You know him, dad?"
Melody asked.

"Of course. His book is quite popular, if I do say so myself."
He chuckled.
"What can I do for you, sir?"

---

Melody, Midnight and Henry were all seated on a large and wide black sofa in the living room, awaiting the black earth pony, who was preparing tea.
Soon, he arrived, balancing a tray of four cups and a hot teapot on his back.

Midnight, without thinking, immediately used his magic to levitate the tray and gently place them on the brown rectanglular table in front of the three ponies.

The black earth pony simply let the unicorn be, as Midnight used his magic to distribute the cups, and levitated the teapot, and poured some tea. When he was about to levitate the teapot to Henry's cup, the alicorn couldn't help but smile. He used to hate tea, but after living for a year and a few months in PonyVille, he got used to it.

"Thank you for the tea."
Henry said as he grabbed his cup with both his hooves.
Here in Canterlot, ponies knew him as a pegasus, so he had to act without magic.
Midnight didn't understand why though, but he didn't bother asking.

"It's no problem."
The black earth pony replied, and soon took a sip.
"So, may I ask, Sir Henry, of what is it that you would like to discuss?"

"Ah yes." Henry smiled.
He then turned to Midnight, who was seated in between him and Melody.
He then turned back to the black earth pony.
"It would seem that my nephew here has grown, um...let's say, feelings, towards your daughter."

"No duh..."
Midnight whispered, making the alicorn shot a glare at him for a few moments.

"Yes."
The black earth pony said, his tone was mixed with a little bit of anger.
"They have made me aware of that fact not too long ago."

The young couple hung their heads low.

Henry nodded in agreement.
He too, was just made aware of the two ponies' relationship this morning.
At first, Henry thought that she was just another mare that would be added to the unicorn's collection.
How wrong he was for thinking such thought.

"I would like to apologize for my nephew's...shall we say...rude behavior, towards you."

'Henry sounds like one of them now...'
Midnight quietly sighed.

The black earth pony shook his head, smiling.
"It is nothing to worry about, Sir Henry. Hahah."

Henry smiled back.
"That is good to hear."
He sipped his cup of tea.
"Now then, onto the point."
He puts his cup of tea down on the table.
"In all honesty, my nephew has never shown quite actions to anyone before."

Midnight looked at him in confusion.

"I'd say, he's showing clear signs of..."
Henry trailed off with a smile.

The black pony got the hint.
"...true love?"

Henry nodded.
"Yes. I'd like to inform you, that despite my nephew's behavior, he's a hardworker."

"So, where you're going with this is...you want me to allow my daughter to live with him?"
The black pony asked. Though he's looking neutral, his tone betrayed his expression.

Midnight, though he liked to have Melody with him, was about to argue with the alicorn.
Where would the tw---three of them stay?
He failed to speak when the alicorn quickly replied to the earth pony's question.

"Yes. Don't you think it's about time for your daughter to live her life?"
Henry then turned to the unicorn.
"Midnight here, my nephew, has a house in PonyVille."

Midnight arched an eyebrow.
Is Henry actually trying his best to help him?
It sure looks that way, but why?
Something's off. There's probably a catch after this...

The earth pony turned to the unicorn.
"Midnight, is it?"
The unicorn turned to him, and nods his head.
"Tell me something. What's your current job?"

"Uh..."
Midnight hesitated to answer, but he needed to.
"I'm a mail...pony..."

"Uh-huh..."
He slowly turned his gaze back on Henry.

Midnight closed his eyes as he hung his head low.
He's about to receive a 'no' from Melody's father.

"Sir Henry... He's a mailpony, but he owns a house?"

Henry simply nodded with a smile.
"Trust me, I couldn't believe it either."

'Duh, 'cause it's not true.'
Midnight thought bitterly.
If, however, some miracle happens, and her father lets them live together, what then?
Will they live inside that small room inside the library?
Henry must be out of his mind.
But, something inside him is telling him to trust the changeling.
Should he?

Melody however, was focused on her own set of thoughts.
Did Midnight just lied to him? About him not owning a house he calls home?
But he sounded like he was telling the truth earlier.
Maybe his uncle's the one who's lying?

"I...I need some time to think this over."
The black earth pony rubbed his forehead with a hoof.
"It's true that my daughter's old enough to live independently, but her condition made me think otherwise."

"But of course."
Henry assured him.
"You are her father, after all. It's instinct to make sure your children could live a happy life."

"But a happy life, he failed to give me..."
Melody suddenly said, catching everypony's attention.
"I am thankful for my father, always being there to help me, but..."
She took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"...I no longer feel his love towards me..."

"Melody, you kno---"

"I feel like you're just using me..."
Melody cuts him off.

A tear ran down on her face.
Midnight gently wiped it off with his hoof.

"I'm tired, dad... I really am."
Another tear rolled down her face as Midnight gently rubbed her back.
"You may be there to help me go around places, but you no longer treated me like your daughter. I'm blind, dad. I've lived in the darkness. And with how you treated me, my world grew even darker... 'Tavie is the only pony who made me cling to continue on living. 'Tavie...and Midnight... Midnight treated me differently, dad. He treated me like nopony ever had."

Silence reigned for a few minutes before the mare finally stopped crying.
"Midnight..."
She softly said.
"Could...could you walk me to my room, please?"

"O-of course...?"
Midnight quickly turned to the black earth pony.

The earth pony quietly pointed his hoof on the first door on the second floor.

The two slowly walked up the stairs, with Midnight aiding the brown mare with every step.

The black earth pony and the green alicorn stared at the two ponies quietly.

"I'm sorry..."
Henry said after he turned to the earth pony.
"I did not want your daughter to..."

The black earth pony sighed as he shook his head.
He then looked at the green pegasus.
"Will...will my daughter have a bright future there in PonyVille?"

Henry shook his head.
"I cannot answer that. Sorry..."

The black earth pony sighed and rubbed his forehead, as Midnight greeted the brown earth pony goodnight, and closed the door, and slowly walked down the stairs.

Midnight, after reaching the end of the stairs, looked at the alicorn.

Henry took a deep breath, and exhaled.
He then stood up and faced the earth pony.
"Anyway, sorry to have cause a bother."

The black earth pony simply shook his head slowly.
He followed it with a sigh.

"Come on, Midnight. Time to leave."
Henry said, facing the unicorn.

Midnight closed his eyes as he nodded.
'I guess this is goodbye...'

----------

Originally Written on August 26, 2012

Updates...
- October 19, 2012 - I mistakenly thought Joe was an earth pony. He's a unicorn now.

Chapter 14 - Stolen Rainbow

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The train to PonyVille has already arrived a few minutes before the sun started to climb the heavenly sky.
The passengers who wanted to visit the said town has already entered the train, except for a group of ponies, who were all waiting for a dark-blue unicorn a few hooves in front of them.

The said unicorn, however, was feeling so downhearted to head back home. He could not even raise his own head to face the brown mare standing before him.
Beside the mare's forehooves was a sobbing gray filly, who is trying her best to accept what she just learned.

Midnight is going back to PonyVille, with no specific date of his return. The previous evening, he promised the brown mare to return, wealthy enough to support him, her, and her filly.
But how in Equestria will he achieve such goal if he didn't even finish basic education when he was still a filly?
He was lucky enough that he was hired in PonyVille as the town's mailpony.
The said town require little qualifications, however.

The previous evening, the unicorn failed to provide himself with sleep, for he was busy thinking of ways to be with this mare.
In between his thoughts, however, he also asked himself a few things...
...why is he trying so hard to be with this mare?
...of all mares...why does it had to be her?
Unfortunately, even after the rest of his company woke up, he failed to answer his own questions.
Though he settled on a few facts...
...he loves her.
...he wants her.
...he needs her.
...and he wants to be with her in every second of his life.
...and he...and he's...

The unicorn shook his head slowly.

"All aboard!"
Announced the earth pony conductor, who was standing near the opened door of the train.

The train has already started shaking a bit, preparing to move as its engine was fed with coal by two earth ponies in the engine car.

"Midnight..." Aurora slowly said.
She did not want to admit it, but she is hurt, seeing him looking like that.

"You should go, Midnight..."
Melody slowly said, her voice, clear signs of sadness.

Her father was waiting impatiently on a carriage. That sparked a small anger on the unicorn's heart.

Daybreak, Snow Flake, Aurora and Sunset had slowly walked inside the train, leaving the changeling-disguised-green-alicorn pony and the dark-blue unicorn.

Midnight closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
He slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze immediately landed on the small sobbing filly.
He flashed a weak smile as he leaned down to meet her level.
He lifted a hoof and gently rubbed the filly's head.
"There there..."
He quietly said.
"...I'll be back, I promise..."

The filly could only manage a weak nod.

Midnight then rose up, and slowly wrapped a hoof around the mare's neck, giving her a small hug.
Melody returned the hug.

"Bye Midnight..."
The mare softly whispered.

He angrily closed his eyes, wishing he wouldn't leave.
"Yeah...bye..."
He whispered back.

He was about to broke the hug when Melody unwrapped her hooves around his neck, but instead of returning them on the ground, she slowly slides her hooves from the unicorn's nape, reaching to his cheeks.

Midnight returned his hooves on the ground while Melody has both her front hooves on his cheeks.
To be honest, he finds this whole situation rather awkward.
Why is she holding his che---

Melody, after she convinced herself, pulled Midnight's head towards her, and as quick as she did it, their lips have found the other.

Midnight was startled for a brief moment before he returned the kiss.
Unlike the previous kisses he had with other mares, this one however, has a different...feeling to it, that Midnight could not understand, but he knew one thing, that this was all true, all okay, all...right.

The train let out a whistle, signalling the passengers that the train will soon depart.

Melody sadly ended the kiss, and wrapped her hooves around the unicorn once again.
Midnight returned the hug once more.

They broke their hug afterwards, and after saying their sad goodbyes, Midnight leened down and gave the filly a hug before he walked inside the train.
Henry sadly followed the unicorn inside the train.

Midnight sat beside the wide window of the train in the passenger car, sadly staring at the two female ponies.
He slowly waved a hoof goodbye, and the small filly did the same.

Henry sat beside him, and soon, the train started to move.

Midnight tried to see them for as long as he could, until the train could no longer provide the required angle to let him see them.
Try as he might, he could not hold a few tears run down from his eyes.

Daybreak, Snow Flake, Aurora and Sunset, who were sitting on different couches, could not help but feel sad and worried about Midnight.

The train was now slowly moving towards a tunnel through the mountain, which will lead them down to the base of the mountain.

Midnight shifted his head from the window to the foot of the back of the wide chair in front of him, emotions running wild inside his heart, and thoughts rioting inside his mind.
Henry could clearly notice his troubled and confused state, and he wants to help in some way possible, but he could not land a way to help him feel any better, except for one thing, and one thing only.

Midnight slowly shifted his gaze on the window, or to be specific, on the lock of the window.
Staring at the lock made him remember the previous time he stared at the thing.
It was during the time when he was going to PonyVille for the very first time. He did not regret his decision of staying inside the train.
Now however, he is confused if he should redo that course of action once again, or not...
If he does go back to PonyVille, he will certainly miss the mare that, even though he still could not believe it, he loves the most.
But if he decides to stay in Canterlot, though very unlikely now that he's inside the train, he will miss his brother, his annoying little sister, his father, though he's not really spending that much time with him unlike Daybreak, and Henry.

He let out a frustrated sigh as an earth pony conductor reached their chairs to check their tickets.
As the conductor was busy with Henry's ticket, Midnight levitated his ticket, and stared at it for a brief moment.

The train ticket was the very first thing he obtained from anypony who he did not forced them to.
And it somehow made him feel better at that time, and since then, he have started to appreciate the things he earned.

But now, he has finally earned the love of a mare, and he's going to let it be taken away from him?
A flash of anger rose in his face.

"Your ticket, sir?"

Midnight casted a glance on the conductor, who was waiting boringly for his ticket, and Henry was looking rather confused as to why the unicorn suddenly grinned.

And in an instant, Midnight ripped his ticket in half, and throwing them to the ground, startling both the conductor and the alicorn.

"Oh no," Midnight said, still grinning, "does this mean I'm a stowaway?"
And he quickly slid the window open as the train went inside the tunnel, dimming the car a bit.

"Midnight!?"
Daybreak yelled as he noticed what was going on.

Midnight shot him and the rest an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, but my heart has other plans."
And with that, he jumped through the opened window.

He rolled on the ground, and stopped as soon as he hit the tunnel's walls.

Henry poked his head out, and after seeing the crazy unicorn slowly standing on his hooves, he smiled as he took a deep breath.
"Don't forget to write, you crazy unicorn!"

"Will do!"
Midnight yelled as he began to run out of the tunnel.

He ran as fast as he could, jumping back on the station, and ignoring the startled and confused looks of the ponies that he passes by.
Nothing was more important now. He already made a decision, and he's going to see through it that he'll get what he's aiming for, and nopony's going to stop him.

Say what the ponies want, but he will not care, so long as he listens to his heart.
'The heart is vulnerable to change'
Those words echoed in his mind as he dashed, dodging the carriages on the road, and ignoring the shocked and angry cries of the drivers.

He could not even believe that he has changed, just by simply following what he believes is right.
And right now, seeing the mare he dearly loved, slowly walking down the carriage in front of her home, he'll continue to change for the better, for the mare, and for her filly, who gasped as soon as she saw him.

The mare's father was also as surprised to see him standing there.
He's old, yes, but he was sure that the unicorn went inside the train!

"Midnight?"
Melody asked after her filly informed her, her voice sounding a bit doubtful that the stallion was in the area.

Hearing his name from his angelic mare eased his tired body, as he slowly let his hooves walk on the snowy ground towards the mare.

"Hey Melody..."
He said after reaching the three ponies, and quickly wrapping his hooves around the startled mare.

"But I thought--"

"Hush, I'm here, aren't I?"
He let out a weak laugh as the mare returned the hug, still confused.

Their hug broke after hearing the mare's father cough a bit.
"So, let me get this straight... You're going to stay, no matter what I say, won't you?"

"Eeyup."
Midnight simply said, chuckling a bit. Big Macintosh's ways of replying was contagious, he had to admit.
"Don't worry, I'll go find a job."

The black earth pony sighed in frustrated defeat.
"Fine... But you're sleeping on the couch."

Melody could not help but smile, now that the stallion who loves her will stay.
Octavia hopped around the snow-covered street. She was happy now that Midnight will stay with them.

---

A month had passed since Midnight stayed in Canterlot. The unicorn had sent them letters at least twice a week.
His first few days made him land on a job, and though he should be happy, he's not quite excited to be working as, again, a mailpony.
It was the only work he could manage to land, and he should be thankful for getting the said job.
At least he could go around the city, and meet some mares along the way, though he swore to no longer spend a night with any of them, now that his heart belonged to a certain mare, and her filly, of course.
He's still not liking the fact that the little filly decided to call him her dad.
He's not sure if she's doing it because she really wanted a father, or simply doing it to tease him.
And Melody's father is still as heartless as ever, and decided to leave them two weeks after Midnight stayed, for his unannounced business trip in Las Pegasus.
He didn't care. It only provided him to bond with them more, especially during weekends.

However, after Melody's father left them, she started to feel as useless as ever.
Being useless is something the mare does not want to be.
Who will be there to help her go around a two-storey house?
Who will help her go to places in Canterlot to perform?
Though she's blind, she's still quite famous for her music.

But even so, Melody and Midnight were both glad that Octavia was there for her.
Though still young, she already understood the situation, and was willing to do her best to help.

Thankful as he might be for her, it's not good for the filly to not start school.
At least it is still winter. He still has a lot of time to save up to send her to school, but if she does start, who will be there for Melody?

---

During the month of Midnight's absence, Henry has already finished writing chapter two of the third book of the Daring Do series.
He had to stop writing though, for tomorrow, he needs to ride a train to Fillydelphia to attend another convension.
He wrote a letter to inform both Ember and Flame, and he received a reply two days later that they're excited to see him once again.

He turned to see Aurora, who was sitting on the small couch on the first floor of the library, busy reading the second Daring Do book.

---

Ever since Midnight left to be with Melody, Aurora had a rather sad mood during the first few days after they returned in PonyVille.
Try as her family might, there was really nothing they could do to help her feel better, until Pinkie Pie started bugging her all day during the last day of her sad days.
The little pink earth pony tried her best to cheer her up, and it eventually made the orange filly giggle while the earth pony was juggling cupcakes while on a unicycle.

She thanked the earth filly soon after, and since then, she's feeling okay now, though she still misses Midnight.

---

A week before Henry goes to Fillydelphia, Snow Flake went to Manehattan to attend a singing contest, and Daybreak went with her.
Rose insisted that they'll stay inside her mansion while they were in the city.

---

And as Henry rode the train to Fillydelphia, Aurora took over the library, and her mother decided to help her out.
Though it was winter, thre were still a number of ponies visiting the library, either borrowing or returning books, or staying inside the library to read some of the available books.

----------

Chapter 14 - The Stolen Rainbow

Flame and Coal were seated on the steps of the stairs of Fillydelphia Train Station, awaiting the arrival of the train from PonyVille.
A quiet whistle of a train from afar wiped the bored faces of the two earth ponies as they eagerly stood up.
Coal, being a filly, could not see the train from the large crowd of ponies in the station.
Flame picked him up and settled him down on his back.

As soon as the train arrived in the station, Flame waved a hoof at the train, and Henry, despite the large crowd, was able to notice the waving hoof from the sea of ponies.
He smiled as he worked his way towards them.

"Welcome back, Henry sir!"
Flame greeted the green alicorn.

Henry returned the greeting, and greeted the small pony as well.
"Where's Ember? Is she okay?"

The earth ponies nodded their heads as the three of them started climbing up the stairs.
"She's fine. No need ta worry, Henry sir."

"Drop the sir, please..."
Henry laughed a bit.

"Well, if ya say so then."

---

"Howdy y'all!"
The small AppleJack greeted the ponies as she went inside the library.

She knows that she should be quiet inside, but since the library was full of noises from the ponies inside, she decided to add her own.
No one seemed to mind however, except for her companion.

"AppleJack!"
Rarity yelled, staring angrily at her.
"Where are your manners? We're inside a library!"

"Look who's talking."
AppleJack chuckled, making the white unicorn filly blush from humiliation.

"Good morning you two."
Aurora greeted them.
"How may I help you?"

"Hey Aurora," AppleJack greeed back, "don't trouble yerself, we're just here lookin' fer Rainbow."

Rarity nodded in agreement.
"We haven't seen her for a while."

Aurora started digging inside her mind.
"Huh... Come to think of it, no, I haven't seen her ever since winter started..."

AppleJack and Rarity shared a worried look at each other.

"Why?" Aurora asked.
"Is something wrong?"

"Well, we're just kinda worried, is'all."

"Oh," Aurora said, who suddenly smiled after remembering something.
"why not go and ask Fluttershy?"

Two pegasus stallions perked their ears up, secretly eavesdropping the three ponies' conversation as they are browsing for a book.

"Uncle Henry said that she and Rainbow are close friends."
Aurora finished.

"Huh, I haven't thought about that."
Rarity said, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Well alrighty then, let's head over to Fluttershy's!"
AppleJack announced, and the two fillies turned to exit the library.
"Thanks Aurora!"
AppleJack said as she turned her head over her shoulder and waving a hoof goodbye at the orange pegasus.

Aurora quietly waved back, and then she closed the door.

The two pegasi stallions looked at each other, and both nodded their heads, as if they have agreed on something.

---

"Five two seven, East Solar Street..."
Midnight said to himself as he looked around the doors of the houses in the street he was walking on.
He was staring at the numbers on the houses' doors.
'Five two one... Two two...three...four...ah!'
He smiled as he finally found the house, which was on the other side of the street.

A quick glance left and right, he crossed the street, heading towards the house.
He used his magic to both lift the letter and to open the mailbox.

After inserting the letter inside and closing the mailbox, he looked at the letters inside his saddlebag, and sighed in frustration.

"A few more to go..."
He whispered, and lifted the letters, reading the addresses to see if there are letters that needed to be delivered in the street where he currently was.

He found one, and returned the rest as he slowly walked towards the next address.

---

Daybreak and Snow Flake were having breakfast inside the large dining room with Rose, her husband, and Gold.
They have been staying inside the mansion for a week, but they're still feeling nervous being inside the place, no matter how many times Rose tells them to ease up.

"So Snow," Rose said, "how's the contest?"

Snow Flake smiled slightly.
"I-it's fine. They'll announce the winners later this afternoon."

"I see." Rose replied.
"But why did it take them a week though?"

"There were a lot of contestants."
Daybreak answered.
"A lot..."

Rose chuckled.
"Must have been fun. Sad I got no talent in singing."

"You got that right."
Golden Time laughed, receiving an angry glare from Rose.
"Even inside the bathroom, you sound terrible."

Gold and the blue earth pony shared a laugh.

"Angle, not you too."

"Sorry hun..."

Rose grumbled as Snow Flake and Daybreak chuckled.

---

A carriage stopped in front of the large building in Fillydelphia.
Henry, Flame and Coal went off of the carriage.
The alicorn paid the drivers, and the trio began walking up the stairs.

Henry inhaled a gentle falling snow flake, making him stop and sneeze.

"Gesundheit."
Flame said as he and Coal turned to see the alicorn.

"Thanks."
Henry rubbed his nose, smiling a bit.

The green alicorn turned his head left and right, and spotted a few fillies playing in the street.
He started walking towards the door, but stopped and quickly glanced at the fillies on the street once more.
Or to be specific, he locked his gaze on a very familiar cyan coated pegasus filly with a rainbow-colored mane and tail.

"R-Rainbow Dash?"

The fillies stopped and stared at the shocked green alicorn pony.

---

Midnight was about to slip the letter inside the mailbox of a pretty simple yet elegant house when the door of the said house slowly opened, revealing an old unicorn mare, who smiled as she saw the mailpony.

"Good morning, dear sir."

Midnight smiled warmly. There has no one that ever greeted him before while doing his job as a mailpony in Canterlot.
It really filled his heart with warmth.
"Good morning, beautiful."

The old mare chuckled a bit.
She was about to walk outside when a very young voice called her attention from inside the house.
After a few nods, she walks a few steps to the side, to give way for a...cyan pegasus filly...with a rainbow-colored mane and tail...

"Rainbow Dash?"
Midnight said, completely shocked after seeing the very elegant and lady-like young cyan pegasus.
"W-what are you doing here?"

---

An earth pony butler excused his interruption.
"Pardon me, Madam. The young master's friends are outside. Shall I welcome them inside?"

Rose smiled as she nodded.

"No need!"
But Golden Time quickly jumped off of his seat and ran towards the door.

The ponies in the dining area stared at the excited filly opening the front door, greeting his friends.

Out of the four of Gold's friends, one of them shocked both Snow Flake and Daybreak.
The two unicorns looked at each other in confusion, and then back at the fillies, who were about to head out.

"Isn't that...Rainbow Dash?"
Snow Flake asked.

Daybreak shook his head slowly.
He is not sure as well.

But both indeed saw the filly right.
Cyan coat, and rainbow mane and tail.

---

After a few knocks, the door of a cottage outside the Everfree Forest opened, revealing a smiling yellow pegasus filly.

"Howdy Fluttershy!"
AppleJack greeted.
"Is R.D. 'round here?"

Fluttershy quickly frowned.

---

The fillies stopped and stared at the green alicorn. Their faces sharing confusion.
They then stared at their cyan pegasus friend, and then back at the alicorn.

"Are...you referring to our friend Rainbow Streak?"

Henry blinked.
"Rainbow...Streak?"
He asked, clearly oblivious to two pegasus stallions landing quietly behind him.

---

"Excuse me," began the rainbow-maned filly, looking rather confused at the unicorn mailpony, "but are you maybe refering to me?"

Not only does she look high-class, but her voice and her tone and the way she spoke as well...does not resemble the Rainbow Dash.
Is this a prank?
"What the hay are you up to, Dash?"

"Your words are such a disrespect in the presence of two mares."
The rainbow-maned filly said, raising her nose proud.
"Keep tha up, and you'll earn yourself a foul-mouthed cutie mark. But I'll let it slip, if you however, address me with my proper name."

"And..."
Midnight has no idea what is going on.
"...that would be?"

"My name, dear sir, is Rainbow Grace."

"Rainbow Grace?"
He blinked twice, confused, and stared at the old mare on the door.

The old mare's smile and nod confirmed that the young cyan pegasus is not the pegasus back in PonyVille...is it?

Two pegasi stallions landed behind the mailpony, but Midnight payed it no mind.

---

Fluttershy let out a surprised gasp, making her two friends wonder what made the yellow pegasus act that way until they noticed that they were now under a large shadow coming from behind them.

Turning around, they saw two large pegasi stallions, looking straight at the pegasus filly.

"We have heard that a cyan pegasus filly with a rainbow mane and tail is here."
Said one of the stallions, his voice sounding moderate and calm.

"Uh... I ah..."
Fluttershy could not bring herself to speak after setting out a squeek.

The two stallions looked at each other, arching an eyebrow, and they returned their gazes on the fillies.

---

Snow Flake, Daybreak, Accurate Angle and Rose Hammer resumed eating until they heard a group of fillies' screams on the front yard.

The four immediately rushed outside, only to witness the fillies screaming in fear as two large pegasi stallions were holding on the unconscious cyan pegasus filly, where blood was streaming down from her head.

As the two pegasi stallions took flight, Daybreak tried to stop them by enveloping them with his magic.

Though they temporarily stopped in mid-air, they easily broke free from his magic, sending a massive and painful wave back to the yellow unicorn.

"D-darn it..."
Daybreak quietly said as he fell towards the ground, only to be caught by Snow Flake in time.

Rose quickly ran towards the streets, trying to spot a police pony before running towards the police station.

---

"What do you think you're doing!?"
Rarity exclaimed as the two pegasi stallions went inside Fluttershy's cottage, and started searching the place.

"Now that ain't proper!"
AppleJack shouted back, but both fillies were ignored.

Fluttershy only hid behind her mane, trembling from fear.

---

Whatever happened was just too fast for Henry to register it in his mind.
Flame however, reacted quickly, after the two pegasi stallions pounded the cyan pegasus filly to unconsciousness.

The fillies cried out of fear as the pegasi stallions quickly grabbed the cyan filly and took flight.
However, Flame got a hold of one of the stallion's tail by his mouth as two unicorn security ponies of the establishment rushed towards them.

Not wanting to waste time, the captured pegasi stallion delivered a powerful kick on Flame's face, sending him down on the ground as he lost his grip.

Before the pegasi stallions could fly away further, Henry snapped back on his senses, levitated his hat to reveal his glowing horn, and fired a thin ray of brown magic, hitting one of the stallion's wing, causing him to fall back to the ground, and landed on a carriage.

The other pegasi who was on the air quickly flew away, barely dodging the green alicorn's follow-up attack.

Henry flapped his wings to give chase, but the pegasi already hid himself in the thick clouds above.

---

"Oh no..."
Fluttershy whispered as one of the pegasi stallions went to the second floor.

"I can't stand this no more!"
AppleJack stomped a hoof on the wooden floor, glaring at the pegasus stallion who was searching around the kitchen.

"AppleJack..."
Rarity whispered, catching the angry earth pony's attention.
"You're a strong pony. Can you run and call the police in town, perhaps?"

True, she's strong, but she is not about to abandon the place.
But she took a note of the serious look on the unicorn filly's eyes.
"Fine."
AppleJack whispered back and quickly ran back to town.

"Worry not, Fluttershy..."
Rarity whispered as she eyed the living room, and flashed a confident smile after spotting something useful.
"...let me handle these ruffians."

---

Two pegasi stallions walked pass Midnight, and were approaching the cyan pegasus, which stared at them confused.

Midnight shook his head in defeat, and was about to turn around and leave when he saw one of the pegasi stallion lift his hoof in the air, and delivered a powerful slap on the cyan filly's cheek, losing her consciousness completely.

"What the...!?"
Midnight quickly exclaimed, catching a few ponies' attention around.

"Police! Police!"
Yelled a few ponies in the area as the two pegasi stallions took flight, carrying the cyan unconscious pegasus filly.

Quickly looking around, Midnight spotted a garden hose near the front door of the cyan pegasus.
Using his magic, he quickly levitated and wrapped the hose around one of the pegasi stallion's hind hoof, cancelling the stallion's progress of flying further.

"Please help! Help!"
Cried the old mare as winged royal guards appeared from a distance.

Sensing trouble, one of the pegasi stallions dove down and tackled the startled mailpony.
Midnight lost his grip on the hose, freeing the pegasi, and continued their escape with haste.

The royal guards gave chase as Midnight could not find the strength to stand, but instead brought a hoof on his forehead, and rubbing it slowly.

---

The vision of the pegasus stallion, who was about to open the lower drawers of the kitchen sink, became black, as he felt a silk-like clothing forcefully wrapped around his head, and soon, around his hooves and wings.

Rarity used her magic to levitate the sofa's clothing and some pillow cases, and wrap them around the pegasus stallion. She quickly began to tie the clothings in place as the pegasus stallion struggled to break free.
The stallion's physical strength in attempting to escape is making it difficult for the little Rarity to focus and bring her strength in her magic.

The pegasus stallion, losing his balance, fell to the wooden floor, making a loud noise that startled both Fluttershy and the other stallion in the second floor.

A white bunny suddenly rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a hold of a frying pan near the sink, and jumped towards the head of the stallion.
Just before the white rabbit lands, he slammed the base of the frying pan on the pegasus' head, creating a very painful noise which sent shivers down Fluttershy and Rarity's spines.

"No!"
Echoed a scream of a very familiar cyan pegasus filly from the second floor.
"I don't wanna go back!"
Rainbow Dash yelled as the stallion found her underneath the piles of clothes in Fluttershy's wardrobe.
She tried to fly away, but a strong hoof grabbed a hold of her tail.
"Lemme go!"
She continued to flap her wigs, desperately trying to escape.

The stallion slowly rose his other free front hoof.

"Rainbow! Rarity! Fluttershy!"
Yelled a voice from a distance.
Aurora was furiously flying towards the cottage, behind her were AppleJack and police ponies consisting of two earth ponies, two unicorns and three pegasi ponies.

Hearing Rainbow Dash's yells, Rarity, despite feeling tired, rushed towards the second floor, only to reach in time to witness a large and powerful hoof decend upon the back of the cyan pegasus' head, which almost made the filly lose her consciousness.

Rainbow Dash was hanging on the hoof of a large pegasus stallion as she tried to fight to remain conscious, but the warm and aching pain behind her head, and a blurry and dizzy sight is making it difficult.

Rarity, out of anger, summoned her magic around the clothes inside the wardrobe, and she began to mummify the stallion.

In the kitchen, the clothes were ripped apart as the stallion regain his strength. The white bunny was about to strike with his frying pan on his paws, but decided to run and escape an earth shaking hoof that was suppose to squish the white fluff, but instead, it created a crater on the wooden floor.

"Angel!"
Fluttershy, who thought of the worse, quickly rose up and flew straight towards the stallion to save her bunny.
She however, quickly found herself slammed on the walls of the house as a powerful hoof slapped her out of the way.
Losing a lot of air in her lungs, she fell back on the floor, unconscious.

Witnessing his caretaker in that state struck the white rabbit with fear as he quickly rushed towards her.

As the mummified pegasus stallion lose his grip on Rainbow Dash, the other pegasus stallion landed behind the startled white unicorn filly.
As soon as she turned, she was swept out of the way, slamming on the wall near the window, almost losing her consciousness.

Fear struck the cyan filly's heart and mind.

"Fly, R-Rainbow..."
Rarity managed to voice out before falling unconscious.

Just before a hoof managed to grab a hold on the cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash flew upward, and flew straight towards the window where Rarity was.
"Sorry Rarity..."
She whispered back as soon as she crashed through the window, flying straight to the nearby forest.

The window crash startled Aurora, AppleJack and the police ponies, who all stopped outside the fences of the cottage.
Rainbow Dash flew towards the nearby forest, leaving a faint rainbow trail on her path.
Soon, two pegasi stallions flew out of the same window, and gave chase of the cyan pegasus.

"That's them!"
AppleJack yelled as she pointed a hoof at the stallions.

---

She has heard all the rumors, stories and myths, but none of those came into her mind. The only thing in Rainbow Dash's mind at the moment was to run, fly, and escape her pursuers.
Her head aching, and her vision slightly blurry, but she disregarded those and continued to flap her wings furiously, sending her in great speed as she swayed and dodged every tree, every hanging branch, and every hanging vines in the gloomy forest.

A flash of light blinded her for a moment as lightning cracked the dark clouds above the Everfree Forest, and it was eventually followed by an earth shaking roar of thunder.
That single moment of blindness almost made her crash towards a tree.

She kept going. She kept flying.
But no matter how fast she flew around the forest, she knew that her pursuers are close behind her.
Tears began to form on her eyes, but tried to blink them away.

She thought that leaving Cloudsdale and stay in PonyVille would finally bring her peace.
How wrong was she, and now, she let her friends be hurt because of her.
If, however, by some miracle, she could escape, then she'll beg for her friends' forgiveness.

Another flash of lightning blinded her vision, and as quickly as it appeared, so was to regaining her vision, only to see in front of her...

---

"No..."
AppleJack said bitterly as she stopped just as she was about to enter the forest.

Above the sea of trees, she and the rest of the ponies saw the two pegasi stallions, escaping the place with haste, and with them was the unconscious cyan pegasus filly.

Even though the two pegasi stallions flew straight to the thunderous clouds above the Everfree Forest, the three pegasi police ponies flapped their wings, taking speed in pursuing the criminals.

"No!"
AppleJack fiercely stomped a hoof on the snow-covered ground.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

The furious filly stopped as she felt a hoof on her shoulder, coming from the sad Aurora.
AppleJack shut her eyes, trying to fight back the tears.

Chapter 15 - Rainbow Extraction

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Cloudsdale, a magnificent city in the heavenly skies. The home of the fierce pegasi ponies, where the freedom of flight is a test to determine each individual's future.

In ancient times, Cloudsdale has fallen in defeat after the earth ponies became allies with the unicorns and the griffins.

But the past is over. Now, Cloudsdale is the provider of clouds, rainbows, and weather, for all of Equestria.
But despite that fact, their law was still as strict as the ancient times.
Fillies who will finally learn to fly will be directly sent to Flight School to learn even further.

Their government, for years, no, for decades now, are aware of the heartaches their law brought to all of their citizens, but they decided to ignore them.
They believed that the law was strong, and will make each individual in Cloudsdale strong, both physically and mentally.

That law however, began to crumble after the Windigo incident, where a lot of pegasi became frozen, and even the city of clouds fell to the ground.
Now, the government of the said city are revising each of their laws, and are even considering the opinions of a number of regular pegasi ponies living in the city.

The news that Cloudsdale is undergoing a drastic change has spread all around Equestria like wildfire.
It gave the pegasi ponies something to smile about. Finally, things will start to change, for the better.

----------

Chapter 15 - Rainbow Extraction

----------
1. The Black Rainbow
----------

In a large dimly lit and windowless room, filled with bookshelves, tables, chemical apparatuses, scattered papers, and floor-to-ceiling cylindrical-glass containers, a black pegasus stallion, with a maroon-colored mane and tail, was seated on a stool, his elbows resting on top of a table, and his head rested on both his front hooves, blankly staring at the documents on the table, where some were pinned down by his elbows.

He had lost track of the time that he spent in that position, staring at the documents, where the only noises his ears could faintly hear were his own slow and deep breaths and the ticking of the wallclock.

The only source of the room's dim lights were coming from the tall cylindrical-glass containers of some sort, where inside were filled with blurry water, lit up by faint green lights from inside the containers.

The dead silence of the room was making the pegasus' mind even more chaotic, for it only grants him even more reason to think of...everything.

Finally, for what felt like an eternity, he let out a very heavy and depressing sigh, slowly sliding his head from his hooves to the table.
A quiet thud managed to echo around the room as he rest his head on the table sideways, and soon, he dropped his hooves across the table.

He knew this day would come. He just knew. That is why he and his late father began these experiments. He knew this day would come, but he never gave up hope that, if by a miracle, something will happen to prevent this day from ever happening.

But alas, such thoughts were nothing more now. He needed to face the facts, no matter how difficult and painful it may be.

If there was another...other ways to do this, then he would take it by a heartbeat.
But none came... None anymore...

He slowly rose up into a standing position, staring at the document on the top of all the other piled-up papers on the table.

The contents of the document was marked with a very bloody red approval of the board. The message he dreamed never to come true.

"...Approved..."
He quietly read the red mark as hooves echoed in the room, coming from the cloud-made spiral staircase.

It only took a couple of minutes before the sounds of numerous hooves became louder and louder, until silence reigned once again.

The black stallion slowly turned around to meet the newcomers: bulky pegasi stallions, with them were unconscious cyan pegasi fillies with rainbow mane and tail. The fillies' images hurt him inside, but he never showed such weakness in the outside.

"Strap them..."

The pegasi stallions nodded their heads as they slowly walked pass him, towards the flat tables near the other corner of the room.
One pegasus filly was strapped in place in each cloud table.

As he quietly watched the pegasi stallions, he heard another set of hooves descending from the staircase.
He turned around to see two other pegasi stallions, carrying yet another cyan coated pegasi filly, with a rather messy rainbow mane and tail.

He fought hard to avoid to sigh.
He pointed them to the others with his head, and the pegasi stallions walked pass him towards the tables.

Seven pegasi fillies.
He counted mentally as the pegasi stallions slowly walked towards the staircase to leave the room.
Though they look tough, the pegasi stallions could not grab the courage to stay in the room to watch.

And now that he's alone again, he let out yet another heavy sigh.
All these seven fillies could have achieve a wonderful life if the government of Cloudsdale decided to reconsider his proposal.

...no.
That's not right.
That is the sole reason why he and his father created these projects...
Both of them dreamed for this day to save the poor fillies of Cloudsdale.
Both of them swore to achieve this goal, soon after his brother d...

Fillies who begin to learn to fly will be sent to Flight School to learn more about flying. There they stay for years of training and developing their minds and bodies for the duties they one day achieve, and they will accept their tasks forcefully.

If however, they decide not to accept their fate, or fail in any of their flight exam...they will be deemed unworthy to be called a pegasi...and then...

He slowly walked around the table to get it over with. The sooner, the better.
But as he reached a corner of the table, his gaze landed on another set of documents.
The documents of his proposed plans for better ways to extract the colors of life from other sources.
Even though his own father disapproved his plan, he still spent almost a year to gather more than enough information and evidence that it can be done.
And he was more than happy to finally be able to gather a lot of data.

He was also beaming with confidence, after witnessing a multi-colored wave across the heavenly sky a few years back while he was studying a cherry tree.
Witnessing such an amazing scene made him even eager to find out if the cherry could actually be enough to provide the color red.
Finally, his brother can rest in peace when the board approves his proposal.

Now however, a painful red mark of disapproval from the board crushed his hopes and dreams. Ever since that day, he began to doubt is very own cutie mark, the symbol of his special talent and skill.

His cutie mark, a rainbow, the same as his father, except, his cutie mark has a faint yellow sun near the other end of the rainbow.
He convinced himself that he will be like his father, the pony who will be the one to create the colors of the rainbow.
But the sun, he convinced himself, that there may be other ways to create such a wonderful painting in the sky. Ways, which are not as grim as what has been practiced, ever since in ancient times.

How sad it was for him to provide the colors of a lovely painting in the sky, hiding the grim and dark secret it holds behind the magnificent colors.

He sighed.
But at least there's one good thing about all of this.

Fillies of Cloudsdale who fail their exams will no longer be...extracted...of their color.
Ever since he and his father began their project, the board expected nothing less than success.
They did succeed, but now the board wants to see results, and he has to do this, for the fillies who failed their final tests, so they can be spared from their grim fate.

He continued to walk towards the row of tables where the cyan pegasi fillies were strapped in place.

He stopped midway, slowly landing his gaze on each one of his and his father's 'creations'.

At first, he thought that he and his father finally found the answer to save the poor fillies of the city of clouds.
Their proposal to the board: create pegasi clones, that hold special DNA that will be able to carry all the colors of the rainbow.
Ever since the board gave them both permission to perform their 'scientific research', they both burned their eyebrows for days, weeks, months.

These fillies before him... They're fake ponies.
Clones. Fakes. Scientific creations.
He knew these facts well, but...
But...they're fillies...
And no matter how many times he convince himself that they are not 'real', he does not have the heart to do his task.

If only the board approved his proposal of gathering colors from other sources of nature. Not only it would save lives, but it would also add more possible jobs for ponies!
Why couldn't they see that?

After the Windigo incident, he resubmitted his proposal hoping that, since Cloudsdale is under major reformation, it will be approved.
He has yet to hear from them.

But even though the city is reviewing their laws, they're still strict of deadlines, and he is nearing his, to provide enough color for rainbows in the approaching spring season.

If only his father was still alive, then he wouldn't be the one doing this.
But he's a coward. He knew he needed to do this if he wants to save his own life.

He slowly and grimly walked towards a box-like machine, were on top lies a small screen, and a couple of levers and buttons.
He pressed on a combination of buttons, and soon, the floor under the tables where the fillies were lying on started to shake lightly.

He pressed one last button before one side of the room's wall slid down, revealing the other parts of the room, where a weird machine-like contraption is attached on the ceiling of the newly revealed part of the room.

One of the table slid under the spider-like machinery, and as the table stopped, it sent a tiny shake that slowly arouse the filly to consciousness.
The other tables slid and stopped on one corner of the newly revealed room.

The black pegasus pushed a few more buttons before walking to the newly revealed room. Soon, the cylindrical-glass containers containing blurry water and emiting faint green light slid and stopped on a corner of the newly revealed room.
He then walked towards the table which was under the spider-like machinery as the wall slowly slid back up to conceil them inside.

Four flourescent lights turned on, shedding enough light to see everything inside the room.

After the filly's eyes adjusted, she found herself strapped on a table. Looking around, she saw the grim-looking black pegasus, a scary-looking machine above her, and tall empty cylindrical-glass containers in different color.

Each container has tube-like pipes from the top, reaching the ceiling, and continued to the machine above the filly.

"Where am I...?"
The filly managed to asked after slightly controlling her fear.

A number of the strapped fillies began to recover their consciousness as the black pegasus stallion walked and stopped on the left side of the table.

To him, seeing her scared eyes looked too real.
To her, his eyes hold nothing, not even the faintest light from the lights on the ceiling, which only worsened her fear.

She tried to set herself free, but she was strapped in place.
"Please... Let me go...!"

A box-like machine slid beside him, and he gave it a momentary stare, to divert his attention from the filly's eyes.
He rose a hoof above a button as he took a deep breath and sighed.
"Let me...tell you...a story..."

He swallowed his fear as he brought himself to press the button, making the machine above the filly alive.
"One day...there was a young pegasus filly..."

The filly was already in panic, eyes opened wide, pupils shrunk, and breath fast and shallow.

"...and he...has a younger brother..."

The machine shot a wide red light to the top of the table, and slowly working to the other end, scanning whatever was lying on the table.

"...and they both dreamed to become great flyers one day...

Even the fillies on the other tables began to shiver from fear.
Finally reaching the end of the table, the red light disappeared, and the machine quickly spreads seven needle-like arms, resembling that of an arachnid as it somehow let out a mechanical roar.

"...But one day...everything changed."

"AHHH!"

----------
2. Flapping Wings
----------

"Wake up, you two."
A pegasus mare gently said as she poked her head from the slightly opened door.

A groan echoed in the room, coming from two pegasi fillies, who were desperately trying to get back to sleep.

"Five more minutes..."
Whispered the black pegasus filly as he turned to the other side, his forehooves lay resting on the head of a smaller pegasus filly, with a blue coat and cyan-colored mane and tail.

The mare chuckled as she walked towards the side of the bed.
"Come on now. You don't want to miss your first day of practicing to fly, do you?"

"Sleep...good..."
Whispered the smaller filly.

"Yeah..."
The black filly agreed.
"Sleef...good..."

The mare rolled her eyes.
"Fine."
And she began walking towards the door.
"Oh well, more pancakes for me then."
And with that, she gently closed the door as the two fillies sprang up to a sitting position.

"No fair!"
"Pancakes!"
The two fillies yelled in unison as they both jumped out of bed and quickly ran downstairs and towards the kitchen, where on the table were two plates filled with pancakes.

They quickly scrambled to the chairs and began devouring the pancakes, but they slowly ate their food properly after hearing their mother's snort.

"That's better."
Their mother nodded, chuckling a bit.

---

The needle-like arms of the arachnid-like machine pulled away from the gray and lifeless pegasus filly, and slowly retracting itself back on the ceiling.

The once empty cylindrical-glass containers on the corner of the room were now containing liquid of different color, though it still need a few more for each to be filled completely.

The room was now echoing with fearful and nervous cries of the fillies, except for one, who was trying her best to pull herself out of the straps.

'Come on...! Come on!'
Rainbow Dash thought as she furiously tried her best to free herself.

The black pegasus, who was sharing a story while the machine was draining the color of the filly, has momentarily stopped his story-telling as he pressed a few combination of buttons.
Soon, he pressed a button, and the table of the lifeless filly began to move towards a wall, and stopping near the containers which were illuminating green dim lights.

He stared at the lifeless gray filly for a few seconds before he began to slowly press a combination of buttons. He then slowly walked towards the lifeless body.
As soon as he began walking, one of the fillies' tables began to shake lightly and slid under the arachnid-like machinery.

"No!"
Cried the filly, who was desperately trying to set herself free.
"Please! Don't do this...!"

"That day..."
The black pegasus slowly said as the machine began scanning the table with red laser lights.
"...was the day when things began to change..."

The machine spreads its seven needle leg-like parts as it cry a mechanical roar.

---

Cloudsdale is a majestic and huge city, built on a large mass of clouds, floating at ease above the grassy fields northwest of Canterlot.

The sun was almost out of the horizon when two pegasi fillies and their mother reached the eastern edge of the city, where no buildings would be any obstruction for those who yearned to learn to fly.

The two fillies, excited for their very first flying lessons, started to flap their wings rapidly, but they could only lift half of their bodies, leaving the other on the cloudy ground.

With their mother's guidance, the two fillies were able to properly flap their wings, and for what felt like hours, they were finally able to lift themselves vertically.

The black filly, overjoyed by the accomplishment, and while still on the air a few hooves above her mother's height, he tried to fly forward, tilting his body forward, but it only made him fly diagonally straight down on the soft cloud ground.

His blue brother however, have managed to fly forward, sideward, backward, and everything else with clear ease.
The black filly groaned as his mother gave him an appreciative pat on her head.

"Come on, big brother!"
Said the blue pegasus as he swirled around near them.
"You can do it! I know you can!"

Thankful for his little brother's encouragement, enough to ward off the shame in his heart, he began flapping his wings again, and as soon as he got in the air, his brother stopped beside him, and shared to him what he did.

A demonstration later, and the blue filly was already flying around.
Eager not to be outshined, the black pegasus filly applied his brother's advice, and he soon found himself flying forward.

The two of them were flying around, and careful not to fly over the edge of the city. The black pegasus filly was chasing after his brother when he suddenly noticed his mother's sad expression on her face.

Noticing him, her mother quickly flashed a smile, and waved a hoof at him.
But it then struck him...
...He and his brother learned how to fly...

---

The seven needle-like arms pulled itselves away from the gray and lifeless filly, and the machine retracted itself back on the ceiling as it oozes out liquid of different colors of the rainbow through the transparent pipes, travelling towards the seven large cylindrical-glass containers in the room.

The very sight made the other fillies' fear even worse as the black pegasus stopped his story-telling.

Earlier, while the machine was busy with the screaming filly, the black pegasus pushed a few buttons on a container that was filled with blurry water.
After a few pressed buttons, the liquid inside was slowly drained away, and after it was completely empty, the glass case of the container slid open.

The black pegasus pressed a button under the table, which released the straps, and he then carried the lifeless gray filly, and threw it inside the capsule.
"...You could have lived a wonderful life..."
He whispered to himself as he pressed a few buttons, and soon, the glass case of the container slid close, and the container was then filled with clear water, and the green light was flashing inside.

"...Another life lost..."
He whispered as he slowly walked towards the table under the arachnid-like machinery.

Rainbow Dash was already fearing for her life, but she still managed to stay cool and was still able to think clear. She saw the black pegasus, pressing buttons under the table that released the straps.
That part was clear, but she now needs to figure out how to reach those buttons.
The table she and the rest of the fillies were strapped on to were too huge for their size.
'There must be a way...'

A few pressed buttons, and one of the tables slowly slid underneath the machinery, where a very scared filly was in panic; breathing fast and shallow.

"Just so you all know..."
The black pegasus slowly said as he pressed a few buttons.
"...I love every single one of you..."

The machine began scanning the filly.

"...evenly..."

The arachnid-like machinery spreads its seven sharp legs as it roared, and immediately brought its legs towards the frightened filly.

----------
3. Crushed Wing
----------

"Do we have to go...?"
The blue pegasus filly managed to asked in between his sobs.

The black pegasus was quietly crying, his hoof rubbing the mane of his little brother to try and help him feel better, but reaching no luck on that goal.

Their father, after hearing the news, quickly left his work and met them halfway to their home, where they first enjoyed lunch before the adult pegasi ponies informed them about Flight School.

The black pegasus was already aware of this, but it still hurt, nonetheless.

"I'm afraid so..."
Their mother slowly replied.

"But...I don't want to leave!"
Cried the blue filly.
"I don't want to stay in school! I wanna be with you!"

"I'd love to be with you, too..."
She said as she wiped a tear from her eyes.
"...but you must understand..."

"No!"
The blue filly yelled as he stomped both his front hooves on the table.
He then leaped out of the chair, and flew towards the door.

"Cerulean! Wait!"
Yelled his mother as the black pegasus filly gave chase.

After getting himself out of the door, the black pegasus quickly turned his head around, trying to spot his brother.
As he was looking, his father came out from the door and joined the search, until...
"There!"
The black pegasus yelled, pointing a hoof at the faint blue dot from far away.
It it weren't for the white clouds, he would have never seen his brother from the blue sky.

Both pegasi flapped their wings and gave chase.

---

After throwing another lifeless body inside the capsule, the black pegasus began walking back to the busy machine.

The room was filled with painful screams as the cyan pegasus filly was slowly turning gray.
The black pegasus only stared blankly at the filly as he continued to share a story to no one in particular.

"Keep in mind that..."
Despite the screach of the pained filly, his voice still found its way to get through the noise, and reaching the other fillies' ears.
"...this pain you all will go through will bring joy and happiness to other ponies in Equestria..."

"'Joy and happiness' your face, you freak!"
Rainbow Dash shouted, glaring venomously at the black pegasus.

Inside, he flinched, but outside, he showed no change in his blank expression as he turned his gaze towards her.
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, and he soon opened his eyes, still not able to reflect any light.
"...back to the story..."

"Who the f*ck gives a damn about your story when you're gonna kill us anyway!?"
Rainbow Dash spat, thanking Midnight mentally for the cursing words he learned from him.

"Such a foul-mouthed filly..."
He slowly and calmly said, though inside, he was angry.

Soon, the screach of the filly slowly went to a stop as her gray eyes slowly closed.

Sensing no life from the filly, the machine retracted its legs and itself back on the ceiling as the black pegasus turned his attention on the buttons.

Another table slid under the arachnid-like machine as the black pegasus continued pressing a few buttons.

"Now then..."
He said as the machine scanned the frightened filly strapped on the table.
"...allow me to continue my story..."

After scanning the filly, the arachnid-like legs stretched out and dug itself on different parts of the filly's body.

As the tortured filly screamed, and the black pegasus continued sharing his story as he walked towards the containers, Rainbow Dash tried to exhale a lot of air, to try and squirm out of the straps.
As she did, she caught a glimpse on the dead filly inside one of the glass containers, were the lifeless body began to...melt...and disappear...
The very sight made her lose her concentration as her lungs cried for air. She gasped for air as fear and panic began to run wild in her mind.

They're going to be tortured, suck their lives out of them, and disappear as if they never existed!?

---

Cerulean may be able to fly, but he was not a fast flier, as well as the black pegasus filly. Their father, however, was quickly catching up on the blue pegasus.

"Cerulean!"
Their father yelled.
"Stop!"

"No!"
Cerulean shouted back as he was now flying outside the borders of Cloudsdale.

The very thought of flying outside the border was too much for the young filly to comprehend, for fillies were always warned of how dangerous the outside world was.
Fear struck his mind, where he could no longer focus on his wings, and he began to fall.

"Cerulean!"
Yelled their father as he dove down after him.

The black pegasus filly, seeing his brother falling, struck him hard inside. He wants to save him, his mind tells him so, but his body was not obeying.
His wings froze open as he glided down to the cloud ground.

He crashed, but it was a good thing that clouds are soft.
He stayed lying on the ground for a short while, his body and mind no longer in unison. He could faintly hear the crowd of ponies gasping and whispering around the surroundings.

He didn't budge an inch, as fear overwhelmed him.
He only managed to recover after hearing his brother's sobs above him.
He weakly lifted his head, and he saw his father, staring worried at him, carrying his younger brother on his hooves, crying.

Reunited, but they will be separated soon...

---

"...but at least my brother and I were still together in Flight Camp..."
The black pegasus stallion said as he left the container being filled with water, walking towards the table where the machine went back on the ceiling, leaving the lifeless gray filly on the table.

"You are all products of me and my father's research..."
He said as he pressed the buttons, making one the tables slide under the arachnid-like machine.

Rainbow Dash is seriously running out of time. There's two of them left now...

"'Pity those who have souls', an old mare once told me..."
The black pegasus said calmly as he continued pressing buttons on the box-like machine, bringing life to the death-bringer on the ceiling.
"'Souls are given by nature', she once told me..."
The machine emitted red laser light, scanning the table underneath.
"Science and nature are two very different subjects..."
The machine finished scanning, and it now spreads its seven needle-like arms.
"If nature gives every living being souls...then..."
The needles quickly reached the frightened cyan pegasus filly.
"...science does not..."

----------
4. Broken Flight
----------

A year had passed since the two pegasi brothers were sent to Flight Camp. The evenings of their first few months were full of tears, but at least a number of pegasi fillies helped them, for they too were sad to leave their families to attend a stupid school.

The training was difficult and tiring, but each day, they managed to stay on their hooves. Not only do they have each other to support themselves, but they also have friends to help them along the way.

But as easy as they earned friends, they too easily acquired pegasi fillies who bullies them. The black pegasus filly will often times try his best to stand up and protect his brother from them, and most of the time, he and some of their friends end up getting hurt, and what was worse, no one in the institution gives a flying feather.
Their excuse? It is part of the training, for one to become a strong pegasi.

After a year in the school, their father payed them a visit, and both were surprised and happy to see him.
Once in a while, their mother checks up on them, but their father never payed them a visit, until now.

Fillies enrolled in the institution were not allowed to leave the premises, unless there are natural calamities that would reach the floating city.

They talked in the audience seats in one the school's flying race tracks, away from any other ponies' range of hearing.

The reason of his visit was for him to wish his sons well in the upcoming annual flight exams. He wished them, he prayed for them, and he begged them to pass.

He hesitated at first to explain to them why, but after he got the courage to explain, a pegasi officer called their father's attention, stating that his visiting hours is already over.

One last hug, and their father left, with the officer following him.

---

"My father..."
The black pegasus calmly said, staring blankly at the pained filly, who's color is being sucked and turned gray.
"...was working hard to find a way to 'save' us during our first year in the school..."

Rainbow Dash's attempt of removing most of the air in her body to try and squirm out didn't work. She tried again multple times, only to land on failed attempts of escaping. She could no longer hold her own fear as she could no longer think of any other ways of escape.

The black pegasus turned to the cyan pegasus who, earlier, was trying to escape.
He slowly walked towards her, and stopped on the side of her table.

Rainbow Dash, though hastily taking breaths out of fear, was shooting him a venomous glare.

"You gave up so easily..."
The black pegasus calmly said.

"Like you care."
Rainbow Dash growled, and spat at his face.

He wanted to slap her for such a behavior, or yell at her for how inappropriate spitting was, but his own body refused to listen, instead, he calmly brought a hoof on his face, and wiped the saliva off of him.
He took a breath, and sighed.
"Don't...give up."

Rainbow Dash, despite her current situation, rolled her eyes.
"Gee, thanks."

The black pegasus stared at her with a blank expression for a short while before returning to the lifeless filly's table.
'Out of all the seven creations of my father... She's the only one who managed to fight the false memory that was implanted in her head.'

He would have loved to figure out why Rainbow Dash managed to remember her early memories in the lab, but unfortunately, if he needs his life spared, then he needs to fill the seven containers of different color.
From his calculations, the fillies' colors will be enough to provide rainbows around Equestria until next winter.

Pressing a combination of buttons, another table slid underneath the spider-like machine, leaving Rainbow Dash alone on the corner.

She needs to think of something fast. If she couldn't...then...!

The machine finished scanning the filly on the table, and it then stretched it needle-like arms.

"Let us continue..."
The black pegasus said as he pressed a button.

---

The pegasus brothers, along with other pegasi fillies, were gathered in one of the racing tracks of the institution. Judges were summoned and were seated on the judges' panel.

A whistle was blown, and the fillies scrambled and settled in a horizontal line, all were facing the race track in front of them.

Their instructor, a muscular crimson pegasus stallion, marched in front of them as he gave them a brief explanation of the exam.

The first part was a twenty-lap race. The second part was cloud-clearing. Third part would be flexibility, where fillies will fly around every obstacle. Final part would be a combination of all three parts of the exam: a race, avoid obstacles, clear their designated clouds, and reach the finish line.
Each part will have five fillies participate at a time.

Their instructor then shouted their names of their designated groups

The black pegasus was glad that his group consisted of his friends, but fear struck him when he learned that his young brother was with the pegasi that bullies them.

He tried to reason with his instructor, or even asked to swap places, but the stubborn instructor shoved him off, or he'll instantly fail the exam.

---

"Just like her..."
The black pegasus stared blankly at the screaming cyan-turning-gray filly.
"...my brother screamed out of pain after they purposely beaten him during the race..."

---

The black pegasus came in fourth place. Not bad for a weak flier such as him.
He and his group went to the audience's seats, but instead of cheering one another, they became dead-silent as they watched the blue pegasus filly fearfully preparing himself on the starting line, together with the group of grinning pegasi.

---

"The race started, and instead of racing fairly, they delivered wing pounds, hoof punches, and headbutts to my brother, but he kept going, until he could no longer hold himself, and he was instead used as a ball, being tossed and passed towards the other racing pegasi, until I could no longer stand watching my brother in that situation..."
The black pegasus calmly said as the needle-arms pulled away from the lifeless body.

He pressed a combination of buttons, and the table of the dead pegasus filly slid towards the green-lit cylindrical-glass containers, and Rainbow Dash's table slid under the arachnid-like machine.

She struggled, using all her remaining strength to free herself, but just like the others before her, struggling was useless.
But she couldn't give up. No, not yet.
She ignored the tears streaming down from her face. She may die any time soon, but she won't die without trying to save herself.
Images of her friends back in PonyVille flashed in front of her vision as the machine began to scan her with red laser lights.

"That's right..."
The black pegasus said calmly.
"...don't give up."

The machine finished scanning her, and slowly, it stretched it's needle-arms around, each pointed at the helpless filly as the black pegasus stallion slowly pressed a combination of buttons.

"Just in case you forgot..."
He said, still a quarter away from finishing the combination, since she was the last filly needed to be extracted, he's already adding commands to automatically shut the machines down.
"...I...love each one of you...evenly..."

----------
5. ...Save Me...
----------

The black pegasus leaped from his seat, flapping his tired wings furiously, and he's flying straight towards the race track. He collided with the other racers, sending the four bullies and himself rolling dangerously on the race track, as the unconscious blue filly flew straight to the walls of the race track.
Even though the tracks and the walls were made out of clouds, the ones used in the race tracks were slightly more solid than the ordinary clouds used as a ground for pegasi to walk on to.

The blue filly crashed head-first on the walls of the race tracks, cracking his skull and bleeding.

Despite the protest of his body to lay down and rest, the black pegasus ran and flapped his wings to reach his brother.
He wrapped his hooves around him as he cried for help.

---

As the machine roared, a faint crashing sound echoed from above the ceiling of the room.

"Unfortunately... No one dared to help me..."

---

The fillies around the race track all wanted to help, but the fear of helping others during an exam left them immobilized, for if they do help, then they'll instantly receive a failed mark on their exam.

The black pegasus remembered this fact despite his panic, and he immediately stopped shouting and begged his body to move as he flapped his wings and began to trot towards the clinic.

---

A loud crash echoed around the room, and though calm, the black pegasus mistakenly pressed the wrong button, making the arachnid-like machine on the ceiling roar as it quickly brought its seven needle-arms towards the table, barely landing on the target, to the filly's relief.

"Something's behind this wall!"
A voice shouted from the other side of the movable wall.

"Hm..."
The black pegasus corrected the commands, pressing buttons fast, though his face still hold no change of expression.

"Help me!"
Yelled the filly as the seven needle-arms retracted back above.

Soon, the room was now filled with powerful pounding sounds and the neutral cry of the machine.

---

The black pegasus filly slammed the clinic's door open, and quickly shouted for help.

The nurses tried their best, but his brother was no more.
The black pegasus filly cried the whole afternoon, seated beside his brother's bed, his face buried on the white bed where the blue pegasus was laying.

Soon, his instructor and a number of officers carried him and his brother, for they both failed their exam.

---

"Help me!"
Rainbow Dash yelled, tears streaming down her face.

Soon, the wall was slammed down, revealing six of Princess Celestia's Royal Pegasi Guards.

The black pegasus stallion calmly turned his attention at them as he continued pressing buttons on the machine.

The arachnid-like machine extended itself down, and turned towards the new arrivals.

Wasting no time, the royal guards spread their wings to pound the black pegasus, but they instead begin to dodge the sharp extending legs of the machine that is trying to stab each one of them.

Rainbow Dash, realizing that the machine's attention was no longer on her, began squirming, desperately trying to escape, as the black pegasus pony continued to stare blankly at the dodging royal guards as he continued pressing buttons with his hooves.

---

They were brought in the secret basement of the Weather Factory, where he saw his father, the head of the rainbow operations.

Their father swallowed a huge lump of fear and shame, seeing his sons in that room, where the two fillies were strapped on two tables.

---

Thankful for his golden-plated armor, a royal guard was pushed by one of the needle-arms towards the green-emitting container.
He crashed and broke the glass container, spreading the water around the room.

At first, Rainbow Dash feared for the worse, but after the royal guard quickly got back up on his feet, he quickly rolled to the side to evade the attack.

---

Their father was used to these kinds of operations: extracting the colors of the fillies who failed their exams, but to do the process to his own sons...

He hesitated, and begged the government officials, who were always present during the extraction, to spare his sons, but he was silenced of his cowardice with a beating.

---

A royal guard leaped forward to avoid one of the leg's attacks, and as he came to a stop, he found himself in front of the calm black pegasus.
Quickly taking this opportunity, he delivered a lot of force to his feet to jump and deliver a powerful headbutt at the black pegasus, throwing him towards Rainbow Dash's table, and he continued to roll to the other end of the table, and he found himself on the floor.

He quickly got up, and took a step to the side to avoid the royal guard's tackle.
As the royal guard landed on the floor and turned, he received a powerful back kick on his face, sending him to the wall.

---

Their father was forced to press the combination of buttons, and soon, he closed his eyes, wishing there was a way to shut his ears, as the machine stabbed the black pegasus filly, and began extracting the filly's color.

---

The black pegasus stallion flapped his wings and landed in front of the box-like machine, and he was about to press another button when another royal guard tackled him and pinned him on the floor.
The guard then turned his head over his shoulder.
"Somepony turn that thing off, now!"

---

As the machine was shut off, the government officials left the basement, leaving the father of the two extracted fillies crying.

After what felt like hours of grieving, he slowly removed his children's body from the table, and gently placed them inside the large cylinder-shaped glass container.

Pressing a few buttons, the containers slid close, and soon, green light began to flash from inside the containers as it was filled with water, floating the two gray lifeless fillies in the center of the container.

He slowly raised a hoof, and gently placed it on the glass, as if he's trying to touch his son's head one more time...

---

A royal guard managed to reach the machine of buttons, and desperately started pushing random buttons, making the arachnid-like machine on the ceiling act crazy, roaring ear-piercing cries echoing around the room.

A royal guard, who received a powerful kick on his face, finally recovered his consciousness, and worked his way towards the filly, and trying his best to pull the straps off.
He can see the filly shouting something at him, but his ears were still ringing from the massive pain of the kick he received, making him unable to hear anything except for his aching head.

---

As soon as the black pegasus filly slowly begin to melt, their father returned to his table, and started coming up with solutions to one last problem he has to solve before he could finally begin to achieve his year-long research of cloning.

Dissolving the body was his concluded way to preserve every fabric of DNA of any fillies who were extracted, cancelling the body and any other cells to begin the process of decomposition.

It took him a few more months until he managed to land on one uncertain answer, but if it will brings his children back to life, then it's worth the shot.

Mixing chemicals, careful measurements, combination of buttons, and soon, the glass container began to glow, and inside, the once empty water-filled container began to show a small pony, soon turning into a gray filly.

A few more commands and pressing buttons, the gray fur slowly turned black, and the mane and tail slowly turned crimson red.

After a few minutes, the filly's eyes slowly opened.

---

More royal guards came down and tried to bring a stop to the rampaging arachnid-like machine.

One of the royal guards heard the filly's cries, and immediately worked his way towards her, and followed her rapid instructions of pressing the buttons underneath the table.

The straps went loose, and the filly immediately flapped her wings to try and get away, only to accidentally be pounded back to the floor by one of the enraged machine's legs, which almost made her lose her consciousness.

A royal guard carried her and made their escape.

The black pegasus pony calmly watched everything that was happening around him, ignoring the guard who was still pinning him down, disabling him from moving.

---

His father's doubts were right. He may have achieved to bring his son back to life, but the emotions were no longer present.

But his father was wrong. The black pegasus' emotions were still there, but it was the body that could not understand how to perform emotions.
He wanted to tell him that fact, but his own body would not allow him, which scared him inside.

His father spent a few more months, studying and finding a solution, and finally, he did find a solution, but at the same time, he was caught by the officials.

But instead of begging for mercy, his father thought of an idea: an idea that would help the fillies of Cloudsdale.

After hearing his proposal, the officials requested him to submit his proposal on paper, for them to further study the plan.

It only took a day for his father to receive an order to test his proposal. Unfortunately, there was no other available corpse to use...except...

---

Outside Cloudsdale's Weather Factory, royal guards barricaded the area, preventing pegasi ponies from approaching further.

Princess Celestia confidently yet angrily stood hooves away from the tall structure, awaiting her guards who went inside after her order.

Beside her was Aurora, her mother Sunset, and her friend Fluttershy.
The three pegasi ponies were worried of their friend's condition.

Soon, a royal guard came out, carrying a weakened cyan pegasus filly.
He slowly landed in front of the princess, and gently placed the filly on the ground, where Aurora, Sunset and Fluttershy quickly rushed towards the rainbow-maned pegasus filly.

Later, royal guards came out from the structure, and with them was a chained black pegasus stallion. They stopped in front of the princess, and as one of the royal guards explained what happened to the princess, the black pegasus locked his attention on the still-frightened rainbow-maned pegasus filly, and ignoring the worried and angry looks of the other three pegasus ponies.

"Just remember..."
The black pegasus whispered, reaching the ear of the rainbow-maned pegasus filly.
"...that I still love you...brother..."

---

Princess Celestia angrily marched inside Cloudsdale's House of Laws, where the city's law-makers were all present, seated, and shocked to see their ruler.

She stopped in front of the president of the house, and levitated a folder of documents, and angrily slammed it on the table in front of the startled pegasi stallion.

On the folder was a large red message of disapproval, which then glowed in white, and as the white light faded, the folder now carries a new message.

"Approved by the Princess of Equestria"

----------
Author's Note
----------

I am aware of the fanfic 'Rainbow Factory', however, I did not and will not be reading it. I couldn't stand/read/stomach gore-ish fics. I only know about the fic's story through my brother. He gave me a short summary of the said fic.

Also, I accidentally saw a fan-made video of the said fic on YouTube. Fortunately, the video was not that gore-ish, I think. The concept of draining the pony's color really caught my interest.

Anyway, I hope this is not a complete copy of the said fic, though.

Chapter 16 - PonyVille Diaries - Third of Many

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Chapter 16 - PonyVille Diaries - Third of Many

----------
1. Returned Rainbow
----------

It was already late afternoon when the convension finished. Instead of staying further, Henry immediately went back to the station and took the train to PonyVille.

He would have stayed for a few days, but after the news about what happened in Cloudsdale reached Fillydelphia, he felt the urge of either going to Cloudsdale, or head back home to check on a certain filly.

The train arrived in the peaceful town of PonyVille two hours before noon.

He went to the library, where Sunset and Aurora told him about what they saw when they went to Cloudsdale.
And after learning where to locate a certain rainbow-maned pegasus filly is, he flew towards the cottage outside the feared Everfree Forest.

Winter made the cottage look so deserted. The usual animals weren't around, except for the number of chickens around the chicken coop.

Henry quietly landed in front of the cottage's door, and knocked a few times before he heard gentle hoofsteps from inside.

The door opened slightly, enough for the yellow pegasus filly to see who it was.
"Oh," she then opened the door wide, "hello Sir Henry."

Henry smiled and patted her head.
"Please, stop calling me 'sir'."

"Oh, um... I'm sorry..."
She took a few steps to the side to give way for the green pony as she hid her face behind her long pink mane.

Sometimes, seeing her so shy is irritating, but for the filly's sake, he decided to shove the feeling away.
"No...need to apologize..."

Fluttershy faintly turned her eyes on him.

"If you want, you can call me 'uncle'... Sounds okay?"

It somehow did the trick, for unknown reason.
Fluttershy rose her head back with a small smile as she nodded.

"Anyway," now that's settled, "I'm worried about Rainbow Dash..."
And as he predicted, the filly dropped her smile to a frown as she looked away.
"Is...she here right now?"

Fluttershy slowly shook her head.
"No... You just missed her, actually..."
She then brought her gaze back at the alicorn.

Henry sadly sighed.
"I see... Do you know where she is?"

"I don't think she wants to see anypony at the moment..."

"Oh, uh, okay..."
'It must have been hard for her to go through that kind of experience...'
"Well, if she comes back here, tell her I came to check up on her, 'kay?"
He said with a small smile.

Fluttershy reflected the smile back.
"Of course, no problem Uncle Henry..."

Henry frowned.
Somehow, it made him feel even older than being addressed as sir...
"Uh... Just call me uncle...without my name..."
He awkwardly said, receiving a curious nod from the filly.

---

Henry was seated on one of the chairs and tables outside Sugarcube Corner, as he quietly read a newspaper and ate some Daisy Bread.

The newspaper's headline is about a mad scientist who extracts colors for rainbows in Cloudsdale, and a big photo of a black pegasus pony and his basement laboratory is printed.

Earlier, he asked the Cakes if they saw Rainbow Dash, but neither of them saw the filly since yesterday.
They also informed him that Pinkie Pie went out to go and look for her. The party pony must be trying to cheer her up.

If a pony needs cheering, then Pinkie's the right pony for the job, and it made him feel reassured that the pink earth pony will do her job well when she finds Rainbow Dash.

As he turned to the next page of the newspaper, he saw a bright pink color on the corner of his eye.
He lifted his head up and saw the pink earth filly, slowly walking towards Sugarcube Corner.
The green pony's smile turned up-side-down as he noticed the filly's sad face.

The pink filly, after seeing the green pony, quickly threw her sad face away and immediately replaced it with a smile as she ran and stopped on the table.
She was talking and talking and talking about how happy she was to see him again, how happy she was to see him safe, how happy she was to see him eating one of the baked goods of Sugarcube Corner, and any other reasons, sense or without, that made her happy.

Henry couldn't find an opening to interrupt, so he decided to paste a smile as he waited for the energetic pink pony to stop, but he instead brought a hoof over her mouth when she was about to plan to give the alicorn another welcome back party.

"Pinkie, no parties. Not today, okay?"
Henry asked, with a serious look on his face.
And after receiving a nod from the earth filly, he brought his hoof back and wiped it on the table cloth.
"Anyway...um...have you seen Rainbow Dash?"

And, once again, as predicted, the filly frowned, and slowly nodded her head.
"Yeah, I've seen her..."
She then looked at the gloomy clouds.
"But I couldn't reach her..."

Couldn't reach her... Then she's probably above that gloomy blanket of clouds.

The pink pony closed her eyes and sighed.
"I just wanted to help..."

Henry patted her shoulder.
"Of course you do. That's what friends are for..."

She then opened her eyes, her face painting an angry expression as she stared at him.
"But some friend she is! She won't even go down here so I could help! What kind of a friend is that?"

Henry only smiled.
"I'm sure she just...doesn't want to trouble you."

"Trouble me?"
She then turned to the heavens.
"Is she crazy!? What kind of a stupid reason is that!?"
She stomped a hoof on the table, making Henry's last Daisy Bread on the table jump and headed for its doom on the snowy ground, but luckily, Henry managed to grab it with his hoof.
"Oh, she's lucky she's a pegasus pony!"
She continued as Henry brought the bread back on the table with an annoyed look.

Henry took a breath and sighed to calm himself.
"Take it easy, Pinkie..."

"She has no idea how much trouble I went through yesterday to think of some ways to try and cheer her up!"
The pink filly ranted, shouting her lungs out at the clouds, and went on...
"And she chose to stay up in those clouds so I could not even reach her! Doesn't she know that I'm not a pegasus!? How can I even reach her up there if I don't have any wings or any other things that could...reach...the..."
Henry gulped as he stared at the filly's angry face, slowly turning into a maniac-like smile.
"...sky..."
She then, with scary eyes, turned to the frightened green alicorn.
"Henry..."

"Y-yes, Pinkie...?"

She leaned closer, slowly.
"You wouldn't happen to have a book about aeronautics, riiight?"

'Yes...or no...?'
Henry swallowed a lump of uncertain fear.

---

After spotting a little gap in the clouds, Henry flew through it to get above the sea of clouds.

He has been soaring above the gloomy clouds for a while now. At first, he was feeling a bit scared to fly over the clouds, for he has never done that before.
Unlike the other changeling races, the brown-eyed changelings perfer to walk than fly.
But feeling the fresh cool wind running towards him really felt amazing, though it was a bit difficult to breathe, but still.

Though it felt amazing, he didn't forget the reason why he was flying up there, but unfortunately, after spending minutes of gliding, he couldn't spot the rainbow-maned filly.

Finally giving up, he dove through the gloomy clouds to get back to the ground, which was a pretty bad idea. The clouds were too cold for him, almost feeling like he was being frozen, but to his relief, it only lasted for a few seconds as he dove through the clouds.

He shook off the shivering cold before regaining his flight, and he then glided towards Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe Big Macintosh or AppleJack saw Rainbow Dash.

---

Henry was about to land in front of the red barn of the Apple Family, when he spotted a very white puff of cloud hanging above the leafless apple trees in the orchard, but what really caught his attention was a rainbow-colored tail hanging on the corner of the small cloud.

He flapped his wings to regain flight and slowly hovered himself towards the cloud, where he soon saw Rainbow Dash on the said cloud.

At first, he feared that she may still be crying, or maybe just sobbing. Or she wishes to be alone, not to be bothered, or gets annoyed when anypony approaches. She may as well be shivering from fear that still hung around her mind and heart.

All those thoughts were banished after seeing a peaceful snoring cyan pegasus filly, sleeping with no care in the world.

He could not help but smile at the peaceful scene.
Rainbow Dash was lying on her belly, her rainbow tail hung over the edge of the cloud, and as well as her forehooves, and she's letting out a slightly loud set of snores.

Not wishing to disturb the peace, he turned around, and was about to fly away when he heard the filly began coughing, rising her to wakefulness.

Henry turned as the filly rose into a sitting position, and yawned as she rubbed one of her eyes.

"You okay, Rainbow Dash?"
The green pony asked, slightly concerned.

"Huh?"
The filly turned her head to the flying pony.
"Oh, hey Henr---" she let out a very long yawn.
Afterwards, she licked her lips, and opened and closed her mouth.
"What's up?"

'Wow... She recovered quickly?'

"If you're here to ask if I'm okay, then..."
She began stretching her wings, flapping a few times, and cracked her neck.
She then went back to sitting, and waved a hoof.
"...then you've got nothing to worry about."
She said with a confident smile.

"Uh... You sure?"

"Yep."
She replied as she jumped in place, turning her body round, and making her land on her back. She puts a forehoof behind her head, and a hind hoof above her tilted knee.
"Positive. Nopony can bring The Dash down."

She rubbed her other free forehoof on her chest as the green alicorn rolled his eyes.

"Anyway..." Henry began, "everypony else is worried about you."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
"What's the big deal? I said I'm fine, really!"

"Yes, I can see that..."
Henry replied flatly.
"But your other friends aren't convinced..."

Rainbow let out a frustrated sigh.
"So, what do you want me to do? Tell them that I'm okay?"

"Eeyup."
Henry replied with a smile, receiving an annoyed frown from the filly.

"Pfft... Fine."
Rainbow Dash sat up.
"I suppose I do need to let them know..."

Henry nodded in agreement.

Rainbow Dash then let herself fall back on her cloud.
"But, maybe after I take another nap."

"Rainbow..."
Henry frowned.

"Okay, okay... Sheesh..."
The filly rose up in annoyance, and flew towards the red barn, since it was the closest.

----------
2. Heart's Desire
----------

Despite the cold winter weather, a lone and sad blue seapony sat on the snowy shore, staring blankly at the gloomy horizon as she held a white traveller's hat on her embrace.

Even though her father was on her side, her mother, each of everyday, is trying to reason with her to stop seeing and loving the changeling.

She knows what changelings are, but she is certain that Henry is not feeding her love of him. But if that were to happen, then...no. That's impossible.
She felt his love true, and she knows this.

Ever since her mother learned who her heart beats to, both her parents started arguing each of everyday.

Even during some of her Sundays with Henry, her mother would even dare swim this far just to collect her, and Henry, a good soul he was, couldn't argue with the seapony's mother.

She was beginning to worry about their relationship if this keeps up. She wondered if this continues, eventually, his love for her will fade away?
She never got the courage to ask the green pony about this. She had a lot of opportunity to ask him that question, but courage was absent, every time she tries to gather some of them.

She let out a frustrated sigh as her ears picked up faint padelling sounds echoing from afar. She scanned the horizon, and soon, she saw, from a distance, a bamboo raft, where a pony of some sort was pedalling towards the shore.

Terrified, she quickly jumped back to the water, not even in the slightest care if the pony on the raft noticed the splash of water on the shore.

She wondered who it was as she swam back to her cave, but as she got near the entrance of the cave, her curiousity began to run wild in her mind, the same as what it did to her when she first laid her eyes on Henry on that summer day.

She turned and quietly swam towards the raft, paying in mind to keep herself close to the sea floor, which was a bit of a disappointed after she got under the raft, for she couldn't see who was on the raft.

Curious, she ignored the possible risks, and quietly swam a few hooves behind the raft, poking her head above the water, enough for her to see a black and white striped pony.

The pony was humming a tune as she continued pedalling with a flattened bamboo stick. On the raft, aside from the pony, were wooden masks, pots and jars of different sizes, a wooden box, a very big cauldron, ropes, a basket with slightly-rotten fruits, and a rolled blanket.

The sea pony slowly and quietly tailed the raft, though she was a bit annoyed of how slow it was moving.

"Don't be afraid of me, my dear," the pony suddenly said, leaving the seapony curious to who she was suddenly talking to.
"I know you are afraid, but you have nothing to fear."
She turned over her shoulder with a warm smile, while the seapony was frozen in shock for a moment before she sunk back under the sea.

The pony closed her eyes as she shrugged, and she then focused her attention towards the shore as she continued to hum.

'She...she saw me!'
Pearl yelled inside her head as she allowed gravity to gently pull her down to the sea floor.
'B-but...she didn't look scary...I think...'

She then felt the soft sandy sea floor on her back. She slowly tilted her head to stare at the raft, which was still far away from the shore.
She floated herself up, and put the hat on top of her head. She tied the strings below her chin and slowly swam after the raft, but as she got close, she stopped as her curiousity and eagerness to help was then overwhelmed by fear.

'But she said I shouldn't be afraid of her...'
She thought as she looked at the slow raft pulling away.
'What would Henry do...?'
She doesn't even know why she's troubling herself with her.

But...
She remembered...
If she gave in to her fear during that one day, then she would have never be able to know Henry.

On the raft, the black and white striped mare was humming smilingly, containing her excitement to reach her destination.
Ever since she learned about herbal medicine, she wanted to share her skills in different parts of the world to help and cure others.

It was a long and difficult journey, but her heart told her where she must be, and her heart she follows, for it has never been wrong to her.

Her peaceful hum was interrupted by a quiet emerging sound from the water.
She smiled as she turned her head over her shoulder.
"Ah, my friend, it's good to see you,"

Pearl blinked.

"I apologize if I scared you. The shore is where I must be, could you lend a hoof to a pony like me?"

"Uh..."
'She's...weird...'
Pearl slowly swam closer to the raft, and brought her hooves on the edge, and began to pull towards the shore.

The pony on the raft smiled and returned her gaze to the shore as she continued to pedal.
"I thank you deeply, dear mare, and I will reward your effort, to be fair."

Pearl couldn't help but smile awkwardly at the way the pony talks.

"You must be wandering of what I am. I am a zebra from a far-away land. My people have practiced herbal medicine. This new land I came to continue my training. There are still many things to learn. Excited am I to reach my destination."

"O...kay...?"

"Ah, your voice is lovely like the sea. They sound like music bringing peace and harmony."

Pearl pulled a hoof back and scratched her nape. She then returned her hoof to push the raft, still wearing an awkward expression.
She was no longer sure if she should be happy or be worried to have made a new friend. A weird one...

"I hope you don't mind my dear, but what is your name? I would love to hear."
The zebra pony asked, still locked her gaze on the shore, which already became close.

"Pearl..."
She answered with a hint of doubt.

"Hm, a lovely name for a pony such as thee, to hold a beautiful name from the sea."

That part, Pearl failed to understand.

Soon, they have finally reached the shore. The zebra pony helped the seapony push the raft towards the snow-covered sand so it wouldn't drift back to the ocean.
After, Pearl swam a safe distance away from the pony.

The zebra however, simply smiled as she climbed on the raft.
"I thank you, mare of the sea. Allow me to reward you, a gift from me."

As the zebra opened a large pot and began looking inside, Pearl's curiousity got the better of her, and she began slowly swimming near her.

The zebra, after spotting what she was looking for, smiled as she reached a hoof inside the pot. She then pulled out a purple heart-shaped flower. She then showed it to the seapony, who was on the edge of the raft.
"This plant that I give you, is rare from my homeland."
She gave the plant to Pearl, who nervously grabbed it with both her hooves.
"If your heart is true, then your wish is its command."

"W-what is this?"
Pearl asked as she examined the flower plant.

"Heart's Desire is its name. Granting one's wish is its aim. If your wish is what your heart wants for you, then that plant will make it come true."

Pearl's eyes grew wide. Could such a flower hold great power?
If she makes a wish of what her heart desires, then would it possibly be granted and for her to acquire?

"One wish, that flower will grant, so think carefully before you chant."
The zebra continued as she began unloading her things and putting them on the snow-covered shore.

One wish... One wish...
One wish would be enough for her to be with Henry...forever.
Just one...simple wish.
But...what would she wish for?

She tore her gaze away from the flower, and settled staring at the gloomy sky.
One wish... What would she wish for...?
Would she wish for her mother to approve their love for each other?
Would she wish Henry to be turned into a sea pony, just like her?
...turn...into...a...pony...

A hopeful smile grew in her face as she slowly returned her gaze on the flower.

"Have you decided my dear? If you have, your wish, I would need to hear."

The sea pony slowly turned her gaze on the zebra, who was smiling at her.
"I...haven't gotten your name..."

The zebra was surprised.
"I forgot to tell you my name, and for that, I'm sorry for I am to blame. Excited I was to reach my destination, and for me to create a friend in this location. My friends and family call me Zecora. It is a common name among the zebras."

Pearl, despite feeling weird for Zecora's way of talking, smiled warmly at her as she slightly hugged the flower that was given to her.
"T-thank you, Zecora."

The zebra nodded.
"It is I who should be thanking you, and now I will help make your wish come true."

----------
3. The Blue Mare
----------

The sun was already setting in the horizon. A magical and wonderful scene that Henry often spends time to watch, but unfortunately, the thick and gloomy clouds had other plans in mind.

He sighed as he closed the window on the second floor of the library, and went back to cleaning and arranging the books in the library with Aurora's help, so all they will need to do tomorrow was to open the library.

Rainbow Dash has already apologized to her friends, except for Rarity and some other ponies she felt that their not her friends, and now she's seated on a couch beside Pinkie Pie, who was busy reading a book about aeronautics.

Earlier, she spent twenty minutes looking for the pink earth filly around town, until she decided to try the library, the very bottom of her list to go look for the party pony.
Now, she has spent another twenty minutes trying to get the pink pony's attention so she could apologize, but unfortunately, the pink pony was either ignoring her, or she's gone to her own world.

Either way, she needs to get her attention if she wants to get out of the library. Henry and Aurora won't let her leave until Pinkie Pie hears her apology.

It wasn't even her fault that she was foalnapped!
So why is she the one to apologize, anyway?
She tried reasoning with Henry, but all she got was a serious look and a wave of his head.

Desperate, she flew above the pink filly, grabbed the book, and flung it to somewhere.
That somehow did the trick, as the pink earth pony's serious concentration evaporated as she blinked.

"Listen Pinkie Pie..."
Rainbow began as she heard the book landed on something hard, and followed by a hurtful yelp from a certain green pony on the second floor.

Henry looked over the railings of the second floor, seeing Rainbow Dash's apologetic-sheepish grin and Pinkie Pie's soft giggles.

"Anyway..."
Rainbow slowly said as both fillies returned their attention at each other.
"S-sorry if I made you worry 'bout me..."
She turned her gaze away as she scratched her nape.

The pink pony simply smiled.
"No problemo, Rainbow Dashio~!"
She sang as the book levitated back to her hooves.

Rainbow replied with a small smile, and then flapped her wings faster to get herself on the second floor's level.
"Can I go now?"
She said, and just noticed a red bruise on the nose of an angry-looking green alicorn.
"Eheheh...whoops?"

The green alicorn sighed as he closed his eyes.
"Just be careful next time."

Rainbow Dash took that as her cue, and immediately bolted out of the front door.

---

A blue earth pony, with a very long black mane and tail and wearing a white traveller's hat, waved a hoof on the entrance of the very feared Everfree Forest.
And after the zebra pony was no longer in sight, she slowly brought her hoof back on the ground, took a deep breath, exhaled in excitement, turned around, took a few steps, and her sight became dark as a sudden realization struck her mind: she has no clue where she's going.

Fear suddenly run wild in her mind as she turned around, trying to find some source of light, and as if the heavens answered her internal prayer, she spotted a faint rainbow trail in the sky, approaching the cottage a few meters from her location.

She was still afraid, but the cottage is her only light source for the time being. She won't accomplish anything if she'll just stay on where she is right now.
She took a few breaths to ease herself before gathering the nerve to begin a slow trot towards the cottage.

For an ordinary pony, it would have only taken them merely less than fifteen minutes, but after almost half an hour, she finally reached the door of the cottage.

Houses of earth ponies weren't really that any different from the houses from where she came from, at some point, at least. The noticable comparison she had taken note of were the walls for the house's shape, windows to see the other side, mailbox for...mail, and a door for exit and entry, though there was no doorbell anywhere.

She decided to use an alternative: one of which were practiced in her neighborhood if doorbells weren't present.

"Hello!?"
She yelled.
"Anypony home?"

The door quickly swung open inward, revealing an annoyed flying cyan pegasus pony.
"Well duh. Can't you see the smoke coming out from the chimney and the lights from the windows?"

'Chimney?'
The mare blinked.

"Rainbow Dash!"
Yelled a soft voice from inside the house.
"That's no way to treat a visitor..."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes once again before flying back inside, and after a short while, a yellow pegasus filly with a pink mane and tail came to the door.
"Oh, hello."

The blue mare smiled warmly.
"Hi."

And then there was silence.

Normally, owners of the house would welcome her inside, the blue mare thought.
Normally, strangers would say why they came, the yellow filly thought.

After a while of nothing, the filly finally broke the silence.
"So uh..."
She hid behind her mane.
"...can I help you?"

'Things must be different here on land, I guess...'
"Oh, uh... Well, I was wondering if...you know a pony named Henry?"

The yellow filly slightly removed her face from her mane.
"Um...yes."

The blue mare smiled. Finally, she wouldn't need to go far.
"Where is he?"
She asked excitingly, making the yellow filly hide her face again behind her mane as she let out a surprised gasp.
"Is he here right now?"
She exclaimed as she turned her head left and right, trying to spot the one she was looking for.

She was about to walk inside when the cyan pegasus filly flew to the door, blocking her way.
"Who are you and what do you want!?"

The blue mare, surprised, took a step back.
'Oh my, where are my manners!?'
"I-I'm sorry..."
She shook her head, and composed herself.
"My name's Pearl. Ocean Pearl. And I am looking for a pony named Henry Hoof."

The yellow filly finally recovered as she slowly slid her face out of her mane.

The cyan pegasus didn't seem quite convinced.
"Yeah... How do we know you're not a spy or anything...?"

Pearl blinked.
"A spy?"

The cyan pegasus became furious as she pointed a hoof at her.
"Aha! So you ARE a spy!"
She was about to fly towards town to call for help, but realized that if she do that...
She quickly landed and shielded the yellow pegasus filly.
"Fluttershy, quick! Hide! I'll take care of her! She's probably one of those foulnappers again!"

Both Pearl and Fluttershy blinked.

"B-but Rainbow Dash..."
She managed to talk.
"She doesn't look like a bad pony..."

"Looks can fool, 'Shy."
The rainbow maned pegasus said as she pushed the yellow pegasus filly back as she took a few steps back.

"And...I thought they were after...you..."

Rainbow Dash lost her angry face as the realization struck her.
"Oh yeah..."
She whispered quietly.

Pearl shook her head.
"Look, I'm not going to uh...foalnap you...whatever that means..."
She then flashed them a small smile.
"...I just wanted to see Henry."

"Who are you to him, anyway?"
Rainbow Dash asked as she flew a few hooves above the yellow filly's height.
She crossed her forehooves on her chest as she waited for an answer.

Pearl suddenly found interest on the base of the doorframe as a small blush rose from her cheeks.
"W-well... I'm his..."

"Wait, no!"
Rainbow pointed a hoof at her as she closed her eyes.
"Don't tell me all of that mushy-business."
She then flew outside and landed a few hooves away from the door.
She then pointed a hoof towards a small town from the distance.

Pearl followed the direction of the filly's hoof, and saw a small settlement in the distance, with a large tree poking out of the edge of the settlement.

"Henry's down there, probably in the library."
Rainbow then turned to face the smiling mare, ignoring the glittering eyes.
"I didn't know Henry's all into this stupid mushy stuff..."
She said quietly to herself as she flew back inside the cottage.

Fluttershy then came out.
"Um... I can walk you there, that is...if you want."

Pearl tore her gaze away and shifted it to the filly, who was shyly hiding her face behind her mane as she rubbed a hoof on the snowy ground.
"I think I'll be fine."
She smiled.
"Thank you."

After receiving a smile from the filly, she began to trot towards town.

'Walking is really...weird... It's tiresome...'
She shook her head to dismiss the thought.
Right now, she needs to concentrate on the path towards the town, unknown to her that the two fillies in the cottage were still staring at her.

"I don't trust her."
Rainbow Dash said as she locked her gaze on the blue mare.

Fluttershy decided not to comment.

The cyan pegasus then flapped her wings.
"I'm gonna keep an eye on her, just to be sure."

"I don't think you have to worry, Rainbow..."
Fluttershy said, but she was ignored as the cyan pegasus quietly took to the skies.
"Oh well..."
She smiled as she went back to the cottage.
'I hope she can handle the mushiness.'
She giggled.

---

Rainbow Dash carefully took a small puff of cloud from the sky, and used it to hide herself as she followed the blue mare who was happily trotting towards PonyVille.
She then lied down on the cloud on her belly, hung her head on the edge, and grabbed the sides on the cloud with her hooves as she flapped her wings to quietly watch the mare undetected.

So far, the mare is unaware that the cyan pegasus filly is following her.

----------
4. Pearl's Visit
----------

At first, the mare was nervous after spotting a number of ponies walking around town as she got there, but after receiving a number of smiles from them, and not minding her, her fear began to fade, and was simply replaced with amazement and wonder, as she happily walked through town, her head turning left and right, enjoying the buildings and the other things she has never seen before.

She reached PonyVille's market place, where a number of ponies were already starting to close their stalls. She just watched the busy ponies doing their tasks, having no idea what they were doing.
Although she kept wearing a neutral smile on her face, as she watched to satisfy her curiousity.

Wait...
She needs to go and look for Henry.
How could she forgot about that!?

She quickly started walking towards the nearest pony: a red earth pony stallion with a lime-green colored apple as a cutie mark.
The stallion was busy putting a few barrels of apples onto a wooden wagon from his stall when the blue mare who was approaching stopped a few hooves from him.

"Howdy miss," Big Macintosh greeted with a nod, "care tah buy som' apples?"

"Hello."
Pearl greeted back as she waved a hoof at him.

Whatever she said next was completely lost as the stallion started to see things.
The blue mare before him was shining, peaceful birds singing in the background, as her black sparkling eyes slowly blinked a few times as she gave him a very sexy smile he has never seen before.
Suddenly, a loud drum was pounding in the background, hurting his chest in every beat, as his lungs filed a complaint for shortage supply of air, but the message couldn't reach the brain from the traffic of hearts filling his eyes.
A screw went loose, dropping his jaw as wrenches fixed a smile on his face.

And he coughed.
'Finally' his lungs sighed in relief.

"Oh my goodness!"
Pearl paniced as she rushed to him, rubbing his back.
"A-are you okay?"

He hung his head real low as he gave his lungs the air it needed. His cheeks were really heating up, even his red natural coat couldn't hide the crimson-red blush that was plastered on them. And what was worse, his brain couldn't perform the simplest task of saying something. And worst, her hooves are running from his mane to his back, sending the shivers through his spine, and down to his hooves, were immobility became an understatement.

In short, he was frozen.

Up above, the cyan pegasus filly felt disgusted as she rolled her eyes, that even a tough stallion such as Big Macintosh could also have that stupid mushiness.

Other ponies started wondering what was going on, and a few started helping Big Macintosh.
Finally, the red stallion finally got back to reality, and quickly shook his head to recover further.

"You okay, Mac?"
Asked an orange earth stallion, one of Big Macintosh's friends and business rival.

Pearl has brought her hoof back on the ground, still looking worried for whatever happened to the red stallion.

"Y-yeah... Just tired, Ah suppose..."
Big Macintosh replied, and he followed it with a nervous chuckle, and coughed a few times soon after.
He took the courage to land a gaze on the lovely blue mare, and though his heart started acting crazy once again, it at least was more managable now.
"S-sorry fer worryin' yah, miss."
He tried his best to flash the tiniest smile.

"Are you sure?"
Pearl asked while other ponies started going back to their task they temporarily left unattended.
After receiving a fast nod from the stallion, she tried to smile, though still worried.
"Well, okay. Um... I was just wondering if you know where Henry is?"

'Oh...'
Big Macintosh frowned, but he quickly banished the expression, and replaced it with a calm-yet-forced smile.
He then lifted a hoof, and pointed at a huge tree towering above the sea of rooftops.
"See that tree over there?"

Pearl turned to where he was pointing at, and nodded.

"That there's the library."
He then brought his hoof back on the ground.
"I dunno where Henry lives, but that's where he works. So it's best tah try there first, if Ah were you."

Pearl turned to him, and gave him a warm smile as she nodded her thanks.
And with that, she quickly turned to the right direction, and began to trot to her destination.

Big Macintosh took a huge amount of air, and let out a deep, nervous and sad sigh.
He then felt a hoof on his shoulder.

"Aw, cheer up, Mac."
Said his friend.
"One day, you'll find a gal you could love."

The red stallion replied with an appreciative smile.

---

It was beginning to get dark, but the town was lit up by street lights, shedding good amounts of light for ponies to walk around town. A number of the ponies outside waved a hoof at her, some simply smiled.
She simply replied with a smile as she continued walking towards the giant tree a few more meters away.
Her heart was already starting to pound hard. Either excitement or nervousness, she didn't care, for what matters most is that she can finally see Henry again.

Their weekly meeting has become sore ever since the green alicorn was running out of ideas of how to impress her mother.

She noticed the door of the library opened, and a white unicorn filly came out, with a book levitated behind her, and the filly began walking on the opposite direction where Pearl was taking.

Eventually, the two's paths collided, and instead of the usual smile or wave of a hoof Pearl received from other ponies, the filly stopped her as she examined her with a sharp eye.

"Um..."
Pearl could only say after the sight of a measuring tape came out from the filly's saddlebag, and the filly started taking the blue mare's measurement.

Finally, as the measuring tape went back inside the saddlebag, the filly's serious expression was suddenly replaced by an excited squeel, which confused her further.
And finally, she spoke, with stars swirling in her eyes.
"Oh, you are so so so beautiful! Just the perfect mare for my new design!"

"Eh..."

The white unicorn filly clapped her hooves in excitement.
"Oh my! You simply must let me design you this wonderful fashion idea I have for spring!"

Pearl took a step back, as she was starting to freak out from the filly.
"Uh..."

The filly however, composed herself as she levitated the blue mare with ease.
"No time to waste darling!"

"W-wait, what?"
Pearl said as she was being pulled away from the library.
"No, please! Let me down!"

But the filly's ears were filled by her own excited murmurs to herself, making the cyan pegasus above almost feel sorry for the blue mare.

"Aw well."
Rainbow Dash said as she started flying away, still carrying the cloud with her.
"Rarity will take care of her."
She chuckled.

Too excited, Aurora didn't even notice that she took the second Daring Do book without checking it out when she went back home earlier.
Instead of flying, she decided to walk back towards the library. After all, the cold snowy ground really felt good, even though the evening wind was already chilly.
Her happy trot was put into a halt after she saw Rarity, walking in a fast-pace, probably excited about another one of her fashion projects yet again, but the filly was not the reason why she stopped, but the blue struggling mare that was levitated by the filly...with ease.

The blue mare was crying for help, but nopony seems to be willing to lend a helping hoof, and they have no idea why would they even help.

As the filly and the mare passed the orange pegasus by, Aurora couldn't quite be sure why the blue mare looked awkwardly familiar, until her gaze saw a glimpse of her cutie mark.

"P-P-Pearl!?"

---

Henry was using his magic to mop the floor of the first floor of the library. He was supposed to close the library an hour ago, but lately, he's been spending his time inside to continue writing the third Daring Do book.
He turned to look at the pink earth filly, who was busy reading a book, and writing some calculations and drawings on pieces of paper on the table.
She really looked serious, and it scared him.

"Henry!"
A loud voice from outside jerked the two ponies inside: Henry, losing his focus on the mop, and Pinkie, falling off of her chair.

The library's door swung open, and Aurora quickly ran inside, leaving a trail of snow behind.
The pink earth pony giggled that she fell on the floor, and Henry gave the pegasus an annoyed look as she got in front of him.

"What?"
Aurora asked after noticing the angry glare the green alicorn was giving.

Henry turned his gaze on the floor behind her, and Aurora turned around, and found the reason why the alicorn was angry.
She slowly turned around with a sheepish apologetic smile.
"Oops?"
She then shook her head.
"Floor later! You, Carousel Boutique, now!"

Henry's angry stare turned into a more confused stare.
"What?"

"Rarity foalnapped Pearl!"
'Well, not really, but hey, adding a little bit of fun won't hurt anypony...right?'

"She---what?"
Henry shook his head.
"Is this a prank?"
Aurora shook her head.
"But how could Pearl get here?"

Aurora shook her head once again.
"I don't know, but I DO know what I saw. Blue, long black mane, pearl cutie mark?"

Henry would love to see Pearl if it were true, but he also knew it was impossible.
She's a seapony. How could she get here in PonyVille, anyway?

"Ooh! Ooh! A new pony's in town?!"
The pink pony hopped around excitingly.

"Pinkie!"
Henry shouted.
"Wait, no!"

But it was too late. In a split of a second, Pinkie wiped her things away and went out of the library.

"Ugh..."
Henry brought a hoof on his forehead.
He then turned to the pegasus.
"You know the book she took, right?"
The pegasus nodded.
"Could I ask you to check that book out?"
Another nod from the pegasus.
"Good. Now..." he said, doubtful, "...I better go and check on Rarity...or Pearl, if she's there..."

---

Rarity was disappointed that a very important fabric for her project is already out. But, as a fashionista, she couldn't just bring the bad news to her customers now, would she? Of course not!

Fixing the blue mare in front of a large mirror, the white filly excitingly pulled a huge number of her wonderful designs.

In a magic of a second, Pearl found herself staring at her reflection, where she was wearing a wonderful gown of yellow, edges sparkling like diamonds, and paired with a very beautiful yellow hat, where she admitted to herself, that she looked wonderful. White stripes ran down on the spine of the dress.

Pearl smiled with shining eyes, while the white filly brought a hoof on her chin, examining the blue mare.
She closed her eyes as she shook her head.
"Too yellow..."

In a magic of a second, Pearl found herself wearing a light blue dress, where the tips were curled out-side-up, with laces of red on the back, and paired with an arched-shape blue hat.
Pearl could only blink, staring at herself. She prefer the yellow one.

The white filly brought a hoof on her chin, examining the blue mare.
She closed her eyes as she shook her head.
"Too blue...and you're already blue..."

In a magic of a second, Pearl found herself wearing a red gown, with a cut on one of the sides to reveal one of her hind legs. Black laces were stiched on the corners of the gown, and silver-white linings dancing from the bottom to the top of the dress.
Pearl was not sure if blue and red could be a good combination.

And the fashionista agrees.
"Too red..."
Well, she at least agreed a bit...

In a magic of a second, Pearl found herself wearing a green gown, with brown linings running down on the dress, and orange laces on the back, forming a cute little bow, almost unnoticable. And it was paired with a green hat.

"Ack!"
The white filly cried, not even giving the blue mare a chance to think about her own opinion about the dress.
"Green is definitely an awful color!"
She gritted her teeth.

"I'd say... I'm hurt."
Said a very familiar voice in the room.

Both mares gasped, and the white filly quickly spun around and saw the green alicorn, comfortably seated on a white chair, and eating popcorn.

"Oh, no no no!"
Henry smiled as he waved a hoof at them.
"Don't stop on my account."

Pearl, after convincing herself that she wasn't dreaming or something, smiled.
"H-Henry?"

The green alicorn waved a hoof.
"Hi Pearl."

----------
5. Winter Wrap-Up
----------

Henry finally has a reason to go back to his house after working in the library.
Pearl's first few days in PonyVille was full of curiousity. She had a lot of questions, and Henry tried his best to answer each one of them, with Sunset and Aurora's help.
Now, they're living together, after Pearl assured him that she let her parents know of her whereabouts.

"Are you sure they know?"
Henry asked while they were helping each other in cleaning the house.

"Mm-hmm."
The blue mare replied as she nodded, while wiping the windows with a wash cloth.

"How? You said that this Zecora-pony turned you into an earth pony before the thought of informing your parents came into mind."

Typical Henry, Pearl thought.
Always trying to see the sense of things before convincing himself.
"Oh, I asked a friend."

"Oh."
But then it struck him.
"A...friend?"

"Yep."
She smiled, trying her best to hold a giggle.
"A really good friend of mine."

Henry was beginning to feel angry, but tried to set it aside. Not jumping into conclusions, he thought.
"Who is this friend?"

"Ah, oh? He's a good friend. Reliable, fast, and patient."
She replied calmly.

"So...this friend's a 'he'...?"
He failed to control his voice a bit.

Pearl noticed the tone of his voice, and decided to let it go now, before it gets worse.
She turned to him, and gave him a lovely smile, contrasting the green pony's angry frown.
"He's a turtle, silly!"

Now, weeks after, the sky became clear, though the gloomy clouds were still hanging around.
The early morning sun was starting to rise, and ponies were all gathered in front of Town Hall, where each of every pony were wearing three different colors of clothes.

"Ladies and gentlecolts!"
Said the stallion that stood on a raised flatform, holding a microphone.
"First and foremost, me and Vice Mayor Mare would like to thank you all for coming here early."

Henry and Pearl both were wearing green-colored clothes, and were standing side-by-side, listening to Mayor Colt. A few ponies in front of them were Daybreak and Snow Flake, and both were wearing tan-colored clothes, and Aurora, who was beside the yellow unicorn, was wearing a blue-colored clothe, as well as her mother, Sunset, who was standing beside her.

"You know the drill ponies! Everypony here should do their part to wrap up winter, so we can finally welcome spring!"

The crowd cheered, especially a particular yellow pegasus filly, who was wearing a tan-colored cloth, hovering above the sea of ponies, and beside her was the rainbow-maned cyan pegasus filly, who simply smiled at her best friend.

"For those who are new in PonyVille, we ponies here in this little town don't use magic to change the seasons. It has been our tradition since the first earth ponies began PonyVille."

Happy chatters and whispers echoed around.

Pearl turned to Henry with a confused look.
"Wouldn't that take us a while to finish?"

Henry smiled as he opened a wing, and wrapped it around the blue mare's back.
"It might be, but it's fun, nonetheless...though...I sure will miss winter."

Pearl flashed a small smile.
"Well, okay then. So long as I'm with you."
She nuzzled the green pony's neck.

"Okay everypony, you all ready?!"

"Yeah!"

Mayor Colt smiled.
"Sorry... I think I suddenly became deaf. What was that?"

"WE'RE READY!"
Shouted the crowd.

"Well, what are you all standing around there for?"
He laughed as he used his magic to wear a green-colored clothe.
"Let's get this show on the road!"

And the crowd cheered.

---

"Three months of winter coldness,
a chilly holiday~"
A group of ponies began to sing as they started removing the snow on the houses' roofs.

"We've kept all our hooves warm at home,
time off from work to play~"
Ponies sang as they started shoveling the snow on the streets.

"But the food we've stored is running out,
and we can't grow in this cold~"
Ponies who were carrying the wagons for the shovelled snow sang.

"But spring is coming and
it brings new stories yet be told~"
Cheerilee sang as she helped in shoveling the snow around the school.

"The time has come to welcome spring
And all things warm and green~"
The pegasi ponies sang as they started clearing the skies.

"But it's also time to say goodbye
It's winter we must clean~"
Ponies clearing the snow on tree tops sang.

"How can I help? I'm new, you see
What does everypony do?
How do I fit in without some knowledge?
I haven't got a clue!"
Daybreak, Aurora and Pearl sang as they turned around, looking at the busy ponies.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
Let's finish our holiday cheer~"
The mayor and vice mayor sang, as they helped around.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
Big Macintosh sang as he helped clearing the snow on their farm.

"'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
The ponies sang together.

"Bringing home the southern birds
A Pegasus' job begins~
And clearing all the gloomy skies
To let the sunshine in~
We move the clouds
And we melt the white snow~"
Rainbow Dash sang as she showed Aurora how to clear clouds with a powerful kick.

"When the sun comes up
Its warmth and beauty will glow~!"
Pinkie Pie and Rarity sang as they gracefully slid on the ice of the lake.

And everypony then took a deep breath.
"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
Let's finish our holiday cheer~
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~!"

"Little critters hibernate
Under the snow and ice~
We wake up all their sleepy heads
So quietly and nice~"
Fluttershy sang as she helps her animal friends wake up for spring.
"We help them gather up their food
Fix their homes below~
We welcome back the southern birds
So their families can grow~!"

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
Let's finish our holiday cheer~
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~!"

"No easy task to clear the ground
Plant our tiny seeds~"
AppleJack sang as she buries a seed on the ground.
"With proper care and sunshine
Everyone it feeds~
Apples, carrots, celery stalks
Colorful flowers too~
We must work so very hard
It's just so much to do~!"

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
Let's finish our holiday cheer~"
Pearl smiled as Henry helped her carry the shovel full of snow.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
Daybreak and Snow Flake helped Fluttershy with waking the animals.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~!"

The sunlight has finally managed to get through a few holes on the gloomy clouds, and started melting the ice on the lake.

"Now that I know what they all do
I now know my place~"
Aurora sang as she cleared a gloomy cloud.

"And help with all of my heart
Tough task ahead I face~"
Pearl sang as she stood beside her alicorn, and helped him pull the wagon.

"How will I do without my magic
Help the Earth pony way~
I wanna belong so I must
Do my best today,
Do my best today!"
Daybreak sang as he walked away from the daydreaming snakes crawling after him.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
Let's finish our holiday cheer~"
Fluttershy helped the snakes calm down.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!
'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
Pinkie Pie and Rairty stood clear of the breaking ice.

"Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!"
The gloomy clouds have finally been cleared

"'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
The birds started arriving.

"'Cause tomorrow spring is here~"
The snow on the ground were now almost cleared.

"'Cause tomorrow spring is here~!"

Chapter 17 - Music of Midnight

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Chapter 17 - Music of Midnight

----------
Part One of Two
Music Of The Violin
----------

"I can't read anymore..."
Complained a green alicorn pony, who was seated on a stool, his head and his forehooves lazily rested on the paper-filled table inside his house by the window.

A blue earth pony mare chuckled at her green pony. She was seated on the other side of the table, busily reading one of the many letters Henry received in the past few months.

They have been reading the large amounts of letters for hours now, ever since they finished eating breakfast and washing the dishes.

"Oh, come on."
Pearl said with a smile as she poked the green pony's nose.
"Don't disappoint your fans."

"Guh..."
He whispered as he slowly rose his head back.
He used his magic to lift his glasses from his head as he brought both forehooves to rub his aching eyes.
"This is ridiculous..."

"Well, it's your fault."
The mare replied teasingly as she opened another letter.
She unfolded the letter, and gasped.
"Oh my, look at this!"
She exclaimed, excited, and caught the green pony's attention as he snapped in full attention, feeling slightly eager to either listen or read, whatever the content was on the letter.
Pearl happily turned the paper towards him.
"It's another long letter!"
She said in an excited tone, and she followed it with a couple of laughs, contrasting Henry's disappointed frown.

It's been almost two weeks since the ponies of PonyVille welcomed spring. The weather in those days were as clear and bright as ever, but now, the Sunday gloomy sky is about to rain, as what was posted on the weather bulletin in front of town hall.

Only a number of ponies were walking on the earthy path of PonyVille, and they were walking at a rather fast pace, trying to get to their destinations before the rain starts.

Soon, the heavens started to shower the land of PonyVille, and as Pearl read another letter, Henry was running a hoof on the table, randomly shifting the letters around until one of the letters with a familiar seal caught a few available light in the area, causing it to shine and catch the bored eyes of the green pony.

He grabbed the letter after recognizing the seal. It was from the princess. From the princess! How could he have not seen this sooner!?
He quickly opened the letter and immediately read the contents of the long letter. It was dated a month before.

---

Dear Henry Hoof,

I am writing to you to inform you of the status of the search for the other changeling races, and as well as Chrysalis. But first and foremost, I would like to apologize for a rather slow progress of the search, but allow me to inform you that the search teams have finally finished searching every parts of Equestria.

Now, for the other changeling races. We have discovered a hidden cave located in San Palomino Desert. The said cave goes underground, until the narrow path ended in a very wide and spacious underground lake, and the walls of the cave were filled with holes all over. On the center of the lake was a giant floating crystal of yellow energy, giving off enough light to see everything around. Unfortunately, what we found were corpses of changelings. And judging from their eyes, they are the fallen race of the yellow-eyed changelings. The place was full of evidence of a harsh and grim battle. And their piece of the Emotion Stone: the Earth's Tear, was not in the said location.

I am sure you are aware of our meeting with Chrysalis back at the Frozen Nurth a few months ago. I should probably let you know that after Chrysalis was defeated during our battle, her minions created a distraction, enough to save their queen and fled from me. I would like to admit that my injuries during the said battle prevented me from stopping her, and for that, I would apologize.

I would believe that her presence in the said location was for her to retrieve the Heaven's Tear from the white-eyed changelings who are more adapt in living in the cold environment of the Frozen Nurth. Unfortunately for her, we managed to stop her, and created enough time to warn the changeling race in the said location, and we believe that they have fled outside of Equestria from Chrysalis, but unfortunately, we also believe that the green-eyed changelings, which is led by the said queen of changelings, gave chase to the fleeing white-eyed changelings.

I would like you to know that I have sent letters of the said information to the neighboring regions, though I have yet to receive their response, if they are so willing to. The changeling race is, unfortunately, a race greatly despised in other regions, but I would still linger to hope that the leaders of the other regions would be merciful.

I believe that you already know about the Emotion Stone, since you are the librarian of my beloved PonyVille, but allow me to remind you of what it is, that is, if you have forgotten, or gained minimal knowledge of the said stone. The Emotion Stone is an ancient artifact that holds great magic. The stone was created by Starswirl himself during his early years, and it was during the time where Equestria is slowly starting to unite. Starswirl's purpose of creating such a stone was for him to provide us an easier way to unite the different races of ponies in different parts of Equestria. During those times, even though the war of heaven and earth has come to an end, the walls in each heart of ponies were still too high and too thick to accept unity. Unfortunately, we have encountered quite a number of problems that Starswirl was not able to use the said stone. One of such events was the Windigos, where Equestria was in the brink of death, but fortunately, a tiny glimmer of hope and friendship that was formed by an earth pony, a unicorn and a pegasus pony managed to create the Flame of Unity, and it was then that Equestria was slowly starting to unite for a better place to live.

We however, do not yet know what would Chrysalis want to accomplish from obtaining the stone.

I would like to end my letter here. If you are not busy, I would like to invite you to the castle for a meeting. If however, you are not able to attend, then I will understand.

The Ruler of Equestria,
Princess Celestia

---

The trip to Canterlot was both quiet and fun. Fun, for Pearl, at least, for it was her first time to be inside a train. She always roam around, looking at every window where she thinks has the best view of a number of scenery.
Henry was simply watching his mare with amusement, and often times, he needed to ask for forgiveness to a number of ponies who got annoyed or got bothered by the blue mare.

After an hour, the sky became clear again, giving the sun the chance to dry the land of Equestria.

During the last hour of the trip, Pearl sat beside the green pony and apologized, though Henry simply shrugged it off.

After arriving in Canterlot, Pearl stuck close to Henry. Even though going to a new place excited her, seeing a lot of ponies still made her feel scared, though a tiny bit, since she was with her stallion.
Even though she was feeling a little bit of fear, she still managed to look around, noticing the tall buildings of the city, where she felt as if she became so small.

"Henry!"
A familiar voice yelled from the other side of the street.

Both Henry and Pearl turned to see a dark-blue unicorn mailpony, who was cheerfully committing jaywalking just to reach them.

Henry smiled as Pearl tried to hide on the green pony's side.

"Been a while, Midnight."
Henry greeted as soon as Midnight got to them.
"So how's life?"

Midnight frowned for a little while, until he quickly replaced it with a small smile.
"Life's been good."
He simply replied, and held his smile against Henry's 'I don't believe you' frown.
He dropped his smile as he took a breath and sighed.
"Okay, no... Life's been really really difficult ever since spring came..."

"Why so?"
Henry asked as Pearl slowly eased a bit.

Midnight then turned around, and pointed at the large school building on the other side of the street.
"See that school there?"
Both Pearl and Henry nodded as Midnight turned to face them, just in time to see their nods.
"Well, I enrolled 'Tavie there, since she always wanted to be like Melody: a musician."

Henry took a glance at the school's name, engraved above the school's gate.
'Canterlot Music School'

Midnight flashed a small smile.
"A week before spring came, Melody and I took 'Tavie there for an entrance exam, and I couldn't be proud that she passed!"
His smile widened, and Henry and Pearl shared a smile.
Though Midnight's smile then turned yet again into a frown.
"I've been dropping her to school before I go to work, and I am also trying my best to spare a little of my working hours to get back home if Melody needed to go somewhere to play her violin, but..."
He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, and exhaled as he dropped his head low.
"...it's...stressful..."
Henry was about to say something when Midnight brought his head back up.
"Don't get me wrong. I love both of them, and I am willing, really am, to be there for them...but it's just..."
He shook his head a bit.
"...too hard..."

Pearl spoke, giving the unicorn some friendly and supportive words, though Henry did not focus on their conversation as he slowly turned towards the city's clock tower from afar.
Thirty-two minutes after three in the afternoon.

"...yeah. It's a bit of a good thing that 'Tavie's schedule is only during the morning..."
Henry's ears caught a bit of Midnight's voice as he started to drift into his own thoughts.

It is sad to hear the unicorn struggling. And in such a young age. He needs to help him, but how, and if he can, will it help or will it ease their problems a bit?

"...she's starting to get lonesome, being alone..."

A mailpony's salary isn't that big. It was a good thing that they are not paying rent. At least Midnight only has to worry about daily food and Octavia's school. But Melody is helping with their financial problems.

"...around once or twice a week. Yeah, she's still receiving invitations to play..."

So once or twice only in a week?
A school for music is expensive. Surely, Midnight knows about this, and if not, then Melody must have informed him.

"...expensive, yeah, but we can manage, for Octavia. That's her dream, anyway."

So he does know. Adding his salary, plus Melody's...
Then...

"So..."
Henry spoke has he slowly faced the two, who stopped whatever they were talking as they faced the green alicorn.
"What's the problem?"

---

Henry, Pearl and Midnight stopped and stood in front of an old and unkept-looking five-storey apartment building. The red paint of the structure was already fading and gray. Some of the windows are even broken.

"Why are we here again?"
Henry managed to ask in a low voice, even though if he'll use his normal volume, the ponies walking around still won't mind them.

Midnight took a few steps forward and stopped in front of them and turned to face them.
"This is where we live now."

"What?"
Henry gasped.
"But what happened?"

Midnight closed his eyes as he took a breath and sighed.
"I'll explain inside..."

Midnight turned and walked towards the brown door, and Pearl slowly followed.
Henry shook his head in disbelief. Whatever happened, he needed to know.
He looked around, and noticed the left neighboring building of the apartment is an old musical shop, though it looked as if it was still kept clean and presentable, even through it's old fading orange paint, and a few cracks on the wide glass windows and doors of the shop.

Once inside, Midnight walked to the counter and told the receptionist that the two ponies are his guests. The old earth pony mare in the counter simply shrugged and went back to reading the daily newspaper.

Henry and Pearl followed Midnight, who led them to the third floor of the apartment.
While going there, both Pearl and Henry noticed the surroundings: wallpapers decaying and torn, dust-full of portraits hung on walls, creaky wooden stairsteps, broken railings on a number of staircases, dimly-lit hallways where a number of lightbulbs no longer work, while some are flashing on and off, dusty floors, dead plants on pots, brown curtains that looked like it used to be either white or yellow, broken doorknobs where the only way to lock them is either pushing something against the door from the inside or installing a chain lock, and finally, the third door from the staircase was the one where Midnight knocked on the doorknob-less door.

Henry heard a voice from inside, and Midnight then responded, but neither voices couldn't process the words in his head has his thoughts were consumed of how sad this place is, and what was worse, this is where Midnight, who stood in front of the opening door, Octavia, a filly who opened the door, and Melody, who quietly sat on an old-looking sofa, live.

The room itself was small, but still big enough for a family of three or four. The room had a sofa, an old bed, big enough for four ponies, a small dining table near the dirty-looking sink, an old brown tall cabinet for cloths. There was a small room with a closed door, probably the bathroom.

"We have guests."
Midnight simply said as he sat beside Melody and nuzzled her neck.

"Oh?"
Melody said as Henry and Pearl helped themselves in pulling stools from the table and sat in front of the couple, where Octavia joined and sat in between Melody and Midnight.

"You already know Henry. You know, my uncle?"
Midnight asked, and he received a nod from the mare.
"The other one is Pearl, my uncle's special somepony."

Melody let out a small yet warm smile and waved a hoof to where she hoped was in front of her, and fortunately, they were, but Pearl was struck by the realization that the mare in front of her is blind.
How could the beautiful ability to see the beauty of the world was not present for a pony such as she?
She could not imagine how to live a life without the gift of sight.
She shook her head and hung her head low.

Henry noticed Pearl's actions, and placed a hoof on top on her own. Sensing her stallion's hoof made her feel better, at least a bit.

Henry gave her a small smile before facing the couple in front of them.
"Midnight..."

Midnight sighed.
"I know... I know... I have a lot of explaining to do."

Henry nodded.

---

It started after 'Tavie passed the entrance exam. The three of us were so happy that she passed, and we decided to celebrate, but when we got back to the house, Melody's father was there, standing in front of the gates.

It was fine that he was there, that was the first thing on my mind, but after he told us that he sold the house, I got furious. I don't think...I need to go into detail of how I beat the crap out of him, but I know, no matter how much I beat him, I couldn't do a thing to stop him.

He was determined to sell the house and get the money for himself, and what was worse, he left Melody and Octavia, and told them that he no longer wanted to see them ever again. And worst, to prove his point, he threw Melody's violin on the ground, and it broke to pieces...

That hurts...it really hurts to see Melody and Octavia crying like that, and it made me even angrier to see that damn pony easily said those set of words to his own kid and grandkid. I mean, how heartless could that f...creep possibly be!?

It was no use, and I needed to find a place for us to stay. We spent a night on an alleyway, trying our best to hide from police ponies. And the next day, I found this place.

Even though we're living here, I am still thankful...no...we are still thankful, for at least we have a place to sleep through the night, and ponies around who I meet along the way often times gave me invitations for Melody to perform. Maybe once or twice a week, in different restaurants in Canterlot.

But we needed to rent a violin for her to perform. Damn it, violins are too expensive. But at least we could rent some, so I guess that'll have to do...for now.

---

Henry went out of the apartment to feel the cold city spring air, so he could calm himself. Hearing Midnight's story made him angry, really angry, and so he excused himself. They understood, to his relief.

He came to Canterlot to see the princess, but that will have to wait. He needs to do something for them.
He sat in front of the old and rusty iron fence of the apartment. Ponies don't seem to mind him though, but a number of them recognized him and asked what was wrong, but he simply gave them a small yet forced smile and told them not to worry.

Probably from his tone or from his facial expression, the concerned ponies decided to ignore him, to his request. As a number of ponies started to bug him to bring back the annoyance inside him, he stood up after the last pony walked off, and he went inside the music shop just beside the old apartment.

As he swung the glass door open, it hit a bell above, signalling his arrival.
An old earth stallion looked up to him from the counter, and flashed him a smile and a nod before going back to reading a book.
Henry shrugged as he walked around the piles of instruments, staring at them, not to look at them, but to ease himself.

A large piano, cellos, xylophones, trumpets, drums, flutes, and many others.

He stopped after his eyes locked on a glass case on a table, and inside was a very fine piece of instrument. He is no musician, but from the looks of it, he could tell that it was crafted well, probably by an expert of music. Seeing the surface, he could imagine how smooth the wood is. Even the strings looked perfect, even though they only looked plain and simple.

"Ah, we have another sharp eye."
Said the old stallion with a chuckle as he stood up.
"That there's a very fine piece o' violin, my friend."

Henry could only nod in agreement, not even bothering to remove his eyes on the violin.

"Y'know..."
Said the stallion as he got beside the green alicorn.
"...I get quite a few ponies here 'round, and often times, they only took a look at this 'ere violin, and then look elsewhere. You're the second one who gave this baby the attention it so deservely needed."

"Is that so?"
Henry asked as he turned to face him with an arched eyebrow.

The old stallion nodded.
"Yep. The first one's my neighbor. Midnight is his name, I think."
Henry nodded as he turned back to the violin.
"Ya know, from the look of that boy, I could tell that he really wanted this violin. Well, too bad for him if you're here to buy this baby. He used to come here often, asking me if I could let 'im rent this here violin. I would but, I can't just simply put my trust on anypony these days. Have to be careful in this generation, y'know?"

Henry took a look at the price tag, and he had to hold his surprise after seeing the price.

"Yep, sorry, but this baby's that expensive. Used to be displayed in one of the museums here 'till it was given to me during my younger years as a prize when I won in the grand championship musical tournament here in Canterlot."

Henry snapped back to reality after reaching his words. He took a glance at his cutie mark, and of course, a violin, though in a different angle of view if compared to Melody's cutie mark.
He then looked at the wall near the counter, and he saw quite a number of framed photos of an earth pony, playing a violin on stage.

"Yep, this baby used to be my partner, but sad that I could no longer manage steady hooves to play a single simple note when I became old. Ah, the memories."

"I'll take it."

"Well, that's a fine...wait, what?"
He took a step back, completely surprised.
"You serious there boy?"

Henry looked into his sidebag as he used his magic to open it and lift his pouch bag.

"Now how'd you do that? You're a pegasus, for pony's sake."
Henry used his magic to slightly lift his hat to reveal his horn.
The old stallion's eyes grew wide in disbelief.
"Oh my... You're an alicorn? Wow."
He flashed a smile.
"Never knew I'd be this lucky to see one other than Princess Celestia."

Henry lifted the glass case where the violin is and levitated it towards the counter as the old stallion kept on taking as he went back to the counter.

"I used to play inside the castle all the time! I sure made a name back in those days."
He smiled as he shook his head and as Henry brought the bits on the counter.

The door swung open, and the bells rang, and came inside was a dark-blue unicorn pony, and quickly made his way towards the counter.

"Henry," Midnight started as he reached them, "hey, we were starting to worry about you."

"Hey there, boy."
Greeted the old stallion.
"Mighty sorry but this fellow here already bought the violin that you wanted."

Midnight ignored the apologetic-look on the old stallion as he faced Henry's smiling face in disbelief.
"No..."

Henry patted the unicorn's shoulder.
"What? I couldn't just do nothing while my nephew is struggling in life."

---

Midnight carefully removed the violin from the glass casing with his magic, and slowly brought it on Melody's hooves.

With teary eyes, she embraced the violin as she said her thanks.
It was the least Henry could do to help, he told them. The alicorn received a hug from a teary-eyed Midnight and Octavia.

He had to admit, that violin was damn expensive, but, he returned the hug, for he knew it was worth it.

"Also..."
Henry said after the hug broke.
He took something from his sidebag, and levitated a golden cross.
"I---"

"No...!"
Midnight interrupted him, and sent a powerful wave of magic to grab the cross from Henry's magic, and he then brought it back inside his sidebag.
"No more, please."
He shook his head slowly.
"I don't...want to get used to depend on receiving gifts..."

Not really a good set of chosen words, but Henry understood what he was trying to say.
Midnight wanted to prove to himself that he can be a good stallion for both Melody and Octavia.
"I understand..."
Henry smiled, and Midnight reflected the smile back.

----------
Part Two of Two
Magic Of The Piano
----------

Melody is invited to perform in one of the famous music restaurants in Canterlot, near the castle. It was convenient for Henry, for not only can he go to the castle to see why the princess wanted to see him, but after that, he can also go there and listen to Melody's performance.

Knowing Henry will be there made Midnight feel a bit nervous, no matter how many times Melody and Octavia told him to relax, even after Henry and Pearl left the restaurant.

It was now five in the afternoon, and Melody is to perform at around seven. They came early for Melody to practice with the restaurant's pianist.

As Melody began practicing, Midnight was curious and stared at the stallion who was on the piano. He had to admit, playing the piano looked simple and fun. Too bad he has never played any musical instruments before, except for tin cans turned into drums, if that counts.

---

The royal guards have already recognized Henry, and so he and Pearl were allowed to enter the castle's gates, even without the princess' presence. Whatever they meant by that, the guards didn't say, so they simply entered and worked their way towards the royal hall, only to find the little filly Twilight, her pet baby purple dragon, and a pale-pink alicorn, almost as tall as Princess Celestia.
The said alicorn's pony-tailed mane has two shades of pink and yellow, her wings are tinier than Celestia's, the tips of her tail were curled up, and she wore golden horseshoes, almost identical to Celestia's, and she has a cutie mark of a blue crystalized heart.

"Henry!"
Twilight shouted, and immediately ran towards him.

"No Twilight! Wait!"
Shouted the alicorn has she gave chase.

The alicorn caught the filly with her magic, and quickly sent the filly on her back as she growled at the green alicorn.
Pearl was taken aback, while Henry simply stood there, trying to see if he missed something.

"What is a changeling like you doing here in the castle?"
The alicorn asked as her horn glowed.

"Princess Cadance, wait!"
Shouted Twilight as she jumped off her back, ran and stopped in between the alicorns.
The alicorn removed the magical energy on her horn, but kept her expression the same.
"Henry's a good changeling! Please believe me!"

"Uh... Hi?"
Henry quietly said, receiving a confused look from the alicorn.

"So..."
The alicorn began.
"This is the changeling you told me about that one day?"

Twilight nodded.

---

"I am truly sorry about earlier..."
The pink alicorn said as she, Henry and Pearl reached the garden behind the castle.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cadance, and I'm here to temporarily watch over the kingdom and as well as to foalsit Twilight."
She said with a nervous smile.

"Oh," Henry replied, "well, it's good to...make your acquaintance, princess."
Henry bowed, and Pearl as well.
"My name is Henry Hoof, and this is Ocean Pearl."

Pearl waved a hoof at the princess, and she received a smile.

"And I was hoping to see Princess Celestia to talk about something..."

"Well, you can talk to me, if that is no problem."
Cadance replied with a hopeful smile.

Henry flashed a sad smile.
"Well, you see... I don't really know what we are supposed to talk about."

"Oh..."
She hung her head, and took a breath.
She lifted her head back as she let out a sigh.
"Well, Auntie Celestia's not here at the moment. She went to the neighboring regions. I think it has something to do with changelings... She didn't really gave me all the needed information."

Henry looked around for a little while before returning his focus on the princess.
"So uh...when do you think she'll be back?"

Cadance brought a hoof on her chin as she focused her gaze on the sky, deep in thought.
"Hm..." She then brought her hoof back as she looked back at the two ponies.
"Well, it's almost three weeks now since she left."
She shook her head.
"And I am not really sure when she'll be coming back..."

"I see..."
Henry took a breath and sighed.

---

Henry and Twilight are discussing about magic in the garden, while Spike, the filly's baby dragon, is curled on the ground and sound asleep.

A few hooves from them, Princess Cadance and Pearl are enjoying some tea as they sit on one of the garden's tables. The two are taking about life under the sea, since Cadance sensed a strange magic aura surrounding the blue mare.

"I don't think I can perform this spell, Twilight..."
Henry said after reading the description of the spell the filly wanted to try.
"...and I think you shouldn't perform this one."
At first, he couldn't believe that unicorns can even do such a spell: a spell that could give any earth-bound ponies a pair of wings.

"Why not?"
Twilight simply asked as she returned the book to her sight.
"I have made the calculations..."
She said as she levitated a piece of paper from her saddlebag and in front of the green alicorn's face.
"...adjusted the mana requirements to fit my age while still reaching the required amounts of mana energy, though I know you may think it's impossible, but I learned how to draw a little bit of mana from nature such as grass, so that will also help me in performing this spell without exhausting all of my magic, and I really want to try and do this, and when I do, I'll be the first filly to ever perform this spell! Isn't that exciting!?"
She exclaimed as she hopped a few times on the same spot.

Henry could neither read the calculations nor listen to Twilight, for he is clueless to both the written measurements on the paper and the things the filly just said.

"Is...she always like that?"
Asked Pearl, both happy and worried as she gaze at the two magic ponies.

Cadance simply nodded her head as she sipped some tea.
"Yes. She is quite a handful, but I enjoy every moment I spend with her."
Pearl then returned to her with a smile.
"It's strange, but she's like a little sister to me."
She let out a quiet set of chuckles, and Pearl joined her.
"By the way... I hope you don't mind, but..."
Pearl leaned closer, eager to hear what the Princess is about to say.
"...um...why are you with a...changeling?"

Pearl blinked as she flashed a smile.
"W-well..."
And after fighting off the blush, she told a story about how she met the green pony.

---

'I'm not good with music and all that, but listening to Melody's violin sounded really good with the piano...'
Midnight thought as he stood behind the seated pianist, pressing key after key, blending quite melodious to the soothing music of the violin of the mare.

It's going to be a an hour from now before Melody performs in front of the eating customers of the restaurant, though he wondered if the customers could actually hear the music behind the thick curtain. No, he knows the music could be heard.
Not that he minds. Melody's being payed, anyway.

Beside him is a stool, where the filly Octavia is curled and asleep.

Soon, the music ended, and as Melody made small adjustments to her violin, the stallion pianist turned his head to see the unicorn behind him.

"How did that sound?"
The pianist asked through a tired yet satisfied smile.

Midnight could only smile.
"Hey, need I answer that? It sounded great!"

Hearing his voice, Melody managed to smile while adjusting the strings of her violin with closed eyes.

"Hey thanks."
The stallion said as he stood up and stretched his hooves.
"Damn...it sucks to get old..."
He said as he cracked his neck and then turned towards the bathroom.

Midnight, after seeing the bathroom's door closed, turned to the piano. He brought a hoof over a random key, and gently pressed it, making the piano sing a tone, slowly fading.

He thought that if he gets himself a piano as his cutie mark, then he could probably resign as a mailpony, and actually start performing some music around Canterlot, and to be with Melody all the time.
The music industry could provide enough bits for the both of them to send Octavia to school.

But as he randomly pressed a few more keys, his hopes of getting a piano-themed cutie mark is fading away, together with the last key he pressed.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"Midnight?"
Melody called, catching the unicorn's attention, and he began walking towards her.
"Were you the one playing the piano just now?"

"More like randomly pressing the keys..."
He let out a quiet and embarrassed chuckle as he reached her side.

---

After saying their goodbye, Henry Hoof and Pearl slowly made their way towards the restaurant where Melody will be playing. Only less than thirty minutes left before her performance.

As they walked on the sidewalk, Pearl is enjoying the scene with a huge smile on her face as she turned her head left and right. Canterlot was slowly enveloped by the darkness of the night, and a number of street lights were beginning to light up.

Henry was simply cherishing the moment, seeing his mare enjoying the scenes here on earth.

---

"W-what!? Really!? Where!?"
Shouted the pianist as a younger-looking earth pony forced himself inside to see him.

"She's in Canterlot General Hospital!"
Replied the other stallion.

He and Melody were practicing their music when the younger stallion came barging in, bring with him the news that the pianist's wife was sent to the hospital not long ago to deliver a foal.

It's great news for him, but bad for both Melody and Midnight.

"Congratulations."
Melody said with a warm smile, and the pianist replied with a nervous chuckle.

"T-thanks, but..."

Melody closed her eyes as she shook her head.
"You should go, to be there for her."

"But what about---"

"You heard the mare."
Midnight grinned as he gave him a slightly painful pat on his back.
"Go on, get outta here."
Midnight will regret those words later.

After a few seconds of debating in his head, the pianist nodded his thanks and the two earth ponies hastily walked out of the restaurant after he informed the manager of the establishment.

"So...what now?"
Octavia asked with a slight frown.

Both her parents let out a sad sigh.

---

Ponies, even Henry and Pearl, pushed themselves on the wall on a building to make way for two rushing ponies.

"Sorry! Wife giving birth!"
Exclaimed one of them as they continued their haste.

Other ponies resumed their walk with either annoyance or ignoring what just happened, while others smiled and silently wished them well.

Henry and Pearl turned to each other with smiles on their faces.

"I wonder what it's like to give birth..."
Asked Pearl as they continued their walk.

Henry was about to answer casually, when his mind wandered to another direction.
"Wanna find out?"

He let out a chuckle as Pearl playfully pushed him away.

"But really though, we'll get there when we're ready."
Henry said as he nuzzled her cheek.

She returned it with a turn of her head, and slightly kissing his lips.

---

Midnight was peeking through the curtains, and saw Henry and Pearl came inside the restaurant. The two were guided by a unicorn waiter to a table right in front of the stage.

Henry, after he was seated, noticed him and gave a wave of a hoof. Midnight replied with a nervous smile.

He then pulled himself away from the curtain and slowly went towards Melody and Octavia.

They talked to the manager just a while ago, and assured them that even without a pianist, Melody will still perform. With or without a piano, Melody can still perform, the middle-aged unicorn assured them.

Well, at least they can make some bits tonight, though it was a bit sad that Melody won't be accompanied by the piano.

He patted the violinist's shoulder, and kissed her on her cheek.
"You'll do great tonight."
He whispered softly on her ear.

Melody smiled back and said her thanks.

Soon, the middle-aged unicorn stallion came up and informed them that they'll begin in five minutes.

Midnight and Octavia gave the violinist a good luck hug before heading to the side of the stage where the piano stood.

As they got to their places, both ponies turned to face the mare, who is now seated on a stool in the middle of the stage, facing the curtain. She slowly positioned her violin and placed the bow on top of the strings.

Octavia sat on a stool and watched her mother prepare while Midnight's eyes were on the music sheet on the piano. He really wished Melody's performance could be accompanied by the piano.

Midnight took a breath and walked towards the piano. He was staring at the pianist earlier, paying close attention to the keys the stallion pressed during the practice. He memorised a few, but that wouldn't be helpful.

"Two minutes."
The stallion whispered as he walked through the curtain, to welcome the customers and welcome the mare of the night to give them a musical performance.

Midnight took another breath and stared at the keys. None of them made sense to him. He dared a look on the musical sheet, which is opened on the song Melody's going to play. He levitated it with his magic, and turned to the first page.
He blinked.

---

After the unicorn pony on stage greeted everypony in the restaurant, he then introduced the well-known violinist of Canterlot; Melody, as the curtains were slowly being raised.
The ponies gave her a round of applause, even Henry and Pearl. But as the unicorn pony stepped off the stage, Henry's eyes went wide in confusion after seeing the nervous Midnight seated in front of the piano, his eyes focused on the musical sheet, with one torn page levitated beside the musical sheet, and the unicorn is nervously looking on the torn page, and back to the musical sheet.

Melody took a deep breath to calm the nervousness that were still lingering inside her. And as she let out a quiet sigh with a smile, the place slowly became quiet for her music.
She was about to move the bow to start the intro of the music when she heard a piano key that broke the silence. Soon after, another key, and then another, and another, until she finally realized that her pianist came back just in time. Though she needed to focus now, for it's almost her cue to start playing together with the piano.

Unknown to the violinist that Midnight is having a difficult time controlling his nervousness and as he look back and forth from the ripped page of the musical sheet, where it shows the basic notes and where in the piano are the right keys from Do to Ti, then to the musical sheet itself, where the randomly placed notes in different shapes were placed along the five-line grid that always starts with a weird 'S' shape, and then to the piano where he hastily place his shaking hooves to press them.
Because of his nervousness, he didn't even realize that Melody was already playing her violin.

Henry could actually see how nervous Midnight is, but he has to admit that Midnight, so far, is playing quite well with the piano. He smiled after noticing a faint light from the unicorn pianist. Pearl, on the other hoof, closed her eyes and let the rhythm of the music carry her. The other customers enjoyed the music, while some tried to ignore the nervous pianist so they could actually enjoy the music.

They were already in the middle of the song, where Midnight noticed the next following notes were quick and numerous, meaning he needs to quickly press keys after keys after keys. He saw the pianist did those with ease, and he wondered if he can do it as well. Swallowing his doubts, he tried to catch every note.

Melody noticed that something was a bit off with the pianist tonight, but she decided that he may only be suffering from either excitement for having a foal, or nervousness or tiredness, or maybe all three.

Midnight's eyes are shifting rapidly, that it almost looked like he's seeing blurs, as he quickly shifts his eyes from three objects in a fast pace. He didn't mind the sweat that were crawling down from his forehead. He already gained full control of his hooves, with the absence of the shaky nervousness.

Finally, they're reaching the end of the song, to Midnight's relief. There's a part of the end where the piano becomes quiet for the violinist to do her magic with the music, and as he rested the last note for a while, he dared a glance at the crowd.

He expected frowns or faces of disgust. Not only does he is sweating, but he is not wearing the proper clothing for a pianist. Now that he thought about it, it may ruin Melody's reputation for having a pianist such as he, but he saw himself wrong.
The crowd were smiling, and some even closed their eyes. They were actually enjoying the song, or maybe they're just glad the piano became quiet. He didn't bother.

He saw Henry, smiling at him with a hint of 'you have some explaining to do' on his eyes. He replied with a nervous smile before going back to the piano. A few more keys and the music will end.

After Melody slowly stroked a fading note, Midnight started playing the piano with rapid keys, signalling the end, and Melody followed, and afterwards, they both ended the song together.

A second of silence. That simple second lasted too long for Midnight's ears, and it was enough to spark the uncertainty within him. He thought he didn't care, but now that the song was over, rapid emotions of doubt and fear ran through his body. Will he be the one to ruin his mare's career? He could not bear to hold that.

A hoof hitting the floor echoed through the quiet restaurant. It was followed by another, and another, and then another, until the hooves turned into a heartwarming and cheerful round of applause.

Midnight's emotions earlier slowly faded, and it all went away and replaced by pain after the filly Octavia tackled him from his back, giving him a tight hug. The force threw him towards the piano, hitting a few random keys with his chest and hooves.

The crowd didn't seem to mind. In fact, they liked seeing them with their heart-filled hug. It somehow blended well with the song's end.

That alone gave Melody the thought that it was not her pianist that played with her today.
Octavia and Midnight then walked towards the violinist, and both gave her a hug, and the crowd cheered for them.

"Midnight?"
Melody asked, her voice mixed with joy and worry.

"Yeah?"
He whispered, without breaking the hug.

"Were you..."

Henry and Pearl simply continued clapping their hooves.
Henry's focus was on a particular emblem on the unicorn's flank. It's a symbol of change, Henry thought.

Pearl somehow just recently noticed it, and she then turned to Henry with a smile yet worried look.

Henry simply shook his head.
"Don't worry. When he finds that out, I'm sure he'll have...one heck of a night."

Chapter 18 - Henry's Tear

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Henry and Pearl stayed in one of the guestrooms in the castle, since Henry was about to finish writing the third book of the Daring Do series.
And after he was done, he spent a day or two to re-read everything, trying to spot some errors. And after it was done, he and Pearl went to Canterlot Book Express to submit it.

The next train to Ponyville will be arriving in Canterlot's Train Station for a few more hours, so the two ponies decided to check on Midnight and Melody.

And to their relief, everything was going fine. Ever since that night where Midnight accompanied Melody's violin with the piano, the couple have received quite a number of invitations.
After submitting his resignation letter, Midnight has been practicing his skills with the piano in the music shop just beside their apartment. Even the store owner gave him a few pointers.

After saying their goodbyes, Henry and Pearl rode the train to Ponyville, but not after checking the castle, seeing if Princess Celestia has returned.

Arriving in the peaceful town, the couple went directly to the library to resume Henry's job as the librarian, and to give Aurora a break she deservely needed.
But the pegasus filly had nothing else to do: she doesn't go to school, her mother's busy in town hall ever since spring came, and her dad is teaching the young pegasi fillies outside the town.

Now that she thought about it, she might as well go with her dad. She's not a good flyer herself, so she may learn a few tips if she's there.

Ever since spring came, Ponyville became peaceful and quiet yet again, for those who only came during the winter season for a vacation has already left to other places in Equestria.

An hour or so later, the couple heard a hoof knocking on the wooden door of the library. Pearl opened the door, and on the other side was a gray pegasus mare, wearing a mailpony uniform.

Henry introduced the two mares to each other. Ditzy to Pearl, and Pearl to Ditzy. After receiving a question about her foal, and replying that Derpy's a-okay and already learning how to fly for such a young age, she took a package from her delivery bag and gave it to the green alicorn. After signing the papers, she said her goodbye and flew to her next destination.

The said package was wrapped in brown paper. The shape and size is that of a dictionary, and a white paper was stamped on the top of the flat surface of the package, where it states that the receiver of the package is Henry Hoof, and to whom it was from was not stated.

Placing it on the table, Henry used his magic to open the package, and before the two ponies revealed a brownish-yellow wooden box. Lifting the lid, inside was a white folded paper, and on top of it was a very familiar blue tear-shaped gemstone, which is radiating a very faint blue light.

Henry stared at the gem for quite some time, and he was no longer aware that he stopped breathing. Pearl slowly brought her hoof and took the gem. She felt weird after grabbing it and pulled it away from the box so she could have a better look at it.

The gem felt like it was wet, but it's not really soaked in water. It just simply feels wet, to Pearl's annoyance, as she is fighting the urge to wipe her hoof.

Henry simply chuckled slightly, his surprise and worry were set aside momentarily after seeing the irritated expression on his mare. He then lifted the letter and began reading the contents.

---

To His Highness...

First and foremost, your majesty, please excuse me for sending you this message. I originally intended of meeting you, but under unfortunate circumstances, that option became scarce.

Secondly, I would like to apologize for leaving you and Miss Daisy. I have thought that it would be best if the two of you will go back, and not to have me around, to save the trouble of the two of you seeking help. Again, I would like to apologize for my actions. I have learned quite well that changelings are despised. Seeing two would probably give the both of you the trouble of seeking aid.

Third, I have successfully retrieved the Ocean's Tear. I am sure Miss Daisy would be very happy to have that back. But, if I may, I ask to keep the stone safely hidden from anyone. Thank you, your highness.

Fourth, after I have left you and Miss Daisy, I promised myself to avenge King and Queen Metamorph's deaths, and as well as my brother's death. I have been travelling all this time, tracking down that witch Chrysalis. It was one of the fortunate times that I have found her and her minions flying away from the Frozen Nurth, that I managed to steal the Ocean's Tear, and as well as the other two.

Fifth, I sent you back the Ocean's Tear, for it rightfully belongs to you and Miss Daisy. But, again, I ask for you to keep it safe and secure. It was difficult to fight all of her minions just to get these stones from her.

Sixth, I hid the other two, so if she were able to capture me, she won't be able to get them. Unfortunately, I am having the feeling that she's saving me for last, and instead, gave chase to our white-eyed cousins who fled the frozen land of the north.

Seventh, I am going to give chase and put a stop on Chrysalis, even if it costs me my life. I am sorry, your highness, but if I were to calculate, I am no longer in Equestria as you read this.

It would have been a great honor to see you and Miss Daisy once again, but alas, I need to put a stop on Chrysalis. I know that it will increase my chances of getting caught, but I will not concern myself with that for the time being, for right now, someone needs to stop her. I need to stop her, because I do not want to see anyone to lose someone they love because of her.

If faith is so forgiving, I would hope to see and serve you again, my prince.

Faithfully Yours,

---

"...Cloth..."
Henry whispered while Pearl was still halfway reading the letter, her head rested on Henry's shoulder.

"So..."
Pearl whispered, still reading the letter.
"...who is this Cloth? And why does he sound like you're of royalty?"

After she finished reading the letter, the two of them sat on the couch. Henry took a long intake of air, and let out a slow yet heavy sigh with his eyes closed. He never actually shared his past with Pearl, and it's probably the right time for her to know. He just hopes that she'll still love him just who he is, and not what he is...or was.

----------

Chapter 18 - Henry's Tear

After the war of heaven and earth, peace resumed in the land of Equestria. The teamwork of different races in defeating the pegasi have created a spark of trust to the earth ponies, unicorns, and griffins. That very spark was the foundation of other races to trust others. And as the time went on, Equestria was filled with different intelligent races.

Despite their fall, there were still small groups of pegasi vigilantes causing trouble in the land, which made the princesses and their six loyal ponies busy. However, even that did not leave a rust on the solid chain of trust of the races living in peace in different parts of the land.

---

If I remember correctly...I think it all happened...maybe a century ago?

---

"...Mom...!"
Whined a small brown-eyed changeling as he struggled to get out of the small lake a few feet from the base of a tall mountain.
"...I don't wanna take a bath!"

"Oh, but you're filthy, my dear."
Said a larger changeling, much larger than the rest who were walking around, and talking to each other.

"But I'll get dirty again when I start to play with big sis!"
The small changeling cried.

His mother turned her eyes on the sky above the sea of trees surrounding the base of the mountain as she brought one of her front foot on her chin and hummed as if she was thinking about what her child just said.

Her face was serious until she turned her attention back to her child with an evil grin.
"Nope."
And she then grabbed the small changeling with both her front feet and rapidly began cleaning her child on the edge of the pond.

She continued as she disregarded her child's whine and splashing about, and disregarded the odd looks they received from the other changelings.
She could care less though, for she was the queen of the heard.

The brown-eyed changelings were peacefully making home of the tall mountain surrounded by large trees. Their location is far from other races, which suited them fine. The brown-eyed changelings are more adapt on a cool atmosphere, and they prefer to walk that fly, and the place is perfect for them. The surrounding trees providing the cool air they loved, even during summer, and the land is flat, perfect for walking.

"There,"
The changeling's mother cheerfully said as she let him go.
"clean and shiny."

The young changeling let out an annoyed grunt as he walked out of the water. An idea popped into his young mind. With a vengeful smile, he stopped beside his smiling mother, turned his head up to meet her eyes as his sly smile grew wider, contrasting his mother's face of horror after realizing what the young changeling has in mind.

"Don't you da---!"

The young changeling shook his body rapidly, raining the water all around him. His mother could only lift her two front feet to try and shield herself, but alas, she was soaked.

"Why you little---!"
She snarled playfully as she got to her four feet and gave chase to the fleeing and laughing young changeling.

The changelings in the area could only roll their eyes in amusement.

---

Long story short, we enjoyed a few years of peace and harmony, and often times, it was boring, but I am just thankful that my sister was always there to kill the boredom.

But...our peace and quiet was one day...on a brink...when dragons suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

---

The morning sun has finally started to climb up from the horizon, however, its soft golden rays were blocked by the tall trees from reaching the base of the mountain of the brown-eyed changelings.

The said mountain is filled with holes and caves, where the changelings rest and take shelter for the night.

The light did reached those who were occupying the top parts of the mountain, but either the changelings weren't woken by the quiet intruder, or they simply turned their backs on the sun and decided to go back to sleep.

Birds are lively and cheerfully singing in the branches of the trees, their lovely songs echoing to the mountain, and reaching the ears of a young changeling, which slowly woke him to wakefulness.

He quietly pulled himself into a sitting position. He brought both his fore feet to rub both his eyes, and he then lifted and stretched both his fore feet up as he let out a long yawn.

He blinked to clear his vision as he brought his fore feet back on the ground. He turned around, and saw both his parents and his big sister, still sleeping side-by-side near the end-wall of their little cave.

He got up and quietly walked out of the cave, and slowly worked his way towards the small pond just a few feet in front of their cave. He sat on the edge, leaned his head over the water, and took a slow drink to refresh his body with the cool water.

His ears suddenly stood after he heard rustling noises from the trees. Usually, it would only mean that squirrels were playing around, but the rustling noise just now was too loud for even squirrels to make.

He rose to a standing position and scanned his surroundings. He's feeling a little fear, but he was tought to be brave and learn of his stalker before taking action: fight back or flee. After all, he did have wings to fly himself to safety, though he could count the number of times he actually flew above his mother's height.

There was that noise again. He quickly turned left and spotted the bush near a tree just in time before it stopped shaking. His fear had increased, slightly reaching the levels of running back inside his cave, but he somehow fought over it as he managed to take a step towards the bush.

It was quiet. Too quiet.
Now that he noticed it, the surrounding is dead quiet: no bird chirping, or any other sound, just his slow, deep, nervous breath.

He dared taking another step. And another, and another, until he was actually three more steps away from the bush. He flared his wings out, ready to flap so whatever was behind the bush, he could flap his wings to send him back a few meters away than his feet could provide.

But as he was about to take another step, red angry orbs flashed through the bushes. Red, angry, soul-piercing set of eyes, coming from a large, scaly, scary head of a dragon, slowly emerging through the bushes, slowly nearing the stunned changeling.

It's sharp mouth provided a gap of a few inches from touching the trembling form of the black changeling. The red dragon flared its wings up as it's front claws quietly stretched from its body, digging its claws on the earth.

After managing to grab a hold of his trembling body, the changeling managed to take a slow step back. Achieving that however, made the dragon lift its head a few feet higher than the changeling's height, where the dragon's mouth opened slightly with a hungry grin, allowing its sharp teeth to send death messages to its prey.

"Changeling..."
The dragon whispered through it's slightly-opened mouth, its voice dark and grim.

"Changeling..."
"Changeling...?"
"Change...ling...?"

A few more voices followed, echoing from all around.
Behind the trees, smaller dragons appeared, standing either on all four or on their hind feet.

"Look, the guy's eyes are brown..."
Whispered one dragon as it leaned close to the other's ears.

"I can see that, thank you."
Replied the other one, though rather annoyed.

The other smaller dragons snickered. Their voices echoed towards the other caves, where other changelings began to lazily exit their caves to feel the morning air.

"Oh, hey look!"
"There's more of them!"

Hearing those unknown voices made the other changelings look at them. The changelings were surprised to see dragons there, and were not sure of what to do with the current setting.

The red mighty dragon stood on its two hind legs, its tall body towering above the tall trees. It let out a mighty roar, a signal for the small group of dragons to attack.

The young changeling managed to snap back after the roar, and dropped himself on the ground in time to dodge a dragon's fierce flame. After the flame evaporated into the air, the changeling started running back to his cave as he yelled for help.

---

I reached the cave as soon as both my parents came out, and they quickly told me to hide inside, not that I had any other choice during that time. I did not know how the battle went, since my sister and I were hugging together, crying in fear. The sounds of battle was scary...

At that time, peace was supposed to reign in the lands of Equestria. So, having dragons to suddenly attack us was a complete surprise.

---

"Ohhh...what's this?"
A dragon, two times taller than an average changeling, came inside the cave, where two shaking changelings were curled on the far-end of the cave.
The dragon rubbed its clawed hands together as he let his tongue slide from left to right.
"Time for some breakfast!"

The dragon flapped its wings, and dove straight towards the two shaking changelings. But without warning, the older changeling pushed the smaller one away, and before the dragon's claws could reach her, the female changeling flapped her wings as she pushed her feet up, jumping out of the way in time, making the dragon crash on the cave's wall.

---

I was too terrified to move, and so was my sister back then, but...
I guess you could call it an instinct of older siblings to protect their younger siblings...

---

The older changeling landed in front of the younger one, and growled at the rising dragon who was rubbing its head. She went into a fighting stance, digging both her front feet on the earthy ground.

"So you wanna play rough, huh?"
Said the dragon as its mouth was suddenly filled with flames.
"Then take THIS!"
It shouted as it breathed out a fierce cloud of fire towards the changelings.

Seeing that her little brother was too terrified to move, she instead stood her ground and braced herself, shielding her brother from the flames.

Once the flames were gone, the older changeling collapsed to the ground. The younger changeling was stunned and terrified. His mouth was trembling from fear. He wanted to do something, but found it too difficult to accomplish.

The dragon approached them, and grabbed the unconscious and burned changeling.
"Hah, not so tough now, are you?"
It said as its mouth began to water. With its other hand, he grabbed the hindlegs of the changeling, and brought it in front of his face horizontally.
"Breakfast, is, served."
It opened its mouth and leaned closer to the changeling's stomach.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Cried the younger changeling as he pushed the ground, lifting himself towards the dragon's stomach, and sending the both of them towards the cave's wall.

The sudden attack made the dragon lose his grip on his breakfast, and quickly found his back pushed against the solid cave's wall, throwing his head up and hitting it as well.

After landing on all four of his feet, the small changeling then drew his jaws and dug his teeth on the scaly skin of the dragon's leg.

The dragon yelped in pain. It then started to kick its painful leg around, trying to throw the changeling away, but to no avail. It then brought its hands and grabbed the changeling, and started to pull the beast off of its grip on its leg.

"Let GO!"
It yelled, but it reached the changeling's deaf ears.

The changeling felt the dragon's claws were starting to dig deeper through his skin, and it was too painful, but he dug his fangs deeper into the dragon's leg.

On the upper corners of the changeling's eyes, he noticed a bright flash of red and orange, and as soon as he realized what it was, he found his whole body wrapped in flames.

---

I don't know what happened after that, unfortunately. The only thing I could remember during that time was, my skin felt so hot and painful at the same time, which was too much for me to handle. Those reds and oranges were dancing through my eyelids until everything went black...

---

The sun has witnessed the gruesome battle of the changelings and dragons. It had enough, and decided to begin its retreat in the horizon.

Consciousness... Black...
Those were the only things the young changeling could register in his brain from his tired body after slightly opening his eyes. He took a tired breath, and exhaled quietly. He found himself facing their cave's ceiling.
He knew it was their cave, for the scent was theirs, mixed with the smell of fire and smoke.

Fire!

Quickly getting up on his feet, he stood, but his sight became darker than the dark cave, and his body felt numb for a little while. After quickly catching his consciousness, he felt a weird cold sensation brushing out of his body as he blinked a few times to find himself lying on the ground on his side.

Did he collapse? He must have been.

"...Brother...?"

The young changeling turned to the source of the feminine and familiar voice. On the corner of the cave was his older sister, pushing herself to a sitting position.
Her expression was a mixture of hurt, worry, and relief.

"Thank goodness, you're okay..."
She smiled.

Ignoring the itchy pain he's feeling all over, he stood up and walked towards her. He sat down in front of his sister.
"Big sis? Wha---"

He was cut off as his sister wrapped her front feet around his neck, bringing him into a tight hug, which made the burning pain around his neck and back even more painful.

She felt him struggling, and heard his breathing turned into gasps, so she released him sooner than she wanted to.
"I-I'm sorry..."

He wanted to yell at her as he brought a foot to gently rub his nape, but as he gazed at his sister's worried face, his angry stare softened. After what happened earlier, it was probably natural for his sister to do that.

He threw himself towards his sister, and wrapped his front feet around her chest.
"Big sis! You're okay!"

His sister gritted her teeth, for her brother's hug is worsening the pain she's feeling all over, but she tried her best to ignore it, and remembering that her brother was also in the same pain, she gently patted her little brother's head.

---

Mom and dad weren't there though. I wanted to go out and see how the others were doing, but my sister told me that it was a bad idea. Though I did heard digging sounds from outside. I did not know what that was until I grew older. During that time, the others were digging the earth to...bury our friends... It was five or six years, I think, when I realized that.

Also, the reason my parents weren't there was because they went to Princess Celestia's castle. They must have told her what happened.

She told me that the princess called the presence of the other leaders of each races, for them to discuss the matter.

My mom told me that the reason why the dragons attacked us that day, was because of revenge. The dragons thought that all changelings were the same, and so they attacked us.

Revenge. Their reason was because changelings were draining them and weakening them, but we, the brown-eyed changelings, did not do such a thing.

As it turned out, it was that wi---it was that Chrysalis of the green-eyed changelings. After she became their hive's queen, she ordered her people to leech the dragons, for their..."experiment".

Although she promised never to do that again, my mom said that she did not trust Chrysalis. She then showed me and my sister that stone: the Ocean's Tear.

My mom said that it was the princess' way to show to us that she trusts us, and in return, we, the four changeling races, should hold true to our promise never to harm another intelligent being again.

After that, we enjoyed a few years of peace, until one day, Chrysalis payed us a visit...

---

It was another wonderful day, and the sun was almost at its highest. In the peaceful mountain of the brown-eyed changelings, the young ones were playing around the base of their mountain.

Two of them, a brother and sister, and both children of the changelings' leaders, were busy drinking water from the small pond a few feet in front of their cave.

The taller one finished drinking and threw herself into a sitting position, and smiled as she brought her attention on her brother.

"Oooh. Someone sure is thirsty."
She teased.

Annoyed, the smaller changeling took a lot of water, filling his entire mouth, barely managing to close it as he faced his sister with an evil smirk.

Before his sister could react, he squirted water towards her from his mouth.

"EEW!"

The elder sibling quickly got to her feet and ran for cover towards their cave, and her little brother followed her, still squirting water, barely managing to land a hit.

---

I know it was disgusting, but we were kids back then, okay?

---

After their little water chasing game, the two settled down inside the cave, where the elder simbling was busy telling her younger brother a story about the moon.

"...and then with the five powerful gems, the alicorn princess was able to use her full power to seal her evil sister."

"Whoaaa..."
The younger sibling said as his eyes grew bigger and wider.

It was always the same. Every time his sister tells him a story, he always found himself off his feet though as if he was experiencing the story.

"But, since her sister is also an alicorn, her magic was also powerful, so the alicorn princess, even with the five magical gems, could not destroy her evil sister. If she wants to bring peace back in her land, she would need to rid of her sister. And so, she decided to imprison her in the moon, using her magic and the five gems. The bright light was blinding them both as the alicorn princess began the spell. She was hurt, seeing and hearing her little sister crying from pain, but she knows she has to do it, if she wants to save her people. And after the bright white light vanished, her sister was gone. She looked up at the moon, and there, on the face of the full moon was the face of her sister, imprisoned in the moon."

The elder sister finished her story, with a stick on her fore foot, scribbling a moon with a drawing of a pony head on it.
Her younger brother looked at her drawing in awe.

"And now, time for a game!"
The elder sibling cheerfully said, throwing her fore feet on the air, waving the stick around.

"Yeah!"
The younger changeling agreed, and then brought a foot on his chin to think.
"Sword fencing?" With sticks instead of swords.

"Nah," his big sister dismissed his idea as she brought her feet back down, "we did that already."

"Tidal wave?" More like splashing around the pond.

"We did that too..."

"Monster hunting?" More like hide and seek.

His sister smiled at the idea.

"Yeah, why not?"
She stood on all four.
"Besides, we haven't done that in a while."

The younger sibling smiled, and then frowned.
"Wait... Does this mean you get to be the prey again?"

Her smile grew even wider.

"But you were the prey last time!"
He whined.

The elder sibling dropped her smile and pouted her lower lips, with wide eyes. The younger sibling brought his foot to cover his eyes.

"Ah! No fair! You're using the pouty-powers!"

She leaned forward. He dared take a peak, which was a big mistake.
He sighed in defeat.
"Fine, fine..."

His sister chuckled as she ran outside the cave to hide. He turned around and covered his eyes with both feet and started counting, and he mentally took note to get her as fast as possible.

After reaching ten, or rather, after he was convinced that he correctly counted to ten (since he doesn't know how to properly count yet), he brought his feet down and saw his father lying down on the ground in front of him with a warm smile.

"Be sure to get that pouty-mouthed sister of yours, son."

The young changeling smiled confidently. He then turned around and decided to start looking behind the large rocks inside their cave. He noticed how quiet the outside world was, but he ignored it and continued his search. But after he took a look at every large rocks inside the cave, he gave up and decided to try outside.

After getting outside, he was immediately greeted by the cool breeze and the heat of the sun. After turning his head around to try and spot his sister, his gaze fell on her mother, standing in front of another changeling with the same height as her. Behind the two staring changelings were smaller changelings.

His mother was talking to the other tall changeling with green eyes. Her wings were thinner, almost transparent, unlike his mother, which was thicker, wider, and opaque. The green-eyed changeling also had more holes around her feet than his mother, and her horn was closely like that of a lightning bolt, than his mother and the rest of the brown-eyed changelings, which were straight, like that of a unicorn.

The two tall changelings were talking to each other at a slightly loud tone, but the young changeling did not mind them. He turned towards the cave and was about to go back inside again when he heard his mother's and the other changeling's shouts.

The young changeling turned around to see what was going on as his father walked beside him from the cave.

The two seemed to be arguing, and their voices were at maximum.

His father tilted his head to reach his ears.
"Son," he whispered, "it may be best if you go back inside."

He hesitated, but he sensed the seriousness from his father's tone. He nodded instead and was about to turn around when the green-eyed changeling brought a foot to his mother's face.

"Kill them!"

The green eyed changelings hovered in the air and started spitting green slime, aiming towards the evading brown-eyed changelings.

The young changeling's father quickly rushed towards his mother as his sister leaped out from the bush near the pond. She pushed her feet to get to safety, and trying her best to ignore the buzzing sound from behind her.

He was terrified; seeing her sister running towards him as she was being chased by a green-eyed changeling.

Seeing the fear on his sister's face stunned him, however, a spark was ignited within him, and before he even realized what was happening, he ran towards his sister, jumped just before they collide with each other, and tackled the green-eyed changeling, throwing it a few feet from the young changeling that just landed on the ground.

However, the young changeling's attack was not powerful. The green-eyed changeling quickly got itself back on the air. Angry that it was interrupted, the green-eyed changeling prepared itself to spit slime on the young brown-eyed changeling.

Seeing the danger, the young changeling quickly turned and ran towards the cave, where he saw his sister shouting at him.

---

I really do not know what happened. All I remember was everything became black again. When I came to, I saw my mother, being treated. I found myself being treated as well. Even from the darkness of the night, I could still see the sad expression from my mother's face, as she quietly let the tears run down from her face, as she stared at the...lifeless forms...of both my sister and father...

My mom told me that my sister risked her life to save me...

And...the reason why Chrysalis attacked us was because my mom refused to work with her. It was something about conquering Equestria... She told me that Chrysalis planned on using the four stones Princess Celestia gave to each of the four changeling races.

I am not sure if Chrysalis is stupid for thinking that obtaining the four stones could help her achieve her plans, or she's just really really crazy. But she was serious about it, which is a scary thought.

Anyway, a few months after the incident, well, everyone were starting to get depressed. Changelings feed on emotion, and the brown-eyed changelings feed on hatred and loneliness, and it worsened our condition. We started to hate each other, no longer talking with one another. It was a nightmare.

Until one day, a lone green-eyed changeling came. Of course, seeing him sparked an angry fury in everyone's hearts, and wanted nothing more but to rip him apart. He said that he came here for a purpose, and my mother welcomed him, and reasoned to us that she knows him, and will help us.

He was Cloth, and he thought us how to sense and feed on love instead of hate. Days passed and we started to recover ourselves.

---

"When I grow up, I want to be just as strong and loyal as you are, Cloth!"
A young brown-eyed changeling cheered before running towards the trees of the forest surrounding the mountain.

Cloth, the green-eyed changeling, could not help but smile. Though small it may seem, it was genuine, and he tried his best to hide it for the months that he stayed with his cousins.

Cloth just dismissed the young changelings to try and hunt down any living creature, and feed on their emotions. His smile was gone when a brown-eyed changeling approached him.

"Cloth?"

Cloth turned to face the newcomer, and bowed.
"Yes, your highness?"

The son of the brown-eyed changeling queen felt a bit irritated being addressed with such title, but he got used to it, slightly at least. He shook the thought away.
"I remember you said that you feed on love."
He received a nod from Cloth. It was a perfect opportunity for him to ask. He'd been wanting to ask him a question, but could not find an opportunity, until now.
"And I remember that we are suppose to feed on loneliness..."

"That is correct, your highness."

"Well, what if," he scratched his nape, "we're not really feeding on emotions?"

Cloth could not help himself but to give him a confused look. After a few seconds of hesitation, he decided to ask.
"What do you mean, my prince?"

The brown-eyed changeling turned his head left, staring at the trees.
"Well... Uh... What if...we're really feeding on a creature's life? And..."
He trailed off.

Cloth was expecting him to finish, but after a few seconds of nothing, he convinced himself that he needed to say something.
"And...? Please continue, my prince..."

He turned to face the green-eyed changeling. His green eyes were still slightly intimidating.
"And um... What if this whole emotion thing is just a lie?"

Cloth took a breath. It was his first time to be asked about his opinion on something. He would only respond on questions that require specific answers, and all are based on facts, not on his own opinion. He took a moment to think of ways of responding, but after realizing that he was taking too much time, he responded.
"Uh...Then it...would probably mean that we truly are feeding on their lives..."
He stood as is, but inside, he felt scared for sharing his opinion.

The brown-eyed changeling was not satisfied with Cloth's answer. It sounded as though the green-eyed changeling simply repeated the question, but turned into a statement. Realizing that his question would not be answered by him, he sighed.
"Well, thanks Cloth."
He flashed a small and forced smile.

He then walked towards the pond, and sat on the edge. Realizing that the prince was not satisfied with his answer, Cloth turned his back on him, and sighed. Now that he's going to stay with his cousins, he needed to work on his opinion-based answers.

---

The green-eyed changelings feed on love. If they truly are, then why aren't they...loving one another? They, instead, are attacking other races... Cloth seemed to be the only one to realize the stupidity of Chrysalis' rule, so he decided to leave them and join us.

That was actually his second time leaving the green-eyed colony though. It was why my mother recognized him. My mom said that the first time he came to us was when I was still a few years old.

The reason I asked him that question was because of Chrysalis' actions of causing harm, even though they feed on love. At first, I thought that feeding on emotions do not drive a changeling to the emotions he had. But if that were the case, then why did we of the brown-eyed changelings struggled to get back to our senses every time we feed on hatred and loneliness?

It didn't make sense during the time, and even now.

---

"Um..."
Pearl was not certain if it's all right to ask her stallion, or changeling, a question too personal, but she really wanted to know.

Henry was simply staring at the table in front of him. They both moved on the second floor of the library, seated around the table near the window.

"So uh..."
Pearl quietly said, bringing the green alicorn's sad eyes to her own.
"How...how old are you, exactly?"

Henry blinked. Of all the questions he was practicing to answer in his head, he did not expect that one. His expression changed into annoyed and hurtful.
"I'm not THAT old for a changeling, thank you very much!"

Pearl flashed a shocked and hurt face, but then she chuckled until she let out a laugh. Henry's expression softened at his strange mare and joined the laughter.

"But..."
Pearl said after their laughs were done.
"...does that mean..."

Henry took a breath. Her question may be serious this time.

Pearl brought a hoof on her chin.
"...I'll be a princess or a queen if I marry you?"

Henry used his magic to save his glasses as he let his face fall on the table from his mare's nonsense, giving the library a loud echoing thud sound.
Pearl could only laugh at him.

"Anyway..."
Pearl said after recovering herself from her laughing fit.
" I am not sure of what to say, actually, but..."
She brought a hoof and put it on her love's head.
"I still love you for who you are."

Henry smiled as he sighed in relief. He then lifted his head back up, and stared at his mare's loving black eyes.
"Love you too, Pearl."

Pearl blushed a bit. And after a minute of silence, only staring into each other's eyes, Pearl spoke.
"So, uh... Who's this 'Miss Daisy'?"

Henry replied her curious look with a warm smile.
"Well, she's my sister... Uh, my pony-sister, I mean."

Pearl arched an eyebrow in confusion, so Henry told her the story of his first day of arriving in Ponyville, about Daisy Hoof, about their boring life as librarians, and other things that happened.

----------

Above the vast blue ocean, and under the clear spring skies, a black figure is flying through the air with speed matching that of a pegasi.
In the vast ocean, there was nothing but the occasional dolphins, leaping out from the water, and flying fishes, which was the figure's source of food for two days of flying non-stop.
He simply did not thought of how big the ocean was outside of Equestria, and he was already starting to regret his action of flying, giving chase to the one who stole the changelings which were dear to his life.
His heart is now nothing but anger and vengeance, and he swore to tear down that witch when he can finally get the chance.

But now, even rage, the only emotion he thought would be enough to fuel him, his body was already growing tired, and accompanied by his vision which was slowly blurring from fatigue. He tried sipping the emotions of two dolphins the day before, but that accomplished nothing to ease his tired vessel.
Now, if faith were to give him something to rest upon, he would take it in a heartbeat, but alas, nothing solid was to be found in the vast blue sea, nor in the far horizon in every direction.

Finally, his body was beginning to collapse. He stared up one more time, and locked his gave on a nearby cloud. Oh, how he wished he was a pegasus. He could simply rest on top of that cloud, but unfortunately for him, he is a changeling. And as his body began to fall, his vision was consumed by the darkness of unconsciousness.

Chapter 19 - The Shore

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Chapter 19 - The Shore

Seagulls are gliding through the strong wind the ocean was carrying. Each were talking in their own special language that only they could understand. The slowly rising sun is starting to paint the sky of its morning. Thin wisps of clouds slowly roll through the sky.

The calm waves of the ocean calmly rushes to the sandy golden shore, and retreats. It has repeated the process for Celestia knows how long, and it has existed to see and hear every events that happened in the world. Now however, the ocean is about to witness another story, as it quietly touched the unconscious changeling that was lying on the shoreline.

The shore, aside from the sea, is surrounded by two large boulders, and the trees of the nearby forest. A large bluish crab is busily picking up food near the head of the unconscious changeling. It is completely unaware of the threat of the beast, if ever it wakes up, and also a poorly made butterfly net that was already hanging above the crab.

Sticking his tongue out, and with eyes focused on the target, a young pegasus with a coat as blue as the sea, and a short yet messy mane and tail as white as the clouds, he struggled to keep the mouth of the net over the large crab as he balanced himself on top of the boulder. Finally, the crab moved a few inches away from the black obstacle. In a quick scoop, the crab found itself floating in midair. The pegasus had captured the crab successfully, and he cheered.

"Yes!"
He shouted as he pulled the mouth of the net closer to him.
"Oh, this is going to be worth a lot of Bits!"

His excitement was put to a halt after realizing that the black thing, which at first he thought as a rock, or wood, or cloth, was actually a creature that he was all too familiar with. Sadly, it seemed like it was dead.

He shrugged. Not that he'll care, anyway. What was important was that he caught a big crab that he could sell when---

The black creature coughed...a lot, removing the water that entered its lungs. The young pegasus was startled, though only a bit. The creature groaned weakly, as it turned to lie on its back, taking deep breaths to ease itself.

"I'm..." it quietly said, "...alive..."
It smiled, though he coughed again and again. Each cough were painful for its lungs.
"Guh..." he whispered.

It quietly settled on simply lying there for a moment, gazing quietly on the soft blue sky. His vision was suddenly blocked by a big blue pony face, with deep-green eyes.

"AH!"
The black creature yelled as it quickly got to its feet and give itself some distance from the pony. It was about to go into its defensive stance when the pony chuckled. Realizing that the pony poses no threat, its brain immediately told the creature of how weak its knees were. It settled into a sitting position.

"Sorry to startle ya, bud."
Said the blue pegasus colt.
"Didn't mean it, honest."
He smiled.

"Yes," the creature replied, "quite..."
It took deep breaths to calm itself.
"So, you saved me?"

"Heh, I wish." he chuckled once more.
"I just found you here though. Thought you were dead."

"I should have been..."
The creature bitterly whispered as he lowered his gaze down on the sand.

Having a sharp sense of hearing, he heard the quiet whisper of the creature.
His smiling face turned into a frown.
"Hey, hey," he began, making the creature look at him, "that's not a good thing to say, bud."

"Please excuse me," it replied, "but I am not 'bud'."

The blue pony, though looking serious, chuckled.
"Well, t-that's how I call everypony that I don't know."
He shrugged, "It's just my way to be friendly with other ponies."

The black creature made no action and simply listened to the pony as he spoke.
"Sorry," it shook his head slightly, "but I am not a pony."

"Doesn't matter," he smiled, "you're kinda friendly, despite looking really scary."
He felt his net became light all the sudden. He turned to his net and found the strings were broken.
"Oh no!" he yelled as he saw the large blue crab crawling towards the nearby forest, "Oh no you don't!"
He gave chase.

The black creature blinked right before the pony was hidden behind the trees and bushes. It shook his head and turned to the ocean.
'So I am washed ashore. I was flying for two days. How many days was I floating to get here? No, where in the world am I?'
He looked around his surrounding, and took notice that he is within a hidden area of the shore, where two large boulders and trees blocked his vision to see the other parts of the shore.
'I need to know where I am...'
It stretched its thin almost-transparent wings, but after fully stretching them, a powerful force of pain ran from his back, consuming all of his mind as he collapsed to the sandy ground.
'Oh hell! Ack...' it took a large breath to try and ease the pain running through his body.

"You okay, bud?"
Asked the blue pegasus colt as he got outside the treelines, carrying a stick where an entangled crab was tied on the other end of the long stick.
He walked and stopped beside the black creature.
"You don't look okay."

"Spare the obvious..."
It said with a pained tone on its voice as it got back into a sitting position. It then turned to the colt as it tried to ease its expression to neutral.
"I-I need to know where I am..."

The blue pony smiled. Finally, a question! It's the beginning of friendship, he could tell!
"Well, we're on a beach."

"I ain't in the mood for jokes, kid."
The black creature said with an annoyed tone, yet its expression was neutral.
"Let's do this again..."

"Okay, well, we're on a beach."
He smiled.

"Look," it said, its green eyes are furious now, "ah, nevermind."
It stood up and began walking towards the forest.

The creature stopped from its tracks when the blue pony ran and stopped in front of it.
"Look, bud, I'm sorry, 'kay?"
He said with a hopeful smile.
"Sorry if I was messing with you earlier..."

"More like a few seconds ago..."
It whispered.

"It's just that, things here are really boring, ya know? So I got used to being silly at times just to enjoy myself, and to let others smile, too."

'If what you are saying is true, then you have a good reason to be acting like a complete idiot...'
The creature thought.
"Pl---"

"We're in White Tail Beach, by the way."
The pony said with an apologetic smile.
"I live in a small fishing village nearby."
He continued, but his smile became wide and hopeful when an idea sprang in his head.
"H-hey! I know! Why don't y---"

"No," the creature said, cutting the pony off.

"What?" the pony asked, completely surprised in disbelief.
"B-but why? Oh! I forgot! Introductions!"
He brought a hoof up and hit his forehead with a little force.
"Silly me, how could I forget!"

'It's a mystery...'

He extends a hoof towards the creature.
"Name's Blue Sky, but you can call me Blue, or Sky."
He shrugged while still extending a hoof.
"Whichever you find comfortable for yah, bud."

"Blue Sky..." the creature whispered.
It stared at the extended hoof. It shrugged mentally. Their union will only be for a short while, anyway.
"Cloth," he replied as he brought one of his front foot to connect with the extended hoof of the blue pegasus pony, careful not to dig his claws on the pony's hoof, "and I'm a changeling."
'And hopefully, you'll run away.'

"Changeling?" Blue repeated as he tilted his head after returning his hoof back on the sand.
"What's a changeling?"

Cloth gasped.
'Changelings are known all around! How the heck could HE not know!? Wait, no...'
"Is this one of your jokes?"

Blue chuckled.
"Damn, you got me," he admitted with a nod, "but yeah, I know what changelings are."

"And...you're not intimidated?"

Blue shrugged.
"Dunno. Should I be?"

Cloth narrowed his eyes.
"You're joking again..."

Blue scratched his nape as he chuckled.
"Yep, hahah," Cloth sighed as Blue returned his hoof on the ground, "but seriously though, I know what changelings are and what you guys can do," he shrugged, "but meh, I know not all changelings are the same."

Cloth arched an eyebrow.
"Whatever."
He then used his magic and changed his disguise to a black earth pony.

"Aw..." Blue said, disappointed, "seriously, an earth pony? Everypony in the village are earth ponies..."

"Are you saying that you're the only pegasus pony?"

Blue nodded with a disappointed look.
"Yep, and it's really sad. Nopony could teach me how to fly..."

Cloth arched an eyebrow, again.
"You're joking..."

Blue sighed.
"Well, that's one downside for being silly. Nopony took me seriously..."
He sighed yet again, looking at the horizon.
"But it's the truth. I can flap my wings, sure, and I can even lift myself a few inches off the ground, but..."
He slowly turned back to Cloth, who was looking at him, expressionless.
"...I don't know how to fly, as in, soar, glide, things a pegasus should be able to do..."

Cloth then sprung black wings, though he kept them folded on his back. He received a weak smile from the blue pony.
"But I am not fit for flying at the moment."

"Hey, no biggie," his smile grew, "and you could even stay with me in my house, if you'd like."

"I already answered that inquiry, and it will still be a 'no'."

Blue rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Like ya got a choice."

Another eyebrow was arched.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, wait, take note, this ain't a joke. If you can't fly, then it would mean that you're rather be safe near the village."
He turned to the forest. "Unless you suddenly wanted to be forest food, then sure, you can go."
He then turned to the changeling.
"Even the path from the village to the train tracks miles away is dangerous if you're alone or not careful."

"You forgot that I'm a changeling."

"Yep, one changeling."
Blue smiled, wider.

Cloth was not liking whatever the blue pony has in mind if he stays. And he indeed needs to rest to recover. Lie or not, he could sense the danger inside the forest.
"So why did you enter the forest then, simply to retrieve a...crab...?"
He wanted to add that ponies are herbivours, but decided against it.

Blue looked over his shoulder, and saw the crab was still in place, already tired from struggling to set itself free.
"Well, life in the village is tough."
He turned back to Cloth.
"Everypony needs to get a nice catch to earn Bits. This here crab will give me plenty o' Bits for that griffin gal comin' later this afternoon."

---

"...and then the landsharks swam all over the place, but it was a good thing that the ponies and I were wearing the rockhooves so they could not sense the heat on our hooves, and then..."

Blue Sky has been yapping ever since he and Cloth began walking back towards the village. It was farther than Cloth imagined, and he was already desperate to get there, with the hope to shut the mouth of the blabbering blue pegasus colt. Cloth even reached a point of envying the crab on Blue Sky's stick, where it could, maybe, hide its ears inside its shell, to save itself from its blabbering captor.

In the distance, the two could already see the small settlement by the shore. It had shed a tiny glimmer of hope to shut the pony up, but that tiny spect of light was quickly washed out when Blue kept on talking.

Cloth, at this point, already gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and hung his head low as he continued to tail the yapping pegasus.

"...and then one of them suddenly jumped out from the sand, but I quickly swung my mallet and hit the bastard's skull and sent him flying to Tartarus! But then more jumped out, in every corner of town! But as what I did, the other ponies swung their weapons and hit the sharks..."

Cloth let out a groan, much louder than he had expected, but it was still completely drowned from the loud voice of the pegasus in front of him.

"...and then the sharks finally swam away, and everypony cheered!"

Cloth quickly caught the second of momentary pause.
"The end. End of story."
He quickly said as he walked beside him, glaring at the smiling pony.
"Now for heaven's sake. Shut up."
He hissed.

Blue blinked twice while still holding a cheerful smile.
"Have I ever to---"

"No more stories."
Cloth calmly said despite his angry glare.

"Later, then!"
Blue Sky declared cheerfully as he turned his head forward and saw five ponies around his age rushing towards them.

Cloth was about to say something when he saw the blue pegasus was tackled and thrown back a few feet, and other ponies started jumping and landing on top of him, except for one, creating a pile of laughing ponies.
He heard something slicing the air above. He tilted his head up, and caught the middle of the swirling stick with his mouth.

As the ponies got themselves out of the pile, Blue got up and dusted the sand off of his coat as he smiled at everypony around him.
"Damn it guys," Blue said with a cheery smile, "keep that up and I'll certainly die one of these days."
He and the other ponies laughed while Cloth rolled his eyes. The ponies were busy chatting for a minute or so until Blue cleared his throat, silencing the others.
"Ahem, anyway guys," Blue said, turning towards Cloth as he extends a hoof at him, "this here's Cloth," the other ponies turned and smiled at him, "and he's a friend."
Cloth said nothing as he took the stick to his hooves from his mouth. Blue smiled.
"Aw com'on, Cloth. Say somethin'."

Cloth forced himself to hold a sigh. He bowed.
"A pleasure to meet you all. My name's Cloth."

The ponies were having mixed reactions. One of them thought he was weird. One was envious of how well-mannered he was. One simply and slightly bowed back. One shyly turned her head away. And one playfully punched Blue's shoulder.

"Well, I think we have a room for another weirdo."
Said a dark-orange earth colt.
"Right, guys?" he asked as he turned to them, receiving both agreement and pointed about his harsh choice of words. He only replied with a chuckle as he turned back to Cloth.
"Name's Sand Stone," and he received a nod from the black pegasus.

"Well, I certainly love the new dude's manners and stuff."
A dark-grey earth colt said, as Blue and Sand rolled their eyes as both whispered the word 'boring'. He rolled his eyes at them.
"Aw well," he slightly bowed, "my name is Ash Shore. Call me Ash."
And he received a bow from Cloth.

"My name's Earth Current," said a bluish-green earth colt as they started walking towards the small settlement. "but my friends call me 'Easy', 'cause, ya know, letters 'E' and 'C' on my name. Heh." Easy shrugged, and Cloth bowed his head at him.

Cloth then turned his head to a pale-orange earth filly, who was walking beside Easy.
"Hello there Cloth," she said with a smile, "my friends and family call me 'Dandy', so yeah."
She and the others chuckled.
"Just call me Dandy and things won't turn into a nightmare for ya."
She said with an evil smirk and wink.

Cloth simply nodded and turned his head over his shoulder to see the other pale-green earth filly who was walking behind the group. She saw him, blushed, and turned her gaze away. He felt a hoof on his other shoulder. He turned and saw Dandy staring at him with a sad smile.

"She's Gentle Leaf," she looked at her for a moment and then back at Cloth, "and...she's mute."

Cloth blinked. He then turned his head to Gentle Leaf, who still had her gaze on the edge of the forest with a small smile. Feeling that he needed to let her know that he knows her, he called her attention, and she slowly turned her head at him. Cloth slightly bowed his head at her.
"It is nice to know you, Gentle Leaf," he said with a small smile.

Leaf quickly returned her gaze at the forest as a blush build up on her cheeks, and slowly made a small nod.

"Hahah, don't worry," Dandy said, catching Cloth's attention, "she's always like that."
She then brought a hoof on her chin.
"Hm... Well, except for us, and her parents..."
She returned her hoof as she nodded.

Cloth wanted to know how she is able to communicate with them, but decided not to press the question out of his mouth. Talking about someone behind their back, unless necessary, is wrong, especially if the one they're talking about is just right behind them within hearing range.

"Welcome to White Tail Village!"
Blue declared as he turned around and threw his forehooves in the air with a big grin.

White Tail Village is a small settlement near the shore and the edge of the forest. Houses are made of brown wood, with ropes running from the wooden roofs to large rocks near each house, probably to hold the houses against strong winds. Wooden sailboats are lying on the shore, where earth ponies were busy either preparing to set sail or already putting their caught fishes in wooden barrels. The center of the settlement has a small circular clearing where small fillies were playing around. Near one edge of the village were a group of griffins and minotaurs, busy with the fish business.

"Oh," Blue exclaimed, "can I have my crab back, bud?"

"Stop calling me 'bud..."
Cloth said flatly as he gave the stick to the blue smiling pegasus.

"I'll think about that," he replied as he turned around, "nah~!"
And he walked towards the group of griffins.

Dandy went to Ash and the two chatted. As a changeling, Cloth sensed something between the two ponies.

"They really need to just say how much they love each other..."
Easy whispered after he got beside Cloth, and Sand Stone following him.
"I mean, seriously," he continued, turning his gaze at the two ponies a few feet in front of them.

Gentle Leaf quietly stood behind the three, and was simply staring at the two soon-to-be-couple ponies.

"Both of them insist that they're just friends," Sand Stone whispered, "and they insist that they don't like each other more than just friends."

'Young love...'
Cloth thought as he restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

The four then formed a small circle and started chatting.

"So Cloth," said Sand Stone, "where are you from?"
He quickly lifted his hoof to stop the black pegasus from anwering.
"Wait, no. First, is it okay for you to be...ya know..." he said while drawing a circle in the air with his extende hoof, "...to be talking to us? I mean, you're an adult, while we're just teenagers... So uh...yeah."

"I don't see a problem," Cloth simply replied calmly, "and if I'm correct, White Tail is located in the western edge of Equestria."
He received the three ponies' nods.
"Then I'm from the far east of Equestria."

"Oh, you're a traveller?" Easy excitedly asked.
He and the other two became very interested.
"So you surely have seen lots of places!"

Cloth nodded.
"I have, yes."

Easy was about to ask something when Gentle Leaf started gesturing with her hooves. After a while, Easy understood what she was trying to say.

"I think Leaf here is asking if you were travelling by hoof or by wing."
He received a nod from the filly.

"Both, actually," Cloth replied, "whatever fits the situation."

Meanwhile, Blue finally found the griffin he was looking for. She was seated on the edge of the forest, staring impatient at the incoming blue pegasus.

"Took you a while..." she said with a bored look.
"I was about to fly home, you know."

"Eheheheh..." Blue scratched his nape, "s-sorry Griselda."
He then showed her the blue crab he caught.

Griselda's eyes glittered, but only for a moment.
"Only one?"

"Hey," Blue said with a hurt smile, "blue crabs are rare, ya know!"

Griselda sighed.
"Fine. How much?"

---

The ponyfolks of White Tail Village doesn't seem to mind having Cloth around. Some either greeted him or didn't care at all. Every pony were too busy with fishing for them to earn enough Bits for the market day tomorrow.

The sky has already welcomed the evening, where the moon was half and the stars were glittering like pearls in the sea of darkness. Most ponies were already preparing for the night, while some were double-checking their boats.

"Twice a week," Blue said to Cloth while eating some wheat bread.

The two and their other pony friends were seated around the fire near the edge of the village, and everypony, except for Cloth, were eating bread and hay.

"...there are groups of ponies coming here to sell us stuff, like fruits and wares, and some other things business ponies bring with them around." Blue continued.

"Our little town is far away from any market place," said Sand Stone, "so ponies coming to town to sell us stuff is convenient."

"They're mostly accompanied by unicorns," said Dandy, "'cause unicorns can use their magic to fend off those bloody forest wolves."

"Forest wolves?" Cloth echoed, receiving nods from the ponies.

"Yep," Blue said with a small smile, "but they're smart enough not to stir trouble here in the village."

Gentle Leaf waved a hoof to get everypony's attention. She then moved her hooves around, which Easy easily understood.

"Oh yeah," Easy said, smiling at Gentle Leaf, "Leaf is telling us that some ponies in the village also provide additional protection to the business ponies arriving."

"Oh yeah," Sand Stone agreed, "tomorrow, my dad and my uncle will be joining the aid team."

"The aid team?" Cloth asked.

"The aid team is a group of ponies who will go through the forest path to meet the business ponies in the train station." Dandy said.

---

Hours passed by, and they kept on telling stories and jokes. All in all, everypony enjoyed their usual evening hang-out. All except for Cloth, who simply listened to them. As the hours went by however, the ponies grew tired of fighting the sleep that has been consuming them, and one by one, they excused themselves to head back home, until Blue, Gentle and Cloth were the only ones left after Easy stood and greeted them goodnight before he walked back home.

"Well," Blue said after a yawn, "suppose it's time to hit the hay, ei?"
He smiled at Cloth, who simply stared at the small fire, and Leaf, who was in the middle of a yawn.
"Com'on Leaf. Let me take ya home," he said as he stood up.

Gentle Leaf blushed a bit as she nodded her head. She then stood up and nodded goodnight to Cloth, which the black pegasus returned with a nod as well.

"I'll be right back, Cloth."
Blue said over his shoulder as he and Leaf started walking to the village.

Cloth opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself. He took a breath and let out a quiet sigh, and he settled on simply staring at the fire in front of him. After a few minutes, he decided to try and stretch his wings. While doing so, he didn't feel any pain, not until he was about to fully stretch both his wings when a powerful wave of pain ran through his body. He gasped and dropped himself on the ground.

"Hey hey!" A voice shouted, followed by sounds of running hooves on sand.
Blue stopped beside the black pegasus.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked, his voice a mix of worried and tired.

"I'm fine..." Cloth said after recovering a bit.
He stood up and shook his head a bit as he folded his wings back to his sides.
'I suppose I am stuck here for a while...'

A wolf's howl echoed in the evening. The two pegasus turned their gazes on the forest.

"Well, I don't wanna become wolf chow..."
Blue said as he turned to Cloth.
"Come on. My house is big enough for the two of us."

"Shouldn't you be asking for your parent's permission, first?"
Cloth quickly replied, in an attempt for him not to be with the pegasus.

Blue frowned after hearing Cloth's words, and he quickly turned his attention away from the black pegasus.
Cloth sensed the sudden shift of emotion from the pegasus. He then quickly formed some words in his mind.

"I'm sorry," Cloth quietly said.

Blue, still looking elsewhere, closed his eyes as he sighed.
"Nah," he then faced the black pegasus, "you did nothing, so no need for apologizing."
He weakly smiled as he motioned with his head to follow him.
"And com'on. If you're really sorry, at least take my offer of resting in my place."

Protesting would be useless now. The evening is a bit cold, and the forest is dangerous, from what he is sensing.
"It cannot be helped then," Cloth sighed, "lead the way."

---

The quiet and melodic atmosphere of the sea floor -- where fishes swam in schools, shells and corals lie dormant on the sandy floor, starfishes and crabs go their daily routines, and eels and octopuses await in their burrows -- were broken after a series of splashes echoed in the area, as ponies of different colors dived down from their wooden boats from the surface of the water.

A blue pony swam towards the floor with the aid of both his hooves and wings. He pulls an end of a net with his teeth as he swims down. A few hooves away is another pony who has a hold of the other end of the net. After finding a sturdy coral, the two ponies tied the net around it, and after satisfied with their work, they turned to each other and nodded their heads before swimming back up.

While other ponies did the same, the others carried small knives on their mouth, and after reaching a few large yet closed shells, they brought the knives on their hooves and began to push the knife inside the closed mouth of the shell to pull it open.

On one of the wooden boats was a black pegasus pony, staring blankly at the horizon, where a few rays of the sun were already showing up. Instead of admiring the beautiful mixture of darkblue and golden orange colors in the horizon, the pegasus' thoughts were elsewhere. Even so, he is still aware of his surroundings.

"I ask of you not to do what you are planning of doing."
Cloth calmly said, without even moving.

"Aw..."
Blue said sadly. Instead of stealthily splashing water to the still-dry black pegasus, he instead began climbing back on the wooden boat.
"You're no fun, ya know that?"

"I believe I'm aware of that, yes."
Cloth replied as he turned to him.

Blue took a piece of towel and started drying himself. Cloth turned his attention back to the horizon.

"Hey, tell me somethin'..."
Blue said as he is rubbing his hooves.
"...after you're healed and all, where are ya goin' next?"

"It..."
'I honestly do not know...
"It's...none of your concern."

"Why?"

Cloth took a few seconds to think for a moment.
"Because..."
He suddenly remembered the hour when he woke up earlier. Blue was asleep on his wooden bed inside a small circular hut. Cloth slept on the other end of the bed, after a lot of insisting from a certain blue pegasus. The blue pegasus is young, and still has a lot of years ahead of him. He was mumbling something, but Cloth could not make out the words. Somehow, the sleeping pegasus made him remember a certain yellow earth pony mare...
"...you're still young."

"Young for what?"

"Young for..." Cloth sighed as he turned to him.
"Look, I'm not going around places for the sake of travel."

"Then why are you going around places?"

"Like I said, it's none of your concern."
Cloth quickly replied and hoped that the conversation will end as he turned back to the horizon.

Blue, after he was done drying himself, placed the towel on a wooden crate.
"Now, that ain't fair," he complained, "I gave ye a place to sleep... I introduced ye to my friends, and...uh...Cloth?"

He stopped when Cloth turned to him with a neutral expression, but his eyes told him something deep: something he couldn't dare put a hoof at.

"I think it's fair," Cloth quietly said.
"I don't know you and your past, and you don't know me either."
Cloth turned back to the rising sun.
"If you want me to repay you for your hospitality, then simply name it and I'll do it."

Blue opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out when Cloth quickly turned to face him.

"With exceptions."
Cloth added.

"Tsk... You're no fun..."
Blue sighed as he thought of something. Seconds later, and he had an idea in mind as his lips curved into a smile and his eyes brightened.

Cloth slightly narrowed his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I guess there's one thing I really wanna do," Blue said with a smile, "and I think you can help me."

Cloth was doubtful, but he already gave his word. He might as well hear it first then.
"Then what is it?"

---

"Remind me again why we are doing this?"
Cloth asked as he tried to stand tall.

"'cause ya owe me. Simple as that."
Blue smiled as he wobbled about, trying to collect some balance as he stood on Cloth's back.
"Now hold still!"

"Need I remind you that I have done nothing else but to stand and talk?"
Though clearly angered, annoyed, and tired, Cloth managed to reply with a calm voice.

The two were on top of a boulder where Cloth was washed ashore. Finally, after Blue was satisfied, he slowly started spreading his wings. After fully extending both his wings, he started flapping them slowly.

"Have I ever told you that this boulder could provide you enough height for your flying practice?"
Cloth said, preparing to brace himself for whatever disaster would strike.

"Yeah," Blue replied as he began flapping his wings faster, "seventeen times, actually."

After a few seconds, Blue began to furiously flap his wings. A few more seconds, and Cloth could actually feel his back was already hoof-free. He turned over his shoulder, and saw the blue pegasus. Blue was tightly closing his eyes, concentrating all his senses on his wings.

Feeling like an eternity has passed, although it was barely a minute when his hooves left Cloth's back, Blue let out a frustrated sigh as he opened his eyes. Much to his horror, he found himself high above the air. Losing his sense of concentration, which was immediately replaced by fear, his wings went frozen-still, and his boy began to fall as he screamed from fear.

Blue was certain that he would feel his butt either hit the hard solid boulder, or the not-so-solid-but-still-will-be-quite-painful-to-land-on sand. But before he could land on either one of those, Cloth jumped and caught him on his back, but the impact made him fall to the ground first, cushioning the blue pegasus' fall.

Blue was still screaming, until he felt like it was taking forever for him to get a painful landing. Quieting down as he opened his eyes, he found himself on the ground again, or on the back of a grunting changeling.

"Get..." it was painful to even breath, "off..."
He is aware that his wings are in pain. The base of his wings were aching and painful from the impact.

Blue quickly got off of the green-eyed changeling. He helped him get back on his four feet.
"S-sorry 'bout that, bud..."

"I..." Cloth quietly said as he rubbed his head, "feel like having a pony for breakfast all of a sudden."
He said as he stared daggers at the weakly-smiling pegasus. He took deep breaths to ease the pain he's feeling.

It took a few minutes for Cloth to recover. As he brushed the sand on his body, Blue sighed in frustration for another failed attempt at flying.
"Maybe I am stuck here on earth like an earth pony..."
He whispered quietly, though it still managed to reach the ears of the changeling.

"That is because," Cloth began as he turned his full attention at the blue pegasus, "you don't know the basics."

Blue fell into a sitting position, "I don't even know the basics!"
He cried as he brought his hooves over his eyes, sniffing.

Cloth rolled his eyes.
"You're over-acting," he said, lamely.

Blue chuckled a bit as he brought his hooves back on the ground.
"S-sorry," he smiled weakly, "though I am really disappointed at myself..."

"Then let me teach you."

The blue pegasus was surprised after hearing the changeling's offer.
"R-really!? You'd do that!?"
He asked with glittering eyes of hope.

'I have nothing else to do... And the aid team already left...'
Cloth held himself from rolling his eyes again.
"First, stand tall."

"Aye aye, cap'n!"
Blue yelled as he stood on all four, standing tall and head high.

Cloth took a few steps back to have a better view.
"Extend your wings," the changeling ordered, and the blue pegasus did as what he was asked.
"Flap them," and the blue pegasus complied.

Blue began flapping his wings, and Cloth was observing him.

"Stop!"

Blue froze in place, uncertain of what he did wrong. Cloth approached him and walked around him, scanning the pegasus' posture.

"Winged ponies are no different than my brown-eyed cousins..."
Cloth whispered to himself as he touched the tip of Blue's wing.
"Notice the angle of your wing," he said, and Blue turned over his shoulder, "and flap them slowly."

Blue very slowly flapped his wings, and tried to see his error, but after a few flaps, he gave up.

Cloth took notice, and sighed.
"You should flap your wings downward."
Noticing that the pegasus didn't understood, he sighed again.
"You were flapping your wings at different angles..."

Now that he was provided with clearer information, Blue turned his attention on one of wings again and started flapping at a more faster speed than before, and he did notice that he flaps them in different angles.
"Oh... Uh... Is that why I couldn't fly?" he asked, still studying his flapping wings.

"No, you can fly," Cloth replied, "but if you are flapping like that, then you cannot stay airborne for very long."

Blue stared at him for a moment before nodding his head.
"So, all I need'a do is to flap my wings straight down?"

"To pull yourself in the air, yes."
Cloth nodded as Blue started concentrating on flapping his wings in one angle.
"Once you master that, I'm sure you can learn the rest with ease."

Blue smiled as he nodded his head.
"Thanks."

---

A train is slowing down as it approached a small platform of nowhere. The place however, is not deserted, for it was full of ponies with wagons. The said ponies were mostly earth ponies, while unicorns are in a small group of circle, talking to each other.

The train has finally stopped, and its doors opened only for a number of ponies to exit the mechanical transport. One of them was a young adult red earth pony, with a green apple as his cutie mark. He went to the cargo car and retrieved his wooden cart as he was assisted by the earth pony conductor, and the red stallion's companions: a green pegasus stallion and a blue earth mare.

The wagon was full of crates, which was full of jars of Zap Apple Jam. The blue mare jumped on the wagon and made herself comfortable on a few spaces available. The two stallions then installed the harness which was attached to the wagon, and both then started pulling it out of the cargo car.

As they work their way towards the small crowd of ponies, they saw a group of earth ponies who were walking towards them as they walk on the narrow forest path.

"Are you always delivering these here, Mac?"
Pearl asked as she was curiously scanning a jar of Zap Apple Jam on her hooves.

"Eeyup. A few weeks after winter."
The red stallion replied calmly. Their apple orchard were just starting to regrow their leaves. It was a good thing that they had an over-supply of the jam.
"The Apple Family sell these jams to the ponyfolks in White Tail Village ev'ry year."

Henry was quiet as he pulled the wagon and used his magic to levitate his notebook and quill. He's taking down notes for the fourth book of the Daring Do series, where he plans that the yellow pegasus adventurer wakes up on the shore after barely escaping the underwater city of Atlantis from the third book.

"They're really colorful..."
Pearl whispered, examining the different colors inside the transparent glass jar, where the colors of the jam refuse to mix together.

After reaching the other ponies, Big Macintosh and Henry had a small conversation with the other business ponies for a few minutes until the village's aid team caught everyponies' attention. They announced their warm welcome and thanks, and they then led the business ponies towards their village.

Chapter 20 - White Tail Village

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Chapter 20 - White Tail Village

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Part One of Three
Fanged Forest
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The brown earthy path from the train tracks leading to the fishing village was narrow, only providing five to eight meters in width. The business ponies and their unicorn companions have been taking this path for far too many times now, and it was clear from their smiles and chatter that they're used to the dangers which were poking behind the thick trees that surrounded the path. Even the red earth stallion was wearing a calm smile, and Henry, despite feeling a bit scared, continued to keep his calm.

He took notes of the path, the air, the feel and the heavy pressure he's applying to push the wooden wagon he and Big Macintosh were pulling. Pearl, somehow disbelieving that simply staring at the rainbow jam bored her, started to let her eyes wander in her moving surroundings and quietly hummed a tune as she sat on the available space inside the wagon which was filled with wooden crates.

The three ponies were in the middle of the group of ponies. Earth ponies, who are among the aid team, were spread around, walking on the sides, front and back of the group. They kept a watchful eye in their surroundings. They need to, if they want to provide safety to the business ponies. After all, they are going to get paid for their services--either in bits or the items the ponies sell.

Henry took notice of the trees. Each tree has their leaves, and all were green. Were these trees unaffected by the magic of the seasons? The trees back in Ponyville were still starting to grow their leaves back. Well, he thought, there are trees which are indeed unaffected by the changing seasons. Maybe the trees here are one of them? So much are needed to be taken note of, which made the green pony smile.

When they were still in the train, Henry asked about the place, and Big Macintosh gladly filled him in. The only relevant thing Henry still has on his mind was about the wolves in the forest. If it weren't for the aid team and the unicorns, the path would be too dangerous to cross.

The Apple Family needed the Bits while their apple orchard was still recovering their leaves, so he understood Big Macintosh's condition of providing the needed Bits for his family.

A loud rustling bush echoed in the quiet air of the path, making everypony stop and look around.

...nothing...

They continued their walk, but only this time, they're more quiet and more alert now. The aid team prepared their wooden weapons on their mouths. Unicorns started chanting their magic mentally.

Henry decided to stop writing. He returned his quill and notebook back inside his saddleback. He turned his head over his shoulder, and saw Pearl. She was still humming, but already aware of the situation. She saw him, and flashed him a reassuring smile. Henry smiled back.

Just then, a loud rustling noise echoed around the air once again, and after a few seconds, a large creature jumped out of the forest, and stopped a few hooves in front of the herd of ponies.

---

"H-how am I doin'?"
A blue pegasus colt asked, struggling to keep himself airborne. He was hovering a few hooves above the sandy shore.

Cloth simply smiled. They have been in that area for almost an hour now, and teaching the blue pegasus to fly is starting to fruit. The pegasus colt has managed to steady his wings in flapping downward. Although he was tiredly panting, he was grinning after he noticed the black pegasus' smile. It somehow flashed him a message of a good job he's doing, and he's eager to continue his training.

A quick rise of the colt's wings was like time became still to Cloth as he noticed something on the wingtips of the young pony.
"Stop and land," he ordered as his smile vanished.

Did he do something wrong again? He was certain he already got it right, at least, that's what he thought. He slowed his pace, slowly losing his altitude, and his hooves finally touched the sand.
"Cloth, bud..." he said in between deep intakes of breath.
"D-did I...make a m-mistake?"

Cloth closed his eyes as he slowly shook his head.
"No," he said as he looked at the confused blue pegasus, "Blue, you are doing a good job."
He took a breath for the colt to process his message.
"I simply noticed your wings."

Blue blinked twice before turning his head over his shoulder as he extends a wing.
"What about 'em?"

"Your wings are tired, Blue. Rest up for a while."

"B-but," he faced the black pegasus with a tired look, "I'm not tired! Not in the slightest."

Cloth arched an eyebrow.
"No, you're tired, and you need rest."

"But I'm fine!"

Cloth took a breath.
"Fine, if you insist."

Blue smiled, slightly hopping in place.

"But don't blame me if you permanently damage your wing."

At that, Blue froze in fear. If a broken hoof meant difficulty in walking, then a broken wing would mean... Blue quickly trotted beside the boulder, and lied down to rest.
"Rest is a good idea! Yep!"
He laughed weakly.

Cloth smirked.
"I'm glad you recovered some sense."

Now, it was Cloth's turn to exercise his wings. He slowly opened and extends his wings as he noted to himself that if he feels pain, he'll stop and take note of his wings' limit before starting his wing stretches. Blue quietly watched the black pegasus a few hooves in front of him.

In the forest near the shore, a small seedling was stepped on by a large green hoof with sharp claws. The owner of the said claw had blood-red eyes, which were fixed on two ponies on the shore.

---

A large wolf-like creature appeared before the group. It has the height much taller than any ponies present in the area. Its green leaves around its body provided the creature warmth and protection like fur. Each of its four feet showed sharp sets of silver claws, matching its razor teeth as it let out a growl through them. Its eyes send messages that blood will be spilled that day.

"A forest wolf..." Henry whispered as he mentally took note of the wolf's features.
"Interesting..."

Meanwhile, the other ponies prepared themselves. Unicorns stood in front of their employers, preparing their magic as their horns began to glow, as the aid team tightened their grip on their wooden weaponry on their mouths. Pearl grabbed a piece of her own as Big Macintosh and Henry removed the harness around them and went to the back end of their wagon where Pearl was seated.

Two forest wolves came out and stopped behind the group of ponies. Noticing that those were closer than the one in front, Henry and Macintosh focused their attention on them. Two wolves then appeared in either side of the group, making the aid team who were near to take a few steps back. Two wolves then appeared in the front, and then both sides and back.

"Interesting indeed..."
Henry gulped as he concentrated his magic.

"Eeyup..." Macintosh replied.
"They're not this many last year..."

"Is that a bad thing?"
Pearl asked quietly, shakingly trying to keep a hold of a metal rod.

"Do not panic!" one of the business ponies shouted, making the wolves growl furiously.
"With the aid team and the unicorns, these wolves won't be able to harm us."

Testing that theory, a wolf on the front dashed towards them. With a flick of magic, a wall of air slammed the approaching wolf, and sent it flying back towards the forest. Angered that their companion was hurt, the other wolves took that as their signal to attack. As the rest of the ponies prepared themselves, Henry grabbed his hat with his hoof, revealing his horn intensely charged with brown magic.

---

Cloth yelped in pain after trying to fully extend his wings, despite his mental note not to do so. He fell to the sand as Blue got up to try and help him out. Reaching him, he grabbed a hoof to help him up.

"You 'kay, bud?"
Blue asked, worried.

Cloth weakly smiled as he folded his wings back.
"I thought you said 'bud' only applies to those whom you don't know."

"Yeah well..." Blue stared at the sky, looking for something to say, until a recollection came.
"You said it yourself that I don't know you, so that makes you a stranger."
And he finished it with a victorious smile.

"I suppose I did," Cloth whispered with a smile.

They suddenly heard a fast set of running hooves on sand. Turning at the same time, before their eyes was a fast-approaching forest wolf. It jumped after it got in range. It's mouth opened wide, revealing sharp sets of teeth. It's front feet stretched forward, where its claws were aimed at them.

Acting in defensive reflex, Cloth quickly leaned back and jumped lower, successfully delivering a headbutt on the wolf's stomach. The attack sent the wolf back, landing on its side.

"Gah!"

Cloth quickly spun around and saw the blue pegasus running towards the water while desperately flapping his wings in fear as another wolf chased after him. He was about to go after them when a sharp sense hit his nape. He jumped forward in time to dodge the wolf's claw from making contact. As he was about to land, he saw a glimpse of the blue pegasus desperately splashing and throwing rocks at the wolf, who was having a rather difficult time keeping up in the water. Satisfied that the blue pegasus is safe for a few minutes, he quickly turned to face the wolf after he landed, only to see before him the wide jaws of the creature.

---

The sound of battle echoed in the air as ponies and wolves did their best to achieve their tasks. As Henry blasted a brown beam at a wolf, Macintosh dashed forward, turned around, and delivered a good ol' tree buckin' kick at a leaping wolf. The massive power the stallion gave shook each fiber in the wolf's body as it was sent farther than Henry's beam did with the other.

"I seriously need to work on my magic..."
Henry said as he fired another beam at a wolf, which it easily dodged and quickly dashed towards him. The wolf leaped towards him, ready to deliver a killing blow.

"Duck!" a female voice shouted, making Henry to do so. A metal rod hit the wolf, sending it flying back to the forest after Pearl's successful swing.
"Home run!" she cheered.

"Home run?"
Henry blinked as he turned to her.
"Sea ponies play baseball underwater?"

"Questions later," she winked, "saving our butts first!"

Henry blinked twice, completely lost at that.
"I need to ask you where you learned such languages after this..."
Henry said, completely weirded, as he turned around and focused his magic on his horn.

---

A forest wolf dug its fangs around Cloth's face. It began to move its head left and right to make its prey dizzy for an easy kill. It stopped after it noticed a green glow from its jaws, and before it could react, its mouth was blasted with green sludge. The force pushed the wolf back, dragging Cloth along until the wolf's jaw opened its mouth further to lose its grip on the black pegasus. It tried its hardest to remove the awful green slime on its mouth. The wolf was completely distracted, unable to notice the black pegasus' glowing green eyes as it created a wall of green barrier in front of it. Quickly, Cloth pushed the sand, delivering a much powerful attack with the solid green wall of slime, and followed by his own head delivering a headbutt. The wolf was thrown back and hit its head on a tree, completely losing its consciousness.

Disregarding his wounds, Cloth turned and saw two wolves were already chasing the blue pegasus. One was chasing him in the water, while the other was waiting on the shore. He was about to jump up and fly when a cruel thought reminded him that he cannot fly. He dismissed the plan and instead dashed towards the wolf on the shore.

---

As the battle continues, the cries of ponies wondering of how many and how powerful the wolves are is already joining the echoes of chaos in the area. After blasting another wolf away, Henry turned back to the wagon and saw Pearl repeatedly slamming the iron rod on the skull of a wolf. He did not notice how that wolf reached her, but he was glad that she could keep herself safe. To finish it off, she lowered the rod and swung it sideways, hitting the wolf's lower jaw and sent it back to the forest.

"Hole in one!"

"Even golf?"
Henry tilted his head to the side.

Pearl simply chuckled as she jumped off of the wagon.
"Hey, this is fun!" she happily announced as she turned her head around to spot another victim.

"Danger is...fun?"
Henry whispered, unable to notice a wolf creeping behind him.

---

Blue slipped on a slippery rock underneath the water, completely losing his balance and falling to the water. The wolf took advantage of his accident and quickly worked its way towards the pegasus, only to stop after half of its face was covered with hot green slime. It yelped in pain and quickly thrashed around a few seconds after realizing how cool the water was. As it drowned its head under the water, Blue rose up and coughed a few water out of his lungs after breathing some when he fell. Panic was making it difficult to control one's breathing, after all.

Blue turned to the shore to escape the wolf. As he did, he saw Cloth, pushing the head of another wolf down to the sand. With an exposed neck, Cloth quickly dug its fangs on the wolf's leafy neck. The wolf screached in pain, making Cloth tighten his bite.

Blue was about to get out of the water when he noticed two wolves were trying to wake an unconscious wolf on the edge of the forest. He stood still after a wolf ran pass him from his side, and continued its retreat back to the forest. One wolf dragged the falled wolf inside the forest as the other locked its gaze on a panting pegasus.

The wolf quickly dashed towards him as Blue cried in fright. As the wolf leaped in the air, another wolf was thrown and hit its side, throwing both away from the scared pegasus. Turning, he saw Cloth, breathing fast and deep, and with green angry glowing eyes. What made Blue shiver in fear was Cloth was smiling.

---

A wolf leaped and aimed its claws and jaw on Henry's back, when a painful pull from its tail denied his intentions. Big Macintosh bit the wolf's long leafy tail and spun in place before letting go, sending the wolf way over the height of the trees.

"Just like haybales in the rodeo..."
He whispered as he turned to the surprised green pony. He opened and closed his mouth a number of times as he let his tongue dance inside.
"Taste like hay as well..."

"I'll...take a note of that..."
Henry whispered.

The wolves were already short on number, and after realizing that they're no match for these group of ponies, they slowly began to retreat back into the forest. After the last of the wolves was sent flying, the ponies cheered for victory. Soon, they started treating the wounds of their fellow ponies. Fortunately, nopony was severely injured or have died. As Pearl and Big Macintosh checked their wagon, Henry sat on the ground and took his notebook and quill. He began to write the things that happened. Something this intense would be great for the fourth Daring Do book.

----------
Part Two of Three
Love On The Sand
----------

The two wolves retreated into the forest, to Blue's relief. He fell into a sitting position, breathing deeply to calm himself as he tried to ignore the glowing green eyes of a certain black pegasus.

Cloth was seated as well, where his back was on the blue pegasus. He just noticed the fear in Blue's eyes when he threw that wolf to save the pegasus. It was a good thing that he could control himself, else, who knows what he could have done to that pegasus if he allowed his changeling greed to consume him. No, he knew he can control himself. For years, he has mastered that, after all. Still, he needed to assure the blue pegasus that he has nothing to fear...at least...for the time being?

"I'm sorry," Cloth said.
Talking somehow made him remember about his wounds around his face. Now that his muscles are relaxing and his adrenaline now slow, a numbing pain was surrounding his whole face.

"Hey bud..." Blue whispered, turning his gaze down.
"...it's...it's cool."

Cloth turned around and sat where he can face him. He was about to ask about how the word 'cool' has anything to do with what just happened, until he remembered it's other meaning. Ponies and their ways of talking... Cloth quietly sighed.
"Why did they attack, I wonder."

Blue only slowly shook his head.
"No idea bud... No freakin' idea..."

"Hm..." Cloth took a few seconds to think.
"You said that those wolves are smart enough not to attack us..."

"Only if we're inside the village, yes, but uh..."
He rose his head to face him to continue, only to gasp in surprise after seeing a few streams of blood from the black pegasus.
"Y-you're wounded! You're hurt!"
He quickly got up and ran beside him. He quickly squirmed his head under Cloth's stomach, and lifted him up on his back.
"Wow, you're lighter than I thought," he remarked as he started walking towards the village in a fast pace.

"Put me down this instant!"
Cloth hissed.

"Worry 'bout nothin', bud! We'll get there soon enough!"
Blue said through gasps of breath, only to receive an annoyed groan from the pony on his back.

---

The ponies were aware of the noises echoing from the forest, and they knew that the wolves must have attacked the aid team assisting the business ponies once again. What they weren't prepared to see was the wounded black pegasus being carried on Blue Sky's back. The other ponies didn't need any other things to know as they quickly and carefully grabbed the wounded pegasus and carried him to the biggest hut in the village. Inside were five beds on one corner, and tables on the other, where jars containing different herbal and liquid medicine were contained, and a few medical kits. Cloth suddenly found himself lying on a bed.

Ponies quickly cleaned and disinfected his wounds as Blue told them what happened, with his usual exaggerations of the events. Cloth wanted to point a few things, but his mouth was being closed shut by two ponies cleaning his wounds. He could only sigh through his nostrils. He closed his eyes as he listened to Blue's ridiculous version of the story.

Now that he thought about it, it was probably for the best for Blue to tell the story than him. He couldn't just simply tell these ponies that he spitted slime, bit a wolf's neck, and other things. Besides, Blue's doing a good job revising those points he was worried about. Now if only he could tone down the exaggerations a little...

---

The large group of ponies were welcomed by the earth ponies of the little fishing village. As the ponies of the aid team embraced their loved ones, while some received a mouthful of concern to those who got wounded, the business ponies started to sort their wagons and arranging their items to sell in the village. Soon, the ponies were ready for trade and business. After Henry and Pearl finished helping Macintosh from setting up the jams, they both excused themselves as they went to the shore.

The two ponies allowed the cool sea water to touch their hooves as they quietly stared at the horizon.

"Been a while since we last spent time just by simply staring at the ocean..."
Pearl whispered as she sat down, disregarding the ticklish water on her flank and tail.

Henry followed, and his shoulder met the leaning head of his mare. He leaned his head on her as he wrapped a wing around her back, pushing her closer.
"It really has been a while, huh?" he whispered back as he brought a hoof and brushed Pearl's long black mane.

Although the place wasn't as quiet and private unlike in Seasaddle Beach, they didn't care. All that mattered was them at that moment, where they could enjoy each other's presence by just staring at the horizon, sitting on the shore, and hearing Cloth's name.

'Wait, what? Cloth?'
Henry thought as he turned his head to the other side, and spotting a few earth ponies, probably teenagers, who were listening to a standing blue pegasus colt.

Yearning for her stallion's head to be over hers, she brought a hoof on his cheek, and dragged it back on top of her head.
"And stay there until I say so..."
She whispered playfully. She exhaled in comfort as she closed her eyes.

'Cloth could wait, I guess...?'
Henry thought as he smiled and closed his eyes.

---

Blue Sky leaned closer to the circle of his friends with a seious look. His friends leaned closer with wide eyes, waiting for whatever intense action Cloth did to save Blue's pathetic life. He narrowed his eyes, and his friends' breaths became short until they stopped breathing.
"Those two ponies over there sure are sweet, huh?"
He said calmly as he pointed a hoof at the couple on the shore with a sly smile, only to receive groans from his friends, while others completely leaned further forward until their noses kissed the sand.

Already aware that the story's been put on hold, Blue's friends sat up and turned over to the couple. Indeed, the two were really sweet. Gentle Leaf blushed as she randomly and unknowingly began digging a hole on the sand with a hoof. Easy and Sand Stone looked at each other with knowing smiles, and they then leaned closer to the other two ponies' ears as they whispered in unison 'aaawww', making both the receipients, which were Ash and Dandy, blush furiously. The two took a side glance at each other, and turned their heads away from each other. Successful, Easy and Sand Stone laughed as they brough a hoof to meet the other, and Blue laughed along with them, making the couple-to-be ponies turn to them with a death glare. Gentle Leaf satisfied herself with a quiet laugh, making Ash and Dandy blush even more after seeing their timid friend teasing them as well.

The two blushing ponies awkwardly turned to each other, and then quickly turned away in perfect timing. Blue crept behind the two and hung each hoof on the two's shoulders as he pushed his head in between theirs.
"Better move it, you two," he whispered loudly, "or else those two over there will hoard aaall the ants around."

Both of his friends' heads turned to him with glares each, which he planned them of doing. He quickly chuckled, winked at them both, pulled his head away, and quickly pulled his hooves for his friends' noses to touch the other, burning their cheeks even redder than before.

Blue, Easy and Sand let out a chorus of cheers, and Leaf's doing her best to cheer as well, as the four got to their hooves and started walking away from the red-cheeked ponies.

Their glares ignored, the two ponies sighed in frustration, and awkwardly raised their heads up to stare at the two ponies on the shore, and then on the blue ocean, and then on the clouds, until they stared blankly at nothing. It was a bit quiet, but it was noisy inside their bodies, where echoes of loud heartbeats could almost deafen the both of them. Ash took a side glance at the filly beside him, and she did as well, and both turned away again with blushing cheeks.

"So, uh..." Ash began, awkwardly scratching his nape as he locked his gave on a wonderful piece of pebble on the golden sand.
"You uh... I ah...uh...er..."

"Y-yeah..." Dandy awkwardly replied, satisfied by simply staring at a broken piece of tiny shell on the sand.

"F-fo-for...how long?"

"D-dunno... You...?"

"Me ne-neither..."

Both chuckled weakly, not willing to remove their embarrassed gazes on their items of choice on the sand.

"So uh..." Ash broke the awkward silence of three seconds.
"...we uh...does that...mean...we're...er...um...you know..."

Dandy awkwardly nodded her head, as if Ash could see it.
"Y-yeah... I...g-guess so...?"

And they both allowed a few seconds of silence. It then turned to minutes, but they're not willing to make it to hours. Slowly, Ash turned his gaze to her, his cheeks still burning.
"Um..."

Dandy, slowly turned her head to face him, and the instant she did, their eyes met the other, and both were lost in each other's eyes. They were friends for a long time, yes, but never did they notice how beautiful the eyes of the other really were. Ash's deep blue eyes were like comfortable ocean waves. Dandy's brown eyes were so soothing to look at. A rattling sound awakened their hypnotized states, and quickly realizing how close their lips are from the other, and their soft breaths were aready touching the other. Their cheeks burned furiouly as they turned their heads away from each other.

A few hooves away, Blue Sky and Easy were killing Sand Stone for creating such a noise while the three of them and Leaf silently watched behind the barrels of the clinic hut. Leaf was desperately trying to top the three from making a corpse while Ash and Dandy laughed at them.

Cloth watched the six pony friends on a window where he's sitting on the side of the bed. Strangely, the scene made him smile. Ah, the joys and stupidity of young souls. Satisfied, he returned his gaze on the two ponies on the shore. Specifically, he stared at the familiar green pegasus pony. No, not familiar, he indeed knew who that pony, or changeling, is.

So, even his majesty found someone he could love. What's with ponies and love these days. Is it because it's spring?
Cloth thought as Henry and Pearl stood up, gave each other a quick kiss, and walked towards the newly formed market outside the edge of the village.

Cloth smiled. Somehow, seeing Henry being happy also made him happy. Does this mean he did a fine job of returning him and Miss Daisy back to Ponyville safe and sound? Maybe. No, definitely. If he didn't, Henry wouldn't be happy right now. But what of Miss Daisy? Is she fine? Of course she is. She and Sir Henry are probably not together all the time, if Henry is happy to be with that blue earth pony mare.

He saw them both helping a red stallion with selling some jars of jams. He watched them with a satisfied smile until he saw the blue mare looking at him...no, staring at him. He noticed her confused stare, and she quickly turned to the green pony, murmuring something. She pointed a hoof at him, and Henry followed the hoof's direction. And there, Cloth and Henry saw each other for the very first time in a long time. Henry flashed a smile, and Cloth refected it back.

----------
Part Three of Three
Sand And Bond
----------

Cloth, Henry and Pearl sat on the sand on the other end of the village. They allowed the calm and cool water to wash their hooves and flanks. They welcomed the salty and refreshing breeze of the sea. They also allowed the calm quietness of the area for them to recover from the emotion they were feeling at the moment.

Henry just finished telling Cloth the things that happened after he left them in Ponyville. Cloth could not believe it: he failed. He failed his task to bring them back together safe. He silently cursed his name to hell.

He felt a wet hoof on his shoulder, and droplets of water flowed down to his shoulder to his hoof. He turned to see Henry, flashing him a sad smile.

"It's all right, Cloth," the green pony assured him, "you don't have to blame yourself for what happened."

"I'm sorry, your highness," Cloth looked down, somehow he felt like he could not look at the green pony on the eyes. "I have failed to bring the two of you back safely..."

"Cloth, do I need to repeat myself?"
Henry asked as he removed his hoof from the black pegasus' shoulder.

Cloth took a slow and deep breath, closed his eyes, and let out a sad sigh. He then lifted his head and opened his eyes to see Henry, still wearing a sad yet reassuring smile.

"Cloth, really... Thanks to you that we even made it back to Ponyville. So please..."

Is it fruitless to keep this up? It has to be, since Henry's trying his best to end the discussion in a calm and reassuring way. Cloth took another breath and sighed. Finally, he nodded his understanding.
"T-thank you, your highness."

"Oh yeah..." Henry lifted a hoof in between them.
"Please stop calling me 'your highness' or 'your majesty' or any other titles."
He smiled, receiving a confused look from Cloth.

"Aw..." Pearl, who was seated beside Henry, pouted.
"I really wanted to be a princess or a queen."

"You're not helping, Pearl..."
Henry turned to her with an angry look, only to receive a playful chuckle from her.

"Uh... If that is what you wish, Sir Henry..."
Cloth bowed, and Henry turned to him.

"Oh, and stop treating me like one as well, Cloth."
He smiled, and it made Cloth's confusion worsen.
"You're my friend, and, as a friend, can you treat me like a friend?"
He extends a hoof towards him.

Cloth stared at the hoof for a few moments. He lifted a hoof and made contact, and slowly, they shook their hooves.
"But please, Sir Henry, forgive me if I'll still pay you the respect of one."

Henry rolled his eyes as they both returned their hooves.
"Fine, fine... I guess you got used to it."

"Indeed I have..." Cloth smiled.
He then rubbed one of his itchy wounds on his face. His black fur could almost conceal his wounds though.

The trio then turned to the horizon, and simply watched in silence, until Henry broke it.

"So Cloth..." he asked without any of them turning, "what are you going to do next?"

"I still need to stop that witch, Ch--" he quietly sighed.
"Like I said, I don't want her to cause any more sufferings to other creatures..."

"But she sounds so powerful..."
Pearl turned to face the two pegasi stallions.
"...how can you actually defeat her?"

"I have my ways..." Cloth simply answered, making Henry face him.
"And I have to stop her in any ways that I could think of. Even if it costs me my life..."

The trio fell silent for another minute or two until Henry broke it once again.
"So...you're going after her...outside of Equestria?"

Cloth nodded.
"Indeed I will. I will hunt her down, even if I needed to reach the edge of the world."

"Wow..."
Pearl whispered.
"All that for revenge?"

Cloth nodded, "for revenge as well."
He turned to face the couple.
"Miss Pearl. Sir Henry. I am not sure if you are aware, but I hold a great grudge against her. I know you are too, Sir Henry, but it drives me insane not being able to get back to her."
He took a breath and sighed as he faced the horizon.
"I can't live in peace without satisfying myself with revenge. I know it's wrong, but..."

He cut himself off when he felt a hoof on his shoulder once more.
"I understand, Cloth..." Henry lied through a weak smile.
"Just...be careful," he brought his hoof back on the ground.
"You and I both are aware of how strong she is. I'm not doubting your strength and skill, but, as a friend, take care of yourself as well."

Cloth nodded his agreement.
"I will. Don't worry. If faith and luck decides to bless me, then I'll visit you in Ponyville. Until then, take good care of yourself and Miss Pearl as well."

The couple smiled, and were about to nod their heads when they heard something was being dragged on the sand from behind them. The trio turned and saw a blue pegasus dragging a wooden boat, and stopped a few hooves in front of them.

Blue spat the rope that was attached to the front of the wooden fishing boat, and smiled at the three ponies. He then fixed his gaze at the black pegasus.
"So, who's up for an ocean adventure?"

The couple blinked in confusion while Cloth narrowed his eyes.
"You are NOT coming with me, Blue."
Cloth replied to the blue colt's question.

Blue pouted, "aw, com'on Cloth. Don't be like that."
He bit the rope and dragged the boat to the shore as he ignored Cloth's glare.
"It'll be fun! I just know it will!"

"Young pony..." Henry spoke, "...you are aware of---"

Blue waved a hoof at him.
"Yeah yeah. The danger. The death. The thrill. My friends will be alone here and I'll probably miss them. The ponies I knew here, I'll probably miss them too. Yata-yata, etcetera etcetera."

Henry glared at him.

"Anyway, I'm ready for all those," Blue nodded.
"And besides, Cloth still owes me."

"I recall teaching you how to fly made us even."
Cloth hissed.

"Yeah, that!" Blue exclaimed.
"I still don't know how to properly fly. And if you're going, I'm going with you until I learn how to fly!"

"You are aware that I can easily toss you overboard and leave you alone with the sharks, right?"
Cloth countered.

"Nah, I'm a good swimmer for a pegasus."
Blue said as he walked towards the black pegasus. He grabbed one of his hooves and pulled him to the boat.
"Now com'on! Stop wasting time!"
He said as five earth ponies arrived in the scene with worried expressions.

"Ya sure we can't change your mind, Blue?"
Asked Sand Stone.
"Ya know we'll miss you, right?"

The other four nodded in agreement.

"Sorry guys," Blue replied as he let Cloth's hoof go.
"But I made up my mind."
He turned and gazed at the blue horizon.
"I'm a pegasus, and I wanna know a lot of things about me, about life, and about places," he shrugged, "dunno, maybe it's my pegasi instinct to go around places. Maybe that's why we have wings? To fly and go wherever we want to..."
He turned to face his friends.
"And I wanna know my place in the world as well. I dunno why, but Cloth feels like an older brother t'me," he smiled at Cloth.

Cloth narrowed his eyes.
"You were eavesdropping on our conversation earlier, weren't you?"
He whispered.

Blue chuckled slightly.
"Thats true, but it has nothing to do with what I feel."

Easy sighed, yet he smiled.
"Guess we can't change your mind..." he shrugged.
"Oh well, we'll certainly miss you, blabbermouth."

"I'm not agreeing to this," Cloth said, but reached deaf ears.
"And besides, travel on a boat?" Blue looked at him, "it'll take us a month or two to reach our destination, and that is if I am unfortunate enough not to have my wings healed at that time."

Blue blinked.
"Is...is it really that far?"

"Exactly why I don't want anyone to come with me."

Blue smiled.
"Then we'll be staying here for a while then."

Cloth arched an eyebrow.

"While you heal, you can teach me more about flying! And then, once you're all good and ready, we can fly there."

Cloth took a breath and sighed in frustration. He turned to Henry and Pearl, and both looked away.
"You're on your own, Cloth," Henry whispered with a weak smile.

"Some friends you two are..." Cloth smirked.
He sighed as he turned to Blue.
"All right, fine."

Blue shut his eyes tight as he leaped in the air and yelled victoriously. Cloth rolled his eyes as he turned to his five friends.

"It'll take a while for me to heal. During that time, convince him not to come along, please?"
Cloth asked them, and he received their nods.

"We can't promise anything, Cloth," Ash said, "but we'll try our best to turn that idiot around."

"H-hey! I'm not an idiot!"
Blue said with a frown, and his friends laughed.

Cloth turned to the couple, and Henry flashed him a smile.
"Well Cloth," Henry spoke, "looks like you have another one to bug you around..."

Cloth sighed, yet he reflected the smile back.
"I suppose I do..." he whispered as the five ponies teased Blue even more.

He looked at the six ponies, and wondered what crazy days awaits him as he let time and rest heal his injured wings. He shrugged. He looked at the sky, and noticed that they still have a lot of daylight to waste. He turned to the couple with a soft smile.

"Sir Henry," Cloth said, catching the couple's attention, "I would love to hear a few of your adventures while you wrote your books."

Henry blinked.
"You know about my books?"

Cloth nodded, "but of course."

Henry smiled.
"Yeah, why not?"

Chapter 21 - PonyVille Diaries - Fourth of Many

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Chapter 21 - PonyVille Diaries - Fourth of Many

----------
The New Kid In Town
----------

"Good morning, class!"
Cheerilee greeted in a sing-song manner, announcing her arrival as she walked inside the room.

"g'Morning Miss Cheerilee!"
Said the fillies and colts inside the room in unison. They were seated in their own respective chairs and rested their front hooves on their desks.

The room has a wide black (green) board on the north-side of the room, where the teacher usually writes about his or her discussions and other things for teaching. The east side of the room has an open doorway for entrance and exit, windows for fresh cool air to enter, and bookshelves for references in study. The west side only has windows and bookshelves and charts. The south side of the room has posters and reminders and pinboards on the wall. The room also consisted of rows and columns of chairs and desks for students.

"Before we'll start out lesson for today," Cheerilee said with her usual bright and hearth-warming smile as she trotted to her desk, "I would like everypony to welcome our new student," she turned and extended a hoof towards the door, "Golden Time."

A sad looking, head-hanging-low, pale yellow coated, black-colored mane and tail, unicorn colt slowly went inside with nervous hooves. After taking a few steps inside, he stopped, and slowly lifted his head to look at his new environment.

He saw the walls, the bookshelves, the desks, the chairs. But what really caught his attention were the ponies. Everypony, well, almost, were looking at him with very warm smiles. The unicorn colt blinked, somehow forgetting his nervousness as a smile formed on his dry lips.

"H-hi...everypony..." Golden Time greeted as he awkwardly lifted a hoof and slowly waved it at them.
"Ah-I'm...Golden Time... But uh...please call me Gold, or Time..."

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" exclaimed a pink earth filly as she began bouncing on her chair, smiling pretty darn wide with eyes sparkling like stars as she stared at the new student.

"Now Pinkie---eh?"
Cheerilee failed to continue what she was about to say when the pink earth filly leaped out of her chair and quickly dashed towards the new colt.

She grabbed his hooves and began dancing in circles as she hopped and jumped and exclaimed how happy she was to meet a new pony. Golden Time was getting dizzy.
"---and then I'll give you a party to welcome you in Ponyville and everypony will be there so you can meet them all and you could make even more friends and everypony will also have a new friend and that is you and then we'll have games and cake and muffins and pie and fun of course! Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of FUN!"
She stopped spinning around and let his hooves go as she excitedly threw her hooves in the air.

Golden Time kept on spinning on the spot with swirling eyes. Soon, his spin slowed and stopped, and he openly welcomed the school's wooden floor's embrace.

Pinkie Pie then quickly looked at the wallclock above the black board, completely ignoring the sighs and weak laughs of her classmates.
"Well, there's still a lot of time before the party starts."
She said to no pony in particular as she easily lifted the colt back on his hooves. She grinned.

"C-could you uh..." Golden Time spoke, wobbling a bit, "...stop going in circles, please?"

Pinkie giggled, "Silly, I'm not circling around! Something's wrong with your eyes!"
She grabbed the colt's cheeks with her hooves.
"Here's let me help!"

She shook his head a bit before letting it go. After a few wobbles, he stood still and shook his head. He let out a breath of relief after everything in his vision is back to normal.

"Uh...thanks?"

She happily extends a hoof towards him.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!"
He shook her hoof, and just as soon as he let her hoof go, she jumped to his side, wrapped a hoof around his nape, and turned him to face the class.
"How'd you like me to introduce you to everypony?"

"Now Pinkie," Cheerilee spoke, "shouldn't the class introduce themselves instead?"

"Great idea!" she shouted as she leaped in the air and dashed back to her chair.
She is seated on the very front and very edge of the class. She then waved a hoof at him and stood up.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you, Goldy!"

'Goldy...?'

The rest of the fillies and colts introduced themselves. After the last one introduced himself, Golden Time blinked in confusion as he turned to the teacher.
"Um... Miss Cheerilee."

"Yes, Golden Time?"

"Uh, I was just wondering... Why aren't there any pegasi here?"

Cheerilee was about to answer when an orange earth filly spoke first.

"The pegasi have flying classes t'day," said the orange earth filly.
"They're outside of town practicing, ya see."

Golden Time smiled at her and nodded, "thanks, uh, Applejack, right?"

Applejack nodded.

"Now why don't you find a seat and settle down."
Cheerilee said as she began flipping her book on her table.

Golden Time nodded and walked his way towards an empty seat. He settled down on the fourth row of seats, beside a white unicorn filly on his left and a caramel earth colt on his right. Both were staring at him, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Um... This seat isn't taken yet, right?" he asked innocently, receiving the two ponies' shaking heads.
"So uh...is...something the matter?" he asked quietly as Cheerilee began her lecture.

The earth pony spoke first with a grin, "nah, but watch out for that white unicorn."
The filly turned to him with a glare. "Don't wanna see ya turned all girly and stuff."

"I beg your pardon," the white unicorn with a blue stylish mane and tail hissed, "but I do not and will not turn anypony into something they do not want."

Golden Time turned to her, "Rarity, right?"
He received a nod from the filly. He was about to say something when the colt patted his shoulder.

"Don't talk to her, dude," he said, ignoring the death glare of the white unicorn, "and if I were you, I'd find a seat away from her."

She was not liking that colt at all. Ever since classes resumed when spring came, he has been doing nothing but to make her angry. She turned her head forward with closed eyes with her snout raised.
"Hmp! Colts! One of these days, you'll be crawling on the ground, begging for my hoof."

His grin grew wider.
"See? She's weird like that."
And he returned to his desk and began jotting down some notes on the board.

Golden Time turned to the filly with a small smile.
"Hey um, Rarity?"
The white filly opened her eyes slightly, giving him a side glance.
"Y-yeah uh, I don't think you're weird," her eyes were fully open now, "or...anything he said about you."

She turned to him with a small smile, ignoring the caramel colt's rolling eyes.
"Thank you, Golden Time. That means a lot."
She then returned her attention to the board.
"And here I thought colts were the same."
She whispered to herself and then she shrugged.
"I suppose not all of them. Oh Rarity, treating each colt like they're the same as that idiot brown earth pony is not lady-like at all!"
She whined in whispers, though it was still loud enough to be heard in a small radius of ponies around her.

He flashed an awkward smile, though Rarity didn't see it, and he then turned to the caramel-coated colt. The colt flashed him a knowing smile, and he returned in writing down notes.

'Well,' Golden Time thought as he levitated his newly bought notebook and pencil from his saddlebag and settled them down on his desk, 'everypony has their differences, I guess...'

---

It was recess time, and every filly in class were outside to enjoy the warm clear day as they played and talked to each other. Little ponies were on swings, some were playing tag, others were playing jacks, and other things.

Cheerilee was seated on her chair inside the school building. On the other end of her desk was a yellow earth mare and a blue earth stallion, and both were seated on stools. The three ponies were discussing about a certain unicorn.

"He's a very intelligent unicorn," Cheerilee spoke with her usual calm voice, "he was able to answer questions and was able to explain to class a few things or two."
She turned over her shoulder to look at the blackboard, where a multiplication table was written in white chalk. She then turned back to the two ponies.
"He has this way of finding an easier way to explain things for others to easily understand."

"That's our Golden Time," the yellow mare said with a smile, and she followed it with a chuckle.
"It's good to hear that he's already adjusted here."

The three turned to the windows, where outside, they saw the pale-yellow unicorn colt, playing tag with other ponies. He was currently chasing an orange earth filly with three red apples as her cutie mark, and both were clearly having a great time. Running pass a gray earth colt, Time skidded to a stop, made a sharp turn, and immediately dashed towards the startled colt. He didn't have the time to avoid Time's hoof that touched his shoulder.

"He's been really down, ever since his pegasus friend was abducted a few months ago..."
The yellow mare said quietly as she and the blue stallion turned their attention back at the teacher.
"He was failing his classes. He was no longer paying attention to school, to his friends, and even to himself," she frowned, "it was a very sad thing to see."

"At least we can clearly see that he's happy now."
Said the blue earth stallion with a smile.

The yellow mare nodded in agreement as a small smile formed on her lips.

"Don't worry," Cheerilee said, "I'll be sure to make him feel welcomed and loved."

The two ponies nodded.

"Thanks, Miss Cheerilee," said the blue pony.

Cheerilee waved a hoof at him.
"Cheerilee is fine. You don't have to be formal towards me."
She said with a warm smile.

The blue earth pony shrugged.
"You're a teacher. And teachers should be respected 'cause without them, there won't be professional ponies in the world."

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. She then pulled her drawer and took a few pieces of paper from inside. She placed them on the desk in front of the couple.
"I just need your signatures, and Golden Time will be properly recognized as a transferee here in the school."

The couple took the first two pieces of paper on the top of the files.

Rose and Angle took the pen which Cheerilee was hoofing, and after signing the papers, Cheerilee took the papers back and put them inside a brown folder on the right side of her desk.

"Thank you, Miss Cheerilee."

"Oh, it's no problem, really," Cheerilee smiled at them, "I'll send these papers to the principal after class."

---

"Bye, Miss Cheerilee!"
Said the little fillies and colts in unison as they moved out of the classroom in line.

Cheerilee waved a hoof at the little ponies who were slowly working their way out of the classroom. Outside, Golden Time and Applejack were walking towards one of the picnic tables near a tall tree in the school's yard. On the seats were Pinkie Pie and a gray earth colt, chatting and laughing until they noticed the two of them approaching. Pinkie waved a hoof at them, and the colt turned to see them climbing on the seats.

"So," Pinkie started, "how's your first day of school in Ponyville?"
She smiled, eager to hear the colt's answer.

Time smiled at her.
"It was okay, and it was fun," he admitted with a simple smile, "though," his smile faded, "that was it?"

Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who were seated side by side, blinked at him, twice.
"Uh, what do ye mean?" asked the orange earth filly.

"I mean that, uh, classes are only during the mornings? No afternoon schedule?"
Pinkie Pie and the gray colt laughed while Applejack chuckled slightly. He felt a bit angry at them for laughing at him, though he patiently waited for their laugh to die out before he starts to talk again.
"I'm serious here... Really..." he frowned.

"Sorry 'bout that, sugarcube..."

"'Sugarcube...?"
Time tilted his head in confusion.

Applejack waved a hoof at him to dismiss the thought.
"Anyway, yeah, you pro'bly are enrolled in the morning schedule, so," she shrugged, "you only have the mornings for classes."

"Oh," Time scratched his nape, "I guess that makes sense, but uh..."
He rested both his front hooves on the table, "what are we suppose to do for the afternoon?"

Applejack shrugged.
"Meh, I need tah go back to the farm and do some chores."

Pinkie Pie nodded.
"I need to go back to Sugarcube Corner and help the Cakes! Aaannnddd~"
She smiled wide, "I need to prepare for your party!"

"Do you have to give me a party, Pinkie?" he asked.
"'Cause you don't have to do that."

The fillies shared a chuckle, and Pinkie spoke first, "Don't be silly! You're new, and every pony who's new in town deserves a Pinkie Party~!" she sang.

"Yep," the gray colt nodded in agreement, who was seated beside Golden Time, "even I was given a Pinkie Party when my parents and I moved here from Fillydelphia."

"What's it like, Boulder?" Time whispered.

"Hey!" Pinkie shouted, catching both colt's attention.
"No spoilers!" and she pointed a hoof at Boulder Break.

The gray colt smiled and gestured to zip his mouth with a hoof.

"Aw..." Time pouted.

"Anyway, sugarcube," Applejack got his attention, "what are ya be doin' this afternoon?"

Time blinked.
"Uh... I'm not really sure."
He looked up to the sky as he thought about it.
"Maybe I'll go and see my dad," he turned back to them, "I guess?"

"Where is he?" asked Boulder, "Will he be here to get you?"

Time shook his head with a smile.
"Nah, he's probably busy with teaching the pegasi fillies."
He was about to continue, but he cut himself off after noticing his companion's wide eyes.

"Dude..." Boulder playfully punched the unicorn's shoulder.
"You're dad's Sonic? That's cool, yo!"

Time blinked twice.
"Uh... Is it?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes.
"Well, duh!" she said, as if Time was completely missing the obvious (which he truly was), "Mister Sonic's a very great and very respected pegasi teacher in the whole town! Even Cloudsdale recognizes him!"

"Oh, uh, I didn't know that..."
Time shrugged, "I haven't really spend some time with him when I arrive though... Or even when I was living back in...Manehattan."

"Then what are you sittin' 'round here for?"
Applejack asked with a smirk, "Go on, git! Shoo!"
She playfully waved a hoof to send him away.

"Yeah! Go to him!" Pinkie cheered.

Boulder nodded his agreement.
"You should definitely go and see him, dude."

---

Golden Time had no idea where he was going. When he was inside the train, Ponyville looked really small, but now, he wondered how big the town really was. The first half hour of walking, he convinced himself to look around the edge of town, but then he realized that it was almost noon. Maybe his father went back to town for lunch?

He began asking the ponies he met along the earthy path. If his dad is well-known, then it should be easy to find him if he asks for directions. Unfortunately, the "go straight, and turn right when..." and "when you see the building called... turn right and..." directions he got from other ponies were too difficult to remember if almost all builings in town looked exactly alike.

"Hey little brother," called a young female voice from behind him.

Golden Time turned around and saw an orange pegasus filly approaching him with a warm smile, which was completely contrasting his tired frown.
"H-hi big sis..."

Her smile became weak after she noticed how tired he was.
"Eh...uh..." she turned around until something in her sight made her smile.
She then turned to him, "you hungry?"

---

Despite feeling very hungry, Time managed to eat like a proper pony. Aurora led him to Sugarcube Corner, and they ordered a few unsweetened bread products and ate on the tables outside the establishment.

"Here you go!"
Pinkie Pie happily placed their glass of cool grape juice on their table from an expertly balanced tray on her back.

"Thanks Pinkie," said Aurora as she took a sip from the straw.

His sister's smile was enough for Time to know that it was a very good drink. He followed suite, and his eyes brightened.

"I'll take that as a sign that I did a great job at making my first grape juice!"
She said with a happy smile, "Usually, it's Mrs. Cake that makes the grape juice, but she's feeling kinda under the weather at the moment, and Mr. Cake is busy baking, so that left me the only one to make 'em!"

"It's really delicious, Pinkie," Time smiled at her.
"Thanks."

"Nah~ah~ah~!" she waved a hoof at him.
"Thank me later when the party's over!"
And she hopped back inside the shop.

"So," Aurora said with a smile, making her little brother look at her as he took a sip through the straw.
"Pinkie's planning on giving you a welcome party?"

"M-hmm..." he replied, not removing his lips from the straw.

Aurora chuckled.
"Makes me remember the welcome party Pinkie threw for me..."

Hearing that, Golden Time wanted to know what a Pinkie Party was like. His chance to ask her was gone in the instant when the pink earth filly leaned her head outside the door and gave the orange pegasus a scary glare, and slowly moved her lips, quietly sending the two of them the message "no spoilers". Afterwards, she smiled and went back to work.

"I guess you're going to have to find out on your own, Time," Aurora said with an apologetic smile. She then gave him a wink, "but I could tell you one thing about it: it'll be fun."

---

Aurora and Golden Time walked out of the edge of town, and were now heading to a hill near the feared Everfree Forest. The hill had earned the name 'Sonic Hill', because that hill was where Sonic Wave teaches the town's young pegasi ponies. They reached the top, but found nopony there, except for a low-hanging cloud a few hooves above them, with a rainbow tail dangling on one of the edge of the white fluffy cloud. A soft set of snores could be heard from it.

As Aurora turned her head around, trying to spot anypony else, Golden Time fixed his gaze on that rainbow tail with disbelieving eyes.
"R-Rainbow Blast?"
He whispered, making his older sister turn to him with an arched eyebrow.

"Rainbow Blast? Who's that?"

To answer her question, Golden Time pointed a hoof towards the cloud. Aurora looked up, and then back to him.

"That's Rainbow Dash..."

Hearing her name, the rainbow-maned filly groaned and turned. She was sure that she was already asleep earlier. She heard a colt's voice said her name...or rather, questioned her name. Wait, somepony doesn't know her? Taking a deep breath, she stood on all four, stretched her hooves and wings, wiped the drool on her mouth, and she finished it with a crack on her neck. She then flapped her wings and glided down and landed in front of the two ponies.

"Hi Rainbow Dash," Aurora greeted the sleepy-looking pegasus filly.
"Sorry if we disturbed your nap."

Rainbow waved a hoof to dismiss the apology.
"Nah, don't worry about it."
She then looked at the shocked-looking unicorn colt.
"So, who's the new dude?"

"Oh, uh..." Time shook his head a bit, sighed, and hung his head low.
It wasn't his friend. From her voice, her slightly unkept mane, and her gestures... It's definitely not Rainbow Blast.

"Hey," Rainbow spoke again, making the colt look at her, "why the long face?"
She chuckled slightly, "aside from being a pony, of course."
She chuckled again as Aurora rolled her eyes.

Time took a breath and sighed.
'Angle and Rose were probably right. Maybe it was time to move on, but, it's just too difficult to lose a best friend...'
He slowly shook his head before facing the confused rainbow-maned filly. He tried to smile, at least a small one would do.
"Hi," his voice sounded sad, "I'm Golden Time."

"Heh," Rainbow smirked, "nice to meet'cha."
She flapped her wings, bringing herself on the air.
"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flier in all of Ponyville!"
She proudly announced with a smile as she lifted a hoof above her head.

Aurora rolled her eyes, "yeah right..."

"Don't be such a kill-joy, Aurora," Rainbow replied with a smile as she landed in front of them.
"Anyway, wat'cha doing here, anyway?"

"I'm looking for my dad," Time replied, "have you seen him?"

"Er..." Rainbow stared at him boredly, "you need to be more specific than that, dude."

"Oh, uh, sorry..."
Time cleared his throat, "...uh, his name's Sonic."

Rainbow raised a brow.
"Okay, that's too specific."
She coughed awkwardly, "Anyway, you sure he's your dad? I mean, no offence, but uh..." she pointed a hoof at him, "you're a unicorn."

"It's complicated, Dash," Aurora said, "so, you've seen him?"

"Of course I did," she replied flatly, "he's our instructor, duh. And he's your dad too. Haven't you seen him?"

"I haven't seen him since he flew here earlier this morning."
Aurora replied with a bored look.

Rainbow shrugged.
"Sonic ended our training an hour early. Last time I saw him, he was flying back to Ponyville."

"Gee," Aurora said lamely, "thanks for being specific, Rainbow..."

"Hey," the cyan pegasus spoke, "I'm not going to be following his tail wherever he flies to, y'know. Even though he's cool and all, I have my own things to worry about."

"Like napping...?"

"Hey, practice is tiresome, and I need my sleep! Heck, everypony needs sleep!"

"Whatever," Aurora shook her head, "thanks anyway."
She then turned to her little brother.
"Com'on Time. Maybe mom knows where he is."

Time nodded, and Aurora began walking down the hill towards town. He turned to the yawning cyan pegasus.

"Time for me to hit the clouds, heh heh, get it?"

That was a lame joke, Time noted, but he smiled, nonetheless.
"Sorry if we disturbed your nap, Rainbow."
He felt weird for saying that name.

Rainbow shrugged, "Nah, don't worry about it."
She extended her wings, and was about to fly, when a thought hit her.
"Hey, you're new, right?"
She received a nod.
"So, you've met Pinkie yet?"

"We met in school, yeah," he shrugged, "do you know her?"

Rainbow smirked.
"Awesome! I better tell Fluttershy!"
She flapped her wings and began flying towards the nearby forest.
"See ya!" she shouted at him before her voice was completely out of his hearing range.

He noticed a small cottage near the far-edge of the forest, and Rainbow Dash seemed to be flying towards it.

"She's kinda weird..."
Time whispered to himself as he turned and walked down the hill.

---

Sonic Wave was not at home, and Sunset doesn't know where he is. Time was no longer sure if he still wants to go and look for him. Why was he looking for him, anyway?

Remembering that she needed to go to the library, Aurora said her goodbyes and flew towards the giant library tree.

Convinced that he was looking for his dad for no reason at all, he decided to stay at home and help his step-mom in doing chores. It also granted him the chance to get to know the dark-orange pegasus mare, and for her to know him as well. They asked and answered some light questions as they went on with the chores. It only took them half an hour or so for them to complete their chores. Both ponies then settled down on the comfy bluish-white sofa in the living room. They sat with a respectable distance, and in silence. Time simply stared at the round glass table in front of them with no thoughts in mind.

"Something wrong, dear?"
Asked Sunset, making the young colt turn to her. She smiled warmly at him.

Golden Time shook his head slightly.
"No, everything's okay," he turned his attention back on the empty glass table.
"Maybe, I'm just not used to do...nothing...in the afternoon...during weekdays..." he turned to her, "I...guess?"

"Well, how about homework?"

"Already finished them before school ended..."

"Hang out with friends?"

"Applejack and Pinkie Pie said they're both busy. Boulder is as well."

"Well, how about your other friends?"

Time put a hoof on his cheek as he thought about the other ponies he knew in Ponyville.
"Well, there's this Rainbow Dash filly, but she flew off somewhere. Uh... Uncle Henry's probably busy writing his Daring Do book. Hm... Well, Daybreak is busy in the mayor's office... Erm..."

"How about Angle and Rose?"

"They told me that they're going back to Manehattan when recess was over. They promised that they'll pay me a visit from time to time."

"Well, anypony else?"

He tapped his forehead, deep in thought.
"Well, the only pony left, that I think is my friend, is that Rarity filly..."

---

'Wow... I can't believe she actually owns this place...'
Golden Time thought in amazement as Rarity led him inside the boutique.

The white spacious place was home to different kinds of fabric which were rested on wooden shelves on corners of the place. A large curtain hung from the ceiling to the ground, covering the dressing room. Mannequins were stood in line on a corner. Pieces of sketching paper were stuck on a wall inside an office-like room with a large table in the middle. A staircase leading to the second floor. Another room for the dining area, and another for a large bathroom. And layers of scattered papers and fabrics lying around the floor near a small wooden table where the little white unicorn filly was trotting over.

"So so sorry about the mess, Golden Time," Rarity said as she got to her sewing machine beside the wooden table.
"A couple ordered a pair of gowns for their twin's birthday for this weekend," she said as her horn glowed and a maroon-colored fabric levitated from behind where Golden Time stood.
"But they didn't give me any design, so I am having a very difficult time deciding what would look perfect for their daughters... But at least they gave me their measurements."

He shook his head with a smile.
"It's not a problem, Rarity."
He saw the small piece of fabric he was stepping on the floor was enveloped in blue aura. He lifted his hoof, and the fabric flew in front of the white filly, who was busy with her sewing machine. He looked around, and noticed the wonderful clothes on the mannequins.
"Wow Rarity," he spoke in awe, "I've never seen such wonderful clothes before."

"Oh, you flatter me," Rarity said with a small blush as she continued to sew, "it's nothing, really."
And then an idea sprang inside her head as she stopped and turned to him with a smile.
"Would you like me to make you one?"

Time quickly faced her with shock.
"What? No-no! I mean," he let out an embarrassed chuckle, which made the white unicorn filly arch an eyebrow.
"Uh, I don't want to trouble you and uh, you're kinda busy, and uh..." he flashed an apologetic and shy smile, "I don't have any Bits with me..."

The white filly replied with a smile and took a few seconds before returning to her work.
"It's no problem, Time. I insist!"

"Oh, but uh---"

"And besides," Rarity cut him off, "I'm sure I'll be able to finish these a few days early."
She stopped and placed a hoof on her lower lip.
"Though it would be..." she cut herself off as a smile formed on her lips.
She slowly turned to him with a measuring tape, a pencil and a notepad levitated beside her.
"Can I take your measurement?"

Golden Time blinked.
"Uh, now?"

"Oh, but of course!"
She replied and soon began walking towards him.

"Er, sure," he scratched his nape, "I...guess?"

Rarity, upon reaching the unicorn colt, began levitating the measuring tape around him. She jotted down the measurements on her notepad as she murmured the numbers in an almost non-understandable blabber. Completing her task, she nodded her thanks with a smile and began trotting back to her sewing machine with her items floating behind her. She removed the pieces of sewed fabric on the machine and rested them on a nearby mannequin. She then turned to face him.
"I forgot to ask, but what's your favorite color?"

"Oh, uh..." he let his eyes wander around the different colors of fabric in the room.
"Uh, well, I do have a liking to white and yellow..."

Rarity brought a hoof on her chin as she thought about what the colt just said. She returned her hoof on the ground with a smile and a nod.
"All right then. Thank you."

---

Rarity became busy with making Golden Time's 'suit', as she called it. She was too busy that she could hardly even remember that the pale-yellow unicorn colt was around. He politely excused himself before leaving her boutique, and he was now on his way to town hall. On the way, he asked for directions, until the establishment came into view.

He went inside and noticed the warm atmosphere in the area. Wooden chairs and desks were neatly and orderly placed for ponies to work. A staircase leading to the next floor on the right, and on the far-end of the room was the mayor's office. He spotted the pony he was looking for, and went towards the desk near the window. As he got closer, the yellow unicorn stallion looked to him and smiled.

"Hi Time," Daybreak greeted the colt as he reached him.
"I heard you moved here earlier, but I didn't expect you to visit me here."

Golden Time smiled and happily accepted his older brother's hoof patting his head.

"So," Daybreak spoke has he pulled a small stool with his magic, levitating it behind his little brother.
"What's up? Surely you're not here just to pay me a visit."
He asked with a smile.

Golden Time climbed and sat on the stool before replying.
"Actually, I kinda am," he smiled, "so, is work hard?"

Daybreak shrugged as he returned his gaze on the papers on his desk.
"Kinda, but I got used to it," he replied as he levitated a quill with his magic and began writing down on the papers.

"What are you actually doing, anyway?"
Golden Time asked, blinking.

"To make it easy to understand," he paused for a moment as he levitated the paper towards the left pile of papers, and then levitated another from the right pile, and he started writing down on it, "I'm checking the monetary flow of taxes, and I'm also in charge of approving the financial loans the ponies request for their needs."
Noticing that he used some complex words, he stopped and turned to his brother with an apologetic smile.
"Uh, did you get all that?"

Golden Time was smarter than he looked, and he replied with a smile and a nod.
"Yeah, I do."

Both ponies allowed a few minutes of silence until Time spoke once more.

"Actually, I have nothing else to do, and that is why I'm going around places."

"Morning schedule, huh?" Daybreak smiled without removing his eyes on the paper he's working on.
"Well, you could play with your friends."
He turned to him with a concerned look.
"You did made some friends, right?"

Time was confused, but nodded nonetheless.
"Yeah, I did. But they're busy with chores and stuff."

Daybreak smiled at him before returning his gaze on his work.
"I see," he took another paper before continuing, "well, you said a part of your reason was to visit me, right?"

Golden Time nodded, and guessing his brother's inquiry, he spoke, "yeah, and the other reason was, uh, to ask you something."

Daybreak turned to him with a confused expression. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Time smiled.
"I was wondering if you know where dad is."

Daybreak blinked and stared at the ceiling.
"Hm... Well," he turned to the unicorn colt, "I'm not sure, but he also makes himself busy in the Wind Hills."

"The Wind Hills?"

Daybreak nodded.
"That's what the ponies here call it, at least. It's a hill, where the top is flat and spacious. It's where the windmills are built to provide electricity for the town. A concrete building is on the foot of the hill, probably the electric factory."
He shrugged, "I haven't really visited the place, but it's safe to go there if you want."

---

As Golden Time followed Daybreak's instructions on how to get to Wind Hill, he ran into Boulder. He was also on the way to the said hill.

"Your parents work there?"
Asked Golden Time as he chewed on some hayfries that Boulder brought along.

"Yep," he swallowed, "well, my dad is there. Mom has the day-off, so she's at home."

"I see," Golden Time nodded.

The two colts have reached the end of town, and were now heading to the large building on the foot of Wind Hill. From their viewpoint, they could tell that the hill is very tall, even taller than the Sonic Hill. A few windmills were also visible from their viewpoint.

"My dad said, when he was still a young pony, he helped in the construction of those windmills."
Boulder explained as they reached the gate of the fenced factory.

The unicorn guard pony used his magic to open the gate's door for them to enter.

Noticing his friend's confused look as they entered, Boulder chuckled.
"I always visit this place," he said before turning to the guard pony and nodded his thanks. He received a nod and a smile from the pony in response.

The two colts entered the large open entrance way as sounds of sparks and electricity echoed out. Inside, the place was spacious. Looking up, Golden Time could actually see the roof above. Wires and metal rods were stuck on walls. Power generators were slightly shaking the concrete floor of the place. Ponies in brown uniforms and yellow helmets were monitoring the generators, meter boxes, and other machinery in the place. Others were seated on chairs as they work on paperworks on their desks.

Golden Time cringed, not because it was cold inside. It was actually warm, but not too warm.

"You'll get used to it," Boulder laughed.

"What is it?" Time asked, staring at his hoof and noticing his fur sticking out.

"Static," Boulder simply replied with a smile.
"Or, at least, that's what I've been told."
He shook his head.
"I don't really know, but it's weird and fun. One reason why I like visiting the place."

Golden Time looked at him with a concerned look.
"But I thought it's not safe to be close to power generators or something..."
He looked around, noticing the ponies seemingly unaware of the possible danger.
"I read in a book that continuous exposure to electricity shortens a pony's life span..."

Boulder's eyes went wide in horror, his mouth slowly hanging low. He was about to say something when a uniformed stallion came towards them.

"Knowledgable, for such a young pony."
Said a white coated dark-orange mane and tail middle-aged earth stallion with a smile.

"D-dad..."
Boulder said with trembling lips.
"What Time said... Is it true?"

Boulder's father chuckled lightly, and soon shook his head.
"Nah, nothing to worry about, son."
He turned to the confused unicorn colt.
"Of course, what your friend said just now is true."
He turned around and fixed his gaze on the power generators, where unicorn workponies were monitoring it.
"But unicorns enchanted a sealing spell on those generators even before those babies started providing electricity."
A dark-yellow unicorn stallion walked pass his view.
"Hey, Light Rod," he called, catching the unicorn's attention, "mind comin' here for a sec?"

The unicorn nodded and trotted towards them.
"What's the matter?" he asked with a concerned look.

Boulder's father turned to face the fillies as the unicorn stopped beside him.
"You're a unicorn, and these fillies are here to learn."

Light Rod blinked.
"Oh, okay," he smiled at the two little ponies.
"What do you need to know?"

Time nodded, "Right, well..."
He pointed a hoof at the generators.
"Boulder's dad said that unicorns enchanted a seal spell on them."

"Oh, that," Light Rod smiled.
"Nah, it ain't a seal spell or anything extremely advanced."
He turned to the generators, "It's actually a filter spell."

"A filter spell?" Boulder echoed, receiving a nod from the unicorn workpony.

"If you little guys are worried about the health hazard of the generators, then that's what the filter spell is for."

"It..." Golden Time spoke in confusion, "...filters our worries about the hazards?"

Light Rod blinked twice before laughing his lungs out.
"No no," he said after recovering, "ahem, sorry about that. But the filter spell is a medium-level magic that filters the dangerous effects of the generators from leaking out."

"Oh," Golden Time nodded his understanding.
"So that's why we could still feel the electricity..."

Light Rod nodded in agreement.
"Yep, but you'll get used to it."

---

After learning that Sonic Wave was not seen in the factory for the whole day, the two young ponies decided to climb the tall hill, since Sonic is the usual pony to check the windmills if any have anything that need repairs. Midway, they were now high above the factory's height, and the wind was strong, cool and refreshing. After they reached the top, the plain field was covered with green grasses and dark-brown soil. Rows upon rows of white tall windmills stood with large white metal boxes on the base of each mills. The wind is definitely cool and strong.

After recovering from awestruck, Golden Time looked around the area. It was easy to convince one's self that nopony was there, except for them.

With a sigh, he sat down and stared at the spinning propellers of a nearby windmill.

Boulder sat beside him and stared at the same windmill.
"I really like this place..." he whispered as he closed his eyes and smiled.
"It kinda feels like you're soaring in the sky..."

Golden Time turned to him and noticed his friend's smile. He turned front, and closed his eyes as he concentrated on feeling the cool wind brushing on his coat.
"Y-yeah," he quietly replied, failing to notice a smile forming on his lips, "it kinda feels like it..."

---

Both Time and Boulder had no idea how long they stayed on Wind Hill. It didn't matter to them, for it was worth it, they told each other. After reaching the foot of the hill, Golden Time waved a hoof goodbye at his friend who was going to spend a few more hours inside the factory. Golden Time trotted back to Ponyville. Since he had nothing else to do, he planned to spend the few remaining daylight inside the town's library tree. He smiled as he walked on the earthy path of the town. It did seem kind of weird for a library to be built inside a tree.

He didn't need to ask for directions this time, for the leaves of the giant tree is poking above the rooftops of the houses. As he worked his way towards his destination, he saw a familiar pink filly up ahead with a basket hat on her head with letters inside. She was cheerfully handing letters to the ponies she passes by. Golden Time wondered if those were probably the invitations for the party. He noticed the ponies who received the invitations were all so happy to be invited.

"Hey Pinkie," Golden Time greeted the filly, who was still waving a hoof at the couple who were already trotting away.

Pinkie turned to him with a big grin on her face.
"Hey Goldy," she flashed a toothy smile as she ignored Time's frown.
"Are you ready for your great welcome party tonight?"

"Tonight?"
The unicorn blinked in confusion. He sighed. He planned to sleep early later tonight.

"Aw, don't worry," Pinkie smiled as she took a letter from her basket hat.
"The party starts at five, and ends in seven," she winked as the unicorn took the invitation letter with his magic. "Us foals need our sleep, ya know. Well, at least I do! I don't wanna have those ugly black bags under my eyes!"

Golden Time chuckled, making him lose his magical grip on the letter. He levitated it once again before grabbing it with his hoof.

"Howdy y'all!"
Greeted an orange earth filly who was pulling a small wooden wagon, which was only spacious enough for a wooden barrel filled with grapes.

The two turned to her and both flashed smiles.

"Getting busy for the party, Ah see."
Applejack chuckled as she reached them.

"Uh huh," Pinkie nodded, "and you already got an invite!"

Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Oh, Pinkie. You know I always like your parties."

"Heheh, thanks," Pinkie smiled.
"Anyway, I should get going," she bounced, "still got plenty of ponies to invite, ya know!"
And she bounced away. "See ya later!"

Golden Time waved a hoof at her before turning back to Applejack.
"So, uh," he pointed a hoof at the barrel behind the filly.
"Isn't that...heavy?"

Applejack smiled and shrugged.
"Meh, not really. You could say Ah got used ta it, bein' a farm filly and all."
She turned over her shoulder and looked at the barrel for a few seconds before turning back to the unicorn.
"Anyway, Ah best be on mah way now. Mah brother needed tah sell these, since he ran out of stocks in the market place faster than he expected."

Golden Time took a few seconds to process what the filly just said before chuckling a bit, making the farmfilly to arch an eyebrow.
"S-sorry," he took a breath to calm himself, "but uh, I heard that you and your family has an apple orchard, so uh..."

Applejack smiled.
"Ah see. Yah thought it be kinda weird that we're selling grapes, don't ya?"

Golden Time nodded.

"True that the Apple Family only has the apple orchard on the farm."
She turned to look at the wagon.
"These here grapes came from our relatives back in Fillydelphia."
She turned back to the unicorn colt.
"Mighty tasty, too. Want some?"

---

"Sweet Apple Acres, huh?" a green pony asked with a smile before taking a sip from his levitated cup of tea.

Golden Time nodded, ignoring the fact that Henry must have already knew where party will be held, since he and his marefriend already received their party invitations. The filly was busy looking at the books in the bookshelves, trying to see any book that might catch his attention. Aurora was quietly reading a book on the second floor.

Pearl, who was seated beside the green pony on the couch on the first floor, took a glance on the wallclock.
"Four five," she stood up and nuzzled her stallion on his neck.
"We should get going."

"Already?"
The unicorn colt asked as he was about to levitate a book from the shelves.

Aurora removed her concentration from her book as she looked at the clock.
"But it's too early!"

Henry simply chuckled.
"Well, mares take a lot of time to---"

"Don't you dare finish that line!"
Pearl cut him off with a glare.

"Yes ma'am."
Henry obediently replied with a slightly nervous nod.

"Oh brother..." Aurora whispered as he rolled his eyes.

---

Aurora joined her little brother's quiet walk to Sweet Apple Acres as both Henry and Pearl went back to their home. He didn't hide the fact that he was happy that she's walking with him. The two siblings have already walked out of the edge of town, and were now walking on the earthy path towards the apple farm. They exchange a few questions and answers before they reached the farm.

As they arrived, Golden Time let his eyes wander on the trees of the apple orchard. The trees were still working on growing all of their leaves back. The air was cool and refreshing, and strangely carries the aroma of apples.

They continued their walk and stopped in front of the brown wooden door of the large red barn of the farm. Curious, Golden Time rested an ear on the door as he tried to hear the faintest of sounds.

...nothing...

Aurora chuckled as the colt withdrew his ear from the door with a frown. With a shrug, Aurora lifted a hoof and pulled the door open. They were greeted by the warm air that went out from inside of the barn, silence, and darkness. He could see nothing, hear nothing, and even smell nothing from inside. He turned to his sister with a concerned look.

"M-maybe we're in the wrong place?"

Aurora simply shrugged as she slowly went inside.
"Meh, maybe."

The colt took a few steps inside with worry. Aren't they both trespassing? They could get in trouble.
"Sis, I think we should g---!"

He was cut off when the barn's lights turned on, almost blinding him as large group of voices sprang out and yelled "SURPRISE!" in unison. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the large crowd of ponies as confettis and streamers started flying and falling everywhere. Ponies of different ages were present with big warm smiles and all eyes were fixed on him, before the pink earth filly popped in front of his vision out of nowhere.

"Surprise!"
Pinkie Pie with a party hat shouted with a very large grin as she waved her front hooves in the air.

Golden Time, surprised by her sudden invasion of personal space, took a step back and bumped onto somepony. He was about to turn around and apologize when a large hoof covered his eyes and another went around his chest and lifted him off the ground.

"Guess who, squirt?"
A familiar male voice whispered in his ears.

His worry immediately vanished, and instantly replaced with glee. He grabbed the hoof covering his eyes, pulled it away, and turned his head and saw his father's grinning face.

"I heard you were looking for me?"

"Daddy!"
He shouted, throwing his hooves around his father's neck, embracing him.

Everypony, even Pinkie Pie, gave them a few minutes to enjoy a father and son moment. As Henry, Pearl and Sunset went inside, the two broke their embrace, and Sonic puts his son down on the ground. He patted his son's head and turned his gaze on the crowd. Noticing their expressions, he arched an eyebrow as Sunset walked beside him.
"Come on ponies," he clapped his hooves, "this is a party, remember?"

"That's right!"
Rainbow Dash flew above the sea of ponies.
"Enough sappy! Time to party!"

As the music began playing a lively tune, the ponies started dancing and talking to each other, while others simply ate and drank. Golden Time was about to turn to his dad and talk when pink hooves grabbed his shoulders and pulled him towards the crowd as Pinkie Pie said about him needing to meet everypony present. He turned over his shoulder, and saw his father flashing an apologetic look as he moved his mouth, saying "later" quietly. He nodded as Pinkie Pie introduced him to a shy yellow pegasus filly with pink mane and tail, who seemed to be trying her best to hide herself under the large wide table.

As he let the energetic pink pony drag him around to meet new ponies, he thought of how different Ponyville is from Manehattan. Sure, he had friends there, but they weren't really helpful when he was feeling down. Here, he just arrived, and almost everypony were like his best friends. He snapped out of his thougts when Rarity came towards them with a suit in tow. She said something about it being her welcome gift to him. He accepted the gift, nonetheless, and thanked her with a smile, but as usual, the white filly waved a hoof and insisted that it was no trouble.

With friendly ponies, heartwarming smiles, and friends, and family, he knew he'll have a great and wonderful life here.

Chapter 22 - PonyVille Diaries - Fifth of Many

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Outside the quiet and peaceful town of Ponyville lies the most feared and creepy forest, where everything -- the trees, the forest animals, and even the weather -- are wild, unpredictable and untamed. So many scholars have tried to research and understand the forest, only to achieve failure. So many pegasi have tried to control and manipulate the weather above the forest, but only to achieve failure as well. Worst case scenario, if any of the said ponies would die. The ponies who tried to understand the forest, have concluded that it was best to leave it alone, and the forest will leave anypony alone as well.

However, ponies who are young and always seek adventure will not be stopped by simple words alone. Those type of ponies need to experience the stories before they'll believe it, unfortunately...

"All right everypony!" Shouted a white unicorn scholar as he turned to face the mouth of the cave which was surrounded by thick trees and thin mist. With his horn, he casted a white light to illuminate his gloomy surroundings.

From the cave came four other unicorn scholars with saddlebags. Some of them were enjoying a little chat as they trot.

"Come on, now! No time to waste!" announced the white unicorn as he turned to the narrow earthy path. "Daylight is almost over, and I don't want to spend the night in this dreadful forest!"

"What's the rush?" asked a brown unicorn with a grin, "And here I thought you're the explorer type." He earned a glare from the white unicorn, and a few chuckles from the other unicorns.

"If this forest wasn't feared by the ponyfolks in Ponyville," the white unicorn began as he turned to face his comrade, "then I would have sent a letter to the academy to extend our research. But alas, I value my---our!---lives more!"

"Relax," said a gray unicorn mare in a calm manner, "we haven't ran into any of the said monsters on our way here now, have we?"

"No," the white unicorn replied as they began walking towards the path, "but that does not grant us freedom to explore or to shove the dangers away of this place. We should be..." he trailed off after he saw a faint purple glow from the brown unicorn's saddlebag. "...cautious..." He walked and stopped in front of the brown unicorn, glaring at him. "What in Equestria---!?"

The brown unicorn blinked as the others stopped.
"W-what?"

"Don't 'what' me!" The white unicorn snarled as he pointed a hoof at his comrade's saddlebag. "I told you not to take things from that cave!" With his levitation spell, he grabbed and levitated a large stone from inside the brown unicorn's saddlebag.

The stone was almost the same size of an average adult pony's head. It was purple, and was faintly glowing as it faintly radiant strange mana energy.

"Er..." the brown unicorn gulped, "h-hey, how did that get there...?" He earned glares from his comrades. He coughed awkwardly. "Aw, com'on! I couldn't just leave it inside! That thing might be something worth to be researched! By us! Who knows!? We could be able to provide something in the magic academy!"

"This is a mana stone," the white unicorn sighed. "Though rare for it's color, mana stones are common in different areas of the world."

"Yes, rare!" The brown unicorn exclaimed, failing to notice the other unicorns' attention were on the cave now. "Mana stones have different uses! I know each of their functions, but never did I saw a purple one before! Com'on, at least let us see what it truly does, and then we can return it back inside!"

The white unicorn placed the stone on the ground.
"No," he replied, "I am not going back in this dreadful place!"

"Uh, guys...?" one of the unicorns said, but failed to catch the two stallions' attentions.

"Return it inside, and then we'll leave!" Demanded the white unicorn.

The brown unicorn angrily stared at him. "Yeah? Who are you to order me, huh?"

"Guys..."

"I'm the team's leader," the white unicorn hissed, "and I am also part of grading my members' researching abilities!"

The brown unicorn glared at him, and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Guys!"

Finally, the two stallions looked at their comrades, who were staring fearfully at the cave. They turned, and saw no cave, but a waving darkness which was slowly crawling its way towards them. The unicorns took a few steps back. The white unicorn casted an illumination spell, however, the white light was not able to go through the darkness. It was as if the darkness was a black waving wall, slowly working its way towards them.

"Do you see the trouble you created!?" hissed the white unicorn.

"Me?" the brown unicorn turned to him. "What did I do!?" He earned a glare from the others. "Oh..." he turned over his shoulder, and his sight landed on the purple glowing stone, "...right..."

The brown unicorn summoned his magic and levitated the stone to try and give it back to the darkness, however, as the stone floated in midair, ghostly whispers started to echo all around them as the darkness' ripples worsen. The unicorns took a few steps back, and the darkness crept closer in a faster pace, and the whispers grew louder and scarier. Out of fear, two unicorns shouted and ran on the earthy path, making the darkness silently explode and expand its rays of blackness all around. The other remaining ponies took this as their cue to run away, with the purple stone in tow.

----------

Chapter 22 - Ponyville Diaries - Fifth of Many

----------
The Everfree Darkness
----------

A zebra was humming to herself with a smile as she makes her way around the forest. She has been living in the forest for a few months now, and she has learned first hoof about the unnatural forest's behavior. She has found the plants to be extremely dangerous if not careful. She has learned that the forest animals do not know reason. However, despite all these things, she was still walking around with a smile, collecting her needed plants for her brew back inside her hut that she built with the help of a blue earth pony.

She has been walking in this forest for months now. During that time, she has cleared her usual path for it to be a little bit safer and easier to walk on. She flattened the path and removed the thorny weeds crawling on the earthy path.

Living in South Zebrica, she has learned to brew a few potions to ward off predators, and she was proud to learn that those were also effective to the weird and massive creatures in the Everfree. Manticores, Timber Wolves, Cockatrices, and even very large Hydras and Dragons! She could ward them off, but her ingredients are running low.

As she turned her head to the tree's branches, she stopped on her tracks after she saw one of the ingredients that she needed: a hanging blue vine. Touching its green small silk-like leaves could leave a living creature having a very nasty itch that would last for a few days. Spotting a long stick nearby, she took it with her mouth and used it to pull the vine down. After a few seconds of struggle, a small portion of the vine fell on the ground in front of her. She smiled. It was long enough to last for a week or two. Taking a small knife out of her saddlebag, she carefully removed the small leaves before putting the blue vine inside her saddlebag.

A bright flash of light blinded her for a blink of a second, and thunder roared and echoed in the forest. She looked up and noticed the heavy black clouds swirling like a whirlpool. She shrugged, for it was a usual sign that it might rain soon. She returned her gaze to the surface, but noticed something different: her surroundings became darker than a few seconds before. The wind was cold and still, and carries a strange feeling that made her shiver.

Another roar of thunder.

She decided that it would be best to head back to her hut for shelter. Whatever the forest is brewing, it didn't look like she wanted to find out. She turned around and began her trot back to her hut, but her eyes are starting to lose the faintest of light available to help her see her path. That, or the forest is really getting darker by the second. Spotting a thick stick nearby, she took it with her mouth as she grabbed a vile from her saddlebag with her hoof. Removing the cork on the vile, she poured a small amount of transparent liquid on one end of the stick, and instantly, she had fire on the stick. She returned the vile, and using the lit stick as a torch, she continued her trot. Her torch provided her enough light to see a small diameter of her surroundings, but as the seconds pass by, even though her torch was still alive, the shadows of darkness crept closer, as if the fire on her torch was getting smaller.

Thunder roared.

She looked up, to at least give her a few seconds to forget her worry about her surroundings, but she could no longer see the sky. All she saw was black, and it seemed to be getting closer.

She blinked as she turned her gaze ahead, around, behind. The shadows were getting nearer and nearer. If her heart was not doing its best to make her deaf, she could have heard the quiet ghostly whisers being carried in the stagnant cool air.

She no longer knew which direction to take. She turned and turned, trying to see a path -- any path -- that could get her away from this place. The shadows were inches away from her now, and she began to sweat. Something grabbed her fire's light. Turning an eye, she saw the fire on her torch was consumed in the darkness. In panic, she spat the stick and dropped herself, praying for mercy as she covered her eyes with her hooves. Her body shook as her eyes were tightly shut close. Her breathing became very fast and shallow, as her heart was beating like crazy.

Daring to open an eye, she saw...the forest. Opening both her eyes as she removed her hooves on her head, she slightly lifted her head and scanned her surroundings. A flash of white from a lightning bolt danced through the dark and thick clouds above. She blinked to recover her sight. Was she seeing things? She saw the forest around her. She saw her torch a few hooves from her. The fire was out, leaving torched grass on its resting place as thin gray smoke danced up before it faded with the air.

Thunder echoed in the forest as she got back to her hooves. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before trotting back to her hut. Just when she was convinced that things came back to normal, the wind started to get strong, making the leaves dance and rustle. A few seconds, and the wind became violently strong, blowing the zebra back to the opposite direction. She grunted as she stood her ground, only to pull herself forward and making her fall towards the ground as the wind suddenly came to a full stop. One of the forest's weird weather, she thought to herself.

Grunting, she stood up and dusted the dirt off of her coat and muzzle before continuing her trot. After a few minutes of silence, her hut was finally in view. She smiled as she continued making her way towards her home in a faster pace than her usual.

Her hut was built right underneath the large cave-like hollow of a massive Everfree tree. Reaching the wooden door, she lifted a hoof and pulled the door wide open. Her smile became wide, seeing her belongings were still in one place, dimly lit by a number of candles. Around the hut's semi-circular interior were wooden tables filled with jars, small chests, viles, plates and many other things. Hanging from her ceiling were vines and tree roots. A small bed with a thin dark-brown matress on a corner, which was hidden behind a thin hanging semi-transparent curtain. In the center of her hut was a large cauldron on top of large rocks that surrounded lighted coal, wood and dried leaves. The cauldron had a bubbling purple liquid of some sort.

Removing her saddlebag and settling it on a wooden chair near the door's frame, she turned to close the door, reaching a hoof on the door, only to stop after seeing a black blob figure a few hooves from her door's stair-like steps. The figure was...nothing more but black. Rubbing her eyes and blinking a few times, she's convinced that she's not seeing things.

Seconds felt like forever, until she noticed the figure moved forward. Without warning, the figure quickly sprang itself towards her. Fear suddenly stole her breath as she suddenly slammed her door shut just before the figure reached her.

---

"...and then the headless pony pulled her outta the table!"

The library was then filled with screams and screaches from the fillies and colts as they squirmed inside their sleeping bags. As they screamed and scrambled inside, Aurora could not help but chuckle at the sight.

The library was dimly lit by a candle on the nearby table on the first floor. A quick glance on the wallclock startled the orange pegasus filly a bit.

"Oh my! It's getting late!"
She exclaimed as she turned to the number of sleeping bags with pony heads poking out.
"Time for bed, everypony!" she smiled as she stood and went towards the candle.
She turned and saw the frightened looks from the young ponies.
"Come on, everypony," she said with a weak smile, "it was just a story." She shrugged as she faced the candle, "There's nothing to worry about."

She glanced to her left, and saw her big brother, a yellow unicorn named Daybreak, who laid asleep on the couch with his back facing them. Small cotton puffs were stuffed on his ears as he let out quiet snores. Beside him was his marefriend, a white unicorn named Snow Flake, also fast asleep with cotton puffs on her ears.

One of the young ponies yawned, and it quickly spread to the other young ponies. Agreeing that it was time to sleep, they said their goodnights before Aurora blew the candle's fire out. Blinking a few times to adjust to the moonlit library, she trotted towards her sleeping bag beside her little brother, who was yawning. Squirming inside, the siblings said their goodnights before going to sleep.

---

A powerplant located on the outskirts of Ponyville was busy with repairs. A number of unicorns chanted a light spell from their horns to provide enough light for work ponies to see what they're doing.

A whistle rang through the sounds of sparks and metal, silencing any other sounds and making the ponies turn to the source.

"Okay everypony," shouted a middle-aged unicorn pony, "that's enough for taday! Rest up and resume the repairs tamarrow!"

With that, the ponies began collecting their equipment and said their goodbyes and goodnights to each other as they walked back to Ponyville.

The middle-aged pony turned to the generators. He sighed for they failed to finish their maintenance on time. As he turned around to walk back to Ponyville, he convinced himself that the town will just have to deal with a night without electricity. He satisfied himself with the thought that this was not the first time Ponyville will be sleeping without power. And after all, the ponies are very understanding.

As he walked on the earthy path, he noticed that the moonlight was dimming. Curious, he looked up and saw a large black cloud covering the sky. There must be a storm scheduled this night. With a shrug, he fasten his pace towards home.

---

Unbeknowst to those who aren't weather pegasi, the clouds covering the evening sky are not clouds at all. Sonic Wave, who just arrived home from the factory, looked up and noticed the strange weather clouds covering the sky. Narrowing his eyes as he stretched his wings, he noticed that the black clouds were waving like the calm ocean, for some strange reason. He flapped his wings and brought himself above the height of the houses, and noticed that the edge of town was also slowly being covered by the darkness, further darkening the quiet and sleeping town. He noticed one part of the town has lights, probably from the unicorns who just arrived from the factory.

---

A very loud series of knocks came pounding on the zebra's wooden door. Her heart was pounding fast as fear took over her, however, after hearing the cries of ponies on the other side, she quickly trotted to her door, unlocked the locks, and the door bursts open, throwing the zebra back as unicorns quickly ran inside and immediately closed the door.

---

Henry woke up after hearing murmors and whispers from a group of ponies outside his home. He removed his embrace from Pearl as he sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes. Noticing that lights were coming through the window, he changed his disguise as he walked out of bed and sleepily trotted to the door.

Outside, he saw the group of factory-working ponies whispering to each other as they looked around the town. Wondering what was the commotion all about, he quietly closed the door and took a few steps forward as he looked around, only to notice how dark the town was tonight.

Sonic Wave landed a few hooves in front of the green pony, where a few factory ponies went to him, and began asking if he knew anything about the phenomenon.

"This isn't a weather condition." Sonic said, making Henry turn and walk towards him. "I don't know what's going on either..." he replied to one of the questions of the ponies around him.

Henry walked through the crowd, and Sonic noticed him. "What's going on?" he asked, but Sonic only shook his head.

Then, the whispers died in silence after everypony heard ghostly whispers echoing all around town, making them shiver as they turn and look around.

---

"Uh...?" A pink filly woke up after she felt a weird sensation. Crawling out of her bed, she sleepily walked towards the window, pushed it open, and saw the illuminated area of the town from her room on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner.

After a yawn, she turned to her wallclock. "Huh... A party this early?" Suddenly feeling awake, she took a look back on the group of ponies again. "But... It's so quiet. A party should be loud and fun!" She giggled, and then gasped after a thought hit her. "I know! They must be waiting for me there!" She said excitedly as she went towards her drawer and pulled out her party cannon. "Nopony can have a party without Pinkie!"

As she hid her party cannon in her pink poofy mane, she hopped towards her room's door, grabbed the handle, twisted it, pulled the door open, and saw waving darkness on the other side.

---

Rainbow Dash groaned and shivered from the cold air that surrounded her. With an angry growl, she kicked herself into a sitting position on her cloud bed. Stretching her limbs as she yawned, she looked around and found her cloud still floating above the market place. She noticed the illuminated area near Henry's place, and wondered what was going on.

She spreads her wings wide open to fly, but stopped after hearing her name from an annoying filly down below. She didn't want to go down and meet her, but after another shiver from the cold, she flapped and glided down the market place and landed a few respectable hooves in front of a white filly, who was clearly very sleepy.

"What?"

"Uh..." Rarity yawned, which affected the rainbow-maned pegasus. "S-so sorry to wake you, Rainbow Dash, is just that..." she tapped her chin with her hoof as she turned around. "Could you and your pegasi friends remove this chilly weather please?"

Rainbow tilted her head on one side, clearly not understanding what the filly wants from her.

Rarity turned to her with a sleepy smile. "If it's not too much trouble, that is. The weather schedule in town hall says that tonight's supposed to be a clear warm evening." She shivered as she finished her sentence.

Rainbow shook her head. "We didn't do any of this weird weather stuff..." she turned around and noticed the weird darkness rippling. "...whatever this weird stuff is..."

---

The library's door swung open and an orange coated pegasus filly came out as she rubbed her sleepy eyes with a hoof. Other residents of the town also came out from their homes with candles and glowing horns.

"Whu-what's going on?" asked a pale-yellow unicorn colt as he came out from the library and stopped beside his elder sister.

Aurora shook her head. "I'm not really sure," she replied as she looked around, and noticed the rippling darkness.

---

A yellow pegasus filly woke up after soft white paws violently shook her sleeping head awake. COnvinced that the filly's awake, albeit startled, the white rabbit hopped and hopped on the bed, with his paws pointed outside the filly's door.

Wondering what her bunny was trying to say, she crawled out of her bed and walked out of her room as the rabbit hopped on her back.

"What is it, Angel?" the filly asked without removing her gaze on her living room, where her little animal friends were looking at each other with worried and scared faces. "What's wrong, everyone?"

Angel Bunny jumped off of her back and hopped towards the front door of her cottage. He jumped and jumped, trying to reach the handle to open the door. Fluttershy got the idea, and went towards the door and opened it.

She gasped. In front of her cottage was the dreadful Everfree Forest, and she noticed above the sea of leaves of the said forest has a strange rippling black stream-like thing was flowing from the trees, and headed towards the nearby town. She gasped once again, for Ponyville was completely covered by the darkness.

"Oh-oh my! What's going on!?" she exclaimed in her usual low voice.

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A very loud scream of a filly echoed all around town, making the wall of darkness ripple violently. The ghostly whispers became louder as a pink earth filly jumped out from her room's window, and landed in front of Sugarcube Corner without any clear signs of hurt.

Soon, the loud ghostly whispers became screeches as rays of darkness stretched towards the town, and some even tried consuming the fleeing and panicking ponies.

Pinkie Pie jumped to the side on time to avoid a fast ray of darkness that tried to take her. She dared a look, and saw the ground where she was exploded on the darkness' impact. Her eyes grew wide and her pupils shrunk from fear. She screamed as she started to flee away, dodging both ponies and darkness.

---

Henry casted a small brown barrier that surrounded him, Sonic and a few factory ponies, while those who weren't reached by the alicorn's barrier either ran away or casted their own barriers.

A loud crash echoed in the area. Looking around, Henry saw a ray of darkness came inside his home through the roof.

"Pearl!" he shouted as his mare cried in shock.

---

Young as he might be, but he was able to cast a powerful barrier that surrounded him and his elder sister, protecting them both from the rays of darkness that tried to...whatever it'll do to them.

---

As Rarity jumped left and right to avoid the rays of darkness, Rainbow Dash expertly dodged the rays as she took the air, and even managing to deliver an uppercut to an incoming ray. She dodged and punched a few more times before a realization hit her: the darkness can be physically touched. Thinking that it might be a useful information, she tried her best to fly low and yelled to anypony about the darkness being physical.

---

A brown beam exploded on impact, cutting the ray of darkness and freeing Pearl from its grip. With Henry's magic, he caught the falling blue earth pony and sets her down gently.

She hugged him, but immediately pushed him away and jumped back before a ray of darkness landed on the two of them. Henry ran beside her and casted a protective barrier around them as a rainbow-maned filly flew past them, yelling something.

---

Rarity and Pinkie Pie met up and ran together and turned inside an alleyway, which was a dead-end. Shocked, they quickly turned around and noticed a ray of darkness heading towards them. They hugged each other and screamed, only to expect nothing to happen. Daring their eyes open, they saw two adult unicorn ponies hammering the ray with wood and metal on their magical grip.

"Those..." Rarity spoke quietly, "those..."

Pinkie Pie, immediately catching what her companion was trying to say, grinned.
"Oh..." She said, narrowing her eyes confidently, "nopony messes with my home town!"

The pink filly galloped through the alley with her pink cannon in tow, making the white unicorn wonder where that even came from. Shaking her head to dismiss the question, she focused her magic on her horn and found something nearby, under the ground.

"Interrupting my beauty sleep, are we?" she asked coldly with a grin.

---

Sonic Wave flew and dodged the rays as he flew straight to the wall. He had an idea he wanted to test, and after he's within reach, he dove towards the wall with speed, his front hooves extended in front of his face. And as the filly yelled, the darkness really was physical. He hit the wall, creating a circular violent tide from the impact as it let out a loud screech.

Thinking that it cried from pain, SOnic punched and bucked the wall until a ray grabbed him and pushed him towards a roof hard, and even pushing him through to the floor.

---

The group of unicorns led their zebra companion to where they found the purple stone after a lot of convincing from the zebra. On the way, they met a large Manticore, which seemed to be scared and decided to ignore them as it continued to find itself a safe place to hide.

As they continued on their gallop, Zecora explained to the unicorn scholars that the stone they took was the very same stone she offered to the forest when she first arrived and decided to live in the forest. Though it made her wonder how and why the stone was found inside the cave, and not on her small altar that she made under a tree which was a bit far from her home.

They found the cave, where a stream of darkness was coming out and flying above the treetops. What really caught their attention was a small yellow pegasus filly standing near the cave's entrance with a small white rabbit.

Surprised and worried, the white unicorn, despite the danger, ran and pulled the filly away from the cave.

---

Rays of darkness came through the library, and grabbing the ponies inside. Seeing his mare pulled away from him, Daybreak enveloped the ray with yellow magic, and sent massive amounts of psychic energy, dropping him back on the ground outside the library. Without thinking, he grabbed a piece of wood and flung it towards the ray that took the white unicorn mare. Cutting through, Snow Flake fell towards the earth, only to be caught by Daybreak's yellow magic. As Snow Flake got back on her hooves, a ray of darkness consumed the yellow unicorn's head and pulled the pony upward.

Crying in surprise, Snow Flake grabbed her stallion's hind hooves with her front hooves, and tried her best to pull him back down.

---

After delivering an uppercut, a ray of darkness hit the rainbow-maned pegasus on her back, and pushed her towards the ground hard. Gasping, she squirmed to try and escape. The ray quickly pulled itself back, carrying the filly with it. As she cried for help, a loud explosion sound shut her ears down as she felt the ground. Lifting herself up, she saw the pink earth pony firing party materials on rays. She would thank her if only her rescuer didn't deafen her...

---

A very fast ray of darkness destroyed Henry's barrier, and consumed his entire head as the ray pulled him up. Pearl was about to try and rescue him when she felt something grabbed her hind hooves. Before she could react, the ray pulled her up.

A large green gemstone flew through the ray of darkness. Pearl landed on the ground, still a bit stunned to process what just happened.

Wasting no time, Rarity's gem flew back to her like a boomerang, and as soon as it returned, it quickly flung towards another ray, losing its grip on Henry.

---

A fierce yellow ray pass through the ray of darkness, losing its grip on Daybreak. Snow Flake quickly hugged him, and quickly broke the hug as another ray of darkness flew towards them.

---

A very small and very smooth and very fluffy white paw punched the stars out of the unicorn's head, losing his grip on the yellow pegasus filly.

As the unicorn landed on his back, they saw the end of the dark stream came out, leaving the cave safe to enter. The yellow pegasus suddenly found herself hiding behind her mane in shame from what her bunny did to the unicorn. Angel jumped and landed on her back and reminded her of the task at hoof.

As the unicorns helped their comrade get back on his hooves, Zecora quickly trotted and stopped in front of the pegasus filly.

"Whatever you are doing, my dear, please stop, and leave from here."

"Oh, but I must..." Fluttershy whispered as she hid her face behind her mane. "M-my friends... I need to help them..."

Zecora shook her head as the unicorns stood before the mouth of the cave along with the stone enveloped with magic. She turned to them, and with a nod, the unicorns entered the cave.

"You don't understand!" Fluttershy whined, "You're going to anger him! Please stop!" But her words were easily dismissed by the unicorns as they entered and illuminated the cave with their magic.

Zecora however, arched an eyebrow as she turned to the shivering filly.
"'Him', my child? Whoever ar---"

She was cut off after loud screams echoed out from the cave, making the pegasus filly jump and flap her wings and quickly flew inside the cave.

---

Darkness grabbed the white unicorn filly, and began pulling her up. As she screamed from fear, she lost her magical grip on her gemstone. Henry charged his horn with magic, and was about to fire to save the filly when a ray of darkness pushed him to the side and immediately pulled him as another ray consumed his entire head.

With an iron bar on her mouth, Pearl jumped and waved her weaponry, cutting the two rays in the process and dropping her stallion back on the ground. Before she could land, the two rays she attacked did not retract, but instead, pulled itself and grabbed the blue earth mare up.

Shaking the darkness off of his face, he locked his gaze on his mare and...two more rays of darkness grabbed him.

---

Unable to get through the colt's magical barrier, rays of darkness wrapped themselves around the barrier and began carrying the two foals up. Aurora panicked as Time tried to think of ways to escape. He could not perform two magic spells at once...

---

Purple and brown lights flashed inside the dark cave as unicorns were enveloped with black aura. The mysterious black magic disables their ability to either move or cast magic to save themselves.

A large black creature stood on the center of the circular part of the cave. It's height could almost reach the eight-meter height of the cave. It has front limbs resembling that of an ape, and hind limbs resembling that of a frog. It's large, transparent, crystal-blue dragonfly-like wings are extended left and right. It's serpent-like head has purple-glowing eyes as it concentrate it's magic on the unicorns, and also probably on the nearby town.

Zecora lost all words as she stood before the creature, completely frozen in fear. She snapped back to her senses when she saw the small filly...talking...to it in a gentle voice. What even made her disbelieve what she is seeing is that the creature directed its gaze on her, somehow, paying attention.

"T-the stone...!" One of the unicorn stallions managed to whisper, making the zebra turn and face him. He tried his best to point his hoof at where the stone was dropped.

Following the hoof's direction, Zecora found the purple stone behind a large boulder.

---

Seeing his little brother and little sister being carried by the darkness, he enchanted his horn and was about to envelop the darkness with his magic when rays upon rays of darkness quickly flew towards him in every direction.

---

Pinkie Pie fired party items at a ray which was pulling Rainbow Dash up. After rescuing her again, a ray of darkness flew and grabbed the pink cannon. The pink filly was about to save her beloved cannon when another ray grabbed her hind hooves and pulled her on the opposite direction.

Hearing the pink filly's cry for help, Rainbow Dash viciously shook the darkness off of her and flapped her wings hard and kicked the ray. Not enough to cut it, she spun and...a ray consumed her entire body.

---

Picking the stone up, she slowly walked towards the filly as the eyes of the massive creature turned its attention on the zebra. Seeing the stone, the creature let out a growl, making the zebra stop on her tracks.

Curious, Fluttershy turned and saw the zebra with a purple stone on her hooves. She then felt her white rabbit jumping in place on her back. Turning over her shoulder, she saw Angel excitedly pointing his paws at the zebra.

Groaning that his mistress did not understand him -- again -- he jumped off of her back and hopped towards the zebra. He then jumped and pointed a paw on the stone she was carrying.

"Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, making Angel sigh in relief that she finally understood. The yellow filly turned to the creature once again with a gentle smile. "Is that the special rock that was stolen from you?"

"I didn't steal it!" the brown unicorn stallion exclaimed as the creature nodded it's serpentine head. "I found it lying ar---"

"Zip it or I'll report you to the instructor!" Hissed the white unicorn as he glared daggers at his companion. "You're the cause of all this, if you need me to remind you!"

Fluttershy turned to the zebra with a warm smile. "He wants it back. He said that it's special to him, saying that a...zebra..." she let out a quiet gasp, earning confused looks from Zecora, her bunny Angel, and the unicorns. "Y-you gave him that stone?"

Zecora blinked, and smiled as she nodded. "Indeed it was I, my dearest." She then faced the creature. "It was a gift I offered to the forest."

The creature slowly extends one of its hands at the uncertain zebra, as the unicorns were slowly lowered back on the ground. Opening its palms, Zecora placed the stone on it with a smile.

---

The darkness stopped in the small town of Ponyville, making the ponies stop and wonder what is going to happen next. Soon, gentle whispers echoed around the town as the rays lowered their catch back on the ground. And as the darkness began to retreat, soft rays of the rising sun began to bath the quiet, peaceful, and a bit destroyed town of Ponyville.

---

Big Macintosh and Applejack happily pulled a wooden wagon filled with grapes and Zap Apple Jam as they walk on the earthy path from their farm to Ponyville. But as they got closer, their usual happy smiles faded and replaced with confusion as they saw rooftops smashed, wood splinters on the ground, weakened ponies lying around, and a dizzy pink earth filly leaning on her party cannon, where inside the mouth of the cannon was Rainbow Dash's head poking out.

"Um... Pinkie Pie..." Applejack said, catching the pink filly's attention. "Ya might wanna turn your party skills down a bit." She smiled awkwardly as she let her eyes wander around once again. "If you keep this up, there won't be a town left."

Big Macintosh nodded in agreement, "Eeyup."

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked at each other lazily, and groaned.

The Adventures Of Henry Hoof In Equestria

by destinedjagold

Prologue

Chapter 01 - Ember's Flame

Chapter 02 - PonyVille Diaries - First of Many

Chapter 03 - Reaching The Dream

Chapter 04 - The City of Darkness

Chapter 05 - The Heart of Midnight

Chapter 06 - The Blue Sea

Chapter 07 - Warning Signs

Chapter 08 - Early Winter

Chapter 09 - Breaking The Limit

Chapter 10 - Melting The Ice

Chapter 11 - PonyVille Diaries - Second of Many

Chapter 12 - Midnight's Melody

Chapter 13 - Cold Winter

Chapter 14 - Stolen Rainbow

Chapter 15 - Rainbow Extraction

Chapter 16 - PonyVille Diaries - Third of Many

Chapter 17 - Music of Midnight

Chapter 18 - Henry's Tear

Chapter 19 - The Shore

Chapter 20 - White Tail Village

Chapter 21 - PonyVille Diaries - Fourth of Many

Chapter 22 - PonyVille Diaries - Fifth of Many