He Is The One

by Loyal Defender

First published 5th of April, 2018

Young Loyal Defender wishes his life would just change from the boring mundane life of living on his own, to something more exciting and happy...little does he know, his wish is about to come true.

When Loyal Defender loses his parents in a terrible accident, he spends years licking his wounds, he prays each night that his life will change. He doesn't give up, night after night after night, until finally, one night, a mysterious glow fills his room...

leaving nothing in its place as it fades.

The Diamond Shines

Chapter One – The Diamond Shines

A bright flash of light. That was all Loyal could remember. He had been sleeping in his bed, waiting for the night to finally be over. It had been like this for several years now...he would not forget the moment his life changed for the worse. As many know, being alone is a terrible thing. But let me put it to you this way - he had no one to celebrate the holidays with, not even CHRISTMAS. Sure, presents would come...but no parents would be around to watch him open them. As much as he was sick of it, he was equally as determined for hope that would change. So, one night, all was quiet, as Loyal was sound asleep...when there was a soft voice..."You're the one..." Soon after that, there was a sudden bright flash, and the next thing Loyal knew, he was unconscious (meaning he went from sleep to unconscious). He didn't know why or how it happened, but Loyal knew he would eventually find out.

After a while, Loyal regained consciousness, but his vision was blurry. Loyal blinked to enhance his vision. Once it was clear, he looked around, until he spotted a young pink filly wearing a tiara, staring at him. The expression on her face wasn't fear or worry. Instead...it was a look of curiosity.

"Um....hi." Loyal said.

"Hello, there. Umm... I'm sorry, but you just seemed to appear out of nowhere... Did something happen?" The young pink filly asked.

"Honestly...I don't know what happened...all I recall is a flash of light...and a strange voice saying "You're the one." No idea what that means, though..."

"Well that's odd. I wonder if maybe Princess Twilight might know anything... She's probably busy though." The little filly placed a hoof to her muzzle. "Umm, I guess we could go talk to her if you want..."

"You might have to lead me...it's kind of obvious I don't know my way around."

"Oh, of course! Come with me." The little filly turned around and began walking in the other direction. "By the way, my name is Diamond Tiara. What's yours?"

"Loyal Defender. Just call me Loyal."

"Well, okay, Loyal. Princess Twilight might be able to explain what's going on. At least I hope so. She lives in the big castle outside of town." Diamond tilted her head in the direction they were walking. "Can you see it over there?"

"You mean the ginormous crystal -tree-like structure ahead that's possibly full of magic or energy that's yet to be discovered? Yup, I see it. "

Diamond Tiara giggled. "Well, I guess it's full of magic in the sense that one of Equestria's most powerful ponies lives there. But really, it's just her home. There's a library in there because ours was destroyed a while back, but other than that, yes, it's just her home."

"How big is it on the inside?" Loyal asked.

"Well, it definitely feels like it's bigger on the inside, but I'm not actually sure." Diamond Tiara climbed up the steps as they approached the castle, and knocked on the door. "But if it is, that's saying something, because it's still really big out here!"

Loyal and Diamond waited for a few moments, before a purple-coated Alicorn peeked out the door.

"Hiya, Princess! So, um, Loyal here just kind of seemed to appear out of nowhere, and we're a little bit confused about why, or what's going on. We were hoping you would be able to help us?"

The Alicorn motioned for Diamond and Loyal to enter.

"Um......sure...come right in...though I'd never seen a creature like HIM before.."

"Thank you, Princess! I'm sorry for dropping in unannounced, it's just that he seems really confused..."

"No, that's all right...I wasn't really busy anyway..so, what seems to be the issue?"

"Well... I'm not really sure. I was just out for a walk and he just kinda... seemed to appear out of nowhere. He said something about hearing a voice in his head?"

"It said 'You're the one.' I don't know what that means...I can figure it must mean I'm destined for something...but I just don't know what."

"Hmmm....I can't really figure out why that happened...but while you're here, I'm assuming you'd need a place to stay? Diamond, would your parents be alright with Loyal staying at your home?

Diamond Tiara flinched. "Err, probably not. I don't know if you've ever met my mother, Princess, but she's... um... Not exactly... welcoming."

"What do you mean, Diamond?"

"Well, she's... um... Not exactly... friendly... with anyone who's not high in social status. She's... also not really the best mother in the world."

"AW, how bad can she be? I've met worse."

"She's... um... She doesn't really... raise me well. I was never the best pony in the world, because she raised me to be just like her. In my heart, I wanted so badly to be different, but I didn't know HOW, all because she didn't think I needed friends."

"I"ll bet I can reason with her. I'm decent at conversation. i'll just ignore anything rude she says to me."

"So you plan on talking but not listening? Got it!" Diamond Tiara giggled a little bit. "Seriously though, if she doesn't know you, she'll be anything but pleasant."

"Well, shall we go to your house, to talk to her?"

"Well, if you're sure you can get through to her, I don't see why not..." Diamond Tiara shrugged, then turned to Twilight. "Thank you, Twilight. We'll let you know if we learn anything."

Diamond headed back out the door, and Loyal followed.

"So, what about your dad? Is he nicer than your mom?"

"Well, yeah. He tries very hard to get me to act a specific way, too, but at least he's trying to push me in the RIGHT direction... He could still do it a lot better, though..."

"Huh. My stepdad used to try to push me in the right direction...though sometimes, he would try fighting against what I thought seemed fair. So I was ambivalent towards him."

Eventually, after a while, Diamond and Loyal reached her home.

"You live in a mansion?!" Loyal said.

"Well... yeah. We're kind of one of the wealthiest families in Ponyville. I've lived here for as long as I can remember. No siblings... One friend... Just... Just me, mom, and dad." Diamond breathed a sigh. "I was lucky to have the one friend at the time."

"Well,you have another."

Diamond smiled. "I actually made plenty of other friends when I realized I was walking down a dangerous path and changed my ways. But more friends is always a good thing!"

Diamond and Loyal arrived at the door, and Diamond knocked on it. One could only hope this would go well...the door opened, and a rather unpleasant figure stood there.

Author's Notes:

Just to clear things up, this was my very first legitimate roleplay. I wasn't the best at writing then, but the future stories should prove things to get better. I also happened to have a partner collaborating this story with me, my preferred style. So props to him for such a great story, contributing to the development.

Rich with Uncouthness

Diamond Tiara gulped as she heard hoofsteps on the other side. When the door opened, a pink pony with a fancy looking purple mane, a blue shirt, and a golden necklace stood on the other side. She glared in Loyal's direction. "And just what is my daughter doing with the likes of YOU?"

"Hello, mother."

"Pleasure to meet you., Miss." Loyal replied, completely ignoring the insult.

The pony grunted before asking, "To what displeasure do I owe this visit?"

"Your daughter and I figured it'd be nice to drop by and....chat." Loyal finished.

"May we come in, mother?" Diamond Tiara asked, politely.

Her mother sighed heavily and stepped aside. "If you must."

Diamond walked in and Loyal followed. The inside of the mansion was huge. The walls shined, the lights were kind of bright, and the floors were designed with beautiful patterns.
"Nice interiors.." Loyal commented.

"Yeah, I think my ancestors designed the place? 'course, it's been pretty modernized since then. I think the sitting room is this way. Careful not to knock any of the vases over, mom would freak..." Diamond threw a nervous smile in her mother's direction before continuing down the hall.

Eventually, the three arrived at the sitting room. Diamond's mother sat in one chair, Loyal and Diamond sat in the other three.

"So...." Loyal began. "There was something I--no, we--wanted to talk to you about."

Diamond's mother rolled her eyes before asking, "Yes? Do make this quick, I'm a very busy pony."

"Mother, please..."

"I don't believe I was talking to you, Diamond Tiara."

"Your daughter and I were conversating earlier. I eventually asked her about you, and she told me you raised her to be just like you. Why? Why would you raise your daughter instead of raising her to be somepony one could befriend? What led you to lead Diamond to become like you?" Loyal asked. He knew even if she told him to leave, he wasn't going to. He was staying in that very spot until he reformed her.

"Hmph. When you're in a position this high in society like us, it takes a lot to maintain your image. Everypony will be looking for the slightest little things to indicate they're even remotely like you. My daughter appears to have forgotten that."

"I've forgotten nothing, mother! I just want to have friends, I don't care about-" Diamond stopped as she noticed the look her mother was giving her, and glanced down to the floor.

"She doesn't HAVE to be like that. She never did in the first place! If she had continued being the way she once was, she would eventually have been unable to make progress! Look how far she's gotten now that she's reformed! she's gotten farther than YOU ever would have!"

"If what you say is true, then what reason do you have for coming here? Surely, if Diamond Tiara has come as far as you claim she has, she's more than capable of talking to me on her own, isn't she?"

"I..."

"Not if you keep shooting her crude looks. Even one look stops her from trying to speak up! I assume you wouldn't care how ponies feel when you end up making incredibly rude and unappreciative remarks about them, trying to keep your daughter from speaking to them. Even if she is family, she can make friends if she wants to! You should realize, this town is most likely full of ponies who aren't exactly high class, but they're still the friendliest folk around! They're not uptight and snobbish like you figured they'd be! Maybe if you actually gave your daughter a chance, instead of trying to keep her from bonding with lower-class residents, you'd see that what you're trying to do instead is a huge mistake!"

"...He's... right! Everypony in this town that I've met have been so kind to me ever since I stopped trying to live the way you want me to!"

"That's enough, Diamond Tiara."

"No, it's not!" Diamond stood up. "I don't WANT to live life the way you do! I couldn't care less about our status here in town! I just want to have friends, mother! It doesn't matter to me what they think of me, I just want them to like me! REALLY like me! Not act like they do because they're AFRAID of me!"

Diamond's mother was looking increasingly angry. "I said that's enough."

"And I said it's not! Mother, if you won't let me live my life the way I want to, and keep forcing your ideals on me, then I'll... I'll..."

"You'll WHAT, Diamond Tiara? What will you do? Run away?"

"...Yeah. That's exactly what I'll do. I'll run away!"

Diamond took off running, and Loyal continued after her, eventually making it outside, behind the mansion.

"Wow...things went from zero to 100 in no time back there...but I'll be honest, Diamond...I'm very proud of you. Not for running away, of course...but you actually managed to stand up against your mother."

"I've never done anything like that before. I mean, I called her out in front of the whole school one time, but... But I've never really stood up to her that way. It felt good!" Diamond giggled, and then gasped. "Wait! Where am I going to go? I can't ask my friends if I can stay with them, they'll know something's up."

"Well..." Loyal began, and began thinking of where to go.

"I wonder if maybe Fluttershy would be able to take care of me..."

"Who's Fluttershy?"

"She's the local vet. Well, as close to a vet as we have anyway. She lives near the edge of town, but she's very kind and caring, especially with animals."

"I feel like she'd freak out at the sight of me."

"Well.... Sweetie Belle's older sister is good with kids. Sort of. Rainbow Dash, not so much..."

"Are there any other options? Someplace...peaceful?"

"Well, the most peaceful place in Ponyville is probably Sweet Apple Acres. That's where Apple Bloom and her family live. Thing is, I'm worried about going there. They value family above everything else, and I'm worried they'll try to force me to reconcile with my mother when I'm not ready to yet."

"Don't worry...I'll be able to handle that. Shall we go to Sweet Apple Acres, then?"

"Well... I guess so." Diamond shrugged and began heading deep into Ponyville. "It's this way."

Loyal nodded in understanding, and followed Diamond throughout Ponyville. Ponies everywhere gave Loyal a strange look.

"Why are they staring at me?" Loyal whispered.

"Not sure. Maybe they've never seen someone like you before?" Diamond shrugged and continued walking.

Loyal tried his best to ignore the ponies staring at him. Eventually, they reached a gate. On the other side was an acre of land, filled to the brim with apple trees. A bright orange pony approached the gate, with a friendly smile on her face.

"Well, howdy there, Diamond Tiara! Good to see you! You here looking for Apple Bloom?"

"Actually, Applejack, uh... There's... something I need to talk to you about." Diamond rubbed at one of her hooves, and looked up to Applejack. "See, well-"

"Can it wait, Di? I'm actually still in the middle of workin' on the chores for today; I just came over to see if you needed anything. You're welcome to stay for dinner, we could talk then." Diamond Tiara smiled and nodded, before turning to walk into the orchard. "Don't be late, alright?"

"Ehh...okay." Loyal replied, and continued through the gate. Everywhere he looked, there were apple trees. There were also apples of every kind. Granny Smith, Big Mac, Braeburn, Fuji, everything. Loyal also noticed the acres were indeed quiet. Rather peaceful. This definitely seemed like the kind of place to call home. There was also a giant red barn in the center of the acres. It was an interesting place to live, a barn. Loyal never thought a family would live in a barn. But, a home is a home.

Loyal saw a large red stallion pulling a wagon. He felt like talking to the stallion, but it was probably best to wait until things settled with the family and Loyal first. After a bit of walking around, the human noticed that he was hot and tired. He walked around, trying to find a place to cool off, until he saw a good spot behind the barn, between a barrel and a bale of hay.

Loyal walked over to the spot, sat down, and closed his eyes. If he wasn't so tired, he wouldn't have accidentally fallen asleep. Almost an hour later, Loyal's sleep was interrupted by the familiar friendly tone of the orange horse from earlier.

"Hey there. You up? Looks like you dozed off for a while. Diamond Tiara's off in the orchard playin' with her pals, so don't worry, she hasn't run off on you. So, tell me, what's up? How come you're hanging around with her?"

"Well.....it's gonna sound crazy if I tell you."

"You sure? I might not look it, but I've seen some pretty crazy things in my time..."

"Well....all right....she's running away. The reason why is because her mother wanted her to act more like the snobby mother she is. Diamond said she didn't want to be like that. She just wanted to have friends, to have people actually like her, not like her because they feared her. She decided she didn't want to live her old life anymore, so she's running away. she was worried about coming here, because she said you're serious about family, and she feared you'd force her to try and make amends with her mother, and ty to get along. But I wouldn't recommend that.....she really doesn't like her mom."

"Running away? Well, shoot... Apple Bloom told me that little filly's mother wasn't the best pony in the world, but I didn't think she'd be so bad it'd make her want to run away...

...She's right about one thing, though. Family's pretty important to us around here. Thing is? A mother who treats her daughter like that has no business being called family."

"Diamond and I wanted to know if it was alright if we stayed here...we won't really be any trouble."

"'course it's fine! I know AB'd love to have a sleepover with Di. The two don't get to spend a lot of time together outside of school. Shoot, maybe she can invite her other friends over, too! Then they could really get to know each other better!"

"Thank you, Miss....oh, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

"Name's Applejack. Sweet Apple Acres here is the place I call home. Family's been livin' off this land for a few generations as it is, and hopefully, it'll still be around generations down the line! Pleased to make your acquaintance.... uh... sir!"

"Call me Loyal. Shall we head inside?"

"Sure as sugar! Just gimme a sec." Applejack turned and ran some distance towards the orchard, before stopping. Then, she hollered, "Apple Bloom! Round up your friends, it's dinner time!"

Loyal waited until the others headed inside the house. then began following Applejack. "I hope they don't fear me.." He said.

"Sweetie Belle might be a little nervous, but she's apprehensive of new things to begin with. Scootaloo will probably think you're cool. Anyway, I hope you don't mind apple-based food, 'cuz that's what we're havin' tonight."

"Sounds like a fruitful way to gain plenty of nutrition."

Yes, I just went there.

Learnin' The Ropes

Applejack nodded as she sat down at the table. Nearby were three small fillies - one orange, one white, and one yellow. The orange one looked over at Loyal with wide eyes, her mouth agape. "Scootaloo, it's rude to stare." The orange filly looked away, muttering an apology before turning to the yellow filly beside her.

Loyal just sat in the back of the kitchen, away from the others. He just wasn't ready to interact yet. This went on until dinner was over. The others went upstairs, but Applejack sat with Loyal in the kitchen.

"I knew one of them would look at me like that....I'm just not ready to interact with them...how am I going to be able to have things settle down between all of us?"

"Now, now. There's no reason to worry! I'm sure Scootaloo was just in awe of you is all. We don't see many things like yourself around these parts, and the children just love new things! Well, except for Sweetie Belle sometimes. But she didn't seem that afraid of you, really."

"I guess you're right...." Loyal decided to try and think of something to take his mind off of itt. "Say....where exactly am I going to be sleeping?"

"Now that's the question, ain't it? Well, I suppose one of us could always sleep on the couch down here and let you have one of our rooms. Worked for Fluttershy. As for Diamond Tiara, she can share with Apple Bloom. That's what the kids do when they have sleepovers, anyhow."

"I'll take the couch. It's better for you to sleep in one of the rooms.."

"Well, if you're sure. I'll just go grab a spare blanket and a pillow for ya, alright? Make yourself at home."

Loyal nodded, and AJ went to grab a pillow. Loyal explored a bit, until he found the couch. "Doesn't look too uncomfortable."

Applejack came back down the stairs a moment later, placing a spare pillow and blanket on the couch. "There you are! Are you sure it's okay? We'd hate for you to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome here."

"It'll be fine. I've slept on pure spring mattress before and slept fine."

"Alright, well, we're all upstairs if you need anything." Applejack climbed back up the stairs to head to her room. A little while later, Diamond Tiara came down the stairs.

"Hey, you doing alright?"

"Yeah...just thinking."

"Hey, don't worry, okay? We'll figure out what's going on. I promise. Look, if anything happens and we need to go, I'll be upstairs in Apple Bloom's room with the others, okay?" Diamond smiled at Loyal.

"Okay." Loyal lay down on the couch. "I should probably try to sleep...goodnight, Di..."

"G'night, Loyal." Diamond Tiara hastily climbed back up the stairs, returning to Apple Bloom's room to enjoy some time with her friends, before falling asleep sometime later.

Loyal eventually fell asleep.

He had a dream that he was alone....he could hear ponies shouting for help. He tried running toward them, but he couldn't move...then...he heard the voice again... "You're the one..."

That was the last thing Loyal saw before waking up.

"Girls! Breakfast in 10!" Applejack called, before coming downstairs. "Mornin'! You sleep well?"

"Sort of...."

"What do you mean 'sort of?' You have a bad dream or somethin'?" Applejack asked, as the fillies all piled down the stairs. Diamond Tiara threw a smile in Loyal's direction before following the others into the kitchen.

"Well.....it was one of those dreams you have that's just like the one you had before....and it contains some kind of meaning you don't understand yet...in my dreams, I hear this voice, saying ""you're the one'. I'm still trying to figure out what it means..."

"Hmm. Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually!" Applejack followed the fillies into the kitchen. Breakfast was basically apple food again, but Loyal didn't mind. He enjoyed apples.

After breakfast, Applejack went outside to work. "Hey, AJ? Is there any work I could do?"

Applejack thought for a moment. "Hmm... Well, the apples seem to be growin' alright... Pigs could use a wash, but I think AB and the others are going to be doin' that... Maybe you could help me rake up the fallen leaves."

"Okay. Sounds good."

"Right." Applejack went into the barn, and came out with two rakes. "Come with me." She then began trotting into the orchard.

"You know, all my life I've lived just relaxing...but it feels so thrilling actually turning it around, actually doing real work. I'm not implying I'm lazy of course...I just don't normally actually do hardworking stuff like you probably do...how long have you been working like this?"

"Oh, ever since I was Applebloom's age, actually! Took me a bit to realize this was my calling in life, but ever since then, it's been me and Big Mac running the orchard here. 'course Granny Smith and AB help out, too, but Granny's gettin' on in age, and AB's got her own little thing goin' with her friends on the side.

"Sounds like you enjoy working here."

"Sure do! This farm is the backbone of Ponyville when you get down to it. This is where our town got its start, back when Granny was younger, and ever since, it's been one of the largest apple farms in Equestria. It helps that this is what we call home, of course. But livin' quietly amongst the trees, the sun high in the sky most days, good friends close by... Can anypony ask for more than that?"

If I'm honest, and I am, I'd say it don't get much better than this." Applejack chuckled. "Rarity'd beg to differ. She just isn't one for this kind of work. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate her help when I need it, though."

"No....it sounds like such a nice life...I've always wanted to live a peaceful life...and now that wish came true....I bet you wished for the same thing, didn't ya?"

Applejack chuckled. "Strange as it might sound, when I was a foal, I wanted to go live in the big city with my Aunt and Uncle Orange. I did for a while, but it just wasn't for me. But then, I saw a big rainbow streaking across the sky, and it seemed to be pointing right to Ponyville. When I saw that rainbow, I knew - this was where I was meant to be.

As luck would have it, that same rainbow helped all my best friends find their destinies, too. Twilight says it was a sign, that all of us were bound by fate, since before we even met."

"One rainbow brought you together...?"

"Well, it was a special KIND of rainbow. It was a strange event called a Sonic Rainboom. Basically, Rainbow Dash flew really, REALLY fast, earned her Cutie Mark, and caused something that helped the rest of us earn OUR Cutie Marks."

"Sounds like a sort of butterfly effect...something caused her to end up flying at top speed, causing her to perform a Sonic Rainboom, causing different events to happen that somehow brought you together. It's either a butterfly effect, or kind of domino effect. Right?"

Applejack was about to speak, when a small voice nearby spoke up.

"Actually, the Butterfly Effect typically refers to a phenomenon that can be caused by time travel. More specifically, changing events in the past. It describes a situation in which a small, seemingly insignificant change to the past can cause tremendous, often disastrous changes to the future, which would seem to have no relation at all - the death of a butterfly, for example, causes Equestria to never be founded." Applejack glanced over to see Sweetie Belle standing nearby, a small smile on her face. "What? I know things. I spend time with Twilight. I learn these things!"

"I didn't even expect that from someone so young.."

"Everyone's always surprised when I know things." Sweetie shrugged. "Applejack, we finished cleaning the pigs. Apple Bloom wants to know if there's anything else we can do to help out this morning."

Applejack smiled. "If you girls think you can clean the dishes, you're more than welcome. Otherwise, I think Big Mac's got a hang of the rest of the chores this mornin'." Sweetie nodded and ran back to her friends.

"As I was about to say, you're more or less right. Dash's Sonic Rainboom set in motion a series of events that lead to the rest of us finding our destinies, which would ultimately lead us all here, where we all met. It wouldn't be years yet before we would meet Twilight, but when we did... hoo, boy, did things ever change for the six of us..."

"Do you think I'd ever be able to befriend your friends?"

"'course you could! Everyone here in Ponyville loves makin' new friends - 'cept Spoiled Rich of course - none more so than Pinkie Pie!"

"Who's she?"

"She's Ponyville's own personal ray of sunshine! It takes a lot to get her down, and she prides herself on her ability to make anypony smile, no matter how low their spirits are!"

"Wow...sounds important. What does she do when she meets somepony new?"

"Well, she'll go into a daze of joy for a bit, then start planning them a party to welcome them to town. She's super good at plannin' parties! Planed my sister's Cute-Ceñera, and that had to be something extra special, because it was for her two best friends, too!"

"Anything else for me to ddo'?"

"Huh." Soon after, Loyal finished raking up the leaves.

"I think Big Mac probably has the rest of the chores all set for today. We work as a team around here, y'know? But if you could do me a favor and go make sure our hats and bows closet is stuffed, that'd be great. Just... do be careful. We have a LOT of hats and bows."

Loyal nodded, headed inside the house, and searched until he found a closet marked "Bows & Hats". He took a deep breath, opened the door, and....

Applejack heard a loud crashing sound come from inside the house.

Applejack came inside. "Uh, is everything alright? I heard a loud noise up there!"

Applejack came upstairs, into the room Loyal was in, to find a large pile of hats and bows on the ground.

Loyal managed to push only his head out. "Why do you have so much headwear?" He said, before his face accidentally fell into a Stetson hat.

Applejack chuckled. "It's our signature look. The hats are all mine, and the bows all belong to Apple Bloom. She rarely ever goes anywhere without one!"

"Isn't this kind of overdoing it with how many you own?"

"Some might say that. But AB loves her bows, and I work in the sun all day and never know if anything's gonna happen to this one, y'know?"

"You must really care about her..."

"Apple Bloom is one of the most important ponies in the world to me. Not just because she looks up to me, but... well... Mom and Dad haven't been around since she was a baby... We've all done our parts raising her, but... I just feel like we have a special connection, y'know?"

"I know that feeling, all right.." Loyal said, and struggled to climb out of the pile, but failed.

"Um.....I'm stuck."

Applejack chuckled. "Here, let me help you out of there." Applejack offered Loyal her hoof.

Loyal grabbed onto it. "You sure you're strong enough to pull me out?"

"Well, let's find out, huh? 'sides, Big Mac probably can if I can't."

Applejack pulled with a strong tug, sending Loyal tumbling out.

"Hey, it worked! By the way, who's big Mac?"

"He's my older brother. Strongest pony in Ponyville!" Applejack walked over to the window and looked out. "When I was still just growin' up, he took care of most of the Applebucking during Applebuck Season by himself. Now he doesn't have to, since I've grown, and AB's growin' too, but he still could take care of the whole orchard himself if he had to."

"Apple-what-ing?

"Applebucking. Every year around the beginning of Fall, when the apples are ripe, the family gets together and bucks all the apples out of the trees, so we can sell 'em, make apple cider, y'know. It's the time of the year when the most apples are ready for the pickin'!"

"...would you mind demonstrating this..applebucking? It's kind of hard imagining it."

"Fair enough!" Applejack turned around and began climbing down the stairs. "It's really not the most excitin' thing in the world to watch, but I'm more than happy to demonstrate!"

Loyal followed Applejack until they reached an Apple Tree outside with ripe-looking apples.

"There ain't much too it besides..." Applejack reared up one back hoof. "... giving the tree a swift, firm kick, like SO..." ...and thrust it at the tree, with enough force to knock many - if not all - of the apples that hung from the branches into the baskets below.

One apple landed on the rim of AJ's hat, causing it to fall off, revealing AJ's hot-looking golden mane.

"AJ....you're mane...it's so..."

"What, this old thing?" Applejack asked, chuckling. "I actually don't put too much effort into my mane. Ain't much sense prettying myself up if I'm just gonna be runnin' around in the sun, wearin' a hat all day, now, is there? Apple Bloom, though, she always does her mane up pretty. Heaven knows why. Maybe she's trying to look like the cute little flower she is."

"It glistens like a golden stream at sundown...." Loyal commented, not realizing what he just said....

"Aww, shucks, well that's a kind thing of you to say!" Applejack smiled.

Just then, a loud shriek could be heard coming from the fields.

Applejack looked up, startled. "That sounded like it came from over there! C'mon, let's go!" She broke into a strong gallop in the direction of the shriek.

Loyal followed Applejack, leading both ponies to the edge of the fields, where Applebloom was corners by a pair of wolves....they were made...of wood?

"What are those things?!"

"Timberwolves!" Applejack gritted her teeth together, before picking up a nearby pebble and lobbing it towards the Wolves with a powerful kick. "You monsters stay away from my sister!"

The pebble smacked the side of one wolf, and they both turned towards Loyal.

"Why are you looking at ME like that?"

"Uhhh...how dangerous are these wolves?"

"Yeah, we probably want to run. APPLE BLOOM, GET BACK TO THE HOUSE! NOW!"

Loyal picked up a nearby boulder, and lobbed it at a timberwolf, breaking it's hind leg. IT whimpered in pain, then slightly backed away.

"Not bad! Keep the pressure on, these things don't back down easily, 'specially since they can just keep getting back up..." Applejack picked up another rock, this one larger, and lobbed it at the Timberwolves, as well.

Loyal tossed a big rock at a wolf, breaking it. "Get back up: what do you--"

Just then, the wolf magically restructured itself into a wolf again.

"Oh...that's just cheating!"

"Tell me about it! There's no fightin' these things! The best you can hope for is to distract them long enough to get away before they realize where you went...

....Unless maybe you could set them on fire. But, well, Fluttershy'd have a COW if we did that."

"Call me stupid for what I'm about to do if you like..."

After one wolf was destroyed, it didn't get back up. Loyal took this as a chance to finish off the other wolf. Loyal backed up, then charged with all his might, forcefully headbutting the wolf into a tree, breaking it to tiny bits.

"I decided to actually use my head!"

Applejack stared for a moment before smiling. "Huh... Never thought of doin' somethin' like that before. Now let's get out of here before they get back up, and maybe they'll move on back into the Everfree Forest!"

Loyal nodded and he and AJ headed back into the house.

"Is everypony lalright?" He asked the fillies, who he found were huddled in a closet.

Apple Bloom shakily nodded her head. "Are they gone?"

Applejack nodded. "c'mere, Apple Bloom. They didn't bite you, did they?"

Apple Bloom tried to walk forward, but stumbled. Loyal noticed there was a cut on her left hoof.

"She's been injured..." Loyal said, gently holding her hoof up. "Just needs some ointment and a bandage, and in a few days, it'll be good as new."

Applejack nodded. "C'mon, little sis, let's take care of that for you," she said, as she helped her sister up the stairs.

Loyal turned to Sweetie Belle. "You're not hurt either, are you?"

Sweetie shook her head. "No, I'm fine... Just a little scared..."

"Don't worry, the wolves are gone....let's just say I...used my head."

"See?!" The little orange filly next to Sweetie Belle piped up. "I told you he was cool! I could tell just by LOOKING!"

"Say, you're the little filly I saw last night..."

"Yeah, I'm Scootaloo! I took one look at you last night and I thought, 'Woah, I've never seen anything like him before!' New things are cool!"

"Except when they're not. Remember Tirek?" Sweetie asked.

"Okay yeah, Tirek turned out pretty nasty..."

"And the Changelings! Oh, and that time those vines showed up in town..."

"I GET IT, Sweetie Belle."

"You mean this town has actually been in danger? Seems impossible....it looks so peaceful."

"Well, normally, yes, but ever since Twilight moved to town, some awfully nasty things have been happening," Sweetie said. Suddenly, her hooves flew up. "Oh, but it's not her fault if that's what you're thinking! Twilight actually helps put a stop to it. And, to be fair, Tirek was in Tartarus and got away one day when Cerberus ran off. As for the mysterious vines, Discord planted those before Twilight was even born."

"Yeah, and the Changelings attacked in Canterlot anyway."

"Except when the queen came back and kidnapped us, Scootaloo."

"You two have been through a lot, but you stayed tough enough to make it this far. That's great!"

Sweetie smiled. "We really have. We spent a whole year together with Apple Bloom trying to find our Cutie Marks, but it paid off in the end!"

"Yeah, and that's on top of the things that tried to take Equestria by storm!"

Diamond Tiara smiled. "You three are very strong and very brave. I should've known so much better than to behave the way I did. Maybe if I'd followed your example, I could've stood up to my mother so much sooner..."

"Well....it still worked out, didn't it, Di?"

"Yeah! Besides, if it wasn't for your old behavior, who knows if the three of us EVER would've found our Cutie Marks?" Sweetie patted Diamond Tiara on the back.

"Seems the three of you share more than just friendship...you almost share a special bond..."

"A special bond? I mean, our Cutie Marks are all largely the same... And we DO have to work together as a team... And we DID all get our Marks at the exact same time in the exact same place, for the exact same reason..." Sweetie mused.

"I think you guys had a special connection since before you even met!"

"Hmmm..sounds a lot like something I heard not too long ago..."

"Did I hear you talking about what I told you earlier?" Applejack asked, as she brought Apple Bloom back down the stairs.

"hinted at it."

"The good news is Apple Bloom's gonna be fine. Bad news is, she's gonna have to rest for a while, so that means no playin' outside until she's better. Sorry girls."

"You know...kicking tail out there actually felt kind of good....makes me feel somewhat like a hero."

Applejack chuckled. "Well, you definitely saved OUR tails, not to mention my little sister's! Thanks again!"

Loyal nodded. "Speaking of, good news is,nopony else is hurt."

Just then. an elderly tone rang out. "Is someone else here..?"

"That sounds like Granny Smith!" Applejack said. "Granny? Is everything okay?"

A lime-green old pony entered the room "Ohh....yes, yes, I'm fine..don't worry your pretty little heads about me..."

She slowly approached Loyal at a hilariously slow pace.

"Now...who's this young feller?"

Diamond spoke up. "This is Loyal. He's, um, lost, and he helped me to stand up to my mom yesterday."

"You mean that prissy little pony you belong to? Well, why arent'cha with her?"

Diamond sighed. "I ran away. My mother is very demanding. She puts SO MUCH stress on my back to be like she is, but I don't WANT to be like she is. I'd much rather be like you guys are. A close, tight-knit little family who loves each other."

"Hmmm....well...sounds like quite the pickle..well, y'all can stay here as long as you like..."

Diamond smiled at Granny Smith. "Thank you, that's very kind. I just hope she doesn't come looking for me..."

Born to Love

"I'll make sure she doesn't forcefully take you back....she's kind of a.....well....there's word I'd rather not say, but it describes her.."

Just then, a big red stallion entered the room.

"Is that your big brother?" Loyal said to AJ.

"Ayup! That's Big Mac, alright! What's up, Big Mac?"

Loyal gently approached Big Mac., examining him. Something about him seemed...interesting. "He's.....big."

Big Mac smiled and nodded. "Eeyup."

"Yup, he's big, and he's strong. He's a real helpful stallion to have around, and I'm proud to call him my older brother!"

Apple Bloom smiled in her brother's direction. "Big Mac's gotta be the best stallion in Equestria!"

"He's probably protective, too."

"Oh, he sure is! He's so strong, he barely breaks a sweat doing the applebuckin'! Ain't that right, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup," he said, proudly.

"So....how long has he been in the family?"

"Oh, since he was born, 'course! Just like the rest of us!" Applejack chuckled. "If you meant how old he is, he's around 21."

"Wait...I know this is going to sound ridiculous...but I didn't think ponies had ages. For us humans, having ages can be easy to tell...but if ponies just grow to a certain size, and they just age then, it's hard to tell just how old they might be. But if that's not the case, how old are each of you? For me, I'm 15.""

"Well that's just silly, but if you're not from around here, I guess I could understand the confusion. As for me, I'm goin' on 20, and AB and the others are about 13."

"That kind of proves the point of how confused I am about age and size. So...." Loyal sat down on a couch "How many OTHER members in your family are there? I get the feeling there's more."

"Tough to say, really. Our family is spread all across Equestria. Everywhere from Appleloosa to Manehattan," Applejack said, as she sat down.

"'cept the Crystal Empire. But to be fair, the place wasn't around for a thousand years."

"That's true, Apple Bloom. That is true."

"Crystal.....Empire?" Loyal said, clearly sounding confused.

"Oh, it's this BIG crystal city in northern Equestria! It's ruled over by Princess Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance." Apple Bloom said, smiling. "We went there for the Equestria Games a while back."

"Hmm....seems i've got a lot to learn about this world than I thought....come to think, is there anypony who CAN teach me all about..err....what's this world called?"

"Oh, Twilight knows EVERYTHING!" Sweetie declared. "She's helping to teach me about magic, and she's saved the world like a bajillion times, and she created new magic and became a princess for it-"

"Calm down, now, Sweetie Belle, Twilight doesn't know EVERYTHING. But she DOES know an awful lot. She might be able to help you," Applejack said.

"Can you take me to her?"

"Oh, sure! C'mon, girls, we're goin' on a field trip," Applejack exclaimed.

*half an hour later*

Applejack knocked on the castle door, and the familiar purple pony came out.

"Oh, hey, Applejack. Hello, girls!" Twilight looked up and noticed Loyal. "Oh, it's you again! Did you learn anything?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here...I wanted to learn from an expert. One such as yourself."

"Oh, well, of course! What can I help you with?" Twilight smiled, inviting everyone inside.

"I wanted to learn about this world, and its inhabitants."

"Oh! Well, if that's what you want to know, I'm your mare! Where should we start?"

Loyal sat down on a nearby bench, and Twilight did the same. "Well....what exactly is this world? It's nothing like back home. Where I come from, we use vehicles, made of..metal. I noticed the vehicles are different here......do you ponies live different lives?"

Twilight shrugged. "We just live our lives the way we know how. We follow the guidance of our Cutie Marks to find what we're meant to do in our lives. When we need to get somewhere, we take a train, or if it's somewhere close by, a taxi. Ponies tend to help one another out, but sometimes we're content to do things ourselves."

"And I heard that ponies tend to the weather and crops. Where I come from, crops and all that work by themselves."

"Well, Earth Ponies have the innate ability to superpower plant growth. When an Earth Pony is tending to crops, they grow worlds faster than you'd think possible. Meanwhile, the weather doesn't move here, for some reason, so Pegasi control it so we're not stuck with droughts all the time."

"Hmm..do you happen to have a library where I could read more on this?"

As soon as Loyal said "library" Twilight's eyes widens with joy.

"Who else is in here?" Loyal asked. The voice sounded...well....light and female. he didn't really know how to describe it.

"Oh, do I EVER! Come with me!" Twilight stood up and began walking into the castle, the others following after her. "I have one of the most comprehensive libraries in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria. Perhaps second only to the library in Canterlot. Although I suppose even that's a bit of a stretch; the library in the Crystal Empire is amazing, too..."

"Okay, note to self: Libraries is a key word that you seem to love to hear I'm guessing you're a book lover?"

"Reading is my favorite pastime. When I was a little kid, my books were all I had, besides my brother and my foalsitter, and my parents. I just didn't think I needed anyone else. I wouldn't know for a long time how WRONG I was, but even now I love books." Twilight giggled. "The library should be right.... here!"

When Loyal entered the library, he saw how huge it was. "In the name of all that is holy...." He said, shocked to see such a huge library.....

"Yep! We have a big library! You could find just about anything you'd need to know here!" Just then, a small voice called out from somewhere in the library.

"Twilight? Is that you?"

"Oh, that's..." Just then, a pink pony stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. She seemed startled.

"Oh, I didn't know we had company."

"Oh, no, it's okay, Starlight! You've met Applejack, but you've met the others, too, right?"

"No, just Applejack, I believe." Loyal replied.

"Right, well, this is Starlight Glimmer, my pupil in the magic of Friendship," Twilight said, gesturing to the pink unicorn before the group.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm really nothing special..." Starlight rubbed sheepishly at the back of her neck.

"How long's she been here?"

Before Twilight could answer, Twilight noticed something flying towards the window....a small snowflake like object. She rushed outside, and extended her wing to catch it.

The flake opened up to reveal an invitation.

"You are formally invited to Shining Armor and Cadance's official Crystalling on Thursday. Come celebrate the birth of a newborn foal!""

"A Crystalling? Sounds fancy." Loyal commented.

"Oh, it sure is! They pick out a Crystal to increase the power of the Crystal Heart, and then choose a Crystaller to hold the baby up for everyone in the Crystal Empire to see! It's really such a beautiful ceremony! ...I'm told."

"And it says on Thursday. That's tomorrow! Loyal replied. He then felt a nudge on his back. He turned around to see Starlight behind him, motioning for him to follow her. Loyal followed Starlight behind a shelf. "What's up?" He replied.

"Hey... What exactly... ARE you, anyway...? I've never seen anything like you before and, well.... I'm intrigued..."

I'm what's known as a human being. As crazy as it sounds...I'm not of this world."

"Interesting... Twilight's never told me anything about creatures like you... I wonder if she knows your kind even exist...?"

"Well..." suddenly, something clicked with Loyal ."Know what...? I was actually transported here....I didn't know how before...but considering how Twilight didn't act too surprised to see me....perhaps SHE was the one who brought me here...but for what reason, I wonder..."

"Well, Twilight tends to have a reason for everything she does... Trust me, I'd know. It's because of her that I'm here where I am now..."

"Starlight...is there something I should know you've done...?"

Starlight flinched a little and then nervously giggled. "Ah, nope! Nothing, uh, no horrible past atrocities here! Hahahahaha!"

"Riiiiight.....well, if we're finished, I must return to...or begin...my studies."

"Right! Fair enough! You... go learn everything you can!" Starlight continued to giggle nervously.

Loyal gave a suspicious look to Starlight, before turning around and heading out. Why had she acted like that? Clearly, she had done SOMETHING evil in the past. Or just majorly embarrassing. In any case, it didn't matter......yet.

Loyal continued to search for a book, until he found it: "The History and Biography of Equus." He got it out, got out a notebook, and began taking notes from the book. Hours and hours passed, but Loyal didn't notice. Eventually he fell asleep, since writing somewhat relaxed him. He was eventually woken up when he heard the familiar voice of Starlight.

"Hello? Equus to Loyal? Are you in there? The train to the Crystal Empire is leaving soon, Twilight wants to know if you're coming with us."

"H-huh...oh.....yeah...I'll go..." Loyal said, still half asleep.

"You're lucky, at least. You get to go to the castle. Twilight wants to take me to look for my old friend, Sunburst, and try to rekindle our friendship after it fell apart years ago..."

"When's the train leave, then..?"

"It's leaving in about 10 minutes! C'mon, hurry!" Starlight urged Loyal along and she left the library.

Loyal quickly grabbed his stuff, and took off as quickly as he could. However, running with a heavy book isn't exactly the best idea. Not because it slows you down, but because....you can trip. So Loyal fell down 2 flights of stairs, and tumbled out the door. "I'm okay!" He exclaimed, got up, and ran after Starlight to the train station.

They made it just in the nick of time, aid for their tickets, and entered the train, Starlight sat next to a window, and Loyal sat next to Twilight.

"This is my first time being on an actual train...it'll be glorious!"

"Oh, you don't even know! We're going all the way to the Frozen Northern part of Equestria! You'll get to see so much!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves together.

"The Frozen north. huh. Sound an awful lot like the North Pole where I come from..."

The pony with a rainbow-colored mane and tail known as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. 'Eggheads...' She thought.

"Well, there's a lot of snow and ice up there. And one Crystal Empire! That's where my brother and Princess Cadance live."

"And soon, their newborn child!"

"That's right! Oooh, I wonder what they're going to name the baby? Will it be a filly or a colt? A unicorn or a Pegasus? Or maybe an Earth Pony? Oh, I'm just so excited!"

"Who knows? It'd probably end up being an Alicorn itself! Hehehehehe..." Loyal joked.

"Yeah, right, like that could happen!" Twilight chuckled. "If it did, I think I'd probably faint out of shock!"

Just then, a big shiny area came into view.

"Whoooooa...." Loyal commented.

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire!" Twilight exclaimed. "My brother said he's going to meet us at the station."

Loyal remained in awe until the end of the train ride. Once everypony left the train, white stallion with a raggedy mane and tail came to greet Twilight. He didn't look in his best shape.

"Shining Armor? Are you alright?" Twilight asked. There was concern clear in her voice.

"I've uhh...never been better!"

"You don't seem so good..." Twilight said, sympathetically. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Never better! Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know? I mean, not that you'd know. You wouldn't know, I know... You know? [beat] Sorry. I haven't really slept since Cadance had the baby. Come to think of it, she hasn't either. It sure would be great to get a break.

"Hey Twilight....

"Well don't you worry, big brother! Lucky for you, my friends and I are here! We'll all just go to the castle and see if we can sort this mess out!"

Starlight seemed to perk up. "Oh, no! Well, I guess that means we won't be going to find Sunburst after all, huh? Bummer! Darn! Oh, well, I guess it can't be helped..."

That's when the small purple dragon next to Twilight spoke up. " Maybe there is! You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!"

Starlight's eyes shrank, filling with fear, and her front left hoof quickly found its place upon her face. She let out a whimper of dismay.

"Spike, you're a genius! Okay, while the others and I are helping Shining Armor and Cadence with the baby, you and Starlight, go find Sunburst! You think you can handle that?" Twilight asked, smiling.

"....Yeah.... Sure.... This'll be great..."

"Ye's ma'am!" Spike replied with a salute.

As Spike and Starlight turned to head off into the city, Twilight turned to Loyal. "I wasn't exactly expecting this, but if you want, you can come to the castle with us. If you think you'd be of some use to Starlight, instead, you're more than welcome to go with her and Spike. It's up to you, really."

"I can try to see the baby first, then see if I have time for her. I get the feeling the baby's visit won't take as long as HER task will."

Twilight nodded. "You might be right. Alright, it's your choice!" Twilight turned her head forward and continued smiling.

The group headed through the empire, and past the ancient relic Loyal read as the Crystal Heart. H took photo of it with his camera he always carried with him.

A little while later, Loyal and the others arrived in the sort of delivery room...

"Get ready Twilight...we're about to find out what kind of baby it is!"

"I can hardly wait!" Twilight exclaimed, as she and her friends entered a fit of excited giggles. "Shining Armor, can we see the baby now?"

Shining nodded, and gestured towards a small baby carriage. Inside was a small pink filly unicorn, with curled mane. Its eyes were closed.

"Aww...it's actually kinda cute..." Loyal commented...just then, wings spread out from the baby.

Twilight reeled back in shock. She tried to sputter out some kind of comment, but words failed her. A short moment later, her eyes rolled up into her head, and she fell over on the floor, unconscious.

"Okay, when I said the baby could be an Alicorn on the train, I was joking!"

The Pink pony beside Loyal let out a little giggle. "Funny story about jokes around here: They have a funny way of foreshadowing future events!"

"Stil...an Alicorn?That's...it's...it's impossible! how could al Alicorn have been born?

"Even with the whole "shared traits from its mother" thing, that's still impossible!"

"The birth of an alicorn is something my sister and I have not seen for a very, very long time. Certainly never in Equestria... I was not even aware this could happen anymore," the white alicorn standing nearby said.

"Indeed. In our time, alicorns were... much more common. Still rare, and yet..." The blue alicorn let out a cough. "Still. This is most surprising, to see a baby alicorn born here."

Just then, the bab let out a little sneeze, but as a result, blasted a giant laser through the ceiling.

"Oh....my God..." Loyal commented., slowly backing away.

"It appears the baby's magic is even more powerful than a newborn unicorn's!"

"That could be very dangerous to the viewers of the Crystalling... Do you think we should call it off?" The pink alicorn asked, a tone of concern filling her voice.

"It would still ruin the tradition, despite how dangerous it s. Perhaps there's a way to....reduce the baby's....issues?" Loyal said, trying to find the right word.

"You can't just cancel it now, think of the effect it would have on the citizens of the kingdom!" the white unicorn spoke up.

"This Crystalling is more important now than ever," the white alicorn said.

"Though...who knows what else it can do...?" Just then, the baby alicorn accidentally shot something at Loyal, causing him to become attracted to the ceiling, basically reversing gravity for himself.. "Like THAT, for instance."

Applejack seemed to be helping Twilight to her hooves. After a moment of dizziness, Twilight shook her head. "Wha... did I pass out? Is the Crystalling over?"

"Far from it, Princess Twilight. We're having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to proceed with a baby this powerful," the white alicorn said, as she did her best to reverse the effects of the baby's antigravity spell and help Loyal to the floor.

"Hmm... Right... Well, if Celestia isn't sure how to proceed... Maybe my friends can be of some assistance?"

Unfortunately, the anti-gravity spell became an anti-anti gravity spell.

"There's another way to solve this. I just need a ramp connecting from the ceiling to the wall, then from the wall to the floor. Easy....hopefully."

Princess Celestia nodded slowly, unsure, before creating two magical ramps linking the ceiling to a wall, and a wall to the floor. "Your help would certainly be appreciated, Twilight."

Twilight nodded. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, I want you to help Cadance and Shining Armor prepare for the Crystalling. Meanwhile, Pinkie and I will stay here and keep an eye on the baby."

Loyal used the ramps to make it back to the floor...without gravity pulling him up, thank goodness

"Or, keep the baby on the eye.." Loyal replied, pointing to the baby, hugging Pinkie's eye.

"Don't even know how you don't feel that.."

Pinkie giggled at Loyal's comment, before turning to play with the baby. Twilight, meanwhile, approached Loyal as her friends, brother, and sister-in-law left the room. "I don't know if Pinkie and I will need any extra help, but seeing this baby's power has me a little worried. Maybe it'd be better if you went to see how Starlight and Spike are doing."

Loyal nodded. "Sure...kinda don't wanna be turned into stone or something anyways...better safe than sorry..." Loyal hustled out of the rom, and back outside, where he saw a group of ponies surrounding Starlight and Spike.

Starlight was the first to notice him.

"Oh, it's you! So how'd it go? How's the baby? What was that loud noise I heard earlier, and all the flashing lights?"

"Three words for that.. Doom. Destruction. Anti-gravity."

"That bad, huh?" Starlight said, as she swallowed a hoof full of popcorn. "Yeesh. Kinda makes me glad I'm out here and not in there."

"So what's going on out here?"

"Oh, apparently, Spike's some kind of hero in these parts. I can't believe he never told me about that! Supposedly, it was him who brought the Crystal Heart back where it belongs - with plenty of help from Twilight and Princess Cadance, of course - and he's busy telling the story to these ponies. I would hate to keep him from his fans..." The last sentence sounded a little forced.

"Though unfortunately, we've still got to visit Sunburst. It's best to deal with your fears, not put them off." Spike replied.

"AH!" Starlight screeched, tossing her popcorn over her shoulder. "Wh-when did you finish telling your story? I-I don't think I heard the end of it! I-In fact, I don't think I heard... most of it! Maybe you ought to tell it again!"

"Nice attempt, Starlight, but he's probably right. everyone has to do their task sometime....you wouldn't want to disappoint Twilight."

Starlight sighed in defeat. Under her breath, she mumbled, "Does it make a difference? I'm going to disappoint her either way..."

"You don't know that till you don't try..."

Startled, Starlight looked to Loyal. "Wh... How did you...?"

"Hearing's better than it looks."

Starlight sighed. "It's just I haven't seen Sunburst since we were foals. Who knows if he even remembers who I am?"

"There's just one way to find out."

Starlight gulped and nodded, hanging her head as she followed the others forward. "This is going to be terrible..."

A Heartfelt Reunion

Loyal and the others eventually arrived at Sunburst’s home and Starlight knocked on the door. "It's gonna be fine, Star." Loyal saiid.

Starlight started breathing heavily as the seconds ticked by. A moment later, and she shakily knocked on the door once again. "Well, I guess he's not home, such a shame, guess we'd better go tell Twilight the bad news, huh?"

Just then, the door opened.

"Nope." Loyal replied.

"H-hello?" A voice said. It sounded slightly old.

Starlight gulped. "Uh... Sunburst...? It's... It's me. Starlight Glimmer? Your old friend?"

"Oh, uhh, Starlight! It's, uh...been such a long time! What have you been up to?"

"Ah... not much! ...What about you...?" Starlight asked, awkwardly.

"Not much, really...just busy studying, as usual.."
"Right, right... So, um... This was fun!" Starlight smiled at her old friend.
[beat] "Right. Uh, well... good to see you." With that, he just closed the door in our faces.
"....Was that it?" Loyal commented.

"Guess so! Well I guess we'd better head to the castle and tell Twilight this has all been for naught and there's absolutely no chance of me ever rekindling my friendship with Sunburst ever!"

"Or, instead of sounding...slightly dramatic about it, we can just say it didn't go well."

"I guess that works just as well..." Starlight shrugged and prepared to set off in the direction of the castle.

Loyal followed Starlight, until he noticed the group of ponies standing behind a curtain. He motioned for Star to follow them.

"We're back. It didn't exactly go well....a bit of awkwardness included."

"What... um... What exactly is going on here?" Starlight asked.

Just then. the baby came flying by. "Hey, look! The baby already knows how to fly! That was fast..." Loyal commented.

"I think baby pegasi have a tendency to fly around from a young age, which they gradually unlearn as they get older. Like how baby unicorns have explosive magic bursts that dull with age until they actually have to be taught magic."

So, when it's older, it can't fly? That's...disappointing..."

"OH, no, I didn't mean she won't be able to fly when she gets older, just that she'll have to learn again," Starlight clarified. "So, what exactly is going on here?"

"We're trying to catch the baby to prepare for the crystalling." Shining replied.

"Harder than it looks."

"Weren't Twilight and Pinkie supposed to be watching the baby?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Which one of you let her get away?!"

"Well excuse us for not wanting to have our heads blasted off by her pure, untapped, raw magical powers, Rainbow Dash!"

Pinkie was holding onto the baby for dear life, trying to slow her down. Twilight used her magic to create a mitosis shield to separate Pinie from the baby..

"Um...Twilight....I don't think that was a good idea..."

"What? Why not?" Twilight asked.

Just then, the baby began to whimper a bit.

"That's why."

"Is... Is she crying? What do we do? Cadance, make her stop!"

But it was too late.

The baby let out a cry so loud, it actually emitted sonic waves. The waves affected the Crystal Heart, which slowly began to crack and....

"Oh, crud." Loyal said.

*SMASH* The Heart shattered to pieces. After that, the baby seemed to calm down.

Everypony let out a loud gasp, looks of horror crossing the faces of Celestia and Luna.

"I'm guessing it's gonna be pretty hard to have the Crystalling without that," Applejack said, pointing at the shattered remains of the Crystal Heart.

"It's much worse than that, Applejack. Without the Crystal Heart, there's nothing to protect the Crystal Empire from the weather of the Frozen North! Before long, the entire city will be buried under a mound of ice and snow!" Twilight said, moving the curtain aside to reveal dark clouds billowing on the horizon.

The baby let out a little giggle. "Apparently, she's the only one who finds that funny....and I'm too young to become a human popsicle..." Loyal said.

"There's got to be something we can do to fix this thing," Applejack exclaimed.

Twilight nodded. "Maybe a spell will help. Cadance, can you think of anything that might help?"

"Not off the top of my head... But perhaps the castle library has what we're looking for."

"Twi, what can I do?" Loyal asked. It was obvious he didn't know whether to help or look, Twi could tel..

Twilight thought for a moment. "It's very important that we get the Crystal Heart fixed. We're going to need all hooves and claws available on deck to help find a spell to fix it. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, I need you three to try to convince the Crystal Ponies to get inside where it's warm, but try not to let them know the Crystal Heart's been broken.

Celestia, Luna, do you think you can hold off the storm?"

The sisters looked to one another before Luna nodded. "For a while, yes. But we can only do so much before even our power succumbs to the storm."

"We will do what we can. Good luck, everyone." Celestia and Luna took off into the skies to begin trying to hold off the storm, while Twilight turned back to Loyal.

"I think you and Starlight should go back to try to talk to Sunburst again. I don't know what might happen, and I'd like them to be able to communicate if things go sour here and we have to leave."

"Right." Loyal nodded, and headed off with Starlight to revisit Sunburst. 'This has to work...' Loyal thought. "It HAS to." Later, when they arrived, Starlight knocked on the door, Sunburst came out, and she explained why she visited the last time.

"So, the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?"

"Yeah, she does," Starlight mused, looking down at her hooves.

"Uh, I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"

"No! I-I don't see what that has to do with anything! W-Why would you even ask that?" Starlight asked, quickly, sweat beginning to form on her brow.

" I mean, did something happen to you after you left for magic school?" She asked.

"What? Um, no. L-Like you said, I'm a, [clears throat] i-important wizard."

"Right. Well, umm, you probably have some important wizard stuff to do..." Starlight began fiddling with her hooves. There was an air of discomfort around her.

"Starlight!" Loyal hissed silently "Tell him!"

"Tell him? Tell him what? I don't have any secrets to hide! None at all! No glaring character flaws that could stem from one isolated incident in my past!" Starlight laughed nervously as she said this.

"No! About the heart!"

"O-Oh... uh, right... that.... Listen, um, Sunburst... We..." Starlight gulped. "We have a problem at the castle. There's been a bit of.... an accident... involving the Crystal Heart. It's.... broken. We're doing everything we can to fix it, but we really, REALLY need a powerful wizard to help! Somepony like YOU!"

" [sighs] Look, Starlight, I want to help. I do. But I can't. I wish I could."

"Why not?" Starlight asked. "This is important, Sunburst! We could be in serious trouble here!"

"Fixing an ancient relic? I-I can't even come close to doing something like that!"

"But... aren't you a powerful wizard, Sunburst? What about magic school?"

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness.

"Well, you were wrong, okay?! I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all!"

"Why would you think I wouldn't understand?!" Starlight asked, a tone of hurt in her voice.

"Reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!"

Starlight looked surprised for a moment, and then her expression shifted to one of hurt anger. "Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind! And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!"

"Wow....I never actually thought you'd ever go that far.. So THAT'S that you were nervous about in the library!"

"I'm not proud of it, okay? I tried to mess up everyone's lives to make me feel better about myself, and when that failed, I tried to mess up Twilights life JUST BECAUSE I was mad at her! I didn't even want anything out of it but to watch her suffer!" Starlight took in a shaky breath.

"I'm not proud of who I was." She closed her eyes. "I'm afraid of what I could've become."

Loyyal gently hugged Star. "But you didn't become that person. You became somepony you never thought you'd become, Somepony you never imagined you'd enjoy becoming, or even being, for that matter....and the person you are now, you'll eventually have good friends, though I'd already a friend of you."

Starlight wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at Loyal. "Th-thank you..." She sniffled before turning to Sunburst. "Are you sure you can't do anything to help? Anything at all? We're in REAL trouble here..."

"We were hoping you knew a spell to fix the Crystal Heart so we could continue the Crystalling.""

"Crystalling...! Of course!" Sunburst leaps out of his chair and towards the door. "Come on!" He said, before heading outside.

Starlight glanced towards Loyal, confused, before heading outside, as well.

Loyal and Starlight followed Sunburst, until he approached Princess Celestia and Luna, who were covered in snow and ice. They must have fought hard against the storm..

"I know how to stop this!" Sunburst said and Celestia smirked a bit.

Starlight and Loyal led the group back to the heart.

Twilight, and Cadance attempted to rebuild the heart using magic....but just as it looked like it worked, it fell back apart.

"No luck so far?" Loyal said.

"This isn't working! I have no idea what to do!" Twilight cried.

"Hmm....well, I have some good news. not only did Starlight and Sunburst sort of befriend each other, but we found our solution." Loyal explained, gesturing to Sunburst.

Sunburst looked towards the shattered Heart. "The baby did this?!"

We've been trying to fix it using this spell," Twilight said, moving the scroll closer to Sunburst. "But it just isn't working!"

"The spell of Relic Reconstitution. No, that won't do it. The Crystal Heart's been around for millennia. Restoring a relic like this is way beyond one spell. You need to combine it with something else. Something unique to the relic itself. Something that strengthens it and provides it with power...?"

"The Crystalling, of course!" Twilight exclaimed. She turned to her brother and Princess Cadance and nodded.

Combining that spell with the light and love of everypony gathered for the ceremony, together with... Somnambula Weather Abjuration to clear away the snow... and a little Fledgling's Forbearance for the parents... Heh. That should curb the little one's power fluctuations."

The baby giggled in response.

"Remind me to get a thesaurus to define most of those words..." Loyal commented.

"Sunburst... Would you be our Crystaller?" Shining Armor asked. Cadence gave the unicorn a smile.

Sunburst nodded.

Princess Cadance: "You must be Sunburst. Starlight said you were a powerful wizard.
"Oh, I'm no wizard."

Every pony gasped in shock.

"But he studied magic his whole life! You should see his house! And since nopony has any better ideas, what do we have to lose?!"

"Not trying to sound negative, but.... If this fails....our lives. Just putting that in." Loyal commented.

Starlight shot Loyal a bit of a glare, before turning back towards the others.

"Alright, Everypony! Let's do this!"

The four Unicorns (Twilight, though technically an Alicorn), Cadence, Starlight, and Shining Armor, each shot a blast at the heart. Sunburst, at the same time, presented the newborn baby to the crowd. They were all amazed, and knelt down in honor of the newborn foal. Each pony delivered an eerie glow to the ground, which flowed into a Crystal sunburst held onto the floor. The energy soaked up into the crystal completely, and Sunburst leapt into the air, tossing the shard into the heart.....completely reforming it.

The Crystal Heart began rotating at a fast-paced speed, and sent a large wave of light out, covering everypony with a crystal coat. It was glorious.

"I think we did it!" Loyal said, relieved he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life as a permanent permafrosted pony popsicle. Although, he was yet to realize that their troubles had yet to be over..

Trainwreck of a Trip

"You know....once you get past the destructiveness, she's actually kinda cute,” Loyal commented, as Flurry giggled from the small ponyback ride Cadence was giving her on the way to the station. At the same time, a train pulled in, puffing out steam as it screeched to a halt, and the doors opened.

"Sorry we're late... You would not BELIEVE the weather that delayed the train..." Night Light said, smiling at his son and daughter-in-law.

"Yeah...things got a little crazy here..." Shining replied.

"Cadence, darling, may I see the baby?" Twilight Velvet asked, holding out one hoof.

Cadence nodded, and gave the baby to Velvet.

"The baby did get a bit...out of hoof. But we took care of that."

"Cadence, darling, are we going to give the baby a name, or are we just going to keep referring to her as 'the baby?'" Twilight Velvet asked, chucking.

"We were thinking 'Flurry Heart. You know, to remember the occasion."

"What if when she's old enough to talk, she asks how she got her name.....?" Loyal remarked.

Shining Armor shrugged. "I guess we'll just be honest with her."

Just then, the baby inhaled for a sneeze.

Twilight and all her friends gasped, ducking for cover and preparing for the worst.
The baby let out a normal sneeze.

"Gesundheit." Loyal said. Just then, a chuffing sound could be heard. The train for Ponyville finally arrived.

"Well..that's our ride. Say.....would you two like to see Twilight's castle, if you haven't already?"

Twilight's mother and father nodded, before they, along with all of Twilight's friends, climbed onto the train. Twilight seemed a little dejected.

"Twilight....I know you feel bad because your first friendship lesson didn't work...but to be honest....things went much better on its own...planning things out....it's not normally good for everything, because you never know how things will turn out...but the good thing is, Starlight made a new friend...rather, an 0old one...but still...things worked out."

"Oh, I know she managed on her own... I guess I'm just upset because she didn't really need me. I don't think I'm actually ready to be a teacher..."
"Not everything has to be planned for it to work...it's like....rolling dice. You don't know what the outcomes will be in chance, but they're bound to turn out good...

"...Actually, if we consider 4, 5, and 6 'good,' then using a standard 6-sided dice, there's only a 50-50 chance that it'll turn out good... Which means there's still a 50% chance it'll turn out bad..."

"Bad can still be worked on..."

Loyal smiled.

"And, not to be random...but it's kind of cute when you analyze statements like that..."

Twilight blushed and smiled. "Aww, you're just saying that..." She looked out the window to see Starlight saying goodbye to Sunburst. "I guess it looks like she did really well on her own...."

"Yp....well, shall we board?"

"Uh... sure." Twilight nodded and climbed onto the train alongside Loyal. "I'm sure Diamond Tiara will be happy to see you again!"

"Yep!" moments later, everyone was on the train.

"Now leaving for Ponyville!" THe Conductor exclaimed.

Half an hour into the trip, something unexpected happened. The train suddenly skidded to a stop.

"Well, this is just what we need after that experience in the Crystal Empire..." Twilight groaned. "Anyone want to try to figure out what's going on?"

A voice came over the loudspeaker. "I] apologize for the inconvenience everypony...the train will be moving again shor---hey...wait, what are you doing with that?! Noo! He--" the intercom was cut off halfway.

"Okayyyy....things just got a bit scary..." Loyal commented.

"Okay, that's it." Twilight stood up. "Something's going on. C'mon, girls, let's go have a look."

Just then, the power went out.

"The train runs on electricity, too?"

"Well this isn't good. I don't know what's going on, but we need to get to the engine, now!" Twilight prepared to run off, but before she did, she turned to Starlight. "Starlight. If anything happens to me, I want you to let Princess Celestia know. If anypony can do something about it, she can."
"Twik, I'm going with, and you can't change my mind. Just know, a human can do things even some thing an Alicorn cannot."

Twilight stared for a moment, then nodded. "Starlight, take care of Spike. If anything bad happens, I want both of you to get off the train any way you can, understand? Blast your way out if you have to."

Twilight looked around. "Anypony got any ideas? I'd rather not blow the door off if we can help As Loyal and Twilight walked past the passengers, they mumbled. "Don't worry ,everypony,we'll get to the bottom of this..." He pulled out a flashlight and aimed it up at the ceiling and turned it on, so not to blind anypony.
How an there even be electricity on a train?"
"It's simple, really... Electricity on the train is stored in a large, magical battery. It's dispersed across the train through magical waves, but it would take a lot of power to jam it. Even so, each car should have its own mini-battery, just in case they get separated from the rest of the train, or something like this happens..."

"Fascinating...so I'm guessing that means there's no fusebox?"

"No. It's entirely likely we're being attacked by a powerful magic user, or someone stole the battery." Twilight placed a hoof to her snout. "I'd put my bits on a magic user."

Loyal opened the door, to find freezing cold air surrounding him.

"Brrrrr....seems to me we're still in the frozen north...that's not good...we gotta figure out what's wrong before we freeze....you ponies are lucky....us humans normally have clothes to protect against cold...."

"Well, so do we. But usually only in the winter. But up here... Even we could freeze to death if we're not careful."

Loyal leapt to the other side of the train and tried the door.

"It's jammed!"

"Wait....each door has a window on it, right?"

Twilight nodded. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm going to punch a hole through the window, and I'll need you to shrink me for a few seconds, so I can get into the other side."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "That I can do! But are you sure you wouldn't rather have me blast the window out? It might be safer..."

"That works." Loyal ducked to get out of the way.

Twilight concentrated, trying her best to keep her magic to a minimum, and fired a bolt at the window. A shower of glass fell on the floor on the other side, and then she turned to Loyal, casting a spell on him to shrink him down, then levitate him through the window, before returning him to his normal size. "Can you see anything?"

"Well....not much..just a---wait! I see the conductor...he's tied up!"

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed, getting as close to the window as possible. "Do you need us in there?!"

Loyal noticed something taped over the Conductor's mouth. He oe it off.

"OWWWW! Thank you, sir! You need to get out of here! There are hijackers on this train!"

"Loyal? Is everything okay?" Twilight called.

"Yes! He said there's a hijacker on this train."

"A hijacker? But... what possible reason could anyone have for hijacking a passenger train...? ....They... couldn't be after me... could they...?" Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wait here, everyone." Twilight turned and ran back towards the car she had been on before. "Starlight! Spike!"

"Twilight, where are you going?!"

"No time to explain!" Twilight called back, as she continued to run.

"Twilight, wait!" Rainbow called after her, but the others held her back.

"Starlight, Spike, where are you guys?!"

"Right here!" Spike said, motionning with his claw, though it was a bit hard to see.

"Listen, there's a HUGE problem going on. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: The train's been hijacked. I don't know why they're here, but I can't shake the feeling it's got something to do with me. Now, this is important. I know what I said before, but the two of you need to take my parents, and go on ahead to the others. I'm jumping ship. If they are here for me... I can't risk you guys getting hurt."

Loyal heard every single word Twilight said.

"She's abandoning us..." Loyal said sadly.

"Do you understand? Good. Now go, hurry!" Twilight took off in the other direction, to look for a way off the train.

After Twilight left, everypony noticed Loyal's look of hurt on his face.

"Oh dear, um... Sir...? Is... is everything okay...?" Fluttershy asked, as Twilight's parents, Starlight, and Spike approached.

"She left...because of her own assumption...but i didn't think....she's abandon us...."

Twilight Velvet raised one hoof. "Now, now, sir. I know my daughter. My daughter would never abandon her friends or family. I don't know what's going on, but it sounded like she was worried about us. Like she had to get away or something bad was going to happen."

"She thought mepoy was after her...but the question is...how would they know if she was on the train?"

"All of Equestria knows who my daughter is, and all of Equestria knows who Princess Cadance is. If they caught word of the Crystalling from somewhere, they would have everything they need to know whether Twilight would be here or not."

(Sorry! I had to go do something and it took longer than I thought it would!)

just then, the train tumbled, and seemed to break down.

The passengers on the train all began to panic. "Okay, this is gettin' freaky," Applejack said.
Loyal tried the knob on the other side. It was jammed.

"Ugh...if I could just get this thing unjammed...""

"Are you sure it's jammed and not just locked?" Spike asked.

"I know when one thing's locked, and one thing's jammed. Plus, would the hijackers really think to lock a door if they figured somepony probably knew how to unlock it?"

"Well... maybe Applejack could buck it off the hinges?"

“There's only one direction the door can go, and if it hits anything at the front of the train, then we could really be in trouble..."

Everypony thought for a moment before Starlight spoke up. "Maybe... Spike could melt the hinges? I mean, just suggesting here..."

"He's a baby dragon! Can he even manage to breathe flames that powerful?"

"Well, even if he can't, he can at least heat them up so maybe I can pull them off..." Starlight explained. "And if that doesn't work, I can just blast the hinges off the door. I might not look it, but I was able to fight Twilight to a standstill. And she's an alicorn!"

"Well...all right. Let's give this plan a shot.."

Starlight urged Spike forward, and he gulped before inhaling, and breathing a stream of flame onto the door's hinges.
The metal seemed to be melting....but when SPike finally stopped breathing fire..the hinges weren't even burnt/

"Hmm. Looks like I'll have to blast them off. Might want to stand back..."

Loyal backed out of the door's way.

Starlight took a deep breath and focused, before firing a magic bolt at the hinges.

The door came flying loose, but slammed into the control panel up font.

"...Whoops..." Starlight chuckled sheepishly. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, now we're DEFINITELY not going anywhere.....but at least I'm free.."

"So, what should we do now?"

Loyal looked at the control panel. Busted, broken, smashed..
"This is definitely not repairable. not even by magic."
Starlight coughed. "Well, um, I'm sure somepony can fix it... s-somehow..."
Starlight sighed. "Well, I guess I just messed up again, didn't I?"

"No...the hijackers are to blame...but there's not much we can do...should we just sit and wait in case Twi comes back?"

"I think that's all we can do, sir," Rarity said. "I certainly wouldn't want to get caught up in whatever the hijackers are up to..."

So, the group headed back to the passenger car, and waited for Twilight to return. Loyal was ye to realize the major mistake he made, though....the ai began to grow colder and colder....Loyal found out too late, when he began shivering, and it slowly grew worse...

Starlight and the others notice this.

"Hey, Loyal, are you feeling okay...?" Starlight asked.

"I seem to have m-made a t-terrible mistake....I sh-should have realized t-that it would g-get colder if we d-didn't do s-something......w-we're stuck in th-the frozen part of t-the EMpire.....very g-good chance some of us w-will become a popsicle a-after all..."

Just then, ice froze up to Loyal's ankles.

"O-oh, that's j-just g-great..."

"Oh, well that's no good...!" Starlight said, pulling Loyal into a hug. "Is this better?"
"Y-yeah...." Loyal hugged her back, praying his arms didn't freeze.

"I don't wanna die...but at this rate, there's a chance I might....humans aren't built, or born, to survive this kind of cold...."

"Girls, come over here." Starlight waved the others over, and they all crowded around Loyal, as well.

"To be honest...I'm not afraid I've nearly died several times before...busting my head open...choking on a brussels sprout.....falling down the stairs on my birthday....so close to death....being frozen to death? no problem..."

The ice cocoon crawled up to Loyal's chest.

"Oh, dear, you poor thing..." Starlight hugged him tighter. "I'd be ashamed if I lost a friend like you. You helped me to reconcile with Sunburst like Twilight wanted... You helped me..."

"And you helped me to get out of my old life....to live a better one...even if it has been dangerous...."

The ice covered up to Loyal's neck, slowly climbing up his face..

"just know Starlight....all of you...I've always lo---"

Loyal didn't get to finish his sentence, as he was now completely encased in hise...

Starlight gasped, her ears flopping down. She gritted her teeth together. "I don't know who those hijackers are, but I'm not letting them take this train! Come with me or don't, I don't care, I'm going to find them!"

Starlight didn't care how cold the ice felt on her hooves....she missed Loyal.....he had helped them stay alive...helped Star rekindle their friendship...and she wasn't about to let that be for nothing......she closed her eyes, and cried....the first tear fell onto the ice statue.....and it began to glow (the statue did).

Meanwhile, Twilight had searched all over the train, but couldn't find a way out. The doors were frozen shut, so that wasn't an option. She came back to the passenger seat to find her friends gathered around osme large ice block. She gasped in horror when she saw who was inside.

As Starlight approached the door at the back of the car, she tried to buck it open, but the door wouldn't budge! She tried again, and again, and again, but to no avail. She gritted her teeth. "Why is everything on this train stuck shut?!"

Twilight slowly approached the block.....

Starlight heard her, and turned around to face Twilight, an angry look on her face/

"Starlight... Are you okay...?" Twilight raised her hoof to the pony's back. "I... I had to come back. There's ponies on their way to help, but... I couldn't just leave you guys here. I had to come back."

Starlight didn't reply....instead, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"This... This is all YOUR fault, Twilight! If it weren't for you, none of us would've even had to go to this stupid Crystalling! And if we never had to go to the Crystalling, nopony would've hijacked the train! And if nopony hijacked the train, then Loyal wouldn't be a block of ice! This is all your FAULT!" In her anger, Starlight fired a bolt of magic at Twilight. Twilight, however, simply threw up a magical barrier and absorbed it. She barely batted an eye, but Starlight seemed horrified. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what I was..."

"It's okay. Everypony lets their emotions get the best of them sometimes, and I know you're still learning. We'll work on your impulses, but for now we have to see if there's anything we can do..."

"What CAN we do?" SPike added. "He'd frozen solid!"

"Says the FIRE breathing dragon..." Twilight said, snickering.

"I can't even melt metal hinges...how can I be expected to melt the block of ice? And how do I know I won't melt it without melting Loyal HIMSELF?"

"Hmm... You might be right, Spike... But how else can we get him out?"

Starlight sighed. "You'll think of something, Twilight... You always do... Me? I'll be useless, as usual. The most useful thing I've ever done was helping you save the day at the Crystal Empire, and even that was mostly Sunburst..." She sighed again. "If it wasn't for Loyal, I might never have been able to rekindle my friendship with him, and then where would we all be? He saved our lives back there, even if it didn't seem like it..." She hugged the ice sculpture. "He's my friend."

"Starlight, what're you...?" Twilight asked, marveling at the glow in front of her.

A pony that looked exactly like starlight, that was made of pure light, materialized out of this air....she smoothed her hoof over the ice, and hugged it, wrapping it in a cocoon of light...moments after the light faded, and after that, the ice began melting...no, fading...away. Loyal fell out of the case and into Starlight's hooves.

He looked up at her. "S-Starlight...?"

"Loyal...?" Starlight smiled, and hugged him as tight as she could. "Oh, you're alright! I was so worried!"

"Am...am I dead...? Is this heaven...?"

"No, no, you're fine, Loyal. You're fine. Everything's going to be fine, I promise..."

"What even happened...?" All I recall is being frozen in a chunk of ice..."

"I-I don't know.... I think you got cold? And then you kinda... froze...?" Starlight sniffled. "I don't really know what happened after that..."

I saw this heavenly light......and it looked just like you.....you saved me from death, Starlight..."

"I did...? B-but how did I do that? I... I'm not... I mean how could...?"

it freed me from my icy tomb...it was indeed you...I could feel it."

"...Am I... Am I not totally useless after all...? Do I actually serve some kind of purpose here...?"

"Starlight, there is no doubt in my mind that you were meant to be here right now," Twilight said, smiling at Starlight.

"I heard you, as well...you said I was your friend....do you mean that...?"

"Of course I mean that..." Starlights eyes shot open. "I mean that... I-I made a friend... Twilight, I made a friend!"

"You did! I'm so proud of you!"

"So ,it all worked out.you see? you're not useless....you've done so many things since we've met...and that was only yesterday...you rekindle your friendship with Sunburst, you saved my life, and you befriended me....all big accomplishments....so now you know you're not useless..."

Starlight smiled and nodded. "But... But the question still remains about what's going on here on the train..."

Just then, voices coming from the caboose could be heard....one mentioned.....money bags.

"I get the feeling that A. I think I just realized where they are, and B. Sounds like they're not after Twilight..."

"Should we do something...?" Starlight asked.

"It could be dangerous..." Twilight said.

"I say we use the element of surprise. Could catch them off guard."

Twilight nodded, turning to Rainbow Dash. "You understand, Dash? Surprise."

"Just don't let them see you too early..." Loyal added.

Everypony nodded and began slowly creeping in the direction of the voices Loyal had heard.

The voices on the other side of the caboose became more clear.

"Man, can you believe how EASY it was to pull this off?"

"I know! These ponies are a bunch of suckers! Too chicken to even bother investigating. The lights go out, they all run around like crazy!"

"And hijacking the console! That's about a difficult as taking a nap!"

"You never take naps."

"Oh....good point."

Twilight looked back and forth and whispered. "I think we should let Loyal decide when to make the move. On his mark."

"Okay.....Starlight and Twilight, you two create a barrier in case they're ready for us. AJ, you use whatever's in the room to buck it at the thieves...Dash, if things get bad, you create a distraction, Fluttershy, you'll need to take me back into this room if I get badly injured...Rarity, stay here and keep the passengers calm And Pinkie....you...just be Pinkie."

Starlight and Twilight nodded and began to prepare their spells, while Rarity turned and began comforting the passengers. AJ prepared herself to take down the thieves by any means necessary, and everyone else prepared to do their part to help.

"Okay....ready?"

Everypony nodded and waited for Loyal to give the cue to enter the room.

"Okay......now!!"

Applejack bucked the door open, and Twilight and Starlight ran in, the barriers being set just in case. Afterwards, Applejack ran in, and began bucking anything she could in the direction of the robbers.
"H-hey! What the hay?!"

An object smacked into the thief on the left, knocking him out. "Nice, shot, AJ!"
"What's this?! Well, no matter. I got what I came for!" The other thief said, holding a money bag up.

"Nopony in this room is leaving the train with those bags!" Twilight said, grabbing onto it with her magic. Starlight, meanwhile, doubled her efforts, to pick up Twilight's now-dropped shield.

"You really think a prissy little princess like you can stop me?!"

"Don't underestimate me just because I'm a princess!" Twilight gritted her teeth and continued trying to take the bag from the thief. "Applejack, do something!"

"Ha! Seems like you're really not thinking this through....you may have bucked my friend unconscious, but I'm not as weak as he is!"

The thief bucked a sharp piece of metal at the group, and Loyal caught it with no trouble at all..

"Don't mess with us....or you'll regret it."

Applejack looked around the room for something to buck at the other thief, and settled on a wooden box near the door. She lifted it up and bucked it in his direction as fast as she could.
The thief broke the box with ease.
"You're not very "crate" at hitting targets...hehehe...."

"Twilight, can't you just use some of that fancy combat magic of yours?!" Applejack called.

"What, and cause MORE destruction and mayhem?! Applejack, I can't wreck this train! I'm a PRINCESS!"

"I THINK THEY'D UNDERSTAND GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, TWI!"

Loyal saw a window, and got an idea.

"Hope you like the cold!" He called, and threw the chunk of metal at the window, perfectly aiming it so it made a hole angled at the thieve's hooves, freezing them.

"I learned that from what recently happened." Loyal said proudly.

The thief tried to break free, but couldn't move his hooves.

"Nice shot, Loyal!" Twilight said, tugging more at the bag of money.

"I have good aim." Loyal replied.

"Now, what will we do with HIM?"

"We hold them here until my brother shows up." Twilight glared at the thieves.

"I get the feeling he won't be too long....he should be here right about............now."

At that exact moment, Shining Armor teleported into the train.
"Twilie! Is everything alright, kid?"

Twilight nodded. "I believe you have some thieves to arrest, oh, Captain of the Royal Guard..."

"Dude is insane." Loyal commented, before backing away.

"So, the good news is, Twi, they weren't after you."

"Hold it......" Loyal approached the guard.
"Let's see if he has any info for us.....Why did you hijack the train?"

"Are you kidding me?Hijacking a train was the easiest part. If the train stops, everypony is too in a panic and a fluster to bother trying to figure out why it happened.....then the lights go out. That's so they can easily find their way through the train, should they bother looking. Before all that, we jammed the doors, so the earth ponies couldn't buck them down and find us. And now that the monorails mash's, you've really got no place to go! So go ahead, throw me in prison all you like....but it was worth it!"
IT WAS WORTH IT! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH--"

*THWACK* *THUD*

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good to know... Shining Armor, did you bring a train?"

"Of course, what do you take me for?"

"Seriously, though....robbing a train for money....or, even better word...hijacking it. Whatever happened to robbing banks...?"

Twilight shrugged. "I've got to admit, this is the first time I've ever heard of something like this...

Anyway, we've got to get everyone onto the other train so we can get back to the Crystal Empire so that our train can be repaired..."

"Agreed." Loyal replied, and headed towards the door.

"And don't worry too much about the thieves. I think it's safe to say, their plan...." Loyal began, before taking out a pair of sunglasses from his back pocket.

"...just got derailed."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPWAL…

Starlight chuckled and held out a hoof. "Good one."

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes playfully, before turning to the passengers. "Alright, everyone. First off, I'd like to apologize for the inconvenience, but Prince Shining Armor has arrived with a train to transport everypony back to the Crystal Empire while the train is being repaired. I know this could be causing issues with your travels and family lives, so I'd like to ask my faithful assistant Spike to assist you all with letting anyone who might be expecting you know what's going on, that it's been handled, and that you're all okay. Once you all have your things, please follow Prince Shining Armor and my friends to the other train, and once again, I'd like to apologize for the inconvenience."

Meanwhile, Loyal headed to the front of the train to see if it could be fixed, and Twi .followed.

"Woow....that door really smashed the panel up....but, knowing my repairing skills, I should be able to fix it...if not, we'll really need to leave it to the Empire to repair it..."

Loyal crouched down, and tugged hard at the door, eventually pulling it out. He then proceeded to examine the underside of the panel, and saw a few broken wires. Knowing it'd be dangerous, he grabbed both wires, and brought them together, creating a few sparks.

"Come on....come on...." Loyal prayed. "Work with me, train..."

Just then, the wires created several big sparks, and on top of the panel, the buttons and switches lit up.

"Twi, did it work?" Loyal said, still under the panel.

"Well, the buttons and switches are on now, but I'm no conductor... I don't know if it works."

Just then. the lights came back on, and the train began to move.

"I think it worked! Look outside, tell me if anything's happening!."

Twilight looked outside to see.... the scenery moving by! "Hey, it looks like it worked! Quick, shift it into reverse! We have to get the train back to the Crystal Empire so they can inspect it and see if there's any other damage."

Loyal got up, found a joystick, and moved it to next to a label marked "R". The train slowed down, and began moving in the opposite direction.

"Great! Now we just have to wait. And stop the train when we pull into the station."

Loyal turned to face Twilight. "Sounds good." He said. Twi noticed Loyal's face was black, as if burnt.

"Hey, are you okay?" Twilight asked, approaching to get a better look. "You've got a little something on your face there."

Loyal went to look at a window.

"Oh, yeah, the burns. Yea, I'm fine. I couldn't have avoided it, considering I was rather close when wiring the train. But there wasn't really any other effective way to get it repaired. Keep in mind: Wiring the train was the only way it could move. So, sacrificing my looks to get it fixed? No prob."

Minutes later, the train came back to the station, where Cadance and the baby were waiting. Loyal exited the train, as did the others (Well, come.)

"Twilight, are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? Nothing broken? What's wrong with your friend's FACE?!"

"Ehh, hotwired the train to get it moving, since it was the only way, and n the process, sacrificed my looks."

"Well, we have a spa, if you would like a rest..." Cadence said. "They're really very good at what they do. Otherwise, we have a room in the castle you can use while they're inspecting the train..."

"Can you lead me to the castle room?"

Cadence smiled and nodded. "Come with me. Twilight, can you come get us when the train is finished being inspected, and possibly repaired?"

Twilight nodded. "Sure thing!"

Cadence began walking towards the castle, and Loyal followed.

"So...one thing I never mentioned. What happens if the baby's powers come back..?"

Cadence smiled and chuckled. "Sunburst gave us the scroll for the spell he used to block her powers. I think we'll be fine."

"Huh. It really makes you think......if all baby Alicorns...or Unicorns...have magic surges....who knows how much destruction it's cause..."
"It could be catastrophic, yes. But baby unicorns are nowhere near as powerful as baby alicorns... I suspect this spell probably came into being with alicorns as a way to protect those around them from the raw power of the baby..."

"Thank goodness for protection, then..."

Eventually, Cadence led Loyal through a series of halls, and into a nice-looking room..

"How do you even wandr these halls without getting lost?"

"Well, when you live here a long time, you figure things out eventually." Cadence chuckled. "Take as long or as short as you'd like to get yourself fixed up."

Loyal nodded in understanding, and Cadence left the room and closed the door.

Loyal took his time to search the room for anything to wipe his face with. He eventually found a sink and some rags.

He wet the rag with warm water, and wiped his face off. The black marks came off easily.. After that, he decided to res for a bit. Doing all that stuff on the train tired him out a bit.

Minutes later, he left the room, and went back the way Cadence led him, and eventually made t back to the train.

"I' back...is anything else wrong with the train?"

"They said it seems to be fine, but they're busy replacing the magic batteries right now. Apparently, the thieves decided it'd be neat to throw them off the train. Given how bad the weather out there can get, we could be looking for them for ages if we went looking. While they're at it, they're going to fix up any minor damage that was done, and they're going to be sending a mechanic along with us on the way back - just in case."

"They threw out the battery?! That's just playing dirty...hijacking it was enough..but actually throwing out the batteries? That ain't cool.""

"Tell me about it. It takes a lot of magic to charge one of those things, and ponies dedicate their entire days to it sometimes. That's just a waste of magical energy. Not to mention littering."

"I'm not saying I'd be stupid enough to actually go looking for it, but it must have been thrown out just as the train stopped. So it'd probably be far off, thirty minutes away. Unless the train stops long after the battery is thrown out.""

"Well it's not stupid to go looking. We're probably going to have somepony do it. It's just going to take time, and we kind of have to get everypony where they need to go as fast as we can so the train can get back on schedule."

"You probably know what's coming next."

"Ah... maybe?"

Loyal entered the tain, and grabbed his big fluffy coat from his hanger, and put it on.

"I noticed the snowstorm stopped, so it'll be like living in Pennsylvania on a snowy day.

Loyal then proceeded to take off running alongside the tracks

"DON'T TRY AND STOP ME, TWI! I'M STUPID TO DO THIS, BUT I CAN MANAGE!" He called back.

"YES!" Loyal called back. He kept running alongside the tracks. An hour later, he arrived at the spot he was pretty sure was where the train stopped. Loyal looked all around the area, but no signs of a battery. Just when he was about to give up, he noticed something sticking out under one of the rails. It was big, rectangular, and magical-looking.

"The batteries!" Loyal exclaimed. He approached each, and carefully grabbed onto them, pulling them out with great difficulty. "Heh. Twi'll be so proud when she sees this....though I really need to stop running off....it'll worry her so much.."

An hour later, Loyal approached the station,looking triumphant, with the batteries under his arm.

"I know, I need to stop running off like that...but, hey, I found what we needed."

"W-wait! Are you sure about this?!" Twilight called after him. He didn't stop.

Twilight smiled. "Well, we do have backup batteries at all the train stations. They run out of energy after a while, after all, and this way we can replace them while somepony charges the depleted ones up. But it's good that you found those - now we can put them to use when a train's batteries are used up!"

Cadence stepped out of the train station a moment later. "The train is all fixed up, and ready to depart at any time. Shall I let everypony know?" Twilight nodded, and Cadence left to inform everypony who was waiting for the train that it could leave as soon as they're all aboard.

"I'll admit I know I need to stop running off like that.....even if it is to make jobs easier. But that's pretty much me for ya....always trying to look for a way to make situations less difficult...I was lucky i hadn't frozen out there, though....I know I've worried you a lot lately. But, this is the kind of thing you can expect from me in the future. I am a white knight, after all It's my duty to protect those I truly care about, and really want to find a way to assist.""

"A white knight, huh? Well, that sounds promising. It's good to know you want to be helpful - I saw it before when you and Diamond Tiara showed up at the castle... You really care about her, huh?"

"Yeah....let's just say we share a special bond.."

"Well, I bet she'll be really happy to see you, then!" Twilight smiled and giggled to herself.
"I guarantee you, the SECOND I step off the train, she'll be waiting for me, tackle hugging me to the ground."

"Probably! She'll probably want to hear all about what's happened. I just hope Applebloom's been keeping her company, y'know?"

"Yup!" Lyal replied, stepping onto the train.
"And I pray, for God's sake, in the name of haven, nothing stops us from going back....a hijacking was enough."

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine this time."

"....let's hope saying that didn't jinx it."

Loyal and Twi stepped onto the train.

"By the way, Twilight, you'll never guess where the batteries were..."

"Where were they?" Twilight asked.

"Underneath the tracks."

"No way, seriously?" Twilight chuckled. "What're the odds of that?"

"My guess is the thieves knew somepony would find a way to get the train moving, so if it did, it's crush the batteries in the process. But, I don't think they were lodged far enough when we moved, so they were completely untouched."

Starlight overheard most of the conversation, and she perked her ears up.

"Wait, you found the batteries? Really?" Starlight approached the two. "When did that happen?"

"I ran out to grab them, just in case. Plus, wouldn't want an important resource like that being wasted." Loyal replied.

"It's a good thing in the end. If somepony or something bad came across them, they could... well... Let's just say magic has plenty of uses. Both good and bad."

Well, it's a good thing that never happened."

Everypony sat down, and the train began to move. About 15 minutes into the ride, the loudspeaker came on again.

"Attention, everypony. This is your conductor speaking. Due to the mishaps of earlier today, the train ride will not be reaching our destination until about close to midnight....so, get comfortable, and please, stay calm, and enjoy the ride. Thank you."

"Well, on the upside, maybe we'll see the aurora borealis." Twilight chuckled.

"I thought those only existed in Alaska...they actually have them here, too?"

"Alaska? What's that, is that a country?" Twilight asked.

"Just picture miles and miles, and miles of ice and snow and glaciers. You have Alaska. But yes, it is a country."

"Well, the aurora borealis can sometimes be seen from elsewhere in Equestria. But it usually depends on the weather."

"It's almost like anything's possible here....that's not how it is on earth...there, hundreds of people are wishing for this sort of thing....to see things that don't normally happen...but here, it can happen. Does that happen normally?"

"Yep! This is normal! Along with other things, like helping to change the seasons, and changing the weather... and, if Celestia and Luna were to just... stop doing their jobs... Time would never change."
"And everyone would die. Without the sun, everything would freeze. Without the moon....things would become catastrophic. Everything would actually be droughted."

"Well, yes, there's that, too... I can't tell you how many times Equestria's come this close to an apocalypse... Last year, Princess Luna shows up for the first time in a thousand years in full-on possessed, evil mode, and tries to stop the sun from ever rising again. Then, Discord shows up and tries to turn the world into a world of chaos only fit for him to live in. THEN, the Changelings show up and try to drain everyone's energy and love to feed themselves, and THEN King Sombra showed up and tried to take over the Crystal Empire and release a bunch of evil shadow pony creatures? ...Actually that happened twice... ANYWAY, then... um... I kind of accidentally switched my friends' Cutie Marks, but not their actual destinies, which could've been very VERY bad...

And then, Celestia's old student almost gained the power to come and take over the country which probably would've lead to very bad things, then the Everfree Forest almost made Equestria unfit to live in, and then Tirek stole everyone's magic and almost vaporized the place."

Loyal just stared in shock.

".......my God."

"And then there's you-know-who, and her you-know-what, incident, but it's best we don't go into that." Loyal said, hinting at Starlight, which he prayed nopony else would realize. Well...the passengers at least.

Twilight whispered, "Well, technically speaking and in her defense..., her original plot may not have been leading towards an apocalypse. And, well, her second one only lead to multiple apocalypses because she inadvertently stopped my friends and I from stopping all the others..."

"She caused a butterfly effect to stop you?"

"Yeah, but not on purpose. She might've been one of the only ponies who didn't know my friends and I were so closely tied to the fate of Equestria in general. Without us, Equestria would've been doomed many times over."

"There's been a lot going on, huh?"

"In the past year or so? Yeah. So much."

"Wow....well, what our world has been through is much worse. Ya wanna know what happens?"

"Ah... sure?" Twilight had a feeling she might regret asking.

"Wars....global warming.....natural disasters....robberies, animal endangerment, slavery, prejudice....racism.....need I go on?"

Twilight's ears flopped down. "Global warming? Natural disasters? I don't think I've ever heard of such things here! ...Well, earthquakes, maybe, but...."

"Yet another reason I left Earth....I couldn't handle things there....sure, things could be dangerous here....but still, I know I have all of you to protect me...as I'd protect you.

You would be willing to protect me, right?""

The smile returned to Twilight's face. "Of course! We're always willing to do anything for a friend."

Just then, a mystical glow filled the room. The passengers all looked outside, and saw it was already nighttime...and up in the sky....

"Is that..?"

"Is that what? What? What is it?!" Pinkie bounded over and looked out the window.

Up above in the sky, was a magical glowing light.....

"Aurora borealis." Loyal said, marveling at the beautiful Northern Lights.

Everyone on the train looked out the window and gasped at the wonderful sight. "I wonder if anypony else can see this right now."

After about a minute, Twilight heard a small adorable yawn. She looked over to see Loyal laying his head on the back of his seat. Or the front thing.

He closed his eyes, and lay there for a moment, before shivering a tiny bit.

Twilight smiled and giggled a little bit, before wrapping one wing around Loyal, drawing him close, and nuzzling into him.

Most of the passengers were adored by this scene....
"Awwww....."

Twi blushed, realizing they all saw her cuddle him.

"I think somepony likes Loyal...." Spike teased.

"Pshh... Don't be ridiculous, Spike..."

"Wrapping your wing around him to keep him warm was enough...but nuzzling him? That seals the deal."

"Hey, I nuzzle plenty of ponies! Like mom! And dad! And Shining Armor and Cadance!"

"Fair enough...but I'm keeping an eye on ya." Spike said, returning to his seat. He knew something had to be up with Twilight...whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Best Friends to the Core

A few hours later, the train arrived at Ponyville. As the passengers got off the train, Twilight nuzzled Loyal, and called to him, to wake him up.

"Hey... it's time to wake up... We're back in Ponyville..."

"Mmmmhh..what..?" Local replied tiredly, and looked out the window,

"Are we home..?"

Twilight nodded. "Yep. It's time to get off the train."

Loyal tiredly got up, then stood up straight, and stretched.

"Best train ride I've ever experienced...."

Twilight chuckled. "Well, you were sleeping for part of it. But it was quiet and peaceful, so I can hardly blame you."

"I'll be surprised if Diamond's waiting out there...it's so late..."

Loyal replied, before exiting the train. The second he left it, he was tackled to the ground by a familiar small pink filly.

"There you are! I was getting worried! What happened? How was it? Why do you look so sleepy?"

*yaaawn* Dangerous....scary....awesome.....too tired to reply..."

Diamond giggled. "Okay, okay, let's get you back to Sweet Apple Acres to sleep, then.”

*half an hour later, and after Loyal accidentally fell asleep walking at least three times*

Diamond knocked on the door, and Applebloom came to answer it. She smiled when she saw Loyal standing there.

"Train got delayed. You got a letter about it, too, right?" Diamond asked.

AB just nodded, and motioned for the others to come in.

Loyal made a beeline for the couch and practically fell onto it, landing in a comfortable position....

"That was....the most exhausting trip ever..."

"Well, it's late, so you can tell us all about it in the morning, alright?" Diamond let out a yawn.

*Yaaaawn* "Sure.....night, Di...."

Diamond whispered a goodnight to Loyal before she and Apple Bloom went upstairs to sleep.

A few hours later into the night, Loyal could feel somepony gently nuzzling him and nudging him, trying to get him to wake up. He then heard Twilight's voice speaking to him.

"Hey... Um... L-Loyal...? Wake up..."

"Hm...? Wha....?" Loyal opened his eyes slowly, and found Twilight looking at him.

"Oh....-hey, Twi...what's up..?" He said sleepily.

"Listen, um... I... kind of wanted to talk to you about something..."

"About? GO, on,it's okay."

"Look, um, I don't really know how to say this...."

"I'll understand."

Twilight took a deep breath. "Well, um... I kinda... Like you...?"

"What?"

"I... I kind of... like you..."

You......you like me? As a friend, or beyond that? don't be afraid to be honest."

"See, that's the thing... I don't really know for sure... I know I like you as a friend, but I don't really know how I really feel..."

"I have an idea. If you like me beyond....thn....then snuggle me. I know, it sounds odd...but if you truly like me, you'll snuggle me. Then, we'll know for sure."

"I don't know... Are you sure that'd work...?"

"If you did it because you felt like doing it while you liked me, it'd prove you liked me. If you did it just because I asked you to, it'd prove nothing.....but tell me...do you feel like cuddling with me? Be honest."

"...I don't know, that's the thing... I sort of do? But I don't know if it's because I want to or because I feel like I should."

"Come on....there's only one way to find out."

Loyal held his arms out for Twilight to approach him to lift her onto the couch..

Twilight hesitated, but approached him a moment later.

Loyal lifted Twi off of the ground, and onto the couch...onto his stomach.

"Now....just relax..."

"Are you sure? I don't... want to make you uncomfortable..."

"Go ahead...snuggle me."

Twilight hesitated, but wrapped her hooves around Loyal.

"There ya go..."

Twilight nuzzled herself into Loyal's chest quietly.

"There.....see? Not so bad....how do you feel? Relaxed?"

"I... suppose so..." Twilight looked down.

"d you do it because you were asked? Or did you do it because you liked me?"

"I... don't really know... I don't really know what I want..."

"I know, it's kind of complicated....but just know this, Twi...I've always liked you."

"Have... Have you really...?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't like a sweet and caring pony like you?"

"Well, there's Tirek for one. And Queen Chrysalis. Oh, and the Umbrum, and- oh, wait, is that a rhetorical question...?"

"Haha, yes!"

"Hehe... Well, I don't think I'm THAT lovable..." Twilight scratched at one of her ears

""Not true....you're an incredibly patient, hard-studying, brainy friend....that's the best thing somepony like me could ever ask for..."

Twilight giggled. "Really?"

"Well....yeah....I know, I might be overdoing it with thee compliments....but I'll be honest. You and the other girls are the sweetest ones I've ever met....you seem passionate...caring....brave.....something I'd always wanted to see in good friends...and you fit that quality.."

"Well... yeah... That's what drew us together. We're all brave, and kind, and friendly. We're all passionate about what we do. It's what makes us... us."

Loyal proceeded to hug Twi.

"Like I said...that's the best thing a person like me could ever ask for..."

Just then, Loyal heard the familia voices of the four fillies come from in front of the couch.

"Ooooooh! Loy's got a crush on Twilight!" They said.

Twilight blushed at the fillies' teasing before diverting the subject to something else. "Girls, what are you doing up? It's not morning, is it...?"

"Ah always get up this early to prepare for mah chores" AB replies.

"I never knew it'd help me wake up to one of the cutest things ever! A Princess cuddlin'! Imagine that, girls!"

Sweetie Belle giggled. "It's pretty adorable! I wonder if anyone else around here might have a secret crush?"

"No....I think it's just us....but don't tell anypony else....it'd look awkward....j"

Just then, AJ came down the stairs, hearing the commotion.

"What the heck's goin' on here?"

"Just a touching moment that I pray does not get any more awkward....."

"Darn it..." Loyal muttered.

"Umm... M-Maybe I should go..."

Loyal shot a glare at the fillies, and silently mouthed, "You owe me!"

Twilight stood up and walked out of the room.

"Well, that was interesting, huh?" Sweetie gave an innocent smile to her friends.

"Pardon me for a moment" Loyal said, and walked into a closet. Moments later, sounds of headbanging could be heard. 7 times.

"Uh, is everything okay in there?" Apple Bloom knocked on the closet door.

"Unless you count as ruining special moment with Twi and me as being okay, then no."

"Oh... Well, i'm... Sorry..."

"Would you want us to ruin a moment between Apple Bloom and a colt? She's the one who woke us up."

"Sweetie Belle, now's not the time!"

"Just leave me in here for a few hours.."

"Well.... alright...." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned and returned to the others.

"None of this ever happened....noene of this ever happened....none of this ever happen....find your happy place....find your happy place.." Loyal said to himself.

There was a knock on the door. "Is our closet haunted now or did the girls chase you in there, sugarcube?"

"Just trying to recover from an embarrassing incident they caused...."

"Oh boy, they sure do have a knack for causing those. To themselves AND everyone else... 'course they don't mean no harm really..."

"Could we discuss this and take a stroll...?"

"Don't see why not."

*letter, on a stroll*

"So, how often does Applebloom....cause trouble?"

"Well I wouldn't call it TROUBLE, exactly. She just used to be overeager looking for her cutie mark. She and her friends would try all these different things, runnin' around every single day not really caring whose way they got into. There WAS this one time she and her friends revealed everypony in town's secrets, and spun wild stories out of out-of-context photographs, but other than that...

...But, well, she did also steal a powerful magic plant from Zecora one day. Got a mysterious magical disease with only one known cure. What a day that was..."

"Wait, what..?"

"Look, it's like this. Earning a Cutie Mark is an important rite of passage for a young filly or colt. But Apple Bloom and her friends were already starting to grow up - if'n you catch my drift - but they'd still not gotten theirs. They were desperate. Maybe a little TOO desperate in Apple Bloom's case. But they learned their lesson. And then, not too long ago, they FINALLY got their Cutie Marks. They were so excited! Mostly they've calmed down, but they're still just kids. It's kinda hard to be mad at them for things they do."

"I never thought of it that way before....if they hadn't gotten their marks yet, they'd have had a good chance of getting it by embarrassing me when Twi and I were......uhh.......bonding....yeah, bonding..."

Applejack chuckled. "Well, I dunno. I don't think I've ever seen a pony with a cutie mark in ruining moments between others. But, um, speakin' of bonding.... I was hoping maybe you could give me a bit of advice? See, I mentioned that AB and the others are growin' up, right? Well, that means they might start doing things like.... Well, hanging out with colts more. Maybe. I don't actually know if she would or not, she's never thought about that before. But see, our parents... um.... aren't around.... So I've more or less been acting like a mother figure for AB and I've got all the instincts that come with it, you could say. How do I deal with it if she DOES start doin' that?"

"Just make sure if AB seems to be doing something with a colt that seems wrong, you just don't let them do it...it'll be hard on them, but it's the best thing to do."

"Well, yeah, but I've only recently stopped babying her when it comes to responsibility... She's a very capable filly, after all. But she's still my baby sister, and I don't want to see anything happen to her. I'm worried I'll try to split her up from somepony she cares about without realizing that I'm even doing it or something, just because I'm overprotective."

"My sister usd to think my mother babied me a lot.....and she might be right....I know how it feels to have somepony who thinks you;re the "angel" in the family...because one person gets in all the trouble, while you get in trouble less often......it just makes me feel terrible, in a way..."

"Well I wouldn't know how that feels. We all have our issues that crop up every now and again for us all, but we're as thick as they come. Nopony around here goes through anything alone. ...Which is why I'm thinking so hard on this. This one's complex... On the one hoof, I should trust her judgment not to make mistakes, and take care of herself. On the others... I should still keep my eyes open in case she can't see if something bad is going down, right...? But then... if she finds out, she might get upset. And the worst part is I don't know how to bring this subject up with her so we can talk about it. What if she's not ready? What if I alienate her? What if we stop being so close?"

"Seems you get freaked out a lot.....you know, I've read about horses, and one thing can calm them down."

Loyal proceeded to stroke AJ's mane.

Applejack started taking deep breaths. "Okay... Yeah, we do tend to calm down when somepony strokes our mane... Not sure WHY... But it's helped me calm AB down many times... I assume Rarity has the same luck with Sweetie Belle..."

"You mean I'm not the only one who's learned to do this?"

"Nope. It's a reaction we have, I guess. Whenever someone strokes our mane, we feel calm. I'm guessing it has to be someone we feel safe with, but who can say. It's not like anypony we feel unsafe with would be stroking our manes anyway. 'cept maybe Discord. But he's doin' a lot better lately."

"Still....feels nice, doesn't it?"

"Well... Yeah, it does..."

"No matter what happens....I'll always be here to guide you....besides, even the hottest farmers needs guides....." Loyal said, before realizing he just called AJ ""hot", to which he blushed.

"Hmm... Are you sure Twilight was the one you were meant to have a moment with?" Applejack said, chuckling.

"Don't ever mention that to the others.."

"But....You know....I'm glad I met all of you....without any of you, I'd never have felt more happy..." Loyal said, tearing up a bit and hugged AJ.

"Aww, shucks, that's sweet of you to say! We're all glad we met you, too! And I'm sure Diamond Tiara's especially happy, given you helped her stand up to her... witch... of a mother."

As AJ embraced Loyal back, the two could feel a strong bond forming between the two of them....so strong, in act, it formed a large magical heart over the two, to which it soon faded out.

"Maybe we should be gettin' on back now. I feel like I should have a talk with AB about why she should leave two critters having' a moment be..."

"Sure....that was actually a nice chat..."

Sending His Heart Aflutter

Loyal began to follow Applejack back to the barn.

"Are there any chores I can do, by the way?" He asked. He found it funny that he actually wanted to do chores. Normally, he despised doing them.

Applejack thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose you could help Apple Bloom with pickin' up the stray apples that fall on their own."

"Ok ,ca ya point me to where she is?"

"I think she's over that way." Applejack pointed into the orchard, towards what seemed to be an unmarked path. "You'd really be helpin’ her out, 'cuz she's got a meeting with her little friends comin' up in a few days. It's gonna be their first one since gettin' their Cutie Marks!"

Loyal nodded gratefully, and headed over to where Apple Bloom was.

"Hey AB...you need any assistance?"

Apple Bloom looked up from the apples she was lifting into a bucket and smiled awkwardly. "Uh... yeah, that'd be great actually, but... um... You're not... mad?"

"No."

"Oh... Well, uh, I'm just kinda busy pickin' up all the apples on the ground... We can't sell 'em, and me an' AJ usually make a game out of it, but she's been elsewhere this mornin'..."

"She went on a stroll with me...sorry.."

"Ah, it's no trouble. AJ does so much around here I don't blame her for needing' a break every now an' then, y'know?"

"Yep...so, ya want any help?"

"Sure! Sweetie and Scootaloo had to go take care of their chores. We want to have as little as possible going on in the next couple of days 'cuz we're having a meeting in the treehouse, and it's kind of big for us."

"Because it's the first one since you go your cutie marks?"

"Yep! I'm actually kind of excited, 'cuz I was afraid we'd have to close down the CMC's when we got our Cutie Marks, but as it turns out, findin' Cutie Marks is our special talent. So now we can keep the name!"

"Isn't it still a bit ironic that your special talent is finding Cutie Marks?"

"I guess on some level. It's funny if you think about it... We're good at helping others find their Cutie Marks or understand theirs... But the Cutie Marks we could never find were our own. Well, until a few weeks ago, that is...."

"Well, it's still nice you got yours."

"Me and my best friends got them at the same time! It's nice knowing that no matter what happens, we have a special link that'll keep us together. I just wish my other friends could be a part of it, too..."

As Loyal began collecting the bad and rotten apples, he realized something. "AB< how is it you're young, but till can do chores? It's kind of...odd."

"Well, I've lived on this farm my whole life. Growin' up, I had AJ around to encourage me. I know I've still got a lot of growin' to do, but I am 13, y'know. Applejack might act like I'm still a little kid, but I can take care of myself if I have to. Unless there's a chimera attacking me in a flaming swamp, apparently... And even then I'd be okay if I could hang on until somepony showed up to help me..."

"Well, even if she's not around, you have another protector.."

"Well, gee! That's awfully nice of you to say!" Apple Bloom smiled at him as she tossed a few apples into the air, which landed into a bucket.

"Well, that's a reason my name's defender, after all.."

"Defender? So, what, you're like a Royal Guard or something?"

"No. Just a literal name.sort of."

"Huh. Kinda sounds like the name you'd expect of a Royal Guard. I mean Twilight knows a couple of 'em personally - and I'd hope so on one of 'em considering he's her brother - but their names are Flash Sentry and Shining Armor...

But, then again, I suppose you can't exactly expect our names to go along with our special talents a hundred percent of the time. I mean, do 'Apple Bloom,' 'Sweetie Belle,' and 'Scootaloo' sound like names for Cutie Mark Therapists?"

"In a perfect world, yes. Unless that's not implied.."

Apple Bloom giggled. "I rarely imply a perfect world. I used to think Equestria was as safe as can be, but ever since the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco last summer, I've realized that, even though we have it pretty good here, this world is far from perfect. It's why we need ponies like the Royal Guards, and Princess Twilight."

And myself."

"Right, right, and you!" Apple Bloom gave Loyal a smile. "The world feels a lot safer already! 'course, what I need protecting from the most at the moment is bees..."

"As long as you don't wear anything incredibly colorful, they won't do a thing to oy....nd if you stand perfectly still and back away."

Apple Bloom stared at Loyal for a minute before coughing awkwardly and gesturing to herself. "I'm yellow, and my hair is red. I'm pretty sure both of those colors attract bees. I'm not even talking about needing protection because I don't like 'em. I'm allergic."

"Oh...why not use a bee suit?"

"Well on some level that works, but it can only do so much, y'know? If one of 'em gets me somewhere where I'm not covered, or manages to break the suit somehow..."

"Ah, right...well, I don't know how that feels, because I'm not allergic to anything."

"Ah, it's not a big deal. 's not like it's going to be an issue in my personal life in the future, right?"

"I wouldn't bet on it..I've come close to death several times..."

Apple Bloom chuckled, tossing more apples into the bucket. "C'mon, like my friends are ever going to want to do something with bees."

"In all my life, not once have I been stung."

"Well, me either. Considering we live and work around apples, I'd consider that lucky..."

Moments later, Loyal and AB had, before they knew it, picks up all the good and bad apples.

"Well, guess that's done!"

AS Applebloom began taking the basket of apples inside, Starlight came up from behind Loyal.

"Hey there! What's up?" Starlight asked, with a smile.

"Other than bonding with Apple Bloom, nothing much. Glad to see you could make it!"

"So, umm, what did you want me for again...?"

"Oh, I want that,as in I'm glad to see ya! DOn't expect ya to visit so soon, but still good to see ya!"

"Oh! Well, alright then. So, things busy here today, or...?"

"Depends on if there's more for me to do otherwise, I'd b busy napping behind the barn.."

"I'm gonna go ask AJ is there's more to do. Be right back." Loyal said. He looked around, and saw AJ pulling a cart of apples into the barn.

"Hey, AJ? Anything else for me to do? Or are most of the other chores incompatible for my own doing?"

Applejack smiled. "Actually, come to think of it, I'm sure we're about done with the chores today. You're welcome to go do anything you've been thinkin' of doin', but right now I've got to get to thinkin' about what's gonna be for lunch."

"Okay." Loyal replied, walking back over to Starlight.

"Star wanna go for stroll? Just the uhh...*ahem* two of us?"

Starlight smiled. "I don't see why not."

"Great! And if anypony jokes about this being romantic, thy get a pebble to the back!"

Starlight snickered a bit at that. "Agreed."

"You're thinking of making a romance joke, aren't you?"

"What? No. I'm just agreeing with you, silly!"

"Yea...." Loyal replied.

"You know, it's kind of a shame AJ didn't have many chores for me. You'd have been able to see me and my big guns gettin the job done! Believe me, I've got enough Muscle to.....to.....let's just say I've got muscle. Which reminds me: Does a Unicorn's magic vary on the length of its horn?"

"Not that I'm aware of, no. Unless the fact that alicorns tend to have longer horns and stronger magic counts, but I'm sure the longer horns are just because alicorns are bigger in EVERY respect. ...No, really, have you seen how much larger Twilight's wings are than Rainbow Dash's? And Twilight's still young. If you've seen CELESTIA'S wings, they're HUGE!"

"Good point...all about the size. It's no wonder that--"

Loyal was soon interrupted by a small meow. Loyal turned around to see a small orange tabby cat with white spots approaching him. It rubbed up against his leg, purring...

"I don't know this cat." Loyal admitted. "But it seems t really like me."

"Heh, okay." Loyal replied as e started on the trail and Starlight followed.

"Well, I haven't seen that cat either, but it does seem to like you. Looks to be actin' a lot different than Rarity's cat at least." Applejack chuckled at that.

Just then, two more cats appeared, approaching Loyal.

"Okay, what is going on here?"

"No idea. This certainly seems... out there..."

Loyal noticed an odd smell, and sniffed his shirt.

"Cat kibble?" He hadn't remembered putting cat kibble in it. The only time he gave his shirt was to.........

"Rainbow Dash....of course...it figures she'd prank me....." Loyal Replied, backing away, but the cats followed.

Moments after that, tree more cats appeared.

"Rainbow pulled a prank on you? Oh boy, that doesn't sound good. Her pranks sometimes go a little too far..."

"Far.....which is where I'd better go...." He said, before quickly taking off running down the sidewalk, all the cats chasing after him.

Several morecats approached Loyal, all meowing.

Applejack called after Loyal, "See if you can get to Fluttershy's house! She's an animal expert, she'll know what to do! She lives on the edge of the Everfree Forest!"

Which is what Loyal did. He rushed up to Fluttershy's cottage, cats nt too far behind, when

he panickly knocked on the door..

Fluttershy answered the door shortly afterwards. "Oh, hello there! Is there something I can help you with?" The yellow Pegasus gave a patient smile.

"Long story short: Rainbow pranked me by utting kibble in my shirt's denim, and I need to get in to prevent a wave of cats from getting near me!" Loyal said, frantically looking behind him.

"Oh, cats, you say? It's no trouble, they're probably just hungry. Get upstairs and do something about that and I'll take care of the cats when they get here, okay?"

"I pray to God you can handle forty of them.." Loyal said, rushing upstairs, justas the cats arrived.

As Fluttershy started out the door, many food dishes and a bag of cat food with her, she let out a giggle. "Forty of them? Well this out to be a big fur ball for a while."

All of the cats stopped right in front of fluttershy.

"Hello, little kitties! I'm so sorry about my friend, someone played a prank on him by putting kitty kibble in his shirt. But don't worry, I've got plenty of food to go around." Fluttershy began to hum as she started laying out the food dishes and filling them with food for the cats to eat.

Minutes later, the cats, not happy and satisfied, all dispersed, no longer having interest n Loyal. When Fluttershy went back in the hours and upstairs, she heard something in the closet..

Loyal was hiding in the closet, praying for his life.

"Are they gone?" He asked.

Fluttershy smiled. "Yes, they've all gone home now that they've had a midday meal. Cats are very habitual animals, so I have the feeling all those cats are used to being fed around this time."

"I do not appreciate being pranked like that.....I'll have to be sure Rainbow learns that...."

"Oh, yes, Rainbow can be a little overzealous about her pranks from time to time, can't she..." Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it, though..."

"How could she not mean anything by sneaking kibble into my shirt?"

"Well, she probably though one or two cats would follow you meowing. She couldn't have known there would be forty cats outside this afternoon. Unless she planned it that way. Which seems unlikely. She's more of a tortoise kind of Pegasus."

"Do you mind if I relax here for a few hours? I've had a ot to deal with for right now..."

"Hmm....I guess you're right...she wouldn't go that far..." Loyal said, coming out of the closet (NOT LIKE THAT, YOU SICK CREEPS!)

"Why of course! Make yourself at home, and if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask!"

Loyal nodded gratefully, and headed downstairs.

Ad he sato n the couch a small white rabbit hopped onto Lloyd's lap and settled down comfortably.

As Fluttershy came downstairs, she looked over to Loyal to see the rabbit sitting on his lap. "It certainly looks like Angel has taken a liking to you already. That's not exactly usual... It took him a long time to get used to Discord..."

"Well, I'm naturally an animal magnet.....but it's sure not kibble that attracted him." Loyal joked.

Fluttershy giggled in response. "Maybe he's looking for attention. Or maybe he's hungry. Or maybe he's just feeling friendly today. He does have his on and off days...

"You seem to know a lot about animals...were you born with the natural talent of caring for them?"

Fluttershy nodded. "That's what my cutie mark means. One day, I fell off of Cloudsdale during a race between Rainbow Dash and some bullies, and was saved by a cloud of butterflies. Not long after, Dash did a Sonic Rainboom and scared a lot of the poor animals, so I took it upon myself to help them calm down. That's when I realized I've got a talent for caring for and understanding animals."

"Wow....I guess you're very reliable when there's an animal emergency, right"?

"Well, yes, you could say that! When Applejack's farm was being overrun by vampire fruit bats, I was able to help her out! I got transformed into a vampire bat pony, though, but still..."

"You know....I told AJ the same thing, but you all seem like the best friends I could ever have. You all care about me so much."

"Well of course we care about you. You're a great person and seem to get along well with Starlight and Diamond Tiara, and you're oh so helpful when we need you. Besides, is there such a thing as having too many friends?"

"I know there's such thing as having no friends....I'd known that feeling for three years...."

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, dear... No friends? Really? But how could that be? You're such a great person!"

"After my parents died, I gave up on making friends, because they'd all pass on eventually....so, why live with someone who wouldn't be there forever?"

"Oh, dear... Umm, well, I can't exactly claim to understand, since I'm not like Celestia and Luna, but they've been around for a long time... I'm sure they might understand better at least... But why avoid it entirely? Isn't it better to enjoy time with your friends while you have them...?"

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to think about..."

Neiter said a word for about 5 minutes, until...

"You don't mind if....*ahe* I....sleep, do you? It'll probably help clear my mind and forget everything that happened."

Loyal saw visions of Twilight getting hurt, the rest of the mane six losing to the villain, and Loyal going homee.

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, no, if you want to take a nap that's fine!"

Seeming prepared, Angel whipped out a medium blanket from nowhere, and places it onto Loyal, as he lay down. Within moments, he was OUT.

Fluttershy hummed a soft melody as she went about taking care of things that needed to be done around her house, leaving Loyal to his nap.

As Loyal dreamed, he dreamt of...a future vision.....Equestria Ruined, and one hero standing.....one hero fallen. One villain with one eye shot out."

Fluttershy left a pot of water to boil while she began digging through her cupboard for some tea leaves.

After the water had finished boiling, Fluttershy placed it on the counter and carefully placed the leaves within it.

An hour later, Loyal finally woke up.

"Oh, you're up! Did you sleep well? Would you like some tea?"

"I would like some tea, yes...but I don't know if I got good sleep or not....I had future visions...terrible ones."

As Fluttershy poured Loyal a cup of tea, she asked, "Future visions? Like magic? I think Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have those sometimes..."

"It was terrifying...you and the others were all beaten up...Equestria was ablaze......I was dow....ad a mysterious pony was standing up against a villain...but I dunno who...

Fluttershy stopped what she was doing and nearly dropped her own cup of tea. "Oh my... That does sound frightening... Umm... M-Maybe you should talk to Celestia or Luna about this..."

"Would they believe somepony like me would have future powers?" Loyal asked, sounding like he had a good point.

Fluttershy placed her hoof to her muzzle in thought. "I don't know... But if they did believe you, they might be able to help...."

Loyal took a sip of his tea. "Perhaps....but that's if they believe me...you know, you've been very nice to support me on this....no matter how crazy I sound."

Fluttershy smiled at Loyal. "I don't really think anypony sounds crazy. Even when Twilight was having a freakout a few years ago about an overdue assignment, I didn't think she sounded crazy as much as I thought she was overreacting...

"Thank you, Fluttershy.....even if things go wrong, I know I could count on you to help somepony out."

"Well, kindness is my thing. That's my Element, and who I really am: A tender heart who's out to help others in any way I can."

Loyal smiled. "You know....I'm glad I could get to know a friend like you." He said, and embraced his friend.

"And I'm glad I could get to know a friend like you!" Fluttershy returned the embrace.

Like magic, another heart appeared over Fluttershy and Loyal, then vanished.

The Impossible Cake Baking Challenge

"Tell ya what. I understand you're busy with the animals, but I'll see if I can find a sweets shop in town and I'll buy us a nice treat." Loyal said, after the hug ended, as he got off the couch.

Fluttershy smiled. "That sounds good. Oh, Sugarcube Corner is an excellent place to go for sweets! And Pinkie Pie works there, too!"

Loyal nodded gratefully, and headed out to Sugarcube Corner. He quickly noticed a giant posted outside..

"A cake baking challenge of super duper impossibility! They say nopony's ever managed to bake the cake! But y'know they also say it's supposed to be the most delicious cake there is in the world but I mean that's such a ridiculous claim, y'know? I mean how can they know how delicious it's supposed to be if nopony's ever even MADE it before?" The pink pony smiled at Loyal before going towards the kitchen.

"Hansel and Gretel all over..." Loyal commenced, before heading inside. Upon opening the door, smells of cinnamon and sugar attacked Loyal's senses. Ponies were gathered at tables. Some kept eating, not noticing Loyal. Others looked up and gave a friendly wave, before continuing talking or eating. Loyal noticed a giant poster plastered onto the wall. It read:

"COME ONE, COME ALL! TRY OUR FAMOUS CAKE OF IMPOSSIBILITY CHALLENGE! BAKE THE WORLD'S LARGEST CAKE! WILL YOU MASTER, OR BECOME DISASTER? FIND OUT NOW!

Admission is free, because really, who wants to pay expensive prices for an impossible challenge?"

"A cake baking challenge, huh? Sounds good to me." Loyal said, as a familiar pink pony approached him.

"Yup! They say nopony's ever beat it!"

"Well, I'd be able to find out. I'm willing to enter the challenge."

Pinkie gasped. "Wait! You'd be willing to enter the challenge?! That's GREAT news! I mean I was already thinking of entering it myself because ponies have told me how great of a baker I am but I mean I don't really expect to be able to make the cake on my own, because it's such a challenge but I don't really care as long as I have fun! But if we do end up being able to make the cake that's even better, 'cuz there'll be cake! And not just any cake, cake that's supposed to be super delicious! AND super big! Huge and delicious! Hugelicious! What could be better?!" Pinkie lifted her head up from behind the kitchen counter with an empty cupcake tin on top of it, a huge smile on her face, gesturing to the back. Promptly, Loyal followed Pinkie in.

"The only issue wouldn't be eating the cake, but moving it!" Loyal laughed.

As Pinkie got out a giant cookbook, she flipped to the page with the recipe on it.

"One giant egg, one giant sack of flour, one pile of sugar, one big stick of' butter....one marshmallow?" Loyal thought. He looked around, until he saw most of the items in the corner

"Where'd you even get a giant egg?!" He said.

Pssh..." Pinkie waved one hoof in front of her as she tilted her head back. "Where do you think I got it? From a giant CHICKEN of course!

Loyal looked at her in confusion, but shrugged it off, bringing the items over. "Step one: Put the eggs and butter in first.

Loyal knew this was not how to make a cake,but who was he to disobey instructions?

Loyal put the eggs and butter in first.

"Step Two: Put the Flour, sugar, and Marshmallow in, too. Even though this sounds absurd, it's best to do."

Loyal did so, feeling unsure.

"Step three, put it in the giant oven."

"Giant oven?" Loyal questioned.

"Giant oven? Well I don't think we have one of those... but I know how we can GET one! Assuming Twilight knows a spell to make things bigger, of course. I think she does. She probably does."

Loyal noticed a small red button to the side, and he pressed it. The ground shook and opened up to reveal a giant oven.

"Well, that's convenient. CaN you help me get the stuff in?" Loyal suggested.

Pinkie nodded and did her best to help lift the cake into the oven.

Loyal shut the giant door, and pressed a button to turn on the oven, turning a knob to a certain degree, and flicking a simple switch to turn on the light.

"Say....why IS the challenge impossible? It seemed easy..."

"It's not making the cake that's impossible! It's BAKING the cake that's impossible! Everyone always winds up with an exploded cake, but I don't see why that could-" Pinkie stopped mid-sentence. "Ohhhhh, waiiiiit.... Thaaaaat's why.... When you heat up marshmallows, they-"

Pinkie didn't et to finish her sentence, because....

*KABLOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

Cake batter spat out everywhere. It was like a giant tsunami.

"WHY DIDN'T ANYPONY PUT THAT ON THE POSTER?!" Loyal shouted over the commotion

Pinkie began licking the cake batter off of her hooves. "My guess? To trick the ponies in the competition! Well that's no fun! But having cake batter everywhere is fun. But you know what's even more fun than that? Making. This. Cake. You get started over again! I know where I can find another giant egg!"

Before Loyal could say anything, the burnt marshmallow landed in front of him It was failed, bent, and swollen up. Loyal couldn't help but burst out laughing after snickering, trying to hold back a laugh.

"The marshmallow.....su-survived! Oh, that's too funny! I can't breathe!"

Pinkie, meanwhile, was out, on her way to the aforementioned giant chicken in order to get another giant egg. Wherever in Equestria THAT would come from.

Where The Sun Never Shines

Loyal got out a little sheet of paper, wrote "Went out, had enough cake for one day. Maybe try again in a few days". And set it down. He went to the front, purchased a medium chocolate icing cake, and left the shop.

He was on his way back to Fluttershy's when he saw Rainbow Dash chilling on the grass next to a sidewalk on the way.
"Hey, Rainbow, how's it going?"

"Hmm? Oh, not too bad. How's about you? What'cha been up to?"

"Just tried the impossible cake challenge. Turns out a MARSHMALLOW makes it impossible."

"Marshmallow? Hah!" Dash began laughing before she turned towards Loyal. "Sounds like someone set up a prank on a bunch of ponies over the past few years. Hope nothing too bad happened."

'Prank.' That word set of all sorts of alarms. "Oh, yeah...kinda like the prank involving some pony having kibble put into a shirt....oh, wait, YOU did that to me!"

"Hey, lighten up will ya? It was just a harmless prank. Like a little kitty cat's gonna hurt you."

"How about FORTY?!"

"Forty? What? I didn't even know there were forty cats in Ponyville..."

"Well there are. So, you owe me."

Dash chuckled nervously. "Hehe... R-Right.... Sorry about that..."

"Yeah...why don't we go venture into the Everfree? Unless you're too chicken.." I teased.

"Chicken? Pssh. The I've been in and out of the Everfree Forest lots of times! Heck, we had to go there to save Equestria at least 3 times."

"WEll, then, let's go. Why not show me the way into the Everfree, though? Because I don't know where it is EXACTLY."

"Fair enough! C'mon, it's this way."

Eventually, Rainbow and I arrived at the forest's entrance.

"So...why IS it dangerous?"

"There's lots of dangerous creatures living in these woods. The weather makes itself, and in general, it's just not like the rest of Equestria. All in all, ponies tend to stay out. But, well, we sometimes have to make excursions into the forest if we're going to visit our pal, Zecora, for instance."

"What's this big deal? Where I'm from, animals and weather do stuff themselves, and we're fine. So why is it so scary if it happens here?"

"The thing is that it's not how things work in Equestria. Besides, these animals can be very savage. A timberwolf would sooner rip somepony to shreds than try to make friends."

"Pssssh. I've suffered worse. busting my head clean open when I was little, choking nearly to death on Brussels sprouts (and pushing it down stupidly with a fork), busting a tooth dangerously close to a vein, having my thumb popped out of joint. and all of them were more painful than being ripped to shreds by a timberwolf, I can tell ya." I replied, beginning to enter the forest.

Rainbow gagged a bit and turned pale for a moment.

Loyal saw an odd, indigo colored plant, and reached down to touch it.

Dash looked to the plant Loyal was speaking of and immediately recognized it. "Uh, I wouldn't if I were you. That plant's called Poison Joke, and it does some pretty crazy things to anyone who touches it. I lost control of my wings one time because of that!"

"You forget: It probably only affects creatures from this world." Loyal replied, as he pulled the plant out of the ground. The roots were oddly shaped like infinity signs.

"See? Nothing."

"I don't know... It took all night for the thing to affect me and my friends..."

"Eh, I'm sure it's no biggie."

"Whatever you say.."

"This place isn't so bad. It's kinda relaxing in this forest. I don't see how it freaks ponies out. It's not so scary, aside from the creatures."

"Most ponies like to live their lives peacefully. Creatures that would want to hurt us are going to throw that way out the window."

"Well, what's the worst thing that could possibly live here?"

"Timberwolves, Chimerae, Manticores...."

Loyal eventually saw a faint light in between some bushes. "Hey, RD...do you see that?"

"Uh... no, where?"

"Between those bushes here.." Loyal parted the bushes, revealing small lights. "See them now?"

"I... Huh... What IS that...?"

"it looks like....small lanterns. We should go check it out."

"You coming, Rainbow?"

"I dunno... Something about those lanterns gives me bad vibes..."

"Should we disguise ourselves, just in case?"

Loyal grabbed a bunch of leaves, turning them into a cloak. He gave the cloak to Rainbow.

"I guess?"

"Alright, uh, thanks."

Loyal put on is leaf cloak, and headed down the slope.

Rainbow Dash followed closely behind, wary of their surroundings.

In front of Loyal was a small town. This town was strung with lanterns and lamps. Small houses lay across the area. Ponies roamed around, chatting, drinking drinks, and eating special exotic foods. One thing was odd about them: They all had no Cutie Marks.

One gray pony stood in front of the town, and he noticed Loyal and Rainbow. "Ah, welcome my friends! You must be new around the Everfree, yes?"

"Err, well... I don't know if you'd say NEW exactly..."

"Hm....well, if you're here to find a place to stay...you're always welcome here!....That is...unless..."

"I don't know if you'd say we're VISITING exactly... We were kind of just exploring, we saw the light of your lanterns..."

"Unless... what?"

"Unless you have one of those cursed CUTIE MARKS.....we had to....eliminate our of our own because of that."

"Umm... Right..."

Just then, the lanterns temporarily fizzled out. In the darkness, Loyal could see rotting,

flesh ripped corpses in place of the friendly ponies. After a moment, the lights came back on.

"Uh, Rainbow, I think we should leave now.." Loyal said.

"Right, so, this has been fun. We really do need to head home now though."

"OH, but you just got here. Why not stay for a bit?"

Loyal began to back away, snagging his cloak on a branch, tearing it apart and revealing....

"C-Cutie Marks?! You really think you could visit here while hiding the most banned entity? I'm sorry...but you two must go..." The pony said, approaching Loyal, with an evil look in his eye.

"Err... We'd be happy to, really!"

Slowly, the gray pony's body deformed into a rotten body of flesh rips and bony parts. A...zombie pony. "Dash....LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Loyal exclaimed, taking off, running.

More zombie ponies began crawling out of the ground, slowly approaching Loyal and Dash.

"NO REASON TO TELL ME TWICE!"

"THIS IS WHY I'VE ALWAYS HATED 'THRILLER!' Loyal shouted, as he kept running through the forest, dodging zombies as he went. Eventually, they stopped appearing, but Loyal kept running. Eventually, he found a brown stone structure, and he ran inside. "RAINBOW, IN HERE!"

Rainbow followed Loyal inside.

Loyal pressed a button he found, and the door slammed shut. Pounding can be heard coming from outside. "NO ESCAPING GRAY HOOF! I'LL EVENTUALLY GET YOU!"

Before Loyal could say anything, there was a voice. "Hey! Who's there?! If it's you, Cabelleron, you're not welcome here!" Hearing that name made Rainbow immediately realize exactly who was in this place with them. Her eyes widened with glee.

"It's Daring Do! Oh, maybe she'll know what to do!"

At that moment, the golden Pegasus entered the room, and was shocked to see Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised.

"Daring, listen, we're being chased by these... THINGS. I don't know WHAT THE HECK they are, but they started chasing us after we stumbled into a village or something around here somewhere."

"Village....you...oh, no....don't tell me you ran into Sunny Town.."

"Sunny Town? Never heard of it, but that place was ANYTHING but Sunny!"

"The ponies there did so many terrible sins that they were cursed to be ponies by day, and zombies by darkness. They can't exactly be killed except without special armor Celestia keeps hidden. Don't ask me how I know that. And speaking of not knowing things, what the hay is THAT?" Daring questioned, gesturing to Loyal.

"That... is a long story that I'd rather get into another time."

"Fair enough."

Pounding could be heard on the door. "OPEN UP! JOIN US!"

"Okay, follow me! I know the way out!" Daring said, galloping into a hall.

Rainbow Dash followed after her.

Loyal ran after the two, and caught up. Daring pushed a hidden button in a wall, revealing a secret exit. "Through here! I"d ask you to accompany me, but there's no time!"

"Right! Thanks, Daring Do!"

Loyal and Rainbow booked it, dashing through the forest, narrowly dodging ghouls sprouting up every which way, and after a heart-pounding chase and narrow escape, they wound up quickly finding their way to the exit.

"We...we're alive! WE'RE ALIVE!"

"Yeah... just barely! But still!"

"As happy as I am, I'm sorry if this didn't turn out to be the adventure you expected.."

"Are you kidding? I've never had an experience like that before!"

"Really..?"

"Yeah! Look, I've fought Princess Luna in a corrupted form, and a chaos god.... And a centaur that stole all the magic in Equestria, but never ZOMBIES!"

"So...you're happy that you experiences something so amazing? I'm glad I could make you happy, Rainbow..."

Rainbow grinned, having never experienced something so rushing and thrilling before (aside from meeting Daring Do, or course), and pounced/tackled Loyal into a hug. "You BET! That was the coolest thing EVER!"

Once again, a heart formed over Rainbow and Loyal, and magically disappeared. Another bond.

Author's Notes:

Now, just so you're all aware, there will be a few times when things seem rushed, when in fact, they are not rushed at all. I usually get inspired by a lot of things, so some things in the story might seem out of place, but I ALWAYS (or most of the time), find a way for them to make sense. Sunny Town is one such thing. And it's not the first or last time we'll see it here, either.

The Vision

Loyal took off running, and was headed for Sugarcube Corner, until he was stopped by Princess Twilight, who was standing near a Royal Carriage. Fancy.

"Whoa, Twilight, what's all this?" I asked.

"Oh, umm... Listen, the thing is, we need to go to Canterlot. Princess Celestia wants to see us."

"Wow...that sounds incredibly important..." I replied.

Once Twilight got into the carriage, gesturing for me to climb in, I did so.

"Did she say what the issue was, or did she just say she needed us?"

Twilight giggled lightly. "Believe it or not, Celestia rarely tells anyone why she's called them until they actually arrive."

"So, basically she trolls ponies she calls upon a little bit?"

"Well, she is a bit of a prankster..."

"Isn't that a little bit undignified for a princess to do? Well, she is a princess...so it makes sense she decided what to do..."

"You'd think so, but she's a big fan of jokes."

"I'll bet."

Eventually, after a surprisingly short flight, and a few comments on Celestia being shared, we arrived at Canterlot, where Celestia was waiting by the castle entrance. "It's good to see you two could make it...there's been some trouble that I've been concerned about." She said.

"Yes? What is it, Princess Celestia?"

"I've had a vision...one I believe your human friend has had before..."

".....an old villain will return from Loyal's past...fictional or nonfictional....and it's up to you two and your friends to stop him...come with me..there's something Loyal will need.." Celestia began walking into the castle. I followed Celestia into the castle. "Come on, Twilight."

Twilight nodded and followed the two of them.

"There's a special set of armor that can defeat this villain....I know very little, but I know enough to know that said armor can be strong enough to withstand his attacks." Celestia explained.

Twilight was confused. She didn't know who Celestia was talking about.

"You may not realize this, but Loyal has had a past with...villains, as you have. But one villain would make a dramatic return.....the same villain who once lurked in Loyal's mind....this villain....is GHAAN."

"The only way to defeat Ghaan, as Loyal did before...is with the Magic of Friendship. You might not have noticed, but Loyal has bonded with three of you six. Or seven, including Starlight Glimmer." Celestia pressed her horn into a magical door, unlocking it to reveal....a steaming room. "Oh....eh....forget you saw that." Celestia said, removing her horn and pressing it into the door again, revealing a hidden passage.

Twilight snickered lightly at Celestia's mistake. "So, where do I come into this?"

"You must team up with your friends and Loyal, and provide as much assistance as possible to defeat Ghaan..

Celestia pulled out a suit of sky blue armor."This is the armor that will protect you from Ghann's evil power. Use it well..."

With that, Celestia began to leave the room. "Now, I must attend to some royal duties. You and Twilight may head back to Ponyville when ready..." And with that, she was gone.

"What? WHAT? I wasn't expecting THIS! What do we do? Where do we GO? Oh my gosh, what if we don't defeat him? What if...?"

Twilight was really freaking out. I gently grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Twilight, calm down. It's gonna be okay. I know you're freaked out, and you think we might not win...but I know we will. You have me, and you have the other six girls by your side. And nothing is going to change that. no matter what happens...we're on your side.." Loyal said, before embracing her.

"...Thank you..."

"We're here to support you. Everything's gonna be okay, Twilight..."

"Ohhh, I hope so..."

Loyal hugged Twilight closer. "Everything will be all right..." Twilight hugged him tightly.

Like all the the times before, a heart magically formed above the two, before it magically vanished.

After a few moments, I let go of Twilight. "Come on. Let's go back to Ponyville." Twilight and I headed back to the carriage, and rode back to Ponyville. Once we got off, and thanked the ponies pulling the carriage, they took off back into the sky.

"Okay, so Celestia was hinting that by bonding with each of you, we could grow strong enough to defeat Ghaan. I've bonded with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and now you. So that leaves Pinkie, Rarity, and Starlight. I think I'll try going with Rarity next. So...I guess I'll see you around?"

"Fair enough!"

I waved goodbye to Twilight, and headed back into Ponyville. It wasn't hard to find the Carousel Boutique. I walked up to it, and knocked on the door.

"Just one moment please!"

I stood there, and patiently waited.

A moment later, the door opened. "Thank you for waiting, I just HAD to get this dress I was working on finished. What can I help you with?"

"Oh! Uh, is this a bad time then? Because I was planning on...bonding with you. And, I was needing to see if this.." I held Celestia's special armor out, "..would fit me. And you're pretty much the only fashionista I know who could figure that out."

Rarity's eyes widened at the sight of the armor. She knew exactly what armor it was. It was Celestia's legendary armor, said to only fit the truest of heroes. Still, she had to question it.

"Oh my! What is that... gorgeous garment you are holding?"

"It's from Princess Celestia. Apparently, there's some villain in my past that'll eventually return, and this armor is supposedly going to protect me from him. But I dunno if it even fits."

"W-well, come in, come in! Feel more than welcome to try it on!"

Loyal entered the shop, ducking at the last moment to avoid hitting his head on the door. Inside, he found several dresses line up neatly. "Wow...you've been busy, haven't you?"

"Well, yes. When I feel inspired, I just have to work! It's how an artist such as myself keeps moving forward."

"Well that's simple. I look at everything around me! I have an entire line walking around Canterlot inspired by things I saw while I was there. I do my best to make every dress one-of-a-kind, but, well, I do take special orders, and if someone wants a dress like another one I've made before, how can I possibly say no? Oh, unless it's that dress that became so stale OH so fast up in Canterlot. Now that was a disaster... ...Oh, I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Actually, that's quite informative. Now, let's see if this armor fits. You do have the tools to measure armor, right?"

"Well, I've never made ARMOR before... But maybe Twilight might have a book or something about it. Oh, or perhaps Princess Celestia. I'm sure Spike would be able to get it for us..."

Loyal noticed an odd looking button on the back of the helm. "Or....perhaps the armor can tell US..." Loyal pressed the button, and the armor began to shake, before enveloping Loyal in a sky-blue aura. "Okay, this is new.." The armor floated up, and opened up parts of its 'body', before flying onto Loyal's body. First his legs, then his chest, then arms and head, and then they clamped shut. Finally, majestic angel wings spread out from the back, giving off a heavenly glow.

"Uhh...what just happened?" I asked

"I'm.... not sure."

"Well, If it's on me...how do I look?"

"Well, it does look stunning."

""Good stunning or bad stunning?"

"Good of course!"

"It's very comfortable...except for one little issue.."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I can't figure out how to take it off..."

"Seriously, is there a switch to take it off..? Oh! Try pressing the button on the back of the helm!"

Rarity went up behind him and found the button, pressing it.

The armor quickly unclamped itself from Loyal, and removed itself, piling itself up nicely. The armor made Loyal's clothes look a bit torn, however. Rarity couldn't let this go uncorrected.

"Well...that's unfortunate." I commented, looking down at my clothes.

"Oh, no no no! I'm sure I can make you something new to replace those! Just give me some time is all."

"Uh...okay...I don't know how you'll make human clothes considering we're...different creatures or races. But okay."

"Well yes, that is true, it will be a challenge, but I've taken on challenges before! I'm certain if I set my mind to it I can make you something excellent!"

"Fair enough then. Nopony's stopping you."

Rarity smiled and trotted up the stairs. "I just need to get some fabrics!"

"Fair enough, then!"

Loyal stood there waiting about 7 minutes. He decided he wouldn't move a muscle.

Rarity came back down the stairs carrying a number of colored fabrics. "Now then, I'll need you to pick out a color."

"I'll go with...the orange."

"Right then! I shall get started right away!"

Loyal nodded in gratitude and approval.

Rarity took the fabrics over to her workstation and immediately set to work. Loyal didn't say a word, as to let her concentrate. As Rarity began to work, she started to hum a song. Loyal sat down on a nearby bench and just waited. He felt excited.

Meanwhile, a certain pink young filly heard of Loyal's....experience with Celestia. And she wanted to know about it. She headed towards into the Carousel Boutique. She peeked the door open, and saw Loyal, who saw her. "Oh, hey, Diamond."

"Hi! Hey, I heard you had an audience with Princess Celestia! What was the occasion?"

"A new villain is coming soon, and I gotta be ready, along with the girls, to take him down. He calls himself..."Ghaan.."

"So, how'd you hear of my visit?"

"I heard about it from Apple Bloom, who heard about it from Applejack, who heard about it from Pinkie Pie, who heard about it from Twilight, who was there with you to see it all happen."

"Well, you came just in time. Right now, my clothes are being replaced, since the 'legendary armor', tore my clothes."

"Huh. Well, I guess that happens sometimes...? Armor... tearing your... I'm sorry, I can't relate to that."

"Yeah! Not since you guys had to go up north I think. Things have been pretty great though."

"How so?"

"Oh, things are just swell at Sweet Apple Acres is all. I haven't heard from mom in ages, but Apple Bloom's family is so nice to me!"

"Well, they're honestly better than her. Your mom , I mean."

"How are they treating you? How's the farm life? Funny I'm asking, considering I live on it, too.."

"Yeah, I know it. Mom... was pretty awful."

(Not just awful...disrespectful....rude...I wouldn't be surprised if she were specist."

"Oh, they're treating me like a member of the family! It's actually pretty refreshing, living on a farm. There's like fresh air everywhere."

"Well, at least there's not the smell of money everywhere....heh....heh....I suddenly don't find that funny.."

"Done! Okay, how does this look?"

"It....looks fabulous!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you like it! I've had clients not like the work I did for them before and while the customer is always right it does... eh... hurt ever so slightly... when they don't like the work I put in for them."

"Ohhhh, thank you, darling!" Rarity smiled and clapped her hooves together.

"Might I....try it on..?"

"Of course you may! The dressing rooms are over there."

Loyal took the garment, and headed into the dressing rooms.

A minute later, he came back out. The orange shirt looked just amazing

"Excellent! It looks so perfect!"

"I like it! It's definitely my color!"

"It really is, isn't it? I wonder if I might be able to make anything else for you..."

"I think I'll be fine. MY pants are intact."

"If you say so.."

Loyal approached Diamond. "How do I look? Heroic, or LEGENDARY?"

"You definitely look heroic!" Diamond smiled.

"And it's thanks to Ponyville's most dependable fashionista."

"Oh, you are quite welcome!"

Both Loyal and Rarity felt so happy, that yet another heart formed and magically dissipated. Another bond formed...another strength developed.

Author's Notes:

Now, Ghaan WAS a villain from a previous story....unfortunately, the site I did the roleplay on was taken down, so it's no longer there.

He Was The One

As Loyal and DIamond entered Ponyville park, they both sat down. Loyal hugged Diamond closely, really happy to see her.

"You know, like I said, it's good to see you again...I'll bet you missed me..."

"Oh, I did."

"What was it like?"

"It was like I was missing someone who's become a big part of my life is what it was."

"You know....besides the girls...you were the first ever true friend I ever knew...technically, you were the first true friend I ever met....before that..." Loyal stopped there, and sighed. "You know, it's funny....before any of this...I had absolutely no friends...I just...lived all on my own. I was friendlies..alone....and sad. My parents had passed or years back, and it still hurts thinking about it..."

"Oh, gosh, that's so tragic..."

"It's also the reason I never left my home for those next three years..because it hurt seeing all the faces of the neighbors my parents used to greet. It upset me. So, by staying locked in that house, I never had to see a world of hurt."

"Oh.... gosh... That's... I'm so sorry...."

"It's not your fault....I guess it's how life was set for me...what about your life? I imagine it was good before, yes?"

"Err.... Not... Not really. Mom always wanted me to be just like her."

"Sounds bad..."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad... Mom had me wrapped around her hoof, and I was... not the nicest little kid..."

"How mean were you?" I asked, finding it impossible for this kid to have an evil past.

"I... um... well... I used to only have one friend. And I don't even think she used to like me that much."

"...Silver Spoon?"

"Yeah..."

"So, you AND her used to pick on ponies, right?" I guessed.

"Y-yeah.... We did..."

"SO, how'd you have a change of heart?"

"Apple Bloom and her friends... They helped me out. They wanted to be friends with me. It made me realize... I don't want what my mom tells me I want."

"So, they redeemed you with friendship."

"That's about the size of it, yes."

"Well....I'm glad I met you, Diamond...you seem like such a nice filly..." I said, hugging her closer.

"Hehehe, aww, you're just saying that..."

"No, I mean it. I've never met a nicer group of friends than you, the girls, the CMC, or anypony else..."

"I'm guessing you've never met anyone like me, right?"

"...Yeah. I haven't."

"I really hope I never have to leave this world...I can live happily here...."

"I hope you never have to leave either! You're the one who gave me the courage I needed to get out of that house."

"Heh, I bet your mom was mad as heck back there seeing us leave. But you know....running away from somepony like her...it was the right thing to do."

Loyal sighed happily, and began stroking Diamond's mane. It was a natural reflex with ponies. He didn't know why, but it just...felt good.

"That... feels nice...."

"Does this happen often with ponies?" Loyal looked down and saw Diamond's content expression. "I'm gonna guess not."

There was silence for a few minutes. Until...

"So....Diamond, have you been on any...adventures lately?""

"Me? No."

"Oh....okay..." Loyal said, continuing to stroke Diamond's mane. She lay on Loyal's lap and eventually fell asleep. Loyal lay back and relaxed for a few minutes. It wasn't long before a familiar pink Unicorn approached the two.

"Oh, hey Starlight. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, y'know, just working on friendship lessons with Twilight. She says we're probably going to be having Celestia over for dinner sometime."

"That's nice. Not too long ago, I met Celestia...but....Celestia had some bad news for me..."

"She says an evil villain is returning to Equestria soon....and gave me some special armor." Loyal looked next to him, but didn't see the armor. "OH, no, I must have left it at Rarity's! Starlight, could you be a friend and get it for me? I'd do it myself but...Diamond's sleeping on me."

"Oh, sure! I can do that!"

AS Starlight headed back to Rarity's, she knocked on the door, but no reply. Starlight looked for a sign, but no 'sign' of one existed. Maybe Rarity was in a rush, and couldn't put the sign up. Starlight headed inside, and found the armor. She lifted the armor with her magic and headed back towards the park. Loyal saw her returning. "Oh, hey again! Was Rarity home?" I asked.

"I think so? Is this it?"

"Yep! That's the armor!" I said, placing the armor onto the tiny spot next to me. "So, Rarity wasn't home is what you're saying? You don't sound so sure."

"Yeah, she wasn't there... I don't know where she went either. She didn't leave a sign."

"Hmmm...that's not like her...she never leaves without letting everypony know..."

"Come to think...I haven't seen any ponies wandering around the park, either....what's going on?" I questioned.

"Well, that's... odd.... I wonder where they went...?"

"Hmmm...I'm gonna go check in town...can you watch Diamond for me?"

"I suppose I can do that....just don’t wind up like the rest of this town.”

I could trust my close friend who seemed rather vulnerable and out in the open to stay safe....couldn’t I?

Everything felt normal....the skies were clear, there was no chaos or trouble, it seemed peaceful and quiet....but it seemed TOO quiet....Loyal walked through the entire town, trying to see if any ponies were around. But there was nopony. Loyal then searched in each of the Mane 6's homes. But even THEY couldn't be found. Not even Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon could be found, which really worried Loyal.

Where had everypony gone? It was almost like everypony had vanished. As Loyal went back to Sweet Apple Acres, and walked through a grove of apple trees, he heard voices coming from up above. He looked up to see a tree house. It was painted yellow, with some little shutters and a tidy roof. The voices sounded...familiar.

Loyal walked up the ramp that led to the door of the treehouse, and knocked on it (it, being the door).

Starlight carefully paced back and forth, her eyes on Diamond Tiara.

"Hello?" Loyal called. "Is somepony there?"

"Who's there?!"

"Uh...it's Loyal. I'm glad you haven't disappeared on me...all the others have..."

"Uh.... Y-Yes...?"

Loyal entered the clubhouse to find the three fillies, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo huddled in a corner.

"Are you three okay? Did something happen?" I asked, thinking about how nervous they sounded just now. It worried me. It's like...like they saw something...

"Something... something's going on...."

"What's going on? Where is everypony else?"

"We don't know! We were hoping you did!"

"Well the only ones who are still here are Starlight and Diamond Tiara."

"Well that's not very reassuring...

"It's still better than US being the only ones remaining, right?"

"So...how long ago did you notice everypony was missing?"

"A while... AJ wasn't there this morning..."

"She...wasn't?"

"No..."

"Where could they have gone...?" I pondered. What happened to everypony? Where did they go? "Should I just get Starlight and Diamond to come here?"

"That might be a good idea, yeah..."

Loyal nodded, left the tree house, and ran back to the park. "Okay, good news! The Cutie Mark Crusaders are still here! It's best we go to them." I said, thankful Starlight and Di were still here. "Now, come on! They're waiting on us." I said, beginning to head back to the treehouse.

Starlight and Diamond nodded and stood up to follow Loyal.

I led the duo back to the treehouse, and let them in. "Well...seems we're all here.." I said.

Apple Bloom smiled. "It's so good to see a friendly face."

"Now..we gotta figure out what might've happened when everypony disappeared...did any of them say they were headed anywhere before vanishing?"

Sweetie Belle blinked. "What...?"

"Do any of you have any ideas where the others might have disappeared off to?"

. . . . .

Seeing as how I wasn't getting a lot of answers, I still pitched in with my own thought.. "I think I might have a guess as to where they are..."

"...Where... do you think they are...?" Apple Bloom asked, hoping he wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say.

".....The Everfree Forest." I answered, feeling like AB wasn't gonna like my answer.

"...Oh, is that all...? I actually go there more often than I'd like to admit... Visiting Zecora is something I like to do." Apple Bloom responded.

"Yeah, um, I get the feeling he's not saying they went to visit Zecora," Scootaloo said.

"Scoot's right...and besides, this is ALL of Ponyville we're talking about. It's not like EVERYPONY would go to visit one zebra. To be honest....when me and Dash went in earlier....we found this small village, known as...Sunny Town. Apparently, all the ponies there were blank-flanks. They thought of Cutie Marks as a kind of curse....and they tried to kill anypony with a Cutie Mark that came to their village...we narrowly escaped them, but I have a feeling they might have something to do with everypony vanishing...or perhaps it's the work of Ghaan. Either way, I think it's obvious what we need to do now." I said, getting the feeling they knew exactly what I was gonna say.

The three small fillies trembled with anticipation.

"We need to head into the Everfree to find everypony. It's our best, and only, shot." I finished.

The three fillies sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Got any better ideas?"

"W-Well... no..."

"Keep in mind...you have two strong protectors by your side. Starlight, and me."

Loyal grabbed his armor, pressed the button on the helm, and it magically snapped onto his body.

"So...are we all ready to go, or do you need some time?"

"Well... I guess we're ready... We don't have much to get to bring with us..."

"Then let's go." I replied, heading down the ramp, and towards the forest.

Starlight and the fillies looked at each other unsurely, and stood up to follow him. I mean, what were THEY going to do with so many ponies disappearing? They needed to go with him to avoid vanishing, too.

I soon stood in front of the Everfree Forest. It seemed a lot darker and spookier than it last seemed. I took a deep breath and headed inside. Starlight and the others followed closely behind. "Does this forest change every time somepony enters it?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Starlight said. "I think it just feels that way..."

"Oh....well, alright.." I replied. After several minutes of walking, I eventually found the path to Sunny Town. I looked through the bushes and listened. But no sign or sound of ponies crying for help. I then heard sounds coming from off to the side of the forest. I followed it and..

Eventually, the forest path led me to a clearing in the middle of the forest. But I could NOT believe what I saw. There was a giant strange, cube-shaped machine in the middle of the area. Around the area was....the ponies of Ponyville! Even the Mane 6 had been captured and put into cages that seemed unbreakable. Ponies were shouting for help, some were curled up, and others were crying. So this is where everypony had ended up! They were all kidnapped! But who could have done this? My question was soon answered when a red puff of smoke appeared in front of the giant cube. No....it couldn't have been...

"Long time no see, Loyal Defender.." A sickeningly familiar voice rang out, silencing all the ponies. "I'll bet you thought you saw the last of me....oh, no, you didn't. I vowed the day you 'defeated me', that I would return! And I have. For months, I developed this plan to get the ultimate revenge on you! I just needed the right time! And last night was the perfect time! It took a lot of work capturing all of these ponies, but it was worth it. Don't worry, I don't intend to harm any of them, not even your friends. I just captured them all so they could witness your defeat, and DESTRUCTION! For you see, behind me lies a special machine known as the 'Empowerment Cube'. It wasn’t easy getting this done, but it was oh-so fun possessing different ponies to build this. It gives the user unbelievable power and strength, even enough to demolish everything! I was just waiting for you to show up, so that I could finally rid this world of the one who stopped my ultimate plan before. AND I WILL!"

Ghaan turned around, and phased inside the cube. The cube rumbled violently, before the top opened up, and out of it came....another form of Ghaan. He was big and red, and had black devil horns. His eyes were empty except for red glowing irises. (No, it wasn't Tirek). His lower half still remained in the cube, which must have been what powered him up as long as he was in there. When he spoke, his voice was slightly deeper, and more demonic. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW? NOT SO WIMPY AND SMALL ANYMORE, AM I?! IN FACT, WHY DON'T I SHOW YOU MY REAL POWER?!" With that being said, Ghaan fired a laser from his mouth that I tried to avoid, but it quickly caught up with me, slamming me hard into a tree.

Starlight gasped as Loyal was slammed into the tree. 'Is he okay?!' The fillies flinched, tears beginning to form in their eyes.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING FROM SO LONG AGO! WELL, NOT THE BIG DEMON CREATURE. BUT MY REVENGE! YOU THOUGHT YOU SAW THE LAST OF ME! WELL, YOU'RE WRONG! BUT TODAY...I SHALL SEE THE END OF YOU! ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE!" Ghaan prepared to fire another laser to attempt finishing Loyal.

"NO!" Starlight leapt in front of Loyal and threw up a shield as powerful as she could muster. "I won't let you!"

The laser struck, but Ghaan was shocked to find that it didn't penetrate Starlight's shield.

"IMPOSSIBLE! THAT LASER WAS AS POWERFUL AS 700 GIGAJOULES!"

"S-Starlight..." I said weakly. "You...you saved me.."

"It's... what friends do."

Starlight smiled and did her best to help Loyal up.

As Loyal got up, Ghaan felt a sharp pain in his body. "GAHHHH! WHAT IS THIS RIDICULOUS SENTIMENT ABOUT?!" Ghaan tried firing another laser, but much to his surprise, a shield protected the two, and it wasn't Starlight's magic. I was bewildered as well. "Starlight....what is this?"

"I... don't know..."

I looked around. Everypony had been captured, even the Mane 6. What could I do? I'd never done much of anything without any of the girls at my side. Even the CMC looked frightened. All hope seemed lost...until I realized something. In the past, I had shared a special bond with Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie (sort of), Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. But he I that something was missing...someONE. Then....it hit me. I needed to share his feelings with....Starlight Glimmer. It had been obvious for so long, and now that I realized it...it was time to finish what I had started. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and turned to face Starlight.

"Starlight....I know things seem bad...I know it seems nothing can be done....but there is still hope. There is still a light that we can help shine down upon us. In the past, you've all been there for me, and I've been there for you. Because you were all at my side, I felt like nothing could bring me down....like I could take on any challenge and obstacle thrown at me. But now I realize it wasn't them being there that made me stronger....it was their BONDS...their friendship. We've been good friends for a long time, Starlight, but our friendship isn't complete....not without our own special bond."

I held my hand out, for Starlight to take. "Take this, Starlight....show everypony we can truly be unstoppable when we're together...that we're not afraid...that we can take on anything thrown our way..."

Starlight stared for a moment before nodding and placing her hoof in his hand. "I believe in you."

As Starlight did so...something incredible happened....something magical. Slowly, Starlight and I slowly were lifted up into the air, and out of the shield. We were still protected...by love...by friendship....then, I was moved away from Starlight, and in front of Ghaan. I was confused at first...but then, I knew exactly what to do.

I turned to look at Ghaan, and spoke. "You may think you've won, Ghaan....but believe me..you're wrong. You've had it wrong ever since you were created! Ruling and destruction doesn't make you stronger. Having your friends and loved ones by your side makes you stronger. Friendship comes from honesty..."

At that moment, a magical aura glowed around Applejack, then shot an orange beam at me.

"Kindness.."

Then Fluttershy...

"Laughter....Generosity....Loyalty.....Magic..."

Beams shot from Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight...

"And, thanks to a loved one, Starlight Glimmer...she's learned from many of her mistakes, though sometimes, her past can come back...she's learned to accept it...thus making her the Element of.....Remorse!"

A powerful beam shot out from Starlight.

"You can never win, Ghaan....because the magic of friendship will always prevail! And nothing will ever stop it!" I exclaimed, and knew exactly what to do. I thrust my arms forward, and the beams bounced at me, and off different parts of my armor, and onto Ghaan. Ghaan's body slowly began to glow different colors, and his body began to twitch and shake. "WHAT....IS.....HAPPENING?!" He exclaimed, as one part of his body blew off, then another....then another....

"You can never prevail, Ghaan...because not even you can stop....THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP!" I held my arms up for a moment...before throwing them forward to finish Ghaan off. Several chunks of his body blew off, until just his head remained.

All he could say as his last words was...

"Oh, bu--" *BOOOMMM*

As the dust cleared...there was no sign of Ghaan. He...had been defeated at last. Everypony was silent for a moment, before they all began to cheer. The unbreakable cages vanished like magic, freeing everypony.

Everypony around began cheering as Diamond, the CMC's, and the Mane 6 all ran to Loyal, lifting him up above them.

When we got back to Ponyville, everypony was tackle hugging me, and the next thing I knew...I was in a pony pile. I tried to hug as many ponies back as possible, but I couldn't hug them all. I tried, believe me.

Everypony cleared through, when Princess Celestia came, as did Luna.

"I'm very proud of you, Loyal." She began. "You not only gained the courage to trek through the Everfree Forest when you knew trouble lurked, but you also managed to save all of us from the work of a villain nor my sister or myself could defeat, even with powerful magic. We're proud to call you the official hero of Equestria..."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia.." I said, and bowed politely.

"Although, there is a bit of...unfortunate news, as much as I hate to be a burden." Luna replied.

"Unfortunate news...?"

"My sister and I recently discovered that Loyal is needed...in yet another universe...one I'm quite certain some of you are familiar with."

"Wait, what? But....what about..."

"No need to worry, Loyal...you'll see your friends again once said problem has been resolved...but it may or may not be a long time, depending on how big the problem is..."

"So....this is goodbye..?" I asked.

"Only for now, Loyal....after all, everybody knows that out of any hero to save the day....YOU'RE THE ONE." Loyal suddenly remembered what those words were. Those words were what he heard before he was transported here. I knelt down to the girls, and hugged as many at once as possible. "I'm going to miss you girls so much..." I said.

Starlight sighed sadly as she hugged Loyal. She looked around a little bit... "...Hey... Where's Diamond...?"

"Tiara? Oh... she said she was going somewhere... She wouldn't say where... why...?"

"She probably had some business....but at least she knows she can count on this hero to be there for her..."

Twilight nodded. "I'll say. Thank you, Loyal. I don't know what we would've done without you."

I didn't understand this "going to a new universe" thing...but I had a feeling it was a big deal. "You can let us know when you're ready..." Celestia notified. "Take as long as you need to."

So, I used that time to spend time with each of the girls. I baked the Impossible Cake with Pinkie, made a quilt with Applejack, designed some new human-like clothes with Rarity, created special potions with Twilight, chilled with Rainbow Dash, and fed some animals with Fluttershy. Starlight...we hugged, for like, 20 minutes. She really was going to miss me.

As I stood in front of Celestia, I realized something. Everything I did with the girls...all those things I made were for me...

"Are you ready..?" Celestia asked.

"WAAAAIT!" Said a voice. I turned around to see Spike running down the field, and up to me. He held something in his hand, and held it out to me. "H-here.." He said, sounding out of breath. "I....made....this....for....you...." He said. I took it, and looked at it. A golden locket. I opened it up, and....it was a picture of me and the girls...

"I'll cherish it....always," I said.

"Loyal...?" A meek voice called out.

I turned around to see Diamond standing there. "Hello...Diamond..." I said, kneeling down.

"I...." She breathed a sigh. "I'm sorry. I've been hiding from you."

"I don't blame you....I'd hide, too, if I found out I had to leave..."

Diamond nodded. "I didn't want to face it... I hoped maybe if I didn't... it would go away... But..." She looked up, a teary smile on her face. "Apple Bloom told me that hiding from my problems won't make them go away. She said I can either face them while they're still small... or let them grow and grow until I can't handle them myself..."

"I don't want to let that happen. I don't want to need ponies to help me for the rest of my life. You taught me to be brave... to hide from my problems would... would be going back to the way I used to be..."

"It's good you faced them when you did..." I said, gently kissing her on the top of the head.

"I'm really going to miss you..."

"I'm going to miss you too..." I replied, hugging Diamond tightly. She was the most special to him. She was the very first friend he'd made since he got here.

Diamond shed out a tear. "Goodbye, Loyal..I'll wait for you.."

I turned back to Celestia, and nodded. She nodded in response, and lowered her horn. A golden aura began to glow, and an aura surrounded me. I turned to face everypony one last time.

"Thank you, everypony....I'll never forget any of you..." I said, as I cried a bit. But I let the tears run. It's what a man would do.
And with that...I was gone in a bright flash, fading to once again reveal nothing. It was official - I had left Equestria.

"What a great guy... I'm so glad we had a chance to meet him...I just hope we'll see him again soon."

And truer words couldn't have been spoken....deep down, the Mane 6 knew....their hero would return.

After all...he WAS.....loyal.

But Loyal's journey was FAR from over...

To Be Continued

Author's Notes:

This was the finale I wasn't too proud of. While this seems rushed, keep in mind, this was before I planned things out completely.