Three people from our universe is sent to Equestria. Now they must find a way back home with the help of the Mane 6.
This is my first published story on fimfiction. Like the description says, three humans are transported from our universe and sent to Equestria. Those three humans are me, Jet_Black1980, and the mod of Monster Steven on Tumblr. The three of us were sent to Equestria in the form of our MLP OCs, and now we must live out our lives while stuck there. Some events that have happened on the show may or may not happen in the story.
There's friendship and other stuff in it too. More genres will be added soon. Rated T for cursing.
Jetblack1980 and @beingmonsterau gave me permission to use their likeness in my story. Jetblack1980 also gave me permission to use Heartbreak for his current form. Also, this story is not connected to the Heartbreak series.
The cover art is an image of Foodie Love drawn by doodlemark.
My Proofreader is The Psychopath, while Jet_Black1980 proofreads Heartbreak's lines to make sure there are no mistakes.
Edit: Added the Suicide tag because of Chapter 12.
I was in my small room, sitting at the table. I was on my laptop, searching up stories to read on the road before I went out. I had only found a few to read, when all of a sudden, my laptop cut off, surprising me.
"Huh? What the...? Did the battery die?" I asked. I was confused since the laptop was fully charged. “Ugh. I’ll take care of that later after I get back,” I groaned.
I headed for my door, about to leave, but then, there was a weird noise coming from my computer. It sounded like twinkling chimes.
“What the...? What was that noise?” I asked, confused. I approached the laptop.
A portal appeared on my laptop as soon as I was near it. The portal was a swirl of lots of greens, blues ,and violets with fun splashes of yellows and oranges. There were even sparkles in the shapes of the Mane Six too.
"Oh, crap,” I said, shocked.
I turned around to run, but then a vortex of air came out of the portal and started to strongly pull me towards it. I tried to get away from the vortex, but it was too strong.
"Help!" I shouted.
Too bad my TV was a little loud for anyone to hear me. I got lifted up in the air by the pull of the vortex and into the portal. Fortunately, I got stuck halfway through the screen, saving me.
I laughed triumphantly at my good fortune. "Ha ha. Now, I just need to free my body from the screen and then I’ll be home free," I said aloud to myself.
I twisted my body around and was able to loosen myself up.
“Success,” I said. But then I felt myself slide a few inches forward by the pull of the vortex. “Uh-oh.”
The portal sucked me through completely and closed behind me.
Meanwhile
At some person's house in Brazil, a girl was on her phone, drawing. That girl was the mod of the Monster Steven blog. What she was doing was finishing up the next page of her comic.
"Finished," she said. She gave off a relieved sigh and uploaded the next page onto her blog. "Time for a snack break since I’ve earned it."
She headed for the Kitchen to get a snack. As soon as she was about to pass by her family’s computer, a portal suddenly appeared on the computer screen. A strong vortex of air came out of the portal and surrounded her, pulling her towards its source. She screamed as she tried to fight back against the pull by planting her feet strongly on the floor. Unfortunately, the pull was too great and her feet only slid forward. “Someone, help me!” she screamed.
Her head got sucked through, then the rest of her body. Her family arrived just as the portal closed.
Meanwhile
Some guy was coming back from work, grumpy and tired.
"Ugh, need some sleep. I’ll do the chapter later," he grumbled.
He was passing by his computer when he noticed something was wrong. There was a portal “screensaver” on it.
"What the hell? I don't remember applying a screensaver like that on my computer," he muttered, confused. He walked over to check. As soon as he was in front of the computer, a vortex of air came out of the portal and pulled him through. He screamed as the portal closed behind him.
When I woke up, I was a little disoriented.
"What happened?" I asked, groaning. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. "The last thing I remember, I was sucked through some kind of portal through my own laptop? That can't be right."
Once my head cleared up, I saw that I was in a forest. I got up and immediately felt like there was something wrong with me in a weird kind of way. For instance, I'm standing up, but not at my own height. I had looked myself over just to see why. The reason shocked me.
"No. No no no no. No!” I shouted. I was shocked at my new appearance.
I was now a pony-sized, cream-colored Alicorn with blue eyes, short and straight, ocean blue mane and tail with amethyst purple spots on both and had spiky ends. The cutie mark was a plate with a slice of blueberry pie on it with a fork, knife, and a glass cup next to it. I had a small horn on my head and a pair of medium-sized wings on my sides.
"Hey, can you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep," said a mysterious voice. The source then groaned.
I turned and saw that there were two familiar beings sleeping on the ground. One of them was a mare, while the other was a teenage, female dragon.
"Hey, you two. Wake up!" I shouted. I shook them both hard with my hooves, which was weird and a little hard to do.
I kept shaking them both until they finally had enough and woke up. The mare was the first to wake up and stood up. She was a mare with a tan coat, a curly, brown mane and tail, a hole in her right hoof, was wearing an olive green-colored military hat with a gold medallion on the front of it, and had a Cutie Mark of a black, broken heart on the sides of her flank.
"Ugh, what do you want?" the mare groaned.
"Don't ask questions and just take a look at yourself," I said.
She rolled her eyes and took a look at herself for a few seconds before looking straight back at me.
"I'm Heartbreak, so what?" she commented in a monotone voice.
After a few seconds, she had a realization and looked herself over again. "Wait, what?! Why the fet am I my own character?!” screamed the mare.
Before I could calm her down, there was another scream. This time it belonged to the dragon.
"Can someone please tell me why I am a dragon?!" she screamed.
The dragon had a body that was almost pony-like and was covered in scales and fur on different areas of her body. Parts of her were a pastel blue color while others were a light blue color. She had dark grey-colored eyes with black slitted pupils, hair on her head that in some places were brown while in other places were white, a pair of wings on her back,sharp,white spikes on her back and tail,and wearing some leather gloves around her clawed hands.
"Girls, calm down," I said. “Girls?” They couldn't hear me over their own screams. So, I took a deep breath. "SHUT UP!" I shouted.
They both quieted down.
"First question: Are you both from Earth just like me?" I asked.
They both nodded.
"Second question: You both have Tumblr blogs, right? And if so, what are they?" I asked.They both gave me their Tumblr blog names, which confirmed my suspicions about who they really are."I knew it was you two once I saw you," I said. I was smiling widely. "It's nice to meet you two face-to-face, even though we're not human anymore." I gave them my blog name too.
"I can't believe it's you either," said Heartbreak, smiling as well. "So, your Ponysona is an Alicorn? I thought your Ponysona would be something like a Unicorn." wondered Heartbreak.
"Nah. My OC's name is Foodie Love, the Alicorn of Food. His talent lies in using his magic to create food and drinks out of thin air," I said. "Thanks to his talent, he could keep an entire kingdom of ponies fed for years. He even has some secrets that he keeps hidden. He was my first Ponysona that I created. Speaking of Ponysonas.” I turned towards the dragon. “As for you.”
“What? Me?” the dragon asked, pointing at herself.
"Yup. You seemed to have taken the form of the OC I thought up for you for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Her name was Amber, remember?" I asked.
After a few seconds, Amber remembered what I was talking about. She snapped her claw fingers. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember," she said. “We talked about it for a while before I ended up drawing her. Can’t believe I ended up looking exactly like her.”
I chuckled. “Join the club,” I said. “You know, it’s funny. Still can’t believe I ended up here through a portal on my laptop.”
Heartbreak and Amber were surprised to hear that.
“Hold on. Did you say a portal appeared on your laptop?” asked Heartbreak, surprised.
I chuckled. “Yeah. Sounds crazy once you hear it, right?” I spoke.
“Actually, no, it isn’t. That’s how I ended up here as well,” said Amber.
“No way, me too,” Heartbreak said.
“From the sound of it, there’s no way that it is a coincidence that we all ended up here thanks to some portal,” said Amber.
“You’re right,” said Heartbreak. She nodded. “Something or someone brought us here for some kind of purpose. Until then, we have to be on our guards for anyone suspicious.”
“Agreed. So, let’s sit down and figure out a plan,” I advised.
They all sat down in a circle.
"Well, I think we should look for the nearest town or city. After figuring out where we are, we can then head for Ponyville,” she said. “Once we’re there, we can ask Twilight Sparkle to contact Princess Celestia to figure out a way for us to get home."
"You might be correct. In some stories, they give somep-p-pony the help they need to get home,” Heartbreak said.
“Right,” I nodded in agreement.
“But in other stories, the Princesses will try and eliminate the being, thinking they might be a threat to Equestria," she continued. She did that on purpose. “So, no pressure.”
She didn’t notice that me and Amber were scared after hearing that there was a chance that we could be killed by the princesses.
I cleared my throat. "True, but we don't know which Equestria we're in. We could be in an alternate universe that is either based on the show or could be entirely different," I said.
They both knew I was right.
Heartbreak groaned. "He's right. For instance, there could be different wielders of the Elements of Harmony. That could throw our knowledge of the show out the window if everything ends up different.”
"Right. Except if this is based on the show, then which episode of which season did we appear on?" said Amber.
"Also, how are we even supposed to fight back if we end up in danger? I don't know how to fly or use magic, and Amber can't breathe fire or fly. So the only useful one is you, HB," I said. I pointed my right hoof at Heartbreak, which also felt weird without fingers.
"Me? Why me? What can I do?" said Heartbreak, confused.
"Since you have become Heartbreak, then you might also carry her curses too. For instance, your presence could scare away any of the dangerous creatures or animals of the Everfree Forest," I said. I had a feeling my theory was correct.
"True, but that also means that the other curses I've placed on HB are on me too. Including the ones that I haven't revealed yet either. Who knows what could happen?" said Heartbreak.
I groaned out of frustration and kicked the dirt with my right front hoof. "Dang it. Why are we so unlucky right now?” I said.
“No idea,” said Heartbreak. “Maybe we'll catch a break soon?”
Amber turned and noticed something. “Um, whose bags are those?” asked Amber. She pointed her right claw finger at a pair of saddlebags and a backpack. “I think they must have been there the entire time and we just didn’t notice them?”
“Huh. Weird,” remarked Heartbreak.
All three of us went over to the bags and searched through them. It seems that each of the bags contained the stuff that each of us had on ourselves before we were sent through the portals to Equestria. So, after easily figuring out whose bag was whose because of the stuff inside, we put them on. Heartbreak needed help from Amber for hers.
“Does anyone have any idea which direction we should be heading?" I asked.
Heartbreak shook her head. “Nope,” she said.
"I have an idea,” said Amber. “I'll climb a tree to the top and see if there are any nearby settlements.”
“Be careful,” said Heartbreak.
“I will,” replied Amber.
She went over to a random tree and climbed it easily thanks to her claws. Once she was at the top, she looked around until she spotted something. "I can see Canterlot Mountain in the distance! And I think I can see Ponyville. It’s a little far away."
"Which direction is Ponyville?" asked Heartbreak.
Amber looked around at the sky until she saw the Sun. After remembering that North is in the opposite direction of the sun’s position, she figured out which direction Ponyville was located. She then jumped down from the tree and pointed in the Northwest direction. "That way. It might take us either a few hours or an entire day to get there depending on whether we run or walk," Amber explained.
“How about we run first, then we can walk later to save our energy?” I suggested. I knew it was a stupid plan since we’d just waste up all of our energy running. Also, me and Heartbreak were new to our bodies. We haven’t even adapted to them yet.
“Sounds like a good plan, I think,” said Heartbreak, shrugging. She was willing to either walk or run just so she could get to Ponyville and solve one of their problems.
“It's the only plan we have right now. So we have no choice but to do that,” said Amber. She wanted to get home too in order to be with her family again.
“Oh. Okay,” I said. I was kind of surprised that they agreed with my plan. “Yes!” I thought proudly.
The three of them stretched their bodies in order to get limber for the run. “Ready?” I asked.
Heartbreak nodded. "Ready," she said.
"Ready," said Amber.
Then a thought came to my mind. “Hold on a sec. Before we start running, does this forest look familiar to anyone?” I asked. “I swear, it feels like we’re in the Everfree Forest.”
“Oh, that’s because I think we are in the Everfree Forest. From the top of the tree, I saw the entire forest. I think we have been in the Everfree Forest the entire time since we’ve first arrived here,” said Amber.
“Now that I think about it, she’s right,” said Heartbreak. “I mean with our luck, of course we would end up there.”
“Ah, thanks for confirming my suspicions, you two,” I said. “That we’re in the most dangerous forest within Equestria.”
Heartbreak and Amber were scared. They weren't the only one.
“Let’s forget the ‘go’ and just run already”, I said.
“Good idea,” said Heartbreak, agreeing.
“Yeah. Let’s get out of this creepy forest already,” said Amber, agreeing as well.
All three of us ran in the direction of Ponyville. Me and Heartbreak’s running was a little slow and messed up because running on four legs felt more awkward than being on them.
The three of them had been heading in the direction of Ponyville for a few hours into the night. They've been taking a few breaks to recharge some of their energy when walking couldn't do it. So far, they only had a few miles of the Everfree Forest to go before they made it to Ponyville.
"I can't wait to get back home soon. I know that my family must be missing me a lot since I disappeared through the portal," said Amber. "What about you two? Are you two excited to see your friends and families again?"
"Yeah, can't wait to see them after I get back. Although, I don't think they'll believe me when I tell them about this," I said. I chuckled. "What about you, HB?" I asked.
Heartbreak was silent and just kept on walking. I walked over to Heartbreak in order to get her to talk.
"HB? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. "HB?"
I tapped her on the shoulder, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground on my side as Heartbreak had shoved me away, hard.
Amber ran over to me. "Are you okay?" asked Amber, concerned.
I stood back up, wincing a little.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.
Heartbreak snapped out of it and just realized what she had done.
"I apologize," said Heartbreak, apologetically. "I don't know what came over me."
"It's fine. You were distracted," I said, shrugging. "No harm is done."
"Are you sure?" asked Amber. "It looked like you landed on your wing."
"And I'm telling you two that I'm fine," I said. "Let's just continue walking before night comes, all right?"
Heartbreak and Amber looked at each other for a few seconds before looking back at me.
"Fine," said Amber. "Just let us know if something's wrong, okay?"
I gave her a smile. "Sure thing," I said.
They continued on their way towards Ponyville. What Heartbreak and Amber didn't notice was that when I had fallen not only on my wing but on a rock too.
I winced as I tried to move my right-wing a little, causing me a lot of pain. "Oof, I think I injured my wing,” I thought.“ButI can't let HB know, or else she'll feel bad about it."
I decided to keep it a secret and continued moving on.
After running and walking for a few more miles, Ponyville was only a few feet away. But then, I realized something important.
"Wait, I can't go in!" I shouted.
They stopped walking.
"Why not?" asked Heartbreak.
"HB, I'm an Alicorn. A male Alicorn," I said. I had stressed the word "male" very strongly. "There's no such thing as a male Alicorn in Equestria. What if it makes everyone suspicious and they don't trust us? I don't want to ruin both of your chances to get back home," I said, depressed.
Heartbreak sported a serious expression. "If they don't trust you just because you're a male Alicorn, then we don't need their help at all," said Heartbreak.
"Yeah. We could all just go to Canterlot and ask the Princesses ourselves if we have to," Amber agreed seriously. "It's all of us or nothing."
I smiled. "You'd do that for me?" I asked.
"Of course. What we learned from the show is that friendship is important, and that means that you're our friend," said Heartbreak.
"So if neither one of us can go, then we all can't go, said Amber. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair if some of us can't go home. We all have friends and families that we want to return to, right?"
"Right," I said.
"We all need to return back to our universe together, right?" asked Amber.
"Right," I said again.
"So let's work together as a team to get back home, okay?" asked Amber.
"Okay," I said plainly.
We continued onwards to Ponyville. Heartbreak walked over to Amber.
"Impressive speech, Amber," spoke Heartbreak. "You were able to calm him down."
"Of course it worked, Heartbreak. We all have people that we need to return back to," said Amber. "Something like this won't stop any of us."
I decided to ask them a question that’s been on my mind.
"So, if we're in a universe based on the show, which season do you two think we appeared on?" I asked. "Personally, I think we appeared before Twilight became a Princess. So, Season 3."
"Nah, I bet we're somewhere during when Twilight was a Princess. So, either Season 5 or 6," said Heartbreak.
"You're both wrong. We're probably in Season 8 or 9," argued Amber.
The three of them argued over which Season of the show they were probably in. Eventually, they arrived in Ponyville. The entire town was empty as every pony was in their homes, either sleeping or still awake.
Amber looked around. "Does anyone know which way it is to the Golden Oak Library or Twilight's Crystal Castle?" asked Amber, confused.
"Not me," I said, shrugging. "What about you, HB?" I asked.
"I have no idea either," said Heartbreak. "We could ask someone, except with no one outside at this time, we’ll have to ask somep-p-pony in the morning where it's located. Fet. Stupid curse," Heartbreak sighed, angrily.
"One problem. Where will we sleep for tonight? I have no idea if the show even revealed if there were any motels in Ponyville," said Amber.
"Actually, I don't think it even did," said Heartbreak. "Besides, even if there was a motel in Ponyville-” Heartbreak gestured with her hoof to the town itself “-it'd probably take us hours to even find one, especially in a town as big as this."
Amber gave off a frustrated sigh. "She’s right. We’d be too lost and too tired before we gave up. So just for tonight, we’re sleeping out on the streets. Tomorrow, we’ll look for a motel," said Amber. “Do any of you two have an idea where we should sleep?”
“Let’s just sleep right over there for now,” I said. I gestured over to the closest building. “We can sleep there and start the search in the morning.”
“Too tired to even argue about it,” said Heartbreak.
Amber yawned. “Me too,” said Amber.
We walked over to a random, small, pink building and laid down next to it.
“Goodnight, guys,” said Amber.
“Night,” said Heartbreak, yawned.
“Good night,” I said.
Inside the Dream Realm
I found myself back to my human form and surrounded by nothingness. I started walking forward through it.
“This is my first time in Equestria, so of course my first dream here would be nothing. It’s kind of boring actually,” I said. “This dream needs something. Something to make it pop.” I stopped walking and snapped my fingers as I had an idea. “Maybe some color would do it?”
I brought my arms forward, and then a ton of colored blobs appeared. They floated around and started crashing against the surfaces, painting the entire place. Once it was finished, there were colors everywhere, but it was placed around all chaotically. I continued to walk through this area, bored.
“The colors are great, but it’s not enough. still boring,” I complained. “It needs something to bring it all alive and make it more exciting. But what?” I continued to think about what I could do to make the dream better.
“Hello?” a familiar feminine voice called out.
“Huh?” I said, confused. “What was that?”
The voice then giggled. “It’s time to wake up and greet the day!~” sang the voice.
“Who is that calling out to me?” I asked. I started to wake up from my dream.
Outside the Dream Realm
I groaned as I opened my eyes to the sunlight. Standing in front of me was Pinkie Pie, smiling. Well, not only her, but there was also a crowd of ponies staring.
“So last night wasn’t a dream? Fet,” I thought. “Great, now HB got me saying it too.”
“Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville! Who’re you?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Huh? Oh. The name’s Foodie Love, but you can call me...Um...‘Lemon Spark’,” I said. The reason I told her to call me that was that using either part of my character’s name to be called by was embarrassing. “Um, can you excuse me for a moment? I need to wake up my friends.”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll wait,” said Pinkie Pie, who was still smiling.
I shook both HB and Amber.
Amber groaned tiredly. “Five more minutes, mom,” said Amber, who then yawned.
I kept myself from laughing. “I’m not your mom, and you’re still in Equestria,” I said. “Now, wake up.”
I kept shaking them until they both woke up completely. They both then looked disappointed when they saw that the whole thing wasn’t a dream.
“Fet. I knew it was too good to be true. I thought us being in Equestria was all a dream from overworking on my story,” said Heartbreak. She was stretching out her body. “Turns out it was all real.”
Amber looked down at the ground. “You’re not the only one who thought it was all a dream too,” said Amber, disappointed. “I thought I was back home with my family, sleeping in bed, dreaming the whole thing up.”
“We’ll find a way back home Amber, I promise. For now, I’d like you two to meet some pony,” I said.
Pinkie Pie zipped up to Amber and Heartbreak, scaring the both of them.
“Aah!” shouted Amber, surprised. She quickly grabbed Heartbreak and lifted her up.
“Whoa, Amber, stop! Let me go!” shouted Heartbreak, struggling to get Amber to let her go.
Amber didn’t hear Heartbreak and kept her hold on her. She was rearing up to launch HB at Pinkie like a catapult.
Heartbreak looked down at me, angrily. “Don’t just stand there. Help me!” shouted Heartbreak.
“Don’t worry, HB. I’ve got this,” I spoke. I approached Amber slowly. “Amber, it’s just Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. So there’s no reason for you to be shy around her. You know that.”
Amber looked worried as she looked back.
“Trust me, and trust HB too,” I said. “Trust us both to trust Pinkie Pie. Okay?”
After a while, she placed Heartbreak back down on the ground.
“Okay,” Amber said reluctantly.
Heartbreak and Amber noticed that there was now a crowd around us.
“Pinkie, you think you could get rid of this crowd?” asked Heartbreak.
“Okie dokie lokie,” said Pinkie Pie. “Okay, everypony. You can go back to what you were doing now. I’ll take care of it.”
It seemed to work because as soon as she said that, every pony went back to what they were doing. Some of those who were leaving were taking glances at us three.
“That was quick,” commented Amber. “They disbanded so quickly.”
“This is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about,” said Heartbreak. “She’s good at this.”
I decided to ask Pinkie Pie for help. “Pinkie Pie--” I was interrupted before I could say more.
“How do you know my name? Are you psychic?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Ooh, ooh, can you tell me what I’m thinking of right now?!”
“Pinkie, I'm not a psychic. We’ve heard about you,” I said. “...Also, you’re thinking of parties right now.”
Pinkie Pie gasped. “If you’re not a psychic-” She pointed a hoof at me “-then how did you know what I was thinking of?!”
“It was that obvious,” I said. “Besides, you’re known as the ‘Party Pony’. So parties are always on your mind.”
“He’s right, Pinkie Pie” voiced Heartbreak. “You’re Ponyville’s #1 Party Pony. You eat,sleep,and even dream of parties. Even Amber knows it.”
“It’s true,” said Amber, shrugging.
“Well, I guess I do always have parties on the mind. Especially parties for my friends and new friends,” said Pinkie Pie, excited. “Speaking of which, are you new here?”
The three of them noticed how excited she looked when she asked that question.
“Before we tell you, we want to see Twilight Sparkle first. Can you take us to her?” I asked.
“Yeah. Then, you can throw us a party,” added Heartbreak.
“Eee, okay!” shouted Pinkie Pie, excited. She pointed her hoof in a random direction. “She’s that way! Follow me!” She ran.
“Pinkie Pie, wait up!” shouted Amber
The three of them ran after Pinkie Pie.
They had followed Pinkie Pie through Ponyville. While they were following her, there have been ponies who would stare all because one of the three was a male Alicorn. After a while, they arrived at the Golden Oak Library, which confirmed the theory that they might be somewhere within Season One through Four. Pinkie Pie opened the door and went inside.
“Twilight! I brought some ponies who need your help,” said Pinkie Pie.
“How did you know we needed her help, Pinkie?” asked Amber, calling out. “We never told you.”
“Lots of ponies come to Twilight for help,” said Pinkie Pie. “She’s an expert about all things magic!”
The three walked into the Library. The pink mare was with Twilight Sparkle, who was just a unicorn, and Spike.
“I’m not an expert, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight.
“Uh-huh, and I’m a Princess,” I commented, joking.
Twilight turned towards me. “Not like--”, she said, stopping. She was shocked as she looked at me. “Y-You’re…”
“Whoa,” said Spike, shocked just like Twilight.
“An Alicorn. Yeah, I know,” I said, crossing my hooves. Again, this felt weird. “Had lots of ponies stare at me because I am one. The name’s Foodie Love, the Alicorn of Food, but you can call me Lemon Spark.”
“Um, the name’s Amber. Nice to meet you two,” said Amber, shyly. She was shy because she was talking to Twilight and Spike.
“And my name’s Heartbreak, but call me HB,” said Heartbreak, seriously. “To make a long story short, we need your help, Twilight, in getting back to our home universe on Earth.”
Twilight was confused. “Earth? Where’s that located?” asked Twilight.
“In another universe, Twilight. Pay attention,” said Heartbreak, feeling frustrated. She rolled her eyes. “We’re not what we currently look like. We are h-h-hueffffffpppoooonieeeephhhhhh! Fet!” Lots of spittle had flown out of her mouth as she tried to pronounce the word “humans”.
“Humans,” spoke Amber.
“Yeah, that. Thanks,” muttered Heartbreak. “Anyway, we need your help to get home. You know we’re telling the truth because there’s no such thing as a male Alicorn like Lemon here. So, send a letter to Princess Celestia and tell her to come down to Ponyville ASAP.”
Me and Amber looked at her, shocked. “Whoa,” said Amber.
“No kidding,” I muttered.
Heartbreak noticed us looking shocked at her and realized what she said. She calmed down and cleared her throat. “Please. We just want to go home,” said Heartbreak.
“Um...Sure. Hold on,” said Twilight. She turned towards Spike. “Spike can you write a letter to Princess Celestia for me?”
“Sure can,” said Spike. He went to go get a quill and paper.
I noticed that the pink party mare was still here in the Library.
“Pinkie Pie, think you could bring the other four of you and Twilight’s friends here to the Library?” I asked. “They’ll need to be told so that there isn’t any confusion and misunderstandings later.”
“Sure thing,” said Pinkie Pie.
“Freeze!” I yelled.
She quickly stopped in place before she could run. Everyone looked at me.
“You can hold the party welcoming us to Ponyville after you bring your friends to the library. Once everyone, including you, is told about our situation, the party can happen,” I said. “Got it?”
Pinkie Pie saluted me. “Yes, sir,” replied Pinkie Pie.
“You can go now,” I said, smirking.
Pinkie Pie zoomed away and out of the door.
“Man, that mare sure can run,” commented Heartbreak.
Spike had finished writing the letter and sent it off in a breath of green dragon fire.
“So, what should we do now while waiting for Twilight’s friends to arrive?” Amber asked.
After a while, Twilight’s friends arrived at the library. Some of them seemed almost out of breath, save Rainbow Dash, who flew the entire way.
“Twilight darling, we came as soon as we could,” said Rarity, panting.
“Yeah. Pinkie Pie said it was urgent and to come right away,” said RD.
“Well, it’s not that urgent,” replied Twilight. “But the problem is here.”
“What’re ya talkin’ bout, Twilight?” asked Applejack, confused. “You’re sayin’ the problem is in the Library?”
“That’s right, Applejack, but, see for yourself,” said Twilight. She gestured her hoof to the left.
Twilight’s friends looked and saw us. We were in the reading area, playing a game of Checkers. It was me vs. Heartbreak, but Amber was moving the pieces for her. We had been answering all of Twilight’s questions to the “best” of our abilities during our playtime. Right now, I was losing badly, again. After moving one of my pieces, Amber had one of HB’s pieces jump all of mine, winning the game.
“Checkmate, I win again,” said Heartbreak, grinning. Amber cleared her throat. “I mean, we win again. Heartbreak had a sheepish smile on her face.
Amber nodded. She then noticed Twilight’s friends. “We’ve got company,” said Amber, pointing.
Heartbreak and I followed her claw finger and saw Twilight’s friends were here.
“And that’s the end of that game, remarked Heartbreak, who stood up off of the floor.
Me and Amber got up off the floor to go greet Twilight’s friends. The three of us stopped a few feet away from them, but were still close to Twilight.
Rainbow Dash flew up in my face, suspicious. “Does it have anything to do with these guys?” asked Rainbow Dash. It seems she was only focusing on me when she was saying that.
“Can you please get out of my face? You’re too close,” I complained. I was feeling weirded out and uncomfortable by the close proximity.
“What are you going to do about it, huh?” she taunted. She wasn’t intending on backing down.
I felt very annoyed and felt something bubbling deep inside me that wanted to come out. No one, except Twilight, noticed that my horn was emitting purple and green-colored magic with yellow spots. I felt like showing her what’s going to happen if she didn't back down, but then, Rainbow Dash was pulled back out of my face and to the floor by Rarity’s magic. Seeing as how she was reigned in by one of her friends, I calmed myself down, letting my horn gradually return to normal.
“Rainbow Dash, stop being rude to them,” scolded Rarity. She kept the pegasus down to the floor by her tail. “I know that they seem awfully suspicious, but we should at least ask them what they want before we give them the third degree.”
Rainbow Dash only grumbled. “Fine,” Rainbow Dash said. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at us. “But I’ll be keeping an eye-” She pointed at her eyes and then at us. “-on you.”
It seemed like that statement was being directed at me a lot more than at Amber and Heartbreak. In fact, it was completely directed at me. Heartbreak and Amber didn’t seem to notice.
Twilight was curious about me being able to use magic. “Very strange. Even though he couldn’t use magic when he showed me before, he did so when Rainbow Dash was in his face. He seems to have brought it out unconsciously due to some kind of emotion,” she thought. “I’ll have to keep an eye on him and send word to Princess Celestia later.”
Her thoughts were interrupted when Spike burped out some green fire and a scroll appeared out of it. Spike then caught the scroll and handed it over to Twilight, who used her magic to levitate the scroll. Twilight unfurled the scroll in her magic and read it:
“My Faithful Student,
I have received your letter. After reading everything that you wrote about those three individuals’ situation, I know that we must help them get back to their far away home in another universe. I want to meet them face-to-face so we could discuss everything. I'll be on my way shortly.
Your Teacher,
Princess Celestia” repeated Twilight.
All of Twilight’s friends were silent. Heartbreak, Amber, and I may look calm on the outside, but we were worried on the inside as Princess Celestia was on her way. What everyone didn’t know was that wasn’t the real message. It actually said:
“My Faithful Student,
After hearing what you told me about those three individuals in your letter, and what they told you, it made me quite suspicious of them. It warrants an investigation on their physical and mental states. There’s a chance that they may or may not be threats to Equestria.
If they are, we’ll have no chance but to have them imprisoned in Tartarus, but if they’re not, then they’ll be welcomed into Equestria with open hooves. I will be on my way soon. Keep them there until I arrive.
Your Teacher,
Princess Celestia”
We were distracted from our worries as Twilight started talking.“Girls, these three aren’t from our world. They’re ‘humans’ from another universe,” she informed. “Did I say that right?”
“Yeah. You did,” said Heartbreak, jealous.
Twilight nodded. She then continued where she left off. “They’re from another universe that is separate from our own. They were forced to come to Equestria through some portals that brought them here, and when they woke up, they weren’t themselves anymore,” said Twilight, sadly.
Once Twilight’s friends heard that, they felt sad for us three. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to feel bad.
“We’re the only ones that can help them get back home,” said Twilight. She had a determined look on her face.
Applejack tipped her hat down slightly. “Shucks, that’s sad. Far from home, not being able to see your friends and family,” commented Applejack, sadly. “That’s just not right.”
Fluttershy looked like she was tearing up. “You poor things,” she said. Fluttershy then flew over and hugged me. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you all get back home.”
“Uh, thanks,” I said. “Now that everyone’s been informed, how about we introduce ourselves?”
“I’ll go first. The name’s Heartbreak, but please only call me HB,” said Heartbreak.
“Hi, I’m Amber,” said Amber. She waved at them, shyly.
“Foodie Love, but call me Lemon Spark instead,” I said. Fluttershy was still hugging me. “Um, are you done yet?”
Fluttershy noticed she was still hugging him. She quickly let go and backed up. “Sorry,” said Fluttershy, blushing.
Applejack decided to start the introduction. “Howdy there, I’m Applejack. Nice to meet you,” said Applejack.
“The name’s Rainbow Dash,” said Rainbow Dash. She flew up into the air and crossed her front hooves. “The fastest, most awesomest pony in all of Equestria. I could do a Sonic Rainboom with one wing tied behind my back if you asked me to.”
I fake thought about it. “Mmm. Not right now. Maybe next time?” I asked. I was planning on asking her to do that at another time.
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I’ll hold you to that,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Nice to meet you three. I’m Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique,” said Rarity. “Come by sometime so I can make you some clothes if you want some.” She looked at Heartbreak. “Especially you, Heartbreak. Maybe I could do something about your hat or your looks?”
“Fet no,” replied Heartbreak. “Also, I said to call me HB, not Heartbreak.”
“Sorry about the mess up, HB,” said Rarity.“Let me know one day when you want to take my offer.” She really wanted to help Heartbreak with making some alterations to her hat and give her a makeover.
Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her mane as it was her turn to introduce herself. “H-Hi, I’m Fluttershy,” spoke Fluttershy. “If either you or your animals need any help, I’ll be the first to help you out as fast as possible i-if you want me to.” She had said all of that with a soft voice.
It was Pinkie Pie’s turn. She looked so excited and even had a big smile on her face. “You guys already know me!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “I’m Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s #1 Party Pony. I work at Sugarcube Bakery with the Cakes, I love to make friends, and I love parties! Which reminds me, I’m going to be holding a party welcoming you three to Ponyville. I just need a location. So, where do you want me to hold it?”
I decided to make a random suggestion. “How about outside where everyone can be a part of it?” I suggested.
Pinkie Pie gasped. “That’s a great idea! A party involving ALL of Ponyville!” she exclaimed. “I can’t wait to hold it!” She then started bouncing around the library.
I smiled, but then I realized something. “Damn it. Our lives are cursed,” I groaned.
“Whatever makes you think that?” asked Rarity, concerned. “Also, watch your language. Spike’s right here with us.” She said with a scolding tone. Rarity pointed her hoof at Spike.
I had completely forgotten Spike was there. “Oh. Sorry, Spike,” I said, embarrassed.
“No problem,” replied Spike.
“But, as I was, saying, Heartbreak has a special ‘problem’, Amber is a dragon who can’t fly or breathe fire yet, and I’m an Alicorn who can’t fly or use magic right now,” I explained. “To add on to our problems, we're also stuck here with no food, money, or shelter. Completely out of luck.”
Heartbreak loudly groaned. “He’s right. We have nothing and will have to live out on the streets until we get back home,” commented Heartbreak.
“What are we going to do?” asked Amber with a somber tone. She sat down on the floor, a sad expression forming across her face.
“I don’t know,” muttered Heartbreak. She imitated Amber.
“I guess we’ll have to find a good alleyway to sleep in tonight,” I commented, looking down.
Twilight and her friends all felt bad for us. Fluttershy decided to make a suggestion. “M-maybe they could stay with us?” suggested Fluttershy. She blushed and looked away as everyone looked at her. “Um, just until they get back home I mean,but you don’t have to do it. I-It was just a suggestion,” mumbled Fluttershy.
Rarity placed a hoof on one of Fluttershy’s shoulders. “Well, I think it’s a fabulous idea, Fluttershy darling,” commented Rarity. “I wish I thought of it myself.”
Fluttershy blushed at Rarity’s compliments towards her idea.
Twilight looked at us. “The question is, who do you each want to stay with?” questioned Twilight.
Heartbreak glanced at Amber, then at me. “You two don’t mind if I choose first?” asked Heartbreak. She was willing to go next if either one or both of us wanted to go before her.
I shrugged. “Go ahead. I can wait my turn,” I said.
“Me too,” responded Amber.
Heartbreak smiled. “Thanks. I choose to live with Applejack,” said Heartbreak.
“Nice choice. But, can you explain your reasons for everyone who doesn't know?” I asked. I had a feeling of what her reasons were.
“Yeah, I’ll give you my reasons,” confirmed Heartbreak. “I would need to have doors opened for me every time I go in and out of the Library thanks to my hooves unable to grip anything, animals at Flutters’ Cottage would either hate and-or be afraid of me, I’m afraid of falling through the clouds if I lived with Dash-” Heartbreak took a breath of air. “-since I’m an earth pony, Rarity would try and style my hair and put makeup on me, and Pinkie Pie might end up giving me a heart attack if I lived with her.”
Twilight and her friends each had their own reactions to Heartbreak’s reasons: Twilight felt bad, Fluttershy looked sad, Rainbow Dash agreed, Rarity tried to deny, and Pinkie Pie was smiling.
“So what’s your reason for livin’ with me?” questioned Applejack. She wanted to know what made her the best decision out of all of her friends.
“I’m not good at bucking apples, and animals are afraid of me. So, I'll do inventory for your family in return for some bits,” informed Heartbreak.
“So you’re doing it just to get paid?” questioned Applejack, raising an eyebrow.
“That, and it’s the only thing I can do around the farm,” said Heartbreak. She shrugged.
Applejack was silent for a moment before coming to a decision. “Well, I guess me and mah family do need a little help with some of the inventory nowadays,” said Applejack. “All right. Once I get back to Sweet Apple Acres, I might be able to clear out a room for you to live in within the day.”
“Fantastic. Nice to be living with you, Applejack,” said Heartbreak, smiling.
“Same here,” replied Applejack, smiling as well.
“You can go next, Amber. I can wait,” I offered. I was okay with going last since their choice was more important than mine.
“Thanks. I choose Fluttershy,” said Amber.
Fluttershy was surprised to hear that she was chosen. “M-Me? Why me?” stuttered Fluttershy. “Wouldn’t the others be a better choice than me?”
“Nah. I think it’ll be awesome living with you, Fluttershy,” she complimented. “You live a peaceful life.”
Fluttershy blushed at the compliment. “Well, I guess you can stay with me, but I’ll have to explain to the animals back at the cottage about you living with us,” said Fluttershy.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure your animals will love me,” said Amber.
Heartbreak turned towards me. “What about your choice, ‘Lemon’?” teased Heartbreak, a grin on her face. She was grinning because of my name.
I kept a straight face towards her teasing. “I want to live with Twilight,” I said.
“Why?” asked Heartbreak. She already knew the reason.
“Because I need a magic teacher. I can’t even use basic levitation or teleportation magic. Twilight’s the best pony to learn magic from,” I explained. I then looked at Twilight. “So Twilight, can you please teach me magic?”
Twilight had an unsure look on her face. “I would, but I’m still a student myself,” Twilight answered meekly. “I’d have to ask Princess Celestia herself for permission to be your teacher while I’m still learning about the magic of friendship.”
As soon as she said that, there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” said Spike. He walked over to the door and opened it. “Twilight, the princesses are here.”
“Princesses?” questioned Heartbreak, confused.
Everyone turned their heads and saw that at the door was Princess Celestia herself, and with her was her sister: Princess Luna.
“Hello, everypony. May we come in?” asked Princess Celestia, smiling.
Standing at the library’s entrance was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” exclaimed Twilight. She ran over to the princesses as they walked into the library.
Twilight’s friends went to go greet them too. Me, Heartbreak, and Amber were afraid of what Celestia and Luna might do to us. So, we had a small group huddle away from them.
“What are we gonna do?” I asked, scared. “Celestia never said she was bringing Luna along with her. All she said in her letter was that she was coming here herself!”
“Luna must’ve decided to come along too,” remarked Amber. “Think about it. Three people from another universe? Of course she would want to come along with her sister to check it out.”
Heartbreak looked calm, but she was worried too. “R-Remain calm, you two. As long as w-we remain c-calm and stick to our stories, nothing bad will happen,” instructed Heartbreak. “N-no need to p-p-panic, o-okay?” She knew that their first impression was very important and will affect what the princesses think of them.
We didn't notice Princess Celestia walking up to us with her sister. “Greetings,” greeted Celestia, smiling.
We shouted out of shock once we noticed her. I was too busy trying to prevent my heart from leaping out of my chest, while Amber looked down at the ground, afraid to respond. So, that left Heartbreak to talk to her. She bowed down to the princesses. “I apologize, Princess Celestia. We didn’t notice you walking up to us,” said Heartbreak. “I-I’m Heartbreak, but please, call me HB.”
“Greetings, HB. It’s nice to meet you,” greeted Celestia. She bowed a little, and then Celestia noticed the hole in Heartbreak’s right hoof before she lifted her head back up. “Tell me. Why is there a hole in your hoof?”
Everyone who didn’t know about that, turned towards Heartbreak. She covered her mouth with her hoof and cleared her throat, feeling awkward since she couldn’t tell them that it was actually because her own character did it while on magic tea. “I have no idea. It was there when I woke up in Equestria yesterday,” Heartbreak lied. She then glanced at me and Amber. “Right, guys?”
Luckily, we noticed that she needed help with her story. “Yeah, HB’s right,” I said. “When we first met her, she already had that hole in her hoof. It was quite strange.”
Amber nodded her head a little while looking away. “Mm-hmm,” she mumbled.
Fluttershy was concerned about Heartbreak and wanted to help her out. “Does it hurt when you walk, Heartbreak? Oops, sorry. I mean, HB?” Fluttershy asked. “I could run home and get a First-Aid Kit. If you want me to, I mean.”Heartbreak held up a hoof at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, no need to worry. There’s a little discomfort around it when I walk and I need to cool it in water, but I’m okay,” said Heartbreak. “Besides, maybe I could put a pencil in it and I would be able to draw? Maybe that would solve my drawings problems?” She was joking of course.
Rarity grimaced a little once she heard Heartbreak said that. “Darling, I don’t think a pencil would fit in that hole in your hoof. It might get stuck,” said Rarity.
Heartbreak chuckled a little. “It was just a joke, Rarity. I had a feeling it wouldn’t fit anyway,” she said.
Rarity felt a little upset because she had thought Heartbreak was being serious, but it turned out she was just joking. She then felt concerned about the hole in Heartbreak’s hoof, but she continued her conversation anyway. “Speaking of drawing, what can you draw?” Rarity asked.
Heartbreak rolled her right hoof around as she talked. “A little bit of this, and a little bit of that. Sometimes I drew when I had gotten inspiration,” explained Heartbreak. “Drawing was my ‘special talent’ as you call it back when I was...” She paused since she knew what would happen if she said “human”.
“Human,” I said.
“Thanks,” said Heartbreak. “I loved to draw.”
Celestia smiled. “It sounds like a special talent that suits you, miss HB,” complimented Celestia. “I would love to see a drawing of yours sometime.”
Heartbreak blushed. “Well, once I find a way to draw, I'll send you one in the mail,” replied Heartbreak.
Rainbow Dash was a little curious about something. “Isn’t it kind of strange for a pony whose Cutie Mark is a broken heart to have a talent in drawing?” asked Rainbow Dash. “What did you draw, heartbroken ponies or something?”
Heartbreak’s blush disappeared and her smile turned into a frown. “That’s all you’re getting from me,” remarked Heartbreak. She sounded angry and frustrated. “Amber, your turn.”
“But-”, said Rainbow Dash, but was then interrupted.
“Amber,” growled Heartbreak. “Turn. Now.”
Amber yelped when she heard Heartbreak sounding angry. She then calmed herself and bowed to the princesses just like Heartbreak did. “H-Hi, your highnesses, I’m Amber,” greeted Amber. “Just like HB, I loved to draw too back when I was human. I had different art styles that involved drawing by hand.”
“Another artist, huh?” asked Celestia. “Does that mean that you’re an artist too?”
“No, I’m not good at drawing. It’d be terrible and a waste of everyone’s time if I tried,” I said, nonchalantly. “I’m more of a chef than an artist any other day.”
“I see,” said Celestia. “It’s very concerning that he’s putting himself down like that when it comes to his drawing skills. But when it comes to cooking, he’s proud of it.”
Meanwhile, Twilight decided to have curiosity solved. “I’ve been curious about something ever since we met, Amber,” said Twilight.
Amber looked at Twilight. “What is it, Twilight?” asked Amber.
“Why do you look more like a pony than a dragon?” questioned Twilight. “If you’re a dragon, you should look more like one. But instead, you look like a cross between the two. Can you tell us why?”
Amber couldn’t tell them who her character was related to since it wouldn’t make any sense. Especially to the princesses right in front of her since they know who the current Dragon Lord is. “Um…I-I...,” she said.
I decided to put an end to Twilight’s curiosity “Hey!” I shouted at Twilight, angry. She was shocked by my yell and looked at me. “That is invasive, Twilight. Amber would tell you, but it’s her past. If she wants to tell you, she’ll do it.”
Heartbreak understood what I was doing, so she decided to help out as well. “Yeah, Twilight. It’s rude to be invasive in someone else’s life,” she agreed.
“But it was just a simple question,” said Twilight. “I was curious is all.”
“Twilight,” called Applejack. Everyone turned towards her. “They're right. Amber will tell us when she feels like it.”
The rest of Twilight’s friends agreed and gave their own input. She gave off a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” said Twilight. “I’ll stop asking.”
Amber smiled a little. “Thanks,” said Amber. She then looked at me. “Your turn, Lemon.”
I decided to summon up the courage to talk to the princesses. “H-Hi, I’m Foodie Love, but please call me Lemon Spark,” I said. “Stay calm, Lemon.”
Before Celestia could say anything, Luna spoke..“Greetings, Lemon. We have heard about you and your friends from young Twilight’s letter. I’m Princess Luna-” She gestured towards Celestia. “- and you already know my sister, Celestia,” said Luna.
I bowed at them. “Nice to meet you two,” I responded.
Celestia chuckled and smiled at me. “You don’t need to bow. You’re royalty too since you’re technically a prince,” said Celestia.
“I know, but I should still like to show respect to both of you. It would be rude not to since I don’t have my own kingdom and I’m in yours,” I responded.
Celestia looked impressed. “At least he has manners for someone who claims he’s ‘human’,but maybe those three aren’t crazy and they were telling the truth?” she thought. “Although--”
Luna interrupted her sister again before she could continue. “At least he’s not a noble that always sucks up to us for something, sister,” remarked Luna. “I’m so tired of them,” Luna groaned.
Celestia sighed and shook her head. “I’m tired of them too, Luna, but there’s nothing we can do about it-” She then thrusted her hoof in Luna’s face. “-and no, we can’t imprison them since they never committed any crimes,” informed Celestia.
Luna looked upset. “Darn,” she muttered.
Celestia cleared her throat and looked at me. “Now then, Lemon. Can you tell us what your special talent is?”
I rubbed one of my forehooves against the other. “Well, I can use my magic to create any kind of food or drink out of thin air instantly,” I said, sheepishly. “Sometimes I can create food without needing to cook, but other times I have to prepare it.”
Everyone was amazed when they heard about my talent.
“With a talent like that, ponies in Equestria would never go hungry,” commented Applejack.
Celestia agreed with Applejack. “Indeed. Care to show us a demonstration of your power?” asked Celestia.
I blushed. I was embarrassed for one reason. “Um, I would, but, well, I used to be human, so I’ve never actually used magic before. I only know what my character’s talent is, but I don’t know how to use it,” I explained. “That’s why I asked Twilight if she could teach me magic.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other before looking back at us. They didn’t know that I couldn’t use magic. Celestia was confused about something else. “But my student is still a student herself. Wouldn’t it be better that you became someone else’s student? I could recommend someone to be your teacher if you want?” asked Celestia.
Luna moved forward a little. “Or you could become my student?” asked Luna gleefully.
Before I could say anything, Celestia interrupted me. “Luna, are you sure you want a student?” she asked, confused. “You’ve never actually had one before.”
“I would be a better teacher than you,” said Luna, adamantly.
I had a feeling that they were going to argue, so I decided to stop it from happening. “Even if I became Luna’s student-” Luna smirked at her sister. “-I would rather stay in Ponyville and learn magic,” I informed, loudly.
Luna smirk became a face of shock. She wanted to know why I would pass up on an offer to be her student. “Why?” asked Luna, confused. “Canterlot offers a lot of books on magic spells. Also, I could teach you tons of spells and help you with your magic.”
“Sorry Princess Luna, but I would rather stay here with my friends in Ponyville than go to Canterlot,” I informed her. “Friendship is more important.”
Celestia smiled. “I couldn’t agree more,” agreed Celestia. “Friendship must be important to you three humans?”
“Well, it’s either all of us, or none of us,” said Amber.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” agreed Heartbreak.
I realized something as our entire conversation seemed rather suspicious. “Amber. HB. I need to talk to you two privately right now,” I said.
Heartbreak noticed the worried expression on my face. “Uh, sure. Can you excuse us for a minute?” she asked.
“Sure. Take your time,” Celestia responded.
Me ,Amber, and Heartbreak had our conversation far away from the others so they wouldn't be able to hear us talking.
Heartbreak was curious “Alright, Lemon, what’s wrong? What’s got you so worried?” she asked.
“Doesn’t it seem weird that the princesses believe us without us showing any proof that we’re human?” I asked. “Think about it. An alicorn, a dragon, and a pony claim to be human beings without showing any proof? It’s obvious that Twilight thought we were crazy and told Celestia. That's the real reason she came to the library. It was to see if we were telling the truth or not.”
Heartbreak and Amber thought about it and had the same realization.
Amber looked down. “That means…” Amber started.
Heartbreak had a grim look on her face. “That the princesses didn't believe us when we were telling them that we’re...um, you know...” she said. “Anyway, they’ll probably send us to a mental hospital, or worse, Tartarus, if we keep acting like this.” she said. “If we’re sent to either place, we are doomed.”
I had a blank look on my face. “Twilight’s friends believe us, but not her and the princesses,” I stated. “Once we’re arrested, they’ll play us off like we’re either crazy or a threat to Equestria.”
“Not only that, but Twilight also broke a Pinkie Promise to us,” stated Amber.
During while we had been playing chess and answering Twilight’s questions about our human lives, me and Heartbreak had Twilight do a Pinkie Promise that she actually believed us and that she would do everything she can to help us get back home to our friends and family.
“We need proof, and fast, but what?” asked Heartbreak, wondering.
I didn’t hear what Heartbreak and Amber were saying as I turned and trotted back, my horn emitting a low amount of the same magic aura from earlier.
“You broke a Pinkie Promise, Twilight!” I shouted angrily.
Everyone was shocked when they heard me yelling at Twilight. Heartbreak and Amber ran back, worried and scared. The magic aura on my horn was increasing.
“But-” said Twilight, but was interrupted.
“Shut up and listen!” I shouted. “You promised you believed us. You promised that you would help us get back home.” I angrily pointed a hoof at the princesses. “You even promised us that the princesses would help,but it was all a lie! You thought we were crazy! You knew that we would end up imprisoned after this!”
Amber was scared, but decided to approach me anyway. “Lemon, calm down,” said Amber. “I’m angry too, but there’s no reason to shout at her for lying to us.”
Heartbreak approached me too. “We can find another way than to depend on Twilight and the princesses.”
I shook my head. “No!” I shouted. My horn was now blazing with the magic aura.
Everyone around me was lifted up into the air by my magic, immobilized. Twilight and her friends had tried to break free with their physical strength but couldn’t budge an inch.
I looked at Heartbreak and Amber with a serious expression on my face. “We need Twilight and the princesses’ help to get back home since they’re the only ones who can help us. Without it, we’re stuck here.” I informed them. “I don’t care if I can’t go back home, but I care about you two getting back home to your friends and family. That’s all I care about.” I maintained a serious expression.
There was a loud gasp. I looked and saw that it came from Pinkie Pie. She was shocked about what she just heard. “Twilight, you broke a Pinkie Promise?!” shouted Pinkie Pie.
“I thought they were crazy and were going to hurt me and my friends, so I made the promise anyway. I didn’t think they would take it so seriously,” explained Twilight, worried.
Rainbow Dash tried to shake her head, but remembered she couldn’t. “We understand Twilight, but you don’t EVER break a Pinkie Promise once you make one,” commented Rainbow Dash. “Once you make a Pinkie Promise, you have to keep it no matter what and no matter who you made one too.”
“Right!” agreed Pinkie Pie. “Once you break a Pinkie Promise, you can never take it back. No wonder Lemon’s so cranky right now.”
Twilight’s friends had given off their own input about all of this, agreeing with Pinkie Pie.
“Okay, I get it. I shouldn’t have lied to them and I should’ve just kept my Pinkie Promise,” she said.
“It’s too late for that, Twilight,” I replied. I looked over at the princesses. “As for you two. You want proof? Well then, here’s your proof.”
I marched over to where we put our bags down. I went into mine and grabbed my cell phone which had a few slight cracks on the screen, but it was still mostly okay.
“What is that contraption, Lemon?” asked Luna.
I ignored her and focused on my phone. I was able to access the Camera App with one small difficulty: I don’t have any hands.
I turned towards Rainbow Dash and held the phone sideways. “Hey, Rainbow Dash,” I called out.
She had a confused look on her face. “Huh?” she said.
I had taken her picture with my nose on the touch screen. Her picture had come out good.
“What was that noise?” she asked.
I walked over to Rainbow Dash on three legs because I was holding onto my cell phone with the other hoof. I then showed her the picture by lifting the phone up to her face with my right hoof since my magic was holding her in place.
Rainbow Dash had a surprised look on her face once she saw the photo. “Whoa. This is awesome,” she said.
Everyone, except Amber and Heartbreak, became interested in the strange device.
“What did it do, Rainbow Dash?” asked Applejack.
She had an impressed look on her face. “It took my picture,” informed Rainbow Dash, amazed. “I look so awesome in it.”
I placed my cell phone down onto the floor and pointed my other hoof at Celestia. “Is this enough proof that we’re humans from another universe, Celestia?” I asked, still angry. “No one else on Equus has this type of advanced technology. Now do you believe us?”
Celestia was silent for a moment before deciding to speak. “It seems on behalf of Equestria, we owe you and your friends an apology, Lemon,” responded Celestia. “We thought you and your friends weren’t sane when you met my student. We believe you now.”
“I apologize as well, Lemon,” responded Luna. “We wish to make it up to you one day if you and your friends would let us.”
I looked over at Heartbreak and Amber. “It’s your decision too,” I informed them.
Heartbreak shrugged. “Fet, I’m okay with it,” replied Heartbreak.
“Me too,” replied Amber.
I was silent for a moment. “Fine. You can do that, Luna.” I said. “But first, how do I get you all down?”
“Calm your mind and concentrate,” advised Celestia. “Once you do, you should be able to release the spell on us.”
I took a deep breath in and out to calm myself. I focused my mind to concentrate on the spell itself. Then, I released it, thus releasing everyone from the hold. They all landed on their hooves and feet. The Princesses didn’t want to tell anyone, but they could’ve escaped from the magic hold way before, but couldn’t because they were just too distracted from everyone’s conversation to have done it. They were aware that I couldn’t harm anyone with my display.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the better of me,” I apologized.
Luna approached me. “It’s understandable to be angry,” said Luna. ”You just need better control over your emotions when something like this happens again.”
“When someone breaks a Pinkie Promise to me again?” I asked.
Luna shook her head. “No, when it involves your friends,” she said. “Your anger, when combined with your magic, could be a problem or deadly. So, I have decided to become your teacher in magic and teach you everything about magic.”
“What about Ponyville?” I asked. “I can’t leave everyone to go to Canterlot. I just can’t.”
Luna smiled. “That’s why I will visit you during the night and train you to learn magic,” she explained. “Besides, my sister can take over the Night Court for me until then.”
Celestia was shocked to hear that since she needs her beauty sleep. “Wait, you can’t decide that for yourself without me!” she exclaimed.
“I just did. I had declared him as my student in front of everyone. It’s up to me to teach him magic since, like you said, ‘your student is still your student’,” she mocked. “Isn’t that right?”
Everyone was watching the whole exchange going on. I had put my cell phone back in my saddlebag.
Celestia couldn’t believe that her own sister was using her own words against her. “Well yes, but-” she was interrupted.
Luna had her sister right where she wanted her. “And wouldn’t it be too selfish for you to take him on as your student when I don’t have any, sister?” asked Luna.
“B-but…” stuttered Celestia.
Luna smiled in victory. “Then it’s settled. Lemon Spark is hereby my student, and my sister will be taking over the Night Court for me until his magic training is finished,” Luna announced.
Celestia was speechless.
I decided to talk to Luna like nothing happened. “So, when do I start?” I asked, nonchalantly.
“Tonight,” she informed me. “I’ll be staying this night in Ponyville to teach you magic, then I’ll head back to Canterlot in the morning.”
“Cool. That leaves enough time after the ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party that Pinkie Pie is supposed to do,” I said.
There was another loud gasp from Pinkie Pie. “That’s right!” she exclaimed. “I have to get your welcoming party set up before it’s too late! Later!” She then ran out through the door again.
I clapped my hooves together, gaining everyone's attention. “So,” I said. “While Pinkie Pie is setting up the party, what would you all like to learn from our previous human lives?” I asked.
During the time that had passed by, we answered everyone’s questions about our human lives. The only things we didn’t tell them about were private stuff or that their entire world is based off of a cartoon. As for Heartbreak, she kept her original gender vague. I had a hard time talking to Twilight since it was going to take some time to forgive her.
Heartbreak’s story was wrapping up. “And that’s everything you need to know about our lives on Earth,” ended Heartbreak.
While everyone had been listening, Twilight had been writing lots of things down in her scrolls about the technology we told them about, including other things that we only remembered from the top of our heads. It turns out that when we had told her about our lives before, she didn’t believe us. Heartbreak decided to mess with her by using something from her magic tea story that involved energy drinks.
Twilight rolled up the last piece of paper she wrote on and tied it up into a scroll. “Fascinating,” she said, impressed. “Your world sounds more advanced than Equestria, but without the magic in everyday life.”
Heartbreak was about to say something but then Twilight interrupted her, knowing what she was going to say.
Twilight raised up her hoof. “If magic does exist on Earth, then it must be hidden or very rare,” theorized Twilight.
“Heartbreak nodded. Right,” she said. “There might even be-”
“People,” said Amber.
“-who can use magic too,” continued Heartbreak. “But it’s unknown. So, for now, can you get us back home?” She was hopeful that there might be a way.
“It’s going to be a little hard. To figure out how to get you three back home, I’ll need to study every book on magic in the library,” she explained. “That’ll take days.”
“While you do that Twilight, I’ll have some ponies check the magic books in Canterlot,” informed Celestia. “Maybe they’ll find something to help?”
Amber smiled. “Thank you both,” said Amber. “Maybe there’s a way we could get back home?”
“I hope so,” muttered Heartbreak.
I noticed that Pinkie Pie hadn’t returned in a while ever since she went to set up the welcome party.
“Well, while Pinkie Pie is setting up for the party, how about you all give us a tour of Ponyville?” I asked.
Twilight and her friends gave their own agreements. Spike decided to come along too just because Rarity was going.
I looked at both Heartbreak and Amber and asked them a question. “What do you two think?”
Heartbreak shrugged her shoulders. “It beats waiting around, doing nothing,” said Heartbreak.
“Yeah, I’m game,” said Amber. “We don’t want to end up lost in this town.” She was almost about to say “again”.
Rainbow Dash flew up into the air and started flying around. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you the awesomest tour of Ponyville that you’ll ever see,” she bragged.
I had a feeling that the tour might get a little complicated once it’s Rainbow Dash’s turn to give it. “Super,” I responded. My tone was a mix of barely hidden deadpan and sarcasm.
“I’m coming along too, my student. I wish to have a tour of Ponyville as well,” informed Luna. It sounded like she was insisting that she comes along. “You should come along too, sister. We could stop at the bakery where the Element of Laughter works at and get some cake.”
Once Celestia heard the word “cake”, she made her decision. “I guess I could come along. A break from the castle does sound nice,” responded Celestia.
Everyone headed for the door. The moment we stepped out through the library door, something happened.
“Surprise!” shouted tons of ponies.
We screamed as we were surprised by, well, the surprise. It looked like Pinkie Pie invited the whole town, which is what she actually did. The town was decorated with streamers, balloons, and confetti. There were even snacks, refreshments, and dessert tables, and there was also a banner that said “Welcome to Ponyville!” on it.
Pinkie Pie zipped up to us as we tried to calm our heart rates down. “Welcome to your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
My heart was “Y-You invited the whole town?” I asked.
“Well, of course I did, silly,” she responded. “I wanted all of Ponyville to meet my newest best friends! Now, let’s party!” She ran off into the crowd.
Her friends, including Spike, went to join the party too, leaving us, the princesses, and the Royal Guards. As for Twilight, it’s obvious that she wanted to hang out with her teacher for a while before she hung out with her friends, so she stayed.
“Hey, Celestia. Why don’t you and Twilight go and get some cake?” I suggested. “I mean, it’d be good for you and your student to hang out and talk.”
Celestia thought about it for a while. “Hmm, being with my student does sound like a great idea,” said Celestia. “Also, it’d give my sister time to talk with her own student.”
“Don’t worry, Tia,” said Luna. “I won’t tell him anything embarrassing about you-” She winked. “-yet.”
Celestia blushed in embarrassment. “See that you don’t,” demanded Celestia. “I don’t need any embarrassing stories about me circulating around Equestria.” She left in a huff while Twilight followed after her.
Luna laughed. “It is so easy to embarrass my sister,” she said. She calmed her laugh down. “So my student, do you want to hear any stories?”
“No,” I said, bluntly.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “I thought you would want to hear an embarrassing story about my sister?” she asked. “It’s quite the tale.”
With the Royal Guards around, word might reach Celestia about this. “Tonight,” I muttered.
Luna understood. “Of course, my student,” she replied.
Once Amber had calmed down, she looked like she didn’t want to be here at all.. “This is all so overwhelming,” mumbled Amber.
I didn’t hear her mumbling, but I did see the expression of fear on her face. “Amber, I can understand why you would be so afraid of being at this party. It’s your decision if you want to be here or not in front of all these ponies,” I said. “If you don’t want to be at the party, you can go wait inside the library until it’s all over.”
She was going to accept the offer, but decided not to. “It’s nice of you to offer, but Pinkie Pie went through all of this just to welcome us. I can’t just up and leave,” mumbled Amber.
I looked Amber in the eyes. “It’s Pinkie Pie, Amber. She’ll understand if it’s explained to her. I’ll stay behind and help HB out too,” I reassured her. “Please, go inside. Trust me.”
Amber thought about, and after seeing the crowd of ponies, she came to a decision. “Thanks, Lemon,” mumbled Amber. She then turned around and headed back inside the library.
Heartbreak shook her head and sighed. “She’ll overcome her shyness soon,” said Heartbreak. “She just has to take one step at a time until she conquers it.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. I had a feeling she would do that one day.
We were silent for a few seconds before Heartbreak decided to talk. “Well, I’m going to head for the snack table for a while,” announced Heartbreak. “You okay by yourself?” she said that as she glanced at Luna, who was standing beside me.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Go ahead,” I replied. There was then a smirk on my face. “Make sure to make some friends. Pinkie Pie went through a ton of trouble setting it up and inviting everyone.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to enjoy it,” grumbled Heartbreak. “If you need me, I’ll be over at the snack table.” She then went on her way.
After a few seconds, I decided to go after her since she’ll need help because of her hooves. “Sorry, Princess Luna, but I have to go help HB hold her food so she can eat it. We can talk later, right?” I asked.
Luna smiled. “Of course, my student. I can wait,” she responded. “Just go help your friend out.”
I nodded, and then ran after Heartbreak. “Wait for me, HB,” I called out.
After a few seconds of running, while saying “excuse me” to lots of ponies that were in my way, some who had panicked faces because I was an alicorn, I caught up to her. I tapped Heartbreak on the shoulder, and she turned around.
“You’re going to need help holding your food,” I informed her.
It looked like Heartbreak was about to say “no”.
“I won’t be taking no for an answer, especially from a friend who needs help,” I interrupted.
Heartbreak raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say ‘thank you’, Lemon,” she said. “I really do need help with eating my food.”
I was kind of surprised. “Oh, okay,” I responded.
Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere in front of me. “Hello!” greeted Pinkie Pie.
We shouted as she appeared out of nowhere again. “Pinkie, don’t ever do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack,” I shouted.
“Sorry,” said Pinkie Pie, apologetically. She then started smiling and looked at me curiously. “So, are you having fun? Huh? Huh?”
“I haven’t even talked to anyone else or eaten any snacks yet,” I said. “I was on my way to the snack table while talking to one of my friends. Speaking of which, Amber is back in the library. She’ll be sitting out the party.”
Pinkie slouched as she looked sad. “Aww,” she said dejectedly.
I didn’t like seeing her sad, so I had an idea. “You should go cheer Amber up by bringing her some snacks,” I said. “Just don’t scare her again. Also, can you tell Amber that we’ll be checking up on her during the party?”
Pinkie Pie smiled widely. “Okie dokie. I’ll go do that right now,” responded Pinkie Pie. She then zipped away to go grab some treats for Amber.
Meanwhile
Amber was sitting at a table, reading a book all about adventure. On the table were random books she had chosen from different sections. While she was reading the book, she could hear the ponies having fun. She sighed sadly. “Sounds like a good party,” Amber said. “Wish I could join in.”
The door opened as Pinkie Pie walked in with a plate of some snacks and desserts.
“How you doing, Amber?” Pinkie Pie asked. She placed the plate in front of the hybrid-looking dragon.
Amber smiled. “Oh, fine” she responded. “Found some books to read, so I’m good. Thanks for the treats.” Amber put the book to the side before she started to eat the treats.
Pinkie Pie was watching. “I hope you enjoyed the party,” she hoped. Her smile then turned sad, but she was able to hide it. “I did. The party looked spectacular even if I was only there for a few minutes. Pinkie, you should be proud of yourself,” Amber complemented.
Pinkie Pie ran up to Amber and hugged her for a few seconds before letting her go. “Thanks, Amber!” she exclaimed.
Amber smiled. “You’re welcome, Pinkie,” she responded. “Have fun at the party.”
Pinkie Pie bounced towards the door. “I will,” she said. She was about to leave the library, when she just remembered something. “Oh, yeah. Lemon wanted me to tell you that him and HB will be checking on you during the party.”
Amber smiled. “That’s nice of them. Thanks for the message,” Amber said.
Pinkie Pie waved. “You’re welcome,” replied Pinkie Pie. She then closed the door and joined the party once again.
Back to the Party
We were eating some snacks that were spread out on the table. Heartbreak was frustratingly eating a cupcake as it was being held in front of her by me. “Stupid hooves. Stupid fetting curse. I hate this so much,” muttered Heartbreak while chewing on her food. “Thanks for helping me hold my food while I eat it, Lemon.”
I was eating a cookie with the other hoof. “No problem, HB,” I said, nonchalantly.
A familiar voice appeared from right near them. “HB, Lemon!” called out some pony.
They turned their heads and saw that the voice belonged to Rarity. With her was Applejack and their two little sisters: Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
Heartbreak had a horrified look on her face. “Oh no. Not those two right now. I could handle talking to one of them, but not two or three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders at once,” she thought. “As long as they don’t ask too many questions about my brand mark, I can handle them.”
I noticed Heartbreak was staring off. “Heartbreak,” I called out.
She snapped out of it. “Huh?” asked Heartbreak.
“You were staring,” I informed her. “Are you okay?”
”Uh, yeah, I’m okay,” she said. “So, who are these two fillies?” She was pretending not to know who they were since it would be almost weird
Applejack looks at her sister. “This here is mah little sister, Applebloom,” introduced Applejack. “Say hi, Applebloom.”
Applebloom. “Nice ta meet ya’ll” greeted Applebloom.
“And this is my darling little sister, Sweetie Belle,” introduced Rarity.
“Hi there,” greeted Sweetie Belle. She then saw mine and Heartbreak’s Cutie Marks. “What nice Cutie Marks you have there.”
“You’re right, Sweetie Belle,” agreed Applebloom. “Especially HB’s. It’s so weird and mysterious.”
Heartbreak didn’t like having her brand mark stared at by other ponies. It was a mystery even to her.
Applebloom felt curious about Heartbreak’s Cutie Mark. “What is your special talent?” wondered Applebloom.
Heartbreak was hesitant to tell them. “I don’t know,” she lied.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were confused. “You don’t know?” they echoed.
Heartbreak nodded like it was the truth. “It’s true. It just appeared there one day when I was hanging out with my friends. I have no idea what talent it’s supposed to represent. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to find out for years,” Heartbreak lied perfectly. “Nailed it. That will keep them from asking.”
Too bad it didn’t stop them. Applebloom had an idea. “Hey, maybe we could help ya?” offered Applebloom.
Heartbreak was surprised that didn’t stop them. “What?” she questioned.
Sweetie Belle loved Applebloom’s idea. ”Yeah,” agreed Sweetie Belle. “Us and Scootaloo could help you figure out what your Cutie Mark represents!”
“Fet,” she thought. Heartbreak then had an idea. She has to first be blunt, then sprinkle in some lies soon after. “No, thanks. I don’t need any help.”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were both confused. “But--” said Sweetie Belle.
Heartbreak interrupted her. “Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, I’m somep-p-pony who wants to figure it out all by myself,” she explained. “If I get helped into figuring out what my Cutie Mark means, it’ll take away all of the joy from it. You both understand, right?”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground with looks that were a mix of both sadness and understanding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” muttered Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah,” agreed Applebloom.
Now that that was done, Heartbreak continued to eat her cupcake. Sweetie Belle looked at Heartbreak eating a cupcake from my hoof and assumed something. “Are you two dating?” she asked, curiously.
I chuckled. “What? Someone else?” I questioned
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “Each other.”
We paused our eating and turned back towards Sweetie Belle with surprised looks on our faces.
She didn’t notice our surprised looks. “Are you two each other’s special someponies?”
Heartbreak started coughing as a bit of the food had gone down the wrong pipe. I dropped our food and started patting her on the back. Everyone looked concerned.
“Need water! Quick!” exclaimed Heartbreak.
“Hold tight, HB. I’ll get ya something to drink real quick!” announced Applejack. She then ran off to the refreshments table.
Heartbreak was able to clear the food out of her throat by the time Applejack came back with some punch. I had to hold the cup for her as she greedily drank all the punch without taking a single breath. Once she was done, she panted for breath. “Thanks,” she wheezed out.
“You’re mighty welcome,” responded Applejack.
“Sweetie Belle, why would you think me and HB are special someponies?” I asked. “We’re just friends.”
“Well, you were feeding her a cupcake,” informed Sweetie Belle. “I assumed you two were dating.”
Rarity nodded. “Sweetie Belle’s right, darling,” agreed Rarity. “You were feeding her a cupcake like couples do.”
Heartbreak blushed in anger. “You know I was born with a certain ‘condition’! I can’t grip anything with these fetting hooves!” argued Heartbreak.
Rarity gasped. “HB, language!” she admonished. “There are fillies present!”
HB looked away. “My bad...” she muttered. She then looked at me. “I’m not hungry anymore, Lemon. You want to go make some friends?” It sounded like she was planning on leaving with or without me.
“Um, sure,” I said. I followed after Heartbreak as she left. Once we were far away from Rarity and Applejack, I blocked her path, concerned. “What was that about, HB? It looked like you were going to bite their heads off. Literally.”
“I wasn’t going to...Yet,” muttered Heartbreak.
I released a sad sigh. “Please tell me what’s wrong before you blow up at another pony again,” I said.
Heartbreak gave off a frustrated sigh. “My bad. It’s just...why did I end up as Heartbreak?” she asked. “When I became my own character, I not only took on her form, but I also took on her curses too. It’s already been more than a day, and these curses are really fetting up my life.”
“It was just the hooves and the ‘Cutie Mark’, HB,” I commented. “You’ll get through it all.”
She shook her head angrily. “You know what happened during part of the Heartbreak series, Lemon,” she replied, frustrated. “It’s only a matter of time until the other curses take effect. Once they do, it means my life will get much harder until we get back home.”
I had a determined look on my face. “Don’t worry. We’ll all be there to help you every step of the way,” I said, serious.
Heartbreak smiled a little. “I know,” she said. Her eyes widened as she looked past my shoulder and saw something. She pointed past me.. “Look.”
I turned around and saw that Heartbreak was pointing at Derpy, who was sitting at a table with Doctor Whooves and enjoying a blueberry muffin.
I smiled. “Hey, it’s the duo, Derpy and Doctor Whooves,” I said. “How about we go see if they want to be our friends.
She looked excited. “Yeah,” she replied.
We walked over to the table where the two sat. They noticed us stop at their table.
“Hello, there,” Doctor Whooves said. “You two must be who the welcoming party is for?”
“Actually, there’s another. Our dragon friend, Amber, is in the library since she doesn’t like crowds,” explained Heartbreak. “She’s shy.”
Derpy had a sad look on her face. “Aww, poor thing,” sympathized Derpy. “Too bad she’s missing out on a great party. Wish there was something we could do about it.”
“It’s okay. We were planning to check up on her in a little while,” replied Heartbreak.
“Time for introductions. I’m Lemon Spark,” I introduced. I then gestured at Heartbreak. “This is one of my friends.”
“Heartbreak, but call me HB,” she continued. “What are your names?” She already knew their names, it’s just that she was being polite.
“I’m Derpy Hooves, Ponyville’s mailmare,” she said.
“And I am Doctor Whooves,” he said. “Nice to meet you two.”
Heartbreak smiled. “Likewise,” replied Heartbreak. “We were wondering if you wanted to be friends with us?”
Derpy smiled. “Sure, I would love to be friends with you two,” said Derpy.
“I agree with Derpy,” said Doctor Whooves.
After having a conversation with Derpy and Doctor Whooves, me and Heartbreak had spent the day hanging out with Amber, making friends with ponies, talking to Twilight and her friends, and talking with the princesses. Heartbreak also had Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo Pinkie Promise to not do anything that involves her “Cutie Mark”. That also means not trying to figure out her “talent”.
Chapter 6: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 1-Dressing Up
Chapter 6: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 1-Dressing Up
It has been a few days since the three of us had moved into Ponyville. During the time that had passed, lots of things happened:
I learned a few spells from Princess Luna, including Levitation and Teleportation, which needed some work. I was even able to unlock my magic talent. So far with my current power, I can only conjure up regular foods like fruits and vegetables, and regular drinks like water. I can even use my magic to check someone’s food allergies.
Amber has been taking flying lessons from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. She needed to work on controlling her flight and landing. As for me, I can’t fly until my wing heals.
I was able to find a job at Sugarcube Bakery with the Cakes and Pinkie Pie. Heartbreak has been doing well working at Sweet Apple Acres. As for Amber, she has been looking around for a job that suits her skills as a dragon.
We asked Rarity to make us some outfits for the Grand Galloping Gala and she was able to complete them within a few days.
And it seems that Twilight hasn’t found anything in her books to get us back home, so we’re waiting for word from Celestia about her search.
Anyway, tonight was the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. Amber and Heartbreak, plus Twilight’s friends, were all at the Golden Oak Library, dressed up in their Gala outfits. They were waiting for me as I was getting dressed up in the bathroom. Amber herself was wearing a blue dress that had holes in the back for her dragon wings to fit through.
She went and approached Heartbreak. “Hey, HB,” she greeted.
“Hi, Amber,” greeted Heartbreak.
Amber was curious about something as she looked at her outfit. “Why are you wearing that, HB?” asked Amber.
Heartbreak was dressed in a formal, dark purple-colored suit, and on her head was a purple top hat with a blue ribbon and a white card that had “10/6” written on it.
She straightened up her bowtie. “I may be a mare on the outside, but I’m still a m-m-m-stallion on the inside,” informed Heartbreak. “Ponies may stare at me like I’m weird for wearing something like this, but I don’t care. I will not wear a dress.”
“I see,” replied Amber. “Well, you look lovely in it.”
“Thanks. You too,” she complimented.
Rainbow Dash was flying in the air impatiently as she wanted to get to the Gala and meet the Wonderbolts. “Ugh!” groaned Rainbow Dash, loudly. ”What is taking him so long?! We have to go!”
Rarity came down from upstairs. “Rainbow Dash, you’re being rude,” she admonished. “The poor dear is frightened since this is his first time going to the Gala where there will be tons of ponies watching his every move since he is a prince.” She approached Rainbow Dash and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Give him some time. Besides, the Wonderbolts aren’t going anywhere. They’ll still be there.”
She was feeling even more impatient. “Time?! We need to get to the Gala now!” she shouted.
“M-Rarity is right, Dash,” said Heartbreak. She sighed in her head as she almost called Rarity, ‘Marshmallow’. “Lemon will be announced at the Gala as Equestria’s first Alicorn Prince. He’d have to face an entire crowd of ponies who would either love or hate him.”
“You’re right as well, dear,” agreed Rarity.
Heartbreak started heading for the stairs. “I’ll go talk to him and see if I can get him out of the bathroom,” said Heartbreak. “You can wait in the carriage for us.”
“Fine with me,” said Rainbow Dash. She then flew over to the door, opened it, and flew outside.
After deciding for a moment, the rest of the Mane Six, plus Spike, headed for the door. Amber stayed, though.
Twilight looked back at Heartbreak as she followed her friends and Spike. “Call us if you need any help, HB,” said Twilight.
“Sure thing, Twilight,” responded Heartbreak. Twilight and her friends went outside to the carriage. “You going, Amber?”
Amber shook her head. “Nah. I’ll wait for you two,” said Amber. “If you need any help getting him out, call me.”
Heartbreak nodded and trotted up the stairs. Once she reached the bathroom, she knocked.
“What is it, Rarity?” I asked.
“It’s Heartbreak,” she clarified.
I gave off a sigh. “Let me guess. You’re going to do a speech about how I should face my fears about stage fright or something like that, HB?” I theorized.
Heartbreak was kind of surprised that I guessed exactly what she was about to talk to me about. “Um, yeah. That was it,” she said. “How did you know?”
“Sorry, but it was obvious,” I said. “Besides, what I’m afraid of is that everyone will laugh at my outfit at the Gala, or worse, say bad things about me.”
Heartbreak put a hoof on the door. “Anyp-p-pony who does that will answer to me, Lemon,” she said, serious.
I smiled. “Thanks for the pep talk, HB,” I said.
She smiled as well. “No problem, Lemon,” said Heartbreak. “You ready to go to the Gala now? Your teacher will be there too.”
I sighed loudly. “Hold on,” I said. I opened the door.
Heartbreak backed up. Once I came out of the bathroom, she was a little surprised when she saw my look. “Whoa,” she said, speechless.
I became worried once I heard her say that. “How do I look?” I asked.
Heartbreak snapped out of it. “You look awesome. You’ll knock them dead,” commented Heartbreak.
I gave off a wide smile. “Thanks,” I said happily. I held out a hoof.
“No problem,” replied Heartbreak. She held up a hoof and bumped her hoof to mine in the form of a hoof-bump.
We brought our hoofs back down to the floor.
“That’s still weird,” I commented.
“Still is,” agreed Heartbreak.
Me and Heartbreak headed for the stairs. When we made it, we then walked backwards down them since we were both still new to our bodies and were afraid of falling down the stairs. We went to Amber once we reached the bottom.
Amber was impressed when she saw my outfit. “Whoa,” commented Amber.
Heartbreak grinned. “I know, right?” she asked.
I confidently headed for the door. “Now that we’re all ready, shall we get going?” I asked.
“Right behind you,” responded Heartbreak.
Heartbreak and Amber followed after me. Amber closed the library door behind her. The carriage everyone was riding in was originally an apple that Twilight changed with magic. It was going to be pulled by two stallions who Rarity asked for help; Caramel and Lucky Clover. While everyone was riding inside, Spike was sitting up front in the driver’s seat.
“Okay, we got Lemon out of the bathroom. We can go now,” announced Amber.
“Finally! Let’s go already!” shouted Rainbow Dash. She was shouting from inside the carriage.
“Darling, how is that dress I made for you?” asked Rarity. Her question was directed at me.
I opened the door with magic. “I really love it,” I replied.
Everyone, except Heartbreak, Amber, and Rarity, gasped when they saw me.
I was wearing a long, red dress that had a tuft of white at the end that was made to look like whipped cream, a red cape that was held together in the front with a pin that was designed in the form of a golden apple, around my front left hoof were two purple bands that had the images of a fork and knife, my mane was stylized and had a blueberry pie slice pin in front of my left ear, while the back of my mane was tied into a ponytail in the back with a band that had the design of whipped cream on top of it, and I was wearing makeup, making me look like a mare.
I blushed out of embarrassment. “Well? What do you all think?” I asked, worried. “Is it good?”
“I think you look simply marvelous, dear,” complemented Rarity. “Don’t you all think so?”
Everyone gave their own positive input.
I blushed. “Thanks for the compliments, everyone,” I mumbled.
Me, Amber, and Heartbreak then went into the carriage. Even though it was a little snug, we could all fit in. Once the door was closed, we were on our way to Canterlot. Some of us were talking with each other in order to pass the time.
Rainbow Dash was looking at me, curious about my choice of outfit. “Why are you wearing a dress? Is it because Heartbreak--” Rainbow Dash was interrupted.
“HB,” growled Heartbreak, annoyed. “Seriously, it’s not that hard to remember.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is it because HB is wearing a suit?” she asked.
I blushed even more as I looked down. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to dress up as a wo-I mean, mare, before but never had the courage,” I explained. “When I heard that we were going to the Gala, I gained the courage and asked Rarity for a dress and some accessories. Although, I had to tell her why.”
Rarity smiled. “After hearing why, I decided to make it for him,” remarked Rarity. “I even helped the poor dear out with his make-up and mane and tail a few minutes ago.”
“I think it looks good on you,” said Fluttershy.
I was still looking down. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
Some Time Later
The carriage arrived at its destination. We stepped out of it and found ourselves a few feet away from Canterlot Castle, the place where the Grand Galloping Gala was being held inside.
I was impressed as I looked at the castle itself. “It looks so much more impressive up close,” I said. I then heard singing. “Who’s singing?”
It seems that Twilight and her friends, plus the crowd of ponies around us was singing “At the Gala”.
Heartbreak did a facehoof softly. “Of course the ponies would sing stuff in this universe. Just our luck,” groaned Heartbreak. “I guess we’ll be listening to a lot of songs from the show until we get back home.”
I shrugged. “It’s kind of catchy though,” I said. “But for right now, let’s go over the plan again.”
So while everyone was singing, the three of us had a group discussion.
“The Mane Six’s plans will go awry at some point after the Gala begins. So, we need to make this their best night ever by helping out each of them by ourselves,” I explained. “Just like we planned, I’ll be helping out Applejack with her food stand, Rarity on her date with Prince Blueblood, Twilight with Princess Celestia, and Pinkie Pie with having fun at the Gala.”
“I’ll be helping out Fluttershy with the animals,” said Amber. “Afterwards, I’ll go hang out with Spike.” She didn’t like how there were more ponies at the Gala than the amount of ponies there were at Pinkie Pie’s Welcome Party.
“As for me, I’ll be helping out Rainbow Dash with the Wonderbolts,” ended Heartbreak.
I nodded. “Perfect. We’ll meet up in Canterlot Gardens after the Gala is over,” I said. “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” they both confirmed.
“Let’s do this,” I announced.
The three of us then headed for the entrance of Canterlot Castle.
Chapter 7: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 2-The Gala
Chapter 7: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 2-The Gala
The three of us walked inside the room. It was packed with ponies who were invited from Ponyville and Canterlot all the way to Manehattan. Some of the ponies were standing in a line either in front of or on the steps to either greet or kiss-up to the princesses, who were standing at the top of the landing. Either one or both of the princesses would talk to the same or different noble. Twilight herself was right next to Celestia, attempting to have a conversation. While we were walking towards them, we noticed that there were ponies staring at us and moving out of our way.
I inwardly sighed. “I know I’m a male Alicorn, but they shouldn’t stare at me like that. Makes me feel like a freak,” I thought. Then, I remembered my and Heartbreak’s current looks. “Although, me and HB are wearing outfits for the opposite gender. Maybe that’s why?” I felt insulted. “If it is, how rude. It’s like they’ve never seen two ponies crossdress before.”
Amber was feeling scared as there were tons of ponies around the group. It felt a little crowded even with me and Heartbreak with her. “Just gotta stay calm. I’m doing this to help Twilight and the others out, then I’m gone,” she thought. She then noticed that there were ponies staring at them. “Stop staring. Please stop staring!”
Heartbreak turned her head and noticed Amber’s scared expression. “Amber, calm down. Everything is going to be fine,” reassured Heartbreak. “The sooner we help out Twilight and her friends, the sooner we can get away from the crowd. Okay?”
Amber was able to calm down a little. “O-Okay,” she responded.
Once the three of us made it to the stairs, we decided to stay right there at the bottom step.
“Hey, Celestia. Teacher. How’s it been?” I asked loudly.
The only reason I did that was to gain their attention. The line of ponies looked at us, shocked. Celestia and Luna also looked, and were both speechless when they saw my and Heartbreak’s look.
Heartbreak waved her hoof. “Hi there, princesses. Lovely night for a Gala, huh?” she greeted casually.
“Uh, yeah. It is,” responded Celestia.
Before Celestia said anything, Luna decided to speak. “My student. Why are you dressed up like a mare and HB is dressed up like a stallion?” asked Luna. “Did somepony dare you two?”
I shook my head. “No. Actually, I’ve always wanted to crossdress before,” I replied. “Just never thought about it until the Gala happened.”
“As for me, I didn’t want to wear a dress,” said Heartbreak in a simple tone.
She understood slightly and just nodded her head. “I see,” she said. She then smiled. “Well, why don’t you and your friends join us up here for the announcement?”
Me and Heartbreak looked up at the stairs, then at each other.
I sighed. “You know what we must do,” I said.
Heartbreak gave off a frustrated sigh. “Yup,” she begrudgingly responded. “Fetting stairs.”
We walked upstairs to the top and stood right next to Princess Luna. There was barely any room, but Amber fit by standing on the steps next to Heartbreak.
Luna cleared her throat. “Attention, ponies! We have an announcement!”
I winced as I was the one who was standing right next to her. “Agh, my ears! For the love of...I’m standing right here!” I thought.
All the ponies stopped what they were doing and turned their attention on us.
“My little ponies, we would like to introduce you to three beings who have come from somewhere far far away, outside of Equestria itself,” announced Celestia. It was a story that Celestia put together for us, plus everyone who knows, to tell others who ask. She gestured her hoof at me. “I would like you all to welcome Prince Lemon Spark: the ‘Alicorn of Food’.”
Some ponies began clapping their hooves, while others were confused about my title.
“Hi there, everypony. I hope to get along with you all,” I greeted.
Celestia then gestured at Heartbreak. “The ‘Pony of Heartbreaks’, Heartbreak,” she continued.
Ponies clapped their hooves again.
“I don’t know how to feel about that, but I’ll take it for now,” muttered Heartbreak. She cleared her throat. “It’s nice to meet you everyp-p-pony.”
She then gestured lastly at Amber. “And the ‘Pony Dragon’, Amber,” she ended.
Ponies clapped their hooves once more. Amber was scared as she saw the crowd of ponies, but was able to summon up the courage to speak to them. “H-hello, everyone,” said Amber, shyly.
It was now Luna’s turn. “As for the second announcement, I have taken Lemon Spark as my student,” announced Luna. Lots of ponies were either surprised, confused, or both, to hear that. Luna was luckily prepared to answer with a lie. “The reason is that I’d like to introduce him to the spells that he has never learned outside of Equestria. As for my sister, she couldn't take him on as her student since she already has young Twilight.”
“While my sister is off teaching him magic, the Day and Night Courts will be temporarily merged together until Lemon’s training is done,” informed Celestia.
Some understood, but others were still confused. I decided to distract them. “Hey, Celestia,” I whispered. She craned her head towards me. “May I?”
Celestia smiled. “Go ahead,” she whispered back.
“Me and my friends will now answer four questions. After that, the party will resume,” I informed. “So, who would like to ask me and my friends a question?” A lot of ponies raised their hoofs up in the air. I decided to choose a random pegasus mare. “Yes, you over there.”
“My name is Sunny Shine, and I have a question for Heartbreak,” said Sunny.
“Ask away,” replied Heartbreak. “I have the feeling that she’s going to ask me about my name.”
“Why is your name Heartbreak?” she questioned.
“I knew it,” she thought. Luckily, we discussed the lie that she could tell ponies the reason behind her name. “My parents named me Heartbreak. Unfortunately, back when I was a foal, they died before I could even ask them the reason behind my name.” She had said it all with a straight face.
That made the mare speechless. “...Oh,” said Sunny. That’s all she had to say.
Heartbreak nodded. “Yeah. Oh,” she said.
“Next pony,” I called out. I then chose some earth pony stallion noble. “You.”
“Silver Ore. This question is for your friend, Amber,” he said.
I had a frown on my face as I had a feeling on what he was going to ask. “If this is about why she looks more like a pony than a dragon, I want you to stop now,” I growled.
He was scared as that is what he was going to ask. “Um, never mind then,” said Silver, reluctantly.
Amber looked at me. “Lemon, I-I’ll answer it,” said Amber, meekly. I nodded my head. She then looked at the stallion and prepared to give him the made-up story she had prepared for herself. “Me and my family have no idea why I was born like this. No one we asked around does. So, I learned never to question it.”
The stallion was slightly satisfied with her answer but decided not to question it since it would seem rude and that he already used up his question.
“One more, and then me and my friends are done answering questions,” I announced. I pointed at a unicorn mare. “That mare over there. The one with the musical notes-like tropical fruits cutie mark.”
“Tropical Remix, and this question is for you, your highness,” she said.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“I was wondering. If there’s a chance that you don’t have your own kingdom, are you planning on having one right here in Equestria?” asked Tropical Remix.
Everyone looked at me as I was silent and thought about the answer for a moment. I then had an idea and a grin on my face. “Actually, I’ve never had my own kingdom before since I’ve been too busy traveling, but now that I’m settling down, I’m planning on creating my own kingdom right here in Equestria’s. As for my castle, it’ll be the ‘Castle of the Two Sisters’, given to me by Princess Celestia and my teacher, Princess Luna,” I disclosed.
There were ponies in a shocked uproar towards my announcement. Even the princesses and Twilight were surprised. The princesses were surprised because it wasn’t true about the castle.
I continued like nothing happened. “The castle will need some repairs, which might take months. Until then, I’ll be staying in Ponyville,” I continued. “Thank you, and please continue to enjoy the Gala.”
I decided that me and my friends should join the party before Celestia and Luna say anything about my announcement. I used magic to levitate Heartbreak a few feet in the air.
Heartbreak was a little surprised, but knew I was trying to help her. “Fet. Be careful, I don't want to be dropped,” warned Heartbreak.
“Don’t worry, I will,” I responded. I carefully walked down the stairs with Amber walking behind me while Heartbreak was being levitated above the stairs. Once I made it to the bottom step, I set Heartbreak down.
She had an angry look on her face. “Thanks for helping me down the stairs, but never do that again without my permission. Next time, ask,” said Heartbreak with a serious and stern tone. “Got it?”
I chuckled a little. “Sorry about that, HB. I promise I’ll ask next time,” I said. I then smirked. “Now then, let’s go have some fun.”
Amber and Heartbreak both nodded as it was time to start the plan.
Some Time Later
Applejack was sad as it seemed like she hadn't sold a single thing at all. I was talking to some nobles as I was heading out towards Applejack’s food stall. It was time to put my part of the plan into action.
“Hey, Applejack,” I greeted. Applejack turned towards me with a frown on her face. “Slow business?” I knew the reason why none of the nobles was buying her food.
Her sad look then became a look of frustration. “Yeah, I haven’t sold a single gosh darn thing, ‘cept for a single apple pie I sold to Amber and HB,” responded Applejack, bitterly.
I had a sympathetic look on my face. “That does seem like a problem,” I said, concerned. I decided to help her out. “I’ll have an apple fritter and some apple juice, please.” I levitated a few Bits out of my dress pocket and placed them onto the stall’s counter.
“Ya don’t have to buy anythin’ to help me out, Lemon,” said Applejack. “I’m sure--”
I decided to stop her right there before she could say anything else. “I know, but I just want to,” I said. “Besides, you worked hard on preparing your family’s food for the Gala, AJ. Can’t let it go to waste.”
Applejack blushed and rubbed the back of her head with one of her forhooves. “Aw, shucks,” she bashfully replied.
My horn glowed as I floated an apple turnover and a bottle of apple juice over to me. I ate the apple turnover and drank the apple juice, making sure not to get any crumbs or stains on my dress. “Mmm, so good,” I complimented.
She smiled. “Well, nothin’ better than good ol’ fashioned Apple Family cooking,” boasted Applejack.
I had the feeling that if nobles saw me eating food from Ponyville like the apple family’s cooking, that would get those nobles interested in either try some to see if it’s good, or to try some and kiss up to me. There would be nobles who would want to get close enough to either get a high position in the kingdom, or to gain important information and spread it to the other nobles. In fact, the nobles who were with me decided to try some too.
The unicorn stallion had bought some apple fries. “I must say, this is very good,” he complimented.
The earth pony mare had bought some apple fritters. “You may be right. It may not look fancy, but it tastes delicious,” she agreed.
The others agreed as well as they ate. Some other nobles that were passing by became interested when they saw us eating Applejack’s food. They came over and bought some as well. Applejack smiled as she sold her food.
While everyone was distracted eating, I left. “Next is Rarity,” I thought.
Meanwhile with Rainbow Dash
After asking around where the Wonderbolts were, Heartbreak arrived to see that Rainbow Dash was trying to talk to her idols, but they were busy talking to other ponies while they were talking to her. She approached Rainbow Dash with a pie that had been carefully balanced on her back thanks to Amber, who had left to go look for Fluttershy.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash,” greeted Heartbreak. “How’s the party?”
Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Heartbreak with an angry look on her face. “Hey, HB,” responded Rainbow Dash with an exasperated tone.
Heartbreak had a feeling about what was wrong. “Frustrated?” she asked.
“Tch. Yeah,” grumpily replied Rainbow Dash. “As you know, I came to the Gala so I could meet my heroes ‘The Wonderbolts’ and impress them, but so far, they’re focused on talking to other ponies to even hang out with me.”
“Rainbow Dash, you shouldn’t try and impress them like you're some big hotshot. Just act like yourself,” advised Heartbreak. “Being yourself is what everyp-p-pony loves about you. Besides, you’re not their only fan, right?”
She looked down at the ground. “No,” she mumbled
“Just have patience and then you’ll have a chance to hang out with them,” advised Heartbreak. “But for now, how about we go hang out together and have some fun? Just the two of us?”
She shrugged. “I guess that’s okay,” mumbled Rainbow Dash.
“Before we go, can you give this apple pie to Soarin for me?” she asked. “I heard he liked pies, so I got one for him. I would have given it to him, but, you know…”
Rainbow Dash noticed the apple pie on HB’s back. “Oh, uh, sure, HB. I’ll be back in a sec,” she said. She grabbed the pie and took it over to Soarin. She exchanged a few words with him.
“Hanging out with me will have to do since we never thought of a way for Rainbow Dash to even hang out with the Wonderbolts. Maybe we’ll have better luck next year?” she thought. “Wonder how Amber’s doing with Fluttershy?”
Rainbow Dash flew back over to her. “He said he wanted me to thank you for the pie,” she informed. She looked a little depressed and frustrated about the whole Wonderbolt thing.
Heartbreak already had an idea of how she could distract Rainbow Dash easily. “So...race you to Applejack’s stall?” she challenged. “Loser has to pay for the food.”
Luckily, Rainbow Dash was distracted by her own competitiveness. “You’re on,” she responded.
The two of them ran for Applejack’s stall, not knowing where it was located.
Meanwhile with Fluttershy
Fluttershy has been trying for a while to become friends with the animals of the garden, but for some reason they keep avoiding her. Amber arrived at the Canterlot Gardens and saw Fluttershy, who was looking frustrated.
She walked up behind her. “Hey, Fluttershy,” greeted Amber.
Fluttershy was spooked. “Eep!” she quietly shouted. She turned around, scared, but as soon as she saw that it was Amber, she calmed down.
Amber held up a claw. “I’m so sorry about that, Fluttershy,” Amber apologized. “I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. I was too distracted with the animals to even notice you,” she meekly replied.
After agreeing it was both of their faults, they stopped apologizing to each other.
Fluttershy was curious about something. “What are you doing here, Amber? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with everyone else?” she asked.
She shook her head. “Nah. I decided to hang out with you, Fluttershy,” replied Amber.
Fluttershy blushed. “T-Thanks, Amber,” she stuttered.
“No problem,” said Amber. “So, having trouble with the animals?”
She looked down at the ground. “Yeah,” Fluttershy said in a soft tone.
Amber shook her head. “Fluttershy, the animals will approach you on their own. To them, you are a stranger. If you keep trying to approach them, you’re going to scare them away from you and out of the garden forever,” she counseled. “You don’t want that, do you?”
Fluttershy looked sad like she was about to cry. “N-no, I don’t want to do that,” she whimpered.
She decided to hug Fluttershy in order to calm her down. “How about this? You can just watch them from afar. Like if you were bird watching, but you’re watching animals instead,” she advised. “That way, you won’t scare them off. Okay?” Amber separated the hug.
Fluttershy nodded, agreeing with her idea. After saying goodbye to Fluttershy, Amber left the garden to go find Spike and take him up on his offer to tour Canterlot.
Meanwhile with Rarity
Rarity was feeling irritated as she was currently on a date with Prince Blueblood. At first when she met him, she thought he was the prince of her dreams and went on a date with him, but then it turned out that he was egocentric. They were currently on a walk outside.
She had a frustrated look on her face. “Prince Charming, my plot. He cares more about himself than about me,” she thought. “I wish there was a stallion who could sweep me off my hooves and away from him.”
I was nearby, watching, while floating a rose in my magic aura. All I needed to do was get Rarity away from him. “Okay, you can do this. Whatever you do, don’t mess this up!” I thought. I took a deep breath in, and then I let it out to calm myself.
I approached them. “Hey, Rarity,” I greeted.
Rarity smiled as she was secretly relieved when she saw me. “Ah, Lemon, darling. Are you having fun?” asked Rarity.
“I’m having a fun time at my first Gala. The announcement was made, so now every pony knows about me and my friends,” I said. I grinned widely. “You should have heard my announcement--”
“Excuse me,” said Blueblood, interrupting.
I continued like he wasn’t even there. “It surprised every pony there in the room,” I said. I chuckled.
Rarity was curious. “Don’t keep a lady waiting in suspense. What did you say?” she questioned.
“Excuse me,” repeated Blueblood.
“I told them that I’ll be creating my own kingdom here in Equestria, and that the princesses gave me the Castle of the Two Sisters, which will be under repairs for a few months,” I revealed. “Man, you should have seen the looks on their faces.”
She was surprised as well. “Oh, my. Is it true? About both parts I mean,” she asked.
I confirmed by nodding. “Yeah, I’m creating my own kingdom and I have a castle that is in need of some repairs and cleaning,” I casually said.
Blueblood felt insulted that he was being ignored. “Excuse me,” he repeated again, loudly.
This guy was getting on my nerves. “We heard you, but me and Rarity were having a conversation between friends. Don’t butt in,” I responded. “Rude for a prince, isn’t he?”
Rarity nodded. “I know. Right, dear?” she agreed.
Before he could say anything, I interrupted him. “Maybe we should leave and discuss my castle’s decorations somewhere else, Rarity?” I offered.
She understood what I was trying to do. “You’re right, dear. After all, we need to discuss the fabrics and other stuff that your castle is going to need for the remodeling,” she pretended. She turned her head towards Blueblood. “Sorry, but he needs my help. Probably take a while.”
“And she needs to talk to Princess Celestia about it too,” I added.
Rarity nodded. “Exactly, Lemon. It seems I’m going to be extremely busy today. Maybe we could go on another date at next year’s Gala?” she said. She wasn’t promising to go on another date with him and secretly hoped he wouldn't take her seriously about it. “But for now, ta-ta.”
We left quickly before he could say anything. Once we were far away from him and from other ponies, we laughed.
Rarity fixed her hair even though it looked perfect. “Thanks for rescuing me, dear. I just couldn’t stand being in his presence any longer,” said Rarity.
“No problem. I was just passing by when I saw that you weren’t having any fun with him. So, I decided to swoop in and rescue you,” I explained.
She believed the lie. “I thank you for saving me,” she responded. Rarity then kissed me on the cheek.
“No problem, but I was joking about the castle thing, but knowing Celestia and Luna, they might give me the castle anyway after they talk to me about what I said in front of all of those ponies, Rarity,” I said. “You don’t mind if we discuss color coordination even if I may or may not get the castle? How about over tea at Carousel Boutique tomorrow?”
She thought about it. “Tomorrow’s fine, darling,” said Rarity. “Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go find some ponies to hang out with and avoid Blueblood.”
We went our separate ways. Next, I needed to find Pinkie Pie.
Meanwhile with Pinkie Pie
Pinkie Pie was in the Ballroom, not having fun as the Gala was not fun as she was expecting. I was nearby, watching her.
There was a small grin on my face. “Time to dance,” I said to myself. I walked over to Pinkie Pie. “Hi, Pinkie.”
Pinkie Pie looked sad. “Hi, Lemon,” greeted Pinkie Pie.
“Having fun at the Gala?” I asked.
“No. The Gala isn’t fun like I thought it would be,” she answered.
I understood what she meant. “Dull, boring, and not fun,” I sympathized.
Pinkie Pie nodded. “Yeah, it is,” she agreed. “Wish there was something I could do to liven things up.”
“I’m going to regret this so much,” I thought. I held out a hoof to her. “Want to have fun dancing?”
Pinkie Pie smiled, looking excited. “DO I?!” she shouted. She grabbed my hoof and pulled me to the dance floor.
I let her lead since I didn’t know how to dance in a pony body. A lot of ponies watched us dance together. After a few dances with Pinkie Pie, I was tired. I took a break from the dancing and the party by heading for the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. I took note of each of the statues I passed by, impressed. But there was one statue I wanted to see out of all of them.
I then found what I was looking for. “Ah-ha, there you are!” I exclaimed. I approached the statue of Discord, who was actually Discord himself trapped as a statue. “To actually meet you face-to-face is an honor, even though you’re a statue now.”
I touched Discord’s chest. The stone itself felt cold to the touch. “You’re not evil. You’re just chaotically misunderstood,” I empathized. I removed my hoof.
I turned around to leave, but then something strange happened. I sensed that there was something in the garden, nearby and it felt faint. “Wouldn’t hurt to go investigate. Besides, I’ll go tell the princesses once I find out what it is that’s calling out to me,” I thought.
I decided to go and check it out. As soon as I arrived, I saw what it was and was afraid. “Uh-oh, not good,” I commented. “Not good at all.”
Floating a few inches above the ground was a rift in time and space.
Chapter 8: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 3-Meeting Patchwork
Chapter 8: Grand Galloping Gala Part 3-Meeting Patchwork
I was standing a few feet away from a rift in time and space. Luckily, the rift itself was weak enough to not pull anyone nearby through.
I sighed in relief. “Phew. For a minute there, I thought there was going to be trouble,” I said. I decided to take a closer look at the rift. Once I was close enough, I looked into it and saw something.
The rift led to the inside of a cell room. Inside the room was a stallion, who didn’t look like a normal pony at all. He had stitches on different parts of his body. Also, his coat was red, his ears and part of his left front leg was blue, his left hind leg was green, and his right was orange, had blue eyes, yellow-colored hooves, and his mane was short and was in four different colors: purple, red, green, and blue. Also, around his neck was some sort of a sophisticated, electronic metal collar. The stallion looked miserable.
I decided to get his attention. “Hey, you okay?” I asked.
The stallion’s eyes widened in surprise. He got up quickly and looked around. “Hello? Who’s there?!” he asked.
It seems that he also had a yellow dragon’s tail with a green spade at the end, two blue and one red-colored dragon spine on his back and three different colored ones on his tail too, and no Cutie Mark.
“Looks like he can hear me through the rift,” he thought. “Interesting.”,
The stallion saw that there was no one around except him. “Must’ve been hearing things.” He was about to lay down on the floor again.
I decided to get his attention again. “Hey. Over here,” I called out.
The stallion’s ears shot up, and then he quickly turned and looked in the direction of where my voice was coming from, which was to his right, but was also the back wall of his cell.
“Yeah, this way,” I called out again.
It seems that the stallion was now weirded out. He thinks he has gone crazy. “Uh, is anyone there?” he asked.
“Yes, but also no,” I responded. “You’re not hearing things. I’m contacting you from another universe through a rift in time and space.”
He was confused. “Another universe?” repeated the stallion. “Really?”
“Yeah. A rift seemed to have opened up in my universe that leads to your cell, or a rift opened up to my universe in your cell, but that doesn’t matter,” I explained. “Right now I can see that you need help and I really want to help you. Understand?
He nodded. “Yeah, I do,” he responded.
“Good,” I said. Then, my tone became serious. I wanted to help him out no matter what. “So, my question to you is this: Do you need help?”
The stallion was silent for a moment before he made a decision. “Yes, I need your help,” he said. “Will you help me?”
I looked around to see if there were any ponies, or Fluttershy, nearby. Once there was no one nearby, I quickly returned back to the rift. Since Fluttershy wasn’t around, that means that she went inside the castle, and Amber did her part of the plan.
The stallion looked worried. “H-Hello? Are you still there, voice?” he asked.
“Yeah, sorry,” I apologized. “It’s the Grand Galloping Gala, and I was making sure that no one else was around since it’d look weird if some pony came across me talking to nothing but the air.”
He then became interested in the Gala. “What is the Grand Galloping Gala?” the stallion asked.
“It’s some kind of a fancy party that the ponies hold in Canterlot Castle once a year,” I explained.
The Gala sounded even more interesting to him. “Wow. Sounds like a good party to go to,” he said.
“It’s a little good, but it’s a party that doesn’t seem interesting since it’s a party designed with nobles in mind and not the kind of fun lots of others like,” I complained. “It needs more excitement or else it’ll be dull for my first time attending.”
He noticed frustration in the tone of my voice. “Never mind then,” he said.
I looked back at the castle where Twilight and her friends were having fun at their first Gala, and then I chuckled. “Actually, right now it’s a little more exciting since all of my friends are having fun,” I said. “I had this big plan just so they would have the best night of their lives at their first Gala, and it worked perfectly with the help from my two friends. Everyone’s having fun.”
The stallion then smiled. “Wish I was there to see it,” he said. He then looked down at the floor with a frustrated look on his face. “But right now, I’m stuck in this cell thanks to a mad mare.”
I then remembered our original conversation. “Oh, right. Like I said before, I’ll help you,” I said.
He was confused. “How? If you remove the collar by force without the key, it’ll let off an alarm. She’ll come running over here the moment she hears it,” he informed.
I chuckled. “Don’t underestimate me,” I said. “First, I need to get that collar from around your neck without setting off the alarm. Give me a second to think of a plan.”
The stallion shrugged. “Take all the time you need. I’ve got no place to be,” he said with a frown on his face.
After a while, I decided a snack might help. My horn glowed as it emitted my magic aura, which then went into the air and swirled around as it headed for my outstretched right hoof. Once it was on my hoof, the magic aura itself started shaping and becoming solid. A few seconds later, it became a bunch of gummy worms.
“Mmm, gummy worms,” I thought. I snacked on a few. “Too bad I can’t turn the collar into gummy. He could just remove it soon after, freeing him.” I then had an idea. “I’ve got it. I’ll just temporarily transform the collar into some kind of elastic gummy.” There was another kind of magic, other than magic involving food, that my character could use.
The stallion was confused again, this time with my idea. “Elastic gummy?” He repeated. “Do you want me to eat it?”
I shook my head, but then I remembered that he can’t see me. “No, it’s so you could pull it up from around your neck,” I explained.
He thought about it. “What if it doesn’t work?” he asked.
I had a serious look on my face. “Then I’ll come over there and force whoever's holding you captive to free you,” I said with a serious tone. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The stallion smiled a little. “Thanks, whoever you are,” he said. “You’re way nicer than Doctor Honey Skull.”
I smiled. “No problem,” I replied. “Now, I need to build up enough of my magic for the spell. The moment I transform the collar, you’ll have a time limit. The time limit is just in case that doctor mare has something in place if anything goes wrong with that collar. Once the time limit is over, I’ll turn it back to normal.”
“I understand,” he said. “How much time will I have?”
I thought about it while looking at him. “Fifteen seconds might do it,” I guessed. “Think you could do it?”
He looked down but was also determined. “Let’s hope so. This is my only hope at freedom,” he muttered.
I started to concentrate hard as I focused on the other magic deep within me. After a minute or two, my horn glowed with a yellow-colored aura. Now that I was able to access the other type of magic, I then began collecting the magic into my horn as I stored it away for the spells I was going to use.
“Can’t be too little yet not too much,” I thought. If it’s too little, it’ll take too long to gather up magic again, but if it’s too much, my magic will go out of control.
After a few more minutes, I had enough magic ready to cast four spells. “I’ve built up enough magic for the spell,” I called out. “Ready?”
Patchwork nodded. “Go for it,” he responded.
Once I had my horn aimed perfectly, I then fired out a beam of magic, which traveled through the rift and hit his metal collar. After a few seconds, his collar started to transform into a gummy version of itself. I then stopped the beam.
I started a mental timer. “Now!” I shouted.
Patchwork quickly grabbed and stretched the collar, and started pulling it up from around his neck. He did it carefully fast while it was around his head. He was also making sure not to damage the collar while it was in its gummy state. “Come on, I can do this,” he thought. “Just gotta beat the time limit.”
He had only less than ten seconds. The collar was around his eyes as he was pulling it up.
I was worried, but I knew Patchwork would make it. “You can do it,” I urged.
With five seconds left, Patchwork was able to get the collar off. “Done!” announced Patchwork. He then quickly placed the collar on the ground.
I then fired out a beam of magic, which traveled through the rift and hit his metal collar again. After a few seconds, it turned back to normal.
Patchwork was smiling, but then he had an angry look on his face as he looked at the collar. He batted it away with his hoof, hard. It slid across the floor a few feet away from him. “Never again will I wear that. Not for anypony,” he declared. Patchwork then turned towards the direction of the voice. “I thank you, mysterious voice. I am now free.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. I then became curious about something. “So, where will you go now after this?” I asked. It was because I was also concerned about him.
Even if he escapes outside the lab, it’s only a matter of time until he’s found again by his imprisoner. She might have some way to track him down even if he was somewhere in his Equestria.
It sounded like a good question to Patchwork as he looked conflicted. Where will he go now? “I don’t know,” he responded. “I’ve never seen the world outside of this lab. I don’t even know how the ponies would respond to something like me.” He turned his head, sad and frustrated.
I felt bad for him and was silent until I had another idea. “Well...Why not come with me?” I asked. “I could use a guard.”
He seemed interested. “A guard? Like a bodyguard you mean?” asked Patchwork.
“Something like that, but more important,” I said. You want the job? It’ll be very far away from that mare.”
Patchwork thought about it for a moment. “Even if I do become your bodyguard, how will I get to you if you’re in another universe?” he questioned.
“You see, I’ve got enough collected magic to open up the rift, allowing you to cross over into mine. Afterwards, I’ll close the rift to your universe with the remaining magic,” the voice explained.
“If I go through that rift I’ll never have to see Doctor Honey Skull again for the rest of my life,” he thought. “And even if she does somehow find me, I’ll be safe from her if he helps me out.”
“I’ll give you a while to think it over,” I said. “Once you do, let me know.”
It was a while until Patchwork made his decision. “How much time would you need to open the rift?” he asked.
I thought about it. “I guess it would take four or five minutes to focus my magic onto the rift instead of through it,” I calculated. “After that, I should be able to close it back up in less than a minute.”
“And if Doctor Honey Skull is able to somehow come to your universe and find me, would you help protect me from her?” questioned Patchwork.
I answered quickly without thinking it over. “Of course I would,” I said. “I wouldn’t let her get her hooves on you. Even if she does, I’d rescue you without a single thought.” I was serious about it all. I wouldn’t let this Doctor Honey Skull get her hooves on him.
Patchwork smiled a little. He then looked at the rift with a serious expression. “I guess I’ll go with you,” he said. “It’ll be much better being with you than being with her.”
“It’ll be great to have you around,” I greeted. “Welcome aboard…”
I was silent for a few seconds when I realized that we never introduced ourselves to each other. I then started laughing.
Patchwork was a little confused about why I was laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
I then cleared my throat after I stopped laughing. “The funny thing is that we were both so focused talking, we forgot to introduce our names to each other,” the voice said. “That’s why it’s so funny.”
He realized that they were right. They were acting like friends yet they don't know each other's names. He chuckled a little. “I guess it is funny,” he commented. “The name’s Patchwork. What’s yours?”
“Well, my real name’s Foodie Love,” I said. “But since it’s so embarrassing to use, I’m using Lemon Spark as my current name.”
“Nice to meet you-” Patchwork smirked. “-Foodie.”
“You too,” I said. But then I realized something. “Hey!”
Patchwork smiled. “Kidding,” he said.
“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny,” I said sarcastically. “Now, wait for me to open the rift.”
He chuckled. “Fine, I can wait,” said Patchwork.
I began to concentrate as I emitted the magic aura from my horn as more of a wave at the rift.
After less than five minutes, the rift fully opened as a portal in front of me.
I panted. “I did it,” I thought. My left
Patchwork was shocked when he saw it.
“Hurry up!” I shouted.
He snapped out of his shock. “Coming!” announced Patchwork. Before he walked through, he looked behind him with a face full of disdain. “I hope your life becomes much worse than the life you put me through, Doctor. Goodbye.”
Patchwork ran through the portal and landed on the ground. I was relieved that he made it. “Get out of the way so I can close this thing,” I ordered.
He quickly got out of the way. I then released a wave of magic aura from my horn again. It came into contact with the portal, and after a few seconds, the portal closed as it was reverted back to its initial state.
I gave off a tired sigh as I felt drained from using a lot of my magic. “Hello, Patchwork,” I greeted. “It’s nice to talk to you face-to-face instead of through the rift.” I held out a hoof for him to shake.
There was one thing on Patchwork’s mind that he was confused about. “Why are you dressed up like a mare?” he asked.
“I decided to crossdress for the Gala is all,” I explained. “Why?”
“Well, you look good dressed up like a mare,” complimented Patchwork.
I blushed. “Thanks,” I muttered. “Follow me. It’s time I introduced you to everyone at the Gala as one of my Royal Guards.”
He was confused. “Royal?” he questioned. Then Patchwork quickly realized that I was an alicorn. “Right, you’re an alicorn. I was told that alicorns are royalty.”
I was a little weirded out by his comment. It was like someone drilled that information into him. “Uh, yeah. We are,” I said. I then noticed that Patchwork acted a bit odd. “Nervous?”
He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “Well...it's not everyday that I’ve gone from a prisoner to a Royal Guard in just a day,” said Patchwork.
“Don’t worry, Patchwork. You’ll do just fine,” I assured.
The two of us headed towards the castle. While we were walking away, we didn’t notice that the color of the rings of my pupils turned into a golden yellow color, while the pupils themselves turned into slits like they belonged to a beast. Meanwhile, cracks had started to appear on Discord’s statue right where I had placed my hoof earlier. Then, evil laughter came from the statue itself.
At a house hidden away in the Everfree Forest, there was an underground lab with bloodstains on the floor. In the lab was an adult mare working hard and diligently. She had a dark silver coat, persian blue-colored eyes, swamp green-colored mane and tail with pumpkin orange-colored streaks running through them, and were both tied up into buns. She had a pair of glasses around her face, was wearing a white lab coat that had blood stains and smears of blood on it, and hidden underneath her lab coat was her Cutie Mark, which was a skull with a syringe whose needle was in the cranium. Her name was Honey Skull, and she was a doctor.
Right now, she was double-checking her work before she proceeded with the experiment. “He is almost complete,” Honey Skull said to herself. “All that’s missing is just one thing...” She stood a few feet away from a metal table that was in the middle of the room.
On the metal table was a dead stallion with stitches on different parts of his body. His body looked a little different from a regular pony’s. His coat was red, his ears and part of his left front leg was blue, his left hind leg was green, and his right was orange, had blue eyes, yellow-colored hooves, his mane was short and was in four different colors: purple, red, green, and blue, a yellow dragon’s tail with a green spade at the end, three different colored spines on his back and three different colored ones on his tail too, and had no Cutie Mark. She had to hunt down a stallion to be the base of the body. Including, certain ponies whose body parts were a perfect size and length to match, two adult ponies who had no Cutie Marks, and a few dragons for the tail and the spines.
“The soul,” she continued. Her horn glowed with a gray magic aura.
Underneath the metal table was a circle of weird symbols drawn into the floor in chalk around it in a circle. The symbols glowed with magic. After a few seconds, a whitish-bluish ball with wisps coming from it appeared, floating above the stallion’s body. Then, it drifted down to the stallion’s chest and phased through, entering his body.
With the soul added, it was now time for the final step of her experiment. “Now, to bring him to life!” she announced. Her horn glowed again, but this time with more magic.
The symbols glowed brighter than it did before. Then, powerful bursts of electricity came out of the circle, striking the stallion’s body over and over without singing or burning his fur. After a while, the electricity stopped. The stallion’s eyelids slowly opened. Once they were fully open, he looked around, confused.
She approached the table. “I did it! I actually did it!” Honey cheered.
The stallion groaned. “Who am I? Where am I?” he asked, confused.
Honey heard him while she had been cheering. “You’re a pony I created from the body parts of ponies, plus a dragon,” she explained. “As for your other question, you’re inside my lab inside my house inside of the Everfree Forest.”
He understood her explanation, but there is just one thing on his mind. “What is my name?” he asked.
She was silent as she never thought about that. After looking at the stallion’s stitched up body, she had an idea. “Your name is Patchwork,” she said.
The stallion was silent for a few seconds. “...Patchwork?” he asked.
“Yes, that is your name,” she confirmed. Her horn glowed with magic. “How do you feel?”
Patchwork shrugged. “I don’t know,” he mumbled.
Being levitated over was a sophisticated, electronic metal collar, which was then placed in Honey’s hooves. She used her magic to sit Patchwork up carefully and delicately since she doesn’t want the stitches to come apart. Once she put the collar around his neck, Honey then set him back down onto his back. “If you’re planning on escaping, don’t. That collar will not only let me know where you are, but, if you force remove it without the key, it will sound off an alarm,” she informed with a serious tone.
He thought she was joking, but then Patchwork realized that she was being completely serious as she had a small grin on her face that scared him.
“Time to begin the tests,” Honey said.
That was the day that Patchwork’s life became miserable.
One Month Later
For an entire month, Doctor Honey Skull had been subjecting him through tests and even experiments that involved things like his pain response, strength, mental, etc. If he fails the tests, she would punish him. There were times when she gave him a break to teach him lots of things about Equestria, but she never told him in which direction or the location of where each populated civilization was in case he ever escaped one day. She had him sleep inside of a prison cell that was located in the basement. It made his life even more miserable. Patchwork laid down on the floor of his cell as he was trying to sleep. Tomorrow morning, the experiments and tests will start again.
“Please, someone help me,” he thought. His eyes were closing as he was just about to fall asleep.
“Hey, you okay?” a voice asked. The voice sounded like it belonged to a stallion.
Patchwork’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard the mysterious voice. He got up quickly, then looked around, searching. “Hello? Who’s there?!” he questioned. Patchwork saw that there was no one except him. “Must’ve been hearing things.” He then became saddened as he had hoped that there was someone and was about to lay down on the floor again.
“Hey. Over here,” the voice called out.
Patchwork ears shot up, and then he quickly turned and looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from, which was to his right, but was also the back wall of his cell.
“Yeah, this way,” the voice called out again.
He was weirded out as he could hear the voice, but not see who it belonged to. He now believes that he has gone crazy from loneliness. “Uh, is anyone there?” asked Patchwork.
“Yes, but also no,” the voice responded. “You’re not hearing things. I’m contacting you from another universe through a rift in time and space.”
Patchwork was confused. “Another universe?” repeated Patchwork. “Really?”
“Yeah. A rift seemed to have opened up in my universe that leads to your cell, or a rift opened up to my universe in your cell, but that doesn’t matter,” the voice explained. “Right now I can see that you need help and I really want to help you. Understand?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I do,” he responded.
“Good,” said the voice. Then, the voice’s tone became serious. “So, my question to you is this: Do you need help?”
He was silent for a moment before he made a decision. “Yes, I need your help,” said Patchwork. “Will you help me?”
The voice then went silent.
Patchwork became worried as the voice was saying nothing. “H-Hello? Are you still there, voice?” he asked.
“Yeah, sorry,” the voice apologized. “It’s the Grand Galloping Gala, and I was making sure that no one else was around since it’d look weird if some pony came across me talking to nothing but the air.”
He then became interested in the Gala. “What is the Grand Galloping Gala?” asked Patchwork.
“It’s some kind of a fancy party that the ponies hold in Canterlot Castle once a year,” the voice explained.
The Gala sounded even more interesting to attend. “Wow. Sounds like a great party to go to,” he said.
“It’s a little good, but it’s a party that doesn’t seem interesting since it’s a party designed with nobles in mind and not the kind of fun lots of others like,” the voice complained. “It needs more excitement or else it’ll be dull for my first time attending.”
Patchwork noted the frustration in the voice’s tone. “Never mind then,” said Patchwork.
The voice then chuckled. “Actually, right now it’s a little more exciting since all of my friends are having fun,” said the voice. “I had this big plan just so they would have the best night of their lives at their first Gala, and it worked perfectly with the help from my two friends. Everyone’s having fun.”
He then noted the happiness in the voice’s tone and smiled. “Wish I was there to see it,” he said. Patchwork then looked down at the floor with a frustrated look on his face. “But right now, I’m stuck in this cell thanks to a mad mare.”
The voice then remembered their original conversation. “Oh, right. Like I said before, I’ll help you,” he said.
Patchwork was confused. “How? If you remove the collar by force without the key, it’ll let off an alarm. She’ll come running over here the moment she hears it,” informed Patchwork.
The voice then chuckled. “Don’t underestimate me,” said the voice. “First, I need to get that collar from around your neck without setting off the alarm. Give me a second to think of a plan.”
Patchwork shrugged. “Take all the time you need. I’ve got no place to be,” he said with a frown on his face.
After a while, the mysterious voice had an idea. “I’ve got it. I’ll just temporarily transform the collar into some kind of elastic gummy,” the voice informed.
Patchwork was confused again, this time with the mysterious voice’s idea. “Elastic gummy?” He repeated. “Do you want me to eat it?”
“No, it’s so you could pull it up from around your neck,” the voice informed.
He thought about it, and it seems that the plan sounds like it might work. “What if it doesn’t work?” Patchwork asked.
The voice’s tone then became serious. “Then I’ll come over there and force whoever's holding you captive to free you,” the voice said with a serious tone. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
He smiled a little. “Thanks, whoever you are,” said Patchwork. “You’re way nicer than Doctor Honey Skull.”
“No problem,” replied the voice. It sounded like the voice was smiling from being complimented. “Now, I need to build up enough of my magic for the spell. The moment I transform the collar, you’ll have a time limit. The time limit is just in case that doctor mare has something in place if anything goes wrong with it. Once the time limit is over, I’ll turn it back to normal.”
“I understand,” he said. “How much time will I have?”
“Fifteen seconds might do it,” said the voice. “Think you could do it?”
He looked down but was also determined. “Let’s hope so. This is my only hope at freedom,” muttered Patchwork. He was ready to be free.
After waiting a while, the voice talked. “I’ve built up enough magic for the spell,” the voice called out. “Ready?”
Patchwork nodded. “Go for it,” he responded.
A beam of magic shot out of thin air and hit his collar. After a few seconds, his collar started to transform into a gummy version of itself. The beam of magic then stopped.
“Now!” the voice shouted.
Patchwork quickly grabbed and stretched the collar, and started pulling it up from around his neck. He did it carefully fast while it was around his head. He was also making sure not to damage the collar while it was in its gummy state. “Come on, I can do this,” he thought. “Just gotta beat the time limit.”
He had only less than ten seconds. The collar was around his eyes as he was pulling it up.
The owner of the voice was worried, but knew Patchwork would make it. “You can do it,” the voice urged.
With five seconds left, Patchwork was able to get the collar off. “Done!” announced Patchwork. He then quickly placed the collar on the ground.
A beam of magic shot out of thin air and hit the collar again. After a few seconds, it turned back to normal.
Patchwork smiled as he was finally free. Then he had an angry look on his face as he looked at the collar that Doctor Honey Skull had bound him to and batted it away with his hoof, hard. It slid across the floor a few feet away from him. “Never again will I wear that. Not for anypony,” he declared. Patchwork then turned towards the direction of the voice. “I thank you, mysterious voice. I am now free.”
“You’re welcome,” said the voice. “So, where will you go now?” The owner of the voice was curious.
It sounded like a good question to Patchwork as he looked conflicted. Where will he go now? “I don’t know,” he responded. “I’ve never seen the world outside of this lab. I don’t even know how the ponies would respond to something like me.” He turned his head, sad and frustrated.
The voice was silent for a few seconds. “Well...Why not come with me?” the voice asked. “I could use a guard.”
The job sounded interesting. “A guard? Like a bodyguard you mean?” asked Patchwork.
“Something like that, but more important,” said the voice. “You want the job? It’ll be very far away from that mare.”
Patchwork thought about it for a moment. “Even if I do become your bodyguard, how will I get to you if you’re in another universe?” he questioned.
“You see, I’ve got enough collected magic to open up the rift, allowing you to cross over into mine. Afterwards, I’ll close the rift to your universe with the remaining magic,” the voice explained.
“If I go through that rift I’ll never have to see Doctor Honey Skull again for the rest of my life,” he thought. “And even if she does somehow find me, I’ll be safe from her if he helps me out.”
“I’ll give you a while to think it over,” the voice said. “Once you do, let me know.”
Patchwork was silent for a while until he made his decision. “How much time would you need to open the rift?” he asked.
The owner of the voice thought about it. “I guess it would take four or five minutes to focus my magic onto the rift instead of through it,” the voice calculated. “After that, I should be able to close it back up in less than a minute.”
“And if Doctor Honey Skull is able to somehow come to your universe and find me, would you help protect me from her?” questioned Patchwork.
The voice answered so quickly without thinking it over. “Of course I would,” the voice said. “I wouldn’t let her get her hooves on you. Even if she does, I’d rescue you without a single thought.”
Patchwork smiled a little. He then looked at the rift with a serious expression. “I guess I’ll go with you,” he said. “It’ll be much better being with you than being with her.”
“It’ll be great to have you around,” greeted the voice. “Welcome aboard…”
The owner of the voice was silent for a few seconds before they started laughing.
Patchwork was a little confused about why the voice was laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
The owner of the voice then cleared their throat after they stopped laughing. “The funny thing is that we were both so focused talking, we forgot to introduce our names to each other,” the voice said. “That’s why it’s so funny.”
He realized that they were right. They were acting like friends yet they don't know each other's names. Patchwork chuckled a little. “I guess it is funny,” he commented. “The name’s Patchwork. What’s yours?”
“Well, my real name’s Foodie Love,” the voice informed. “But since it’s so embarrassing to use, I’m using Lemon Spark as my current name.”
“Nice to meet you-” Patchwork smirked. “-Foodie.”
“You too,” the voice said. But then I realized something. “Hey!”
Patchwork smiled. “Kidding,” he said.
“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny,” the voice said, sarcastically. “Now, wait for me to open the rift.”
He chuckled. “Fine, I can wait,” said Patchwork.
After less than five minutes, a portal appeared exactly where my voice was coming from. Patchwork was shocked when he saw it.
“Hurry up!” the voice shouted. Their voice was coming from the rift itself.
He snapped out of his shock. “Coming!” announced Patchwork. Before he walked through, he looked behind him with a face of disdain. “I hope your life becomes much worse than the life you put me through, Doctor. Goodbye.” Patchwork ran through the rift and disappeared.
On the Other Side of the Rift
After coming out of the rift, he then landed on the ground. “Get out of the way so I can close this thing,” I said.
Patchwork quickly got out of the way. I then released a wave of magic aura from my horn. It came into contact with the portal, and after a few seconds, the portal closed as it was reverted back into a rift, but weakened like it was before.
I gave off a tired sigh. “Hello, Patchwork,” I greeted. “It’s nice to talk to you face-to-face instead of through the rift.”
Chapter 9: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 4-End of the Gala
Chapter 9: Grand Galloping Gala Part 4-End of the Gala
Me and Patchwork walked past ponies as we were heading for the princesses. There were ponies who looked shocked, surprised, or even scared when they saw the strange pony.
He noticed they were being stared at by lots of ponies. “Don’t pay any attention to them, Patchwork. They just never saw anyone or a pony like you,” I reassured.
He looked down as he walked. “Yeah, a freak like me,” he muttered.
“I don’t think you’re a freak at all. I think you’re unique and special,” I complimented. “Don’t ever forget that no matter what.”
Patchwork mumbled something that sounded like “thanks”.
I smiled. “No problem,” I responded.
We continued on, ignoring everyone. Patchwork was curious about something, so he turned his head and looked at me. “Hey, Lemon?” he asked.
“Yeah?” I said.
“Why are your eyes a golden yellow color?” questioned Patchwork.
I was confused because my eyes were a blue color. I turned my head. “A golden yellow color? Are you sure?” I asked.
He nodded his head. “Yeah. Your pupils even look like the eys of a beast,” he said.
When I heard him say that, that's when I realized what he was talking about. “Not good. I think opening and closing the rift must’ve done something to my form,” I thought. I stopped walking.
Patchwork saw that I stopped, so he stopped too. “Is something wrong?” he asked, concerned.
I decided to gather up my courage for what I was going to tell him. “I might as well tell you now since it’ll take us less than a minute to get to the princesses, but if I tell you, you cannot tell anyone what I’ve told you until I’m ready to tell them myself, and I want you to put your complete trust in me just like I’m putting my complete trust in you as my Royal Guard,” I informed with a serious tone. “Okay?”
He decided to do it since it seemed very important. “Okay,” he said.
I had him follow me over to a wall, then I cast the privacy spell, which I learned from Luna in order to keep out any eavesdroppers from private conversations. It creates an invisible soundproof barrier around the unicorn and those around them, and can even be used around an area or an entire room. I then told Patchwork everything about my character, including the part that I’m really a human in a pony’s body. After I finished, he seemed to take it okay. He even promised to keep it a secret since he did give me his word.
I nodded. “Great. I’m glad that nothing like that will ever change the way you think of me, Patchwork,” I said. I then rubbed one of my hoofs and blushed. “So...what did you think of my eyes when you saw them like that?”
Patchwork thought about it as he looked at my eyes. “Hmm...I have to say that I think they’re scary yet mysterious,” he complimented.
I felt disappointed. “Oh. Thanks. Let’s continue on,” I simply said. I removed the silencing spell and started walking again.
Patchwork followed after me. “And they’re kind of cute too,” he thought, blushing. He had decided to keep that to himself.
Meanwhile with Twilight
Twilight has been trying to talk with Princess Celestia for a while now but has had no success as Celestia had been talking to each of the nobles in front of her. She was about to do something stupid to speed things up, but didn’t get the chance.
Me and Patchwork appeared before them. “Hey, Celestia. Teacher. Twilight.” I greeted. My eyes were back to normal. While I was training with Luna, I was able to learn one of the spells that Foodie Love himself knew, “The Body Illusion” spell. It’s a spell that uses a magical field to disguise a body part or the entire body. It looks and feels exactly what it’s disguised as. With help from her, I was able to master it quickly. I had used it to disguise my eyes back to their original look. Just like all the other ponies we encountered before, everyone was either shocked or scared when they saw Patchwork, but we ignored them. “I’d like you all to meet-” I gestured towards Patchwork himself, who waved. “-Patchwork.
Celestia and Luna were shocked as well once they saw Patchwork. After a few seconds, Luna was the first to talk. “My student, what is this thing?” she asked.
Hearing Luna say that made him a little depressed. “Great. Now even his teacher, the ‘Princess of the Night’, is calling me a freak,” thought Patchwork.
I felt angry at my teacher for what she called him. “Hey! He is not a ‘thing’, he is a pony! His name is Patchwork and he is the first of my Royal Guards,” I informed.
The news surprised everyone, including Luna. “Royal Guards? But--” she said.
I interrupted her. “Yeah, he’s one of my Royal Guards, and if either of you don’t like it, then deal with it.”
Every pony was even more shocked when they heard the way I talked to my teacher. Luna couldn’t believe the attitude I was showing towards her.
Patchwork himself was impressed, but decided to take care of things himself. He put a hoof on my shoulder. “Lemon, it’s all right. You don’t have to defend me. I can defend myself,” he assured. “I’ve got this.”
I gave off a calm sigh. “Fine,” I replied. “I trust you.”
He nodded before looking at the princesses. “Your majesties, my name is Patchwork. As you can see, I’m not a normal pony. I know you just met me and know nothing about me, which I know means that you may not trust me at all since I might be a threat, but I do not care about that. What I do care about is protecting Lemon as a member of the Royal Guards to repay him for helping me. I ask you both to let me guard him as I will protect him with my life,” declared Patchwork. He bowed down. “Please.”
Celestia and Luna were both silent for a while. It was from what I said and Patchwork’s speech. After a few seconds, Celestia decided to speak as she had made her decision. “Patchwork, to officially become a Royal Guard, you have to go through training that every one of our trainees go through,” informed Celestia. “You’ll be in Canterlot the entire time until then.” Patchwork was silent. “Do you still want to become a Royal Guard?”
I noticed that he was then looking at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen to me?” I assured him.
Patchwork nodded. “I’ll accept the training, your majesty,” he said. It sounded like he was talking to me as well.
“Tomorrow you must report to the barracks to begin your training, young Patchwork,” said Luna. “You better not disappoint your prince.”
He bowed to them. “I won’t,” said Patchwork.
Luna looked at me. “My student, where did you meet a pony such as him?” she questioned, curious.
I noticed ponies were staring, wanting to know the answer too. “Uh...Can we talk about it later, privately? Like, after the Gala is over?” I asked. I didn't want anyone else to know about or try to get near the rift. It’s obvious that some of those ponies would try and mess with it.
She nodded. “Of course,” she agreed.
There was only a few hours left until the Gala was over. From the looks of it, Twilight won’t be able to talk to her teacher during the Gala at all.
“Celestia, teacher, you need to take a break. Both of you need it,” I demanded.
“But--” said Celestia.
“If you don’t take a break, then your own student won’t,” I informed. “The Gala is all about having fun, and if the princesses don’t have fun, then it’s not fun at all.”
She was silent, but then Luna spoke. “He is right, sister,” agreed Luna.
Celestia was surprised. “Luna!” she shouted slightly.
“Sister, all we’re doing is standing around, talking to ponies instead of having fun like everypony else,” she said. “I’m joining the gala, and I hope you do too.” Luna walked down the stairs and stood next to me. “Well, sister?”
After a moment, Celestia made her decision. She walked down the stairs, past the ponies that were lined up. Twilight realized her teacher was leaving and trotted after her. “You’re both right,” she agreed. “It is time we had some fun at the Gala as well.”
“You’ve made the right decision, sister,” said Luna. She looked at the crowd of ponies. “What say you all? Do you want us to join the party too?”
The ponies then started cheering, agreeing with the decision.
“Then it’s settled,” said Celestia. “Let the Gala continue!”
Every pony cheered and went back to what they were doing. Twilight took advantage of the chance to talk to her teacher now that she’s free.
Luna wanted to hang out with me since she was free too. Also, she didn't completely trust Patchwork yet. “Seeing as my sister is with her student, maybe I should join you?” she suggested.
I was okay with it. “Sure. You can hang out with me and Patchwork,” I said.
Luna smiled. The whole night was spent talking, eating, laughing, and dancing.
The End of the Gala
The party was over and everyone had left to go home. Well, all except me, Heartbreak, Amber, Patchwork, the princesses, and the Mane Six. I was with Patchwork as we were heading for the Throne Room where everyone else was waiting for us. The others wanted to meet Patchwork, while the princesses wanted to know where I met him.
I was excited to introduce him to everyone. I just hoped that everyone loves him. “I can’t wait for you to meet all of my friends, Patchwork. I just know that they’ll like you,” I said.
Patchwork raised an eyebrow. “How can you be so sure? What if they hate me? What then?” he asked.
I thought about it. “Mmm, I’m 45% sure that they’ll like you since some of them might not trust you, while the others will like you,” I theorized. “But, I know that they’ll change their minds at some point about you eventually.”
Before I could say more, we made it to the Throne Room, but the doors were closed since we were all going to have a private group meeting. There were two unicorn guards posted on either side. I didn’t know their names since I’m never in Canterlot long enough to ask any of the Day and Night Guards their names. The only one whose name I knew was Shining Armor.
“Hi, you two,” I greeted.“Can you please open the doors for us?”
We watched as the guards bowed, then they stood aside and used magic to open the doors. Once the doors were fully opened, we walked past them.
“Thank you,” I said.
Everyone inside the Throne Room was talking until they looked in our direction as soon as they had heard the doors open. Some of them were smiling, but then they became shocked like everyone else once they saw Patchwork. The only ones who weren’t shocked were the princesses and Twilight who had already met him, and Fluttershy, who was scared at the sight of him and hid behind Rainbow Dash, who looked at him like he might be a threat to her friends, but she kept herself from attacking him. Also Pinkie Pie, who looked excited and wanted to throw him a party but held herself back as well. The doors were closed by the guards, giving everyone privacy.
Once we made it to the group, I began the introduction. “Glad to see that you’re all here,” I said. I put my hoof around Patchwork’s shoulders and gestured at him with my other hoof. “Everyone, this is Patchwork. He’s going to be the first of my Royal Guards after he gets done through training.” I pointed at each pony as I introduced them to him. “Patchwork, this is Twilight Sparkle. She’s Princess Celestia’s personal student and the librarian of Golden Oak Library.”
“Hi there,” said Twilight.
“One of the members of the Apple Family who owns and works at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack,” I said.
“Howdy, nice to meet ya’,” greeted Applejack.
“The Fashionista of Carousel Boutique, Rarity,” I said.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, darling,” greeted Rarity. “Come to my store anytime if you ever need something fashionable to wear.”
I then pointed at Fluttershy as she was hiding behind Rainbow Dash. “That’s Fluttershy-”
“Eep!” silently screamed Fluttershy. She hid behind Rainbow Dash even more.
“-and the pony that she’s hiding behind is Rainbow Dash,” I said. “The fastest and the most awesomest pony in the entire...world,” I added.
She smirked out of pride. Rainbow Dash didn’t trust Patchwork and decided to keep an eye on him. “S’up?” she said.
I pointed at Heartbreak. “That one is Heartbreak, but call her HB. She would rather be called that instead,” I said.
Just like Rainbow Dash, Heartbreak didn’t trust him at all. She decided to give a response as to not seem rude. “Hey,” she said.
I pointed at Amber. “The Dragon Pony, Amber,” I said.
Amber waved at Patchwork. “H-Hi there,” she said.
I pointed at Spike. “That’s Twilight’s Number One Assistant, Spike,” I said.
Spike waved too. “Nice to meet you,” greeted Spike.
I pointed at the princesses last. They’ve been sitting on their thrones the whole time. “And you’ve already met Princess Celestia and my teacher, Princess Luna during the Gala,” I finished.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” said Celestia.
“What my sister said,” said Luna.
He nodded once the introduction was finished. “Hello, it's nice to meet you all. I hope to become friends with everyone in the future,” greeted Patchwork.
The ones who currently didn’t trust him were Rainbow Dash, a scared Fluttershy, Princess Luna, and Heartbreak. Speaking of Heartbreak, she decided to get down to business. “So, where did you meet Patchwork, Lemon?” asked Heartbreak. She only asked because this seemed suspicious to her. “You were in Ponyville the entire time. So there’s no way you two could have met there. We would have heard about him from Pinkie since she would have thrown him a welcome party like she does for every new pony.”
Pinkie Pie agreed with her statement. “Yup! And I would’ve thrown him a super special one so he could make friends with everyone in Ponyville!” she exclaimed. “No new pony can hide from me without being thrown a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”
The others agreed with Heartbreak and Pinkie Pie. I gave an inward sigh as I knew somepony was going to eventually point that out. “Well, it’s like this. Patchwork came from another universe,” I informed.
Twilight was confused. “Wait, another universe? Like the one you three came from?” asked Twilight.
I shook my head. “No. We came from another dimension. Patchwork came from another universe. In the ‘Equestriaverse’, which is the name of your Multiverse, there are lots of alternate universes where everything’s different. Different ponies, different beings, different wielders of the Elements of Harmony, etc.,” I explained. “You all get what I’m saying?”
They all nodded, even Rainbow Dash was understanding it as well since I worded it simple enough for everyone to understand.
“Okay. So, there’s these things known as ‘rifts’. They’re located in some universes within this entire Multiverse. They’re tears in the fabric of space and time and can act as portals to another universe that they’re connected to. They are not visible to anyone. Thus, if someone gets near them, they end up in the other universe, trapped,” I continued explaining. Everyone, except Heartbreak and Patchwork, gasped.
Applejack thought about my explanation. “So what ya’ sayin’ is that Patchwork ended up here through one of them rifts?” she theorized.
I rubbed my hooves together as she almost got everything correct. “Yes, but also no,” I said, sheepishly.
“Would ya’ mind explain’?” asked Applejack.
“Well...there is a rift in the Statue Garden-” I saw that everyone, except Heartbreak, Fluttershy, and Amber, was about to act. “-but it’s too weak to pull anyone through!” I exclaimed quickly. That stopped everyone.
Rainbow Dash was confused. “Wait, then how did he-” she pointed her hoof at Patchwork “-get through?” she asked.
I smiled sheepishly and chuckled. “I...brought him here,” I said.
Heartbreak was in disbelief. “But how? You said yourself that the rift was weak. The only way you could’ve opened it is if you…” she said. Then Heartbreak figured it out. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
I then nodded. “Yeah. I used my magic to open up the rift as a portal and allow Patchwork through into our universe,” I explained. Everyone was staring at me. “Hey! If any of you were in his place, if I had to choose, I’d do the same thing again for any one of you.” I looked at Patchwork. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d free Patchwork without any hesitation whatsoever.”
He smiled. “Thanks, Lemon. And if I had to do it all over again, I’d choose to be one of your Royal Guards rather than be imprisoned in a cell and hurt by Doctor Honey Skull,” said Patchwork. He was honest about what he said.
Everyone was surprised to hear what he just said.
Twilight decided to be the one to ask. “Excuse me,” said Twilight. He turned his head toward her. “Did you just say ‘imprisoned’?”
“Yeah. I was imprisoned until I met Lemon, who freed me in return if I became one of his Royal Guards,” he informed. Everyone listened as Patchwork then told his story. His story was about the day he was brought to life by Doctor Honey Skull, to the day he was rescued and brought into this universe. When he finished, everyone looked sad, except Heartbreak, who was in deep thought about something.
I decided to hug him now. He was surprised and confused. “What are you doing?” asked Patchwork.
“I’m hugging you,” I explained simply. “It sounded like you needed one. Plus, I wanted to hug you before Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie did.”
He was confused again. “What do you mean before they--!” he was interrupted as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had joined in on the hug.
“Don’t be sad. I’ll throw you a super awesome, super special party to cheer you up and forget all about that meanie!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“And if you need anypony to talk to, I’m here to offer a shoulder,” offered Fluttershy.
Patchwork was silent for a few seconds. He then started smiling and blushing a little. “Thanks,” he muttered.
I let go of the hug. “You’re welcome,” I responded.
Luna decided to interrupt the moment. “My student,” said Luna. Everyone turned their heads toward her. “While you have done an honorable deed in rescuing Patchwork, what if the rift was connected somewhere more dangerous? What if that Doctor Honey Skull was nearby when it happened? What if Patchwork hadn’t been a good pony or if he was corrupted by this Doctor character?” asked Luna.
I had a feeling that someone might say that, so I already had my rebuttals ready. I had a serious look on my face. “I could see through the rift, so if she was near, I wouldn’t have opened it until she was far away, but if she was nearby, I would have stopped her with my magic and pulled Patchwork through quickly. Then, I would close the rift before she even got through. And if he wasn’t good? I would have freed him and helped him find a place where he would be safe. End of discussion,” I responded.
Luna was silent as she looked at my serious expression. Celestia decides to move the subject along to something a little more important. “We’ll talk about this later, but for now, can you show the two of us where you found the rift in the Statue Garden?” she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. “I can do that,” I said. “Patchwork, you stay here. It’ll take us a while to be done.”
“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll have a conversation with your friends while you’re out.”
I nodded, and then I turned towards the princesses. “Follow me.” I trotted away, and they followed after me.
Everyone watched as the three of us left the throne room. Once we were gone, Patchwork then noticed that everyone was staring at him. “So...what do you all want to talk about?” he asked.
After a while of walking through the castle, I brought Celestia and Luna to the site of the rift. I pointed my hoof a few inches in front of the rift. “It’s right there in front of my hoof,” I informed.
“Can you show us how tall it is?” asked Celestia.
I was worried. I haven’t told anyone that the reason I’m not flying was that my right wing was injured. “I, uh, can’t,” I said.
“Why?” asked Luna.
I looked away and started lying. “Because...I don’t want to fly,” I said. “Why did I say that? Why didn’t I just say that I can’t fly?” I had hoped they wouldn't call me out on it.
Unfortunately, the lie made her concerned. “Why don’t you want to fly, my student?” questioned Luna.
“Uhhhh…” I said as I couldn’t think up a good enough lie to follow it up. I knew whatever lie I told would make her more and more concerned. “I...I hurt my wing?”
She then became even more concerned. “Which wing did you hurt?” asked Luna.
“My right one,” I replied.
Luna used her magic to flex out my injured wing. It hurt when she did that. “Agh! Watch it!” I shouted.
She stopped flexing my wing once Luna heard me say that. “I am so sorry,” she apologized.
“How did you hurt it?” questioned Celestia.
Luna looked angry as she thought a certain pony was behind it. “Was it that Patchwork pony who did this?” questioned Luna, angrily.
“No, it wasn’t him. I had hurt it back when I first came to Equestria,” I explained. “HB was angry, and then she pushed me. I fell on a rock where my wing was and it’s been hurting ever since.” I hadn’t been able to sleep because my wing was hurting. I didn’t know any healing spells. And even if I did, it’d be hard to keep my horn pointed at my wing for a while. “Do you know any healing spells?”
“I do,” said Celestia. She walked and stood right next to me. Celestia then brought her head down and pointed her horn at my injured wing. A bright, yellow magic aura was emitted by her horn. I felt a warm feeling as her magic aura surrounded my wing. After a few seconds, the magic stopped, including the warm feeling. She moved her head away and stepped back to give me some room.
I decided to test out my healed wing and began flapping both wings at the same time. While flapping them, I noticed that my right wing wasn't hurting anymore. “Amazing,” I said, very impressed. “Thanks.”
Celestia looked at me. “Lemon, next time you get hurt, you should tell your friends, don’t hide it,” she informed. “Even if you did it to spare Heartbreak her feelings, if you kept hiding it from her without getting it looked at, she would have eventually found out herself and that would hurt her feelings even more. That you would rather hide it and let yourself be in pain than to tell her the truth and go to the hospital.”
I was silent for a while. “You’re right, Princess Celestia,” I said. I decided to change the subject. “So, is knowing the location of the rift good enough for you?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I guess so-” Celestia then opened her eyes. “-for now,” she said. “But what if somepony was to find out about the rift? It would cause a lot of trouble if they attempted to open it.”
I wasn’t worried at all. “Don’t worry, I know for a fact that the rift can’t be seen by anyone else, it’s too weak for any other pony to travel through it, and a pony would need alicorn levels of magic to force open the rift. So, it’s definitely safe,” I reassured.
Celestia thought about it and realized I was right. “I see your point,” she said. “Even if somepony finds it, they would need a ton of magic or to be as strong as an Alicorn to open it.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Besides, even if you close the garden, it’s obvious that there will be nobles who’ll be poking their noses into it, trying to learn whatever it is you’re hiding,” I informed. “Meaning, if you close the Sculpture Garden without a reason or with an excuse, there will be nobles who’ll be suspicious and start investigating.”
“I agree with my student, sister,” agreed Luna. “There are nobles who will stop at nothing to learn about the rift. We have no choice but to keep the Sculpture Garden open while keeping the whole thing a secret from everypony.”
“Then we’re all in agreement to keep the rift a secret,” I said. “Let’s get back to the others. They’re probably waiting for us.”
We walked back to the throne room. I then became curious about something. “What time does the train to Ponyville arrive?” I asked.
“The train to Ponyville left a while ago. It won’t be back for an hour or two,” explained Celestia.
“I see,” I said. I couldn’t wait that long for the train to arrive. I decided to approach one of the guards in the hallway. The pony was a mare, a pegasus, and a Solar Guard. “Excuse me. Can we get two carriages for me and my friends to travel back to Ponyville?”
She bowed. “Of course, your majesty,” she said. The mare then flew off.
Now that there was a way for us to get home, I continued on my way to the throne room with the princesses following me. Once we arrived at the doors, the same two guards who were posted there, opened the doors for us. Inside, Patchwork was talking with the others. He looked like he was having fun. Everyone stopped their conversation and looked in our direction as we were approaching them.
I smiled. “Having fun?” I asked.
“Your friends are very interesting to talk to, Lemon,” said Patchwork. “They offered me a tour of Ponyville after I finished my training.”
I laughed. “Of course they would. They’d do that for every new pony in Ponyville,” I said. I stretched my body a little. “Well, we should all get going. We all have to get back to Ponyville.”
Pinkie Pie was sad. “Aww, do we have to?” she complained. Pinkie then zipped straight up to me. “Can’t we stay here just for tonight? Can we? Can we?!”
I was immune to her begging. “Pinkie Pie, we all have our own jobs and things to do back in Ponyville,” I said. “I want to stay as well, but we have to go back.”
“Lemon’s right, Pinkie. We all have our jobs back in Ponyville that we can’t put off,” said Rarity. “I have some outfits I need to work on in the morning.”
“Sorry, I have to feed the animals or else they’ll get cranky,” said Fluttershy.
“Weather duties,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I have chores to do back on the farm,” said Applejack.
“Same here, except I have to count inventory,” said Heartbreak.
“And I have to open up the library in the morning,” said Twilight.
Pinkie Pie slumped down to the ground.
“And the both of us need to help the Cakes at the bakery, Pinkie,” I said. I used magic to pick her up off of the floor. “Maybe next time when we all have spare time?”
“Fine. I guess I can wait,” grumbled Pinkie.
“Great,” I said. I then had a serious expression on my face. “Now, before we leave, I want you all to Pinkie Promise me and the princesses that you’ll tell no one about the rift. It would be troublesome for everyone if word gets out about it. Know what I mean?”
Twilight understood what would happen if word did spread. “I’m sure me and the girls can keep it a secret,” said Twilight. She looked around at her friends. “Right girls?”
“Of course, darling,” said Rarity.
“No problem,” said Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hmm,” she said.
“Ya can count on me,” said Applejack.
“I’ll keep it a super duper secret as well!” said Pinkie Pie.
Twilight and her friends did the whole motion of the Pinkie Promise. The only ones who haven’t done it yet are Heartbreak and Amber. Heartbreak had just finished explaining to Amber about what a Pinkie Promise was.
I looked at Heartbreak. “Heartbreak?” I questioned.
“I’m not stupid enough to tell anyp-p-pony. It’d be troublesome for us as well if it got out,” said Heartbreak. “So, yeah, I can promise not to tell.
I then looked at Amber. “Amber?”
Amber nodded her head. “I can keep it a secret too,” she said.
They both did the Pinkie Promise as well but with some difficulty since they never did one before.
“Well, now that that’s done, our carriages should be here by now,” I said.
“We’ll see everyone out at the entrance,” said Celestia. We decided to take her offer.
While walking through the castle, Patchwork continued his conversation with the others. Then, we made it to the front entrance where there were two chariots. Both had a day guard and a night guard attached to them.
“There’s our rides,” I said.
Me, Heartbreak, Amber, and Spike decided to ride in one of the carriages, while the Mane Six decided to ride in the other. Twilight and her friends said goodbye to the princesses and got into their carriage. Heartbreak, Amber, and Spike got into the carriage. Before I went over to ours, I went over to Patchwork. I wrapped an arm around him and hugged. “I’ll see you when you make it to Ponyville, okay?” I said.
Patchwork hugged back. He then had a grin on his face. “Sure thing, Foodie,” he teased.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Whatever,” I said. I then bowed to the princesses. “Goodbye, your majesties.”
They bowed back. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, my student,” said Luna.
“Of course, teacher,” I said. I headed towards the carriage.
Celestia decided to say something before I got in the carriage. “Lemon, if you see any of those things, let us know,” said Celestia.
I knew she was talking about the rifts. “Sure,” I said. I got in and shut the door.
The carriages moved as the guards trotted off.
“So, what did everyone think of their first time at the Gala?” I asked.
“I liked it a little, but I did love the tour of Canterlot,” said Amber.
Spike blushed. “It was no problem,” he said.
Heartbreak took off her hat and placed it on the seat. “It was a little boring because of the stuffy ponies and the music, but my favorite part was spending time with everyp-p-pony,” she said.
I smiled. “Me too,” I said.
Meanwhile
The rift slowly repaired itself until it disappeared completely. As for Discord’s statue, there was nothing left but pieces of it on and around the pedestal. A mysterious shadow appeared next to it. The pieces of the statue floated into the air, swirled around fast in a circle, and then combined together to become the Discord statue again, whole. The statue floated down onto the pedestal with a “thunk” noise.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha,” laughed the mysterious being. The voice was masculine in tone. “Free again. Time to cause some chaos.” They then flew off.
Today, it was a peaceful and quiet day. The birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and I was asleep on the couch, snoring softly. My shift at Sugarcube Bakery doesn’t start in an hour. Everything was peaceful until the library door slammed open, waking me up from my slumber.
I sat up quickly on the couch. “Huh?! What?!” I shouted. I turned and saw that at the door were Amber and Heartbreak. They both had expressions that were a cross between worried and scared. I was concerned, but also tired. “Oh, hey you two. Something wrong?”
“He’s free,” said Heartbreak in a worried tone.
I was confused about who was free until I remembered which season we were in. I groaned. “Discord’s free? Right now?” I asked in a tone crossed between surprise and exasperation.
They both nodded. I muttered something low enough that neither one of them could hear it. I began rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
“We think it would be safer if we hide in the library until Twilight and her friends seal Discord back into stone, Lemon,” said Amber.
I then remembered that the Mane Six would be heading for Canterlot soon once they received Celestia’s letter. It’s where they found out about Discord. I decided to go since maybe, with my help, Discord will be defeated much more quickly. Also, back at the Gala, we never asked the princesses about the progress of finding us a way home. “You two can stay here in the library with Spike. I’ll be going to Canterlot with them.”
Heartbreak was surprised. “Canterlot? But isn’t it dangerous to be in Canterlot?” she asked. “What if Discord changes his strategy if you get involved?”
“Don’t worry, you two. I’ll stay safe,” I reassured. I wasn't going to let someone like Discord scare me away.
I slid down off of the couch. Once my hind legs were on the floor, I stood up perfectly on them. I then walked over to a chair where I had placed some clothes that Rarity had made in her spare time when she had worked on our Gala outfits. I didn’t notice the way I was walking, or Heartbreak and Amber’s looks of surprise. “Rarity works so hard. I should really give her a gift as thanks,” I thought. I grabbed my clothes in my magic and headed for the bathroom.
They stared at me as I left. Amber pointed a claw at me. “Did he just...?” asked Amber.
Heartbreak nodded her head. “Yeah,” said Heartbreak.
After a minute, I walked down the stairs and towards them. I was wearing a white shirt decorated with purple streaks, and some blue shorts. I was planning on getting somepony to tie up my mane and tail once I’m on the train.
“I’ll be heading for Canterlot to check up with the princesses on the whole ‘getting us back home’ situation,” I explained. “I’ll probably be back in a few hours.” I then noticed that they were staring at me. “What?”
Heartbreak she snapped out of it. “Lemon, how are you standing and walking on your hind legs like you’re h-h-h-Fet! That word which I cannot say?” asked Heartbreak in a frustrated tone.
I rolled my eyes. “HB, that’s just not possible--” I said before noticing that I was looking down at Heartbreak and I was at Amber’s height. I looked down even more and saw that I was standing on my hind legs. Not only that, but they were straight like a line. I crouched down and saw that I was even able to bend my knees.
“How do you feel?” asked Amber, concerned.
“Huh,” I said nonchalantly.
Heartbreak was surprised. “Huh?!” she repeated. “You're not even surprised or even freaked out?!”
The reason I didn’t feel that way was that I had a feeling why I was beginning to walk like this. “Well, I am, but it’s probably connected to my character,” I said.
I put on my saddle bags, grabbed some Bits and the map of Ponyville, and headed for the door.
“Stay safe, you two. I’ll talk to you two later. ,” I called out. “I promise to come back safely.”
As soon as I was outside, I was greeted to the sight of cotton candy clouds floating in the sky. Some of them were flying around in the air. “Too bad it’s not raining Strawberry Milk,” I thought.
I looked at the map’s directions to the train station. Once I had the directions memorized, I pocketed it in my saddlebags. I was worried as I knew that once I run through the town, there will be ponies who’ll see me like this.
I gulped. “Let’s do this,” I said. I steeled my courage and ran in the direction of the train station.
Few Minutes Later
While I was heading in the direction of the train station, there were townsponies who had seen me running on my hind legs. Luckily, I was in too much of a hurry to even answer their questions if they had any, while others probably thought they were seeing things. I arrived at the train station’s ticket booth.
I panted as I felt tired. “One train ticket to Canterlot please,” I said.
The ticket vendor was giving me a weird look as he saw me standing on my hind legs. “I need to hurry before the train leaves,” I said in an urgent tone.
“Uh, sure,” said the stallion. Once he told me the price for the ticket, I brought out a bag from my pocket and levitated the amount of bits onto the counter. He took the bits and gave me a ticket.
“Thanks,” I said. I grabbed the ticket and ran towards the nearest train car.
Once I was inside, I walked over to the seat that was located in the middle of the train on the left side. I ignored the looks of the ponies in the train car and sat down onto the right side of the seat. I was sitting like a human did, which felt odd yet familiar.
I sighed wistfully. “I miss sitting like this. It reminds me of being human again,” I said. I sighed again.
There were only a few minutes until the train leaves, which means that Twilight and her friends are either on their way here or must have made it to the train station by now.
I chuckled. “Man, it would be awkward if Twilight and the others came onto this train car and saw me like this,” I said. But I then became confident because of one reason. “The odds of them choosing this very train car to ride in are pretty low.”
“Hey, Lemon!” greeted a familiar, chipper voice. The voice sounded close.
I groaned as I knew who the voice belonged to. “You have got to be kidding me. Why this car? Why?” I muttered to myself.
I turned in my seat and just like I knew, the voice belonged to Pinkie Pie, who was with her friends as they were approaching my location. I thought they would have ridden in the train car behind or ahead of me, but looks like I was wrong.
I gave a small smile and waved a hoof. “Hi, everyone,” I greeted.
“Lemon darling, what are you doing here all by yourself? Where’s HB and Amber?” asked Rarity.
“We saw that something chaotic was happening in Ponyville, so we decided to split up. They stayed in Ponyville while I went to go see Celestia about the problem that was going on,” I explained.
Twilight decided to explain the reason why they’re on the train too. “So are we,” she said. “I had received a letter from Princess Celestia to come to the castle.”
“Then I guess we’re all heading to Canterlot together then,” I said.
They all sat on the seats.
While waiting for the train to depart I decided to ask Rarity something. “So, Rarity. What do you think of the way I tied my mane and tail?” I asked, blushing. I had to turn my body in my seat just so she could see my mane and tail from where she was.
She looked over at my work. It didn’t look like how she styled it at the Gala, but it was still okay. “It looks good, but it needs some work,” she complimented. She then had an idea. “After all of this is over, I’ll take you shopping for some hair supplies.”
I was surprised. “Really? I don’t want to be a bother,” I said.
It looked like she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I insist,” said Rarity.
I knew Rarity’s personality. She’s generous to a fault. I wouldn’t be able to convince her not to do such a generous thing, even if I told her I could go shopping myself. “Thanks, Rarity,” I said.
“Think nothing of it, darling,” said Rarity.
The train then started moving, heading down the tracks for Canterlot.
Some Time Later
The train had just arrived at Canterlot Train Station.
“We’re here. This time by train rather than by carriage,” I thought. I took a deep breath and turned around in my seat as the train doors were opened.
Everypony got out of their seats and were heading for outside. Before the Mane Six could leave their seats, I stood up from my seat and ran. Everyone, except for Pinkie Pie, was staring at me, shocked and speechless. Pinkie Pie was obviously planning in her head to throw me a party.
I stopped running after a few feet and turned around to look at them. “Are you all coming or what? Celestia needs us,” I said. I then turned back and ran off towards Canterlot castle, leaving them behind.
They all snapped out of it. “Lemon’s right, girls. Celestia needs us,” agreed Twilight. She trotted off after me.
Her friends trotted off after us. Well, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew.
“Shouldn’t we ask Lemon about why he is runnin’ like that?” asked Applejack. She was directing that question to any one of her friends.
“Later! Just focus on getting to the castle!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
Few Minutes Later
After running through Canterlot and past a ton of surprised and shocked ponies, we made it inside the castle. Celestia was located at the steps, waiting for us.
I was panting from running the whole way. “We got here as soon as we could. What’s up?” I asked. I knew what the problem was, but I decided to ask anyway.
She was about to respond, but then she took a good look at me and was shocked. “Lemon, why are you walking on your hooves like that?” asked Celestia.
I would have told her right there and then, but I had a feeling that there was no time to explain. Especially since Discord was loose in Equestria. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, the situation at hand?” I said. I then realized what I said. “I mean, hoof.”
Celestia then remembered the situation. “Right. I’m glad you are all here,” she said. “Lemon, while I take them to the Elements of Harmony, why don’t you head for the Guard Barracks where Patchwork and the other trainee recruits are?”
I was surprised. “What? Why?” I asked.
“You’re still learning about magic from my sister. As you are now, you wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against Discord,” explained Celestia. “It’s better for you if you stay where it’s safer.”
I wanted to argue then and there that I wanted to help them defeat Discord, but in the end, I gave up instantly. Celestia currently has more power than me in magic, combat, and ruling power. She could have me locked up until the whole thing is over.
“As you wish, Princess,” I responded with a calm tone. “Stay safe, everypony.” I walked past everyone before they could say anything. I then left the castle and headed in the direction of the barracks. “Just because I only know a few spells and can’t fly, doesn’t mean I can’t help them defend against Discord. I could have done something to help.”
Few Minutes Later
I arrived at the barracks and walked inside. Inside the barracks was Patchwork and some trainee guards, who were all avoiding him and some other trainee that looked familiar and was a unicorn. The unicorn was a non-binary stallion who me and Patchwork met at the Gala last night, who went by the name of Starry Dream. They had a light brown coat with starry, sky-like patches on different parts of their body, amber-colored eyes, short, black hair with red streaks, and had a piece of the top of their left ear missing.
I walked over to the two of them. “Hey, Patchwork,” I greeted.
Patchwork stopped talking and turned around. He then became surprised when he saw me since it’s been almost half a day since we spoke to each other, and I was standing on my hind legs.
He bowed and so did the stallion next to him and the other trainees. “U-um, nice to see you again, your majesty,” said Patchwork. He was then curious about something. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be back in Ponyville with your friends?”
I shrugged. “Something big is going down in Equestria, so I came here with Twilight and her friends,” I explained. “I wanted to give them my help, but it seems that it’s not needed and I was sent here by Celestia.” I kept the bitterness out of my tone.
Patchwork knew the reasons why I couldn’t help. “Hm. Now, question number two,” he said. “Why are you standing on your hind legs like that?”
I shrugged. “I think it has something to do with me and what I am,” I said.
He understood what I was talking about. “Ah. Of course,” said Patchwork.
As for everyone else, they were confused from my explanation.
I decided to change the subject so that no one else would ask about it. “So, Starry. You decided to become a Royal Guard?” I asked.
They nodded. “Mm-hmm. It was after meeting you and Patchwork at the Grand Galloping Gala, your highness, I mean, majesty, that I decided to give being a Royal Guard a try,” explained Starry.
I was kind of impressed at his reasoning. “Cool. So which guard division did you decide to join?” I asked.
Starry Dream was confused. “Guard Division?” they said.
“The Solar Guards, the Lunar Guards, and my guards,” I informed.
Starry Dream then understood what I meant. “Oh, yeah. A few hours ago when I met up with Patchwork, he told me that he’ll be joining your guards. So, I was thinking of joining your guards too since you’ll need more than Patchwork to guard you,” they explained. “Are there any requirements to join?”
I thought about it. “I allow any being to join, but can only join if I recruit them or if I made an exception,” I explained. “I’m also okay if a misfit joins, but they have to listen to my and the Guard Captain’s orders.” In short, anyone can join as long as I can trust them, they don’t cause any trouble, and that they can keep my secrets for me until I’m ready to reveal them.
They looked down once Starry Dream heard me say that. “Oh,” said Starry Dream. Even their ears flopped down.
I resisted the urge to pet them on the head since I knew that that would be weird if I did that as a pony. “You can join if you want to,” I said. “I’m okay with it.”
They then perked right back up and bowed to me. “Thank you so much, your majesty. I will not let you down,” said Starry.
I continued to resist the urge to pet them on the head, and smiled. But on the inside I was worried. “It only took me a few minutes to get here. By now, the Mane Six should either be on their way to the hedge maze, or they’re already in it and are going through Discord’s tests,” I thought.
I just couldn’t allow them to go through all of that. I decided to go against Celestia’s orders and help the Mane Six. “Is there a bathroom nearby?” I asked.
Patchwork pointed his right hoof at a door. “The bathroom’s over there,” he said.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said. I crouched down towards one of Patchwork’s ears. “I’m going to go sneak out and help Twilight and her friends. Keep everyone distracted for a while, okay?”
Before Patchwork could say anything, I quickly headed for the bathroom and went inside. Once the door was closed, I locked it. I went over to the window and opened it with my magic. I would need the window open in order to sneak back in.
“Sorry, Celestia, but I have to help out my friends,” I said to myself.
I concentrated my magic into my horn while simultaneously focusing on a location in my mind, which was the Statue Garden. Once I had enough magic in my horn, I teleported away in a flash. I then appeared in the Statue Garden, but a few feet above the ground.
“Argh!” I shouted. I had landed on my hooves hard, which caused me to feel like there were pins and needles in my hind legs. “Ugh. Come on. Shake it off.”
As soon as the discomforting feeling in my legs was gone, I ran towards the hedge maze. After less than a minute, I arrived at the entrance. I looked around and noticed that no one was there. I knew that there’s no way I could have arrived there early before them, which meant only one thing.
“They’re already inside of the hedge maze,” I groaned. “Time to get them out of there.”
Before I could concentrate any magic into my horn, I was suddenly grabbed by the back of my neck by a clawed hand and pulled into the air. “What the? Who’s doing this?!” I questioned. “I demand you let me go!”
Someone chuckled. It sounded familiar. “Is that any way to talk to your father like that, son? I thought I raised you better than that,” the voice asked.
My blood went cold once I realized who it was. “Oh, crap,” I thought. I glanced my eyes to the left and could see that it was, as I knew, Discord himself. I snapped out of my shock. “Dad, you have to stop this now. All this chaos. Even if you defeat Twilight and her friends, they’ll somehow find a way to defeat you.” As I was talking, my horn was glowing with a golden aura. The “dad” part was just a slip of the tongue.
He made a thinking pose with his left paw. “Hmm...No,” he responded.
“Too bad,” I said.
There was a flash of magic as I summoned an open door above us. The door fell on the two of us and closed as soon as it hit the ground. We were inside of the Everfree Forest. I transported us here to make sure no one would be able to see me fighting Discord. I didn’t notice that a lot of my mane turned into golden dust, while some part of the top of my ears disappeared in a golden dust and were replaced with a part of dog ears. My eyes had been changed back into what they looked like back at the Gala. My horn glowed with a golden aura.
“Hey, old man,” I said. “How about some pie?”
A banana cream pie appeared out of existence and hit Discord in the face. While he was distracted, I freed myself from his grip. I got a few feet away from him before he removed the pie from his face.
He dipped his finger into the pie and into his mouth to taste it. “Mmm, banana cream pie,” said Discord. He then opened his mouth, threw the entire pie in with the pie tin, chewed it up, and swallowed. “Here I am without a gift for my son.” He summoned out a napkin and wiped his entire face with it, cleaning it instantly.
I felt insulted for some reason. “You must be thirsty,” I said. “Here. Have a drink.”
A rain cloud made out of cotton candy flashed into existence above Discord’s head. “Hmm?” he said as he looked up. It then rained a downpour of strawberry milk on him. The top of my horn turned into a golden dust as well.
“Ha! How do you like that?” I said, smirking.
My smirk fell once Discord instantly summoned an umbrella in his hand and held it over his head.
“I prefer chocolate milk instead,” he informed. Discord snapped his fingers and made the cloud rain chocolate milk instead. His napkin disappeared and was then replaced with a glass cup. He held it out in the rain as it was filling up .
I had an angry look on my face. “You have got to be kidding me,” I complained.
Once the cup was full, Discord brought the cup back and drank it all. “Ahh, delicious,” he sighed.
Discord let go of his umbrella, which remained floating above his head. He snapped his clawed fingers, causing the cotton candy cloud to disappear instantly. He then snapped them again, getting rid of the umbrella and cup.
“Your talent in chaos magic is good, but not chaotically good enough,” stated Discord. “You need more practice.”
I growled. My horn glowed even more, while my eyes glowed with magic too. Suddenly, the ground around us began to shake. Then, the battle had begun.
Few Minutes Later
Over the course of my battle with Discord, I haven’t succeeded in defeating him as he’s been avoiding all of my magical attacks or turned them against me, causing destruction to part of the forest around us. I felt exhausted as I had used up a lot of chaos magic. Not only that, but from the top of my ears all the way to my neck had been transformed from a pony’s head into a gray wolf’s head. I didn’t even notice that my horn was gone.
Discord summoned a watch on his left wrist. “Sorry son, but I have some business to take care of in Ponyville,” he informed.
I was confused, but it was for a reason. “Ponyville? But I thought you were planning on messing with Twilight and her friends in the hedge maze?”
Discord grinned. “Sorry son, but who said that I’ve been here the entire time?” he asked, cryptically.
“What?” I questioned.
Then, he snapped his fingers. The next thing I knew, in Discord’s place was a puppet version of him.
I was both shocked and confused. “I’ve been fighting a puppet all along?” I questioned.
I teleported outside of the barracks. After landing on the ground and walking off the pain again, I snuck over to the open bathroom window.
“Please be closed. Please be closed,” I whispered to myself. I looked through the open window and the bathroom door was still closed, which meant that no one was suspicious enough to try and break it down.
“Yes,” I whispered again. I then climbed through the window and back into the bathroom. Once I was inside, I closed the window quietly and locked it.
I flushed the toilet to make it sound like I just finished using the bathroom. I even sprayed some air freshener for the smell. I decided to wash my hooves in the sink since they’re already dirty. While washing them, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that I had a wolf’s head in place of my pony head.
“It seems that the more I use chaos magic, the more of my pony body starts to warp back into Foodie Love’s other form, the ‘Draconequus Form’,” I thought, theorizing.
My eyes glowed as I used my magic. There was a bright glow of magic aura, and when it died down, my eyes and head were back to normal.
“Better,” I muttered.
After drying off my hooves, I unlocked the door and left the bathroom. I saw all the guards turned their heads towards me. Patchwork looked relieved to see that I was okay and in one piece.
“You were in there for a pretty long time. You okay?” asked Patchwork, concerned. He hoped nothing bad had happened to me while I was out.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m fine,” I reassured. I then decided to change the subject. “So, while we’re waiting, what do you all feel like doing?”
Less than a minute later, we started playing a card game. We spent the entire time playing the card games and talking.
A Lot of Time Later
Me and my teacher were riding in a carriage while Celestia rode in a separate one. Both carriages were heading back to Ponyville since Twilight and her friends had defeated Discord and sealed him back into stone by using the Elements of Harmony. With his defeat, Ponyville turned back to normal. There was a chariot behind us since that one was going to be used for transporting the Discord statue back to the castle.
“Well, only a few ‘seasons’ until Discord is freed by Celestia in order to redeem him into becoming a good guy, I guess,” I thought. “That battle with dad was pretty awesome.” I then realized what I just called him. “I mean, Discord.”
“My student, I know that you’re disappointed that my sister kept you out of the fight against our ancient enemy Discord, but that’s no reason to ignore me,” Luna called out.
I was so deep in thought during the whole trip that I didn’t hear my teacher talking. “Huh? Oh, sorry,” I apologized. “I was just deep in thought.”
She was a little curious. “Really? What were you thinking about?” asked Luna.
I decided to make up a lie. “Well, first I wanted to take flying lessons from one of my friends so I could fly in the air and touch the clouds,” I said.
She nodded. “That’s understandable,” said Luna.
“And the second thing I was thinking about was my home,” I continued. “I really miss it, including my friends and family.” It wasn’t a total lie. Even though I liked being in Equestria, I did miss everything back at home.
She then looked sad all of a sudden. “Oh,” said Luna.
Now I felt bad since it looked like I hurt her feelings. “Um, but I’m not in a rush to go home,” I quickly said. “I do love being here with everyone since there could be a chance of adventure at any time. I also love our magic lessons together too.”
Luna smiled. “Thank you my student for your kind words, but you leaving is not the reason why I’m sad,” she said.
I was confused. “Then what are you sad about?” I asked.
“You’ll find out once we make it to Ponyville,” said Luna, cryptically.
Since that was the only answer I was getting from her, I decided to not ask and go back to staring at the sky.
Few Minutes Later
The chariots landed in Ponyville, near where the Mane Six and Discord’s statue was. With them was Heartbreak, Amber, and Spike, all who were both okay. We exited the carriages, while the pegasus guards had left to go transport Discord’s statue onto the chariot.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked, concerned.
“We’re fine, darling. We did have a little trouble, but we all came out of it okay,” said Rarity, reassuring.
“Yeah. We beat Discord and turned him back into stone,” said Rainbow Dash, confident. “It was nothing.”
I smiled happily. “Well, I’m glad you are all okay,” I said. I then walked over to Heartbreak and Amber. “That goes for you both too.”
Heartbreak and Amber both smiled.
I turned around towards Celestia and Luna. “Now then. It’s time you two answered our question,” I said. “I know from my conversation with Luna that you two have found something involving our way back home. So, have you two found us a way home?”
Everyone looked at Celestia and Luna, expecting an answer. Then, both princesses developed sad looks on their faces. Me, Heartbreak, and Amber could tell that something was wrong.
“Oh, no. What is it?” asked Heartbreak, worried. “Please tell me you found us a way home, right?”
Luna wanted to give us the news, but at the same time, she didn’t want to. “Well…” she said, hesitant. She didn’t even say anything after that.
Celestia decided to give us the news instead. “It’s better if we show you in the library, away from other ponies,” she said.
We were worried, but we decided to head for the library.
Once everyone was inside and the door was shut, Celestia gave us the news. “After searching every book on magic, we found out about something,” she informed.
“What is it?” asked Amber.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a few seconds before looking back at us.
“It’s best if you see for yourselves,” said Luna. She looked at Celestia, who nodded in response.
Both princesses walked away from each other until they were a far apart from one another on both sides of the library. Then, both of their horns glowed with a magical aura as it was being built up. After a while, they had built up enough magic.
“Ready, sister?” asked Luna.
“Ready,” responded Celestia.
They both released a beam of magic from their horns, both beams headed right for each other until they collided in one spot. There was a bright flash of light that caused us to cover our eyes. Once the light died down, in the spot where the magic collided, a portal was in its place. It was viewing a random city that had people, cars, and even buildings.
Amber recognized what was on the other side and pointed at the portal. “Hey, it’s the Earth. They opened a portal back home,” she said, smiling.
Heartbreak smiled too. “We can finally leave,” she said. Heartbreak was going to mention how it wasn’t the Earth that had the counterparts of everyone from Equus, but decided that they didn’t need to know that or else they’ll question how she knew about that. Especially since they were all about to go back home now.
“Well, yes...and no,” said Luna. She had looked away from us with a sad look.
Heartbreak looked at her and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What the fet do you mean?” she asked.
Celestia decided to be the one to explain. “What Luna means is that this is actually a viewing portal spell. While it can open a portal to any dimension, it can only view it instead,” she explained. “We couldn’t find any spells to open up gateways to another dimension.”
All three of us felt dread in our hearts. Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends were looking concerned.
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“What I’m saying...is that you three are trapped in Equestria. Forever,” said Celestia.
“What?!” shouted me, Heartbreak, and Amber.
Heartbreak couldn’t believe what she was saying. “That’s impossible. You must have missed a book,” she said.
“We didn’t. We had every library searched everywhere for any books relating to magic and found nothing,” she informed.
Heartbreak had an angry look on their face. “Check harder!” she shouted.
“Heartbreak, calm down,” I said. “If this spell can view the Earth from this side, maybe we can check and see how our families are doing? To them, all three of us suddenly went missing one day.” I smiled. “As long as we get to see them, everything will be fine. Okay?”
Heartbreak thought about it. Being able to see her family from the portal would help. She then calmed down a little. “Fine,” said Heartbreak. She then looked at both me and Amber. “So who’s going first?”
Few Minutes Later
Everyone looked at us with concerned looks as the three of us looked anywhere but the portal. We had each checked up our own families to see how they were all doing, but it seems that there was something wrong:
First, all of our stuff from the houses we live in are gone. Anything that was ours or that we owned wasn’t there anymore. Meaning, our rooms are all empty with nothing inside. Well, unless our families used our former rooms for something else.
Second, no one seems to be worried that we’re missing. It’s like they’re continuing their own lives without a care or worry in the world.
Lastly, any photos of us are gone. Like, it was like they never existed in the first place. As for any photos of people that featured us in them, it was like we weren’t in them either. In some of them, there was someone else taking our place in the photo with that person. They were either someone we know or didn’t know.
So, Twilight’s theory that we all know to be true is that when the three of each of us had been pulled into Equestria, our dimension had gotten rid of any evidence of our existence whether it was physical, digital, or even mental. Meaning, objects, photographs, and memories. After all, if we go missing and no one knows where we are, it could cause a panic amongst our friends and family.
Anyway, we each had our own reaction to this: Heartbreak had an angry look on her face and was trying to curse up a storm, but was failing because of her curse, Amber was sad and had tears in her eyes, and I had a calm, blank look on my face.
Fluttershy approached us, wanting to give us a hug. “L--” she said before she was interrupted.
I was really not in the mood for a hug from anyone. None of us were. “No, Fluttershy. None of us want any hugs right now,” I said in a tired tone. “Just...give us some time alone to ourselves.”
Fluttershy wanted to give us a hug, but she decided to respect my wish. “O-okay,” she said.
Princesses had to leave for Canterlot Castle to make an announcement to the public, so they said their goodbyes to all of us. Everyone except me, Heartbreak, and Amber didn’t respond back.
It’s been a day since we got the news. It was going to take a while for all three of us to adapt to this. Well, it was going to take both Amber and Heartbreak a while, but as for me, I decided that either doing any one of the things that pony royalty do or making new friends might cheer me up. So, I’m heading for Ponyville Orphanage to visit the orphans with the boxes of cupcakes Pinkie Pie gave me to bring to them in her place.
I passed by two familiar mares. “Hi, Lyra, Bon-Bon,” I greeted.
Lyra and Bon-Bon both moved their heads up to look at me. It was going to take a while for ponies to adapt to me walking on my hind legs.
She wanted to freak out at seeing me walk on my hind hooves, but decided to act cool about it like it was nothing. “Hey, Lemon. How’s it going?” asked Lyra.
I nodded my head. “Good. I’m about to head for the Ponyville Orphanage to hang out with the orphans there,” I informed.
Bon-Bon smiled. She was surprised too, but chalked it up to something unexplainable. “That’s great. I think your appearance there might cheer them up,” she said.
I smiled back. “I sure hope so,” I said. “Well, got to run. Can’t be late.”
I walked past the two of them and continued on.
“Nice dress!” Lyra complimented.
Rarity promised that it’ll take a few days until the new clothes will be finished. So until then, I’m wearing the same dress that I wore yesterday for a few days.
I stopped to turn around and look at Lyra. “Thanks, and you should thank Rarity,” I replied back, grinning.
I turned back around and continued on.
Few Minutes Later
I arrived at the orphanage. It looked nice on the outside as it looked like a simple orphanage that was built out of wooden planks that were painted with a nice shade of light blue, and there was even a sign at the top that said ‘Ponyville Orphanage’. Waiting at the door was an adult unicorn mare. She had a peach-colored coat, a long, strawberry red-colored mane that was tied in a braid, seafoam green-colored eyes, glasses, and her Cutie Mark was a tree surrounded by a swirl of semi-transparent light that was tied into a large ribbon of sorts. The swirls of light were green with splotches of yellow everywhere.
The mare bowed. “Greetings, your highness, I mean, your majesty. My name is Poplar Embrace, the Caretaker of this Orphanage,” she greeted.
“You don’t need to bow to me, Ms. Embrace,” I informed. “Glad to be here. By the way, Pinkie Pie sent me with some cupcakes for everyone to have.”
Poplar smiled. “I’m surprised Pinkie Pie didn’t come along as well. The fillies and colts like having her here,” she said.
“She was busy, so she asked me to deliver the cupcakes for her,” I explained. I then remembered something. “Oh, yeah. Pinkie Pie wanted me to tell you that she ‘can’t wait for Windy Days’ Birthday Party tomorrow’.”
Poplar smiled. “Windy Days can’t wait for his birthday party either since it is being planned by Pinkie Pie herself,” she responded. Poplar turned around towards the door. “But enough about that. Let’s go inside. We’ve been talking for a while now, and some of the children don’t have the patience to wait.”
I followed after her as she walked inside. The place looked well decorated and homey. There was even the sound of fillies and colts laughing as they were playing around in the house. Poplar had me place the boxes of cupcakes down on a table.
“Prince Lemon’s here, everypony! He even brought Cupcakes from Sugarcube Bakery,” Poplar called out.
It was silent for a few seconds. Then, there was the sound of hoofsteps as fillies and colts ran over to where we were, excited.
“Hello, I am glad to visit you all on this fine day in Ponyville,” I greeted. “How are you all today?”
“Good!” responded everyone.
Some of them went for the cupcakes while the others stayed to ask me some questions.
“Hey, mister,” an earth colt called out. “What’s it like being a prince?”
“Good question. It’s fun, but it’s also a lot of hard work too,” I answered.
“Do you have your own castle?” asked a pegasus filly.
“The princesses told me one day I will,” I answered.
“Why are you dressed up like a mare?” asked an earth filly.
“I like to dress up like one,” I answered. “So, call me ‘Your Majesty’, okay?”
“Yes, your majesty,” said the earth filly.
“What’s your favorite food?” asked a pegasus colt. “Mine’s Cupcakes.”
I was worried. I couldn’t tell them my favorite food because it was meat-related. So, I decided to lie. “Jelly-filled donuts,” I said, lying. It was also partly the truth too because it’s one of my favorite sweets.
“Is your special talent really food?” asked a unicorn filly, curious. “If so, can you make us something right now?”
I looked around and saw that they all looked excited as soon as the unicorn filly asked.
I was feeling hesitant. “Well…” I said.
The reason was that Luna warned me that using my magic to create food that I’m not used to creating would drain me, depending on how much magic is needed to create that food into existence. So she told me to practice my special talent whenever her or Twilight’s around.
I knew I was going to regret this later. “Ugh, okay. I’ll do it,” I groaned.
They cheered.
“And before any of you start suggesting which foods, I will only do one, and the food won’t be big since it would use up a lot of my magic, okay?” I informed.
They all nodded their heads, understanding.
“So, any suggestions?” I asked.
They all started shouting out suggestions. I was trying to pick one, but it was hard as they were shouting out different foods. I looked around until I saw a familiar face in the crowd. This one wasn’t shouting out any suggestions at all.
I was shocked. “It can’t be…But it is,” I thought.
It was a certain villainous filly from Seasons 8 and 9, Cozy Glow. She looked the same, except she looked worried as she wanted to suggest something.
“It’s Cozy Glow,” I thought. “I guess in this universe, she’s an orphan. I wonder what happened to her family? Did they die, or did they abandon her here?”
My train of thought was then interrupted.
Poplar decided to help me with the noise level. “Everypony, lower your voices. Lemon here can’t hear any of your suggestions if you’re talking so loudly,” she said.
The fillies and colts stopped shouting.
Poplar nodded her head. “Good,” she said. Poplar then turned her head towards me. “Your majesty?”
I smiled. “Thank you, Ms. Embrace,” I said. “Let’s see…”
I looked around, searching for somepony to pick until my eyes landed on Cozy Glow.
I pointed a hoof at her. “The filly in the back with the blue curly hair,” I called out.
Cozy Glow looked surprised as I called her out. “M-me?” she asked.
I nodded my head, confirming. “Come on up to the front so I can hear you Ms…?”
“Uh, Cozy Glow, your majesty,” informed Cozy Glow.
She flapped her wings and flew above all of the fillies and colts that were ahead of her. Cozy Glow landed in front of the crowd.
“So what would you like to suggest?” I asked.
“Can you make ice cream?” she asked.
I thought about it and nodded. Making ice cream is luckily something I can do. “I can,” I confirmed. I looked at Poplar. “Ms. Embrace, can you get me a bowl and spoon from the kitchen please?”
She nodded. “Of course,” said Poplar. She headed for the kitchen.
I looked back at Cozy Glow. “Alright. So, what flavor of ice cream, how many scoops, and what toppings?”
She was surprised to hear that. “U-Um…” said Cozy Glow. She then started thinking about it.
Poplar returned with a bowl and spoon in it, being carried in an aura of strawberry red-colored magic.
“Thank you,” I said. I then took the bowl and spoon in my magic.
Cozy Glow had decided on what she wanted. “Strawberry and Chocolate, three scoops, whipped cream, cherries, and chocolate syrup,” she informed.
It was my luck that the things she was asking for weren't going to be too hard for me to make, but it will drain me of some of my magic.
“You got it, Cozy Glow,” I said.
I placed the bowl down in front of me onto the floor. I closed my eyes to focus, took a deep breath in, and then breathed out. I gathered my magic in my horn as I pictured Cozy Glow’s request. After a while, I opened my eyes and looked at the bowl. It was filled with three scoops of ice cream that was a mix between strawberry and chocolate, and they were topped with whipped cream, cherries, and chocolate sauce. Everypony looked surprised, including Cozy Glow as they had personally witnessed the stuff come out of thin air.
I felt a little drained as that took some of my magic to make. “Here you go, Cozy Glow,” I said.
She came out of her shock. “Thank you,” said Cozy Glow. She took a spoonful of ice cream with some of the toppings and ate it. Her eyes lit up in happiness.
“Well?” I asked.
“It’s so good,” said Cozy Glow, smiling.
I smiled. “Glad you like it,” I said.
Part of my day was spent answering questions.
Some Time Later
I was in Poplar’s Office, sitting in a chair across from Poplar herself, who was sitting at her desk with some papers in her magic. We told the children that we needed a break, so I told them to go play until we’re done.
Poplar looked concerned. “You sure you want to go through with this, your majesty?” she asked. “Won’t you be busy with your royal duties and your job to hang out with them?”
I shook my head. “I won’t be too busy to hang out with my daughter,” I said. “Besides, my royal duties only happen if Celestia and Luna need me in Canterlot, which is pretty rare. Why are you asking anyway?”
Poplar shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just surprised you want to adopt Cozy Glow because of her past,” she said.
I was confused. “What do you mean?” I asked.
Poplar sighed. “Cozy Glow’s been transferred from orphanage to orphanage across Equestria ever since her parents abandoned her in Manehattan. She originally lived in the Manehattan Orphanage, but because of her attitude problems, no couple wanted to adopt her, which is the reason for her transfer,” she explained. “In fact, it was the reason why she was transferred from every Orphanage until she arrived here in Ponyville.”
I felt very sad for Cozy Glow. “I see,” I said, silently.
Poplar looked at the window with a sad look on her face. “The reason she’s like this is that she misses her parents so much and believes that they’ll be coming back for her,” she continued. “But now? She has given up all hope that they’re even coming for her, or that anypony wants to adopt her after pushing everypony away. That’s the reason why you saw her acting all withdrawn and shy.”
Poplar was right. I thought back and realized that Cozy Glow just wanted to go back to her room rather than hang out with any of us.
She looked back at me with a serious look that contained hope in her eyes. “Do you still want to adopt her after knowing all this?” asked Poplar.
I smiled. “Everyone needs hope in their lives, even Cozy Glow,” I said. “You won’t be able to change my mind about adopting her.”
Her face went from having a serious look to having a soft smile. “You should’ve been known as the ‘Alicorn of Hope’ instead, your majesty,” informed Poplar. “You’re giving hope to not only me, but also Cozy Glow too.”
I chuckled. “Too bad I became the ‘Alicorn of Food’, huh?” I joked.
She laughed. “Yeah,” said Poplar. She then placed the papers down on the desk in front of me with a quill. “So how long do you think until you earn a castle or a place to live for you and Cozy Glow to move into? I mean, living at the Library with Twilight and Spike must be uncomfortable, right?”
I shrugged and started signing papers. “A little, but we all make it work,” I said. “As for the castle, a few months since the Castle of the Two Sisters needs some work, and yes, that is the castle in the Everfree Forest, but there will be paths built in the forest that will allow ponies to travel safely too.”
Poplar was shocked to hear that, but she then snapped out of it. “Why not stay in Canterlot Castle until then?” she asked.
“To stay near my friends,” I said. “If I stayed in Canterlot, I would need to take a train every day just to visit my friends. Friendship is important, right?”
Poplar nodded her head, agreeing with me. “It is, but a place with a ton of space is important too,” she said. “Your daughter will need a room of her own, right?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I guess,” I said. “I’ll send a letter to Celestia and ask her if me and Cozy Glow can stay over at the castle for a few months.”
I signed the last of the papers, which Poplar then took in her magic and checked them over. “Looks like everything is in order,” she informed. Poplar put down the papers and looked at me with a smile. “Congratulations, your majesty. You are now Cozy Glow’s parent.”
I smiled back. “Fantastic,” I said.
She got up from her chair. Propal was excited to tell Cozy Glow. “We should go tell her the good news. She’ll be so excited to hear that you’ve adopted her,” she said.
“Not yet,” I said. I then started grinning. “I want to give her another surprise today. One that only Pinkie Pie herself can give.”
Propal was confused, but then she realized what I meant. “Ohh,” she said. Propal then nodded her head while smiling. “That would be a great surprise for Cozy Glow too.”
“Yes, which is why I need your help,” I said.
I then explained the plan.
Few Minutes Later
I was at the Library as I was searching for some books to read for the children. I had to give them another excuse, which was ‘I’m heading back to the Library to bring some books to read to you all’. In order to support my excuse, I need to actually bring some books back with me. The children told me what books or genres they like, so, I’m searching through the shelves with the help of Spike and Twilight.
I told Twilight about what happened. “So that’s it,” I finished. “I’m a parent now and I need to live in Canterlot Castle in order to raise my daughter in a place with more room until the Castle of the Two Sisters is livable.”
Twilight removed a book from the shelf with her magic. “I understand, Lemon. Living far away from your friends is tough, but your daughter needs room to grow and the library does not have much since there would be four of us living here,” she informed.
I sighed. “I know, but you and the girls, and even my friends. I don’t want to live far from you all,” I said.
“I know what you mean, Lemon, but, as long as you stay in contact with them and make time to visit them, your bonds will always last,” said Twilight.
I was impressed. “Wow. Very profound, Twilight,” I said. “You should send that to Celestia.”
She smiled. “Sounds like a good idea. I’ll do that after we’re done,” said Twilight.
She placed the book on the pile of books that was located in the middle of the room.
“Well, that lesson does sound like something that you would need to do since you did choose to go to Ponyville and not tell your friends,” I said. “I mean, you missed one of your friend’s birthday party without telling her where you were going.”
Spike and Twilight stopped looking through the bookshelves as soon as they heard that. The reason I was bringing up that day was so Twilight could realize her mistake and take care of it early.
I levitated the book in my magic and placed it on the pile, making it a total of fourteen. “Well, I hope you did eventually tell them and at least stayed in contact with them soon after,” I said. “I mean, what I’m getting from what you just said, some friends will understand, but others will have a hard time forgiving, but knowing you, as soon as you realized what you did, you went straight back home and spoke to them.”
She looked very worried. I pretended not to notice and levitated the books into the air in my magic. They were pretty heavy altogether as each of them weighed differently from one another.
It was time to deal the finishing blow. “Twilight Sparkle,” I said. I crouched down to be at her level and look her in the eyes, then I placed a hoof on her right shoulder. “I am glad to be friends with such a nice, kind, and noble mare like you. You always put your friends first before you. Never change Twilight.”
Before she could say anything, I hugged her. After a few seconds, I stopped. “I should get going before the children become impatient since I promised to read them some books,” I said. “Bye, Twilight.”
I walked away and headed for the door, but then I stopped. I looked at Spike. “Spike, can you go to Sugarcube Corner and see Pinkie Pie? Once you do, can you ask her to prepare a party for Cozy Glow at the library?” I asked. “I would go myself, but I have to head back to the Orphanage.”
Knowing Pinkie Pie, she was preparing the party even though no one asked her about it yet.
He was worried about Twilight as she looked like she was about to freak out soon. “Uh...sure. I can do that,” confirmed Spike.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.
I continued on my way and left the library with the books following behind me in my magic. Knowing Twilight, she’ll start freaking out now, then head for Canterlot tomorrow to speak with her friends. I wanted to see Twilight freaking out since it was cute whenever she did that, but I didn’t have to watch. There were some fillies and colts that wanted to hear some stories.
Few Hours Later-Nighttime
The sun had just gone down and the moon was up. All the fillies and colts had gone off to their rooms to go to bed. All except one, Cozy Glow, who was asked to stay behind as me and Poplar wanted to talk to her.
“I’ve got good news for you, Cozy Glow,” informed Poplar.
Cozy Glow’s ears perked up. “What is it?” she asked.
“You were adopted today,” she announced.
Cozy Glow was shocked to hear that, but in her eyes, was hope. “What? Who adopted me?” she asked.
“They’re royalty, and they’re excited to be your parent,” clued Poplar.
Cozy Glow looked at me as she figured it out. She had a shocked look on her face. “You adopted me?” asked Cozy Glow.
“Yup,” I confirmed.
“B-but why?” she asked.
“Because you looked so sad and lonely,” I said. “Poplar told me what happened.”
Cozy Glow looked at Poplar, shocked.
She shrugged. “He had the right to know before he adopted you, Cozy Glow,” said Poplar with a nonchalant tone. “No matter what I said, he wouldn’t budge.”
“Of course I wouldn’t. I would rather see you with a life full of hope than a life full of sadness,” I said. “That’s why I want to be your parent, Cozy Glow.”
Tears started to form in her eyes. I levitated Cozy Glow up into the air in my magic. Then, I brought her into my hooves and hugged her. Cozy Glow’s only response was that she started crying. I looked at Poplar and winked at her, letting her know it was time. She nodded her head, understanding.
“I’ll go check on the children to see if they’re ready for bed,” informed Poplar. Looked at Cozy Glow. “Goodbye, sweetie. Just remember, you’re always welcome here whenever you want to visit us.”
She couldn’t respond since she was crying so much. Cozy Glow heard the sound of Poplar’s hoofsteps leaving.
“Let’s go to your new home, Cozy Glow,” I said.
I walked away while picking up the library books in my magic as I didn’t want to leave them behind by accident.
Few Minutes Later
While we were on our way from the Orphanage, I had to explain everything to Cozy Glow about our living situation and that we’ll be temporarily staying at Canterlot Castle once I received word from Princess Celestia. She was okay with it.
Anyway, we had just arrived at the Golden Oak Library, whose lights were all off.
“Welcome to your temporary home, Cozy Glow,” I said.
She was silent for a few seconds as she stood in front of the door. “I thought you were kidding when you said we were living in a library,” said Cozy Glow.
“Well, I wasn’t. Let me get the door for you,” I said as I did just that. “After you.”
“Thanks,” said Cozy Glow.
As soon as she walked into the library, the lights suddenly turned on.
“SURPRISE!” shouted everyone.
Cozy Glow was really surprised at the surprise. “Aah!” she shouted.
I crouched down and hugged Cozy Glow. “Calm down, Cozy Glow. It’s a surprise party,” I reassured. “Look around.” I let go of her.
She was able to calm down at my words and looked around. Cozy Glow saw the food, the drinks, the treats, the decorations, and the banner that said ‘Happy Adoption, Cozy Glow!’. She even saw that the ones who were attending the party were the Mane Six, Spike, some ponies, the CMC, Princess Celestia and Luna, and Patchwork. Even Poplar and the children from the Orphanage were there too, who all snuck out of the Orphanage while Cozy Glow was distracted.
She was still surprised. “Is this all for me?” asked Cozy Glow.
I smiled. “Well, of course it is,” I responded. “What do you think?”
She started to smile. Cozy Glow then turned towards me and hugged me. “I love it, daddy! Thank you so much!” she exclaimed, joyful.
I hugged her back. After a few seconds, we let each other go. We both then walked inside to join the party.
It had been a few days since my and Heartbreak’s adventure with Doctor Whooves and Derpy, and returning with a dragon surprised everyone. Heartbreak tried to keep the secret by saying we went on an adventure outside town and found Tiergan. Luckily, they believed it. Pinkie used it as an opportunity to throw another welcoming party and a secret birthday party at the same time. Why she did that, or how she even knew, I’m unsure. Things resumed normally afterwards, with the only noticeable event being Twilight’s ‘Want it, need it’ spell that brought Celestia’s anger and frustration. Thankfully, Tiergan, Cozy Glow, and I had stayed away from the incident.
I looked at the pegasus filly. “How was school?” I asked in a tired and emotionless tone.
Cozy Glow shrugged. “It was fine. Ms. Cheerilee gave us math homework today,” she informed.
“Need any help?” I offered.
The pegasus filly shook her head. “No thanks. I can do it on my own,” answered Cozy Glow.
“Okay,” I responded.
She didn’t question what was wrong with me because I lied that practicing magic with Princess Luna at night was tiring work, which she believed. It was technically true for anyone who was in my hooves if they had to sleep. The two of us were walking through Canterlot, heading for the castle, while three Eclipse Guards followed us: A pegasus from the Solar Guards, Lime Strike, and two thestrals who were transferred from the Lunar Guard, Moonflower, and his twin sister, Moonlit Breeze.
“Your majesty, you have an appointment in an hour to go visit the trainees for the Eclipse Guards at the barracks,” the blue mare informed.
I looked at her. “Thanks for reminding me, Lime Strike,” I said.
She bowed. “I live to serve, your majesty,” said Lime Strike.
I turned back to look straight but glanced at the blue mare a little from the corner of my eye. Ever since I had gotten back, the feeling I got from her had gotten stronger, and now I currently see a green aura surrounding Lime Strike’s entire body. If the blue mare finds out that I know that she’s a Changeling, who knows what could happen.
“And I’m grateful for that,” I responded.
I stopped, and then I reached inside one of my saddlebags and pulled out a cupcake. It was a pink cupcake with pink frosting and red and pink-colored hearts on top. I looked back at Lime Strike, who was looking at the cupcake, almost about to drool. I’ve been making these cupcakes for a few days and have been giving them to her. When I first gave it to the blue mare, she was hesitant at first, but then after taking a bite, Lime Strike loved it instantly and devoured the whole thing.
I used my magic to levitate the cupcake over to her. “I’ll give you the rest after my meeting with the trainees is done, okay?” I said.
The blue mare nodded. “Of course,” said Lime Strike. She proceeded to devour the cupcake with each bite.
Once Lime Strike was finished and she threw away the cupcake wrapper, they continued on towards the castle.
Few Minutes Later
After we had arrived at Canterlot Castle, the pegasus filly, although reluctant, went off to her room with the thestral sister following after to guard Cozy Glow, while me, Tiergan, and the other two headed for the guard barracks. Once we arrived, I opened the door and walked inside. Sitting at a table, talking was Patchwork, Starry Dream, Cobalt Rush, and Gilda. They didn’t notice we had arrived.
I cleared my throat. “Excuse me,” I said.
They stopped talking once they heard me and looked in our direction.
“Hey, Lemon. We were waiting for you,” greeted the fanged pegasus.
She scoffed. “Any later and I was going to leave without you,” said the female griffin, impatient.
The patchwork pony looked at her. “Gilda. Be nice,” he warned.
Gilda only huffed.
They looked at me, excited. “We decided that we wanted to show you the results of the training we went through. If you don’t mind?” asked the sparkly pony.
I nodded. “Sure,” I said, a tone of fake happiness.
Starry Dream then looked at me, concerned.
“Are you feeling okay? You don't sound happy,” they asked.
Everyone looked at me.
Luckily, I had a lie ready. “Oh, sorry. It's just that I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days,” I said. “I'm going to see Princess Luna about it.”
It was also technically the truth. I haven't slept in days due to my sleeping position, and the fact that I felt chaotically restless for some unknown reason. Everyone, except the female griffin, looked at me concerned.
“I hope you‘ll be able to sleep soon,” said the hybrid pony.
“Me too,” I said.
“Don’t worry, your highness. Princess Luna is good with dreams,” reassured the thestral brother. “If anypony can help you, it’s her.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I guess so,” I said. “Now, let’s head for the training grounds and see how your training has been going.”
Few Minutes Later
The group was battling amongst each other as it was the female griffin versus Cobalt Rush and Starry Dream vs. the patchwork pony. Over where Gilda was flying around dive bombing Cobalt while he dodged and remained on the ground.
The female griffin was getting annoyed from being unable to hit her opponent. “Quit dodging and just fight already! You’re getting on my nerves!” shouted Gilda, frustrated.
What she didn’t know was that this was all part of his plan. The hybrid pony is dodging around in order to get Gilda to waste a lot of her energy attacking Cobalt Rush. Once the female griffin is too tired to counterattack, he’ll go in and land the dealing blow. Right now, the hybrid pony just needed to stall for a little bit longer.
Cobalt Rush smirked. “No, thanks. I think I’m fine with dodging you for now,” taunted the hybrid pony.
And over where the sparkly pony and Patchwork are, a tough fight was raging. The patchwork pony was attacking Starry Dream with a wooden sword, but they’d block it every time with a shielding spell.
They were starting to get really tired from using consecutive shielding spells plus some magic blasts. Meanwhile, Patchwork felt the same way.
“They’re getting tired. As soon as they can’t defend anymore, I’ll go in for the strike,” thought the patchwork pony.
“As soon as I drop my shield, he’ll attack me, but what he won’t know is that it’s a trap. I’ll catch him with my magic, and then I’ll win,” thought the sparkly pony, determined.
Meanwhile-The Sidelines
Me, the blue mare, and Moonflower were on the sidelines watching the matches.
“Who do you two think will win?” I asked, curious.
Lime Strike thought about it. “I have to say…Gilda and Starry Dream. They both look like the type to not give up,” she said.
He smirked. “Interesting choice, but I have to go with Patchwork and Cobalt Rush. They’re trotting circles around those two,” said the brother thestral. “What about you, your majesty?”
I smiled. “Well, I have faith in all of them. After all, they’re not pretending to be who they’re actually not,” I said, looking at the blue mare. “I mean, can you imagine if someone did something like that? Being someone they’re not, ‘Lime Strike’?” I quoted with my hooves.
Moonflower was confused, but Lime Strike froze.
“There’s no way that my cover was actually blown. Maybe they’re talking about somepony else?” thought the blue mare.
I had a feeling about what she was currently thinking. “I’m not. I’m talking about you, Changeling,” I answered.
Lime Strike’s eyes widened in fear.
“Okay, everyone. You can stop the fights now,” I called out.
Hearing that, the four stopped fighting and headed over to us.
“Any longer and I would’ve won,” complained Gilda.
Cobalt Rush smirked. “Keep telling yourself that,” he said.
Seeing as how the sparkly pony was looking tired and could collapse anytime soon, the hybrid pony put a wing around them, causing Starry Dream.
They looked at Cobalt Rush, blushing.
He blushed as well. “You looked like you might collapse soon. So, I’m just helping you,” said the hybrid pony.
Starry Dream smiled. “Thanks for that, Rush,” said the sparkly pony.
Cobalt Rush smiled back. “No problem,” he said.
Once they were all there, I continued. “I had a feeling that you were a changeling, but I needed enough evidence. Luckily, your flashing green eyes, sudden change in personality, you avoid HB thanks to one of her curses that only affects Changelings, and your love of my muffins were enough evidence to prove that you were a Changeling,” I explained. I gave them a hollow smile. “After all, my secret ingredient is what makes you such a fan of them. Since you’re a Changeling, you can tell what it is, can’t you?”
The blue mare felt fearful as she realized what the secret ingredient was. Lime Strike tried backing away, but then realized that she was cornered. “I-I…” said the blue mare.
“Where’s the real Lime Strike? Where do you have her imprisoned?” questioned Patchwork. “And don’t even try to fly away. We’ll have you captured before you could even think of moving your wings.”
Everyone, except the princesses, the Solar Guards and Lunar Guards, Moonflower, and the brother thestral knew that the blue mare was a Changeling. After I had figured it out, I had told them that this fight was an excuse to get her alone without anyone else around to listen in.
Being cornered with nowhere to escape had made Lime Strike drop her disguise, causing the blue mare to turn into a Changeling. Everyone, except me, was shocked.
“My mission is a failure, and as such, I must terminate myself,” said the unknown changeling.
She pulled out a dagger, causing everyone to be on guard, but then the unknown changeling turned the dagger around and thrusted it towards herself. Unfortunately, the dagger never made it since my magic stopped her hoof.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” I shouted.
What the unknown changeling tried to do shocked all of us. She struggled to move her hoof. “Let me go. I must terminate myself for my queen,” ordered the unknown changeling, determined.
“But what kind of queen would want one of her own to kill themselves?!” I shouted again.
“I’m a high-level operative. We were ordered that if we were to be captured, then we must either try to escape and head back to the hive to await punishment, or we must kill ourselves if we can’t escape and to prevent any information about our hive from falling into enemy hooves,” she explained.
“Do you even want to?” asked the sparkly pony, concerned.
The unknown changeling looked slightly conflicted. “Well, no, but–” she said, but was then interrupted.
Cobalt Rush also looked concerned. “Then there’s no reason that you should do this. Yes, you’re loyal to your queen, but you have your own choice,” he said. “Like you said, you’ll be punished if you return. Do you have any comrades that you were close to that you lost because of this...Ms…?”
The unknown changeling was silent. “...Takt. My name is Takt,” she said. “And…Yes, I did. Both my brother and sister. They had both gone undercover together in Canterlot to gather information for the queen, but one day, my brother accidentally messed up, causing him to get exposed as a Changeling. My sister could’ve left him behind to be captured so she could get away, but she didn’t and got captured too.” Takt winced a little before continuing. “There was no way for them to escape, so to protect our hive, they took each other’s lives.”
Everyone gasped as we all felt both shocked and sad for her.
Moonflower decided to talk after a while of being quiet. “...And how did your queen feel about it?” he asked.
Takt scoffed. “Like she always does whenever we lose one, uncaring as she can always just ‘replace them with another one’. I wanted to tell her that ‘they were irreplaceable to me’, but I couldn’t as she was our queen and that would warrant punishment,” answered the changeling.
With her distracted, I wrenched the dagger out of Takt’s hoof and out of her reach. “Then why not just leave and never return?” I asked. “I mean, if it happened to you too just like what happened to your siblings, then she’d replace you with another one.”
The changeling rolled her eyes. “If I did do that, then I’d be marked as a traitor and an outcast to my hive. I’d never be able to return, or else I’ll risk facing punishment if I try to,” explained Takt.
“Then, whether you do or don’t return, you’d be punished either way, right? So, what’s to stop you from going rogue and never returning?” I asked.
The changeling was going to answer, when suddenly, she realized something. No matter what Takt does, it’d just end with her being punished by the queen.
“I…never thought about that. I guess, I was just afraid that the queen might send others after me,” answered the changeling.
I smiled. “Well, we’ll protect you no matter what. After all, you are technically one of my guards after all,” I said. “And the thing about the royal guards is that they all stick together.” I looked at everyone. “Isn’t that right, everyone?”
