> In Another World
>  by TheHoofgarian
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. New year, new world
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sounds around him woke him up. As he opened his eyes he realized that he's not in the place he went to sleep or at least he hoped that he didn't knock out himself in the open. He doesn't remember much. Last night was new years eve and he was at a party with some of his friends.

Most of them get pretty drunk as the night went but he knew that it didn't go to that point when they don't know about themselves, they're not that kind of people who completely surrenders to the alcohol and lost it. Since an incident that almost cost one of his friend's life, they've been more careful.

He was confused. This was the first time that he cannot recall most of the things after some time when the party started. He became worried. Sitting up and looking before him, it's getting more frightening. He doesn't recognize this place.
The place they were, is a house on the outskirts of a little town. The place belongs to the parents of one of his friends but they let them use it. It was an ideal place because most of the neighbors aren't celebrate at home but in a party organized by the local mayor so they didn't bother anybody.

But this place is nothing like he was last night at. The colors seem more vibrant the area is different and there is one other feeling that he can't describe, it's just weird and somehow supernatural.

His thoughts are interrupted by something. Whispering. He realizes that these people were whispering to each other since he woke up but somehow he was closing out them.

"Where am I? What happened?" he mutters, then hearing gasps behind him.

"It talks." a feminine voice saying. By the tone, he guessed that she's just a child. That makes things more complicated.

"What should we do now?" he hears another young girl. he doesn't say anything and doesn't turn to their direction. He's still trying to put his thoughts in order.

"Ah hope Scootaloo will be back with Twilight soon."

"I think we should get away from this thing, what if it is some kind of monster?"

It doesn't make much sense to him. It's like they never saw an adult before. They continue speaking but it makes less and less sense. They said some words like they were talking about someone. Finally, he makes himself turn around and what he sees is rather shocking.

They looked like horses, like really small ones. Probably fillies. But their heads were different, not triangle-like, more rounded, only a small muzzle sticking out, and the eyes were incredibly large compared to the head. There were two of them. One is yellow with a red mane and tail the other is white with a light purple mane and tail. What surprised me that the white one had a horn it's head.

They maintained short eye contact until they both started to back away and then run from him. He was thinking of doing the same thing but his brain and body decided that they won't cooperate. He didn't know what to think or feel right now. He started to put things together.

The first thought was that this is a dream but after a quick test, he knew that he's awake. The next idea is some kind of drug but that is unlikely because none of the people he knows, use any kind of stuff that would cause something like this and everything else seemed right in his head. Third thought. Some kind of prank. Unlikely. The last hypothesis: He got transported to another goddamn dimension.

As he looks around he sees that there was a town close by. There were more horse-like creatures walking and some of them... flying? There were ones with wings as well.

This started to get ridiculous.

How did I get here?

Soon he hears and then sees that a group of these horses is running toward him. He didn't know how to react to a situation like this. On the one hand, it's really scary, because he's in an alien environment, but it's also awesome and must be full of wonder. He starts to like the idea of being in another world. Despite all the danger, it might hold he has a feeling that this will be something great. But also there is something in the back of his mind. Something his mother told him a few days ago. 

I just hope it doesn't have anything to do with it because that would make things worse.

The horses reach him, stopping a few meters from his position. He's still sitting there and start examining them one by one.
He counts nine creatures. Two of them he recognizes the little ones who screamed and ran away. There is also an orange one who is about the same size as those two and there are six bigger horses. Two of them have horns, one purple and one white one. Two with wings one light blue and one yellow. The blue one is the most eye-catching with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. Two of them doesn't have wings or horn, one orange, and one pink.

They're just staring at each other. Some of them had fear in their eyes, some of them looked curious, some of them looked ready to attack and there was one who was just looked at him with a big smile on her face.

"Umm... Hello?" he took the initiative.

"Wow!" he hears the purple horse. "A new sentient creature!" she exclaimed and by that, he knew that he won't see another human until he gets back somehow. "What are you? Where did you come from? How did you get here?" she began bombarding him with questions.

"Well, I'm a human" he began, hoping that if he cooperates, they won't cut him open but got startled by a paper and a quill levitation beside her, surrounded by purple light just like the horn of this horse. After he recovered, he continued. "I think I'm from another dimension or world or something like that..." this surprised every horse creature. "I don't know how did I get here, I remember that I was with my friends and it was New Year's Eve and there was a party and then I went to sleep and woke up here just a few minutes ago."

He glanced at the pink horse and she looked excited about something.

"I knew parties were special but I never thought they can transport you through dimensions! That is so good! I have to throw a party which will transport all of us to somewhere else! Ohh and wait! You are new here! You are new to Equestria! That can only mean one thing! Later girls and Mister Human!" she talked so fast that it was almost impossible for him to understand and she was even faster. In a second she was out of sight running in the direction of the town.

"Okay..." was all he could say.

"Yeah... that's Pinkie Pie." said the purple creature. "By the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo." she introduced herself and her companion. "We are ponies. Applejack, Applebloom, and Pinkie are earth ponies, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are pegasi and Sweetie Belle, Rarity and myself are unicorns."

So now he knew their names and that most of them are mythical creatures.

This place is starting to get crazier by every second.

"What is your name?" asked Twilight.

"My name is Lazlo Kis."

They started talking for a bit. They exchanged some basic knowledge about their worlds. Lazlo learned some things about Equestria and he told them about Earth. Turns out, humans have more advanced technology but ponies have magic which is great. And their rulers control the sun and the moon. Hard to believe but he won't question it in a world where magic and mythical creatures are real. And pegasi make weather. Strange for him, natural to them. And the flank pictures are magical too and has a really important and pretty useful meaning too.

Suddenly a camera appears near the purple pony and she shoots several pictures of the human then shows him. One is about his whole body.

He's not considered tall, amongst the people. His height is about 175 centimeters, the weight is almost 100 kg, he has some plus, mostly because of his work and hobbies. He's wearing a blue shirt. There is a text on it, saying: "Trust me, I'm a programmer". He has black sweatpants and underwear of course, also socks but no shoes. That's the clothes, he wore when he went to sleep last time, in his world. The next picture is a close one about his hands, then a few about, his foot. Finally, there is one picture of his head. He has a short beard. His hair is long, it reaches his shoulder. Most people think his hair is black, but it's actually very dark brown, not that it matters right now or any other situation.

Twilight looks at him like she's waiting for him to do something. Lazlo looks at her, unsure of what she wants, maybe an approval of the pictures. He gives her a small nod, she smiles and puts the pictures with her magic into a book, in which she was writing the whole time they talked to each other.

Mostly it was Twilight and him speaking, the others didn't even have the chance to ask, Twilight didn't let them.

"Say Twilight." after hours of talking he finally remembers that he should ask a very important question. "Do you know any way I can get back to my world?"

"Darling! We don't even get the opportunity to get to know you and you already want to leave?" asked Rarity. "I even want to ask you about your clothes they look... umm... unique."

"I'm also curious!" adds Rainbow Dash and earns a few skeptical looks from her friends. "What? Meeting a creature from another world? That is so AWESOME! He could be my first human fan also!"

He didn't get the chance to learn anything about the ponies, only their names so he could only guess.

Maybe Rarity is some kind of stylist or fashion critics and Rainbow is a celebrity?

"The others are right sugarcube," said Applejack. "You could at least stay for a little. We always happy to make new friends."

They were really friendly, to say the least. He felt lucky right now that he, despite it wasn't his choice to get to another world, he got to one which has friendly inhabitants and the atmosphere was calming. It gave him a feeling that everything will be okay no matter what happens.

"Sorry, but I don't even know how you got here and I don't think I'm able to send you back. But I will start researching and also ask Princess Celestia, maybe she can help you out. I'll write her a letter as soon, as we get home." Twilight said.

She told him that she is the princess' personal student and they have a close bond, she also told him a little about Celestia earlier but it was hard to believe that somebody who has so much power, can be so kind and benevolent ruler. But this was a different world with different rules. Just the sight of this place gave him the feeling that he could live here happily but he wanted to go home. The first impression of this world was great but he learned that it is never enough.

"Thanks," he said.

"It's starting to get late," Twilight told him. "Would you like to come with me? You can live with me for the time you are here." The sun was near the horizon.

He was really surprised by this.

 She offers me a place to stay after only meeting me.

It was so strange but knowing that he doesn't have much choice he decided to accept.

"Thank you for your kindness," he says, then he turns to the other girls. "Thank you all. If I can do anything to return your hospitality, please just ask me."

"Well darling, I would be glad if tomorrow you could come to my boutique and tell me about human fashion." Rarity was the first to claim something.

"I'm not really into these kinds of things but I'll stop by and tell you what I know."

"We should totally hang out," says Rainbow. "You could tell me more about the cool human stuff."

"Sure thing, I would like to know more about all of you as well," he replies.

"You can come to Sweet Apple Acres at someday. We have the best apples in Equestria." Applejack offers.

"If you want, you can come to my house as well and meet my animal friends." he hears Fluttershy for the first time but only barely. She was so quiet and her name described her.

Now that he thinks about it, the names are pretty accurate to the pony's personality. 

How do they do it? Probably some kind of magic. Well, I can blame magic for anything now. Just like some kind of religion. Everything can be explained by magic here.

"I'd love to. I'll probably here for some time so I can visit you if you really want."

They all began to walk towards the town, called Ponyville.

At first, it surprised him that all of them decided to accompany him and Twilight, even the fillies who were quiet for the full time, but he guessed that they were still a little afraid of him, but when he asked, they simply told him that they wanted to escort him. 

As they walked, they gave him a quick tour in the town and showed him some of the known places, like the Town Hall, Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, or the spa. He even learned who works in these places. By the way, the town was empty. Earlier he saw ponies walking around but didn't notice him because of the distance but now he didn't even saw one pony beside the ones he was walking with. It was strange at first, but then he only guessed that this must be some kind of cultural thing maybe, or if he wants to think about the worst thing is that Pinkie told some of them about him, rumors started to spread and they are all hiding somewhere. The ponies he met so far were mostly friendly and he was naive enough thinking that they mostly were like that so that last thought vanished fast.

They approached a building that looked like a giant tree. Twilight told Lazlo that this is the library. It looked cool.

"You coming in girls?" Twilight asked and all of them nodded.

He, trying to be a gentleman, opened the door for them.

"After you, ladies," he says while bowing his head a little.

"Thank you! You are a gentlecolt, dear," says Rarity as she walks past him, the other mares are following her. After them, he goes inside and closes the door. A mistake. It was pitch dark in there.

"Ummm... Twilight? Is there a lightswitch, or something like that here?" he asks.

"A moment." he hears her voice from somewhere close to me.

Suddenly there is light.

"SURPRISE!"

He almost got a heart attack.
> 2. Surprise for everyone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SURPRISE!"

He almost fell back. He never would've guessed that he will get a welcome like this. He got so scared for a moment that he even forgets to scream or ask what the hell is this. But he doesn't know who was more surprised. Him or all the ponies who were in the library. Yeah... there were a lot of ponies inside. After they all shouted the 'Surprise' they got almost the same effect. It looked like they weren't told, who will they be meeting.

Everything went silent and a staring contest began. However, this didn't last long, because of the pony who met with him earlier but run away, suddenly appeared before him, her face is uncomfortably close to his with a big smile.

"This is the best 'Welcome to Ponyville' party ever! Not only you were surprised but everypony else as well!" she says, clearly excited about the situation. "Let's get the party started!" then faster, than it would be possible, she runs away.

He looks around. There was a big "Welcome Lazlo" banner. 

How did she know my name? She ran away before I introduced myself.

The ponies are still shocked.

"Say something." he hears Twilight whispering.

Lazlo is unsure what could he say, but he knew, she was right, he was the newcomer, the alien, and the potential danger to them. Earlier when he mentioned Twilight, that he's an omnivore, he immediately regretted saying it and became afraid that they will fear him, or lock him up, or something like that but they quickly reassured him, that it wasn't a problem for them if he swears that he won't kill and eat any sentient creature. He told them, that it would be very bad of him, but then he learned, that most of the animals are somewhat sentient here, even if most of them are unable to speak, but they understand their language. What remained are the insects and fishes.

Well, fishes will do for me if I have to stay for a while, which I'm hoping won't be too long.

"Hello, every... um... pony?" he finally managed to say. "My name is Lazlo, but you can call me Lacy." some of them murmured 'hello's and 'hi's. "Thank you for coming, and now party time!" he got the courage to shout and look like the ponies are fine with him now because the yelled happily and the party started.

Lazlo didn't even get a moment to breathe when the pink pony returned.

"Are you enjoying the party? Huh? Huh?" she began bombarding him not caring about personal space.

"Well, I never was a party like this since I was eight years old," Lacy answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well this party looks like a birthday party for a kid in my world," he answered again as looking around, seeing sweets and drinks on a table, ponies playing games, like pin the tail on the pony (this one really surprised him) and just talking and enjoying themselves.

"But it's fun!" shouted the pink mare. "There are balloons and streamers and confetti and cupcakes and other sweets and..." as she went on and on about every single thing that was here at the party, Lacy decided to interrupt her and try to get to know her and ask her a few things.

"So Pinkie Pie wh-" Lacy started but was quickly interrupted.

"When I saw you, as being new in Ponyville, I run in the town and asked everypony to come to the library for a welcome party. Everypony or other creatures got one because when somepony is new here, that means that they have no friends here and if you don't have friends, that means, you are lonely and if you are lonely that means you won't smile but I want everypony to smile all the time, and I want everypony to have friends, so I become friends with everypony and then I make them laugh and the same applies to you. Also, I work at Sugarcube Corner and also live there but you already know that and my second job is being the best party pony in Ponyville, I also like to prank ponies with Rainbow Dash so you should be wary and now I'm going to entertain others so you can get to know my friends as well. See you later." before Lacy could react or ask how did she know what he was gonna ask, Pinkie disappeared.

I need to sit down

"Don't mind her, darling." he heard a voice and quickly found the source when he spotted the white unicorn just stopping near to him. He remembered, that she is Rarity and she owns that boutique and working as some kind of fashion designer. "I want to know more about your clothing and fashion. Mind a little chatting? Twilight is a dear friend of mine but I would have been happy if she'd have let us talk with you some earlier."

"I'm sure you all have still questions, so do I. Come, let's find somewhere to sit and get some drinks." she nodded and they both walked to the table.

While most of the ponies sat on the ground, there were some chairs.

He poured some drinks into a glass and offered the white mare, who took it with her magic. It was really strange feeling the magical aura against his skin, the best description he could give was, like touching some kind of jelly which is moving constantly, but it wasn't accurate either, just the closest expression he could think of.

"I'm interested in the fashion of your world. You know, I'm not just a simple seamstress, I like to consider myself an artist, and just like, every artist, I need inspiration, and I think fashion from another world could give me many ideas. I also won't be ungrateful, I'll try my best, to make you some clothes, if I remember correctly, you told us earlier, that your kind is almost always wearing something." she took a sip from her drink, the man did the same.

"Sure, umm... let's see, what you see on me is normal, everyday wear. Well maybe not the pants, that's more for what I wear when I'm home if I'm going out, or at work, I usually wear jeans but to be honest, I can't really describe to you that, sorry. Also at some important events, men usually wear a tuxedo while women wear some kind of dress, they have one for every type of event. I don't know how much did you understood about this, it's interesting, that we speak the same language but there are always the possibilities that there are words that aren't the same or don't exist here."

"Don't worry, I perfectly understood everything, there are many similarities, so it didn't give any idea right now, but I'll still help you out with your clothes problem. Come to my boutique tomorrow and I'll see, what I can do. Anything else, you could think about right now?"

He took another sip from his drink. There were other things, though a little embarrassing to talk about, seeing as he had little choice if he wants to wear clean clothes, he had to tell her.

"Well there are other things, I didn't mention. We have underwear as well." Rarity shot him a confused look. "It's kind of small, and around our crotch." Both of their cheeks turned red for a little time. Lacy, wanting to end this state, quickly continued. "Also I usually wear socks, like these." he showed her his own pair, which were on his legs. "Also shoes, which is something I missed, but I didn't wear any when I got here. Those are mostly for protection for our feet, and we usually wear it outside."

They talked a little more, but since Lacy didn't know much about fashion, only told Rarity more about some trends that he saw in advertisements.

Not much time later the white unicorn excused herself and Lacy alone. Although this didn't last long. Many ponies came to him, wanting to know some things about him or his kind. It surprised him that these ponies were so friendly with him, despite not only being another species but one that is unknown here. But that wasn't the only thing that was strange to him. He felt relatively calm. Thinking back he kind of got used to this pretty fast. It was like if he didn't travel to another world, only just another country. There were some differences in culture but many similarities as well, one is the language in which he was glad that English was kind of the common language here, and thanks to his job and friends his English was acceptable.
Another surprise was that children also took a liking in him. They wanted to be held up high, expect pegasi, but what all of them loved, even the adults, were his fingers. Twilight at some point said it is similar to what dragons and minotaurs have but not as sharp and more flexible. It was really good for scratching and massaging.

"Hey big guy!" he turned to the most colorful pony. She was on eye level with him, thanks to her ability to fly. "Tell me, can humans go as fast as me?" she did a flip in the air, a little show-off. "I mean nopony is as fast as me but maybe close to my speed."

"Rainbow Dash right?" Lacy asked.

"Don't tell me you can't remember the name of the most awesome pony in Equestria?!" the pegasus mare asked slightly irritated.

"Sorry, too many names to remember all, but I think I won't forget yours," he told her, the reaction was just an approving nod. "To answer your question, I don't know your speed and I don't have much knowledge about this, but I'm pretty sure we have some airplanes that can go multiple times as fast as the speed of sound."

That did it. Rainbow Dash, who claimed herself the most awesome pegasus in this land almost fainted when she heard him. She just stared at him in complete silence, which was broken by Twilight who appeared suddenly with paper and quill and wanted to know what are these airplanes. He gave her a quick summary, also told her, that his knowledge about these things is really limited.

"That. Is. So. Awesome!" they heard Dash. "I can't believe it! I can only fly at the speed of sound and that was only one time when I did the Sonic Rainboom, but I will do it again a few days later in the Young Flyer Competition," she told them, but only got a confused and skeptical look from Lazlo.

"A Sonic Rainboom is a legendary move when a pegasus reaches the speed of sound then came an explosion and the first soundwave looks like a rainbow, that's where it's named from," explained Twilight.

"It'll totally win me the best prize I can think of. The winner gets to hang out with the Wonderbolts. The best flyers of Equestria. I'll be one of them someday."

Lacy didn't understand much of it but not wanting to spoil the mood, gave her a thumbs up.

"Well, good luck with that, break a leg!" He got some confused look from Twilight and Dash in exchange. He then remembered that ponies don't have fingers, so they don't know these signals, he held up his thumb again. "Oh, this usually means something positive, like 'I'm fine', 'I like it', 'It's great', etc..." he explained, Twilight quickly wrote down everything.

"But what about the break a leg part? It doesn't sound very nice, why would you wish somepony something like this?" the purple unicorn asked.

"Oh, that. That's just an expression, used mostly to wish somebody good luck."

"Mostly?" asked Dash.

"Well, if we would be on bad terms then probably I would mean it more literally, but that's not the case right now, so it's a good luck wish."

"Your use of words and expressions are really strange and sometimes kind of morbid," Twilight stated.

"That's humanity for you."

As it became very late, and the time passed midnight, the guest started to leave. Some ponies who came here with foals left earlier, but the other stayed pretty late. Twilight offered to set up a bed for Lacy, who thanked her again for her hospitality. Despite being the middle of the night, he offered to clean up the place a little, while Twilight working on setting his bed.

"Oh, sorry for waking you up Spike." he heard Twilight from upstairs. He met Spike earlier and talked a little with him, but the baby dragon stuffed himself full of sweets and went up to rest then. Looks like Twilight accidentally woke him up. "I'm making a bed for our guest, but since you're awake, could you send a letter to the princess so when she waked up, she will know of Lacy?"

Lacy heard a groan, which he wasn't sure what it meant. Although the thought of the ruler of this land learns about him puts him in an uncomfortable feeling. He knew he can't avoid the eyes of the leaders and since her host was the personal student of the Princess, it just made things faster.

"Dear Princess Celestia!" he heard Twilight starting to dictate the letter. "Today we met a creature, who is from a different world. We don't know yet where he's really from and how he got here, it appears, his arrival wasn't planned for him. His name is Lazlo Kis, nickname: Lacy. His species is called human. I have never heard or read of them. I'll send you a full report of what I've learned from him in a few days, for now, I can tell you, that he means no harm, he seems nice, willing to answer my questions, and hopefully will agree to run some tests later, but I'll have to ask him first, but since he was cooperating so far, I don't think he will refuse. It appears that our culture has many similarities. What is surprising to me is that his world lacks magic and creatures that are native here, are only myths for them. I also would like to ask for your assistance in finding a way for him to get back to his world. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Okay, Spike, now send it, but be careful. The Princess is probably sleeping so don't land it on her head, try to aim for her nightstand."

He heard a blow, then soon the snores of the young dragon.

He finished the cleaning and went up to the bed, Twilight set up for him, close to her own. He thanked her again, then laid on the bed, which was just the right size for him. But sleep didn't come easily for the young man. For more than an hour, his thoughts wandered around today's events. Before sleep finally overpowered him, one thought went through his brain.

It's not how I behave. It's not me.
> 3. Unexpected visit in the morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning came soon after the party ended late at night. Lazlo opened his eyes, only grunting, seeing that the sun is barely above the horizon. He looked around. The walls were basically bookcases. Beside his bed, there was a nightstand, he also saw another bed and a basket close to it. In the mornings his brain usually went autopilot. It didn't reach him that he wasn't even in his own home. He just got up, and even though he saw Twilight and Spike, his mind didn't process the information and he just walked out to do his morning routine.

Like most people, the first trip is to the bathroom for him as well. Lazlo observed yesterday that the buildings, the furniture were similar to what humans have. Not only that but the same plants, fruits, vegetables, etc. The bathroom looked also the same as one in a human apartment. There was a shower, surprisingly big considering the size of the ponies using it. However, the toilet was a little small for the man, which could be a little problematic, but still manageable.
After the shower, he was closer to an awake state than just a sleepwalker. It finally struck him, he was in a place inhabited by ponies.

Taking back the same clothes after a shower wasn't really appealing for him but since whatever brought him here, didn't teleport his stuff, he had to wear what he had.

I hope Rarity really could make me something. Just need to think about something to give her in exchange.

The moment he stepped out of the bathroom, he heard knocking. Wondering for a minute who could that be and why.

Maybe somebody forgot here something and wanted to have it back. Or maybe the library supposed to be open now.

As he walked to the door, he began to wonder again about his behavior and how he handled the whole situation. He knew he should be more surprised, more cautious, and less caring for them.

Care. An interesting thing in this situation. He could only guess what would humanity do if one of these ponies somehow ended up on Earth. Probably the actions would be different and not in a good way. But these ponies. They treated him like he was a friend to them already. No matter how many sentient species living on this planet, an unknown creature, sentient or not should raise some caution. Yet the first thing they did was some cultural knowledge exchange and then an invitation and offer for living with one of them and a welcome party. Lacy was honest with them so far and he believed they didn't lie to him either. Yet there was still the worry in his mind that something was wrong. And this something was his own mind. His own behavior. His own personality.

He opened the door. The sight was something Lacy will never forget. A pony. Twice the size of every other adult equine, about the same height as the man. Pure white coat. Multicolored mane and tail, flowing constantly, like winds playing with it. Golden horseshoes. Golden necklace. Golden crown. Long horn. Wings folded on her side.

He remembered Twilight tell about her mentor, the ruler of this land. But words couldn't describe that majestic sight she was and the aura she had around her. It calming but at the same time demanded respect.
Lazlo just stood there like a statue, his brain tried to process the whole thing.

"Good morning!" her voice was just as majestic as her looks and calming like her aura. Full of love and care. In any situation on Earth, if a human, like her would speak to him, Lacy would be more aware that she only wants to use him, that she has too much power and very dangerous. But not here. Not her. For some reason, Lacy knew that she was that benevolent and beloved ruler, Twilight claim to be. That everything she says and does is genuine and does for her subject she truly loves and cares about.

"May I come in?" her question pulled back the human to the reality and without a word, he moved aside, so the monarch could enter. He then remembered, that since she's royalty, he should at least bow to her.

"Your Majesty." he didn't sound sure like he didn't know if this expression is used here but since they spoke the same language, he hoped, that every word here has the same meaning to them. He had to speak to somebody about this. He made a mental note to ask Twilight later.

She slowly walked inside, then her gaze turned to the man, who was still standing at the door.

"Would you join me?" she asked him.

"Sure." he closed the door, then followed the princess inside the kitchen, where she sat down at the table. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked automatically, like every time he had a guest. Then he realized again that it still wasn't his home, although he was sure, Twilight wouldn't mind it, since it was the princess and in her case, her teacher, that came to visit.

"Tea would be lovely, thank you," she answered politely.

Although Lacy almost never drank tea, he made it often, usually when his friends decided to visit him and didn't want to drink alcohol, or when he had a girlfriend.

"Thank you." said the alicorn to him, when he put down the cup before her. "You don't drink one?" she asked, as she saw there wasn't another cup in his hands.

"Not a tea drinker," he answered, then yawned as the tiredness suddenly came back to him.

"Not a morning person?" the princess asked him, after a chuckle.

"The problem is not the morning but the lack of sleep."

"I see. Hope it wasn't me who woke you up."

"No, I was awake when you knocked, Twilight, and Spike are still sleeping. Should I wake them?" Lacy asked.

"It won't be necessary." she shook her head. "Well, I think an introduction is in order then. I am Princess Celestia. Welcome to Equestria."

"Lazlo Kis. Thank you, Princess." Lacy gave a light bow to the princess then sat down beside her.

"Please tell me how do your kind welcomes each other?" she wanted to know more about human culture.

"I think that depends on many things, Your Majesty. The culture, the gender, the age, the situation."

"I see. Then please tell me, how would you welcome me, if I were a human female, we're both adults, first time meeting in a friendly get-together."

"Usually kiss on both cheeks, but if it's uncomfortable for one of them, then that person offers something else, like a handshake," Lacy explained.

"I see. Nice to meet you Lazlo." she then leaned to give Lacy the kiss on the cheek welcome. Without realizing that it was still the ruler of this land, Lacy automatically leaned towards as well. After this, his heart rate skyrocketed.
He didn't know how to behave correctly when royalty is present, but this mare's presence gave him the feeling, that everything will be alright, just be himself. Although now, that he was unsure whether he was truly that person, who he was before he got here.

"Lazlo. Hmm... Interesting name. Never heard something like that. May I ask what does your name mean?" asked Celestia and then took a gulp from her cup.

Lacy watched as her magic surrounded both her horn and the cup. Yesterday he saw of it from Twilight as well as from other unicorns at the party but still, it was something worth watching. And at the same time gave him that feeling, that he is alone here, no matter how much similar this world to his, it was still another world, he was in the wrong world. Alone, among creatures who shouldn't exist, things that shouldn't exist. He didn't have anything here, not even his own personality.

"It's an old name. My first name, Lazlo, is a widespread name in the country I came from. I don't know the origin, but I remember, that it means 'power and glory' or something like that."

"And what about your other name?" the princess continued the questioning.

"It's my surname."

"Surname?"

"Yes. It's basically the family name. Kids got their father's surname usually. It has different types. Some of them are from a profession, like 'Smith' or 'Tailor'. Others are marking the place where the family originates. Again others are just adjectives, like mine. 'Kis' means in my language 'Small'."

Celestia was listening to his explanation with that same smile, she wore ever since Lacy opened the door. She found it interesting how names worked in somewhere else.

"You talk about countries and languages. Are there multiple of these in the lands where you're from?"

"Planet Earth is where I'm from. Most of the planet is water, but there are continents. On the continents, hundreds of countries, every one of them inhabited by humans, most of them use different languages. There are of course more common ones, like what we're speaking right now. It's called English."

"Fascinating. We speak the same language and you just happen to be one from your kind who speaks that special language among the hundreds. It also seems lucky to me. Although here this language is called simply the 'Common Language'."

"Well it's not my native language but I need to know it because of my job and also for other things not accessible in my language."

"I see. It's certainly interesting. Sadly as much as want to learn more about your homeworld, that's not the reason I'm here." she emptied her cup then refilled it before Lacy could offer her to do it. "I can see, that you don't have any ill intentions to my little ponies and I hope that you being here doesn't affect any of us, nor you."

"Thanks, I guess. Although, I think that's not entirely correct, your Majesty. My behavior and reaction to things are different."

"What do you mean?" asked the alicorn a little surprised.

"I know myself. I know I wouldn't take this so easily. I would be more cautious, more skeptical. I mean they told me that you raise and set the sun, wheater is created and controlled by pegasi, magic is real and is everywhere, and so on. It's so different from my world, yet I believed them the moment they said when I should question the logic behind it, especially after I know why and how these things work in my world. Creatures that are only appeared in myths and legends. I should be wary of my words in your presence, fearing that I might say or do something to upset you and be worried about your reaction to that. Yet I'm sitting here, talking to you, like you are a friend of mine, while you did arrive alone, maybe putting on some magical defense, I don't know."

As he finally finished ranting, he realized another thing changed in him. He just opened up to somebody completely stranger to him. He never would've done that. He only opened up to one friend and sometimes his parents or grandparents, but not even to them completely.

"You don't need to worry about it." her voice calmed the human down. "I always welcome a friendly chat, even though it's rare since I have to run a country, and while I'm glad, that my sister finally returned to me, she is still adjusting to the modern things and I don't want to overwhelm her with too many duties at once," Lacy remembered, what Twilight told him about the royalty, about Celestia and Luna. It was just a short summary according to Twilight but Lacy got the picture. "Anyway, I am also here to ta-"

She was interrupted as they heard somepony descending on the stairs. It wasn't hard to guess, that it was the purple mare, who lived here.

"Morning Lacy. You woke up early, I didn't expect it, after all, the party lasted rather late. You have to tell me about human sleeping habi-" she finally got down and saw that there was a guest in the library. "Princess Celestia!" she exclaimed rather loud, then hurried to her beloved mentor and gave her a hug which was returned by the alicorn. "I didn't know you would come this early after getting my letter last night." then she turned to the human. "Lacy I hope you treated the Princess with respect and-"

"Don't worry my faithful student, your friend here is a great host" Lacy chuckled a little but the others didn't seem to notice it "he made me tea and is a great chat partner."

This seemed to calm down the unicorn. But then started panicking again, this time about the state of the library. Celestia watched her student with a motherly smile on her face.

"She always gets like this," she told Lacy quietly, so Twilight wouldn't hear it. "Twilight!" hearing her name, made the unicorn stop and looked sheepishly at her mentor.

"I am sorry princess."

"It's alright Twilight, but if you don't mind, I would like to get to the point. I'm here to see how can I help to Lazlo." The man turned to the monarch.

"Oh... I'm uhh... I'm flattered, Princess. Thank you for helping me." he bowed his head a little.

"Of course. I'm willing to help anypony." she gave a quick laugh. "Or other creature in this case. But I must warn you, that there is a chance that I won't find any way to send you back to your world." Lazlo nodded, and even though he feared that that'll be the case, he hoped for the best. "Could you tell me what were you doing before you got here?"

"Um... You see, it was New Year's Eve." 

"New Year's Eve?" asked the princess. "When is it?"

"That reminds me, could you tell me about how time works in your world," Twilight added, and suddenly there was a notepad and a quill levitating near her.

"There are four seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, winter. There are three months in each season. Each month lasts thirty or thirty-one days, except one, which lasts twenty-eight days, or twenty-nine on every fourth year. New Year starts at the second month of the winter." Lacy summarized shortly. Twilight wrote down everything.

"Interesting. A little complicated if I may add." gave Celestia her opinion.

"It wasn't me, who worked this out," Lacy said.

"Here the calendar is a little simpler. Although it is surprising that the names of the seasons are the same. Maybe that's the case with the months and days as well." Celestia told him. Lacy just waited for her to continue. "Three months in each season but for us, every month lasts thirty days. A new year starts for us when winter ends and spring begins." the princess explained. "But we can discuss this later, now please continue telling us, what happened."

"Alright. I was at a party with some of my friends. To be honest I don't remember much. We drank a lot, but I don't think that's the reason for my missing memories. It wasn't that much."

"How much alcohol do you drink, that you forgot things? It must be like liters of it." Twilight asked.

"We had some pretty strong stuff, but we usually don't drink that much, that we knock ourselves out completely. Anyway, as I said, I don't remember much. There are only pieces of talks and games and I also remember, that I went to sleep on a couch. And then I woke up here. That's all I remember." I summarised my memories from my last night on Earth.

"Did you notice anything strange while you were at the party? Or even before?" asked Celestia, while Twilight continued taking notes.

"Nothing, though as I said my memories are incomplete but I don't think there was anything unordinary or should I say unnatural."

"I see. Well, I have a spell, which allows us to rewatch your memories." Celestia stated, surprising the human. "It allows me to take your memories out of your head, and rewatch it. Don't worry, you won't forget anything, it's like... Hmm... What can I compare it to..."

"Like watching a movie?" asked Lacy, still unsure what to think about it.

"I don't know what a movie is. What I thought would be the best explanation is it's like a play in the theatre, at least that is the closest thing I can compare to."

"Well a movie is like a play just recorded with a camera, I saw Twilight use one." started to explain it Lacy but the looks of the ponies gave him the idea, that they probably on the level of taking pictures only. "It's like taking several pictures every second, with voice recording, then rewatching it whenever you want."

He knew this was something that Twilight will question more later, like everything else.

"In that case, Lacy, yes I will be like a what you call a movie, though we will see everything through your eyes. Of course, I will only be doing this, if you agree to it. I won't do anything you don't want me, but there is a possibility, that we will see something that will give us some information about your arrival here."

Lacy didn't need to think much about that. Even though he wasn't really himself right now, he knew he wanted to go home. To back to his apartment, his work, his friends, his family. Right now he needed to grab every opportunity he could. He just hoped he could return the favor to these ponies somehow.

"Okay. But-" he got cut off by Twilight.

"Wait! Mind if I bring the girls here before you start? I'm sure they're curious about this as well. After all, we will see your world and your friends right?" Twilight looked pleading at Lacy, Celestia turned her gaze to the human as well, awaiting his response.

The moment he gave an agreeing nod, Twilight run out of the library.

"How does that even work?" he decided to ask about this more while waiting for Twilight.

"You shouldn't worry." the princess tried to calm him. "It won't do any harm to your mind."

"I mean can it show things I don't remember correctly, or at all?"

"Every moment is saved in the brain," Celestia explained. "Just there are things that won't be accessible, since that'd require too much effort and energy, which the body cannot provide. That is why we cannot remember every moment of our life." Lacy recalled reading about a syndrome, that allowed somebody, to be able to do that, but didn't want to cut in the princess' talking. "This spell however can access it. It just needs a starting point and then it can go as long, as the caster can hold the spell. It's a rather difficult one, but I can manage for hours, I hope that'll be enough"

"Around five or six hours, if I remember correctly."

Twilight got back, with her friends. They all looked tired, expect for Applejack and Twilight.

Celestia summoned a whiteboard out of nowhere, giving a shock to the human, but he quickly recovered.

"Before we start, I just have to tell you, that what you will see is that my true self. Since I got here, my behavior changed, and though in a positive way, as most of the people would say, it's still doesn't represent the real me. Also, you will probably see me eating meat or doing something that may be inappropriate for you, also saying things that can be shocking to you." he warned them, but everypony assured him, that they won't judge him for being from a different world, species or culture. They were also excited about seeing the world their new friend came from.

With that Celestia light up her horn, Lacy could feel her power going into his mind, trying to find his memories. It was a strange feeling. It gave him a little headache, but it quickly disappeared.

"Please tell me something you can remember before the party and we can start from there. But not too early, we can do this to noun only, for I have only this morning free, so we should have plenty of hours, but not the whole day." the princess informed him.

"Okay, let me see. I remember packing the stuff I bought for the party in my car before my friend arrived, so we could depart together..."
> 4. Last night on Earth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just placed my bag in the trunk, next to another one, then without closing it, leaned against the car, and took my phone out, checking the message my friend sent me a few minutes ago, 'almost there' was all he wrote.

The ponies, mainly Twilight started bombarding the human with questions about what they saw, mainly about the car and the phone. Lacy gave them a short answer but promised that later he will speak more about the technology.
The human felt weird watching his memories like this. It didn't hurt, it even ended his drowsiness, but the thought that somebody got in his mind, even got access to memories, he doesn't even remember, scared him but right now he needed to trust them because he wanted to go back to his world. He knew he should be more careful but something told him, he can trust these ponies.

To be honest he was a little happy seeing all this. The ten-story, eastern europian panel buildings which housed hundreds of families in that part of the city, the parking lot full of cars, some people walking around.

"This is a panel building." he started to explain things to the ponies. "Lots of apartments, I'm living in the building which is the closest." he wanted to say a few more things, but since there wasn't a pause button in this movie, he decided to only speak a little.

As I looked around I finally saw him walking towards my direction. He was kinda skinny, about the same height as me, had short, black hair, shaved face.

"Hey, Victor!" I gave him a handshake when he finally stood before me.

"Hello!" he said to me.

I took the bag, he was holding to me, and put down next to mine, in the back of the car, then closed the trunk.

"Get in, I want to hurry!" I told him, while walking, then sat in the driver's seat, instantly starting the engine. Putting the seatbelt on, and my phone to its holder, while my friend sat in beside me.

I opened the GPS application, gave it the destination, then plugged in the cable, which I used to connect my phone to the car via an adapter since it was an older car, it didn't have a built-in computer and many stuff, only a radio which accepted CDs but I didn't have any.

I opened my music application, selected a list, then with the help of the 'Play random' button, it started the first song. I switched back to the GPS app, then a look at Victor to check if he was ready, I started the engine.

The ponies jumped a little at the sound of my car.

"What is this thing?" asked Twilight again.

"Well, it's a car. It's used to travel greater distances. Many people own at least one. It requires a driving license though." Lacy explained.

"So it's kinda like a smaller train?" asked the purple mare.

"You have trains here?" this surprised the human. The ponies nodded. "Well, that makes it easier to explain. So basically yes, a smaller train. Though it doesn't need rail, we have roads for them but technically it can go anywhere I drive it."

The ponies were fascinated by it, well most of them. Fluttershy was a little scared by it, Rainbow Dash wanted to know how fast it can go, Twilight wanted every little piece of information about it but they were shut down by the princess who asked them, to focus on watching, after all, the more seeing this, the higher the chance to discover something that can give a lead of how Lacy ended up here.

"So is he your friend?" came the next question.

"Yes, my first and oldest, true friend." Lacy simply answered.

We were soon out of the parking area and on one of the main roads that went though that went through the city. It was connected to the motorway, that I wanted to travel on.

"Thanks for waiting for me and that you bringing me there." I heard my friend beside me.

"Sure. Though I might not bring you back." I tell him while smiling.

"Would you really left me there?" he asks, playing hurt.

"Well, there's always public transportation," I say.

"Yeah, but they're expensive even with the student discount."

"Well upkeeping a car costs way more."

"But you can afford it," he says, I only nod. "I'm at college and I'm broke like almost all students."

"I can afford a lot of things because I'm working overtime almost every day and I'm lucky that the company isn't lead by a greedy asshole, and they actually pay me for all the extra hours as well.

Everypony, even the princess flinched at the bad word. Lacy just shrugged, murmuring about, how they will hear more.

"Anyway" I tried to change the subject "Have I told you about my idiot co-worker?"

"The one who went out in the snow one time searching for a polar bear after you told him that it escaped from the zoo?" asked Victor.

"Yeah, that one. A few months ago he got in another hilarious situation."

"What did he do?"

"You know these things over the road with cameras? You know which are usually for measuring the speed of the cars?" I asked after he nodded, I continued. "So not so long ago was the first time he actually saw one. Thinking it'd be funny, as he went through it, he went back and went through it again. Repeating it five times, thinking it's funny to send the police the report of the same car many times adhere to the speed limit. Well turns out the camera didn't only watch for the speed. He later got six mails, each of them is a penalty for quite some money for not wearing the seatbelt." I lost it and started to laugh really hard, Victor joined me immediately. "Half of his salary was throw out that day." I manage to say before continue laughing.

Most of the ponies didn't really understand the joke. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were laughing, Lacy chuckled at the kinda fresh memory but the others were neutral or confused.

They all were amazed by the human world. As they saw through Lacy-s memory, seeing the big buildings in the city even for a moment, Twilight started questioning again, but quickly stopped as the others shushed her, they all wanted to see and hear everything. At one time Rainbow Dash mentioned that the music was awesome. Lacy listened mostly rock and metal songs and turns out, the blue pegasus liked how they sounded. Other than that they just simply watched as they went on.

Big and modern office buildings, a stadium, communication tower, shopping center. Lacy named some of them, but and even a few words about those, the ponies didn't know about, mainly the com tower and other technology-related building.
They even were lucky to see an airplane about to land when they were close to the airport. Of course, he had to tell them about it a little.

"That thing isn't as fast as you claimed," said Rainbow Dash.

"That plane isn't for breaking speed record. It's for transport people to great distances, also it's about to land and also it's not that easy to control one, needs a lot of concentration and precision," he explained.

"By the way, I never asked who will be there," I told him. "You know?"

"Well Adam, since he's the host, we, Chris, two of Adam's old classmates David and Peter, also Davis's girlfriend Vera."
"I thought there will be more, wasn't he talking about more people?"

"Yeah, there were two more but they couldn't make it. One of them is ill, the other, I don't know."

We were now on the motorway, finally being able to go fast, I step on the gas. I was soon around the speed limit. Luckily there wasn't big traffic, only a few cars. I glanced at the GPS. It wrote that forty minutes to the destination. After a few minutes of silence, Victor decided to speak again as we passed an exit.

"You know what happened to that woman who came on here against traffic? You know the one you saw," asked Victor.
"Crazy lady..." I murmured. "Didn't you read the news?"

"No, you told me, I checked then but there wasn't anything about it then, and I kinda forgot about it later."

"Of course there wasn't anything about it. I called the police, after that, I called you. Anyway, that idiot apparently wanted to die before one day of goddamn Christmas. I found some stuff on the internet about her. Had some kind of problem with her family, she got depressed, sits in the car, and decides the best way to end her life is go and endanger others, cause an accident. And the best part is, she survived but the guy she collided with wasn't that lucky. She's in the hospital but will be in jail probably. I really hope she'll suffer for long. That crazy bitch. If she wanted to die so badly there are faster methods that don't affect anybody who doesn't know her, like rope, blade, jumping down from a bridge, etc. And the worst is that if I would have decided to depart a few seconds later back then, maybe it'd have been me she collided with and believe it or not, dying is something I'm not fond of."

"Could've fooled me." Victor comments.

"Well I know a joke about this stuff every time, like everything else, you know I almost got fired for making a suicide joke a day after somebody in the company decided to end his life."

"Yeah, you told me about that. You really should control yourself sometimes."

"You know I joke about everything. I'm morbid and cruel and anything else people like to say the likes of me but there is a thing called freedom of speech, which means I can say anything I want, I can joke about anything I want."

"That doesn't mean you cannot restrain yourself in certain situations. But since you don't do that and because of other things you did, you are a horrible person." I don't see, but I'm sure he smiles the whole time.

I chuckled a little, then my right hand moved to his direction in a form of a fist and pretended to hold a microphone.

"Tell me, Mister, how does it feel to be a friend of a horrible person?"

"It's actually funny when you're not morbid or dark," he answers me. I can't help but smile.

Everypony was shocked. Even the princess showed discomfort.

"This is horrible," Twilight commented. "Why would anyone try to take their own life?"

"It's certainly interesting," Celestia added. "I can understand now what you meant about not being yourself. Although I must ask. Do things like these happen often? Because even now I can't imagine you being so careless about something like this."

"Many people die every day not only because of old age. There are many illnesses we cannot cure, wars, murders, accidents, suicide. We kinda got used to it, hoping it won't happen to us or those who are close to us." Lacy just realized that his tone was as cold as he was in the memory. That meant it helped to restore his personality, although not fully. Feelings about being nicer and more helpful were still dominant. That could only mean that something was messing with his head. 

Sadly he didn't know who or what to blame. It wasn't the ponies' fault, since he felt it when he woke up and it didn't seem possible that these fillies could do something like this. He had to learn more about this world, maybe ask for help to find out.

Ask for help... This was something else, he tried to avoid as often as possible, and he had reasons for that. He gladly helped others, even accepted it sometimes, but rarely ever asked for it. Of course, now he didn't have any other choice, so mind change or not, he needed somebody who can get him back.

"Has it happened in yer family?" Applejack asks.

"Not really, nothing lethal. A few things that sent someone to the hospital, but always came home in one piece." he shrugged. He didn't speak often about his family.

Other reactions were all similar. This one little story hit them so hard, Lacy started to wonder if it's a good idea for them to continue watching. After all, he didn't even remember most of the things they talked about at the party.

"So what did you got this year?" I asked my friend while glancing at the GPS for a moment to check how far was it. Around half an hour.

"Got some alcohol, a new headset, some money, and a ticket for the next Formula-one weekend here. Or at least I will get it as soon as the ticket store opens. Which reminds me... Do you want to join this year?" he asked, with some hope in his voice.

"Yeah sure. Not really following the races but sounds good."

Lacy could see in the corner of his eye that Rainbow started to concentrate more after hearing the world race but that only last when she realized there won't be much talk about it.

"What about you?" Victor asked.

"Got some quality drinks as well, grandpa really outdid himself this year. Got one drawing from each of the kids. Also two books. Oh and got a real surprise this time. My grandparents decided to make an album together. Of course, my parents helped them to collect the photos."

"Well family's not that bad after all huh?" he mocks me a little.

"I never said that they're bad! I'm only on bad terms with my mother, and at Christmas, we have a truce." I tell him.

"Wait, so they're not mad at you? I thought that was the reason, you rarely visit them." Victor asks, a little confused.

"Man, you have shitty memory... I told you many times, only my mother was and still angry at me. Father and my grandparents forgave me almost immediately after I told them." I'm irritated now.

"Sorry, I always forgot." he apologies, I just roll my eyes. "But after all, you did lie to them for more than a year, so I think it's a valid assumption."

"Hold on a second" Applejack interrupts the rewatch. "You lied to yer family? What in Tartarus?" It wasn't just her, the others murmured similar sentences, just to quiet so the human didn't understand them.

"I had my reasons." Lacy simply answered.

"What is a good reason to lie yer own family?" the orange pony was really angry about it and Lacy was confused, but since he hated to talk about it his anger rose up pretty quickly.

"It's not your business!" he replied harshly. The orange mare was taken aback a little by this, but her stubbornness remained.

"It still is a wrong thing," she said.

"Yeah, well you don't know anything about my family so I don't think you should lecture me about it." He states, trying to calm himself.

"And how can we be sure, what yer told to us was true?" came the next, logical question.

Lacy only grunted but didn't answer.

Applejack didn't tell him anything else because everypony wanted to continue watching the show, but Lacy got the feeling, that she won't abandon it.

Nopony comments anything else. They just watching and listening to the memory movie. Not much happened on the road. They already started to get boring of the same view, the simple but pointless talk which was full of words and expressions they didn't understand, and since the music wasn't favorable for everypony, that wasn't a good distraction either.

Finally, the time came when they exited the highway, and soon they were in a small town. There weren't any large buildings, only the church rose above the houses and shops. The ride didn't last long. Soon they were at the edge of the town.

I parked the car on the lawn before the fence. We both got out of the car, and went to the back of it, to take out our stuff. I had two bags in my hand, Victor took out his own. After closing the car, we went to the gate and pressed the ring button. Soon came Adam to let us in. He was tall, really tall, I only reached to his shoulder.

"Finally! Took you long enough." he welcomed us.

"Hello to you too!" I said. "You know how it is. It's Victor we have to wait for, as always." My friend beside me just gave an unamused grunt. "Anyway, I brought some fruit juice and the tools for our 'magical battles'."

"Magical battle?" asked a really confused Twilight. "Didn't you tell me there isn't magic in your world?"

"We don't have. There is a firework, called Roman Candle. It is a barrel, which shoots little objects that'll burn in the process. It's glowing the whole time. Though this description might not be right, you'll see it later. The point is, that we shoot it at each other."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Twilight continued the questions.

"It is a little, but so far there wasn't any problem, even when we hit another." Lacy shrugged.

As we stepped inside the house, we put down the stuff we don't need, like my wallet, phone charger, etc. Then with the other things, we brought, we exited the house and went to the building in the back of the property. It was a garage, but there was old kitchen furniture installed there, with a tap and also a little room with a toilet inside. There was also a table with a hi-fi set. It was connected to Adam's phone and the music was already playing. I said hi to the others, then I took out of the alcohol and placed them on the counter next to the others. There was some wine, beers, ciders, and some stronger stuff. As I took out the last bottle from the bag, I immediately opened it. Adam was beside me with glasses. I began pouring the transparent liquid.

Lacy viewed the last people he met, before appearing here. Adam was the tallest, almost two meters tall. The others were all around the same height as Lazlo. Chris was skinny, just like Victor, he also wore glasses and had very short, black hair. There was also Peter, who had light brown, curly hair and a big beard. He also had glasses and was a bit overweight. David was the only one who seemed to have some muscle since he went to the gym pretty often. He had short, dark-brown hair. With his shaved face, he was the most handsome in the group. Vera, his girlfriend was kinda short, but fit, since she was a handball player. Her brown hair was long and left free.

"What's that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"That is a brandy made by fruit," Lacy answered.

"Why do you pour it into those small glasses? Aren't there any bigger ones?" came from Twilight.

"There are, but these kinds of stuff are strong alcoholic drinks. Just watch, you'll see."

Each of us had a glass in our hands.

"Cheers!" said some of us and drank the liquid in one gulp. And it hit us.

"Not bad," Chris commented. "Is it apple?" he asked.

"You got it," I answered. "It is what I got for Christmas from my grandpa this year. It's fully made by him. From planting the trees years ago to bottling up the finished product."

"How strong is it?" asked Vera.

"Forty-nine degree," I stated.

"Degree?" asked a really confused Twilight.

"Well, we use it for stronger alcoholic drinks. It's basically the percentage of alcohol in those liquors."

"You mean, that that drink you all took down in one gulp was almost half alcohol?" asked Rarity. Lacy nodded. "Forgive me but that is really strange. The strongest alcoholic drinks we have are wines but that only has a maximum of fifteen percent of alcohol."

"It's really good, and keeps me healthy," Lacy commented. The others shoot him a questioning look but didn't speak up.

Everyone was focused on watching as Adam, David and Vera brought the food and the dishes. There was a long table in the small building. As the plates and the silverware were placed, everyone sat on the benches, which had the same length as the table.

Despite they said, that they won't judge Lacy for eating meat, some ponies turned away, disgust on their faces as they saw several types of meat meals. Fluttershy even fainted, when she learned that it was chicken and pig. Rarity was about to throw up, Applejack not faring better. Pinkie Pie didn't seem disgusted, rather sad for the poor animals. Rainbow Dash handled it without showing any sickness, since she had a griffon friend, who is a carnivore, though she was never fond of seeing her eating meet, it didn't bother her much after a time. Twilight watched it curiously, even took some notes about it. Celestia didn't even change her expression. She even had to try various meets, when was away on a diplomatic meeting. She hated the feeling and her stomach didn't handle it well but she survived it so it wasn't new to her either.

After they ate, while drinking ciders and beers, of course, they cleaned up the table, the dishes were taken back to the house and they set up for beerpong. Since Lacy new what's going to happen, he explained the game to the ponies, though only half of them listened, the other half was still recovering from the sight of meat-eating.

"How much?" I asked, with a plastic cup in my right hand and a can of beer in my left.

"Half I think," Adam responded, who was my opponent. "I'd say more, but we don't have that much beer here, since somebody forgot his promise!" he yelled then shot a glance to Peter, who just shrugged.

After the plastic cups were filled and placed, we began the first game. I got the ball and tossed it but it only bounced off on the edge of one of the cups. Now it was Adam's turn. The others were all watching and comments all of our missed shots

Several try later, it was Adam, who finally tossed the ball into one of my cups.

"Nice," I simply said, then drank the whole content in one go. "Man, this isn't beer, it's horse piss! What kind of shitty beer is it?" I gave my opinion.

"The cheapest." Chris answers.

"Well... fuck. Were they paying you just to get rid of this thing?" I ask, still not happy about the quality of the drink.

"What? You rich ass, can't take some consumer product? Only go for the premium, craft beer?" Chris teases me.

"Fuck you too! Next time buy the second cheapest stuff!"

The ponies are still not happy about the cursing but some of them liked the concept of the game. Fluttershy finally woke up, Rarity and Applejack seemed like, they're over the dinner scene. That meant, all of them saw Lacy losing in beerpong to Adam. While Victor and Chris got ready for their match, David, Lacy, Peter, and Vera, decided to play darts. They were all drunk at this point, so their aim wasn't good, but most of the throws got them scores.

Until midnight there weren't many activities. After a few beerpong games, they were almost out of beer, so they started drinking the wines beside the cider. There were only a few darts matches as well. Adam brought in a few board games from the house, so they started playing those. They also sometimes just formed little groups and started talking about stuff, mostly about their time at the university, work, or 'things of the world' which mostly meant politics.

From these talks, ponies got what Lacy meant about his personality. In the memory, they got, that he didn't really care about humanity, he despite his own kind. Since ponies weren't familiar with anything from Earth, the names, places, events, and times didn't tell them much but a few words could give them contexts, like war, revolution, murder, etc.

As the time got near to midnight, everyone got a plastic cup and Adam filled each one with champagne. The music was changed to a radio station, which belonged to the government. They stood in a circle and began to count from ten.

As they reached 'one', then they stood still and the radio began to play their national anthem. They all stood still and sang with it.

"What is it? Why don't we understand it?" asked Twilight but this time from Celestia and not Lacy.

"This is the anthem of my country, I cannot translate songs, but it doesn't matter." gave Lacy the answer.

"Anthem?" asked all of them.

"Yeah, I think every nation has a national anthem, but I can't tell you much about them. Also what we do now isn't common either, at least I think not, it's just a thing we do, but nobody else I know did this ever."

After the anthem ends, they all raise the cups, then began drinking its content. After they finished, they all put on jackets, and with the fireworks and a few lighter, they go out.

We got out in the open. Since the house was on the edge of the town, on the other side of the road, there weren't houses, but fields. We could already see various fireworks in the sky as many people started shooting them. We watched it for a while but then started to get ready for our fights.

"We have four lighter, so four people, everyone on their own," Adam told the rules. I nodded, then took one of the lighter, and one roman candle. The others were Chris, Victor, and Peter.

We get some distance from each other. When we were all ready, we began the battle. I lit the fuze on fire, the others did the same. Soon the first glowing shots began to fly to every direction someone was.

"What are those Harry Potter magic word shits?" asked Peter rather loudly.

"Capitulatus!" yelled Chris.

"Avada Kadevra!" I shouted. "Or something like that..." I added quietly.

There were ten shots in each barrel, two were already out, without hitting anyone. The third thought, it hit Victor, who was the closest to me, on his side. I saw light in my right peripheric view and leaned back just in time to see as a glowing projectile flying before me. Peter almost got a headshot. I then feel something hitting my left leg. Victor got me back. The next few shots are all missing, I try to get Peter and Chris, but without any success. I already lost count of how many shots I have left, probably only two or three. I see Victor hitting Chris on the head, Peter trying to do the same with me, but the projectile didn't even reach me. I aim and the next shot hits his left shoulder. Then one more projectile disappears into nothing, then I'm out. The others all trying to hit someone with their last shots. Peter gets hit by Chris, but that's all.

We walk back to the others, putting the used barrels to the ground, near the unused ones.

"Who wanna go next?" Adam ask

"This was fun!" Pinkie said.

"I don't know darling," Rarity adds her own comment. "Seemed a little barbaric to me."

"It was awesome!" Rainbow gave her opinion.

"Are you sure it was harmless?" asked Twilight.

"So far there weren't any accidents or other problems. When it hits our clothes, we barely feel it, hitting a skin isn't painful either. I guess, if it'd hit our eyes, that'd cause some inconvenience but the chance to hit it with this is small." Lacy explains to them.

They watching the other battles, but soon they run out of fireworks and start to head back with the empty barrels to the garage. After they got back the party didn't continue on the same degree. Everyone looks wore down a little.

"Soon it'll be over." Lacy states.

I sitting at the table, I bottle of cider in my left hand, with my other hand holding my head, I must look tired. The others are out there, smoking cigarettes, or just talking with them. I didn't go out, I have the smell of those things. Victor comes in and sat beside me.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Tired." I simply say.

"Still has the sleeping problems?"

"It was rare sleeping for more than four hours in the past weeks."

"You really should go to a doctor, it may be some kind of illness. Or at least buy some sleeping pills."

"I won't use pills! And I'll survive without doctors as well. I just feel like shit sometimes. That's all."

He doesn't say anything to that, which is surprising, he usually doesn't give up, even if it's clear, that he's wrong. I just sigh.

"Sometimes I feel like it was my fault mostly?" I start thinking aloud randomly.

"Huh?" Victor raises his eyes. "What?"

"My mother... Anita... Stella... Anna... With my exes, I don't think, but what about mom?" Victor is the only one, who knows the full story of what really happened, between me and Erika, my mother.

"Both of you are stubborn. I'm not judging you man, but I think you went too far."

"We had another fight after Christmas. It was intense. Isn't it funny though? I told you every time, how much I hate people who are so stubborn, yet I can be just like that sometimes, and I'm also still friends with you. Kinda hypocrite..."

"You just can't come out with women. Maybe it's your repulsive personality." he tries to ease the mood, but without success. I just give a sad sigh. His face changes. "You've been thinking about it as well right?"

"I don't care right now, if I'll find another girlfriend, or if I'll ever come to terms with my mom. I fear, that I'll lose, my two little sisters as well."

Lacy's eyes water up at the memory. He feels something cold touching his right shoulder. He looks there, seeing, that Twilight put one of her hoofs on him. Soon joins Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, then even Rainbow Dash and Applejack, at last, Princess Celestia puts one of her wings over him. He sees, that most of them shed a few tears. He doesn't know how to react to it, wasn't used to this kind of comfort, so he just waits till the moment passes. Soon the limbs were taken back, but as he looks around, still saw them giving him encouraging smiles.

"I'm going to sleep. Not want to bitter the mood more and maybe it'll last longer." I get up and start walking out of the garage, towards the house.

"Night!" Victor says to me and goes back to the others. They spot me, all of them saying 'Good Night', I gave them a nod, then goes inside the house.

I walk towards the stairs. When I reached upstairs, I look around. There is a big space, a billiard table in the middle, a few sofas at the walls, and five doors. One leading to the bathroom, one is Adam's room, one is Adam's brother's room, one is for their parents, and one guest room. They said we could use any of it, they even set up camp beds, so everyone will have something to sleep on. I could've chosen any bed since I'm the first up here, but instead of that, I just laid down on a sofa and let sleep take over.

After seeing his eyes closing, the princess stopped the spell.

"Everything seemed normal to me," Lacy said before anyone could ask anything. "Didn't see anything that could've caused my arrival."

"Sadly, I didn't see or hear anything that can be identified as a portal, or a spell either," Celestia informs him.

"So what now?" Lacy asked, trying his best to look calm, but inside he was panicking.

There weren't any leads as to how he got here, and it's wasn't hard to deduct that it'll make things even harder.

"I have to go back to Canterlot now. I neglected my duties and have to catch up. Don't worry, Lazlo, I'll look for a way to send you back to your world. Until then, I hope my little ponies will welcome you here."

"Of course Princess." Twilight bows a little.

"What do you want in exchange?" Lacy asks the princess who gives him a questioning look, just like every other pony. "I'm thankful for your help, but I know that nothing is free," he explains.

"Make some friends." she simply says. "It will take a while until, so you will stay here a while. I'm sure with friends it will be easier and my faithful student will learn more about friendship too."

"A while huh?" Lacy murmurs. "Can I look for a job or something? I don't want to be a freeload, and I don't have anything with me. Should I fill some kind of form, or how does it work. If it's possible at all."

"You don't need to do any of that, don't worry. I'm sure, my little ponies will help you with that too. But if it eases your mind... Spike, write down what I'm dictating please." Everyone turned to the purple dragon surprised, who was there all along, a little further away.

"We didn't even notice you!" Twilight said rather loud.

"Figures..." Spike giving everyone a deadpan look, then took a paper and a quill.

"I, Princess Celestia hereby granting the human, Lazlo Kis temporary citizenship of Equestria until further changes." she took the paper, summoned a quill and signed it, then made magically copied the document, giving the original to Lacy, who took it out of her golden magic aura. Warm filled him, as he got in touch with her magic and the feeling stayed with him after she let go of the object.

"Farewell everypony! I hope we will see each other soon!" with that she left the building, while everyone bowed then took off to Canterlot.

"I guess, I can take it as a vacation or something." Lacy starts speaking after the alicorn was out of their sight. "Though I truly need to find something to do and can give me some money."

"Don't worry, we will help you! Right girls?" Twilight asks, the others nod in agreement.

"How about we go have lunch together? My treat." Rarity offers. "Then please come with me to my boutique, so I can have your measurements, and make some clothes. Wearing the same thing day after day is a crime against fashion!"

They all left the library and starts walking in the town towards a restaurant.
> 5. A peaceful afternoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Would you tell us about those humans we saw?" Twilight asked Lacy.

They all sat outside of a restaurant at a big round table. Instead of chairs, there were haystacks. It was fine for ponies or even Spike, but Lacy knew that later every part of his body that made contact with the pile will be itchy and his pants won't help with this problem.

They already ordered some food Lacy only asked for a salad because every other meal contained at least one thing that wasn't edible for him. 

"About Peter, David, and Vera, I can't tell much, I don't really know them. The two men were Adam's classmates, not really knowing them, only met them a few times, at parties hosted by Adam. I know that they're both students at a university, some kind of engineers, they learning to be. I don't remember what Vera's doing." he then drank from his glass of water. "Adam and Chris became my friends when we got the same dorm room. Victor was my friend since elementary school, then we went to the same high school. We-"

"Sorry..." Twilight interrupted. "Could you tell me about your school system, because I don't really understand it, I think I can make some assumption, but it'd be better if we could clear this up," she explained, and Lacy saw that the others were confused as well, except Rainbow Dash, who was bored hearing about school and education.

"Sure. Where I'm from, kids go to elementary school, when they're around six or seven years old. That last eight or six years, usually the former. There we learn basic things at first, like write, read, math, later more advanced things, like one foreign language, physics, chemistry, biology, history, literature, there are also other things, like Physical Education, art, music, etc. Then come four or six years of high school or some kind of vocational high school, which I can't talk about much, since I went to a normal high school. At that time I moved into a dorm because I lived far from where the school was. There you basically have the same classes as in elementary, just the things you learn are more advanced and detailed. Then you can go to college or university, or you can look for a job. Or there are other possibilities as well, but I don't wanna bore you with more details."

Twilight was about to protest, but seeing that her friend lost interest in the topic already, she didn't force him to continue.

The waiter pony came back and put food for some ponies, then went back to get the others as well. Soon everyone had food before them. They all started eating. The salad tasted fresh and was surprisingly good for Lacy, who was always the meat with meat kind of person.

Not bad, though I hope, that I won't have to stay here for too long, or I can get some kind of meat or other animal products, otherwise I'll get sick very soon.

"So you were telling us about your friends..."

"Right. So Adam and Chris became my friends after we got the same dorm room. Victor was the fourth there. Adam is that kind of man, who doesn't really care about the future, never considers the long-term effects of anything. Chris is that kind of person, who knows a lot of random facts, has an interest in many things, but in most things, he only scratches the surface. Also, he likes to take risks. Not in the sense of endangering his own life, rather in betting, or stock exchange, and other money-related things."

Lacy then took a short break in his monologue, because the girls and Spike were almost finished with their meal, but his plate was still full of vegetables and fruits. The food tasted better than whatever other vegetable or fruit he ever ate in his world. He remembered Twilight telling him that this whole place was magical. Magic was everywhere and in everything so in his food as well.

Now he only needed to talk about Victor. It saddened his mood a little because Victor was special. The girls all waited for him, and though some of them seemed impatient, none of them said anything.

"Victor. My best friend. We grew up in the same little town. There was only one elementary school and we got in the same class. In the first year, we were more like enemies. We were the best students in the class, we had the best grades. There are many grading systems around my planet, where I lived, it was a simple number between one and five, one is insufficient, two is sufficient, it was necessary to get at least a two in every subject to successfully finish the current class. Three is satisfactory, four is good, and five is excellent." he saw Twilight writing down the new information, while the others seemed to wait for him to finish this and go back to explaining his friendship. "We were the best in our class, full of fives, sometimes a four here and there, though most of the time he got more points than me. We were kids, and I could hardly handle, that he was better than me at almost everything, well maybe I was stronger, but after hitting him a few times, I got punished not only by my teachers but by my mother as well, since she knew Victor's mom. Also, my grandfather gave me a few lessons too."

"Now wait just a minute!" Applejack interrupted the story. "You're sayin' to us right now that you started fights with that best friend of yours?"

"Come on, AJ!" Rainbow Dash butts in before Lacy could react. "We had fought too. And we are still friends."

"That's right, but we were competing with each other. He just went and hit him, only because he made more points in some tests? There's a difference." Applejack explained.

"We were just kids who started school. I went there believing that I will ace everything, because everyone in my family told me that I'm a lot smarter than other kids because at that time I already could read, though not very well, and do some basic math. And let's just say that kids can do cruel things if they don't get what they want." Lacy told them. They were all surprised hearing this, but then some of them reminded the others, that the same applies to some fillies and colts as well, some of them even had experience in this, but based on what they said, it wasn't as problematic as in the human world.

"So the first school year, we weren't even friends, but then the next year, we made peace and became friends fast. Since then, he was my only friend, I could trust with anything. He never let me down and I tried my best to be just as a good friend to him like he was to me. We went to the same city for high school, then we moved to the capital city, he went to a university, I went to learn somewhere else, but we stayed in touch and helped each other. So that's why he is my best friend. Though he says a lot of stupid things, and not really a fan of my humor and personality, which is sometimes dark and morbid, but we accepted each other." Lacy finished.

"Yay! You and your friends are just like us!" Pinkie shouted. Lacy raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to explain it. "You are all different, but you are still the bestest of best friends and you will stay friends forever and after and you will go parties and events and everywhere else together and will do everything together, just like us." she finally finished. It took Lacy some time to figure out what she really said. Her high-pitched voice and fast-talking made it hard to understand her.

"Well, we aren't that different. We are similar in many things like we all play a lot of video games, they all learning in some kind of engineer faculty, have mostly the same taste in music. Also, we don't really meet much nowadays." finally Lacy's plate was empty. He was the last to finish his meal. He turned to Rarity. "Thank you for inviting me to this lunch. Never thought that this kind of food could be this good."

"You are welcome, darling. Now please come with me to the carousel boutique so I can measure you and make you some clothes."

"Alright, though if I'm being honest, it's starting to bother me accepting all this help."

"Don't worry about that." Rarity tries to reassure him. "You came here with none of your belongings and according to the princess, you will have to stay here for a while, and as your friends, we are obligated to help you out in this situation."

"Rarity's right," Twilight adds. "And Princess Celestia told you to make some friends. You already have some."

"Apparently more than I had in my world." Lacy murmurs, but some of the ponies heard him and shot him a worrying glare. "But is it really friendship? So soon?"

"Of course!" Twilight says. "The girls saw me as their friend the moment I met them, and I started to see them the same the next morning." she then looked away, trying to remember something. Soon she turned back to Lacy. "That reminds me, you didn't tell what changed, that you and Victor became friends after the first school year."

"Oh, that. Well, two things. First was, that every other boy in my class couldn't behave normally, or just ignored me, or bullied me, and since that time boys and girls stayed separated, there weren't many options left, and I also realized, that I enjoyed competing with him. The second thing was a chess club for the kids in the town. You know what chess is?" they nodded. "We both were signed up, I already played a lot with my grandparents, so I was pretty good in my liege. Even better than him. That was the only thing I was doing clearly better than him. Almost all of the games were won by me and that was enough for me to calm down."

After the explanation, most ponies left, because they all had their own things to do, while Rarity paid for the food, leaving a generous tip too. Twilight decided to accompany Lacy and Rarity, and naturally Spike tag along as well. As they walked on the streets, Twilight and Rarity were talking about something Lacy didn't pay attention. Ponies said hello to them or waved, which they returned.

Arriving at the boutique, Twilight sat down on the ground, holding a book and a quill with her magic, while the other unicorn and the dragon went to get the necessary equipment. Twilight told Lacy earlier that she wants to collect all the data she can get about humans into one book, and then send it to the princess, and also make copies for libraries around Equestria. Though Lacy mentioned that the information wouldn't be scientifically correct because of the number of test subjects, but since she already had a hundred percent of the human population of Equestria as test subjects, she couldn't get more.

Rarity got back with Spike and began measuring. It took some time to get every size she wanted, and of course Twilight wrote down everything as well. Meanwhile Lacy told some more about human dressing customs for different occasions, like workdays, weekends, ceremonies, events, parties, etc. Rarity promised him for dresses on every occasion, but Lacy declined this offer, saying, he won't need that much, and don't want to accept that as well. In the end, they settled with a few common clothes and a tuxedo, just in case. Lacy could accept it but promised that he will repay her some time.

After leaving the boutique with Twilight, Spike left behind, Lacy asked if there is some kind of park, which isn't were crowded. Twilight led him in the outskirts of Ponyville, where there was a small lake, a few trees, benches, and a clearing which was a perfect place for a picnic.

They both sat on a bench. Lacy then remembered to ask a very important question.

"Twilight, since I'm new here and all, could you tell me things that aren't allowed to do, or talk about it? You know, taboos, and such." the levander unicorn gave him a questioning look but then understood that he just doesn't want to do anything that is not allowed here.

"Of course! I think there is a book about it in the library, I'll look for it when we get home," she answered. Lacy gave her a nod and then turned his focus to the sky.

He missed the little town atmosphere. Since he went to high school in one of the bigger cities, he rarely went to his hometown, only on weekends, and school breaks. Later, when he moved to the capital, the visits became so rare, that he almost forgot how much he loved to go to the abandoned park which was on the outskirts of his hometown and people didn't live close to it. Nevertheless, he loved to go there sometimes, just sitting on one of the benches which were left there for mother nature, or take a walk in the forest nearby, or just laying in the grass, and relaxing, listening to the leaves, as the wind blows them, hearing the birds singing, or that few cars that travel on the nearby road. He truly missed it, and in the big city, there wasn't any place like that.

Suddenly he felt something tapping one of his legs. He opened his eyes, looking at Twilight, thinking at first, that it's her doing it, but she just stared at him, smiling. He looked down and was surprised when he saw a little unicorn foal, with amber coat and brownish mane and tail. For a while, the little one continued tapping his leg, but then looked up and saw Lacy looking at her. A staring contest started for a short time, then the little foal started smiling and raised her forelegs and pointed them towards Lacy.

"Cute," Lacy commented, then gave looked at Twilight, waiting for some kind of instruction on what to do with this situation.

"I think she wants you to lift her," Twilight told him.

Lacy wasn't sure if this is a good idea or not, but seeing Twilight's reassuring smile, and the little unicorn who stayed at that position, he couldn't resist and wrapped his fingers around the foal's body, then lifted her till she was at the lever of his neck.

"Hello there, little one. What are you doing here alone?" he started to talk to her, not sure if she could understand him since he wasn't sure of her age. The foal only watched him with awe. Then her little horn started to glow in a color similar to her coat. Lacy suddenly felt something pulling his hair and also had the same feeling when at the party his hand contacted Rarity's magic aura. He put the two and two together fast. The little foal grabbed his hair with her magic and pulled towards herself.

"What are you doing?" he asked, though didn't expect any answer. Meanwhile Twilight could only watch him with a smile on her face, trying to resist saying 'aww'.

As the foal finally reached his long hair with her hooves, she took some of it between them and started to move the upper hoof, like she was trying to comb it. Lacy thought it was adorable at first, but then memories flooded his minds and his mood dropped a little. It looked like she could play with his hair for some time, but then another pony appeared.

"There you are, Amber!" they all heard a female voice.

Both Lacy and Twilight turned to the unicorn mare, who now stood beside the bench they were sitting on. Amber, the little unicorn, didn't seem to notice her mom. She was still occupied playing with Lacy's hair. The mare had a dark pink coat and a lighter pink mane with a few light blue streaks. Her cutie mark was a comb and a scissor next to each other, vertically.

"Hello! I remember you! Yesterday that party was for you. I couldn't stay for long, because of Amber, she had to go to bed on time. I see she's taken a liking in you." she said while watched her kid, who still didn't get bored with Lacy's hair. "Oh, pardon me! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Perfect Mane! Hairdresser."

"Lazlo Kis. A pleasure." Lacy introduced himself as well.

"I hope little Amber didn't bother you for long. I took her out for a walk and then decided to relax a little and let her explore the place because she never goes far from me or her dad but this time after a short nap, I didn't see her anywhere, she wandered too far, and I became worried a little, but then I noticed you, holding her, and saw her smiling and playing with your mane, and then came here, to introduce myself."

She talked so much that it annoyed Lacy a little. It reminded him of all the times, when he was just a little kid, and went somewhere with his mother, or any grandparents, and they met their friend and started a long talking session, leaving Lacy bored.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Sweet Celestia! I almost forgot! I have to go! Come on Amber, say bye to Lacy, we have to go." she then used her magic to levitate the foal out of Lacy's hand and onto her back. The kid seemed to dislike it because the moment she was out of Lacy's grasp, she began crying. "I'm sorry sweetie, but we have to go, but I'm sure we will see him later, right?" she then glanced at Lacy.

"Sure," Lacy said, after a short pause, then lowered himself, so he could be at eye level with the crying unicorn foal on her mother's back. "Hey now. I'll be here for some time, so next time we meet, you can play more with my hair, if you want." he then ran through her mane with his fingers, which calmed her down, and started to giggle. The mare gave him a thankful nod, then trotted away, but she didn't get far before the kid started to cry again.

"Looks like foals like you," Twilight said after we didn't hear the crying anymore. "And you also know how to handle kids." she then added.

"Dunno, what they're liking about me..." he responded. "She reminded me of one of my little sisters."

"Oh... Will you tell me about her?" she asked.

"Maybe later. But now, I think it's time to go back to the library, I really need to know what I shouldn't do here."

"Of course, let's go. By the way, the first thing is, that please don't use those obscene words, we heard in the memory."

"Can't promise that, but I'll try."

"Well, at least not before any child. I knew Spike would ask about that later, since all these words were new to him, and I had to ask Rarity to persuade him to forget it."

"That I can promise. I have some practice in that, because of my sisters."

"Good."

We got back to the library, where she talked about the taboos. There were things that were similar to what humans had, like romance in outdoors are reduced to hugs and kisses, everything else stays indoors. There were more interesting ones that weren't forbidden, but ponies didn't really like talking about murder, rape, gory things, or wars. Since Equestria was a peaceful and prosperous nation and ponies could live in harmony, crimes were rare. Not only that, but murder or rape almost never happened since Princess Celestia is the ruler and that's over a thousand years.

Lacy learned some more about pony customs as well, then when the sun was setting, they eat dinner, Spike finally got back as well, and didn't start to question those words, instead he asked if Lacy wanted to see his comic collection. Though Lacy was never really a fan of those superhero comics, he decided to spend some time with the baby dragon, while Twilight stayed in the library part and started to make a plan for teaching Lacy more about Equestria and its inhabitants. She also remembered that Lacy wanted to have a job, so she created a list of possible workplaces Lacy can go to.

It was late at night when both the unicorn and the human decided to hit the hay. Spike was already sleeping, and it was hard to wake him up, so they didn't worry about moving quietly. Even though he felt tired, Lacy couldn't sleep. He never could fell asleep easily, it took some time, usually a few hours. He was just lying on his side and thinking about today.

Amber is adorable. And how she played with my hair. Probably saw her mom doing it. Reminds me of Maya... Ok. Not thinking about her before sleep, because then I'll never fall asleep. Think about something else. Like there is little to none crime here. This place is truly unbelievable.

Finally, his tiredness won, and he was soon in the world of dreams.
> 6. A city up in the sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Louder!" he heard a faint voice, which surely came from far. Lacy's head perked up at that, but soon returned to his breakfast.

He was tired. The entire weekend was spent in the library with Twilight, who came up with the idea, that on free weekends, they will have a common study session, where she teaches Lacy about things in Equestria, and in exchange, Lacy tells her more about his own world. This was the first weekend. They mainly talked about anatomy and customs. He learned a lot of interesting things.

One of them was that why didn't need ponies to wear clothes all the time to hide their private parts. Not only because of the tail and fur. It helped, but it wasn't all. Though Lacy never tried to catch a glimpse of anyone's genitalia, that didn't mean it never happened. For example, when Twilight was talking about the cutie marks yesterday...





(Flashback)

"So these cutie marks just appears, when you discover your special talent?" Lacy asked to make sure he got it right.

"Yes. Just like I told you, when we first met, cutie marks are important and unique. It is basically a pony's essence." Twilight explained.

"I see. And it appears usually while you're still a child?"

"Yes. The studies showed that most ponies got their marks at the age between eight and twelve. I got mine when I was eight."

"And how literal is it? I mean, yours is one big and some small stars. You said your special talent is magic, but based on your cutie mark, it could mean other things. Like astronomy."

"It doesn't have to be exactly that thing, it only has to be connected. Take my friends, for example. Rarity has a special talent of finding gems, not only diamonds, like her cutie marks showing, or Fluttershy have a special bonds with all kinds of animals, not only butterflies."

"I see, and how is it so visible? You have fur. Shouldn't it hide it, or something?" Lacy continued the questioning.

"It's actually our fur that changes colors." she gave the simple answer.

"Then how does it always look the same? I mean like when there is a strong wind it can deform it easily."

"It won't because it isn't static. It always changes the way to show the same image, no matter what happens." Twilight explained, then turned around. "Come on, you can try it." she then started to get closer to Lacy, while still showing him her flank.

Lacy's face turned red at this and not because of anger. He didn't expect this. Twilight's was now mere centimeters away from him, the right side of her hindquarters almost touching. He backed up a little.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, slightly confused.

"You want me to touch your butt?" Lacy gave her the blunt response.

"You don't have to, I just wanted to show you how is it works by offering you to mess with my fur at that part so you can see as it constantly changing colors." Twilight gave him the answer, but now it was her time to get some. "Why? Is it wrong where you're from?"

"You see, if you are an adult then you usually don't touch others' butts, only if you are in an intimate relationship." He explained. "Or if it's required for some kind of medical examination or treatment." He added.

Twilight immediately wrote down the information, then realized what she was doing in his eyes. Her cheeks turned red and gave an awkward laugh and pulled back. Then an idea came to her.

"Spike." she turned to the dragon who was there with them in case Twilight needs him to find a book. "I think you can go and take a nap now. Thanks for your help, but we can manage from here."

"Come on Twilight, I'm curios too." the dragon tried to protest but after a harder glare from the mare, he decided that a nap wouldn't be a bad thing either. After he went upstairs, they waited for a little before continuing.

"I think I know what comes now." Lacy commented.

"I realise it's important to get clear on this topic, so neither of us would do anything that would send the wrong message to the other."

The next hour went on with Twilight and Lacy both explaining each other about different signs. It turned out, though, that what most likely meant harassment for humans was completely normal to ponies. Physical contact and nudity was a common thing here. Most ponies were more friendly and had more genuine intentions than humans. So many things that for humans would implicate more intimate relationship between two people were every day between two pony friends.

Of course, there were some common grounds as well. Twilight told Lacy that flashing is a thing here too, but here it's almost always intentional. That was the moment when Lacy learned about a kind of magic that almost every sapient creature here capable of doing. They can decide when to show and when to hide their private parts, more likely the former, since the basic state is when it's invisible. Technically, when someone flashes, that means that he or she turns off the spell for a very short time, while stands in a position so the 'target' can see it. Though Twilight added, this isn't happening so often nowadays.

Nobody knows how did it came to be. Twilight told him that it's probably knowledge that was lost at that time when there wasn't harmony on these lands. Basically, the whole thing is, that since birth, you can't see it, you can't even feel it when touching there. Foals can't control it, and the only time it shows is when they relieve themselves. They usually learn to control it after they get their cutie marks, or in other creature's cases, about the same age a pony would. It's the parents' job to teach them, but if they can't, school teachers also capable of that.

It was also interesting that this ability was only for the quadrupedal species. Bipedal creatures couldn't do it for some reason.

This world is... unbelievable. Though maybe it's better for them, since they don't necessarily have to wear clothes and it's also hard to rape someone. Lacy drew the conclusion for himself.

(End of flashback)





He was happy though that Rarity made him a few things he could wear and though he could not give anything to her in exchange at that time and she said that she doesn't want anything, he still promised he will repay her somehow.

After finishing breakfast, they began to clean up the place. Books and parchments everywhere. Twilight's OCD kicks in and starts to give Lacy and Spike orders which book goes where. They were halfway through it when Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack came and joined to help them finish it faster.

Soon they were finished. Twilight just put the last book in its place.

"Last one." She then turned to her friends. "Thank you so much for helping me clean up all these books guys, it was a crazy weekend of studying." Her eyes moved in circles in the opposite direction of each other for a moment.

"What the fuck?" was Lacy's reaction, and though he only muttered, all of them heard it and by the looks on their faces, they still didn't appreciate this kind of language.

Twilight ears perked up suddenly, and soon everyone could hear someone yelling louder and louder, meaning that someone was getting closer. They didn't even had time to react as the next moment a cyan colored pegasus came through the window and hit the bookcases so hard, all the books landed on the ground. Now the library was in a worse state than when they started to clean up.

The whole thing knocked everyone on the ground as well. Lacy let out a painful groan as he got up around the same time as the others. His back was hurting, but otherwise he was fine. He didn't know if he should yell at the pegasus or check if she or anyone else has any injury, but before he could decide, he saw Fluttershy landing.

"Rainbow Dash, you rock." she said enthusiastically then let out a quiet cheer. Just now she realized that the sight before her wasn't exactly what you normally see in a library. "Did my cheering do that?" she asked.

"Yeah, your voice resonated on the perfect frequency to knock down every book from the shelves." Lacy said sarcastically, but Fluttershy didn't get it, she just blushed and looked apologetically.

"Sorry about that ladies," Rainbow said as she got up, then turned to the human "and, sir. That was a truly feeble performance."

At first everyone thought that Rainbow finally got some self-criticism, but of course it turns out she was talking about Fluttershy's cheering. They also learned that the Young Flier Competition, that Rainbow mentioned a few days ago, will be held soon and that is what she's practicing for.

"I wish you all could come to Cloudsdale. Fluttershy is a great support, but her cheering isn't really inspirational," said Dash.

"Why can't they all go?" Lacy asked, not really understanding the problem.

"Cloudsdale is a city in the sky. It's floating on giant clouds, so only pegasi can go there." Twilight explained. "That is why we cannot be there to support Rainbow."

They have a fucking flying city here... Though this one is probably not like Columbia.

After some more talking, Rainbow decides to head off. Fluttershy is about to go as well but before she tells them, that she even though she practiced hard and tried it many times, she didn't get close to make the Sonic Rainboom and still thought, that it's because of her week cheering performance.

"I guess we better get this cleaned up..." Twilight said as she looked around then put on an annoyed expression. "again"

Lacy groaned, then picked up a few books.

"Go on! Go on!" Rarity said and poked Twilight with her horn.

"Go on what?" Twilight asked, starting to get angry.

Rarity wanted Twilight to find a spell, that'll get them to Cloudsdale. She was worried about Rainbow, who clearly looked nervous about the competition. Soon they found a spell that'll give wings to a pony for three days, but according to Twilight it's a really hard spell. Nevertheless, she agreed to give it a try and Rarity volunteered to be the test subject.

Twilight fired up her horn and Rarity got wrapped into some kind of magical cover. Her face gave away her thought that this might not be her best idea.

But when the spell ended, and everyone got to see the result, they all knew that it was worth it. Her wings looked like butterfly wings and it looked gorgeous.

"It's beautiful!" Rarity exclaimed after inspecting her new appendages. The others only nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, everypony, but I don't think I can do this again. It's too hard and requires too much magic. We need to find another solution, if we all want to go to Cloudsdale." Twilight told the others.

While Rarity was still too busy inspecting her wings, the others were thinking and looking through books.

"How does it feel?" Lacy decided to interrogate Rarity. "I mean, you just got more appendages."

"It feels a little odd, if I'm honest, darling, but I can use them just fine."

She got fond of them immediately she was floating since she got them and could hardly take her eyes off of them.

Soon Twilight found another solution. A spell that allows cloud walking to a non-pegasus. It was easier to cast, so she targeted Pinkie, then Applejack, and then herself with it. Then turned to Lacy.

"Do you want to come with us to Cloudsdale?" she asked. "I know that you are new to our little group, but we all want you to be part of it, while you're here. Besides, not many flightless creature get the opportunity to travel to Cloudsdale." she reasoned.

"Are you sure the spell's going to work on me? I'm from a magicless world after all." Lacy said his doubts, but after seeing her confident smile, he gave in. "Well, I said that I'd look my time here as some kind of vacation, so why not?"

Soon, they all were aboard on a balloon to Cloudsdale. Rarity was flying ahead of them. On the entire way, Lacy was nervous. He didn't fear of heights, but stepping on a cloud while hundreds of meters above the ground was a different thing.

These thoughts disappeared when he first looked at the city. It was a magnificent view. Many buildings made of cloud but he also saw some which wasn't but he didn't even questioned how was that possible, because the whole view took all the place in his brain. The white, or light colored buildings, the rainbow falls, pegasi flying around. It was beautiful. Lacy was glad that he came with the girls. This is something no human will see ever. He is the first and only.

Wish, I had my phone with me even though there is no camera that can return this beauty.

As they landed in a clearing, Lacy spotted Rainbow and Fluttershy. They were didn't notice the balloon, though they were too occupied staring at Rarity's wings. Rainbow only saw them when Pinkie jumped out of the basket. Rainbow got a mini heart attack but soon calmed down as she stayed on the clouds. Applejack and Twilight followed their pink friend, Lacy, however didn't leave with them.

"Come on, Lacy, trust me!" encourage him Twilight.

It wasn't a matter of trust for Lacy. He was about to step on a cloud. Something that is basically just water and air. Last time he checked, he could only walk on solid things. But he went this far and had faith that somebody will catch him somehow if this won't work.

He took it slowly. One leg over the basket and moved down till it reached the cloud. Then put a little pressure on it, but only sank a little bit. As he put more and more weight on that leg, it didn't go any deeper. After that, he finally stepped out completely and stayed on the cloud. He still couldn't believe it. He was walking on gas, basically.

He reached down to touch it. It was like foam.

He finally calmed down, didn't even noticed that the whole time he was panting.

"Took you long enough." commented Rainbow Dash. "But thank you for coming. All of you. To be honest, I started to feel a tiniest bit of nervous but I feel better now that you are here." of course, everyone could tell that she was a lot more nervous but nobody mentioned. "Hey! We got some time before the competition. Me and Fluttershy could show you around."

Everyone was glad for the opportunity for some sightseeing. Just looking around, the view was special. Lacy however found the design of some cloud building familiar. With those pillars, it looked a lot like something from the ancient Greek culture.

It's really ironic, that the pegasus ponies would build in that style, since if I remember correctly the pegasus is a creature from the ancient Greek mythology.

Rarity was the only one who was more occupied with watching her own reflection than the beauty of the architecture. Other pegasi also stared at the butterfly-winged mare. Every one of them found it gorgeous. She flew around the others and even though Twilight warned her she should be careful because it's not really durable, she didn't really listened to her friend.

Applejack came up with the idea of seeing the weather factory, so that is where Rainbow led the group. Upon seeing the large, could-made group of buildings with rainbow falls, normal and storm clouds, Lacy's jaw dropped.

This place is unbelievable. And to think they are making the weather in a fucking factory, like it's some kind of massproduced shit... If humanity ever made progress in full control on weather and the place won't look like this, then it's unworthy of its name.

Since Rainbow Dash was the captain of the weather team in Ponyville, she was allowed to give a tour to her friends. It was mandatory to wear a lab coat-like garment and a hat, but because of Lacy's size and anatomy he could only put on a hat which was small and because he was already wearing clothes, the security pony let him in as well.

"This is where they're making the snowflakes." Rainbow Dash explained as they entered the first building. "Each one is hoof-made. As you can see, it's a delicate operation."

Many ponies were here, looking at snowflakes under the magnifying glass.

"They can make something that small with hoof?" Lacy asked but didn't get an answer because Rarity's wing created a small breeze and all the snowflakes started to fly around, ponies chasing after them. They decided to move on.

The next department was the rainbow maker. Many small pools of colorful liquid. As they walked to one of the pool, Pinkie decided to put her hoof in, then licked that hoof. Her face literally changed colors.

"Spicy!" she managed to say before dashing off.

"Yeah, rainbows aren't know for their flavour." Dash told them.

Lacy wanted to try it though. He bent down and put his left index finger into the pool. It felt odd, like many other things he encountered since he got here. It was like a dilute cream, or at least that was the closest thing he could compare.

And now I'll be the first human who could react to 'Taste the rainbow motherfucker!' with 'Already did!'

As his tongue made contact with his finger, he knew Pinkie wasn't exaggerating. It was like taking every kind of spice you can get in a supermarket and putting into water. The taste went through his entire body in a form of shake.

"Not bad." he finally gave his opinion. The others just stared at him. "Though I need a glass of water." he added but didn't have to wait for long because Pinkie offered him one immediately.

They then spotted Rarity, followed by three pegasus, all admiring her wings. The girls and Lacy just rolled their eyes at this.

"Hey!" one of them shouted. "It's Rainbow Crash." they all laughed as they approached the group. They noticed Lacy but didn't give him any mind. "You should forget about the Sonic Rainboom and get some wings like these." he pointed at Rarity and they all laughed again.

Rainbow just sighed and became upset. Her friends just looked at each other, unsure how to handle the situation. The three male pegasus then took off.

"Hey you three worthless pieces of shit!" Lacy yelled after them. Everyone flinched at his words. The three pegasus all turned back to him, looking surprised and angry.

"What did you call us?" one of them questioned him.

"At least you have some self-knowledge." Lacy told them.

"What the hay are you anyway?" another one asked.

"Human." Lacy gave the simple answer.

"And who do you think you are, that you can say things like those about us?" the third one joined as well.

"Since it looks like you can insult others just like that, I wanted to try it as well. But since I'm better at it, you best apologise to Rainbow Dash than get out of here."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll fucking fry your wings. I miss meat and wonder if you taste like chicken. I love chicken wing." he threatened them.

Their eyes widened and quickly flew away.

"What in Celestia's name was that?" Twilight asked angrily after she got through the shock of what happened. "You can't just say things like that!"

"Yeah, it was a meany thing to say, mister. You should do meany things because then mean things will happen to you and I don't want things like those to happen to anypony becau-" Pinkie's rant was cut short, after Applejack put a hoof in her mouth.

"I agree with them." the orange pony said. "Those words were too harsh."

"It wasn't nice." Fluttershy told her own opinion.

"It was absolutely barbaric behaviour." Rarity commented as well.

"Thank you for taking my side but it was really uncool." said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, it's how I deal with bullies and other idiots and it was working for me so far." Lacy shrugged.

"We will talk about it later." Twilight told them. "Now I think it's best to move along."

They continued the tour. The next department was where the clouds were made. Of course, wherever they went, the ponies were all fascinated by Rarity's wings. This only made Rainbow Dash more and more upset. Since all the ponies' attention was turned to Rarity and she even took it to the next level by giving everyone a show off. Twilight at first tried to make Rarity stop but was unsuccessful, then tried to calm down Dash.

The final straw was when a pony suggested that Rarity should enter the competition and she even considered competing. Rainbow was not outright scared. Not even her friends could calm her down, but there was no time. They had to go to the arena now, because the competition was about to start soon.

Upon entering the arena, they all wished luck to Rainbow and went to take their seats while Rainbow joined to the other competitors. Rarity was nowhere to be found and because of this, ponies noticed that there was a bipedal creature, twice as big as them in the place. The place was full of pegasus ponies, they were the only wingless ones.

Lacy noticed the three stallions he got into an argument earlier. They noticed him too, but were trying to avoid eye contact.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" they all heard the announcer. "Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!"

All ponies turned to the same direction and saw the white alicorn descending to her own secluded box with two pegasus royal guard. Everyone cheered loud as she waved. She noticed Lacy and gave him a nod, the ponies’ mouth hang open at that, Lacy returned the nod.

"Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flier Competition: The Wonderbolts!"

Six ponies, all in the same blue outfit, flew, each leaving behind a trail of smoke. They put on a little show, then three of them flew away, other three went to the judges’ position. And the competition began.

As the show went on Lacy couldn't help but watch them in wonder. Every pegasus had their own set of tricks. The girls were talking about whose performance did they like the most so far and also exchanged some worried words about Rainbow Dash.

Since every pegasus took only a few minutes to show their skills, after one hour the last competitor was announced now, which turned out was Dash and Rarity. They will both show their moves at the same time.

Lacy could see the stage fright on the colorful pegasus. While Rarity started her own performance, which was some kind of strange air ballet.

"She has a little face on her makeup." Lacy said and his friends laughed a good at this. The man chuckled too, but not because of his comment but the sight of Rarity in that ridiculous outfit she was wearing.

Lacy stopped paying attention to her and turned to Dash, who finally began her own performance. Because of her stage nervousness, though she made a few mistakes. Like hitting one of the cloud pillars, or launching a spinning cloud towards Celestia. Then the final part began. She began to fly upward.

Rarity did the same, but only for getting the perfect position for her finale. The colorful sunlight that bathed the whole arena through her wings was a truly magnificent view. But it didn't last long. Her wings suddenly vaporized.

You flew too close to the sun Icarus. Lacy thought before realising that Rarity, one of his new friend, who made his clothes completely free, was falling towards the ground which was hundreds of meters away. The Wonderbolts flew after her, but in her panicked state she knocked all of them out. Now four ponies were falling to their end. Everyone watched horrified, but then Rainbow Dash went after them. She was behind but lost the distance fast. The ponies and Lacy hoped that she can catch up with them, then somehow save them, though it seemed unlikely.

BOOM

Everyones jaw fell. A colorful wave went in every direction horizontally, and Dash now left a rainbow trail behind her as she flew. She caught all four of them in the last second. The ponies all cheered in the arena, Fluttershy was jumping and shouting. Lacy just watched as Dash flew with Rarity in her hooves and the Wonderbolts on her back. When she got back to the arena, a few pegasi went to help her, and grabbed the unconscious ponies and the unicorn.

Soon Lacy and the girls joined to Rainbow Dash and Rarity the latter was placed in the balloon's basket.

"I want to apologise to all of you for getting so carried away with my beautiful wings. I guess I just lost my head." Rarity told them.

While the ponies were forgiving her, Lacy couldn't help himself.

"It was an outstanding performance, though. Not groundbreaking but -" he was cut off, when Twilight hit his side, the others’ expression was disapproving too.

"I'm especially sorry for being so thoughtless for jumping in the contest in the last minute after you had to work so hard to win it." she said as she turned to Rainbow Dash. "Could you ever forgive me?"

"It's okay. Everything turned out alright." Rainbow told her. Lacy wanted to comment more to it but because he didn't want Twilight to hit him again, he remained quiet. He also noticed that the Wonderbolts were coming to their direction. "I just wish I could've met the Wonderbolts while they were awake."

At that moment, the fiery maned one tapped her shoulder. They thanked Rainbow Dash who was repeating 'Oh my gosh' over and over again while fangirling.

The next one coming was no other than Princess Celestia, with her two guards. The ponies and Lacy bowed.

Rarity then apologised to her as well and then Celestia named Rainbow Dash the winner of the competition. While Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy lifted her and they run away, Celestia turned to Twilight who was still standing at the balloon with Lacy and Rarity.

"So Twilight Sparkle. Did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?" she asked her student.

"I did, Princess. But I think Rarity learned even more than me."

"I certainly did." Rarity then began. "I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground. And be there for your friends."

"Excellent! Well done, Rarity."

Rainbow Dash meanwhile came back, and that three stallion came to apologise to her as well. She then left to hang out with the Wonderbolts.

"It's good to see you again, Lazlo." Celestia began talking to the human. "I hope you fitting in right in Ponyville."

"Yes, Princess. This place and the ponies are really friendly."

"I'm glad to hear it. I regret to say but in these few days I could got closer to a way for you to go home but there are still many things I have not tried yet so don't lose hope."

"Thank you!"

"And tell me, have you made any friends so far?"

"Well, I think Twilight and the other consider me as their friend, but I couldn't really interact with others because a certain purple unicorn expropriated me for the weekend." Twilight blushed a little as both the princess and Lacy turned to her.

"Me and the girls consider you our friend." Twilight said after a few seconds. "She even stood up for Rainbow Dash when a few ponies laughed at her and while his method was questionable, his intention was genuine."

"I see. Well, I hope you will make more friend and you will collect more and more good memories. I must bid you farewell now. I have to return to Canterlot." They all bowed as she took off, her guards following her.

"I think we should go home now." Twilight said while they all entered the basket. "But we will have to talk about your action." Lacy groaned as he was mentally preparing himself for the scolding that'll come soon.
> 7. Bonding time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days passed since they came back from Cloudsdale. Much to Lacy's surprise, Twilight didn't pester him about the incident in the Weather Factory. He got his hopes up she forget it completely, but today Twilight finally made her move.

"Can we talk about your behaviour towards those pegasus stallions?" she asked out of blue. Lacy only groaned, annoyed. He really hoped she won't bring it up.

"Look. I told you it's my way to treat the likes of them. And beside, it already happened, can't do anything about it."

"But it's not the right thing to do!" she forced the topic. "You were threatening them of taking their lives and eat them!"

"And you believe I would've done it for real?"

"What? No! Or course not! My point is that you insulted them, just like they did with Rainbow Dash. It's not a nice thing, but if you doing the same, that means you sink on their level."

"Alright." Lacy sits down, accepting that he won't escape from the situation. "Let me tell you something. I will never be down on their level, because there is a key difference between our actions. They had no valid reason to offend, upset, and laugh at Dash. I, on the other hand, had a good reason to threaten them. I defended Rainbow."

"And you think that is a good reason? Or that it's a good method?"

"The end justifies the means. Also, I learned a long time ago to never be the initiator and know when to stop."

Twilight expression softened. Not because she agreed with him. She discovered something along his lines.

"You said, you had to deal with bullies before, right?" she asked. Lacy raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Would you show me? I asked Princess Celestia to send me that memory re-watching spell. It's rather hard to perform and I won't be able to hold on for hours, but it should be enough."

"And why should I allow you to enter my mind? I was okay with Celestia doing this because there was a chance, that we will find information about my arrival." Lacy didn't like this. His mind was already messed up and though when Celestia used this spell on him, it actually helped a little but there was a chance if Twilight perform the spell on him as her test subject, it would end up badly.

"I'm your friend, Lacy! I just want to understand you better." Twilight tried to reason. "Just want to know what happened, that made you this was, that you saying that what you did is a good solution for this kind of problem."

"What if I just tell you one story when it worked for me?" Lacy suggested, having enough of it and also getting Twilight's point.

"Please! I really would like to try that spell and also see more of the world you're from." Twilight, however, didn't want to compromise.

"So that's the real reason..." Lacy sighed. "Alright. Let's try it, but you have to promise that if I tell you to stop, you stop immediately." Twilight nodded, then brought a whiteboard, the book she was collecting information about humans and of course something to write with. Her horn started to glow and then on the whiteboard, the memory movie started as Lacy remembered the situation he agreed to tell her.

"I was thirteen years old at that time, the school year just started and we got two new classmates." he explained the time of the events.

I was sitting in the classroom, looked at the clock which showed 7:48. Still had some time before the first class starts. This was that kind of classroom, where each student had their own school desk. My desk was placed beside the window. Before me was a girl with long, blond hair. Behind me was an empty desk, and at my right side was Victor. He looked younger than his age was at that time. No one would've guessed he was thirteen, like me.

I was waiting for the first class to start. Pens, textbook, notepad were already put on the table. In my hand, there was a Rubik's cube, which was almost solved.

"Hey! You're the nerd?" I turned my head to the voice. A boy was standing close to me. He was as tall as I and had short, black hair, wore a black shirt and gray pants. He was one of the new guys, just came into this class, this year. He wasn't talking to me. He was looking at Victor. "I hope you can help me out with the tests later."

"Sorry, but I don't want to get into trouble for helping you to cheat." Victor answered to him. I already knew where this was going but remained silent for now.

"You got it wrong. I wasn't asking you." he said slowly. "But I think you understand now, what I mean." he leaned closer to him. I could see the fear in Victor's eyes. He couldn't really defend himself. But he was lucky that he had a friend who could help him out in situations like this.

"Are you retarded or what, that you didn't understand what ‘no’ means?" I asked after putting the puzzle cube on the desk and stood up. He instantly turned to me a little confused at first. The whole classroom went silent when they heard me. "If you are so stupid that you can't even get a two on the test, then you should go back to first grade and start again."

"And you supposed to be his wanna-be-cool-and-strong boyfriend?" he asked, trying to offend me. "Maybe you should help me out too to make sure he gives me the right answers." he tried to make himself look intimidating, but it didn't scare me.

"Maybe you should learn who you can fuck with before actually doing anything, though that would require effort and brain and you clearly lack both." I told him and heard a few giggles from the people in the classroom.

He then made the worst mistake. He pushed me. My butt landed on my chair. I stood back and looked around.

"You saw him attacking me right?" they nodded.

"So what?" the bully asked and pushed me again, making me sit back to my chair again.

I stood up the third time and raised my right hand, while clenching it into a fist. He immediately raised his own hand for defending his head. Mistake. He didn't notice in time and couldn't avoid my left fist. I hit his stomach with all my strength. With a painful grunt, he grabbed his stomach, then tried to run into me and knocked me into the desk. The hit on my lower back was painful but full of adrenalin, I could ignore it and attack again. He couldn't defend himself against a left-handed opponent and was fooled again with the false strike from my right hand. This time my fist contacted his nose I might even broke it. He yelled and tried to back away, but I didn't intend to stop now and pushed him with all of my strength. He fell on the ground and I wanted to kick him a few times, but some of my classmates grabbed me and hold me back.

"What is going on?" we all heard the teacher shouting from the door. She just arrived at this moment. She immediately noticed me. "Lazlo! You again?"

"He attacked me first! It was self defense!" I told her. To my relief, most of the students nodded, or said something, confirming my claim. The kid though, who stood up, his hands on his nose, blood dripping between his fingers, tried to frame me.

"Go to the nurse." she commanded him, then turned to me. "And you, Lacy. I think you know what comes now." I nodded.

The spell suddenly ended. Smoke emitted from Twilight's horn and she was panting heavily.

"I'm sorry! But this spell is hard, and I couldn't keep it up. Ugh... my head."

"I hope, you could watch it because I don't want to do this anymore." Lacy told her as he rubbed his own head. This time he felt a rather heavy headache, though luckily it didn't last long.

"Yes, and it's horrible, but to be honest, I don't understand. That human threatened your friend because he didn't want to help him cheat?"

"There are worse cases, like taking your money, making you basically someone's slave and others. Kids can be so cruel sometimes." Lacy said in a bitter tone.

"And that's what I don't understand! I mean, there are mean ponies in school here as well, but not the situation isn't that bad. And most of the time the teacher can handle the conflict. Why didn't you try to ask the teacher for help?" Twilight asked.

"Because it's useless." Lacy looked at her. "Because they can only say that what they're doing is bad, maybe call in their parents, but it's all futile. It never makes them stop. I know it! I tried before. But what I did actually worth something. Some of them tried a few more times to bully me or my friends but then I beat them up, or throw their things out of the window, or something else, the point was that always make things looking like it was self-defence, or couldn't be proved, that I did it. A cruel way to end cruelty. Fighting fire with fire." Lacy sighed. "I don't want to talk about it more. I'll try to reduce my aggression, since I'm just a guest in this world and I should behave, but it was like reflex back in Cloudsdale."

What surprised Lacy is that the purple pony walked to him, and wrapped her front hooves around him, giving him a hug. Of course, she didn't let him go without saying that she wants to hear more later, when the man is ready to talk about it.

Soon she headed out saying, she wants to go Zecora to get some of her favourite tea or something like that.

Lacy remembered that Twilight talked about her at some point. In fact, she told Lacy about her adventures with her friends since the princess sent her to Ponyville. Lacy's favourite part of it was when she talked about how everyone was afraid of the zebra. When Lacy asked the mare, why were ponies terrified of a zebra who looks really similar to them but somehow not showing any kind of fear towards a griffon who is a carnivore creature. Twilight only gave him the 'When you think about it...' kind of answer but since it was mostly the others who were so afraid of her at from the beginning Lacy asked them as well if he won't forget.

Not long after Twilight left, Lacy decided to leave as well to take a stroll in the town. As he walked aimlessly, ponies all smiled and waved at him, which he returned. It was strange to him to see such friendly residents, though they probably acted like this so the Zecora incident won't repeat. It didn't matter to him right now. He was just enjoying the fresh air, the town's own beauty and the sight of the colorful locals.

He somehow ended up in the same park, he was a few days ago with Twilight. As he sat down on the same bench he was then, he compared Ponyville to his hometown, where he lived before moving to the big cities with better schools and more possibilities for working.

Even though that little town was peaceful, it couldn't measure up to Ponyville. The inhabitants were most friendly, few interesting things happened, the air was fresh, and big crowds were rare. These were true for his hometown and this one seemed similar, yet mainly because of the ponies and maybe this world as well. This place was more colorful and radiated happiness and peace.

His train of thought were interrupted when he heard his name. He turned towards the voice and saw a pair of familiar ponies with one who he didn't recognise. The unknown pony was an earth pony stallion, who had a light brown coat and a dark grey mane. He could see his cutie mark. And of course there was Perfect Mane and little Amber. His first guess was that the mare and the stallion were probably married.

"Hello, Lacy!" welcomed him the unicorn mare as they got closer. "It's good to see you again. Amber surely wanted to see you again." she said and Lacy couldn't help, but giggle at the sight of the little filly who was on her mother's back and watched him with awe and when they were close enough, she tried to reach towards the human.

Soon her mother put down the little foal, who immediately ran towards Lacy and demanded ‘upsies’. Of course, the human couldn't deny her wish. As he wrapped his fingers around her little body and lifted her close to his face, he could see her sweet smile.

The little filly wanted to play with his hair again. She tried to grab some with her magic and also tried to get closer to his head. He obeyed to her will.

"Forgive me, I forget for a moment." said Mane and pointed at the stallion with one of her front-hoof. "This is Tricky Move, my husband."

"Nice to meet you!" the stallion offered a hoof. Lacy wasn't exactly sure what kind of meeting procedures were common for ponies, so he did what he would've done with a human male. He took his hoof and gave it a shake. Meanwhile, his other hands held their daughter, who was leaning to his shoulder and still occupied with his hair. By the look of Move's face, it was what he expected. 

"Likewise, I'm Lazlo Kis." he introduced himself.

"Looks like my little Amber taken a liking in you." the stallion said. He and his wife sat down beside Lacy on the bench.

"To be honest, I don't know what she or other children see in me, probably because I'm the weirdest thing they ever saw."

"I think, it's sweet." joined in Perfect Mane.

"Well, it feels good." Lacy told them. "She reminds me of my youngest sister."

"Really? She wants to be held all the time as well?" the mother asked.

"Well, not that. She loves to mess with my hair as well." memories came to the human of her little sister. He remembered how he was sitting on the couch, while she was standing next to him, so she can reach his head, and while combing his hair, she talks about random things. It was one of the few things that could occupy her for more than a few minutes.

"Lazlo?" a male voice pulled him back from his mind. He shook his head, then after Amber, who was still there, and trying to twist part of his hair into some kind of form, let out an angry growl, because her 'work' vanished. Lacy gave her a quick apology and patted her head.

"Sorry, just remembered something."

"Alright. Tell me, what kind of job did you do in your world?" he asked.

"Not sure how much do you understand if I say, I'm a programmer." he answered.

"You mean you were some kind of event manager?" Move guessed.

"No." Lacy almost shook his head, but remembered that the little filly was still there and wouldn't appreciate it. "How do I explain it?" he spoke to himself. "We have machines, that can do many things." he began to explain. "For example, I once created an inventory management program for my grandpa, that he used to keep track of the products in his shop. It saves every product and information about each one like it's cost, the quantity, any kind of description if needed. It's really useful, and this is only a small fragment of the whole thing. There are millions of things, you can create and I'm working at a big company, that makes programs and applications to other companies by demand. At least, I hope, I'll still be when I get back."

He knew this explanation wasn't the best. It was problematic enough with Twilight who was really smart, but because ponies were technologically behind humanity by many years, it was expected.

"I see..." Move said unsure of how much did he get it. "I won't pretend, I fully understand what you said, but I guess your species is on a different level in technology."

"More or less."

"Anyway, I own a bar in Ponyville. It's a friendly place, where you can drink many kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, eat snacks and chat with your friends or meet new ones. Also, there is a secluded area for club meetings. For example, every Wednesday afternoon, from two to six o'clock I run the chess club there. You have chess in your world?" Lacy nodded. "You can play?"

"Used to play when I was a kid. Later though, I had less and less time for it so I'm a little rusty now." he answered.

"Then why don't you join us?" he offered. "It's completely free and we play mostly for fun, though sometimes I organize a small competition nothing too serious."

"Sound good. Thanks!" Lacy accepted. "So where is that bar?"

After learning the bar's position, the pony family excused themselves, saying they still had some errands to run. Of course Amber wasn't happy that she was taken back to her mother's back. Lacy asked if there are baby carriages here. The answer was yes, and they also told him that Amber doesn't like it.

Just like Maya...

After saying their goodbyes, Move and Mane started to walk away, Amber trying to reach towards Lacy, hoping, he will get up and come after them, or her mother would turn around and go back to him but since it didn't happen, she cried. Her parents tried to calm her, but like last time, it will take several minutes.

Soon Lacy was on his way to the library. He wanted to know if Twilight got back. Also he started to get hungry. It was late afternoon as he stepped inside the tree building. He found Spike in the kitchen, preparing some food for dinner.

"Hey Spike, Twilight's back?" he greeted him.

"Not yet, I'm starting to worry." the dragon answered. "The Everfree Forest is a dangerous and scary place. Not for me, of course. I'm a brave dragon!"

"Naturally." he said, unamused. "Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm gonna eat, then go looking for her."

"Alright."

Spike and Lacy placed the plates and the food on the table, then began eating.

"Hey Lacy. Does your world have comics as well?" the dragon started some chatting.

"Yeah, we have. Tons of them."

"Cool. So what kind of superheroes do your comics have?" Spike wanted to know more.

"Many kinds. Though, I'm not the best person to ask about them. Never was big fan of these superhero comics, or the movies."

"Movies? Like that thing we saw when Princess Celestia was here?" even a full mouth didn't bother the small reptile.

"Yeah, it's really popular. So many superhero movies. As I said, not my favourite genre, but it clearly is loved because almost all of them are a success."

Spike didn't want to stop here. He wanted to know more about comics and superheroes from Lacy's world. In the next half hour, the man told more about some superheroes he knew about. Mostly about Batman and some characters from the Marvel universe. Spike was fascinated by it and wished for more and more until he wanted to actually get human comics and was really sad that it seemed impossible.

"What about tabletop role-playing games? You have them?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Several. I only played one though." Lacy answered.

"Awesome! Maybe we can play sometimes? If we get other guys, then we can have a regular game." Spike offered.

"Well, I don't know how long will I be here, but I guess we could play a few games, maybe even go though a shorter campaign."

"Great! Then how about, later I teach you about Ogres and Oubliettes? That's the fictional role-playing game, I used to play back in Canterlot. What kind of rpg did you play? What kind of character were you?"

"I played Dungeons and Dragons. It's one of the most popular one in my world. It'd take too long to explain it to you. Anyway, I was mostly the game master only my first two games was I a player."

Spike told Lazlo some basic things about O&O and it turned out to be very similar to D&D. That was good for everyone. It meant that he will get into the game sooner. Now Spike only needed to find a few more buddies to team up.

It was dark already and Twilight still hasn't come home. Lacy sent Spike to bed and then decided to look for the missing mare. He asked Spike earlier if he could give him some direction, where to go. The dragon said, that there is a path near Fluttershy's cottage, that leads to Zecora's home. Since she is the only one living in the forest, it's hard to miss her home if you don't wander off the path.

Before he headed off, he went to the kitchen to take a knife with him. It wasn't much and he didn't think it'd help him much, but it was better than nothing.

I hope Twilight exaggerated about the forest, but since ponyland works like some kind of 'Fantasy Land: Kids Edition' I cannot be sure enough.

It was dark outside already. Lights come out of the windows. Not many ponies were outside. When he got to Fluttershy's cottage, he saw that the lights were on. He decided to ask the pegasus if she knows anything about Twilight.

After he knocked on her door, a little white bunny opened it. Lacy gave him a confused look, not sure what to do in this situation.

"Fluttershy?" he spoke, rather loud so the pony who lives here will hear him. To his surprise, the bunny shook his head and then shut the door.

What the fuck?

Just as he was about to knock again, he heard voiced from the direction of the forest. Soon he saw Twilight, Fluttershy, and three fillies coming out among the trees. Upon noticing him, the three smaller ponies run to him and started to talking about what happened in the forest. Lacy couldn't understand most of it, since the three were constantly talking and every one of them said the same things in a different order. He could catch a few things, something about cockatrice, stone, statue and staring.

"Lacy? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked after Fluttershy managed to get the kids inside and apologised for not inviting them in because she has to watch them but offering them a tea tomorrow morning.

"I'm came to looking for you. Planned to ask Fluttershy if she knows anything." he explained as they started to walk back to the library. "So... what happened?"

"On my way to Zecora, a cockatrice turned me into stone..." she began. She told Lacy how scary it was, how Fluttershy defeated the creature with her 'Stare' and why were she there with three fillies. She also told him she will ask Fluttershy tomorrow to help her write the friendship letter to the princess.

Lacy chuckled. From the moment Twilight told him that Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, who raises the Sun, gave her the assignment to learn about friendship, he found it quite funny. He explained Twilight, that this is something most normal people learn, when they are kids.

When they got back to the library, they found Spike sleeping on the couch. They both found him cute, then Twilight took him to his basket bed with her magic. Meanwhile Lacy put some leftover food to the table, so she could eat some dinner.

After she ate, she began to read a book. Lacy knew he won't be sleeping soon, so he joined her. The book Twilight was reading was about dangerous creatures. It was open at the cockatrice page. When Lacy saw the drawing about it, he started laughing. It looked ridiculous.

Like those hybrid animals from Avatar: The last airbender.

Twilight of course didn't find it so funny.

Not much later, the man finally went to bed, hoping he would get a few hours' sleep.

The next day he sat with Twilight and Fluttershy at a table in the yellow pegasus' backyard, watching the fillies running around. Lacy rarely drank tea, didn't really liked it but here it was so good, he might consider start drinking it. Twilight, of course, was writing her next report to the princess.

Soon came Rarity to pick up the little girls. After their departure, Twilight and Lacy also said their goodbyes to Fluttershy.

"Any plans for today?" Lacy asked after they got back.

"Yes." Twilight answered. "I have and idea how you can earn some money."
> 8. To earn money
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After they got back from Fluttershy, Twilight came up with a method that'd help Lacy earn some money while he stays in Equestria. It was simple. Try to recreate something from his world that doesn't exist here. Twilight was hoping it'd be something to do with those computers. When Lacy was talking about them, it fascinated the mare. To her disappointment though, the man said that he actually doesn't really know how does it work, nor how to create one from scratch.

After that Twilight said that they should probably come up with something simple. Then she remembered that colorful cube thing he played with in that memory. It looked simple enough. After Lacy told her as much about the puzzle as he knew, she asked if he could draw a blueprint, or something like that. He told her that he's not completely sure how does it look like inside, but Twilight assured him that together they could create some plans.

I guess I have to do it. It's not like anyone would sue me for it and besides... I've done worse things.

"And how will we do this?" Lacy asked, since he wasn't sure how would this thing work.

"It's simple." Twilight began explaining. "We send a letter to a company that we have an idea of a game. We send them the information, they manufacture it, then we got a percentage from the sales. I'll look after which company should we contact with."

It sounded simple. He guessed, there'll be a long contract, but he trusted Twilight. After all, she was the personal student of the ruler of this country. She and her friends were so kind to him, and he wanted to repay them in some way. If any of them would request his help, he would gladly give them.

Also, having no money gave him an uncomfortable feeling. It was a rare issue for him, but every time he got short on cash, it was stressing for him. Here he had nothing. Well, almost nothing. He still had his golden necklace. He got it from his grandparents as a gift after graduation, but he had the intention of keeping it.

Twilight soon found a company in one of her books that worth a try. This was Lacy's first time of writing with a quill. After six parchment full of ink spots, he finally managed to write a letter with Twilights help. After putting it into an envelope and write the address on it Twilight asked Spike to take it to the post office. The little dragon run out of the library, leaving the man and the unicorn alone.

"I forgot to ask Spike to send this letter to Princess Celestia." Twilight told him, while holding a rolled-up parchment with her magic. "I want to let her know what we're planning. Maybe she could give us some advice, or help if this company declines the offer."

"Is she actually okay with bringing things from my world?"

"I don't know why wouldn't she? Anyway, how about some more memory viewing?" she asked, her eyes were practically glowing, filled with a thirst for more knowledge.

"I don't really want that Twilight." Lacy tells her.

"Why not?"

"Because after last time, I got a headache. Also, it's still strange that you can just get memories from my head." Lacy explained to her.

There was a knock on the door. Twilight went there and opened it.

"Umm... Hello Twilight." Lacy heard the timid voice of Fluttershy. "You forgot your tea at my cottage and I decided to bring it. I hope I'm not bothering you right now."

"You're not bothering us, come in! And thanks for bringing this." she let her in and took the package with her magic, levitating it towards the kitchen. "Lacy and I were just about watch another memory movie."

After some thinking Twilight called these memory viewing 'memory movies'. Lacy and Spike didn't object because of not caring.

"Woah, woah, woah! I told you, I don't want to do this!" Lacy butted in. "Oh... Hello Fluttershy." he greeted the pegasus who greeted him back in her low voice.

"Come on Lacy! Please!" Twilight begged. "It is so fascinating to see parts of your world!"

"I told you Twilight! I'm not comfortable with it. Besides, what is so fascinating to watch me beating someone, or being drunk at a party?"

Lacy heard Fluttershy mumbling something before Twilight started her explanation of how she studies many things they see, like things in his field of view, or the backgrounds. After ten minutes of Twilight talking, she finally finishes. Lacy sighs and turns to Fluttershy, who was still standing there.

"What did you say before Twilight started her presentation?"

"Oh... Umm... Why don't you watch a happy memory? When you were with someone, you love?" she told them.

"Great idea, Fluttershy! What do you think, Lacy? I remember, when that foal was with you, you mentioned something about a sister. You must have some wonderful memories with her!"

"Yeah, I actually have two sisters. Well, half-sisters to be exact, but it doesn't matter." Lacy explains to her.

"Half-sisters? As in, only one of your parents is the same? Are humans polygamous?" Twilight asked, while writing down everything Lacy said.

"No. Well, there are some cultures, where it's okay, but not where I'm from. My parents divorced, father found someone else and had two daughters." he summarized.

"Oh... I see." Twilight seemed sad, Fluttershy patted his side, giving him a smile, when he looked at her. "I'm sorry to hear that. Divorce is very rare here."

"Well, it became pretty common in my country lately. Anyway... I guess I can allow you one more memory movie." Lacy gives in.

Twilight clapped her front hooves while smiling and thanking Lacy.

"Fluttershy, do you want to stay and watch it with us?" Twilight asked her shy friend.

"Sure! I mean... if it's okay with you." she answers. After none of them objected, she sat down.

"Alright." said Twilight and got ready for the spell. "Think of a time with your sister."

Lacy nodded, then started to go through his memories. He found one which happened only a few months ago, in summer. Signaling Twilight by another nod, she cast the spell, and the picture showed on the whiteboard before them, which was placed there, while Lacy searched a memory.

My eyes shot open as I felt something wet on my right ear. I turned my head, which was a mistake. I was now face to face with a dog who tried to lick me again, this time on the face. I reacted too late. More salvia on me.

"Meggy!" I tried to push the dog’s muzzle with my hand, but she still wanted to lick me. I sat up so she won't reach me. I was on a swing bed in the backyard taking a nap. On the ground, close to me was a small ball. I grabbed it and throw into a random direction, the dog running after it. That'll keep her busy for some time.

"Aww... What a cute, little puppy." Fluttershy noticed the dog first, naturally.

"Yeah! Silly dog, but I love her." Lacy commented.

As I looked around, I saw Maya, my little half-sister running towards me. She's wore light pinkish colored shirt with a picture of a horse and some words and dark pink shorts. Her long, blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. The space wasn't exactly big, so it didn't take long till she was only mere centimeters from me.

"Finally, you got up!" she practically yells at me. "I want chocolate!" she demands and looks at me with her beautiful blue eyes.

"You have to wait a little longer. The others will be soon home and we will have dinner. Sweets only after that." I learned to not fall for her begs. "How about some jumping on the trampoline? They'll surely be here in ten minutes."

She tried begging again for some snack, but without success.

"Okay but you you have to video me with your phone and then we can show dad and mom and Nora that I jump really big." she told me, took my hand and dragged me towards the trampoline. It was a normal sized one, though the weight limit was kinda small so I couldn't join her.

She takes off her sandals and climbs up to the edge on a small ladder, then goes in and start jumping. I watched her, while I took out my phone and starts the camera app then began record her. It's kinda boring after a few minutes, the only things happening are sometimes she or me say something.

"Woah! That was a really big jump. Almost one meter." I acting really surprised.

"Then watch me - huh - I will - huh - jump ten - huh - meters." she said between while panting.

"Nah, I'm sure you can do better!" I answer her. She finally stops jumping and comes out. As usual, she got bored of it after a few minutes.

"Next time I gonna jump one million meters up." she told me with a determined look on her face.

"Only that high?" I asked teasingly.

"Then one billion!" she's saying what probably the biggest number she heard, though I'm sure, she can't understand just how big is that number.

"That's a good start now!"

Suddenly it ended. A headache came for Lacy, like last time. Beside him, Twilight was panting heavily, clearly exhausted after the spell. Fluttershy was just smiling, clearly thinking about how cute was that little kid. Then she took a glance at the human and the unicorn, and became worried.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'll live." Lacy assured her.

After both Twilight and Lacy got over their pains, the unicorn began asking questions about a few things she observed. Mostly about the dog, the kid, and the phone. Lacy could answer some of them, but when Twilight got too deep into science and biology, he had to disappoint her. He was pretty good at school and learned a lot, but that a good part of it was already forgotten.

Fluttershy, meanwhile excused herself and left the library, going back to her cottage. Not so later, Spike came back.

"I went to the post office, then visited Rarity to help her out. She also said, that she's working on a shoe for you, Lacy." the dragon explained.

Lacy was thankful for all the clothes Rarity made for him. The only problem was that he didn't have any shoe on, when he arrived in Equestria and it was already hard to explain to the ponies, how does it look like or why is it important. Fortunately, Rarity was a creative individual and could make a few sketches but was still unsure of the material. Or how will she gonna make something like this? Now it looked like she figured something out. Knowing her working speed, Lacy guessed it would take a few days till she invite him to try it.

The rest of the day and the following few days were uneventful. Twilight and Lacy exchanged some more information about cultural things. Lacy told her more about different human technology and Twilight told him more about magic, not only what unicorns can do but also about pegasi and earth pony magical capabilities.

The only interesting thing that happened one of those days was when those fillies came to the library, who found him when he got Equestria. They came to the library, when Twilight was away to help Cheerilee, the local teacher with something. The young girls wanted to see if they could get a library or book related cutie mark but were unsuccessful and also made quite a mess. Then one of them, called Scootaloo came up with the idea of human related cutie mark. Her friends liked the idea and started to bombard Lacy with questions and requests but the man crushed their hopes by stating, that since he's not planning to stay here for long and because he's the only human, getting a cutie mark related to his species would be pointless. He also asked them to help put the books back in their places, because he got the feeling - and Spike confirmed his suspicion - that Twilight would freak out seeing the library in this state, also the Cutie Mark Crusaders were the reason for this mess. Before they started, Twilight came back with Cheerilee. The teacher introduced herself to Lacy because they missed each other at the party. Then talked about some kind of talent show for the kids and Twilight even offered to help them out. The fillies were excited about this and run out to start preparing. After they all left, Twilight freaked out.

Lacy noticed that he could fall asleep more easily and also sleep more. Before he arrived, many times he only slept between three and five hours and when there were more shorter sleep phases, it really hit his mood and productivity. That was sometimes an issue at work and also had a negative effect on his social life and behaviour towards other people. 
The last few nights, however, he had around six hours of sleep and it felt fantastic. His mood was better and had a more optimistic view too.

Unfortunately, this good thing was balanced out with a serious problem. He's been here for quite some time now and his diet changed drastically. He wasn't a vegetarian and never intended to be one. He loved meat and really missed it. In a herbivore society, where even most animals have some kind of intelligence, it's hard to get any meat. He guessed that since there are known carnivore creatures, like griffons here, they won't be afraid of him being an omnivore, that didn't mean he'd get meat easily. Ponies ate mostly fruits, vegetables, baked goods and pasta, also had some other stuff like pancakes, but many nutrients were missing, that was necessary for an omnivore to survive. He had to find a solution for it if the Princess cannot find a way for him to go back to his own world soon. He needed to talk Twilight about this, but despite all that reassurance about accepting his diet and the fact that there are sentient carnivores, he kind of wanted to avoid the topic as long as possible. After all, it's never a good idea to talk about eating an animal in a town full of ponies and most of the animals have that kind of intelligence, that it would be morally wrong to kill and eat them. Also, Fluttershy probably wouldn't let him do it. He thought about sending a letter to Celestia, asking for help, but she already did and doing so much for him that he didn't want to ask for more.

Three days passed since they sent the letter to that company, and now the answer arrived. It stated that they are interesting in the puzzle and the next day the owner will be visiting them. This surprised both Lacy and Twilight.

"So who is this guy anyway?" Lacy asked about the CEO.

"His name is Great Deal, an earth pony stallion." Twilight answers.

Names were another thing Lacy found interesting. They were quite literal and almost every time matched with the pony's personality or talent. They discussed about it one day. Lacy even asked how do they come up with names like these and how do they manage to name their foals in a way that would fit them in the future. Since Twilight wasn't a parent, she could only give him an answer based on books. Though Lacy had the feeling, she would do the same if she would be a mother. The answer was simple and unsatisfying. They come up with a name on an instinct level. Basically, they just get a feeling that that name will be perfect for the foal.

The next day was eventful. Lacy was sitting at the table with Twilight, having pancakes for breakfast.

"You know, I never have eaten this kind of pancakes in my world, though always wanted to try." he randomly commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, immediately getting parchment and quill.

"I hope you like them." Spike told him.

"Yeah, they're great. You're a talented cook Spike." Lacy praises the little dragon who blushes slightly.

"Anyway, what I mean is, that where I'm from on Earth, we make pancakes differently. Maybe I can make some later, we usually eat it for lunch or as dessert. I think the ingredients are the same, just have different look and we eat it differently." Lacy explains and Twilight writes down everything. 

A knock on the door cut short their morning routine. Twilight went to answer it, while Lacy helped Spike to clean up. He didn't even pay attention, who arrived, thinking it's probably one of their friend or someone just wants to check out a book, after all, this is a library, though it wasn't busy, only a few ponies came every day.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard Twilight calling him. Suddenly he remembered that they were expecting that stallion from Manehattan to come. He hoped he looked presentable enough and walked out of the kitchen area to the main part of the library.

Beside Twilight there were two unicorns. By looking at them, it was clear that one was a stallion, and the other was a mare. The stallion had a white coat, blue mane and a mustache which Lacy found ridiculous. He wore a pony version of a tuxedo, though without the pants part. He also had a monocle. His cutie mark was three crowns.

The mare was white as well. Had light pink mane and tail and wore nothing. Her cutie mark was three fleur-de-lis'.

"Umm... Hello?" Lacy was a little surprised by the visitors, it was not how he imagined the pony he was going to meet and didn't expect him to be escorted by someone.

"Ahh, so you are the human, I've been hearing about. You really look like on the picture." the stallion said. Seeing the confused look, Lacy gave him, he explained. "Many papers wrote about you and included the picture as well."

I guess the media works similar to my world and Celestia must've provided the info for them. Though she could've asked for my opinion on the matter...

"Oh, but where are my manners! My name is Lord Fancy Pants! And this lovely mare is Fleur de Lis!" he introduced himself and his companion.

Lord? Like it's his first name, or a title, and he's a noble? Also Fancy Pants? This getting more and more ridiculous.

"Lazlo Kis. Pleasure to meet you!" he returned the introduction.

Lazlo wasn't sure how to greet him properly, but was relived when the stallion extended one of his forehoof. Lacy grabbed it and shook it. After Fancy Pants, Fleur offered her hoof too for the same reason.

"It's certainly a surprise that you came." Twilight commented, then lead them to the couch. After everyone sat down, Twilight asked Spike to make some tea.

"I don't know why would you surprised. Didn't you get my letter?" Fancy asked.

"Wait! You are the owner of the Family Fun Entertainment?" Twilight asked, confused. "I thought it was Great Deal."

"He is still in charge of the factory part, but last year, I brought the company. You see, it was going to go bankrupt before I decided to buy it. You see, the company mostly produces board games, but for years nopony could come up with something new and the current products are simply doesn't sell as good as it used to. We need something new. Your letter came at the perfect time. I came here to meet you so maybe we could become great business partners." Fancy Pants summarized the situation.

"Well, my stay here is only temporary, but if it's not a problem, then I'm happy to help." Lacy stated.

"It's alright. So in the letter, you wrote, that you have a puzzle game in mind, right?" Fancy asked, Lacy nodded. "Well, the company mostly produces board games, or card games that can be played with friends or family but I guess we can make an exception, although I hope, you can come up with a few other ideas, it would be beneficial for both of us."

Lacy started to think about the board games or cards he knew. It was a great opportunity for him. A few days ago, when they wrote the letter to the company, Twilight told him more about how different businesses work in Equestria. Lacy was surprised, hearing that most of them were honest and fair. Not that kind, who thinks how can they come out the best on a short notice, threaten the competitors and abusing their power. Of course, there were some ponies, like them, but they were the minority. Also, Lacy didn't really care about it as long as he got some decent money from it, since he plans to return as soon as possible.

The first thing that came into his mind was Cards Against Humanity, but it was quickly tossed away. The next one was the Monopoly, but Fancy told him that there was already a similar board game. Then he told them about Uno, and it was the winner. They never heard of a card game like that. Lacy quickly summarized them the game.

"It sounds fun." Fancy shared his opinion. "I think we could work with that two for now. Please, forgive me for rushing it a little, but I have to return to Canterlot soon. I wrote a contract before coming here, in case we can make a deal, we can do it immediately." he levitated a paper to Lacy, who grabbed it. 

It was a really short contract. Basically, it stated that for every game he comes up, he gets ten percent for the sales every month and also gets the first four games that have been manufactured. Twilight also read through it and nodded to Lacy, confirming that it was a valid contract. Fancy Pants' signature was already there. Lacy also signed the paper, then Fancy gave him a copy of it, which he also signed. That was his copy.

"Wonderful! I can't wait for all those ideas, you share with me. I see, that our partnership will be great for us! Please excuse me, but we really have to go back to Canterlot. I hope, we will meet soon, and please send the description and other information about these games to my address, it's on the contract." he got up, Fleur, who was silent for the entire time, only leaning to Fancy followed him.

"Well, that was fast." Lacy told Twilight after they left.

"Of course, nopony loves when they have to wait for long to start something, like a business partnership. I'm surprised, thought, that Lord Fancy Pants owns that company. It wasn't even in the book about the companies in Equestria."

"Do you know him?" Lacy asked.

"Well, I met him a few times, when I lived in Canterlot. He is one of the most influential noble. Luckily, he's the good kind. He doesn't abuse his power and doesn't look down at the commoners. There are a few nobles, who could learn that from him."

"I see. Well, I'm glad, that he's a good guy. And what about that mare, Fleur?" the whole time Lacy thought, that she was some kind of escort mare, since she basically didn't speak, only a few times he agreed with Fancy.

"She's a supermodel, really famous in the bigger cities. They are together." Twilight stated. "Anyway, I have to go to speak with Cheerilee, also I want to see, how the Cutie Mark Crusaders doing with their show. You should start write those things about the games. You know where you can find parchment, ink, and quill. Good luck! I want to read it though, before you send them." Twilight left the library, leaving Lacy to his own work.
> 9. Dog Disaster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Checkmate!" the human moved the rook into its final position, ending the game.

"Aww... I got completely destroyed!" his opponent, a green unicorn mare said, then turned to the earth pony, who was standing there, watching their game. "Drops, you have to defeat him! Revenge me!" she told her, trying to sound as dramatic as she can while the pony she was talking to just rolled her eyes.

Lacy chuckled. A few days after sending the Rubik's Cube and Uno ideas to Fancy Pants, he waited for their answer of what will happen. He remembered that there is a chess club in Ponyville and he was welcomed there. Turns out, though he was rusty, he was still better than he remembered. Tricky Move defeated him after a long game, and now he won against Lyra Heartstrings and then Sweetie Drops.

He later played a match against everypony there. Doctor Horse, a unicorn stallion, who was a doctor at Ponyville Hospital. Thunderlane, a pegasus stallion who came here with his little brother, Rumble. Octavia Melody, an earth pony cellist. The doctor won against him, Thunderlane and Rumble lost, and Octavia managed to get a draw. Overall, Lacy enjoyed himself.

Later, he was walking back to the library. The sun was closing to the horizon and ponies were on their way home. Still, most of them had the time to stop for a minute, say hello to Lacy, some even having a brief chat. It was something he was still adjusting. He grew up in a little, friendly town, but Ponyville was a whole next level. At first it was really strange for him, especially after living in a bigger city for years, where if someone started to talk to you on the streets, it was asking for directions, asking for money or food, advertising something, or trying to rob you. After living in Ponyville for weeks, Lacy started to ease off and welcomed the short talks with random ponies, who later became acquaintances.

He got to the library, but before entering, he heard that there were multiple ponies inside. Since customers were rare, Lacy guessed the girls came over. This time he wasn't happy for that. He promised Twilight another memory viewing in exchange of teaching him how the money works here.

Fucking idiot! That's what I am! I shouldn't have offered it to her, she probably would teach me without asking anything for exchange. And now probably the others wanna watch it too... Fucking great. Well, headache, I didn't miss you yet you always find a way to come... Well I can survive it, just have to show her a funny moment with my friends so she could study it.

With a sigh, he opened the door. Just as he guessed, the six girls and the dragon were there, talking about Rarity's new designs. At least, she was talking about that, but not everypony were paying attention. When he entered, Rarity stopped talking and all of them turned towards him.

"You're here!" Twilight said with no greeting. "I hope, you don't mind, I invited the girls and showed them the other memories."

"What?" Lacy was confused. "How did you show them?"

"The spell, Princess Celestia gave me also included the saving part. You know, she also did this, when she was here, so she could study it further, re-watch it, in case we missed something. I also sent her those we watched since I got the spell, of course with my analysis and findings."

"And why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Well, um... um... I... forgot?" she smiled sheepishly and blushed a little. "Sorry. But now you know, so problem solved."

This is really the last fucking time! Let's give her something really vulgarly.

"Let's get over it." Lacy said with a sigh. He wasn't happy about it, but a promise is a promise.

"Oh... one thing before we start." Twilight said while her horn started to glow. "The princess gave me a few tips how to improve my casting and I've been working on it. I couldn't test it but theoretically it'll last longer and the headache should be gone or at least weaker." she informs Lacy, who only nodded, then she cast the spell to the board that was already placed, the ponies all sitting before it, waiting for the show.

I was sitting at the desk in my dorm room. The place was rather small. A room with four beds, two at one wall, two at the other against it. Above each bed was a lamp and a shelf. In the middle of the room was a table with four chairs, barely enough space for the four of us. There was a smaller room connected to this place. There was the door to the floor, four cabinet and a sink with a mirror and a shelf next to it.

I was sitting in my chair, looking at my laptop. My roommates, Victor, Adam and Chris were all sitting at the desk as well, looking at me.

"I don't fucking know why it doesn't find your lobby!" I said. I was frustrated. On my monitor, the game was open, I was in the multiplayer menu, searching for lobbies, but I couldn't find the one opened by Victor.

"I'm at loss." said Applejack.

"I don't understand, what's going on either, but darling, must you use such foul language so often?" Rarity asked.

"Well, lately I try to hold back because my boss asked me, and I always tried to watch myself when kids were nearby, but with those guys, it could go really far." Lacy smiled, but after others also questioned what was he doing, he began to explain. "It's a video game, like a board game, just with more possibilities. Anyway, in that, you can choose a dynasty from a part of human history. You can conquer new provinces, get more and more titles, manage vassals, manage your lands and of course your family, like finding someone to marry, or promise your kids to someone so your bloodline will continue. There are many more things, and it'd take too long to explain so..." suddenly he was cut off by the memory and it scared everyone.

"ACHOO!"

I suddenly felt many wet drops landing on my face. I turn to my left, where Adam is sitting and looking at me, trying not to laugh. Victor and Chris failed this as I hear them. I look at Adam with a mixture of 'What the fuck?' and 'I will kill you' face.

"Sorry... I just... usually turn my... head when... and forgot... you're here..." Adam managed to say after loosing it too and starts laughing. I still just looking at him.

"I really hope that soon you'll be giving birth to a pineapple and a hedgehog at the same time." I decide to react somehow, trying to keep myself low, sounding more threatening. "And I also hope that you'll be pissing shampoo for the rest of your life. Gesund-fucking-heit." thinking that it was enough, I turn back to my laptop's screen.

The ponies got a good laugh at this until Lacys response. Then they started to look at him weirdly and commenting about his words towards his friend.

After we got over the whole thing, I continued to curse my game for not finding the lobby, my friend opened. After a few minutes of browsing the internet for possible solutions, I heard my phone ringing. I looked at the screen which read 'Mother'. I let out a sigh, then muted my phone, making my mom think that I'm unavailable at the moment.

"Who's calling?" of course, Victor had to ask...

"Take a guess." I simply answer.

"Your mom?" I nodded. "Is it still about the university thing?" another nod from me.

"We replay the same fucking conversation about this every weekend, I don't want to hear about it every day so I don't talk with her." I told him, then quickly changed the topic. "Anyway, I'm gonna reinstall this shit, hope it'll make it work, though it'll be some time."

I closed the game, then went to my steam library, deleted the game, and started the installation.

"Well, it'll take some time with this piece of shit internet..." I commented, then stood up and went to my bed and took the book that was just lying on it.

"You know, while we waiting, you could start fulfilling that Amnesia walkthrough, you owe us." Chris said. The others nodded as well.

"Hell fucking no!" I yelled. "That was a dirty bet and you know it! Besides, I don't have any change clothes in case I shit myself and I don't want my heart rate to multiply and making my heart thirty years older than the rest of my body in one hour."

"That was totally legit." Adam commented. "Besides, with company it won't be that bad."

"Well... I guess I have to pull out my key argument here... That game isn't downloaded. See?" I showed them my steam library, proving my point.

"So... what now?" Victor asked.

"Dunno..." I gave my 'useful' answer.

"Well, I'm going to take a shit, be back in one hour." Chris said.

"That is one way to pass the time." Victor said. "I think I’ll cre-"

Suddenly the memory movie stopped, confused looks were directed to Twilight who were groaning.

"Sorry, everypony." she said. "Looks like I still need to work on the spell." she then levitated a notepad and turned to Lacy. "Did you feel any different from the other times?"

"I don't have a headache this time but I have this feeling." he told her, unsure how to describe that uncomfortable feeling he was having. He tried to say a few words about it, but then decided to leave it.

"Such uncouth things to say." Rarity said her opinion.

"It was super funny!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Especially when your friend sneezed on you and you were very angry and said those mean things but I knew that you didn't mean it because you are not a meany pants and don't want to hurt your friends' feelings and-" an orange hoof shut her mouth.

"We get it, Pinkie." Applejack told her. The apple farmer gave a disapproving look to Lacy but said nothing.

"That wasn't very nice, how you behaved." Fluttershy told him, in her low voice. "Even if you didn't mean it." she added even more quietly.

"I think it was funny." Spike commented. "But there were many words, I don't understand. What does 'fucking' mean? And-" now he was interrupted, this time by Twilight, who started to explain him, why forget all these words.

"And what was so scary about that Amasa?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Amnesia." Lacy corrected her. "It's one of the scariest horror game ever made."

"Doesn't sound scary at all."

"It's just the title. You wouldn't last ten minutes in the game."

"Oh yeah? Whatever monsters are there, I'll beat all of them!" Rainbow stated.

"Just one simple thing. In a game there are rules. You can't fight with those monsters, you don't have any weapon, you are not a warrior, just a guy with amnesia. You can only hide or run to survive in the cold, dark castle, where you will slowly lose your sanity in the darkness but you have to move in there, because in the light, they'll find you." Lacy spoke, trying his best to sound like some kind of creepy storyteller. It was somewhat successful, because he saw Dash shaking. He smiled proudly. He won this one.

"Lacy!" Twilight called his name, after finally finished her lesson to Spike about why must he forgot those words. "Please next time try to remember something, that doesn't contain such language. It isn't popular here and think about Spike, please." The unicorn explained.

"Twilight. There won't be next time. I don't even know why exactly did I accept this many times."

"But... But... There are so many things, that I want to see and study. I want to see more of your technology, more of your culture, more human behaviour, more of your world. It's fascinating, and I want to know as much as I can, and since you can't answer all of my question, I have to see more and more things and deduct from those." Twilight reasoned.

Lacy was ready to continue arguing when an idea came.

"Alright." he said. "Next time we're going to watch a movie, but only if we can watch it with no interruption."

Suddenly Pinkie jumped between the two.

"Sound fun! Can we join? Can we? Can we? It will be super fun! We will eat popcorn and laugh on the funny scenes and cry on the sad scenes but then our spirits will be lifted because we know that the ending will be happy, because if it doesn't have then we can't be happy but the point of the movie is to entertain us and the point of entertainment is to make us happy and have a smile on our face." Pinkie rambled excitedly.

"Alright. It really does sound good." Twilight said. "But I remember, you telling me about movies and those are much longer, than I can maintain the spell."

It didn't click for her that it was a trick. Later of course she realised her mistake and tried to make Lacy change his mind, but this time he was stubborn.





A few days passed, and Lacy got a package. It contained a prototype of the Rubik's cube and the UNO as well. There was a letter saying that if he approves with them, then they are ready to manufacture them and soon it'll be available for purchase.

The Rubik's cube was easy to test, he just had to solve it. There was nothing wrong with it, though it'd be hard to mess up a simple thing like this. The UNO was a bit different in design but overall like some cheap copy, which doesn't even bother to change name. The rules weren't hard to understand either, it was confirmed, when Lacy showed it to Twilight, who invited her friends to try out.

Everyone understood what the cards meant and had fun playing expect Rainbow who only won once and after several times losing, she just quit and became an observer.

Rarity almost fainted when she heard that Fancy Pants was here with Fleur de lis. She heard a few gossips about it but nothing concrete. She also mentioned how generous was the contract Fancy Pants offered. She also begged Lacy that next time he meets him, he would talk about her, or even bring her. After all Fancy Pants is the most important noble in Canterlot.

Lacy had to disappoint her. He didn't want to have too much attention, he preferred to keep a low profile and manage somehow until he can go back to his world. Sure, he agreed to go to Cloudsdale, but that was because it was such a unique opportunity to visit a city on clouds.

Fancy Pants offered him in a letter which arrived with the prototypes, that he is welcome to go to any meetings or be part of the advertisement but Lacy rejected his offer, after all he just stole someone else's ideas to earn money and it didn't feel good to him even though it won't have any consequence. He let them handle everything and honestly didn't even care if they send them less money than they've agreed on. Just have enough to get by and repay Twilight for her kindness.





Lacy was alone in the library. Spike was out with Rarity, hunting for gems. The fashonista got an order from Sapphire Shores, some celebrity for some clothes with lots of gems.

Twilight was out with her other friends on a get-together. She invited Lacy, but the man choosed to stay. He often felt awkward since most of the time he was in the company of a female friend group. Of course there was Spike as well, but he was just a kid. So he just decided to stay in the library, at least he gets some alone time, which he missed. He lived alone for years and he got used to it on that level, that it didn't really bother him. Sure he went out with his colleagues and friends, after all humans are social creatures, but Lacy was completely fine being alone as well.

Twilight assured him that the girls don't mind his company, but that didn't convince Lacy. Instead, he offered to clean up. Of course he helped earlier, keeping the place in order and helping in whatever he could. It was the least he could do after Twilight let him live here. It was his current payment for the food and the bed.

Suddenly the door burst open and Spike run inside, looking like he just ran the Marathon. He seemed panicked, looking around, until he spotted the man.

"Lacy!" he shouted, then ran to him, trying to grab his hand. "You've got to come and help me! Rarity is in trouble!" he yells to him.

"What happened?" Lacy asked.

"She's been kidnapped!" Spike answers, still trying to make him move. "Come! We have to save her!"

"What? We should alert the authorities!" Lacy tries to reason.

"It'd take too much time! We have to save her NOW!" Spike stayed stubborn. "Please, Lacy! You have to help me! Please!" he begs.

Lacy wasn't fond of the idea of him going to some kidnappers. It is something that usually the police deals with, but he had to learn that here in Equestria, there isn't some kind of police force in every town. There are in the bigger cities and there are the Royal Guards who could be called to any cities in a situation like this, but it takes time and Spike didn't want to wait.

In the end, he gave in. These ponies were mostly peaceful and easy to scare, at least according to what Twilight told him, about her adventures with her friends and Lacy made the assumption. Though Lacy wasn't a great athlete, and he gave up on brawling years ago, he believed he could deal with a few ponies if needed, they are strong but they aren't as agile as a human, even someone like Lacy, who wasn't an image for fitness. Also, he owed Rarity a lot. She did make clothes for him completely free of charge.

Since Spike was tired after running back to the town, Lacy offered to carry him, which he gladly accepted. Lacy didn't run, though Spike tried to make him, but he didn't want to exhaust himself but walked faster than usually. As they approached the place, Spike told him that Rarity was kidnapped by diamond dogs. Lacy found it amusing and confusing as well. Twilight did tell him about some other sentient creatures, like griffons or minotaurs, but never mentioned dogs. He also learned that Spike wanted to be some kind of hero here, saving the damsel in distress. Lacy wanted to tell him that this is not some kind of game, this is about someone's life but he didn't and just continued his way to the place, Rarity was kidnapped while questioning himself, why does he still doing this.

Soon they arrived and saw many holes in the ground. There was a complete tunnel system below them. Without waiting Spike jumped in one of these holes, not giving Lacy a chance to react so he had to jump after him.

"Spike. This is serious. You can't just go there alone. They're probably dangerous." Lacy scolded the young drake.

"I have to! I have to save Rarity!"

"Well... now where?" the man looked around in the strangely bright labyrinths of tunnels. There were many holes on the surface which let in light, but it still wasn't normal. Soon it was answered when he noticed many torches on the walls of the tunnel but he didn’t know how did they gave light, after all it wasn’t fire.

Spike took the initiative again and started to walk to a random direction. Lacy followed him.

"So..." Spike started, "Have you ever had a crush on somepony?"

"No, but I had on humans." Lacy answered, Spike shot him an unamused look. "Why do you ask?"

"Promise to keep it a secret?"

"I promise." Lacy nodded. Spike stopped, then motioned him to lean close. Lacy did as he asked.

"I have a crush on Rarity." the dragon told him quietly. "That's why it must be me, who saves her. I just need help. Also, if you could give me a few tips..."

"Really?" Lacy was a little surprised. Sure, he saw Spike's behaviour around Rarity, but he guessed that was because she was the one who sometimes gave him gemstones. "Is it okay here? I mean different species relationship?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Spike asked, not understanding what the man meant.

"Well..." Lacy was in trouble. Spike was considered a baby dragon, though he mostly acted like a teenager around the beginning of puberty. If he tells him things he's not supposed to know until later, then Twilight would be mad at him and Lacy started to like living there. "I don't know. In my world, there are only humans. If you fall in love with other creatures that way, that's unacceptable. Eh... I'll ask Twilight about it later."

"Okay." the dragon said, his voice not hiding his confusion. "So then? Any tips?"

"There is the age difference though." Lacy told him, ignoring his question. "You are a kid, she's an adult. If she'd start to date with you, then she would get into trouble."

"So then I should just wait until I'm an adult?"

"You can, but there is always the possibility that she finds someone during that time." Lacy let out a loud sigh. "Sorry, but I'm the worst person you could ask about it. I don't know much about how things works here. Also, I'm not the best to ask about love tips. I was in relationship three times, none lasted longer than a few months."

Before Spike could've reacted, they heard a voice from behind. As they turned back, they saw five familiar ponies running towards them.

"Spike! Lacy!" Twilight shouted as they stopped a few meters away. "Thank Celestia we found you! Somepony told us. She saw Spike running back to the library in panic, then saw you two leave in a hurry. We thought, that something happened, so we came to help."

Lacy quickly filled them with what happened. They heard crying not so far away, which sounded like Rarity.

"She must be in there!" Rainbow pointed to a door. Lacy turned towards where she was pointing, surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier. "Let's go!"

Suddenly five diamond dogs jumped on the ponies from several tunnels and put a rope around their muzzles. Spike run to Twilight.

Lacy wanted to go help too, but another dog appeared behind him and grabbed his upper arms.

"More workers." said one of them.

Lacy was struggling to free himself from the dog's grasp. He was a little taller than them and though their arms were strong, their legs looked small and weak.

"Motherfucker." he hissed and then used all his strength to move backwards, pushing the dog behind him and hoping that it's legs really that week. They were. The dog couldn't stop him, and soon they hit the wall of the tunnel.

The dog grunted in pain and let go of Lacy, who also felt the collision, but he momentarily forgot it because adrenalin rushed through his veins. He grabbed a rock and was ready to hit his attacker with it, but the dog was fleeing already. Lacy got confused at that. Turning back, he saw the mares, who also got rid of their attackers and came back to help him.

They went back to that door. Spike was on Twilight's back and had a stalactite and that rope which was still on the unicorn's muzzle in his claws. Lacy found the sight hilarious. He even laughed when Spike managed to convince Twilight to play along with this 'Prince Charming comes and saves the Princess' act.

When they broke through the door, what welcomed them was a surprise. Three dogs running to them and start complaining about how unbearable Rarity is. They begged the ponies to take her back and even let her take many carts filled with gems. Lacy had only one thing to say.

"What the fuck?"





"Argh... My back" Lacy groaned loudly as he collapsed on the couch the moment they got back to the library.

He helped Rarity by also bringing a cart. The problem was that the only way he could pull the cart is to attach it above his shoulders so it'd stay there, but he also had to hold it in place with his hands. That wasn't the only problem, though. Since he was tall, considered to almost everything here, he had to bend down as much as he could otherwise the front of the cart would be raised.

"Stop whining!" Twilight said. "The one I pulled was the same. It wasn’t that hard."

"Because it's designed for quadruped creatures. For me, it was a really uncomfortable position. Plus, all those years of mostly sitting on my ass didn't do good for my back. Sometimes I feel like at least twice of my actual age."

"I don't think that forty-four is that much worse."

"Me neither but I heard a few times, if you are over forty, woke up and nothing is in pain, you are dead." Lacy laughed.

Twilight just shook her head and went to write a letter to the princess.
> 10. Keeping secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of an opening door made Lacy release a relieved sigh.

In the last few hours, he was foalsitting Amber Glow, the little unicorn baby, the daughter of Perfect Mane and Tricky Move. He only saw them a few times but the foal always enjoyed pestering the human either by playing with his hair, made him lift her, or trying to nibble his clothes.

Her mother came one day to the library since he knew that Lacy was living there and asked him if he could watch Amber because his husband had to work and he got a letter from her parents who were living in a nearby town, asking her to come and help them in something. That meant that her daughter would be alone for hours which in her age would be unacceptable so they needed to find a foalsitter. That's when they remembered, that there is a strange-looking creature in Ponyville who is adored by their daughter and would probably accept their request.

Lacy did accept and though he'd do it again, he had to admit that watching over a unicorn foal could be difficult and different from a human of the same age. Lucky for him Amber is over the magical surges, most unicorns have after born but as long as they don't learn control, it could be unpredictable.

Fortunately, there wasn't any problem, which Lacy couldn't handle. The most difficult task was the diaper change, which took Lacy almost half an hour, though most of this time he tried to clean Amber's fur. Besides that, she had a snack and played a lot. One toy could hardly last over a few minutes as Amber got bored of it quickly. Lacy couldn't even finish one baby book as around halfway Amber brought him another.

"I'm home!" came a voice as the door opened. Amber immediately run towards her arriving mother who embraced the little foal. Lacy got up as well and waited patiently for the mare. After a few seconds, the mother released her daughter who ran back into the living room to find something to play with. It wasn't hard, toys were everywhere.

"Hello, Mane!" Lacy welcomed her.

"Hi, Lacy! I hope there weren't any problems."

"Nothing, I couldn't solve."

"Glad to hear it." she trots near her daughter and kisses her on her head before turning back to the man. "you said that I don't have to pay you but at least allow me to give you a free manecut." with her magic she moves a stool to the bathroom then invites Lacy to follow her.

Lacy wanted to decline at first but he had to admit that over the weeks, he's been here, his hair grown too long, not to mention the beard situation. He usually kept it short but he could only do that with a beard trimmer, if he'd have to use scissors, he wouldn't be able to get both sides even close to even with each other. So yeah, his beard was getting too big for his taste.

The man sat on the stool which was too small for him to be comfortable but he'd bear it, shouldn't take too long.

"So, what do you have in mind?" asked Perfect Mane. Meanwhile, little Amber glow noticed that no one was there with her and went to find someone to play with but as soon as she noticed them, she decided to watch them instead. Her mother grabbed her with her magic and levitated her on the bathroom cabinet so she could get a good view. "Remember Amber, only watching." the filly babbled something to her mother in response.

"Just keep it almost shoulder-length, also if you could trim my beard short, I'd be very glad," Lacy told her while reaching out to pet the little filly.

"So... How do you like it here so far?" started another conversation with the hairdresser.

"Strange place to be honest. So different from my world yet so many things are familiar. Species who only exist in mythology in my world, magic, the damn sun, and the moon are controlled here. I didn't want to believe it at first but since it was recorded in history that not so long ago when that Nightmare Moon returned, the sun did not raise just after she was defeated. It's all crazy for me. And immortal rulers? My brain tells me to be wary of them, be afraid, and yet, when I met Princess Celestia, I couldn't imagine her being a tyrant, or even someone, who'd do anything bad just because she gains something from it."

"I can't imagine how hard must it be for you."

"You know, the worst part is how different am I since I appeared here. I wasn't so talkative, or even friendly with strangers in my world but here... I even talking to you about it, when I'm usually trying to relax while at a barbershop."

"I guess we became friends quickly."

"I guess... I mean some kind of trust formed if you asked me to babysit your daughter. I don't even understand why aren't you ponies freaking out... I mean, I'm glad, that you don't and somehow I'm not, which is another mystery for me to solve... Maybe with you, it's something about many sentient species, or I don't know. I asked Twilight about it and she told me about that zebra and a lesson for the whole town but it is different in my case."

"I don't think, that your case is different. I remember what happened with Zecora and you are in a similar position, I mean that part of coming from a faraway land."

Lacy only shrugged and didn't continue talking. Soon the mare finished and after Lacy thanked her for the haircut, said goodbye to both her and Amber, and joked the arriving Tricky Move about her wife cheating him with a creature from another world, and luckily the stallion got the joke.

"Hey, Lacy!" Twilight welcomed the arriving human. "How was foalsitting?" She had to wait for him to answer a little, till he went to the couch and sat down.

"It isn't that different from watching over a human baby. Though I had a little more trouble because of her magic I'm in one piece."

"That reminds me..." Twilight got a notebook and a quill. "I think today we should talk about how human behavior and intelligence develop from birth to adulthood."

Lacy sighed. These study sessions were planned by Twilight, so she could learn as much about humanity as Lacy could give her. The man went on with this because he owes a lot to her. She gives him food and shelter and though at first the human thought, that she only does this for the knowledge, over time as he got to know her better, he had to realize that even though, she wants to learn everything she can, she would help him out, no matter what. She never tried to blackmail, or threaten him. Though most of the time she doesn't seem to care anything other than the things she could learn, she still manages to see her friends and spend time with them. And he got a feeling, that she sees him just as much of her friend, like with the others.

And he sees her as a friend too. She's not only letting him stay with her and provides him food but helped him to find a way to earn money and also took time to teach him how things work here. Of course, it's a work in progress and there were arguments about certain things, but Lacy didn't have many options other than to accept what she said.

The next day Twilight offered Lacy to go with her to visit Rarity. Apparently, a pony named Photo Finish who is a famous fashion photographer came to the town and liked Rarity's hat so she wanted to do a few shots. She was impressed and she wanted to take more photos at the park this morning. Now it was afternoon and Lacy, Twilight and Spike were on their way to Carousel Boutique.

"Hiya, Twilight! Hiya Spike! Hiya Lacy!" they heard Pinkie Pie behind them, turning around, they saw the pink mare trotting happily towards them. "Are you going to see Rarity?" they nodded. "Me too!" she exclaimed louder than she should have. "You see, I was on my way to the library so we can go together, asking her how the photoshoot went but I just saw you all going somewhere and I know, that way is Rarity's boutique and now that we met here we can go together."

When they arrived, Rarity was nowhere to be found. Twilight told them, that she might be in her bedroom so they went up and found her inside the room, working with a black cloth.

"How did go? How did go?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically while jumping. Twilight, Spike, and Lacy were just smiling but it didn't last long. 

"It didn't." Rarity put the black cape on her back. "Photo Finish wanted to work with Fluttershy, not me."

"Oh, Rarity. I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do?" Twilight asked.

"I just want to be alone right now," she answered while putting on the hood.

Lacy wasn't sure how to react, he heard that Rarity could be overdramatic from time to time but this was a different case. Since he couldn't help her, he decided to leave, however, the girls started to walk towards Rarity, probably trying to comfort her but were stopped by Spike.

"You heard her." the little dragon held up his claws and made them go backward out of the room. Lacy went with them. "She wants to be alone." however, Spike didn't follow the others, instead turned back to Rarity and wanted to go to her but Twilight grabbed his tail with her mouth and pulled him back. She and Pinkie gave him angry looks. "What? I didn't think she meant 'alone' alone." Spike explained.

"Believe me, Spike. It's better to leave her be now." Lacy told him, then all of them left the boutique.

"I can't believe it!" Twilight said as they all got back to the library, even Pinkie joined.

"Me neither. I could've stayed with her..." Spike murmured but got an annoyed look from Twilight.

"Is it really that big deal?" Lacy asked.

"Of course it is!" Pinkie yelled to him and brought her face really close to his. "It's her dream to be well known across Equestria and to be in the spotlight and to be a part of the elite. And we must help her any way we can because we're her friends. And that includes you too, mister. You are her friend, right?"

"I guess..." Lacy had enough of Pinkies constant siege on his private sphere and pushed her head away from his.

"That didn't sound convincing," Twilight said. "I thought, we talked about it. We see you as our friend. And even Princess Celestia asked you to make friends."

"I know, but it's not just like that. You cannot force others to become your friend. I mean, I kinda see you, Twilight, and Spike as friends but the others? I'm not so sure..."

"So you don't think of me as your friend?" Pinkie asked with teary eyes. "That cannot be! I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville and you live here too!" she lost it completely and began crying.

"Pinkie..." Lacy kneeled and put his hand on Pinkie's head, lightly petting her mane. "If it's that important, then I'll be your friend."

The pink mare immediately stopped and looked into his eyes.

"Really?" she asked. After his nod, she let out a cry, this time in joy, and hugged the human. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'll be your best friend! I'll even prepare another party for you!" she began bouncing around but suddenly stopped. "Wait! What about the others?"

"What about them?"

"Rarity is your friend, I know it! She did make your clothes." Pinkie argued.

"Yeah, that was really generous of her and I'm thankful. I guess, she's my friend too."

"Let's not forget about Rainbow Dash." Twilight joined. "I'm pretty sure, she thinks of you as a friend after you helped her out with those bullies in Cloudsdale though I'm still thinking that the method was too aggressive."

"You have a point," Lacy admitted.

"I'm not sure about Applejack and Fluttershy though." Twilight continued. "Applejack seemed to dislike you and I think Fluttershy just needs a little more time." then her eyes become bigger. "And what about those other ponies, you've met? Like Perfect Mane? She clearly sees you as one if she asked you to watch over her daughter."

"Alright, you win. So what about it?"

"I'm just saying, that you've made great progress," Twilight answered his question. Lacy just shrugged.

In the next two days, Lacy noticed that something changed in Ponyville. As he was walking on the streets, he couldn't help but notice that pictures of Fluttershy were everywhere. Shopkeepers advertised their products with her pictures, there was a stall selling magazines filled with photos of her and ponies could only talk about her.

Fucking herd mentality. No matter where you are, you'll find a trend blindly followed by many without thinking. Though Fluttershy's kinda cute... but most ponies are kinda cute.

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the now-famous model pony running from a group of fans. Lacy just shook her head.

The worst nightmare of an introvert. R.I.P. her privacy...

Another day passed. Lacy was in the library, reading a book, finished all his chores. Spike was upstairs taking a nap. The little dragon was happy, that Lacy offered to help out in the library since he's living there as well and the two of them could easily finish everything much sooner and that meant more nap time for the dragon. 

The door swung open and Twilight walked in. Lacy wondered when she'd come back. She went to the spa hours ago and was supposed to come back earlier than this.

"I'm back!" she said as walked to the man. "I need your advice," she told him. Lacy put down the book and looked at her.

"What happened?" he asked a little concerned after seeing her face. She looked stressed.

"Both Rarity and Fluttershy told me a secret and it's so hard not to tell the other."

"Um... Why is it so hard?" Lacy asked, not understanding the situation.

"Because if I'd tell them, then that'd solve their current problem," she answered.

"You mean, this modeling thing?"

"Yeah, that. I think I can tell you because they only asked me not to tell the other, so Rarity is jealous of Fluttershy and Fluttershy doesn't want to be a model."

"And what's the problem? Fluttershy can just say no, right?"

"She could but she won't because Rarity encouraging her to continue." Twilight let out a frustrated grunt. "I wanted to tell Fluttershy that what does Rarity really thinks but I can't because I promised Rarity, I'll keep it a secret. And if I break my promise, then I'll lose her trust, and losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend..."

"Forever!" Pinkie's jumped out from a bookcase suddenly, yelling.

"What the fuck?!" Lacy yelled while rolling down from the couch he was lying on. His left hand clutching on his chest. Even Twilight jumped a little. "Holy shit, Pinkie, where..." Lacy tried to look at her but she disappeared. "Huh?" He looked around but the pink pony was nowhere to be found. He shot a questioning look to Twilight but even she just shrugged.

Lacy took a few deep breaths and after he was sure that his heart rate went under two hundred, he sat back on the couch. Twilight sat next to him. 

"I came up with an idea though," she said after a few seconds. "Tomorrow there will be another fashion show and if I manage to make Fluttershy look bad, then Photo Finish will let her go and all of this will end," she explained her simple plan.

"Wouldn't that just cause scandal? I mean, what if they'll still talk about her all the time just about what happened there."

"Don't worry about it. If Photo Finish thinks, that Fluttershy can't win the love of the crowd anymore, then she'll just leave and search for another model, and the fashion fans will follow her."

"If you say so..."

The next day Lacy went with Twilight to the Ponyville Community House. It was a building in the center of the town, which as the name implied was used for social activities. It didn't have a special style to stick out, like Rarity's boutique. The building had three main parts. The hall, the stage and auditorium, and the backstage.

Now they were heading to the backstage part to meet Fluttershy. There was a pony who was guarding the entrance of the dressing rooms, asking them, what are they doing here but after telling him that they're here to see Fluttershy and the pegasus told him to let them in, they were allowed to come inside.

"Hello, Fluttershy!" they both greeted the shy mare, who was already in the dress.

"Oh, hello Twilight, hello Lacy." she greeted as well. "What are you doing here?"

"I have an idea, how to solve your problem," Twilight answered.

"And I'm here for the show," Lacy added.

While Twilight told her the plan, Lacy was just sitting and listening. He didn't realize sooner, that a fashion show would be really boring for him. Soon a pony came informing Fluttershy, that it'll start soon, get ready. Twilight and Lacy went out to give Fluttershy a minute alone and were waiting for her behind the curtains.

"You really think it'll work?" asked Fluttershy, as she approached them.

"I'm not sure," Lacy told her but had to add something after getting a glare from Twilight. "But I'm no expert."

"They love you for being you." Twilight turned towards her friend. "So all I have to do is make you not be you. Just leave it to me."

The music started and it was time for Fluttershy to get off the stage and face the audience. Twilight and Lacy looked out, seeing many ponies, watching Fluttershy, completely oblivious to her stage fright.

As she began to walk forward, Twilight light up her horn, preparing for her part. Soon a violet aura appeared around Fluttershy, making her fall. The whole auditorium gasped and even the music stopped. Then Twilight started making her tripping, floating, falling, picking her nose, and gave out dog and donkey noises and other things.

Lacy couldn't help himself, he started giggling. It was too funny for him to contain it. He had to admit, this was the best fashion show, he ever saw, because of this, and because this was the first one.

Ponies started 'boo'-ing, and demand to get her off the stage. Meanwhile, Twilight canceled her spells and was waiting for what will happen next. She smiled at her success.

"See." she turned to Lacy. "I told you, it'll work."

"Bravo!" that's when they all heard a pony shouting and drumming with her front hooves, which was basically used as clapping here. Everyone began looking around searching for the source of praising.

"Bravo?" asked a mare. "Who could possibly say bravo to that horrid display?"

Soon they found out. It was Rarity. Twilight groaned in annoyance, but then her face quickly changed for a worried expression. 

"Oh no! It could ruin her reputation! We have to stop her!" Twilight told Lacy.

"Why is she doing this?" the man asked.

"She doesn't want Fluttershy to think, that she's jealous of her and wants to support her to be famous." Twilight explained.

Lacy wanted to ask more, clearly not understanding this whole situation but they heard as the ponies began to praise Fluttershy again. Twilight just stared with an open mouth, unable to say anything. Meanwhile, Lacy lost it again and began laughing.

"Congrat, Twilight! You invented a new trend." That's all he managed to say.

Later in the dressing room, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Lacy were talking.

"This is awful!" Fluttershy said a little louder than usual she would talk but still had that sweetness in her voice. "Just awful! Somehow I've become more popular, than ever."

Every social media bitch wants to know your location...

Lacy just stood there, not talking much after Twilight got angry at him for not helping. The man just shrugged, saying, he doesn't know how to help, other than telling her the truth, but Twilight asked him, not to do.

"I'm so frustrated, I could just kick something!" Fluttershy readied her hind legs, then lightly kicked a vase, that barely moved a little. "If only Rarity didn't want me to be a model so badly!"

Twilight groaned.

"But Rarity..." she suddenly stopped herself by putting one of her hoof in her mouth.

Lacy was about to tell Fluttershy to get herself together and quit because he started to lose his patience in the matter. However before he could, the door swung open and Rarity walked in.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm great!" Fluttershy put on a fake happy face. "I'm a super famous fashion model. Why wouldn't I be great?" she said, not even trying to hide how she really feels about it. Apparently, Rarity was completely oblivious.

"Because you ha..." this time Twilight put both of her front hooves in her mouth.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Lacy yelled. "Just te..." suddenly Lacy felt something strange on his mouth, which immediately closed. He saw Twilight's horn glowing and put two plus two together fast. She just shut him up with her magic. The problem was that his lips were a little inward and Twilight really squeezed his mouth and soon felt his teeth cutting into his lips. He panicked and tried to force his mouth open with his hands. Luckily Twilight let him go. As he took his hands away, he saw a little blood on his fingers and also started to feel that there is liquid in his mouth which is not saliva. He shot a glare towards Twilight, then turned around, showing his back to the others.

"Out there on the runway everypony was turning on you and..." Rarity sighed. "Oh, Fluttershy. It's so awful. I wanted them to." she finally admitted.

"You did?" asked a surprised Fluttershy.

"Of course she did! Because...!" Twilight suddenly put the content of a full fruit basket in her mouth. The girls looked at her questioningly, while Lacy, who meanwhile turned back, just kept his glare but the others ignored him.

"I'm jealous! I wanted all the attention. And instead, it was going to you. I even started hoping that you would do something silly so your modeling career would be over. But then, when it started happening, all I could think was how could I want you to fail at something you love so much?" Rarity told her everything.

"But Fluttershy doesn't... ugh!" This time Twilight put his head into a potted plant. This made Lacy replace his angry face with a confused one.

"Love? Oh, Rarity. I hate being a model."

"You do?"

"More than anything."

"Then why did you keep doing that?"

"I was afraid if I quit, you'd be mad at me for not wanting to 'shine all over Equestria'."

"And I thought if I told you how jealous I was of your success, you'd think I was a terrible friend."

"Never!"

"All this time..."

"If we'd just told each other the truth."

"I promise never to keep my feelings in secret again."

"Me too."

Both did a pinkie promise.

As Lacy listened to them, he couldn't help but think back at the time, he didn't tell his mother the truth and it got so bad that their relationship is still bad, after years. Thoughts invaded his mind. Maybe he could've prevented the whole thing, just trying harder to persuade her. Or he could've told her the truth sooner and maybe the damage wouldn't be so severe. No matter how pointless to be in the 'what if?' zone, Lacy sometimes just couldn't escape from there.

"Spike has a crush on Rarity!" Lacy came back to reality by hearing Twilight's shouting. He shook his head and saw that Rarity and Fluttershy disappeared but there was a blue earth pony mare with white mane and tail and in mostly black and white clothing and pink sunglasses, just standing there, looking forward. While he observed her, he completely missed Pinkie Pie, who somehow appeared in a mirror, looking at Twilight, disappointed.

"Come on, Lacy, let's go!" Twilight waved the man to follow her, which he did. They met Rarity and Fluttershy outside, who invited them to the spa. Twilight accepted but Lacy turned down and decided to go back to the library. When he arrived, he noticed the absence of the dragon but didn't think much about it. He just began searching for a book to read.

Later, Twilight and Spike got back. 

"Dear Princess Celestia." Lacy heard Twilight dictating the next friendship lesson. "Being a good friend means being able to keep a secret. But you should never be afraid to share your true feelings with a good friend." Spike then rolled up the message and sent it to the princess.

"You know Twilight." Lacy started instead of greeting. "You can still be a good friend if you can't keep a secret. Just they won't tell you any after some time."

"Very funny." Twilight stuck her tongue at him. "But maybe there is some truth behind it."

"I'm going to make dinner," Spike stated, then walked into the kitchen.

"Alright. Sorry again for telling your secret crush on Rarity." suddenly her eyes went wide, looking at Lacy, who looked back at her confused.

"Don't worry Twilight," Spike stopped and looked back at her. "He already knows it and kept it a secret." the little dragon then continued to the kitchen.

"He told you?" Twilight questioned Lacy, who only nodded. "When?"

"When we were on our way to save Rarity from those dogs," Lacy answered.

"Why would he tell you first? I mean, it's kind of obvious, you have to just look at him when he's in the same room with her but still..."

"He asked if I have a few tips for him."

"Few tips? Why would he ask you for advice?"

"That's a good question, especially after telling him, that none of my previous relationships lasted longer than a few months," Lacy told her, Twilight just gave him a surprised look. She forgot, that Lacy had girlfriends before. She then remembered, that it was mentioned before, when they all watched his memories of his last night on Earth.

"But he could've just asked one of us, or look after it in a book," Twilight spoke. Lacy started to feel a little offended, like it was such a bad thing, that Spike asked something from him first, which isn't connected to him being from another world.

"It's something, that a male can talk about with another male. It's not something, you can really get from a book. I think he just wanted another perspective from the same gender. He doesn't have many guy friends, right? He mostly hangs out with you, or stays in the library." Lacy explained.

"I guess, you have a point." Twilight let out a sigh. "And could you give him some pointers?"

"I didn't want to get his hopes up. There is a significant age difference, which wouldn't be a big problem in my opinion, if not for the fact, that Spike is a child and will be for years. Also, I don't know how accepted here the romance between different species."

"I'm not a pony who knows a lot about romance, but I do know, that it's completely accepted. If both creatures are sapient, then it's completely okay to be in a relationship or even get married. Though I'm sure, there are ponies, who would judge you for being together with a different species but I don't think they have a significant number."

"So completely tolerance in romance, with a little statistical error?" Lacy tried to summarize.

"I guess." Twilight nodded. "What about your world?" she asked, already having a quill and paper in her magic grip.

"I can't tell you a concrete answer, only speculations, because humans are the only sapient beings there. But I think people would be in four major groups in that matter. The biggest would be probably, those who would at first give them funny looks but soon learning to ignore it and continue living their life. They probably won't have any physical affection towards any other than a human but wouldn't judge those, who have. They're the neutral party. Then there would be those, who would hate the idea of even being friends with them, and would try to hurt you for being in love with another species. They're the haters, who just want reasons to lash out at somebody. Though they aren't the worst. The worst are those, who would try to force the haters to change their minds."

"Why are they worse?" Twilight asked, cutting into Lacy's speaking.

"Because they would completely ruin that person's reputation, which would affect him even if that hater later changes his or her mind. This group of people is the same as the haters just on the other side. And they are worse because they are acting like they're different from them. Fucking hypocrites." Lacy took a few breaths to calm himself and prevent a long ranting session. "Anyway, the last group would be those who would prefer to have an interspecies relationship over a same-species romance. Of course, there would be other types of people and this is completely my own opinion so don't see it as a fact. Plus this is something, that probably won't happen to humanity for a very long time if ever."

Before Twilight could've reacted to this, Spike yelled out that the dinner is ready. Lacy immediately got up and began walking to the kitchen, leaving Twilight, who stood there for a few seconds before joining them.
> 11. The peacemaker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Lacy!"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"You wanna come with us tomorrow to Appleloosa?"

"Sure, I guess... Why?"

"Just thought it would be better if all of my friends would come."

"I mean, why do you go there?"

"Oh, well Applejack wants to replant a tree in their orchard. The town was just finished building recently and it's some kind of family tradition since there lives her cousin."

"I see. Well, I guess I could do some more traveling since there is still nothing about my way to home."

"I know, that there wasn't any news but don't worry. Princess Celestia wrote a letter, saying, that she plans to come and visit soon, I'm sure, she would give you some information about your situation."

"Will you two keep quiet? I'm trying to sleep!"

"Sorry, Spike. Good night Lacy!"

"Night!"





"Thank ya kindly for coming to help me." Applejack greeted the others, then pointed her hoof at the tree she was standing next to. "This is Bloomberg. He will be the lucky tree, that gets replanted in my cousin, Braeburn's orchard. All we have to do is dig him out and then put him on the carriage and take him to the train station. There we only have to place him in the last wagon."

The ponies, Spike, and Lacy all grabbed a shovel and began to get the tree out from the ground.  Not every pony was here though. Rarity didn't want to get dirty so she will be meeting with the others at the train station. Rainbow Dash wasn't here either. Lacy didn't know her that much to suspect her of napping somewhere, he thought that she had weather duty or something else.

Soon the human found himself covered in sweat and his back being in pain. After a few grunts, Applejack began to notice his condition.

"Not really used to hard work, eh?" she said to him. Lacy was hard to determine whether it was just friendly teasing, or she tried to offend him.

"The last few years, I mostly sat on my ass, being it work or free time so yeah, I'm not an example of physical work." he reacted. "But I do plenty of hard, mental work."

Applejack nodded, then continued working. Soon the tree was out from the ground and was being moved to the train station.





"So these trains can go over three hundred kilometers per hour?" Twilight asked.

"Probably a lot more but I don't know a lot about them, just that they're not connected to the rails with wheels but magnetic field and that makes possible that they can go really fast," Lacy answered.

They were already on the train to Appleloosa. Lacy didn't understand why was it pulled by earth ponies when there was a locomotive on the front but Twilight quickly explained, that it's a tradition that the first run on new lines was always pulled by ponies except when there was an emergency. And since Appleloosa was a newly built town and its railway was just finished, this was the first train ride there. But since it was relatively far away, and they only departed in the afternoon, they will only arrive the next morning, because those ponies had to rest as well.

"Sounds awesome," Rainbow said, then added, "Still not faster than me."

"Sounds a little scary to me," Fluttershy told them, though it was hard to hear her quiet voice.

"Have you ever been on a train like that?" Twilight continued the questioning. She didn't want to miss her daily session with Lacy when the man tells her things about his world and this time it was about mass transportation. The others were also curious about Lacy's world but they were content with a less detailed version but Twilight had to ask for every little thing, she could get from the man.

"Nah, there isn't any in my country and I never been in a country which has, never had the opportunity to go either." Lacy gave her the answer, which disappointed the unicorn a little because that meant, he couldn't give them any experience through words or memory viewing.

"Alright, moving on. You talked about these busses, trams, trains, and since today we only talk about ground transportation, is there something else?"

"Well there is one more, that I know of, the metro," Lacy told her. "It's basically kind of like the tram just underground."

"So it's like the Manehattan subway?" Twilight asked.

"Probably, if that's an underground train system." Twilight nodded. "Anyway, it's usually in bigger cities and probably the fastest transport in a city because it doesn't depend on traffic. All of them run on electricity, at least as far as I know, and can be really advanced."

"What do you mean by that?" came the next question by Twilight.

"Well, there are some metro lines, including one in the city, I live in, which runs by itself," Lacy told her but had to explain it further after seeing the confused glares that he received from Twilight and the others as well. "I mean, it doesn't need a human to drive it. It's fully controlled by a computer." That got some reaction. The ponies could hardly believe what they were hearing. Of course Twilight had to ask how does it work. "I don't know exactly how, but it goes on the given track, stops at the stations, opens the doors, closes them after some waiting, then goes to the next stop. I don't know much about it, I was just a passenger on it, and the place I'm working didn't create the program for it so I have no knowledge."

After some more talk, he decided to go to sleep. He was pretty tired after the work with the tree. He walked back into the train car which was for Bloomberg. Sadly for Lacy, the beds on the train were too small for him, it was designed for ponies so he had to improvise. They took all the unused bed sheets, pillows, blankets and made a makeshift bed big enough for the human.  But to not to take all the place in the passageway in the car, the ponies were, they decided that he will be sleeping in Bloomberg's car since that was almost completely empty save for the tree.

The tree was placed on a bed big enough for Lacy but Applejack wouldn't let him use it as the bed was so 'Bloomberg won't be too stressed'. Lacy gave in, of course, saying, he had worse but of course Applejack had to warn him to be careful with Bloomberg even though, he'd sleep in the other end of the car.

A few minutes later, the car door's opened and a silhouette of a little dragon walked in, on his way to the other end of the car, where the tree was.

"Hey Lacy, mind if I sleep here, with Bloomberg? The girls can't keep quiet." Spike said.

"I don't mind."

"I have to warn you though, that I tend to snore a bit."

"Me too, but my grandpa always said, that at night, you have to sleep, not listen," Lacy told him.

"Can't argue with that. Anything else, he said?"

"I remember, once asking him, when I slept at my grandparents, that what will happen if I snore. He told me, that he'll kick my as... um... butt." both of them chuckled. "Then I asked, what if he snores. He said, that then I won't sleep." they laughed at this for a moment, then said their 'Good night!'s. Spike fell asleep immediately and began snoring. "Snore a bit my ass..." Lacy let out a sigh, after hearing, that there was somebody who could be worse than his father. It was strange, though, that even though, he slept in the same room with the dragon ever since he got here, he rarely snored and it was never this loud.

The next morning was the worst awakening, Lacy ever had. The whole car was moving and not only forward on the railroad. Something was constantly hitting it from the sides with such force, that he was flying from wall to wall, hurting himself pretty hard. The bed, with Bloomberg and spike on it, was moving too and Lacy hoped, it won't hit him because that would mean bone-breaking at best. He didn't want to imagine the worst.

Spike woke up too and started yelling. Meanwhile adrenaline and panic kicked in Lacy. He tried to grab something, he can hold on, so he won't be dropped back and forth, like a sack of potato. The only thing, he found was the window frame but that wasn't exactly suitable for this.

Fortunately, the whole thing stopped, and the car started to slow down. The ground was still shaking, while the car completely stopped, then started to go in the other direction. Lacy was still in shock from what happened and didn't even notice Spike, who in the end somehow ended up hugging his leg, now was climbing on him, and after getting upon his head, he looked out of the window and started yelling for help.

"Spike! What's going on?" Lacy finally could ask.

"Buffalos are dragon-napping us!" Spike shouted in panic.

"What? But why?"

"I don't know! What do we do?" the dragon looked at the man. They both were scared but Lacy had to act like an adult and take care of Spike.

This was the first time when Lacy had to take care of himself and someone else in this world. The others were further by the second and this was a dangerous situation. They've been kidnapped and he had no idea what will these buffalos do to him and Spike. He considered jumping out of the train but they were moving too fast and even if they manage to land without any serious injury, they wouldn't be able to outrun buffalos.

"Spike. Listen to me. When we stop, I'll try to distract them. When they're all looking at me, you escape. Try to be quiet and always search for tight places, where only you can fit in case they discover you. And try to follow the railroad." Lacy told his plan to the little dragon.

"But wha-" he was cut off when the car suddenly stopped.

By the sounds of it, the buffalos were cheering out there, and their numbers were great. Lacy wasn't so sure of his plan, because the more their kidnappers are, the higher the chance they'll discover Spike's disappearance. Only now did a little change in his plan into his mind. Telling Spike to hide here, because they'll likely leave the train car on the rails.

But it was too late. The door opened. A little buffalo came in. She was barely taller than Spike. As she looked at them, her eyes grow wide.

"Oh no..." by the sound of it, Lacy guessed that this one was a female. But it was only a subconscious observation since his mind was mostly confused. She seemed genuinely surprised, that there was somebody in this car. "Chief! There is a problem here!"

A head of another, bigger buffalo came in, looking equally surprised. Lacy and Spike looked at each other, not sure how to proceed.

"Mighty dragon!" The big one started. "Please forgive us for any harm done to you! Let us make it up to you by inviting you and your companion to our town, where we will treat you with the respect your kind deserves." He bowed his head, so did the calf. Lacy and Spike looked at each other, then back at the chief.

"Um... sure," Spike said, then got up and looked back at the man. "Come on Lacy!"

"Spike, I don't think we can trust them," Lacy whispered to the dragon.

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"Do I really need to explain it to you?" Lacy deadpanned.

The little calf walked to them and bowed her head again.

"Please! Let us make it right! You will be our honored guests! Just give us a chance to explain ourselves!" she begged.

"Just look at her, Lacy!" Spike stood up for her. "She must be feeling awful about it. Plus I don't think we could walk all way to Appleloosa."

Lacy had to admit, that the dragon had a good point. So far the ponies were peace-loving, friendly, and could be trusted, why shouldn't he give a chance to the buffalos. He already learned, that even if there are many things that similar to his world, the common mentality is not among them. It seemed unbelievable at first but almost every time proved to him that this world was really like Twilight told him. Of course, that didn't mean that all of the ponies were like that. The rule of big numbers states that eventually, he had to meet the worse kind of them. And Twilight warned him that Fancy Pants was probably the best among the nobles since most of them usually acted like snobs.

"Alright..."





Twilight was worried. According to Braeburn, those buffalos want them to remove the trees but he didn't know why. And now they took Bloomberg, Spike, and Lacy. Rainbow went after them alone and Pinkie Pie was missing. She trusted Lacy to take care of Spike the best way he can but someone had to take care of him too since his knowledge of this world was still full of holes.

She didn't know a lot about buffalos but they were never described as aggressive species, according to that one book, she read and mentioned them, they were almost as peaceful, as ponies, just had different traditions and political systems. They were a tribal community.

She had to consider Lacy's situation though. He was still lacking some knowledge that was considered basic for most creatures in Equestria. Lacy and Spike needed help and she wasn't sure that Rainbow could handle the rescue alone. They all needed to go out and help them. Twilight started to prepare for this rescue mission. She tried to gather more information about the buffalos and the conflict but didn't learn anything useful. The sun was already close to the horizon and there still wasn't any news about Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie. She knew, that today, there's nothing else she could do, so she went to the local inn to turn in early. The others followed her example. They all needed to get up early to go and find the others as soon as possible.





"Are you fucking serious?!" Lacy was furious.

After getting to the buffalo village, and a short Q&A about what Lacy is, the chief explained to them, that the ponies planted their apple orchard on their traditional stampeding grounds, where they run every year. The ponies started to build their town after last year's stampede and the buffalos didn't even notice because according to them, they only go and check the ground a few days before the stampede. What made Lacy angry is the fact, that the buffalos didn't even try a peaceful approach, they saw it as an offense on their ancient grounds.

"You have to understand!" Little Strongheart, the calf that they met after they took the train car was trying to calm him down. "They came and planted their orchard without even asking us."

"And have you ever considered, that maybe they didn't know about it?" Lacy reacted. "No! You had to become goddamn terrorists!"

"What's a terrorist?" asked the calf and Spike at the same time, the others were just looking at him questioning.

"Not important. What's important is that you could've caused serious injuries!"

"I thought, that car was empty save for the tree, I didn't see anything else! It was never our intention to hurt anyone!" Little Strongheart was on the verge of crying now.

"You attacked the whole train! You cannot deny that! You have no idea what damages could've been done. I knew someone who lost his ability to walk in a train accident! He lived his life in a fucking wheelchair!" Lacy continued yelling.

"I'm sorry..." Strongheart said between sobs, while Lacy was fuming.

"Calm down, Lacy!" Spike tried to ease the situation. "They're sorry and nobody's got hurt badly."

It took him a few minutes but eventually, Lacy's breathing went back to normal so did his facial expression. This lasted only for a moment though, when he suddenly got a headache. He groaned and put his right hand onto his forehead. The others looked at him concerned but fortunately, the pain slowly weakened until it was gone.

"Alright... I think I'm over it," he said. "Still what I don't understand is why didn't you at least try to communicate with them before going aggressive and threatening?"

"Because they didn't even ask us if they could plant their orchard there!" the chief answered.

"Okay, let's get one thing clear. Who does that land belong to? Is it part of Equestria? Or the Buffalo Tribe?"

After the question, the chief told Lacy a long tale about how his ancestors got the land from the Princess of the Sun. They were nomads before because they couldn't find a place to call home. When they arrived here, they saw it as the perfect place to call home. As they explored these lands, they met the ponies, who told them, that they're in Equestria. Soon the chief met with Princess Celestia, who let them live in this land, in exchange for being peaceful towards the ponies. From what Lacy could deduct, both of them have the right to use that land and this just made the whole conflict harder to resolve. Not like, Lacy felt it's his responsibility to handle the situation and find a solution, but he would gladly be an assistant if needed. However, so far he only heard one side of the story. He didn't even realize, that the story was so long, the sun was replaced by the moon and night fell on the land.

Somewhere in the middle of the chief's tale, a group of buffalos along with Spike went out, because they spotted two ponies. Lacy guessed, that it was their friends and he was proven right when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie showed up, and the chief told them too about their situation.

Rainbow quickly decided to side with the buffalos and was ready to help them out. She completely ignored Lacy as he tried to tell her to calm down and at least listen to what the appleloosians say before judging, however, he had to admit, that he himself was also with the buffalos right then. After all, there were many similar situations in human history, just those that were usually more violent.

The chief provided a tent for them to rest for the night. It was a nice gesture but unfortunately, the buffalos didn't have any bed or anything to lay on. The buffalos didn't need them, since their fur was really thick. Lacy laid on his back, hoping, that the ground won't hurt his back too much in case he manages to fall asleep. Fortunately for him, today's events did tire him out, mostly the morning, which was full of adrenaline during the train attack, and the chief's tale, which would make a good bedtime story, because some buffalos even fell asleep during it and a few times even Lacy was getting close to it as well.

At some point, he felt multiple things touching him. Opening his eyes, he saw, that the ponies and dragon were already sleeping, and decided to use his torso as a pillow since they too didn't get anything to sleep on. He just grunted in annoyance but didn't have the heart to wake them up or toss them away.

He didn't get much sleep. A few times woke up during the night and every time it was hard to go back to the realm of dreams. Now he woke up because he heard snickering. As he opened his eyes, the light that came from a small gap where the entrance of the tent was showed him, that it was morning.

As he looked around, still lying on the ground, he found the source of the voice. It was Pinkie Pie, who was standing beside his head and looked towards his torso. He looked at her questioningly, she only pointed towards where she was looking. He raised his head a little and saw what was that funny.

On his left, Spike was curled up, like a pet, and was hugging his left hand. Just now he realized that he felt his scales and claws touching him. However, he felt another thing as well. On his right, Rainbow Dash, her head is still on his stomach. In her sleep, she took his right arm and pulled it over her and holding it, as it was some kind of blanket. She must've gotten cold during the night, or it was just reflex and his arm was the only thing she could grab, even if it wasn't really effective for the role, she intended to use it.

He heard Pinkie whispering something to his ear, while still giggling. It was an idea for a prank. Lacy rolled his eyes but did as she asked.

He freed his left hand and started petting Rainbow's head.

"Good morning, dear! Did you have nice sleep?" He spoke gently. Even he started to having fun as he saw Rainbow smiling and a small nod from her. "Good, after all, last night was really tiring." he heard Pinkie's chuckling getting louder, as she clearly fought to keep her laughter at bay. Lacy decided to take it a little further. "You were so active and loud."

The pegasus continued to smile, as she clearly enjoyed the petting and ignored everything he said. Lacy however couldn't say anything else, because he too had to fight, not to laugh out loud. The constant snickering made Rainbow open her eyes. She looked at her torso and saw an arm across it, which was held there with her hooves. She also felt something touching her head and soon she saw her two friends, who were grinning at her.

She yelped and a moment later, she was in the air. This woke up Spike but for him, the next seconds were occupied rubbing his eyes.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing?" Rainbow asked angrily but Lacy could see, her blushing, she probably just caught up, with what Lacy said to her earlier.

Ponies could blush. A thing, that Lacy experienced when Twilight did it after Lacy gave a more adult answer to one of her questions, and of course there was also some assumption from both sides, that resulted in an embarrassed blush. It was a funny thing when Twilight explained how it works. Lacy didn't understand at first, how could they do that since they have fur. Just like with cutie marks, when a pony blushes, their fur on their cheeks and sometimes at the base of their ears change color.

"Wasn't my idea." Lacy threw up his hands in defense. "Though, it was funny."

"I will get my revenge on you," she spoke in a scary tone, but Lacy was sure, that she meant, she'll prank the life out of him.

Spike wasn't happy for the sudden wake-up, but before he could say anything, a buffalo's head came into the tent, telling them, that they're welcome for breakfast.

Last night, they got dinner, though the man couldn't eat that soup thing, they made, because it contained many things, he couldn't digest. That didn't mean he got to go sleep with an empty stomach, luckily Bloomberg had some apples on him, which was edible. But two apples are hardly a filling dinner meal, not in the long run anyway. He really hoped, that after breakfast, they'll go to Appleloosa immediately and he could get some decent food there.

After they all ate, Little Strongheart led them towards Appleloosa. The town wasn't that far, the walk only took forty minutes. Of course, it felt much longer, because of Rainbow's constant whining, while they weren't going faster. It was because Lacy wasn't an athlete and he couldn't have to keep up with their gallop speed, and they couldn't even carry him as they would Spike.

When they were close to the village, they heard, their friends' voices, and then spotted them running towards them. The moment they noticed the two ponies, the dragon, and the human, they stopped for a second.

"Hi, guys!" Pinkie greeted them.

"Pinkie!" to everyone's surprise, Fluttershy flew to her and tackled the pink mare to the ground. "We're so glad you safe!"

The others came closer as well, nuzzling each other, even Lacy got a face rubbing his legs, namely Rarity. That earned a jealous look from Spike.

"How did you escape from the buffalo?" Twilight asked.

"We didn't." Pinkie answered, and the calf came out from behind a rock. That made the ponies gasp.

"We promised the buffalo a chance to talk." Rainbow explained.

"Oh yeah?" Applejack asked, clearly not happy to see someone, who was among the tree thieves. "'Bout what?"

"We brought our new pal Little Strongheart here to explain to the Appleloosans why they should move the apple trees off buffalo land," Rainbow told her, as she pushed the young calf towards them until she was standing before a stallion, who had a yellow coat and orange mane. He wore a hat, a jacket, and a saddlebag, just like the other ponies. Lacy guessed, that he was Applejack's cousin.

"That information would be quite helpfu-" the stallion was cut off by Applejack.

"That's weird. 'Cause my cousin Braeburn here wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay." She pushed him closer to the buffalo.

Both Braeburn and Strongheart looked awkward at each other, clearly feeling uncomfortable in the situation, especially after Rainbow Dash and Applejack began speaking in their name. Well more like arguing, then they were really close to fighting each other.

"Shut the fuck up!" Lacy yelled at them, after having enough of both of them. The others flinched at his choice of words.

"Look!" Twilight began, after Lacy's shout. "Both the settlers and the buffalo have good reasons to use this land. There must be something we can do."

"I've got an idea!" Pinkie yelled.

"I have one too," Lacy added.

"I'd rather go with Pinkie's plan," Applejack told to him.

"We didn't even explain it..." Lacy pointed out. "Wouldn't it be better to hear both of us, before choosing? Maybe we have the same plan? What then?" he asked a few questions.

"I don't care." Applejack simply said then turned her back to him and began walking back to the town.

Lacy was confused. For some reason Applejack rarely talked to him, most of the time, she just glared at him, or trying to offend the man. The worst part is, that Lacy didn't know what he said, or did to earn this kind of behavior from the farmer pony. Of course, there is a possibility of him being basically an alien in this land but that was unlikely, since most ponies didn't fear or hate him for it, and Applejack was always described as a kind and welcoming pony, someone who, like Pinkie Pie could be friends with anyone.

The others wore similar looks as Lacy did, only Twilight gave him a sad face. The man knew immediately, that the unicorn had an idea, why did Applejack act as she did.

"Later..." she said quietly, Lacy barely could hear her.

A few hours passed, while Pinkie made the appleloosians build a stage and invited the buffalo tribe as well. Ponies and buffalos stood next to each other, waiting for something.

There was a piano there, and Spike was the pianist. Lacy even asked Twilight if he could play. The mare answered that he learned a few things when she was too deep in studying and didn't need his help. The dragon needed to find some entertainment, besides cooking and comics.

Soon the show started. As the curtains were pulled aside, a giant seashell was revealed, and inside it was Pinkie Pie in a dress strange dress. And then the music began and she started singing.

It was horrible. Lacy's first thought, that this performance itself is a reason for war. Her singing was really fake, and when she started to dance the can-can, that was too much for the man and turned away with his hand on his head. The meaning of the lyrics was something, that Lacy could agree with, but in this serving...

Luckily the song wasn't a long one but judging by the audience's silence which was interrupted by Spike's clapping and praising, they didn't like it either.

"I think we should've gone with Lacy's idea, that can only be better than this," Rainbow whispered to her friends.

"It appears, that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to an agreement." Chief Tunderhooves announced.

"We have." the Sheriff confirmed.

Lacy couldn't believe what he heard. Maybe they could concentrate only on the lyrics instead of the whole thing? Maybe Pinkie's idea was good after all? Everyone looked hopeful for a moment.

"That was the worst performance we've ever seen," Tunderhooves said, Silverstar agreed. "The time for action is upon us. Our stampede will start at high noon tomorrow. And if the orchard is still there, we'll flatten it... and the whole town!"

"An' we Appleloosans say you'd better bring yer best, 'cause we'll be ready and waitin'." the sheriff answered. Little Strongheart and Braeburn both tried to calm them down but it was futile.

Everyone gasped. This meant war. No one wanted this to happen. And while the ponies and the buffalo just stared at their leaders in surprise, Lacy got a feeling inside of him.

Twilight told him, that Equestria and its neighbors were in peace for hundreds of years. There weren't any inner or outer conflicts. That was something, the man could hardly believe, and after telling Twilight about how much humanity loves war, she could understand. Lacy himself luckily was born in an age and country, that was in peace for some time, and hasn't been part of war yet but the history classes and his grandfathers' stories, and even some video games, movies, and books taught him, that war is something, that must be avoided at any cost. Especially in a place that lived in peace and prosperity for so long.

His first thought was to get Twilight to send a letter to the princess, but she probably wouldn't make it in time. Also, this feeling inside his body told him to step on and stop them himself.

"Enough!" he yelled and looked at the two leaders who stopped glaring at each other and their eyes were on him. "Both of you are idiots!" another wave of gasping went through the land. "You just have to find a compromise, but that would require you to tell each other what your fucking problem is!"

"How dare you speak to me like this?" the Sheriff questioned the man.

"I treated you as a guest of my tribe and you insult me?" Tunderhooves' angry look, made Lacy step backward.

Without another word, the buffalos left.

"That wasn't the message of my song at all." Pinkie said.

"With a horrible show, like that, it's no surprise, what happened..." Lacy murmured.

"That's just rude, at least she tried to make things better, not insulting others." Applejack came to Pinkie's defense. "I told you, that I don't wanna hear your idea, that included, not wanting to try it."

"That wasn't what I had in mind!" Lacy replied, getting angry again. "I just didn't want to hear that pointless fighting! Because they acted like children! No... Worse! Because my four-year-old half-sister could act more mature sometimes, than those woodheads!" his voice raised again. "And instead of antagonizing me, you could start explaining to me, what the fuck is your problem! Because you obviously don't like me is one thing, but you didn't even give me a fucking reason, that's for sure!" with that, he left.

Lacy wasn't sure, where to head since he didn't have the chance earlier to explore the town. Eventually, he found himself out of town, around there, where he stood when he with Rainbow, Pinkie, and Spike reunited with the others. He just sat on a rock, looking forward. He thought about how a bad idea it was to come along with the others. Of course, everyone is smarter in hindsight.

"Pinkie told me, you haven't eaten much at the buffalos," Twilight's voice made him jump a little, he was so deep in thought, that he didn't hear her approach. A big slice of apple pie was floating beside her, surrounded by her magical aura.

"Thanks," he grabbed the food, and started eating, after all, the unicorn was right, he hadn't eaten much since yesterday morning, only a few apples, even after getting to Appleloosa, because of the tension there, he forgot to eat properly.

"It's my fault," she simply said, which earned a confused look from the man. "I told my friends a few things about your world, and Applejack got the conclusion, that you'll cause trouble."

"What kind of trouble? What did you tell them?"

"Just some things, like you, are more advanced technologically, some basic social things, and that you are more violent, and there's a lot of conflicts there. I guess, she's thinking, that you'll ruin the peace and harmony here," she explained.

"That's just stupid! I mean, sure, humanity is kinda cruel and self-destruction, but mostly in groups, and I consider myself a peace-loving individual. Well at least in reality, in games, movies, books, I can enjoy a good battle scene, or whole warfare if it's well-made, but that's just imagination."

"I was trying to tell her that, but she could be really stubborn. By the way, what was your plan?" Twilight asked, changing the subject, and waited patiently, as Lacy quickly finished the pie.

"Something like Pinkie's idea just presented a much better. Simply they should just cut the land in half. One half is for the apple orchard, the other is for the buffalo." Lacy told her, what he made up with his common sense.

"There are some problems, though. If they remove half of the apple trees, there won't be enough to provide food for all the ponies. Besides, the rumbling from the stampede would make the apples fall, even the unripe ones. Hmm... however..." Twilight began rubbing her chin with her right forehoof, then suddenly her eyes widened. "I know, what to do!"

She shared her idea with Lacy, who mostly nodded, while she was explaining to him, what she came up with. A few minutes later Rainbow Dash showed up with Spike. They were planning to go and talk with Thunderhooves, trying to convince him to change his mind. Twilight asked Lacy to go with them, and persuade him to agree to another meeting, meanwhile, she stays here and tries the same with Silverstar. Thonderhooves was still angry at Lacy for insulting him, but he heard him out after Lacy apologized.

The next day, it was noon, when the whole buffalo tribe showed up. Chief Thunderhooves was open for another meeting after Lacy and Rainbow promised him, that there won't be any show this time. But he warned them, that this was their last chance, and they're ready to stampede if things won't go well. The same was with the appleloosians. The sheriff agreed to Twilight's plan, but they prepared for the worst too.

Four creatures were standing away from the others. Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar were facing each other, while Lacy and Twilight stood between them. The atmosphere was tense, the two leaders were just glaring at each other.

"Please! There is no need for this! We can talk, like friends!" Twilight tried to ease the mood but was unsuccessful.

"I will not be friends with the appleloosians as long as at least one tree remains on my tribe's stampeding grounds!" the buffalo chief stated.

"Alright, enough!" Lacy said before Silverstar could've responded. "First of all, I apologize again for yesterday's insult and if you start acting like adults, then I'll mean it," he got some stink eye from both of them, and even Twilight hit his leg. "Nevermind... The point is, that we are here because Twilight came up with a solution for this conflict."

"Actually the idea is from Lacy, and we worked on it, so it will be beneficial for both parties." Twilight, then stepped a little closer to them. "Make a path through the orchard, wide enough for three or four buffalo to run next to each other, so the buffalos can run their annual stampede, meanwhile the rest of the orchard stays. If the stampede could start a few days later, than it used to be, then it will be parallel with the main harvesting times, and the stampede shakes the ground so much, that it'd make the apples close to the path fell so it'll help during the harvest." Twilight explained, but Thunderhooves cut in.

"And what's in it for us?" he asked the important question. After all, so far it was mainly for the ponies' advantage.

"The ponies will provide you food," Lacy answered his question. The chief shot him a questioning look. "No offense, but what you call food is horrible and not just because I can't digest it, it doesn't need a biologist to tell, that that's bad for herbivores too. However, the apple pie for example, which I tasted here is really good and I think it's better for the organism than what you've been eaten."

"Let me be the judge of that." the chief didn't hide the skepticism in his voice.

Twilight went to get a pie for Thunderhooves, while the sheriff told Lacy and the chief, that he is agreeing to these terms. Yesterday Twilight could convince him to be open for the peace because even if they win at the end, the buffalos could easily destroy their town, and no one wanted to start again after they're finally finished it.

After tasting the apple pie, Chief Thunderhooves agreed to the peaceful coexistence too. Ponies and buffalos cheered together, as the Thunderhooves and Silverstar shook their hooves and announced the friendship between the tribe and the town.

A few days later Lacy and the ponies were on the train back to Ponyville, after the path was finished and both parties were satisfied. Twilight wrote her lesson to the princess and Spike sent it.

"So what do you think of this part of Equestria?" asked Twilight her human friend.

"Never was a big fan of the western genre but, I've had worse moments at vacations." Lacy's answer earned a confused look from the mare.

"Thank you for the help to solve this conflict and learn a new thing about friendship!" Twilight nuzzled the man's right arm, which felt a little weird for Lacy.

"Eh... Probably could've come up with the same idea from Pinkie's show your mind wouldn't have been occupied with the thought of how bad was it," this earned a 'HEY!' from the pink earth pony, but everyone laughed a bit after.

"Now we just have to solve your conflict with Applejack!" Twilight was determined, but Lacy just waved it off.

"No need, I don't really care about it. If she really has a problem with my species based on what I've told you and you told them, then that's her problem. I don't plan on staying here long, so it's not necessary." he explained. Applejack was listening to them, just like the others, but none of them commented on this.

"But I don't want my friends to be on bad terms!" Twilight raised her voice a little. "And it could be another great friendship lesson too!"

"Later maybe," Lacy said after a sigh, though mostly because he wanted this conversation to end, so he could rest a little. Ever since they left Ponyville, he was kidnapped, then part of solving a conflict and preventing a fight, then working on creating the path for the buffalo stampede. Fortunately Twilight saw that he was tired and with a smile, she let him rest. Her mind began to wander to another topic.

Preparing for Princess Celestia's coming in a few days.
> 12. A talk with the Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both the man and the unicorn were looking with widened eyes on the package before them. It came a few minutes ago and was quite heavy. Inside it was the promised games, a small chest filled with bits and some papers.

On the papers, there was every piece of information that was needed. How many Rubik's cube and Uno were sold every day since the first ones got to the shops. All the income, Lacy's cut, and the taxes that were cut down from the man's profit. In the chest, the amount of bits were equal to what was on the papers and Twilight confirmed that the taxes were correct.

"It's quite a number and it hasn't been a full month yet, only about a half of it," Twilight said.

"Well, now I kinda feel bad... I mean I did plagiarize these two things. Sure, I mentioned who was the creator of Rubik's cube, but I have no idea who invented the Uno card game... Not like, they'd learn about what I did here. When I get back, nobody will know where I was anyway, so in the end, it doesn't matter." Lacy spoke, though it was mostly to himself.

"What do you mean, nobody will know? Won't you tell them?" Twilight asked.

"Who would believe me? They would put me in the 'Grinning House' the moment I say, I was in a different world, not even getting a chance to talk about all the mythical creatures and magic."

"'Grinning House'?"

"Mental hospital. Madhouse. So yeah, that because they likely won't find drugs in my system."

"That's really sad to hear..." Twilight mood was really down on hearing this. There was no one, Lacy could share his experience with.

"Well yeah, but let's not focus on that. So how much do I owe you?" Lacy changed the subject.

"What?" Twilight asked, clearly confused, before realizing what the man meant. "You don't owe me anything! You were in need of help in a world alien to you and I offered my help and became your friend, so did the others! You don't need to pay for your friends' help! You don't need to give me bits for letting you stay here, Rarity won't accept your bits for making your clothes, neither will anypony else! Besides, I learned so many things from your world, and you helped us out in some situations as well. Think of the buffalos a few days ago, or when you defended Rainbow Dash from those pegasi!" Twilight explained.

"Doesn't matter," Lacy shrugged. "When I go back, you will get all the money, I did and would earn. You can share it with the others if you want, or keep every bit of bit." Lacy told her while laughing at his own bad joke. Twilight just rolled her eyes. "But I will pay for my food from now."

"Alright," Twilight accepted. "One more thing. We should celebrate this success somehow. I mean, these games must be quite popular if so many were sold already. How would you celebrate this in your world?" Twilight asked.

"Probably inviting my friends and drink some brandy, or whatever stronger alcohol I have. But that's not an option here, so how about I make some of my version of pancakes?  I did promise you to make it someday."

Twilight was happy to hear it, She followed the man to the kitchen, where he began to make the pancakes, which had the same ingredients and the method was basically the same, yet the finished food was a little different. It was thin, like paper but its diameter was almost twice as big as what she normally had. Another difference was in the way of eating it. Lacy didn't stack them on each other, well he technically did, but that wasn't the way to consume it. Grabbed one from the stack, placed it on a plate and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on it, then rolled it up, just like they do with a parchment. That was it. Lacy of course told her, that she can fill it with something else, like cocoa, peanut butter, or jam and there were many more possibilities.

"It's really good." the unicorn praised the man. "It's not as sweet, like what Spike makes, but that's not a problem."

"Thanks! Pancakes are the first baked food, I learned to make, I was around seven years old, when I made the first bunch, of course with the supervision of my parents." Lacy told her while smiling at the memory of those times, before his parents' divorce, and when his and his mother's relationship was much better.

Spike also found the pancakes good, though he stayed with the syrup as filling and put some small gems in it too, though he had to grab it carefully because his claws easily cut through the thin pancake.

The next day was special. Princess Celestia decided to come and have a little get-together with some ponies in Sugarcube Corner. Naturally, Twilight and her friends were invited, and of course Lacy was on the list too. They arrived earlier because Twilight wanted to make sure, that everything is perfect. Spike offered to help in the kitchen. Lacy decided to help the Cakes setting the tables, mostly to do something while waiting. 

As the time of the princess' arrival came closer more and more ponies came, who were lucky to get the opportunity to be present in this little party for Celestia.

Soon the princess herself arrived. When they heard the chariot landing, everyone who was inside the building came out to welcome Princess Celestia. As she walked from her carriage, her two pegasi guards detached themselves.

"My little ponies!" the princess welcomed her subjects as they all bowed. "It's such a great joy for me to see, that you all could attend this brunch! I couldn't wait for this day, for this town is such a peaceful and beautiful place, that I really want to come more often." she then turned to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who were standing beside the purple mare. "Twilight Sparkle! My most faithful student! I missed you!" the student and teacher nuzzled each other, then Celestia greeted Twilight's friends.

Finally, her eyes were set on the human, standing a little further. She smiled and walked to the man.

"Lazlo Kis!" she said his name, the man bowed his head. "I'm so glad to see you again!" she then leaned closer and gave a light kiss on both of his cheeks. Lacy reciprocated the gesture out of reflex. It was a common welcoming thing for him after all but admittedly, it felt strange by doing this with a pony.

"You know, we don't have to greet each other like this, if you don't want, Princess," he said, but instantly gave himself a mental slap.

"Oh, but I'm completely fine with it." Celestia's smile widened. "It is a little more intimate welcoming gesture than what we do, and I quite like it. Of course, if you are uncomfortable with me doing it, then only say so, and then our greetings will be different." she then leaned closer to Lacy again and began whispering. "Though I'd prefer these welcome kisses if possible, the ponies' reactions are funny and even my loyal and stoic guards lose their composure. That's a rare thing to see."

Lacy shot a glance towards the ponies and the princess was right. Except for Twilight and her friends, most ponies looked shocked at them, and the two pegasi guards had their mouths open with wide eyes.

"Not many people could say, they got kissed by a princess and probably I'm the only one, who could put the word 'pony' into that sentence." both man and the pony chuckled.

"Good. Now let's get inside, I can't wait to taste all those good food and drinks, that await us here." She stepped inside the building, the others following her, while her two guards stood at the entrance of Sugarcube Corner.

On the tables, many kinds of food were placed. At the tables, ponies were enjoying the feast, there were also a few groups, standing somewhere in the open area, talking with each other. At the main table, there sat Princess Celestia, smiling as always and looking around, while eating a cupcake. Lacy was sitting at a table close to the exit, trying to control himself not to stuff his face with the tasty sweets. It was a losing battle from the start.

"These guards are good." the man heard Rainbow Dash's voice beside her. The blue pegasus just sat down next to him and grabbed a slice of apple pie. "No matter, what I do, their face doesn't change," she spoke with her mouth full, which irritated Lacy but he didn't show it.

"Well, they looked quite surprised when the princess and I exchanged some welcome kisses," said Lacy.

"Horseapples! And I didn't see it!" Rainbow pouted but her expression quickly turned into a smirk. "You know, if the princess and you are so close, maybe you should kiss her on the lips and I get to see some reaction from the guards."

Of course that'd got some reaction! If I'd put her on the table and put my dick into her, that'd got some reaction too.

"Maybe you should try to kiss the guards, that'd surprise them too," Lacy told her this, instead of what he was thinking. Rainbow laughed and punched his shoulder, then flew off.

The man then spotted Fluttershy, who was sitting at the main table. He didn't remember seeing her earlier, so he guessed, that she just arrived. The princess was talking to her, then she levitated a birdcage onto the table. Inside of it was something. A bird, but it was in very bad shape. Some pink feathers fell as the animal moved its body. It was probably Celestia's pet but must've been sick or maybe just really old and at the end of its life.

A guard came in and said something to the princess. Then the princess announced that the mayor requested an audience with her and she has to go but she was glad for this brunch. She stood up and began walking towards the exit with her wings extended, her head high, in some kind of 'royal pose'. The guard was walking behind her, trying to look as important as he could in the shadow of his ruler. As she walked, the ponies bowed their heads a little. Lacy stood up, just like everypony else.

"Lazlo!" the princess stopped when she was next to the man. "Would you join me? I don't think the audience would take long and I would like to talk with you afterward."

"Um... sure, Princess," Lacy said a little hesitantly.

"So..." the princess decided to start a little conversation with the man. They were currently walking towards the town hall, with the two guards flanking them. Ponies on the streets bowed when they spotted Celestia. "How do you like Equestria so far?" she asked.

"It's truly a beautiful place land. I can feel the magic in the atmosphere. It's still hard to believe that this is all real. The ponies are nice, the town is lovely, the food is great, though it's kind of limited for an omnivore. It's a really great place for a vacation." Lacy praised her kingdom and he was honest about it. He really grew to like Ponyville. Yet his voice became lower as he spoke that last sentence.

"But it's not a vacation, no matter how hard do you try to pretend it is." the princess said. Lacy only nodded. "We will talk about it after the audience. I'll do my best to answer your questions as well," she promised to him as they walked into the town hall.

They didn't talk more after they were inside the building. The secretary bowed and told Celestia, that the mayor is in her office. When they all reached the door, which had a 'Mayor Mare' sign on it.

"Please wait here, it won't take long and then we will have some time together." the princess told the man, still having that smile on her face, she always wore. Lacy's eyes widened a little at her usage of words and tone. She was messing with him, as she did earlier. He was sure of it. He nodded, then Celestia went inside the office, closing the door behind her, the two guards standing at the door as they did at Sugarcube Corner.

There wasn't anything to sit on so Lacy just sat on the ground, his back leaning against the wall, waiting. The guards were looking forward, standing still. Lacy didn't bother talking to them, they wouldn't react anyway. Instead, he began to do something stupid.

He began thinking.

Thinking about what she would tell him. Did she found a way to send him home? What if they cannot send him home immediately, but have to wait years for it? What if it'd change his appearance? What if it'd change his mind? What if it'd kill him? What if time works differently and in his world decades passed? What if more and no one is alive, he knew anymore? What if he wouldn't even end up in his own world but a really similar one? So many scenarios.

A shake runs through his body and that made him look up. He didn't even realize, he's been curled up. He met with the princess's worried expression.

"Lazlo! Are you okay? What happened?" she asked in a motherly tone.

"I'm alright," he said after shaking his head a little. "Just my mind gone wild a little."

She probably got the idea, what was going on, or just didn't want to press further. She motioned him to follow her.

Soon they were in a small meeting room. Nothing special, just a small desk and some pillows on the floor. They both sat down facing each other. Celestia asked one of her guards to fetch some refreshment. Then the alicorn turned back to Lacy and began speaking.

"Before anything else, I would like to apologize for not informing you earlier about the status of the research about your situation. I hope that you understand, that I have many duties and responsibilities. However, right now, we got ourselves a few hours. I'll do my best to answer any of your questions, though I must ask a few things as well." she explained to him.

"Can you send me home?" Lacy got to the point immediately.

"Not yet. We are close to finding your world, and then we only need to create a portal. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it sounds. It would be easier if we knew the method, how you end up here. There is three possible explanation. Somepony from Equestria created a portal. That's the best option for finding a solution to this situation, but it's not likely the case. There aren't many creatures who can do something like this. The second is that somepony from your world created the portal, though I don't think it was their intention to send you here. Probably some kind of experiment went wrong. It is the most possible option. There is also a slight chance for the third option, that our two worlds were connected by a third party, which means the source is from a third world."

"I don't understand," Lacy told her. He wasn't exactly a scientist when it came to interdimensional traveling.

"Forgive me. We have some time, but unfortunately not enough to properly explain why is it important. The point is, that we cannot send you home yet, but soon we will have an answer if it's possible." Lacy's eyes widened a little at her last word. "You heard it right. I cannot guarantee, that we can send you home and I don't want to keep this information a secret."

"What are the chances?"

"Until we found your world, I cannot give you even an estimated number on that. Don't lose hope, however! I will do everything in my power to get you home!"

The princess' determined exclamation surprised the man. He was never fond of politicians, and never trusted them. With the powers the princess had, he should be downright terrified. Yet he wasn't. Of course, he still thought, that there was some kind of ulterior motive behind her seemingly selfless willingness to help him out.

A knock on the door interrupted them, then one of the guards opened the door.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Your Majesty but your pet is gone missing. She somehow got out of her cage." He told Celestia who just smiled. Lacy, however, was thinking about the bird. He didn't know what species it was.

"She can be so mischievous sometimes..." the princess muttered to herself. "Search for her. She never goes too far. Tell this, my student, too, and ask around, some of my little ponies must have seen her. Thank you!" she told her orders to the guard pony, who saluted, then left, closing the door behind him.

"Do you have a pet?" Celestia asked, turning her head back to Lacy, who just shook his head in response. "And do you have phoenixes in your world?"

"Your pet is a phoenix?" Lacy was surprised by hearing this, yet somehow it made sense. In a world full of mythological creatures, why not have them as pets too? "No, only in fiction," he answered her question.

"They're quite a sight usually, but Philomena is close to her end now. She will probably burn today. I brought her with me because I like to see her reborn." she told him. "Does your world's fictional phoenixes are similar? Fiery colors, at the end of their lifecycle they burn to ashes then reborn from it?"

"There are more versions, depends on many things, but basically yes."

"I see. It's quite interesting, that your world created fictional species, which are real here, yet we don't have anything resembling humans. I went several different worlds a long time ago, yet never seen anything like you."

Lacy just shrugged. He didn't really know what to say. It wasn't something, he had a lot of knowledge of. There was still a thought in the back of his mind, saying that he's still on Earth but in a coma, or go completely crazy. It was a reasonable thought for anyone, in this situation. What could he talk about with a magical pony princess?

"Let's get to the main topic, I wanted to have this conversation with you." Celestia's voice cut into his train of thoughts. "I was thinking, that if we manage to open a portal to your world, I can keep that portal open and get in contact with humanity."

Lacy forgot to breathe for a second. Was this that ulterior motive he imagined behind the princess' genuine willingness to help? What would she gain from it? Did Twilights reports have something in them, that got her attention? Does she want something from his world?

"Why?" he simply asked.

"The two worlds have many differences and I believe that because of that, we could learn a lot from each other." Lacy laughed at this, which earned a questioning look from the pony princess. "What is so funny about it?"

"I'm sorry, just find it hard to believe that humanity would learn anything useful from you." The princess looked offended after hearing his answer, so Lacy dropped the joke and his expression turned more serious while looking at the table, to avoid eye contact with Celestia. "I mean, humans would probably put researchers on how to weaponize magic. Plus there would be those, who would kidnap your ponies and sell them as exotic pets, or something. Idiots, who think, if they can cut off a unicorn's horn, that would be some kind of magic wand or something. Let's not forget about how terrified will they be, when they learn, that you can control the Sun. And the politicians, who would do anything to get you on their side, of course by controlling you."

The princess was horrified by his words. She could hardly believe, though she already suspected, that cooperation could be difficult because, through Twilight's reports, she could get some ideas about humanity, but she also had to consider, that it was only one person's viewpoint and that never gives you the full picture. Before she could react to what Lacy told her, the man began talking again.

"Some would say, that I don't have the right to say so many bad things about my kind when most of the people I know personally are decent folk, but that doesn't mean, I cannot see what's happening everywhere. So many idiots, I just tend to avoid them, whenever is possible. But then again I am smarter than most people."

"The things you said are disturbing, I admit." Celestia finally could talk. "And I admit, the knowledge you have seems a lot and I believe I understand why would you say such things about your kind, but don't think, that because of the difference in general mentality, Equestria is perfect." the princess let out a small laugh. "The nobles could be quite annoying, with their arrogant attitude, except a few, but they do their duties, and that's what really matters. Unfortunately, sometimes my little ponies can do horrible things, though not as drastic as what I've learned some humans could, I admit. I try to guide them with my best abilities, but I had to learn, not to control them, because that will always backfire. Oh, and how are you so sure, that you're smarter than most humans?"

"Because I'm lucky." this wasn't the answer Celestia was expecting, so she waited for a longer version. "My family put actual effort in raising me. Not just telling me what to do, and what not to, but explained them. After my parents' divorce, my mother put more effort into teaching me everything to get by on my own for a few hours, also to help her around the house, or go shopping, when needed. I was pretty independent by the age of nine, she could even trust me to leave me alone for a day sometimes. Back then our bond was strong. Of course, dad taught me many things too, but I didn't spend as much time with him. Then there were my grandparents. On my mother's side, they taught me how to defend myself, not only physically. And also to be responsible and the value of money and other things. And on my father's side, they used to be teachers, so I learned to learn, and also the will of improving myself too comes from them too. That's why I am smarter. Because I had a great family. Sadly, not many people can tell the same."

"Thank you for telling me this, it sounds like you have a wonderful family and that is one of the most important things in one's life," Celestia said after a few seconds. "Back to the topic, I still believe that our two worlds could cooperate. And if you wish, you would be the ambassador, and my advisor in everything, human-related."

"I'm sorry to say, but most of the countries in my world can't cooperate with each other, how do you expect them to work together on this? And only through one person? I'm just a random guy with as much political connection as a politician's son can have from a country of ten million people, when there are other countries where this number is the population of one city. The USA, European Union, Russia, China, Japan, et cetera... They all want to send their own ambassador and make other demands that you ignore the others, and would most likely abuse your kindness. And what about the other nations in this world? Would they accept it? If I accept your proposal of being your advisor, then my first advice is don't do it. I learned a lot about this world and it's different from mine, mostly for the good in my opinion, and humans tend to force their ideologies, mentalities, viewpoints into others to sway them and then use them for their own gain." seeing as Celestia's mask fell off and a there was some shock in her expression, he sighed. "Perhaps I'm paranoid, or just read too much fiction, or I just don't have enough faith in my kind, and ultimately it's your decision, and should you decide to make contact, then I will do anything to help you since you're doing the same for me."

The princess seemed to consider what she heard. Lacy was looking at her expectedly but after a minute he realized that it'd probably take some time, so his mind began to wander. He tried to imagine, what would humanity's reaction be, though, after some scenario with some faceless politicians, his thoughts ventured towards the faces he knew. His friends, colleagues, family members. What would his two little sisters say? The younger, Maya started the horse-obsession period of her life at the age of four. She would go crazy and would run around them, petting them, telling them random things on her mind, and trying to get on their backs. Nora, the older-but-still-little sister, who was seven currently, was a little different, but she would be fascinated too. His father would be probably surprised and would ask a lot of questions, though mostly about the things, that defy his common sense. The names, reactions, expressions, words were all playing through his head when Celestia's word brought him back.

"Thank you for this information, I will consider it further, however, there is still one thing, I would like to talk about." Lacy nodded and she continued. "When we first met, you told me, that you felt, your mind isn't completely your own. That you would have different thoughts or do things differently." Lacy nodded and was actually happy, that it was bought up, since he kind of ignored it recently. Maybe it was part of the change, he didn't know, but he didn't care about it, just sometimes, when his mind began to wander, mostly before sleeping. "I can only tell you a hypothesis, which is that this world's magic affecting your brain. Scientists will examine the situation, but they require samples from you. If you are fine with it, we can do it before my departure, I am sure my faithful student has the necessary equipment, but don't worry, nothing unusual, just a little blood and some fur or mane. Of course, if you do not want to provide some of them, I will understand, but it can give us the answer faster. It is also useful to find out more about how magic is affecting you."

This wasn't the information Lacy wanted. His face showed some disappointment, but what could he do? And how could they do it? He wasn't some genius in biology, or whatever field this belongs to, but he knew, that if they want to research about what Celestia has said, then they need a control group, which would be in this case the magicless samples, which is unavailable. He wanted to ask, but Celestia stood up.

"My apologies, but I have to return to Canterlot soon and I would like to find Philomena before that. I will try to make some free time to talk with you again later, I enjoyed our conversation, though some of the things I heard sounded disturbing. Would you walk with me?"

Lacy only nodded and stood up too. Feeling like being a gentleman, he opened the door for Celestia, who thanked him for the gesture and walked out, the man followed her.

"I saw the memory of your little sister." Celestia started a casual conversation. "She is adorable." Lacy smiled at this but didn't say anything just gave her a little nod. "Being an older sibling can be taxing but also a gift because we can feel pride when they look up for us. A friend since their birth for the both of us." her expression changed to a frown. "But it's a big responsibility, especially when the sibling is all you have. I believe Twilight told you about Nightmare Moon." she didn't even wait for Lacy to say yes, or nod, she felt that he knew. "It's a painful memory and lesson learned in one of the hardest ways for both Luna and me. And since her return, she still struggles to integrate herself into modern society. And yet for her things didn't change much. Most ponies still sleep through the nights or work. And I am ashamed to admit, but I am yet to come up with something to help her without forcing changes that are against Equestria's values."

Lacy could understand it. He didn't experience anything like this, but he always felt the need to protect his two little sisters, guide and help them the best he could. He also knew that feeling, when he wants to help somebody, but just can't. One of the worst feelings in the world, any world. That's why was there a need inside him to help her out.

"Well, you have the time for the long run... Just educate the kids about her. Make a lesson about redemption and forgiveness, or something. When the kids grow up, they will have a more positive image of her and give them to their kids. You can't do much about the night though unless she's the Dream Fairy, there aren't many things she could do." Lacy felt the need to mentally slap himself for this stupid sentence and also physically, but he put that on his mental 'do it later' list.

"Dream Fairy?"

"When I was a little kid, before sleeping, my parents told me, that the Dream Fairy will give me nice dreams, and clear away the nightmares. It's a silly thing, but we tell a lot of silly things to the kids, because to them these wonders are real and actually help them when they have these things to believe."

"Hmm... that could work," Celestia murmured to herself so quiet, that Lacy didn't understand, but before he could ask, they noticed that there was a commotion ahead of them.

"What is going on here?" Celestia changed to her commanding voice as walked past her guards, who bowed and backed away. Lacy stopped a few steps behind her. Twilight and her friends were all there with shocked expressions, then they bowed as well. "Twilight?"

The unicorn raised her head, still wearing a shocked expression. Fluttershy, who was lying on the ground, turned her head too, her eyes were watery and Lacy noticed a pile of ash near her. He guessed that that was the phoenix, he missed the burning part. He glanced at Celestia, who was looking at her subjects like they were kids, who broke something valuable.

"Yes, your Majesty, there's been a terrible accident." Twilight trotted a little closer, then Fluttershy jumped right beside her.

"It's all my fault."

"No, Princess." Twilight stood before her defensively. "Fluttershy didn't know any better. It was my fault."

For a few rounds, they took the blame upon themselves until Fluttershy finally began talking to the princess, explaining how she took Philomena to help her get healthy again and accepting the imprisonment in the place she will be banished, which sounded a little familiar to Lacy, he remembered hearing something like this from Twilight once. He guessed Twilight talked about this to her friends too.

Celestia stepped closer to the pile of ash and bowed her head near it. Then smiled.

"Oh, stop fooling around Philomena. You're scaring everypony."

It was beautiful. The moment the ash began to rise the ponies' and Lacy's eyes were locked on it. There was a mini-tornado, then something like a little explosion, or firework, that blinded everyone for a moment. Where the ash was, now a gorgeous bird with fiery feathers hoovered and began flying around. The phoenix was really something, that glued the eyes on herself, everyone was gaping at her.

"I don't understand!" Fluttershy was the first to talk. "What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?"

"This is Philomena." the princess answered. "She's quite the sight as I said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn't that right, Philomena?"

"A phoenix?"

"A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird. While it appears healthy and happy most of the time, every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame Rather melodramatic, if you ask me. It then rises from the ashes, fresh as a daisy. All just a normal part of the life cycle of a phoenix. I'm afraid mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy. Say you're sorry, young lady." The bird squawked a sorry to her.

"So... aren't you gonna banish me? Or throw me in a dungeon? Or banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to?" Fluttershy asked a quite silly question. Meanwhile, Philomena flew to Lacy to examine the creature that was new to her, though she reborn many times already. 

As she was hoovering before the man, looking for a place, where she can land as close to him as she can, Lacy stretched his right arm towards her. She immediately lands on it. Her claws hurt the human's skin. It wasn't covered in fur to protect it, it felt like many needles poking the limb.

Fuck this hurts. This is how Celestia wants to get my blood samples or what? Fucking falconers at least have that leather armband thingy or other shit where the bird stands.

Lacy hoped the bird will take off soon. The pain wasn't that strong, but it was really uncomfortable and he began feeling blood coming out. Luckily Philomena felt it too and let go of his arm, squawking a sorry to him too and nuzzling his face a little.

"No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember." now that the phoenix got away from him and went back to her owner, Lacy got the end of their conversation. Meanwhile, the royal guards brought Philomena's cage, and the bird gave a feather to Fluttershy as an apology, then another one landed in Lacy's hair too. He carefully grabbed it and looked at the big, red, perfect feather.

"Thank you." he thanked, and looked at the gift for a few more seconds, till he heard laughing.

Apparently, Philomena landed on the cage and tickled the guards' noses, and they lost their stoic expressions. Soon the others began laughing too.

"How come you didn't know about Philomena?" Lacy asked Twilight when they got back to the library. After the princess departed, but not before thanking Lacy for the good talk she had with him, they all went home. Not knowing a better place, the man put the phoenix feather into the nightstand's drawer.

"I never saw her." Twilight defended herself. "To be honest, I didn't care much too, I was too deep into my studies to notice anything else." she smiled sheepishly, then changed the subject. "What did you talk with the Princess?"

"Maybe I won't get home." Lacy's mood shifted to a sadder one. "She said, it's possible, that I'll be stuck here." he felt Twilight nuzzling his side. They both sat on his bed.

"If that will happen, you know that we will be there for you," Twilight reassured him.

"No offense, but I'd rather miss you forever, than my family," Lacy told her, but she didn't look hurt by it.

"I understand, but I'm pretty sure, Princess Celestia will find a way." after the man didn't react, she got an idea. "How about we go somewhere out to have dinner?" Still nothing, she sighed. "And if you want, we can skip tonight's interview."

Lacy didn't mind these sessions with Twilight, but now he didn't feel like talking about his world. He was a little angry at Celestia, despite appreciating her honesty, but now he knew he won't sleep much for the next few days and his mood won't be the best too. He felt a single tear rolling down on his cheek. He needed a distraction before his feelings took over him, and begin sobbing, his mind liking to play the worse scenarios over and over again. He stood up and went to the bag, that contained his bits and took some coins from it.

"It's on me this time."

Twilight smiled, but deep down she knew, that it wasn't completely her offers, that made him move. Nevertheless, she went to trotted after him, the moment they opened the door, Spike was about to come in, coming back from helping Rarity, pretty tired, but decided to join them, because hunger was stronger.
> 13. Story time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lacy was walking in towards Sweet Apple Acres. During his walk, he was thinking about how he enjoyed just being outside, taking a stroll in the town. He wondered whether it was because of the lack of internet and computers, or this 'not being completely himself' thing, or something else. Back in his world, he rarely went left his home other than going to work, or shopping. Of course, sometimes, he was out drinking with his friends and traveled a few times to see his family, but other than that, he just sat at his apartment before his computer. Even when he was younger and lived in his hometown, he preferred to stay at home. He always leaned closer to being an introvert, but not the drastic kind.

But it was different here. Since his job didn't require him to be somewhere for at least eight hours a day, he had a lot of free time. Of course, sometimes he had to do work, just differently. He helped Spike a lot to keep the library clean, since Twilight was always busy with her studies, sorting out the information she gathered from Lacy, and of course being the librarian, even if there weren't that many ponies coming to checking out books, and let's not forget about the times she spends with her friends. So yes, that left Spike to do much to do to keep the place in order and assist Twilight, he was glad for the help, and to have finally a guy friend, since there weren't many stallions in Ponyville.

Lacy once asked Twilight, why were so much more mares, than stallions. The reason was, that most males, didn't work in Ponyville. Many stallions were in the Royal Guard. Canterlot was relatively close and being a guard was a prestigious job, many stallions applied from Ponyville and a good portion of them were accepted, so they only came back on their leave. Another reason was also that since the inhabitants were mostly earth ponies, who mostly did hard, physical work, many stallions worked in construction, or mines, or other similar places, but these jobs required them to travel to those cities, or other towns, where the work was. Since mares usually preferred to work closer to their homes, more of them had jobs in Ponyville. Of course, there were stallions here, mostly fathers, or those, who planned to have foals. Lacy found it a little strange, but this was only another thing, that was different here. The overall gender ratio was close to equal, just little towns when someone walked down the main street every day, they'd find significantly more mares, than stallions, however in bigger cities it was the opposite, just many of those males were not permanently living there.

As he arrived at the entrance gate of the orchard, he looked around. The big house was not so far, only a few steps from it, there was a big barn pretty close. He also saw enclosed spaces with pigs and chickens. He wondered, why would a herbivore species keep pigs and chickens on a farm. The chicken was probably for kept for the eggs. Ponies eat eggs, and drank cow milk too, though cows were more sapient, being able to talk, but weren't considered full citizens. To Lacy, it was a complete anomaly. They behaved mostly like cows in his word, but were able to talk, and were more than just common farm animals, yet they actually preferred being treated like that. Plus he still couldn't come with anything considering the pigs. Maybe they sold them to the griffons, or other species, that eat meat? Or were they like those exotic pets for humans, that had no function, other than just to be there, like many reptiles and fishes?

Though there weren't many near him, he could see thousands of apple trees as far as his sight reaches in many directions. It was enormous and to think, that only that few ponies that lived here worked on this big territory made him respect the Apple family a little more, despite knowing, that Applejack apparently didn't like him, though he still didn't quite understand the reason behind it. Maybe today he will learn more. Though it wasn't the main reason, why he was here, because it was Granny Smith who invited him to lunch, after hearing about how he helped to make peace between the applelosians and the buffalos. However, when Twilight learned about this, she thought it would be a great opportunity for a new friendship lesson, she can report to the Princess.

He knocked on the door when he reached the house. A big, red stallion opened the door. Big Mac. Lacy never interacted with Applejack's brother but saw him a few times, the same could be said about Granny Smith too.

"Hey, Big Mac, right?" Lacy greeted him.

"Eeyup." he nodded. "Came to lunch?" He asked, Lacy, nodded in response. Big Mac let him in. He walked from the interior to the big living room, then in the dining room, where the others were already seated at the large table. Granny Smith, the old, green mare, Applejack, who didn't look very pleased to have him here, and Applebloom, who was smiling and waving at him.

"Good day! Am I late?" Lacy asked after the greetings as he was led to an empty chair, looking at the various foods that were already on the table.

"Nay, yer in time youngling," Granny told him. "When we expect a guest, we always prepare in time!"

"Thank you for the invitation!" Lacy said as he sat down. "I've heard that really good cooks live here." he smiled at the old lady. 

"Guest first." Granny pointed at the full soup pot.

Lacy observed the soup as he filled his bowl with it. It was simple vegetable soup, but a very tasty one. After all, bowls were empty, came the main course which was basically several foods with apples, everyone could take whatever they wanted. The man went with the tasting strategy, took a little bit from everything.

While eating the Apple family asked various things from the man, mostly Granny and Applebloom. The oldest family member was mostly interested in what did Lacy work in his world, but it was hard to explain to her that when most old people in his world didn't completely understand it, and here even the 'I create stuff like Facebook or Youtube'. She also asked about his family and the man told him about them a little, even mentioned, that she reminded him of his grandmother on the father's side.

Applebloom questioned him about how humans find their special talent since they don't have cutie marks or anything like that. Lacy's answer was that many people just try different stuff and if they find something they like to do then they will eventually improve themselves on that.

Big Mac was mostly quiet, and Applejack was surprisingly quiet as well. Lacy would've guessed, that she would talk more, or try to bring him into a situation that was uncomfortable for him, but she didn't. After the meal and some more talking, Lacy thanked their hospitality and left. Applejack was the one, who offered to escort him out. When they were out, and the farmer closed the door behind him, Lacy turned to her, waiting for her to start talking, because he knew she would. And that's what happened.

"I see through your acting!" she said out of blue, making Lacy raise his eyebrows. "You will bring trouble to us, I can feel it!"

"Acting?"

"You act as you were kind and helpful, but your memories tell me otherwise! Twilight showed me them, and told me many things about your world and species."

"My memories?" asked Lacy with a hint of anger in his voice. "Which one? The one, where I defend my friend against a bully? Or the one, where I offered him a free ride to the party? It's not that cheap to maintain a car. Or that moment with my little sister?"

"Attacking someone, even if he's acting like a bully isn't right! And I saw the rude and aggressive moments of that 'party', like when you hit your friend for accidentally drinking from your glass! And don't think, I didn't put together the fact, when in that memory, your friend mentioned, that you lied to your mother and then Twilight telling me, what you told her about how your mother bought the apartment where you live and much other stuff. You lied to her to get what you want!" she pointed her right foreleg at the man, wearing an angry expression.

"So you judge me because of a few words and a past you created from them? Congratulations!" he clapped his hands slowly a few times.

"But I am right, am I? You don't deny it?"

"Doesn't matter what I say, because you already decided what will you believe in." he had enough of this and turned his back to the orange mare and began walking away. "Thanks for the meal again, it was really good," he said, as he left and despite this short talk, he was genuinely happy for the invitation.

As he walked into the more living part of the town, around the center, he saw many ponies walking around, talking, sitting on a bench, or doing anything else, they wanted. Such a friendly and peaceful place and Lacy really liked this atmosphere. Not even the little town, he came from was this lovely. And yet besides the happiness, there were darker thoughts. Princess Celestia's words, about the possibility, that he won't get home were echoing in his head. He even missed the big city life, despite his unfondness towards it.

He decided to spend some time in the park, where he met little Amber and played with her some. This time her father brought the foal there to enjoy this wonderful day.

A few hours later he was on his way back to the library when he ran into Twilight.

"Hey, Lacy! I was wondering where you were. I was just on my way to have lunch somewhere and find you, but here you are." she greeted the man.

"Twilight, it's around four o'clock, it's closer to dinner now than lunch..." he deadpanned, while the mare just sheepishly laughter and blushed a little. "Let me guess... 'I may have gotten too deep in my studies.'" he said, trying to imitate her voice. Twilight's expression changed into an unamused one, but she didn't deny anything.

"Wanna join to my afternoon snack then?" she finally asked. The man nodded and followed her to the restaurant, where they usually went to eat out.

A little later, they were sitting at the table, waiting for their order, when they noticed three fillies approaching them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. As they came closer,  Lacy started to hear what they were talking about.

"Come on Scootaloo, that is Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia there! Her Cutie Mark story must be awesome too!" Sweetie Belle was talking mostly to the little pegasus, who seemed a little disappointed for some reason. She just rolled her eyes, when they arrived at the table.

"Hiya Twilight, Hiya Lacy!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle greeted them, while the third crusader just murmured a 'hello', then looked at Twilight with a bored expression. "Would you tell us, how you got your cutie mark?" the little unicorn asked.

"Sure, girls! As a young filly in Canterlot, I've always wanted to go to the Summer Sun Celebration, where Princess Celestia raises the sun. And I saw the most amazing, most wonderful thing I've ever seen. There were a big festival, many ponies around, and then, I heard the trumpet, signaling, that it's time. That was the first time I saw her. Princess Celestia walking forward, smiling at the crowd. Then her horn lit up and with a few flaps she rose higher and higher and the sun rose with her. That was such a beautiful view, that she created with magic, that I wanted to know more. I poured myself into learning everything I could about magic. I've spent most of the days in my room, reading whatever book I've found about magic and try any spell I could, to improve myself. My parents decided to enroll me in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was a dream come true! Except for one thing... I had to pass an entrance exam! I passed most of it with almost no mistake, but there was one last task. I had to hatch a dragon egg. Four teachers were watching me, while I try to attempt the seemingly impossible task. My parents were there too, silently cheering for me. I knew it was the most important day of my life, that my entire future would be affected by the outcome of this day and I was about to blow it! But I couldn't do it. I was so disappointed in myself, that I failed at the final step. But then a big explosion shooked the earth and I felt my magic go wild. It was like, my true magical capability unleashed itself. I've managed to hatch the egg, but that wasn't the only thing I did, as I lost control. I've started to levitate the teachers and turned my parents into plants and even turned the hatchling into a gigantic one. But then I felt somepony's touching me and I saw the princess looking at me. I finally regained control and managed to turn back my parents and the dragon into normal, and letting go of the other ponies as well. I was so ashamed, that Princess Celestia saw me like this, but she surprised me, saying that I am the most powerful unicorn she ever saw. Then she offered me the chance to be her personal protégé at the school. I couldn't believe it. Of course, I've accepted, but then she pointed out one more thing. My cutie mark appeared. That was the best day of my life. I've got my cutie mark, I've become the student of the princess, and let's not forget that that was the day, Spike has been hatched."

Twilight finished with a proud smile. Meanwhile, she was telling the story, the waiter brought their food and they finished it without noticing, being too engrossed in Twilight's storytelling. Applebloom and Sweetie were thanking Twilight for the story, while Scootaloo was pushing them towards the cart, that was attached to her scooter while telling them to move, so they could find finally Rainbow Dash.

After they left, Twilight told remembered, that she wanted to find Lazlo for bringing him to Sugarcube Corner, because there was something she wanted to talk about with him and the girls, and she organized a meeting in the bakery.

When they arrived the others were there already save for Pinkie Pie, so they decided to wait for her. They were having a girly chatting party, in which Lacy excluded himself for obvious reason.

He was sitting at a table, enjoying a cupcake, he bought, barely listening to the others talking. He learned though, that they were all asked about how they got their cutie marks, except for Rainbow Dash, who's been their main target in the first place. When Lazlo was asked if he found it funny, he simply replied with a 'Yeah, a really cartoonish moment', which earned a few questioning looks. The girls had a few attempts to get him into their conversation, but he only said a few words, then going back to his snack. Finally, Pinkie arrived, but only a few seconds later, the trio of fillies came as well.

Scootaloo was really happy when she finally saw the mare, she's been looking for the whole afternoon.

"Rainbow Dash! You're here!" she yelled. Rainbow began walking towards her.

"I hear, you're looking for my cutie mark story."

"You have no idea what I've been through today to hear that story." she let out a relieved sigh.

"It all happened during the race at Flight Camp where I stood alone against all odds to defend Fluttershy's honor." she began. Lacy was a little surprised to hear this. He knew, that they knew each other before Twilight, and he even knew, that both pegasi came from Cloudsdale, but he didn't know, they were friends there. "As the race started, I've only concentrated one thing. To beat those two bullies. I've never flown like that before! That freedom was unlike anything I've ever felt! The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in my mane... I liked it... a lot! One of them missed a turn and run into a cloud, but the other one kept up with me. Then pushed me and gained the lead. But I couldn't let him win! I flew after him and began to catch up. Turns out the only thing I liked more than flying fast... was winning! I don't even know when did I fly past him. I saw nothing else, but the cloud ring, which was the closest to the ground. And when I reached it. BOOM! I did it! Most ponies thought that the sonic rainboom was just an old mare's tale. But that day... The day I discovered racing... I proved that the legends were true. I made the impossible happen! Only when other ponies pointed to my flank did I saw it. And that, little ones, is how you earn a cutie mark."

The crusaders were in total awe. The others however looked like they've come to a realization.

Fluttershy was the first to spoke up.

"Wait a second. I heard that explosion. And I saw the rainbow too. Rainbow Dash, if you hadn't scared the animals, I never would have learned I could communicate with them and gotten my cutie mark."

Then Pinkie Pie.

"I heard that boom! And right afterwards, there was this amazing rainbow that taught me to smile."

Applejack came next.

"When I got my cutie mark, I saw a rainbow that pointed me home. I bet it was your sonic rainboom!"

Rarity joined in too.

"There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my cutie mark."

And finally Twilight Sparke.

"This is uncanny! If that explosion didn't happen when it did, I would have blown my entrance exam. Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn my cutie mark too!"

All of them looked at each other surprised, Dash was totally blown away.

"Wait a minute!" Lacy spoke up, drawing their attention. "I saw it too! And the explosion! I remember it!"

"WHAT?!" the mares shouted in unison.

"But how?" Twilight turned into her panicky scientist mode. "But that would mean, that the sonic rainboom is capable of traveling through worlds. What if it does a different thing in other dimensions? What if it messes up the nature of other places? That would..." she was stopped by Lacy, who was chuckling.

"Calm down! I was just joking." then he began to rub his eyes, acting like wiping his tears. "I've just wanted to feel included..." giving a few fake sobs to improve his act.

It met with different reactions. Applejack and Rainbow just rolled their eyes, Rarity was looking unamused, Twilight was confused, Fluttershy was sad and Pinkie wore an understanding smile on her face.

"Aww... We are still best friends, even if you didn't saw or heard the rainboom." the pink pony told him. "But we all owe ours to you, Dash!" she turned back to Rainbow.

"Yes!" Fluttershy agreed. "Even though we had a special connection before we even met, that doesn't mean, our friendship with you is different." Then the shy pegasus grabbed the man's hand to pull him towards the others, to be part of the group hug, they were having.

Reluctantly, but Lacy joined the hug, but he was the first to let go and he met some worried look.

"Hey now! Don't let my tasteless joke ruin your happy moment." he smiled at them. He went back to his previous sitting place.

They talked about this for a few more minutes, the crusaders apparently grew bored of it and left.

"Ohh, I almost forgot." Twilight suddenly said. "The whole reason for coming here is because I need to tell you all an important thing." she waited for a few seconds to make sure everyone is paying attention. "It came to my knowledge, that there was some conflict between Applejack and Lazlo." she then looked at the both of them. "I want you to talk it out and we will be here to help you out."

"What's the point of this?" Lacy asked. "She thinks, that I'm trouble and will do something bad, or something like that, because of what I did many years ago, that she doesn't know much about, but came to a conclusion about the little information, she had."

"Now wait just a minute!" Applejack looked angry. "Maybe I don't know much about what happened, but if what I've told you earlier is true and you lied and deceived your mother then how can we be sure, that you're not doing the same thing with us? After all, if doing it with family members is okay for him, then what's stopping him to do it with others?"

"Umm... excuse me..." Fluttershy spoke in her signature timid voice but would have been ignored if not for Pinkie Pie, who was the only one hearing her speaking and pointed out, that Fluttershy wanted to tell something. "Why don't we let Lacy tell us what happened. Maybe he had a good reason doing, what he did." she then looked at the man. "If it's okay with you..."

"It's not a secret or something I never told to anyone." Lazlo shrugged. "The whole thing started in my last year of high school. Normally people become eighteen years old that year, which is the age, they considered adults in my country. If we pass the final exams, then we get a... um... well there is no accurate translation in English for it, so let's just go with 'Certificate that the person passed those exams and finished high school', it contains the results basically. Anyway, it's not that important. What's important is, that afterward can people apply to universities, because to get in one, you need to earn points, which are calculated from those results, your grades in the relevant classes and other things, such as language exams. I thought I already told you about it Twilight..." he noticed the purple mare writing down all this. "And I also told you, that it probably differs from most of the countries of my world, so don't take it as general information. Let me also tell you, that I had a strong bond with my mother in my younger years, and it didn't go totally down during my puberty. But things started to change as I matured and she started her political career. She believed, that I have to get a 'prestigious job' which was basically a doctor, lawyer, politician, or something else, that had a reputation even in history. And while there was some, that kind of interested me, none of these was what I wanted to do as a full-time job. I was always interested in the IT segment, umm right, that is basically non-existent here... um... the point is, that I wanted to do something else than she was forcing me to. I won't go into details, but we were arguing for months. I told her, that I don't want to study anything, she offered me to choose from and she told me, that she will only help me financially if I do as she says. At that time I couldn't rely on my father's help, because he couldn't afford to help me out, nor my grandparents, who didn't wanted strengthen the conflict and I couldn't stand a chance alone. So with the help of my friends, we came up with an idea. I applied to a university for the faculty of law. I was sure, that I will get in, with the points I had, and my mother bought an apartment, where I could live. At that time I told her, that I'll do it, but she has to leave me be and not pester about it, to which she agreed as long as I get good grades and don't fail in any subject. When it was time, I got in, but I put myself into a passive semester, which is basically a 'skip a semester' option. You can have two. Meanwhile, I applied and got into a programming course, which was around one year in length. To cut things short, I completed the course as fast as I could, meanwhile only visiting home, when there was some celebration or special event, and spending some edited pictures to mom about my 'progress'. She really did let me be, mostly because she needed to focus on climbing the ladder of her own career. When I finally finished programming school, I managed to get a job really quickly, and that's when the chaos started. I knew, that I couldn't keep the lie up for much longer, it was actually pretty hard to even when most things were in my favor. So after I've been working for a few weeks, I finally told her. And she was furious. We yelled at each other for hours on the phone. She even threatened me to sell the house, so I won't have a place to live, and I couldn't afford to rent another home back then, when I also had to pay for the programming school, so I threatened her back, that I would share this story on several media, and it would probably give a slap to her big political career. And basically, this status quo is still standing. That's why I only meet her a few times a year and rarely talk with her. It always ends in big arguments and shouting at each other. Of course, my other relatives weren't happy with me either, but they forgave me in time and even tried to help me to make amends with my mother, but every attempt was unsuccessful. And that is basically it."

"So let me get this straight." Applejack was the first to spoke up after Lacy finished with his story. "You lied to your mother because she was dictating your life?"

"Well... basically yes," Lacy answered. "Look! I know, that what I did was wrong, but at that time it was the only option, that I thought would work. And it wasn't good for me either. I was in constant fear, that she will discover my little scheming. I've become paranoid every time she called me. I don't want to go into details, because that's something I don't want to relive again."

"I guess, I can understand your point." the farm mare admitted. "But I still think, that you're trouble."

"Then let's hope, that the princess will find a way to get me home soon."

"But the sooner you go home, the more party you will miss!" Pinkie butted in. "Anyway, don't worry, I won't think any less of you because of this. You are still my friend and friends should accept each other, no matter what they did."

"I agree with Pinkie Pie." Rarity joined. "While what you did wasn't fit for a gentlecolt, you only did it to fulfill your dreams. I won't hold it against you."

"Umm I hope you don't mind me saying, but that was a really bad thing, you both did, but you've been really kind with us so far, so I forgive you," Fluttershy spoke her opinion.

"Yeah, I get you. I have some issues with my parents too, but nothing like this. You're still the coolest human I know." Rainbow said.

Lacy felt happy at hearing this. He came to view these ponies as friends and actually cared about their opinions, so it was relieving, that they didn't think differently of him after this. While the others were talking with Lacy a little bit more, the man noticed, that Twilight and Applejack were having a conversation as well. Then AJ turned to Lazlo.

"Twilight told me, that I shouldn't judge you for what you did in a different world, and I have to agree with her. How about we start anew? I'm Applejack! Welcome to Ponyville, the friendliest place in Equestria! You are welcome to come to my family's farm at any time!" she offered her hoof.

Lacy smiled and, grabbed her hoof, and shook it.

"I'm Lazlo Kis. A pleasure to meet you!"

Later in the library, Twilight finished her friendship report for the princess and Spike was also there, waiting for her to finish it, so he can send it. After it was done, the only thing left for today is their knowledge exchange session, though it was cut short, when Lacy came up with something.

"Hey, Twilight! You know it just came to me, that there are many worlds out there, or dimensions, or realities, or whatever you want to call it right?" he asked.

"Well, yes. And?"

"And it is possible, that time works differently in some. Like one day here is months in another or just mere seconds," he said.

"Well, it was never really studied in-depth, because traveling through worlds is really rare, and while it can be a fascinating study material, the scientists believe, that we should explore everything in our world, before going into others. But it should be possible that time runs differently." Twilight answered.

"Okay. And what if time runs in the other direction?" Lacy asked. However, judging by Twilight's confused expression, he had to explain it more thoroughly. "Well for example, when I ended up in Equestria, it was the first day of the new year on Earth. But what if, when I get back, it's actually last year's summer?"

"I don't think that's possible. That would imply, that our timeline moves backward, but that's clearly not the case."

"What I mean is, what if this world's timeline direction is moving forward, but it's the opposite direction of my world's timeline, which is also forward."

"I think I get it, but I still think, that's impossible. I wouldn't worry about that."

"I hope you are right... because in my point of view. There aren't really anything that's impossible anymore."
> 14. What everyone is afraid of
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was already halfway down and stars began to make themselves visible, as those, who lived in the library were preparing for departure. This night was special. A meteor shower is going to happen soon, and they wanted to reach the hill, near Ponyville, where they're going to watch it in time, so they can also prepare for a little nighttime picnic.

A little dragon was running around the building, grabbing all the things, they wanted to take with them and placing it on a cart. Another one, a levander colored pony was running through her checklist, to make sure not to forget anything. As she was listing the things, she wanted to bring with her, the little assistant packed them onto the cart, making a small pile.

There was a third one too. He was the only human in this world and he was currently looking out of a window, deep in thoughts. From time to time, he just suddenly had the feeling of really missing something from his world. Sometimes his family, well he constantly missed them, but these were stronger than normal, other times, some modern technology, like the internet, or even his job as a software developer, and there were times, when his favorite book, movie, or video games occupied his mind. He mostly read fantasy, and some sci-fi, there were a few from other types as well, but that was negligible. Of course, there were some books with these tags here too, but most of them were written for every age, so no profanity, the fight scenes descriptions were minimal, and almost no mention of intimacy. And of course the happiest endings. There were a few bittersweet, but that was mostly in the 'mature' section, which was usually a little darker, and had some description about wounds, like mentioning bleeding and stuff, also it mentioned more than hugs and pecks.

He was thinking about this currently as well. Beside him, there was the second Daring Do book, which he finished earlier. Since he had a lot of free time and there was no internet, he read. Twilight recommended him to read the series, since she's a big fan of it, though Lacy already learned, that the studious mare would say it about every book. It wasn't a bad story, it had great action scenes, but such the dialogs were so simple and the characters so one dimensional, that he would've said, that if he would've guessed, that Rainbow Dash is the author, but he knew, that the only thing that mare read were the weather schedules, and the letters she got.

"Come on Lacy, we got to go!" Twilight's voice made him turn away from the window and looked at the pony, who was waiting for him, and Spike at the door. He got up and walked over to her. A few seconds later Spike came as well.

"I didn't find the book at its place, Twilight," he told her.

"Really? But then..." she glanced over at the clock on the wall and suddenly changed the subject. "Nevermind, we have to go if we want to arrive in time."

Soon they were walking up to the hill, where ponies already waited for tonight's event, the meteor shower. Twilight still wondered about that book, she wanted to bring with herself, but Spike just suggested, that maybe somepony borrowed it, which was possible, especially if there were other ponies here, who were interested in astronomy.

They all met up at the top of the hill, Spike quickly set up everything, that was needed for a nighttime picnic.

"Wow, Twilight! You're lucky to have such a rad assistant. I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them." Rainbow Dash said as she finished eating an apple.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! Me! I'll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo, who happened to be behind her jumped enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, pipsqueak? How about taking out the trash?" Of course Rainbow took the opportunity.

"Yes ma'am!" she obligated, then took the remaining of the apple and run off, just as Rarity arrived.

"Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread? Isn't he simply amazing?" she praised the little dragon, who, of course, loved being showered in compliments.

"Oh, come on." after a few seconds of silence, he tried to push it a little. "I said come on."

He got a few more mainly from Pinkie and Rarity gave him a bow tie with many little gems on it.

But then the meteor shower started. Lacy was about to lie down on the ground and enjoy the show in the sky, but he felt something hitting his leg. Looking down, he noticed the little filly, Amber. Her parents decided to bring her too, after all, it wasn't that late. He noticed the parents, who were standing close, smiling at them. Amber raised her forehooves, signaling the man to pick her up. He bent down, grabbed her, then put her on his head, while still holding her sides, to keep her there. It looked like, that was what she wanted because, after some squirming, she lied still and watched the meteors. Lacy noticed that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were on their sister's back and Scootaloo managed to get on Rainbow's back as well. He smiled, at that, but deep down it just filled his heart with fear and pain, that he might never see his sisters again.

The show was spectacular and magical. After placing the now sleeping Amber on her mother's back and saying 'Good Night!' to them, he joined back to the girls and Spike who were drinking punch and eating the snacks they brought.

"Say, Lacy, are the events like these in your world?" the question surprisingly didn't come from Twilight, but Rarity.

"Well... I'm not completely sure. I would say, that probably yes. I know, that usually in august, which is the last month of summer, there are the most shooting stars. I remember, that some days, when I was little, I went out with my family to someplace, where the night sky was completely visible and beautiful and just watched it, hoping to see some shooting stars." he told her. "They're not as easy to notice, like here though, and doesn't last that long. I'm sure we missed a great many."

Soon the last few cookies were devoured by Pinkie.

"Wow! These cookies are delish!" she exclaimed.

"Spike made them." Twilight informed her. "Speaking of, Spike, can you bring us some punch? Spike?" she called him but got no answer.

The little dragon however was already asleep. Rarity and Twilight walked up to him.

"Oh, poor little thing." Rarity said.

"Aww... He's worked himself to the bone." Twilight observed.

" And now the punch has been spiked!" Pinkie said, and everyone laughed at that. Lacy wondered if this has the same meaning as on Earth, but didn't really care about it.

Since Spike was sleeping it became his job to gather the things and pull back them on the cart, which was another backbreaking job for him, since the carts lever wasn't long enough for him to hold it while standing straight, so a little bent down and complaining about his aching back, but he arrived at the library with Twilight, who was carrying her sleeping assistant. She put him into his sleeping basket, while Lacy quickly packed everything from the cart to their place. Then he too went to sleep, while Twilight decided to stay awake to write and study about comets and such.

Morning came too fast for Lacy. Well, technically he just woke up earlier, than usual.

I had such a strange dream... What was it about? Shit! I already forgot! But it was so strange though, I have a feeling about that... Ahh, fuck it! Not the first time and I can't do anything about it.

These thoughts ran through his head as he took care of his morning routine in the bathroom. Then he headed down the stairs. Twilight was probably awake by now, she usually wakes up at sunrise, which Lacy did find a little funny considering who was her teacher. Though knowing her, she might stay awake the whole night, wouldn't be the first time.

As he made the last step on the stairs, something suddenly caught him off guard.

"Hoo." came a voice out of nowhere, startling the man. Then he noticed an owl standing on the edge of a sloping desk.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted in panic.

"What happened?" Twilight came running from down. Apparently, she was still upstairs. Of course, she got the idea immediately. "Ohh, sorry Lacy. This is Owlowiscious. He is my second assistant."

"What? But... how? What happened?"

Twilight explained to him what happened last night, that the wind took her paper and this owl brought it back, then she offered him to stay here with her. After that, only a name was needed, and voila, a new pet/secondary assistant.

After Lazlo mentioned a few things about owls and library cliche, he just kind of accepted this. It was Twilight's home and he was just a guest, or rather a roommate since he'd been staying here quite some weeks now.

"What's his name again?" he asked.

"Owlowiscious."

"Owlicicus... Owlecius... Owli... Ahh fucking hell, I can't pronounce it... Couldn't you choose something easier name?" Lacy complained.

"I don't understand, it's not that hard."

"I told you before, that English isn't my native language, a few years ago, I couldn't pronounce correctly the word 'available'," he explained. "Can I just call him Owly?"

"Hoo." the owl answered him before the mare could say anything.

"I think he won't mind." Twilight smiled.

The morning went on with Lacy reading a book about equestrian history, while Twilight was doing her own thing. The morning went on and Spike was still sleeping. Twilight suggested letting him sleep, he works so hard, that he deserves it.

It was late morning already when they heard Spike waking up and panicking for sleeping in. Twilight was just getting ready to go out, at the same time, she tried to calm down the little dragon, and also told him about the new junior assistant.

Lacy heard him talking with him, he was upstairs at that time, still with the book in his hands. He paused his reading when he heard Spike talking with the owl. The dragon then left the library. 

"Looks like, I'm gonna have to make lunch..." he murmured to himself and got up to prepare the meal. 

After lunch, the girls came over since Twilight told them about her new pet when she was out.

"Oh, what a fantastical, flufflicious feathery little friend! I'm hooked!" Pinkie exclaimed and everyone laughed at the little joke.

"Well, he almost hooked my heart out of its place this morning," Lacy commented, which too earned a few giggles.

"He's just wonderful," Fluttershy said, which wasn't a surprise since it was probably her general opinion about animals.

"He's just wonderful," Spike, who was sitting in the window with a book in his claws said in a mocking tone. He probably didn't mean to say it so loud, because upon noticing the confused stares, everyone gave him, he quickly changed his tone. "Uh, yes. Wonderful. He's quite... the charmer."

"And Owlowiscious is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you." Rarity gave the owl an identical bow with gems, Spike received from her yesterday. Spike was further angered upon noticing this, he went back inside, slamming the window close. Now everyone was sure, that there was some problem with him.

"What's he all saddle sore about?" Applejack asked.

"He's probably just jealous of Owlowiscious." Rainbow pointed at the bird.

"Maybe Spike feels threatened or worried that Owlowiscious will replace him?" Fluttershy spoke. 

"Replace him? Hah! That's crazy! Spike knows he can't be replaced." Twilight dismissed their worries.

"Well, he didn't act like jealous, when I arrived..." Lacy mentioned. "I'm gonna ask him later when he cooled down a little. He seemed pretty angry."

After the others went home, Twilight and Lacy went back into the library, with Owlowiscios on the mare's back. Spike was making his way downstairs, murmuring angrily.

Twilight went to a desk, which had an open book on it, but looked around, searching for something else.

“Hey, Spike! Can you fetch me that book called Two-headed Myth—” she started, but the young dragon cut into her word.

“...Mythological Mysteries! I know where it is.” he ran to a ladder, which even had a few books packed on the top of it, to reach even higher. Lacy, however, saw, that by the time he was halfway up, the owl already got the book and fly back to Twilight.

“Thanks, Owlowiscious. Hey, Spike, no worries. Owlowiscious flew up and got the book for me. Oh, and gee! I guess I need Ferrets of Fairyland too.” Twilight informed him, but again the bird was already on it. Turned out, that book was one in the rack on top of the ladder and by taking it out, the others, with the dragon on top of them fell on the ground. Lacy tried to catch him, but was too far away and reacted too slowly. Poor fella landed on the hard books.

He angrily stormed back to the bedroom.

“He should be more careful,” Twilight commented.

“I think this one was Owlys fault, as he took a book he was standing on.” Lacy gave his insight.

“I’m sure it was an accident,” Twilight said and looked at Owlowiscious.

“Hoo.” the newest resident defended himself.

“See. He didn’t mean it.” Twilight confirmed, though Lacy just raised his eyebrows.

He decided that it was time to speak with Spike. He went up and knocked on Twilight’s bedroom door. Then knocked again, when he the dragon didn’t say anything. Then a third time too, but ran out of patience and slowly opened the door. Spike was sitting in his sleeping basket, reading a comic book. He looked up angrily, but when he noticed the human, his expression turned back to a more neutral one.

“Oh, Lacy. It’s just you,” he said, then put down the comic book. “What do you need?” he asked, though he knew, what the human wanted.

“I think we need to talk,” Lacy said, which earned a sigh from the dragon. “You clearly have some issue with our new resident,” he observed.

“You noticed huh? Can’t you see? He’s here to take MY job. I am the number one assistant! I’m supposed to help Twilight out whatever she needs! But ever since that owl appeared last night, he did everything I was supposed to! Soon Twilight will realize, that I’m not needed anymore and she will send me off. I have to prevent this! I need to prove that I am the better assistant and I deserve to be number one! But it seems, that bird did everything better today than me.” he told him.

“Come on, Spike! She won’t send you away. Besides, you weren’t like this, when I offered to help her and you out. What’s the difference?” he asked.

“Well, you won’t stay here forever. I mean, eventually, you will go back to where you came from, but that’s not the case with the owl.” Spike pointed out, which Lacy found clever thinking. The little dragon was smart.

“Right, that’s true, but... hmm...” Lacy was thinking hard to think something to say. “What about your magical fire? You send her letters to the princess with those. I doubt Owly could copy it,” he told him, hoping he won’t come up with anything to counter it.

“It’s Twilight, we’re talking about. I’m sure, she could come up with something.” Spike shared his pessimistic opinion.

“Don’t be like that! She cares about you!” he tried some cliche lines to raise his mood. He groaned in his head. He wasn’t really good with this stuff.

“Shoot!” came Twilight’s voice from her study, which was one floor below the bedroom level. Lacy turned towards the door for a moment, but when he turned back to the dragon, he noticed, that he disappeared, probably run down to see, what’s the issue.

By the time, Lacy arrived down, Twilight was out on the balcony shouting to Spike, who ran out. After seeing, that it’s pointless, Twilight went back.

“So?” she asked the human the moment, she noticed him.

“He’s jealous,” Lacy stated. He wanted to tell her more, but the owl interrupted them when he gave one of his own feathers to Twilight to write with. She must’ve asked him, then noticed Spike leaving and tried to stop him.

“Thank you, Owlowiscious!” she thanked him, then returned to her work, completely forgetting about what Lacy wanted to tell her. The man just sighed and went to grab a book and lie down on a sofa.

Half an hour later they heard Spike arriving back, running up to the study.

“Spike to the rescue!” he yelled, presenting a small feather while panting heavily.

“Oh, Spike. I was calling out for you, that you didn’t have to run anywhere because Owlowiscious was so kind and offered me one of his feathers to write with,” she informed him, which only fueled more Spike's anger.

The little dragon started to climb up the stairs, but stopped after a few steps and sit down on it.

“That’s just great! Perfect! Then I guess, I’m gonna do my other chores, or did Owlowiscious already finished with them too?” he tried to sound angry, but was failing at it when he let out a big yawn.

“Oh, don’t worry Spike, there are still quite some left. Oh, and Lacy!” she turned to the man, who already put down the book and was listening to their conversation, ever since Spike returned. “Could you make dinner tonight? Thanks!” not waiting for an answer, she returned her attention to whatever she was working on, only to hear snoring sounds. Apparently, Spike tired himself out too much in his unnecessary quill hunting, that he fell asleep on the stairs.

“Poor thing,” Twilight commented as she watched the snoring dragon. “It’s so good, that you are here to help out Owlowiscious.” the mare turned to the owl. “He will come around. He’s a good little guy.”

Lazlo meanwhile started to set the table. He wasn’t in the mood to work much for dinner, so he thought, that a cold meal will do, so he put some bread, vegetable, and fruit on the table and the plates. After he finished, he went back to tell the others, that they can come to eat.

“Oh, you found the Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy!” he heard Twilight saying. “I totally forgot to check this book. Thanks, Owlowiscious!” Lacy remembered, that there was a book, Twilight wanted to bring along to the meteor shower, but Spike said that it was not in its place. “What the...?” just as Twilight came into the man’s view, he noticed, that the book was open and floating by Twilight’s magic, but its inside was burned to ashes. It didn’t need much time for him to guess what happened to the book and the same applied to Twilight as she was furiously making her way to the snoring dragon.

Dropping the book in front of him jerked him awake.

“Spike. What is this? You said this book was missing. Well, Owlowiscious found it right where it belongs, but like this. How did it get this way?” she asked him while looking angry.

“Uh... Well, um... You see, I... I just didn't wanna disappoint you and, uh... Have you ever seen a dragon sneeze?” Spike shuttered, trying to answer in a way, that won’t make her angrier.

“I've seen a dragon lie. I'm very disappointed in you, Spike,” she said as she trotted to the kitchen.

Lacy was still standing there, debating with himself whether to butt in this conflict they seem to have, or not. The situation seemed somewhat familiar with what he has done with his family, only on a much smaller scale. However it was also something, that doesn’t really concern him. Ever since he got here, he tried to be more of an observer and be as passive as he could. Of course, it wasn’t always possible and also sometimes he just couldn’t stop himself, just like not so long ago, when he tried to speak with the dragon but was interrupted, though then it didn’t seem as severe as it did become. There were several reasons for this, for example, he still lacked a lot of knowledge, that was considered common here, the weeks he spent here simply aren’t enough to learn what the ponies learned over years. Another thing was the different mentality, which was common here, something, that he was happy to experience but still alien. And of course, with it came the most obvious part, that it wasn’t his world. He shouldn’t even be here, so while sharing information was something, he was okay with, mostly due to he depended on them to get him home, he didn’t want to meddle with their personal lives more than necessary.

In the end, he decided to try not to get involved in their personal conflict.

Dinner went quietly, then every continued on with their things. Spike went to bed immediately, Twilight continued reading, Owlowiscious was beside her, in case she needed something, Lacy cleaned up the kitchen.

The next day was pretty normal, until the afternoon. Twilight, Lacy with Owlowiscious went to Fluttershy, she invited everyone and their pets to a tea party. Spike was invited too, but he didn’t want to come. At first Lacy declined too, but Twilight convinced him, that Fluttershy would be very sad if he’d say no to her invitation.

It turned out, his presence was mostly unnecessary. Fluttershy thanked him for coming, though a little more timidly than she did to the others, but it didn’t bother the man. For the most part of this get-together, the girls talked with each other about what they did recently and talked about girl things, almost completely ignoring their male companion. A few times they tried to bring him into their conversation, mostly Pinkie, but he couldn’t add much to it, mostly some dry joke and comments about female stereotypes, which earned a few angry glares and some male stereotypes, but he just laughed at them and confirmed, that most of them were actually true for many males. So in the end, he mostly played with Winona, because he loves dogs, and kinda avoided Opal, because he dislikes cats. The other animals weren’t that playful towards him. Angel didn’t like him for some reason, Gummy was cute, but even without teeth, his jaw is strong and Owly was mostly resting, given his nocturnal nature, he had to sleep in the daytime.

“So I was invited to be a distraction for the pets, so they won’t bother you?” he asked Twilight as they were on their way home.

“No!” Twilight said immediately. “It’s just... I thought you could talk more with my friends, but it didn’t work out.”

“And what made you think, bringing me to some girls hangout will be a good opportunity for that? Besides, I sometimes hang out with the others, well except Applejack, but that doesn’t matter. And I go to that chess club too.”

“That is true, but I just want you to be there with me when I meet with my friends. I learn so much about friendship from them and you too.” the mare told him, as they reached the entrance of the library.

Opening the door a rather interesting sight welcomed them. In the middle of the library, there was a toy mouse that has seen better days, some reds stains on and around it. Spike was also there, wearing a black cape and hat walking backward towards their direction while pulling and dropping feathers from a pillow and laughing like some cliche villain. The man and the mare both watched him with raised eyebrows, the little dragon seemingly not noticed that they've entered the building.

Well, that was the case until he walking into Twilight. Turning to them, Lacy noticed, that he even wore a fake mustache. His eyes went wide for a moment, but quickly trow away his get-up and started acting horrified.

“That poor little field mouse! Torn to pieces! It must have been Owlowiscious! You know, since owls eat, you know, mice. What a terrible, terrible bird! He must be punished! Right?” he spoke, but his attempt was futile, after all, he was caught in the act.

“Spike! I don't know what upsets me more. That you deliberately tried to set up Owlowiscious, or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work!” Twilight said, her voice was filled with disappointment but there was a hint of sadness as well.

“Owly was with us at Fluttershy’s tea party the whole time...” Lazlo told Spike, motioning towards the owl, who was sitting on Twilight’s back. The dragon let out an ‘Oh’ and looked at the man sheepishly.

“You've let your jealousy get the best of you, Spike. I am truly disappointed. This is not the Spike I know and love.” Twilight said, before walking towards the stairs and disappeared as she walked to the upper levels.

“She... She doesn't love me anymore.” Lacy, who stayed at the library part of the building heard the little dragon speaking to himself quietly. “Maybe it’s best if I leave. She doesn’t want me here anymore...”

Lazlo thought about what to do. It seemed like it was some kind of family issue, after all, Spike was hatched by Twilight, but they were more like siblings than mother and son if he wanted to use a term for family. And if this was a family problem he shouldn’t really intervene. And yet there was that feeling to go to the little dragon and talk with him, help him to understand, what he does is wrong, and the whole thing is just a misunderstanding. He finally decided what to do, when he noticed, that Spike was walking towards the door with a small package on the end of a stick.

He stopped him before he reached the entrance door, putting a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back a little.

“Come on, Spike! Don’t be like this. Let’s talk about it, okay?” he told him, but the dragon seemed lost and probably felt, that it’ll be a pointless conversation, but he thought, that Lazlo didn’t hate him, so he nodded and they both sat down on the sofa. “Tell me what happened.” Even if he knew what was this all about, he wanted to hear his side.

“I accidentally burned that book, when I sneezed while it was in my claws, but I didn’t mean to.  And then there is this owl, who just came from nowhere and wants to take my job and Twilight lets him and he even sets me up and now Twilight doesn’t love me anymore,” he told Lacy as his eyes became watery.

Lazlo rubbed his head with his right hand a little, trying to work out a good way to help him and to understand completely what’s happening here.

I’m not the best in these situations, given that I rarely successes in solving a family conflict, even as small as my half-sisters’ arguing over a toy. But Spike’s quite smart and more mature, so this conversation has a higher success rate than my previous ones.

“Alright. Let’s slice this conflict into two parts. The accident with the book and Owly. Let’s start with the book. Simple question, why didn’t you tell Twilight about this?”

“I didn’t want her to know, that her number one assistant made a horrible mistake and destroyed a book. She treasures every one of them in this library, or her personal collection, or actually any other,  so if she would’ve learned that I destroyed one, then she would’ve been very mad and disappointed in me.” Spike explained.

“Well, you couldn’t have to hide it forever, she would’ve noticed it eventually.” Lacy reasoned. “But that’s not the point. My grandfather taught me, that you must take responsibility for your actions and decisions because that is one of the key factors of determining that person’s value. If you do something, even by accident, you must accept the consequences and take responsibility. If you would’ve told Twilight, I’m sure, she would’ve understood. Probably would’ve been a little mad about it, but she would’ve forgiven you.” he spoke.

“How can you be so sure? You only know her for what? A few weeks? Plus you are from a different world, with so much now knowledge, that she wouldn’t mind if you destroy this whole place as long as you teach her new stuff.”

“So ever since you’ve been her assistant, you never damaged a book before? Or anything else, she valued?” Lazlo continued reasoning. “Plus if I did the math, then probably she did too.” that earned a confused look from the dragon. “Firebreathing dragon plus paper and wood equals burning sometimes. Do you think she would let you live here if she doesn’t trust and loves you? Do you think she would send you away for an accident, that was basically granted to happen eventually?”

Spike had to admit, that Lazlo had a point in this case. He nodded signing, that he understands his point. Now it was time to move to the other issue.

“Alright. So, the other thing is Owly. I can’t say for sure, why did she want to keep him, she just told me, that she offered him to stay here and he accepted and helps her out when she studies.” Lazlo told him, what Spike probably already knew.

“He’s after my job! To be Twilights number one assistant!” Spike said confidently.

“But why?” Lacy asked, Spike only reacted with a ‘huh?’ “The first rule of accusation is adding a reason why would someone do the thing they’re accused of.”

“Maybe he didn’t at first, but liked here and wanted to stay, and what better way be there than to be the Number One Assistant?” Spike reasoned.

“Be a creature from a different world, I think Twilight wouldn’t want to let me leave until she knows everything about me and my kind, maybe not even after it.” Lazlo joked a little, both of them chuckled. “But seriously, I admit, that your reasoning does make some sense. But do you really think, that Twilight would send you away, or give your job to anyone else?”

“Never!” a female voice was heard before Spike could’ve answered. They saw Twilight standing on the lowest step on the stairs. “I would never send you away Spike!” She trotted to them and quickly hugged the little dragon. “Why did you think, I’d replace you for burning a book?”

“But you were so angry, and said you don’t love me anymore,” Spike said sadly.

“I was angry, because you lied to me about it, and I didn’t say, I don’t love you anymore, I said, you didn’t act like the Spike I know and love.” she smiled. “But I have to apologize as well. I didn’t pay attention to your feelings and was insensitive. I should’ve paid more attention to you.”

“I’m sorry too, Twilight. I just didn’t want to disappoint you. And I know that you always want everything to be perfect.” Spike told her.

“We all make mistakes, Spike,” Twilight said. “Even I. The important thing is, that we learn from them. Not just from our mistakes, but from others too. I think both of us learned something today. How about you write this week’s report to the Princess? Oh, and I think, you have to talk with Owlowiscious as well. I asked and he’s okay with being the secondary assistant.”

Spike smiled and gave one more hug to Twilight before running upstairs to write the letter. The mare turned to the human and sat down beside him, putting one of her forehoofs on his shoulder.

“Thank you! I wanted to talk with him and came back down, but heard, that you were already in a conversation, so I decided to listen.” She silently observed him for a moment. He was still staring at his feet, just like this whole time, while Twilight and Spike spoke to each other. “You spoke from experience.” she didn’t ask this. She knew it was true.

“We are all afraid, that we are not needed to anyone anymore.” He looked her in the eyes. “When I accepted the offer from the company I’m working for, I knew that it was time to let my family know of this. I knew that they will be angry for lying to them for over a year, but there wasn’t anything else I could do. They were angry at me, really angry. My mother still is, but with the others, I made up. But at that time... none of them wanted to see me for a while. I was depressed for a while. I tried to concentrate on my workplace, but since the first three months were trial period, which means, that either I or the company can break up the contract and don’t even have to give a reason. So there was some paranoia too. After all, if they fire me, there is no guarantee, that I will find another job fast enough, so I won’t earn money. There won’t be any family member, who I can turn to, because at that time, I thought, that they won’t want to see or hear me ever again. My friends helped a lot actually, reminding me, that they’re still with me, but that was only after two or three weeks. Of course, in time, most of my relatives forgave me, and things returned back to normal, well almost. While the situation was different, but the feeling, Spike was having was the same. And I didn’t want him to experience it, especially at such a young age.” He finished his tale.

He felt something soft touching his cheek, which was actually Twilight nuzzling him.

“I’m glad that things got better for you,” she said then gave him a playful smile. “And just so you know, I don’t want you to stay, because of the knowledge you share with me, but because you are my friend, and I don’t want to say goodbye forever to you,” she told him, by the end wearing a sad smile. “But I won’t make you stay here if they find a way to send you home.”

“I’ve become quite fond of Equestria and its inhabitants,” Lacy admitted then put his arm around Twilight, pulling her a little closer. “And it will be hard to say goodbye for me too.”
> 15. Double surprise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was a pretty boring day for Lazlo so far. Twilight informed him, that Pinkie’s birthday is soon and she planned a surprise party for her, with the girls. Of course, keeping a surprise secret from the energetic pink earth pony is one of the most challenging tasks, any of them ever had. Since Pinkie apparently can just come randomly at any time of the day and night, and her lack of respect for privacy makes it really hard to keep anything from her for long. Luckily she has a job too and she rarely takes a break from it, so that gives the others time to plan and prepare.

This was such a moment and they used it to get gifts for the mare. Like many times before, Twilight came up with a great idea, which required some memory viewing.

Ever since Princess Celestia told Lazlo, that he might be stuck here, he grew more and more reluctant to share his memories. When Twilight asked for a reason, the man told her, that he agreed to it because he was grateful for her hospitality and also for helping the work of those, who searched for his homeworld, but he was never a big fan of sharing his own moments with others, like this and only agreed again and again, because it didn’t matter much, after all, why would it matter later to give such information to those, who you won’t meet again ever and can’t even get in contact with anyone you know either. It was safe back then, but now... Lazlo cursed himself a little, for not thinking, that even if they can send him home, they might try to keep the portal open and establish an interdimensional relationship.

Twilight’s great idea for a gift was a collection of recipes for some sweets from his world, preferable, those, that do not exist here, or at least a little different. Lazlo had to admit, that it was the perfect gift idea for a pony like Pinkie Pie. Technically baking didn’t count as a hobby for Pinkie because of her job, but she still loved it very much.

But there was a slight issue. A time-consuming one.

“This language is so strange,” Twilight commented, as she and Lacy watched the man’s memory of typing recipes from a notebook to a Word document on his computer. This wasn’t a memory which was important to Lacy, it only contained, him typing what’s on the papers before him, sometimes looking up it on the internet, if part of it isn’t readable, since some of the notebooks and papers were old, even around his age, also the handwriting was horrible of this person, who was actually Lazlo’s friend, Victor’s grandmother. This memory was actually about Lazlo helping his friend creating a recipe book for Victor’s grandma, for her seventy-fifth birthday, using her old, written recipes.

Lacy remembered this quite well since it happened a few months before his arrival in Equestria. Victor even created a cover image for it, and after they filled many virtual pages, he edited and send it to a printer and bookbinder company.

The issue itself was the language barrier. While the talking could be heard in English, if the person, whose mind was the spell used on, knew the language. Basically, the mind translated it on the spot, but it didn’t work with written things, or usually with songs or poems. And of course, the word jokes, or certain references were lost in translation as well, making it sometimes confusing to listen to it.

“Well it is a language that is really different from English, so it’s not a big surprise,” Lazlo said, who regretted a little this whole thing, since he had to translate everything first, before writing it down, making the whole process way too slow, partly because sometimes it wasn’t even the product that was written as an ingredient, but a brand, because that was what they usually used, or the most known, or just it was the best for that purpose. Another issue was, that despite Lazlo liked to think, that his English is pretty good, there were groups and topics, in which his dictionary just lacked, a good example of this was ingredients for sweets, desserts, and such. When this happened, he had to explain to Twilight what it was and she had to guess it and both of them hoping that it was the right thing.

They’ve been working on this recipe collection for hours, and both of them started to get tired, not to mention the hunger, which was the result of having lunch way too early, thanks to Twilight being inpatient. Finally, after finishing several pages, Twilight deemed the present finished and worthy for her friend. It contained several sweets, cakes, salty treats. Great snacks for parties and tasty cakes for birthdays.

“I think I’ll make a copy of it,” Twilight told him, as they were eating dinner, which both of them really needed based on their growling stomachs. “The first book from a different world is a cookbook. Who would’ve thought...” she chuckled. Lazlo only rolled his eye, but a grin was present on his face too.

“So does this mean, that the next few session will be only about Equestria?” Lacy asked. “After all, this whole thing took at least three sessions worth of time,” he added.

“No!” she immediately answered. “There are so much more topics, I want to discuss with you! We only covered part of the economic, technological, cultural, political, environmental, and biological differences and similarities! We barely touched other scientifical topics, such as physics, chemistry, or more advanced mathematics. Not to mention detailed history and literature! And there are so much more we can talk about!” she reasoned, but her voice had some panic in it.

“Relax!” he calmed her. “I was just joking.” he laughed.

“Really?” she asked a little unsure.

“It’s not like, it’d matter... If I was joking, then nothing changed and tomorrow it will be still mostly about my world. If I was serious, then you’d give me puppy dog eyes, which is cute and effective and I’m still not fully resistant but slowly getting there, so don’t overuse it... Or do, so then it won’t work.” he told her, and Twilight sighed in relief, blushed a little, then bombarded him with ‘Thank you!’s.

After their evening routine, soon they were in their beds, sleeping peacefully. It was a rare occasion, since both of them were usually awake at this time, after all, it was only ten in the evening, but the spell and the translation did drain them enough to go to bed early.

What a strange dream again... Wish I could remember it... Fucking hell, my head...

Lazlo rubbed his head as he sat up on his bed the next morning. This was the second time, he woke up, having a weird feeling inside his skull. It wasn’t pain but a really uncomfortable feeling. But there was nothing he could do about it, only hoping that it will go away and won’t happen again. Maybe asking Twilight if this becomes a recurring thing.

He went to make breakfast. Spike was so kind to teach him how to make their kind of pancakes, so this was on today’s morning menu. As he was making the food, Twilight was heard heading down to the library. As he finished and placed the pancakes on the plates, he was about to go down too to inform Twilight, but a knock was heard. Twilight opened it.

“Hi Pinkie Pie.” she greeted her friend.

”This is your singing telegram
I hope it finds you well
You’re invited to a party
‘Cause we think you’re really swell”

Lazlo stopped on the stairs as he heard Pinkie start singing.

“What the...?” he mounted as he listened her.

”Gummy’s turning one year old
So help us celebrate
The cake will be delicious
The festivities first-rate

There will be games and dancing
Bob for apples, cut a rug
And when the party’s over
We’ll gather ‘round for a group hug

No need to bring a gift
Being there will be enough
Birthdays mean having fun with friends
Not getting lots of stuff

It won’t be the same without you
So we hope that you say yes
So, please, oh please R.S.V.P.
And come, and be our guest!”

She finally finished her song. Lazlo just stood there, not even noticing, that he reached the bottom of the staircase, meanwhile Pinkie was giving this long, verbal invitation. It seemed, that it wasn’t her usual way to invite others to party, because Twilight was just as surprised and confused, as the man.

Pinkie then noticed Lacy standing there and went to him to start the song again, only to be stopped by the human.

“I heard the whole thing, no need to repeat it,” he told her.

“Okie!” she simply said. “We’ll be waiting for you! I gotta go invite the others! See ya!” she then ran off.

“Breakfast is ready.” Lazlo casually said, Twilight smiled and both went to eat. Spike was also there, already sitting at the table, getting ready to devour that stack of pancake on his plate, but was kind enough to wait for them to join him.

“How the hell, did Pinkie get an alligator by the way?” Lazlo asked Twilight, as they started to eat.

“I asked her once, and she told me, that she found him, as he was climbing out of his egg. The egg was probably taken from its nest by the creek, but that makes no sense because that water comes from Canterlot and goes through Whitetail Woods only, before reaching Ponyville, but there aren’t any alligators there. The only theory that is possible, though the chance is really low, is that the egg somehow ended up in that creek from the Canterlot Zoo, but there weren’t any reports about missing alligator eggs from them, maybe an error, but I don’t know for sure, I mean if that was the case, that’s still a big fall for a little egg, but still the only possible explanation I can come up with.” Twilight explained.

“Eh... Stange.” Lacy commented. “Anyway, when is the party?”

“Later this afternoon,” Twilight told him. “Usually, when she doesn’t say a specific date, that means, come this afternoon.” Lazlo nodded at her answer.

This day slowly went on, with a few ponies coming to the library to check out or bring back books. Twilight and Lazlo had time to finalize Pinkie’s birthday gift. Twilight got her a book about alligators, which will help her take better care of Gummy.

The sun was close to the horizon when they left the library to go to Sugarcube Corner to the party. Sugarcube Corner was still open, but not for long, at least for the customers.

“Hello, dears!” Mrs. Cake greeted them as they entered. The shop was empty, which was rare even at this time, but given, that Pinkie wasn’t there to help out this time, the Cakes were probably glad for some peace, it’s not like they’re lacking customers. “Some of your friends already arrived. Go up and have fun!” she told them, then went to the kitchen, probably to prepare for tomorrow. Her husband was nowhere to be seen, but it was usually he, who went out to do whatever they need to do somewhere else.

They went upstairs and walked on the second floor until they arrived at a pink door, with Pinkie’s Cutie Mark on it. This led to another staircase, which led to the dome. This was Pinkie’s living space. The dome had two levels. The first one is just one big space, where the party was. It functioned as a living room. This was where the party took place. From here another staircase lead to the second level, which consisted of an upper floor with three doors. One to Pinkie’s bedroom, one to a bathroom, and a third to a balcony.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were already there, enjoying the snacks. Music was playing in the background, not too loud so it won’t bother the Cakes, or those, who wished to talk to each other. There were two tables, one for the food, which was mostly snacks and a cake, the other had a few punch bowls and glasses. Other party stuff was placed basically everywhere.

”It looks like some kind of kid’s cliche birthday party from some American movie...” Lazlo thought as he looked around.

He noticed several photos hanging on the wall, all of them had Pinkie on them. There were some with the girls, and also one that included Lacy as well, it was made at his welcome party. There were also some with the Cakes. There were a few, that were probably from other parties. And then there was one picture, which Lacy guessed, was a family photo, because Pinkie was a filly on it.

“Welcome! I’m so glad, that you made it!” Pinkie greeted them. “Gummy too!” she grabbed him from the ground and lifted him close to the newcomers’ faces. The alligator slowly blinked. “Whoa! He’s so excited! It is his first birthday after all!” she exclaimed.

“I can see that,” Lazlo said, a little unsure. “Happy birthday!” he petted the little animal, which in exchange grabbed on his hand with its mouth. Lazlo yelled in panic and tried to shake the alligator off, but soon he noticed, that it didn’t hurt at all. He completely forgot that the alligator had no teeth so his hand will stay on his arm.

Soon the others arrived as well and the party was in full volume. Lazlo was talking with Rarity at the punch table.

“This stuff ain’t bad. I’ve never drunk punch on Earth,” he told the white mare.

“How come, darling?” Rarity asked, a little surprised.

“There are different drinks at the parties, I’ve been. Mostly alcoholic ones for the adults, but there are many non-alcoholic, sugary drinks for everyone, but no fruit punch though. There are many other places, where it’s custom, just not where I’m from.”

“I see,” she said and drank what was left in her glass, but Pinkie immediately came and refilled it for her. “This punch is simply divine. Is this the same recipe you used for your ‘Spring Has Sprung’ party?” she asked after praised the drink and took another gulp.

“Nope, something new,” she answered, then turned towards the punchbowl, the others following her gaze.

Gummy got into the bowl, having a ‘bath’. Rarity’s eyes widened, then spit her drink, right onto Pinkie’s face, who seemed to not care about it at all. Lazlo had a similar reaction, but he only spits it back into his glass, then puts it back onto the table among the others, while Pinkie was talking with Rarity.

“It’s Gummy’s favorite,” she told her. Lazlo thought it was the perfect time to evacuate himself from the table’s radius.

New music started, which seemed to be a favorite of Pinkie’s because she immediately run towards the dancing area, where correctly Twilight and Fluttershy were having the blast. It didn’t last long, since Pinkie’s moves were so wild, it pushed them away. Twilight even hit Lazlo, who was now wandering aimlessly in the place, not knowing what to do. This kind of party was still alien to him a little.

“Ow.” Twilight groaned, after the collision. Lacy felt lucky that it was the mare’s side that made contact with his leg, not her horn. That would’ve been more painful.

“Come on everypony!” she yelled and motioned the others to come closer. “Gummy wants to dance!” the little alligator was waving his tail in rhythm with the music, while the ponies and the human all stood around him, doing some dance moves.

The moon was already high in the sky, as the ponies and human left Sugarcube Corner while thanking Pinkie for this awesome party.

“Hoo-wee! I am beat! I haven’t danced that much since... Well, since your last party. Thanks again for the invite!” Applejack said.

“See ya later, birthday alligator!” Rainbow Dash said goodbye.

“Bravo for hosting yet another delightful soiree.” Rarity shared her opinion.

“It’s been lovely,” Fluttershy told her.

“I enjoyed it mostly,” Lazlo commented.

“You sure you don’t wanna stay? There’s still some cake left.” Pinkie tried to lure them back for a little more, but only Twilight stopped and looked back.

“Uh, I think I’m gonna pass. Great party though. We should do this again soon.” she told her, then continued on towards her home, with Lazlo.

“Tomorrow will be a challenge,” Lazlo spoke up as they arrived back at the library. Twilight nodded, then went through with the plan once more.

The next morning started similarly, though a little sooner. Lazlo was woken up by a knock on his bedroom door.

“What?” he asked loud enough to be heard at the other side of the door, but the only answer was another set of knocks.

He got up and opened the door slightly, but a pink pony on the other side pushed it open immediately, hitting his whole body with the door.

“Hiya Lacy!” Pinkie Pie greeted the surprised man. She was wearing a basket on her head, with pink letters in it. “Wow! So this is how you look like under your clothes!” she looked at him excitedly. Lazlo usually only wears a boxer when sleeping, and only had that right now as well, nopony saw him without a shirt or pants, except Twilight and Spike, because they live in the same house, and  Rarity when measuring him. “Anyway, you are invited to Gummy’s after-birthday party, this afternoon!”

“This afternoon? Like this afternoon this afternoon?”

“Twilight asked the same question, but the answer is yes to you as well! Though it would be funny to say different times to everypony. Or maybe not, because then they wouldn’t be there at the same time and cannot have fun together.”

“Well, sorry, but that’s not good for me,” Lazlo told her, meanwhile his brain started to wake up completely to create a good excuse why he cannot go to that party.

“Why?” Pinkie asked.

“Because... Um... I have to... Um... Go to... Amber. Yeah, Perfect Mane asked me to foalsit Amber this afternoon.” he answered her.

“Oh, okay. I understand! Well, have fun, and come by after that, we will be sure to save some snacks for you!” she then rushed off, probably to go to the others.

Lazlo put some clothes on, then joined Twilight in the library part of the building. Upon noticing the big pile of books.

“Study session, or book fort?” he asked jokingly. Twilight only rolled her eyes.

“Just go to the barn and start preparing for the-” she looked around like she was expecting Pinkie to be there somewhere, listening. “-party. We will join you as soon as we get the cake and a few other things.”

Lazlo was soon on his way towards Sweet Apple Acres. He wasn’t really afraid of running into Pinkie. He guessed, that she goes to the other girls to try inviting them to that party of hers. The road he took was nowhere close to any of their home. Well, except Applejack for obvious reason, but if she will be there, then he just takes a little detour.

When he arrived, only Applejack was there, which was to be expected.

“Howdy.” the farm mare greeted him in a neutral tone.

“Hello.” Lazlo’s was similar. “So... What shall I do?”

Applejack told him the things, they have to get done. Basically bringing a few tables and chairs here, then decorate the place with the party accessories, they brought here a few days ago. Later on, the others will join them, bringing the cake, the snacks, the drinks, and the presents.

“Was Pinkie already here?” he asked to make sure, they won’t meet the party pony during the heavy lifting. After all the tables and chairs, and some other things had to be brought from the house to the barn and if she’d catch them in the act, then the surprise is blown.

“Yeah, talking about some kind of after-birthday party.” Applejack answered.

Lazlo then moved to the house and started bringing the requested things. First a round table. It was a little problematic to take out of the house because its diameter was bigger than the door’s width, but he managed to solve that issue with some positioning.

Meanwhile, Applejack was watching him doing the physical work and telling him what to do. After everything, that was needed, had been brought to the barn, Lazlo sat down, sweating and panting.

“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d manage all these carryings,” she told him.

“Why? Because I’m not a hard worker?” Lacy asked.

“You don’t seem like one to me,” she answered bluntly.

“I usually do hard mental work,” Lazlo stated. “Someone has to...”

“I bet you do...” Applejack said, then murmured, “Especially when coming up with lies you tell to your family.”

“And here we are again...” Lazlo said, hearing what Applejack said under her nose. “It seems like the ‘staring again’ was a lie too, just as I expected.”

“That wasn’t a lie, but a favor for a friend.” she defended herself. “Besides if I remember correctly, then you shook my hoof and accepted it.”

“A favor?”

“Twilight told me, that she wants you to remember us as friends. She wants you to have pleasant memories of us, when you get home, or be there for you if you are stuck here.” Lazlo couldn’t be angry at Twilight, but he felt that it was really unnecessary to ask this kind of thing from anyone. “I agreed with her, and I really hope you get home to your family, even if they don’t deserve you.”

That last part did it. Lazlo’s calm and neutral expression turned into anger.

“Who the fuck did gave you the right to judge what my family deserves and what not?!” Applejack flinched a little. “You don’t know anything about them! And what about your parents, huh?” Lazlo never met Applejack’s parents, he guessed, that they weren’t in town, but after living here for over a month he figured, that they’re either dead or left. In his anger he wanted to say, that she doesn’t deserve them, that’s why they’re not here, but the mare started crying and yelled before he could say anything else.

“They’re dead! But they loved us with all their hearts!” that made Lacy’s eyes widen. Even though, he thought about the possibility, hearing it from her, put his anger on the sidelines. After all, it wasn’t just about Applejack. There was Big Mac, who was a kind and friendly stallion, and Applebloom, who was a troublemaker, but her heart was always in the right place. When he was invited there and talked to them, they seemed fine ponies. A kind family, who was respected and loved by the others just as much, as their apples. Even Lazlo admitted to himself, that despite their stubbornness and slight close-mindedness, they earned the respect, they have.

“I’m sorry about that. Truly,” he told her, honestly. “No one should be experiencing their parents’ death at such a young age. I mean, poor Applebloom must’ve barely known them. Such a strong little girl for keeping up her spirit.”

Applejack heard in his voice, that his words were genuine. He whispered a thank you, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything else.

“But-” Lazlo continued, his tone returning to a more strict one. “That still doesn’t give you the right to say things, like that. I told all of you, that my mom wanted to force me into a future, I didn’t want, and thus I had to do something. I told her multiple times, what I wanted, but it was pointless. And yes, I lied to her, deceived her, and all of my family, because I didn’t want them to even accidentally mention it to her. And guess what! She deserved to be lied to! I apologized to her and explained why I did, what I did. I apologized to everyone, whom I lied to. They forgave me in time, but my mother never did, because she believed, that I wanted to humiliate her and I played her trust. But in reality, it wasn’t her trust, that I lost, because she took it for granted, that I will do as she says.”

“It still wasn’t right to lie to and deceive your mother. Family is the most important thing ever. I admit, that I don’t agree with your mother, but that doesn’t mean, that you can disrespect her such as that. And I don’t have to know somepony just to tell you, that if you do something wrong with them, that’s a bad thing.”

Back at the barn Twilight arrived, who was soon followed by Fluttershy and Rarity too. The cake was here. That put a stop to their fight, but they made a silent agreement, that they will be back on that topic at another time. Now it was time to concentrate on Pinkie’s party.

It didn’t take long for Rainbow Dash to arrive, flying inside at such a high speed, she barely could stop before hitting the wall on the other end. Her arrival was followed by knocks on the barn door.

“It’s her,” Rainbow said panicking.

Applejack was about to answer the door, but Lacy stopped her and motioned her to let him handle it. Opening the door’s upper half slightly, he saw the pink mare, looking a little surprised.

“Lazlo! What are you doing here? I thought you were foalsitting Amber. Though I saw her with her parents not too long ago. So?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah, about that... Turns out, their program was canceled, so when I went to them, they told me that they don’t need me to look after their daughter after all. So, umm... I was about to go to your party, but... Um... I ran into Applejack, who asked me to help, though I think she just wanted some free labor.” he heard Applejack growling but ignored it. “She doesn’t believe that I can do physical work, and wants me to prove myself.” he heard Applejack starting to say something, but was shut down, and someone doing magic, he guessed, that Twilight shut her up with magic.

“Can I come in?” she asked, still not believing him completely.

“No. The fewer people in here, the safer.”

“But Rainbow Dash just went in, and I heard somepony doing magic, so one more pony is in there.” Pinkie pointed out.

“Umm... Dash is here because... Umm... I’m working on the inside of the roof, and it’s easier to have someone fly than going down and then back up the ladder every few minutes. And Twilight is here too, to help out if something goes bad.” he finished his explanation. He thought about what to say to Pinkie if she would come, before his argument with AJ, but had to improvise some.

“Hmm...” Pinkie looked at him for a few seconds. “Okie Dokie Loki.” she still didn’t look like she completely believed him, but she left, which was good right now.





Pinkie Pie was sure, that her friends were hiding something from her. They’re all made up excuses to avoid attending her party, which never happened before. While on her way back to Sugarcube Corner, she noticed three ponies. A married couple and their daughter. She was close enough to them to hear their conversation.

“We should invite Lazlo soon.” the mare said. “Amber just loves him and he won’t be here forever. I heard, that Princess Celestia is working on finding a way for him to go home, so that means, that eventually, he will leave and probably won’t come back. She’s always happier and laughing a lot when he’s there with her. And he’s just so good with her. He told me that he has two younger sisters so I guess he has some experience.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to come only when we need somepony to foalsit Amber. And he has so many hilarious stories. He tells us some at the chess club. Like the one, when he was at a local, junior chess competition and his opponent made a mistake, which resulted in Lacy taking his queen, but the guy couldn’t accept it, so he started to accuse him of cheating, moving twice in a row. The judge came asking what happened. The guy started crying, pointing at Lacy, saying he cheated. Lazlo of course defended himself. Lucky for him, another kid, who already finished his match in that round watched them playing and confirmed that Lazlo was right and his opponent made a mistake. But the guy didn’t stop and continued to cry. In the end, he was disqualified and automatically lost the game. And it’s really funny because it was just a small local tournament made for the local elementary school’s chess club. Lazlo also mentioned, that since there weren’t many people in that club, there weren’t any age groups, and his opponent was a few years older than him.”

Both of them laughed and the little filly joined too. She probably had no idea, but she heard Lacy’s so that was enough to make her giggle.

Looking and listening to them made Pinkie realize something. What if her friends didn’t come to her party because they want to replace her with Lazlo? She had to find an answer. Then she noticed a little dragon walking by and an idea came to her.

She tried to interrogate Spike, but he wasn’t talking about what she wanted to know. After a few failed attempts, she finally broke.

“Tell me that my friends are all lying to me and avoiding me because they don't like my parties and they want to replace me with Lazlo because he’s funnier than me!” she yelled.

“Your friends are all lying to you and avoiding you because they don't like your parties and they want to replace you with Lazlo because he’s funnier than you!” Spike repeated after her.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed. Victory. But then she realized, that it wasn’t a victory.





They soon finished up with the preparation. It was finally time to bring the birthday pony. Rainbow Dash volunteered, saying she’d do this the fastest. While she was away to fetch Pinkie, the others decided to have some chat.

“I can’t wait to see Pinkie’s face,” Twilight said, excitedly.

“Me too,” Fluttershy said.

“Pinkie is such a darling for throwing all those parties for us, she simply deserves to experience the same happiness, we get every time she invites us.” Rarity joined in.

“I am grateful for her too, the welcome party she threw for me was a great way to help me getting to know this place,” Lazlo mentioned.

“I’m sure it will be the best birthday party she ever had.” Applejack spoke.

After twenty minutes they started to become confused about what was taking so long. Rainbow flew off, and with her speed, it would take only a minute or two to reach Sugarcube Corner and the walk back should be only a few minutes as well. Just as they were about to send someone else as well to check on them, they heard Rainbow’s voice.

“We’re here.” was heard from the other side of the barn door. It slowly opened, revealing a kinda different-looking Pinkie and an exhausted-looking Dash.

“SURPRISE!” they all yelled, except those two. Pinkie looked surprised for a moment but didn’t move. Her mane and tail were straight and down, not like the usually puffy type. Also, it seemed as if it was darker. She didn’t look happy as Rainbow Dash began pushing her towards the others. When she was close enough Rainbow stopped. Pinkie was still wearing an angry expression, making her friends starting to worry.

“I really thought she’d be more excited,” Fluttershy said.

“Excited? Excited?!” Pinkie asked, looking at all of them. “Why would I be excited to attend my own farewell party?!”

“Heh?” Lazlo wondered where did that thought come from.

“Farewell party?” Twilight asked, just as confused as everyone else.

“Yes!” Pinkie answered. “You don’t like me anymore you all want Lacy to take my place and throw a farewell party for me!”

“Why in the world would you think we didn't like you anymore, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as she approached her.

“Why? Why? Why?!” she said that multiple times, looking at a different pony every time. “Because you've been lying to me and avoiding me all day, that's why!”

“Uh, yeah! Because we wanted your party to be a surprise.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“We'd been planning this party for such a long time, we had to make excuses for why we couldn't attend Gummy's party so that we could get everything ready for yours.” Rarity explained.

“And why would they replace me with you?” Lazlo asked. “I’m don’t make parties often, and cannot come up with that many hilarious things, like this one.” He said, and that earned a jab from Twilight, meaning, she wanted him to stop talking.

“If this is a farewell party, why does the cake I picked up from Sugarcube Corner say ‘Happy Birthday, Pinkie Pie’?” Twilight pointed at the cake.

Pinkie then looked around, noticing everything that made this place look like a birthday party place. The gifts, the ballons, the other decorations, and of course the cake, which really had those words and Pinkie’s head on it.

Upon realizing it, Pinkie’s mane and tail immediately returned to their normal selves, which scared Lazlo, resulting in him jumping back a little and saying ‘What the fuck?’ quietly.

“Because it’s my birthday! Ooh, how could I have forgotten my own birthday?” she then pulled all of them into a group hug. “And you like me so much you decided to throw me a surprise party!”

“That's what we've been trying to tell you, darling,” Rarity mentioned while Pinkie was jumping around excitedly.

“You girls and Lacy are the best friends ever! How could I have ever doubted you?” she looked ashamed of herself.

“It's okay, Pinkie Pie. It could have happened to any of us.” Twilight calmed her.

“I'm just glad I haven't been replaced by a bucket of turnips,” Rainbow said, earning some questioning looks from the others and a nervous one from Pinkie. “You don't wanna know.”

And the party started. Dancing, playing, eating, and drinking, Pinkie’s opening her presents. Everyone was having fun. Twilight even wrote her new friendship letter to Princess Celestia. And in the end, it became a double party, after making it also Gummy’s after-birthday party.
> 16. A night in Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Today is finally the grand day!” Another rude awakening for Lazlo, hearing Twilight yelling excitedly. “Spike! Get me the book about advanced transfiguration!” Twilight’s voice came through the closed doors at full force.

Knowing that he won’t be able to go back to sleep and was also a little curious about what was this all about. As he left his room, he had to realize that Twilight’s voice didn’t come from her room, which was basically beside his but from down, the library part. As he walked down he heard the mare running around, while shouting at Spike about not forgetting the apple, whatever she meant by that. By the time he reached the ground level of the building, he heard the entrance door being shut and then quiet... signaling that the two others, who also live here, left. He just sighed and went to take a shower while thinking about what to eat for breakfast.

After finishing up in the bathroom, and filling his belly with some sandwiches, Lacy decided to go out and look for Twilight, or at least somepony else, who might know, what’s going on. It wasn’t unusual for him that he woke up and the first thing he experienced is one of the stage antics of this unique mare but usually, he could take a guess simply by hearing what she was yelling about or what she was doing.

His first stop was Sugarcube Corner. There was a big chance that Pinkie was there and she probably knew if something was up. But of course, this was one of the rare times, she wasn’t in the bakery. At least Mrs. Cake could tell him that Pinkie went to the Carousel Boutique to meet with the other girls, meaning Twilight is there too.

As he approached the fancy building he heard multiple sets of hooves running in his direction. He immediately noticed several horses, which were the size of a normal horse but had strange muzzles with teeth being out in the front like the rodents have. They were seemingly running from something and would’ve hit Lacy if he doesn’t jump aside. He watched for a few seconds as the strange horses continued running and Lazlo convinced himself not to think about it further to keep that little sanity, he has left.

Arriving at Rarity’s home he notices all six girls and Spike there near the Boutique. There were also two stallions, who were currently talking with Rarity. And let’s not forget about the carriage that looked like a big apple.

First the weird horses, now this... Was there something in the cheese I put into my sandwich?

“What’s going on? Oh, hello by the way.” he greeted them after the obvious question.

They all looked at him, saying their own greetings’. The man could see that they were excited for some reason which wasn’t unusual as individuals but Lazlo didn’t remember if he ever saw all of them like this at the same time.

“We are all preparing for the night, darling.” Rarity gave him an answer, which wasn’t enough for him, but the others joined in.

“Tonight will be the best!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yes! And we are all so excited about it! Aren’t you excited too?” Pinkie asked, but before Lazlo even had the time to put on a questioning look, Twilight started to panic.

“Oh no no no no NO!” she shouted. “How could I forget?!” her eyes became watery and tears started to flow down on her face, wetting her fur in a thin line under her eyes. “I’m a horrible friend! I wanted to ask the princess but then things happened and... and... I completely forgot about it and... and now it’s too late...” she then completely lost it, collapsing on the ground, crying.

The others gasped as they realized why was she crying, but Lazlo was just confused and concerned. He didn’t understand what was going on, why was Twilight in this state, and why was he the only one clueless. He knelt down beside her, the others giving him some space.

“Twilight... What’s the problem?” but the only answer he got was some sobs. He already figured out that the issue was something she forgot to do for him, but still had no idea what it was. “Look. Whatever it is, I’m not angry at you.”

“But I-” she started but the sobbing took over again. Lazlo looked at the others since they seemed to know what it was about but they all had their heads down, even Applejack. He then turned back to the purple mare, one hand caressing her back, the other scratching her ears as if she would be a dog. This seemed to calm her a little as she started speaking again. “I forgot to ask Princess Celestia to send you a ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Right, the Gala. He remembered her telling him about it. One of the biggest and most important events in Equestria. Originally a party to celebrate the anniversary of the competition of Canterlot. Twilight told him about the ticket fiasco too, which he found funny but at the same time had a strong opinion about it.

“I said that if my friends can’t go, then I don’t want either.” she continued. “You weren’t here back then, but now you are one of my best friends. I wanted to ask the princess when she was here at that get-together but then the incident happened with her pet and it was forgotten,” she spoke. “I’m so sorry!” she started to cry again.

Lazlo was frozen. He never could handle these kinds of situations well. What could he say to her? That he’s not angry? He knew that that rarely works. But what else to tell her, when it’s the truth? When she talked about the Gala he didn’t even express the curiosity to see it for himself. However, he did wonder about it but never thought about it as something, he’d regret if missing.

“Come on, Twilight,” he continued to pet her gently for a few more seconds before he realized that it was probably inappropriate at some level. “I’m not mad.” he tried to sound as gentle as he could. Even if he wasn’t a good example for a gentleman, he wouldn’t want a girl, like Twilight to cry over something like this. He still didn’t understand why was this such a big thing that made her like this.

“But-” she suddenly looked up, realizing something else. “Oh no! I have to tell the princess about this and she will think that I’m going backward with my friendship lessons and then she will be angry at me! What if she thinks, I’m not worthy of her lessons anymore? What if she-” she was cut short by the man.

“Stop it! Please!” Lazlo lost it a little. He didn’t want to do the more aggressive approach but what he was doing so far wasn’t working. “Listen to me!” she looked at him, her eyes still filled with tears. “I! Am! Not! Angry! At! You!” he made sure that his voice didn’t betray his words, because he really wasn’t mad at her, just wanted her to calm down.

“Really? So it means I’m not a bad friend?” she asked. Lazlo smiled, then looked at the others asking for their help silently. They understood what he wanted and all began helping her to calm down.

“It is our fault too, darling.” Rarity spoke. “You told us that you wanted to ask for one more ticket, I even made him some formal clothes to wear but I too forgot to talk with you about it later.”

“Are you sure, you don’t mind?” Twilight asked, still not letting it go. Lazlo just shook his head. The others seemed relieved that things worked out and a few of them also expressed their regret that their human friend cannot join them to their ‘Best Night Ever’.

Rarity invited all of them for an early lunch. It was still morning but the girls had to start preparing soon because with that carriage it will take quite a few hours to get to the Canterlot Castle. Lazlo was invited too and while he eat not so long ago, he joined them, only ordering something to drink.

“Is there anything we can do to make up for this?” Twilight asked the man, while they were waiting for their orders. Lazlo sensed that she probably won’t drop the topic until she feels like she did something for him but luckily an idea came to him.

“How about I go with you to Canterlot and while you’re at the gala, I’ll look around in the city?” he told her his idea. She nodded, smiling and thinking that it made them even at some level.

As their food and drinks were brought to them, the topic went back to the gala and the girls were chatting with each other, clearly excited for the night, seemingly forgetting what happened earlier, much to Lacy’s amusement.

Like a bunch of goldfish...

He almost giggled out loud.

After finishing their meals, Rarity was so generous that she paid for the whole thing. The girls went back to the boutique, while Spike showed Lazlo the carriage up close. The inside was big enough for the six mares and the driver’s seat was big enough for the dragon but Lazlo had doubts that it won’t break under his mass. His weight was a little over a hundred kilogram after all. After mentioning it to Spike, he calmed him down that Twilight will make some modifications for it so he can sit beside him.

The dragon went to talk with the girls, while Lazlo sat down on the ground, near the carriage.

“We have to pull this thing with him on it too?” he heard a male voice whispering near him not quiet enough for him not to hear. “He much heavier than the mares.”

“Yeah,” another stallion agreed. “How much do you think he weighs?”

“Around a hundred kilogram. Probably a little more,” he answered and scared them.

“Um...” they came closer to him. “We meant no offense.” One of them said.

“None taken.” Lacy smiled.

The two earth pony stallions introduced themselves. One had a light gray coat and darker mane and tail, his cutie mark was three four-leaf clovers, his name was Lucky Clover. The other had amber colored coat and brown mane and tail, and three blue horseshoes for a cutie mark.

Lazlo told them that if it’ll be too heavy for them, then he won’t go with the girls but they said that they will manage it. Lucky worked as a transporter pony, so he’s used to pulling heavy carriages, while Caramel is a farm pony so they weren’t lacking strength.

In exchange the man told them about his job, he had on Earth, though it took some time to explain what a software engineer was and what do they do.

Soon the girls were ready to go. As they exited Rarity’s boutique in their dresses made by the group's dressmaker and Lazlo looked at them, he had to admit that even though it was weird to see clothes like these on equines it did look great on them. Twilight quickly cast a spell on the driver’s seat and it became larger. She said that now it will support both Spike and Lacy.

The afternoon just began when the carriage started its way to Canterlot, pulled by the two stallions, six mares inside, and the two non-pony on the driver’s seat. While the gala only started in the late afternoon, they had to go now to reach the castle in time. The capital was fairly close to Ponyville, the little town was the closest settlement. But the journey still took time. With the train, it’s only one and a half hours but on hoof, it’s almost four. Half of this time is actually reaching the mountain base, then going up to the city.

While the castle was visible from Ponyville, the city itself was on the other side of the mountain. Lazlo gazed at the magnificent palace almost every day, it really looked like something from a fairy tale. And Spike told him that though Canterlot City is nowhere close to the castle, it’s still beautiful. The man was curious of course and now it was time to see the capital of Equestria.

As the big apple was on the way to the gala, the girls were chatting inside excitedly continuing whatever they were talking about at the early lunch. Spike was talking about what he wanted to show the girls. Lazlo just listened to him, though the dragon was talking to the mares, who probably didn’t even hear him.

A sudden sound of a whiplash made Lacy duck his head low while looking around trying to find out where the sound came from.

“Hey!” the two stallions in front of them shouted in unison. Lazlo noticed that Spike got a whip from somewhere. He quickly acted and took it from him.

“What the hell, Spike? Where did you get this?” Lazlo questioned.

“It was on the seat.” the dragon said.

“And what made you think, it was a good idea to use it?” the man asked. After not getting an answer just a guilty look, he sighed. “Just apologize and I’m keeping this thing with me.”

The dragon said his apology to the two stallions, who accepted it but they still seemed angry at him. Lazlo held the whip in his hand, looking at it, having the urge to do some lashes with it, though not on the two, pulling them but in the end, he could resist the temptation.

Well, now that I have this, I can officially become a member of a BDSM club.

He chuckled at his thoughts, which earned a questioning look from the one sitting beside him but he waved it off.

The travel was quite boring after this incident. Spike and the two stallions weren’t really in a talking mood and the girls were occupied with their own so what Lazlo could do to pass time was basically watching the scenery. He was somewhat used to long travels, after all sometimes, when he went to visit his family, that meant three hours traveling by car or four by train. But then there was always something to do. Of course, he had to concentrate while driving but he could listen to music, and when he could read on the train, or play something on his phone, or watch a movie or show if he put any on his tablet. But here... nothing.

Four and a quarter hours later finally they reached Canterlot. It took a little longer because they stopped once. The road up was actually the other side of the mountain range. Luckily they didn’t have to go all around the mountain range, there were a few serpentine roads (or at least similar, but with that many turns, since Canterlot wasn’t that high up there) around here and there and the closest started basically close below the castle. With light trotting, they could’ve done the journey in less time but they stopped at a resting point. In function, these were similar to gas stations by the highways. There were parking lots for carriages, restrooms, and a shop where you could buy food and drinks. A few benches were also placed around the stop. There were a few of these along the road to the capital.

After a short bathroom break, Rarity brought some drinks for the stallions and Lazlo brought two sandwiches for himself, it was his lunch. There were a few other carriages as well. Those ponies, who rode in them were most likely also on their way to the Grand Galloping Gala. After their break, they continued their way up to the castle, seeing more and more carriages as they get closer and closer.

Passing the borders of the city, Spike began to tell Lazlo about it as they slowly moved forward. This was the only road to Canterlot and it lead through the city up to the main gate of the castle. From the side roads, other carriages joined, creating one long line that moved at a consistent speed even if it wasn’t that fast.

“Well, here we are,” Spike began his guiding for Lacy. “This is the most outer part of the city, obviously. Here is the train station, a few hotels, shops, warehouses, and the manors of the newer nobles.” As they went by the buildings, Lazlo observed them. As the dragon said, there were really some manors that actually barely was fit in the definition. The home of those nobles, who got their title in the last few hundred years. He also spotted another large building which seemed to be the Canterlot Railway Station. He didn’t see the warehouses but guessed that those were placed further from the main road. As they moved forward, Spike continued. “This is the outer living part. Common ponies living here, with some shops and elementary schools and kindergartens. There are also some parks and squares, though you can find those basically everywhere in the city, hmm... now that I think about it, the same applies to shops and restaurants as well. Anyway moving on we’re at the students' district. This is where the more advanced schools are, except for Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns, because that one is in Castle Town. Here you find the dorms and a library too. It’s the smallest part of the city, we already left it. The next district is mainly for tourists. From basic to the most luxurious hotels and all kinds of restaurants. Then we have the cultural center of the city. Museums, the Canterlot Theatre, the Canterlot Opera House, the Library of Magic, the Canterlot Archives, the Cloud Stadium, several event centers, and many more. Moving on the next part is more mixed, here you find business centers, office buildings, and the homes of the richer ponies, who aren’t nobles, our family lives here, by the way. And lastly, there is the noble district filled with manors of the ancient noble families, some of them date back even before Equestria.”

The city was indeed great. As Lazlo observed, mostly light-colored buildings, only a few of them was bigger than three levels. Also, there weren’t many ponies that weren’t on their way to the castle.

As they arrived at the main gate of the castle. Before it was a small green zone, even a little lake that comes from a waterfall and then turns into a little creek in front of the gate going down the mountainside as another waterfall. The Castle Town itself was the most beautiful sight, Lacy has ever seen in architecture. The ivory towers with some gold and purple here and there. The grandiose building, which was the castle itself. The wall was also impressive, hiding most of the buildings from the view. A pair of royal guards standing at the gates.

They stopped close to the gate. The two, who sat on the driver’s stepped down. Spike, acting as a true driver and gentlemen, opened the carriage door, letting them out of the vehicle.

“I guess, we will be meeting somewhere here later,” Lazlo told them, though it was futile as the mares were occupied with themselves, while Spike went with the two stallions to park the carriage. So he just began walking back towards the city.


[Twilight]
At the Gala,

[Choir]
At the Gala


He stopped. Turned around. He couldn’t believe his ears, nor his eyes.


[Fluttershy]
At the Gala
In the garden
I'm going to see them all
All the creatures
I'll befriend them at the Gala

[Choir]
At the Gala

[Fluttershy]
All the birdies
And the critters
They will love me big and small
We'll become good friends forever
Right here at the Gala!

[Choir]
All our dreams will come true
Right here at the Gala
At the Gala


It was like a whole musical in front of him. Random ponies, who also just arrived joined in were like a background choir, Fluttershy going against her personality sang several lines alone, without any care who was listening. They were all dancing and Lazlo even heard music in his head.

After Fluttershy, Applejack took the role of the singer.


[Applejack]
At the Gala (It's amazing)
I will sell them (Better hurry)
All my appletastic treats (Yummy yummy)
Hungry ponies (They'll be snacking)
They will buy them (Bring your money)
Caramel apples, apple sweets (Gimme some)
And I'll earn a lot of money
for the Apple family!

[Choir]
All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter
All that we've been wishing for will happen at the Gala
At the Gala


Lazlo felt himself sing along with the other ponies like he wasn’t in control of himself. He became truly scared when his legs began to walk him towards the musical show. Collecting all his willpower he managed to stop himself and put his hands on his ears but he could still hear the music at the same volume, though the singing became quieter. He used the opportunity of being again in control, he quickly ran away.

Only when he didn’t hear the music anymore did he stop to catch his breath. His endurance could only take him so far. After all, having a sitting job and being too lazy to do any workout plus not the healthiest diet equals poor fitness. But it was enough to take him away from this... whatever it was.

Making a mental note to ask Twilight about it later, he started his in the city. He didn’t go back to the road, they’ve come, because carriages were still there, transporting guests to the gala. Going by the noble district, he quickly left the part of the city, which was filled with manors. Walking in the next district, he admired the whole city. It felt like walking in a European city, which was built hundreds of years ago and wasn’t that badly damaged during the many wars and of course putting a high fantasy filter on the whole picture. There were a few ponies on the streets, who looked at him for a short time upon noticing him, before continuing their way. It didn’t bother Lazlo, he expected such things. He was glad that they didn’t pay too much mind to him. He knew that there was some information about him in the papers but guessed that the main reason for their neutrality towards him was because it was the capital of Equestria, the place where the rulers were and they bound to get visitors from foreign dignitaries and since this world was filled with many different sapient species, Canterlot ponies got used to seeing non-ponies on the streets from time to time.

After half an hour of walking around aimlessly, he arrived at a park. Felling still tired from the running he sat down on one of the benches. The park was simple. A few trees, big green fields, and gravel roads across them with benches and trash cans. Lights were only placed along the ‘main’ gravel road, which was wider than the others but wasn’t going to sit there, he was fine with one of the dark spots. Not like it mattered as no pony was out there. At least that’s what he thought at first but a female voice near him startled the man.

“Excuse me. Mind if we join for a little bit?” He looked towards the voice, noticing a pink pony. The first thing, Lazlo noticed was that she had a horn but there was also a pair of wings folded to her sides. Also a crown on her head, behind her horn, and a gold necklace. Her mane and tail had three colors, purple, darker pink, and gold. Her light purple eyes studied the human while waiting for a response.

Lazlo soon recognized her from what Twilight told him and what he read about Equestrian history. Princess Cadance. The Princess of Love and adopted niece of Princess Celestia and as of late, Princess Luna as well. He didn’t know much else about her, except that she became an alicorn pretty young, before that she was a pegasus and as her title said, her role was to spread love across Equestria, along with helping Celestia and Luna to manage the country. Lacy had no idea what did this whole ‘spreading love’ thing entailed.

“Of course, Princess.” stood up and bowed his head. The princess sat down in the middle of the bench motioning Lazlo to sit back and also to the pony who was with her.

”Fucking hell! No matter where am I, somehow I always attract dignitaries, in my world because of my mother, here because I’m the only human.”

Lazlo only then noticed that the princess wasn’t alone, and remembered that she was saying ‘we’ when she addressed him. The other pony was a stallion and by the armor, he was wearing he quickly realized that he was a royal guard, though the armor was different from the others he saw. It was purple and gold. His coat was white, though all the royal guards he saw were white-colored, his mane was hidden under his helmet, but his tail was visible and it had several shades of blue. He was a unicorn and by the different-looking armor, Lacy guessed that he either was some kind of officer or a bodyguard to Cadance, and this armor was supposed to show that, he wasn’t too sure, not like it mattered too much to him anyway.

She then moved her head closer to the human and performed the pecks on the cheek kind of greetings with the human, who returned it out of reflex.

“This is really different from nuzzling,” she commented after retreating from Lazlo’s personal space. “Auntie was right.” then her eyes widened a little. “Oh, forgive me, I am Princess Cadance and this here is Shining Armor, the Captain of the Royal Guard.” she introduced herself and her companion.

“A pleasure, Princess. I’m Lazlo Kis.” he only introduced himself out of courtesy, because Cadance most likely already knew who he was. He also realized that the guard who was accompanying the alicorn was Twilight’s brother. She told him a little about his ‘Big Brother Best Friend Forever’, though not too much, only that he was a Royal Guard and that they were pretty close.

“I heard about you from my aunt, Princess Celestia,” she told him. “I feel sorry for what happened to you, it must’ve been hard at first, but I also heard that you got accustomed to our world pretty fast. Your kind must have great adaptive skills.”

“Umm... thanks. Yeah, humans can adapt easily to most situations, though I think this is different. If I had to guess, I think, my mind got an overload from all these things and went to some kind of autopilot mode, but I cannot be sure, as getting to another world hasn’t happened to anyone or at least no one came back to tell the experience.” Lacy said.

“I heard, that you’ve been living with Twilight Sparkle.” Shining Armor spoke for the first time. “She’s my little sister. How is she by the way?”

“Fine, I think. She’s at the Gala with her friends. Why aren’t you there though?” he asked, assuming that a Princess and the Captain of the Royal Guard have an invitation.

“Well, officially I will arrive back to Canterlot later from Saddle Arabia with Shining Armor.” she gave the human a mischievous smile, that told him everything. They were playing hooky. “It’s a rather boring event, to be honest, I’d rather spend that time with my coltfriend, since we’re both are busy usually, it’s a great opportunity to have a few hours for ourselves. This part of the city is rather empty this night, so it’s perfect but now that I saw you I thought, why not get to know you better. By the way, why aren’t you at the Gala?”





Disappointment. A feeling Twilight wasn’t that familiar with, yet was constantly afraid that ponies, close to her will feel it towards her. But right now, she was the one experiencing it. Despite initially it seemed great, standing beside her mentor, spending time with her, it quickly turned upside down when she had to turn her attention to everypony else there from Celestia. As she stood there with the princess, trying to make at least one sentence without interruption, which itself seemed impossible, she sighed in disappointment and now could only hope, that her friends have a better time.

But eventually, the last pony arrived, ending this endless greeting session. Now it seemed that they’ll have some time for each other. Her face lit up a little.

“Twilight,” Celestia took the initiative. “I’ve seen girls and Spike, when you arrived, but not Lazlo. Why didn’t he come? I hope, everything’s alright.”

Fear from earlier this day resurfaced. Back then she only did think that she was a bad friend, but now not only did that feeling come back but she was terrified, what if Princess Celestia thinks, she does forget her lessons and thus not being worthy of studying friendship and making her leave Ponyville and come back to Canterlot permanently, and even worse, stops being her mentor.

“You see... hehe” she laughs nervously and starts shaking a little. Celestia raises her eyebrows. “I kinda forgot to ask you to give him a ticket too. I’m sorry! I know, I’m a horrible friend and I accept whatever punishment you have for me.” she hang her head and closes her eyes, waiting for her teacher to scold her, but it didn’t come. Daring to open her eyes and look up, she saw the confused expression of Celestia.

“But Twilight, I did send him a ticket,” she said. “After I got back from the visit from Ponyville, when I brought Philomena with me, that evening I spent the ticket to him via Spike,” she explained and it was now Twilight’s turn to be confused.

“What? But Spike never mentioned it to me. I don’t understand.” she said, more to herself than to Celestia.

“So, he’s back in Ponyville?” the princess asked.

“No, he’s in Canterlot. He came up with us, just went sightseeing,” Twilight answered. “We will meet at the carriage after the Gala.”

“I see. Well, I wanted to talk with him about several things. One is about something we talked about when I was in Ponyville but the research about sending him home was also finished two days ago.”

Hearing this made Twilight happy and sad at the same time. If Lazlo goes back to his world, that means that she won’t get any more knowledge from him but also lose one of her best friends. However, she also would feel bad if he is stuck here because that means, he’s basically lost everything he had.

“So that means you found a way to send him home?” she asked, looking at Celestia. Her face gave Twilight the answer but before she could react, a group of ponies came up and started a conversation with the princess and some did the same with Twilight. She saw Celestia giving her a look, that said ‘later’, and then with her signature smile, she turned her attention towards the other ponies.

Twilight let out a quiet groan, then she too turned to those ponies, who were interested in talking with her, while thinking that it’s not what she had in mind. Concentrating on her conversation, she had to let her thoughts about the human go for now.





“So how is it to be Twilight’s roommate?” Cadence asked, after explaining, that Celestia did send him an invitation to the Gala.

“I think, similar to married life...” he answered with a deadpan look. “She’s always right and I mostly do what she wants, though she rarely cooks or does the cleaning.” The two ponies’ eyes went wide for a moment, then realized that it was a joke when Lazlo chuckled and joined him. “To be honest, I feel more like a test subject, than a roomie...”

“I can imagine,” Shining commented.

“Any funny stories?” Cadance asked with a sly grin.

“Well, it’s more like creepy, but I learned that she sometimes watched me, while I was sleeping. One morning I woke up and saw her at the end of my bed, sleeping, like a dog would and she had notes around her. I looked at it and she basically documented everything. Every movement, snore, or any kind of sound I make with the exact time when did it happen.”

That got them laughing a little.

“There were also some funny talks, during those sessions when she asked about my world or kind. The face she had, when she learned that human males have nipples too... priceless.” that made the princess and the guards brown rise.

“Why do you have nipples? Do males feed their foals?” Cadance questioned.

“No, it’s just happened and since it wasn’t a disadvantage evolutionary, it stayed. At least that’s how I know. But we can’t produce milk, only the females.” he quickly explained.

“I see.” Cadance nodded. “Speaking of females. I also saw that memory of that little girl on that trampoline. Your little sister right?”

“Well, half-sister to be exact,” he said.

“Are humans polygamous?” Cadance continued on with the questioning and now Lacy saw, where did Twilight learn to ask about everything.

“No, my parents divorced, when I was young and my father found another woman,” he stated.

“That sounds sad,” Shining said, the princess nodded, Lazlo only shrugged.

“Yeah but that’s humanity for you. Higher chance for a divorce, than staying married nowadays.” Lacy stated bitterly. The Princess of Love seemed really disturbed hearing this. Lacy decided to change the subject and turned his gaze to the guard. “So Captain? Where is that in the military rank hierarchy?”

“It is the highest,” he stated.

“I see. I never could memorize it, though my grandpa used to be in the army back then, though it was mandatory service and he never got any rank, only the basic private, though he was still a little special case and often told me hilarious stories. Anyway, I’m pretty sure, our military has higher ranks than the captain.” Lazlo explained.

“Well, since you’re not from this world, there’s bound to be differences,” Shining said. “And the Royal Guards are not exactly military. We function as such in times of war, which haven’t happened in hundreds of years but our main essence is in guarding the princesses. We are only in Canterlot, though if needed any town or city can request guards if in need and bigger cities also have local police forces. Also, I don’t know about your military, but we only have a few ranks. Guardspony is the basic, everypony who finishes training and swore the oat starts there. Then there is the Sergeant rank, then the Lieutenant. These are selected from promising Guardsponies and getting an offer for officer training. There are special guards too. The Escort Guards are pegasi who are pulling the Royal Carriage in the air. They get special training for this. And then there are those who do the investigative works and those who do the administrative works but that’s mostly it.” the stallion finished his presentation.

“Yes, the captain is the top,” Cadance confirmed, then smiled at his coltfriend. “And he’s the youngest captain ever.” she proudly stated. “His specialty in defense magic and a great mind for defense strategy got the attention of the former captain soon after he joined the guards and with some extra training and the approval of my aunt and me, he got named as Captain of the Royal Guard after the retirement of the former.”

“That’s good,” Lazlo said. “And what about you, Princess? What does the Princess of Love mean here?”

“My main duty is to spread the value of true love and help ponies with their feelings. I never force two ponies to love each other, I help couples remember why they love each other, I help rekindle their feelings for each other, help those who are uncertain, or afraid to approach the pony they have their eyes on. But I also help those who lost their loved one either by the inevitable or just when it turned out, they weren’t mean for each other after all. But as a Princess of Equestria, I also have a duty in governing this kingdom. While most of the things are handled by Celestia, I am still in a learning period, but if needed, I can take her place in anything, except with the sun and the moon. My magic is strong, but not that strong yet. I also help Luna, reintegrate into Equestria. When she came back, she was almost already ready to take her place and duties but the society was pretty different a thousand years ago. My aunt, the palace staff, the guards, and I are all trying our best to help her out but it will take time. Celestia told me, she got a good idea for you, that could help her out in some way so thank you for that.”

Lazlo was just about to ask about the last part of what she said, but another voice interrupted them.

“LOVE ME!” came a voice, that sounded like a shout from a great distance.

“That came from the castle,” Shining said immediately.

“We better check it out,” Cadance told the captain, then turned back to the human. “I’m really glad, that we had met, and while I hope, you’ll get home soon, I also hope we can speak some more before that.”

“Same here,” Shining said. “I’m a little curious about those stories from your grandfather.”

“Sure.” Lazlo nodded. “Well, goodbye, for now, I think whatever happened there, needs your expertise, Your Highness.” he gave her a bow after standing up. Everyone chuckled, then the princess and her guard started to trot towards the Canterlot Castle.

Lazlo too had started to walk away from this park. Soon he found himself back on the main road, that leads to the castle. He didn’t want to go there yet, there were still hours left till the end of the gala.

“Lacy!” a familiar voice caught his attention. He turned and saw the girls walking in his direction. Their face said, that they weren’t in the best mood. The man didn’t understand what they were doing here, nor why they looked like, they just came from a bar fight.

“What happened?” he asked as they got close. “I heard a yell from the castle’s direction, but I don’t know what was that and what are you doing here?”

“Come, I’ll tell you on our way,” Twilight told him. “We better go find Spike, he should be at Joe’s Donut shop.” then she began to lead the others.

On their way, they all explained to the man, how the night didn’t turn out as they planned. Hearing about what happened with them most of it seemed logical, that it would happen. Why would anypony buy Applejack’s food, when there was enough provided, the Wonderbolts are basically celebrities, they can’t pay attention to one pony for a long time, so Rainbow got only as much attention as any fan would no matter the situation. Princess Celestia was deemed to be in the center of everypony’s attention so Twilight’s plans were crushed the same way as Rainbow’s. Pinkie’s style of a party might be good for many occasions, but apparently, a gala like this would be among the exceptions. Rarity’s case with Prince Blueblood did surprise the man a little, as he would’ve thought, that somepony who was partly raised by the beloved Sun Princess wouldn’t act like that. And Fluttershy was usually great with any animals, so it was strange that the ones in the garden were all afraid of her. And it was even stranger, that she was the one shouting the ‘LOVE ME’.

As they entered the donut shop, which was actually quite big, they found the dragon at the counter. Joe, the owner apparently knew Twilight Sparkle, which wasn’t really a surprise, many ponies knew who she was, plus she used to live in this city.

Spike run to them, asking about how was the Gala. Twilight smiled at him, then ordered a stack of donuts, then they all sat down at a bigger table.

“That sounds like the worst night ever,” Spike said after he heard the story too. Lazlo meanwhile was too occupied devouring these delicious donuts.

“It was!” all the mares shouted in union and for some reason, they seemed to be happy about it, because they started to laugh.

“I just hope Princess Celestia isn’t upset with us for ruining the Gala,” Twilight added.

”And not making you pay for all the necessary repair...” Lazlo added in thought.

“That was the best Grand Galloping Gala ever!” the princess's voice was heard.

“Princess Celestia!” they all said, turning towards the entrance where she was standing.

“Pardon me, Princess,” Twilight told her, as she walked over to them “but tonight was just awful.”

“Oh, Twilight. The Grand Galloping Gala is always awful.”

“It is?”

“That is why I was thrilled you were all attending. I was hoping you could liven things up a bit. And while the evening may not have gone as you planned, I'm sure you'll agree that in the end, it didn't turn out so bad for this group of friends.” Celestia explained.

“You're right, Princess. Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great.” Twilight said.

“Yeah! Hanging out with friends!” Rainbow agreed.

“Talking!” Fluttershy added.

“Laughing!” Pinkie joined in.

“You mean doing exactly what I wanted to do the whole time?” asked Spike a little irritated.

“Yes, Spike. You were right.” Twilight admitted.

“As horrible as our night was...” Applejack started.

“...being together here has made it all better.” Rarity finished.

“In fact, it's made it...” Pinkie said.

“...the best night ever!” they all shouted in union again.

“Well, almost,” Twilight said, as all of the girls turned towards Lazlo, who was listening to it with an amused expression. “I really wish, you would’ve been there.”

“I don’t understand this.” the princess said. “I did send you an invitation via Spike, but Twilight told me, that you never got it. Do you know anything about it Spike?” she turned to the dragon, questioningly.

“I don’t remember getting any letter from you about the Gala, nor any ticket,” he told her, seemingly just as confused as anyone else.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Lazlo said. “I appreciate the gesture nonetheless.”

“I’m glad that you are here, though, because I have news to tell you. The research about getting you home is finished.” as Celestia finished this, all of the eyes were on her in an instant and all of their minds began to concentrate on what will happen?

Applejack was quite happy to hear this. This meant, that he will soon leave. Not like, she hated him but they weren’t best buddies. She always felt that he was trouble in some way. And while she could respect a few of his traits, she still couldn’t accept, how cruel he was towards his mother. Yes, she did lie to her parents and other family members on rare occasions, but she always felt bad about it and apologized. Lazlo however seemed to be proud of what he did and didn’t show even a little bit of remorse. That being said, she was also happy, that those humans, who were close to the man will be seeing him again.

Rarity had mixed feelings. She did enjoy Lazlo’s presence, even if his words were sometimes profane and general disinterest towards anything fashion-related did leave them only a few topics to talk about, but making clothes to him and that little information he could provide for her questions did inspire her to come out with many beautiful garments. And while he wasn’t often a gentlecolt, she still enjoyed his company.

Fluttershy was sad. She spent the least time with him, compared to the others, but she still wished to introduce him to her animal friends, he only met a few of them and many others wished to see him. Plus he was among those few who she actually felt comfortable to be with, along with the girls and Spike. But she was also glad, that he can go back and be happy with his human friends and family.

Pinkie felt like crying both in joy and sorrow. One of her best friends could go home and be truly happy again. But that also meant that they won’t see him again. A goodbye forever. The only thing of him left is the memories and pictures they made. Still, she would proudly make him her first ‘Farewell forever and never forget us’ party.

Rainbow Dash liked the human. He was kinda cool, often had some funny things to say, and had some hilarious stories to tell. She also felt the urge to put him into shape, because he looked like, he could use some workout and who else was more fit for the job, than Ponyville’s best athlete. And while she would never admit it out loud, she would miss him.

Twilight Sparkle was outright devastated. There were so many things she still wanted to learn from him. So many topics to talk about. But her scientific thinking quickly turned into friendship thinking. While she learned the friendship lessons mostly from the other girls and Spike, Lazlo also did play a part of them, and she felt like, the connection he made with them was just as strong, as what they had with each other. She felt like, he was just as part of the group as any of her friends, even if he wasn’t her number one assistant, or wasn’t there in the Castle of the Two Sister on that night or rather, morning. And she also liked that he was her roommate. While he wasn’t as great a cook as Spike and didn’t do as good a job at keeping the library and their living quarters clean as the dragon, she still appreciated his help and enjoyed his company. She also never thought she would, and frankly, never wanted to write a friendship report to the princess about handling a final goodbye to a good friend. And yet, despite how much she wanted to beg him to stay here with them, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Spike felt bad too. Lacy was his only close, male friend. He tried to make others, but it was a slower process than he expected. Not because he was a dragon, but because he still wasn’t mature enough for the adults, but more mature than most colts. But he and Lacy were pretty good together. He helped him out in his chores and he was the only one, he could ask tips about Rarity. Even if they only talked about it once, he was sure, he could ask him about things like that later. Plus he always wanted to show him his comic collection and play O&O with him, but it looks like it will never happen now.

“So does that mean...” Lazlo started his question with a hopeful tone and expression.

But the princess’ look and answer made everyone gasp.

“I’m sorry, but we can not send you home. You will have to live the rest of your life here.”
> 17. A talk about solitude
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He sat on the ground of the balcony. His long hair covered most of his face, his head down, tears running down his cheeks, the silence only interrupted by quiet sobs. How he wanted to yell until his throat breaks, hit everything before him, blame everything that happened to him on the ponies.

And yet no voice came out of his mouth. His hands stayed rested on his tights. And no matter how angry or mad he was right now, he just couldn’t say even a bad word about Princess Celestia, or anypony else. Not after all that kindness, they showed him. He couldn’t even think about some conspiracy, that they just want to keep him here, it just seemed impossible.

When Princess Celestia told him, that they cannot send him home and then explained that it was because they cannot open a portal to a magicless world without endangering the magicless world. If magic would get there, the effects would be similar to a nuclear catastrophe, or even worse. That made Lazlo panic a bit, because if he got here, that means, a portal was opened and the place he was last would be like Chernobyl and most of his friends were there too. Luckily Celestia did calm him down, that since they didn’t find any trace of magic in his world, that means, he managed to get here, without any of the worlds being affected, which also meant that they had no idea, how he ended up here, or what exactly happened.

After the shocking news, Celestia offered him to stay at the castle tonight and that there were a few things, they needed to do tomorrow. Some of his friends wanted to stay with him, but Celestia told them, that it would be better if they leave him for tonight, go back to Ponyville and she will send him back later. Reluctantly they agreed. They said goodbye to him, some even hugged him, but he was just standing there, looking down silently. Finally, as they left, he began to walk back with the princess, who personally escorted him to one of the guestrooms and told him that if he needs anything, a guard will be at his door, just tell him and he will help him out. Then left him, because she knew, that what he really needed now was some alone time.

He didn’t even look around in the room. Just stood there, near the door, where the princess left him. After several minutes he began walking forward until he reached the other end of the room where a door led out to the balcony. He went out and as he reached the railing, looking down he could see all the way down to the mountain base. For a moment he considered jumping and ending his life, but he did not move. He did not feel like committing suicide. He felt nothing. Like his own soul left him, if he had one, to begin with. Like if all his brain stopped working except the vital functions.

He did not remember when did he sit down on the cold stone and got into his current position. Suddenly he heard it again. Music. A sad piano tune was heard. He stood up and began looking around. He could not locate the source but he did see several royal guards on the castle ground with their heads slowly leaning from side to side. All of them had their mount moving indicating that they were singing for the tune but Lazlo did not understand anything. To him, it was like a typical crowd murmur. But a sudden urge stuck him and he began singing.

[Lazlo]
Please sing me a beautiful lullaby,
About a love life, I wanted in my life,
How I wasn’t a bad person, nor was I good,
And no one can be more alone

Momentarily forgetting all the sadness he felt, he slapped his left hand to his mouth. He began hearing the guard murmuring again but he didn’t care about them right now. He wanted to escape from whatever this was. He thought that maybe if he run from this place, it will go away just like earlier this evening. However, this time he couldn’t move. Not on his own will at least. He walked back to the railing and put his hands on it. Looking up to the clear night sky, he began to sing once more but this time he wasn’t singing alone.

[Lazlo and a female voice]
Please sing me a beautiful lullaby,
About a loved life, I wanted till I die,
How I wasn’t a bad person, nor was I good,
And no one can be more alone,
Not a single soul can be more alone

As he got back the full control of his own body, not ignoring the other voice, he heard singing which was actually quite close to him, looking at his left he was startled a little when he noticed that a pony was standing there. A pony with a dark blue coat, wings tucked to the side, horn with a black tiara behind it, wings tucked to the sides. Her mane and tail were like the night sky filled with stars waving constantly, just like Princess Celestia’s. She also wore a dark chest piece with an image of a moon in the middle and also had silver horseshoes on her hooves. Looking into her cyan eyes, he knew that this mare here is Princess Luna, the younger sister of Celestia, who was imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years and who was saved by Twilight and her friends.

“Princess Luna.” he nodded his head towards her as a small bow but then his eyes went back, looking at what was before him.

“Lazlo Kis.” her voice was deeper than the average and had a tone that made it sound like something ancient was talking, which, considering her age wasn’t a surprise. Celestia’s voice sounded similar in that case, but while hers gave the impression of a kind old lady who showed motherly love and had every time she talked it gave the feeling that no matter what, everything will be alright, Luna’s was more mysterious and a little supernatural too. “It is a great pleasure of meeting with thou in this realm at last. I enjoyed our discussion in thy dreams.”

“What?” that kicked him out of his lethargy for a moment.

“Don’t thou remember?” she asked just as confused as the human. “We visited thou in thy dream. We talked.” still no sign of remembering, or even understanding. “We are capable of entering to the dream of another. We told thee, before our banishment we used this power to spy on our enemies and those who were suspicious of trying to ruin the unified Equestria. Now other nations are more open to cooperating than attacking and the ponies aren’t trying to overthrow our rule because our sister made sure to show them that living in peace and harmony is a happier life and tries to help as many ponies as possible. But we were still unsure what we can do to be our sister’s equal. Not many to do at night when most are asleep. We hath joined to our sister to some of the afternoon duties for we had been sleeping in the morning but that is not enough. But when our sister returned from Ponyville with the idea you gave her and we hath tried and the ponies did thank us for helping and some even showed up at our court to tell us personally, we knew we hath found the royal duty that would finally put us next to our sister. And it is thou, who made that possible. We will be forever grateful for it and in thy debt. Now please talk to us about this problem let us help thee to accept thy fate on it let us repay part of our debt this night.”

“I’m not in a talking mood.” Lazlo simply said after listening to the princess’ monologue.

“We understand and yet we still insist. Our sister did the same when we arrived back at first after we were cleansed. Please, tell us anything thou wishes in any way, we will not take any offense thou have our word as a Princess of Equestria.” Luna insisted.

“And what should I tell you?” he snapped. “How alone I feel? I just fucking sang it and I don’t even know how or why or what was that at all? Or how sorry I feel for myself? How I just want to be angry and blame someone for it but can’t because I don’t even know who is responsible for all of this if there is anyone for that matter?! Humans are a species that needs company, even the most introverted ones no matter how hard they try to deny it! But here, I’m the only one. And yes, I’ve come to accept you as persons but you still remind me of the horses of my world and they’re not sapient. So many things similar here, yet so many are different. And I don’t know how long can I go on without loosing my mind if I haven’t already...” his voice became quieter with each sentence. “I just... I just want to go home... I don’t want to live here...”

He heard a few steps, in the corner of his eye, he saw the princess coming a little closer to him.

“When we spoke in thy dreams, thou has told us that we have been given a second chance and how it was very rare, especially in a position we were and how grateful should we feel. Thou has told us that if we were given an opportunity then we shall take it and make the best of it. I cannot forgive myself for what we did but our sister could and we could become the Princess of the Night once more. And then thou have given us an advice for how we can come out of our sister’s shadow. And we have took the opportunity. Our situation is not the same but we can understand thy loneliness for we felt similar for 
many years. Thou has mentioned that there are many similarities between this world and the one thou has come from. Concentrate on those to help accepting thy situation. We believe in thee and we are sure that thou will find thy place here just like thou did in your world. Equestria has became a prosperous and beautiful country during my sister’s reign and we promised her that we will help her to continue this noble cause in our own way and we know thou will be doing the same. Thou has a wonderful opportunity here so took it like we did.”

As she finished she placed her wing on the man’s shoulder and kept it there for a few seconds. She saw a few tears rolling down on his cheek but he did not give any reaction to what she said. She wanted to say more when finally she noticed a small nod from him. She retacted her wing.

“We will let thy rest for the night and make sure thou will not suffer from any nightmare for it is our duty now thanks to thee. Our sister also wishes to see thou in the morning and invited thee for breakfast. A servant will come to wake thou up before that. Have a pleasant night and we wish thee the best.”

She walked back into the room then out of the door on the other side. Lazlo heard her speaking with someone but didn’t pay attention to it as it faded away quickly as she moved further away from the door. He was alone once more. He stood there on the balcony for a little more before making his way back to the room. He didn’t remove any of his clothes, just simply collapsed on the bed and quietly cried himself to sleep.
> 18. Leave me alone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He stayed in Canterlot for a few days. Not like he really cared about anything at that time. Princess Celestia offered citizenship to him but did not force it if he wanted she could arrange for him to go to any other nation but Lazlo just shrugged as it didn’t matter to him then at least he was somewhat familiar with Equestria and the princess also pointed out that he already had several friends here to help him, since he rejected her offer of a psychologist or any other specialist. Nothing could help him right now.

After becoming an official equestrian citizen and Celestia pointed out that despite from now he is her subject she still wanted to see him as a friend. Again the only response was a shrug and a small nod.

During his stay at the castle, he didn’t do much. If not for the current mental state he would’ve happily explored the castle town but right now most of his time was spent in his living quarters. From time to time Celestia came to him then they talked a little but she still had many duties. Luna did not show up after that night though he saw her in the dining room at breakfast lunch and dinner though they only talked a little. Princess Cadance visited him a few times and she was the one who managed to make him move out a little when offered to help him set up his own Vault account.

The Equestrian Vault or EV was the closest thing to a bank here just more simple. It was basically like the name suggested a vault where you could keep your money and take it out when wanted. Every equestrian citizen could make one personal account for free as it was basically its cost was basically built into the taxes. If you wanted another, or for your company then it did cost some money but not that much. It had a few other functionalities like you could transfer money from your account to another or you could ask for a loan here but other than that not much. It wasn’t a bank so no interest rates different kinds of saving services and other stuff that you could do just Lazlo didn’t pay much attention to them. While generally the cutie marks were used as the main identification since there were other species who could become equestrian citizens and also there were some rare occurrences of the same cutie mark a picture was made of him but his unique case as the only human that his species was the main ID in his case.

Today he was going to return to Ponyville. Princess Celestia made another offer before he left the castle though. They couldn’t send him home but he gave them much knowledge and research material that to compensate for their failure she will buy him a house. To be more accurate he will choose one from the available ones and she will pay for it not only for the house itself but for the furniture too. For this, he finally said a ‘Thank you’ besides the nod. She told him that she will send a pony from the Royal Treasury to Ponyville two days later to write down the costs and handle the payments. Lazlo thought that two days would be enough to find everything he needed since there wasn’t anything else he could do and there probably wasn’t that big variety in a small town like Ponyville.

As he walked to the Canterlot Train Station with a guard who was assigned to escort him there and also prevent anypony from stopping him for any reason. Celestia felt that even though Lazlo acted like an empty shell most of the time she knew that there were many feelings inside him and he needed a peaceful environment for the process of accepting the situation and Canterlot was more lively for his mindstate. The princess hoped that her little ponies in Ponyville will be able to heal his mind much faster than she or anypony here could.

The train car was relatively empty only a few ponies were sitting here and there. Upon noticing him they all looked at him some with confusion, some recognized the strange creature from the newspapers. He ignored them and sat down on one of the empty seats slightly leaning to the window and looking out still wearing a gloomy expression. He heard some ponies whispering but didn’t pay attention to them though most likely the quiet talking was about him. Soon the train left the station. Lazlo continued to stare out of the window for the whole journey not like he was actually looking.

As the train stopped at Ponyville station Lazlo stood up and left the car. He then began to walk towards the center of the little town. Familiar ponies noticed him and greeted him with a smile on their faces. Apparently, they didn’t hear about what happened yet. He ignored them and continued his way to the town hall.

When he arrived the mare at the reception showed him the document which contained the available houses. In Equestria, every house or land that can be purchased must be available at the town hall. No matter if the owner tries to sell it themself or through an agent, they need to inform the mayor about it and provide some documentation and a layout drawing so anyone who wants to buy one can see every one of them in one place. Of course, they cannot change the price nor any condition the owner put on the sale as long as they are within the laws of Equestria.

There weren't many houses on sale. It was a small town after all. It didn't take long for him to select the one he wanted. There was only one completely empty house. No furniture at all. It wasn't newly built so the previous owner probably wanted to keep everything he had. Because of this, it was cheaper not that it mattered to him.

The single-story house was on the outer parts of the town but since crossing Ponyville on foot wouldn't take too long, he wouldn't be too far away from some important part of the town like the market or the library.

He told the mare about his situation and informed her that two days later a pony will come to handle the costs so that's when he wishes to finalize the buy. The mare told him that she will inform the owner.

After he finished there he left the town hall and immediately noticed a cloud that was pretty close to the ground level and a certain pegasus with a noticeable mane and tail was resting on it. But she was awake at the moment and was looking at the human.

"Lacy! You're back!" she exclaimed and hopped down from the cloud and began floating around eye level with the human.

But Lazlo just ignored her and began walking. She was confused for a second but followed him.

"Hey! I get it you are sad and all but talk to me." she tried to start a conversation but Lazlo didn't say anything. "The girls all want to speak with you just like me." she went on.

"I'm not in the mood." Lazlo finally spoke his voice lacking any emotion. Rainbow stopped and huffed then flew away.

The man soon found what he was looking for. A furniture shop. Well, the only one that had all the furniture he needed, or at least he hoped they had.

While browsing through the wares he thought less about being stuck here and more about getting everything he needed. The mayor was kind enough to provide a copy of the layout with the sizes of the rooms so he could plan with that.

He thought that it would take more than one visit but after a few hours, he exited the store with many items put on hold for him. It probably helped that after a while he put every part of his mind on to find the best furniture and put them into places well at least on a planning table.

The kitchen will have some cupboards a refrigerator with a freezer part an oven and a sink. He didn't find a dishwasher which was an annoyance since he was usually too lazy to wash the dishes if it was more than only a plate and some cutlery. He also found a dining table with chairs well, the chairs didn't have backrests which also wasn't good but he will survive. Since there wasn't a dining room but the kitchen area was pretty big the table will be there as well. Next was the living room. Some armchair and a sofa with a small table and some shelves for now. The bathroom was kinda problematic. Bathtubs and showers were too small for him but the shopkeeper was kind enough to recommend a pony who was a house renovator. Lazlo probably needed one anyway to do the painting and tiling and stuff like that. That pony can turn one corner into a shower place so that was solved as well. Another annoyance was that there wasn't a different place for the toilet that needed to be put into the bathroom. Every house and apartment he lived in in his world had a secluded room for the toilet which was really convenient especially if diarrhea hit you while someone was showering. A sink, a shelf, and a mirror will be put there too but no washing machine but he will get one later until then he has to bring them to Rarity or the laundry shop. There were still two rooms left. One will be his bedroom the other... well he had no idea yet but it wasn't that important at that time. For his bedroom, he needed a bed, nightstand, wardrobe, commode those were the essentials though he also found a desk and a chair, plus a few bookcases as well. The bed was another issue. Ponies were smaller, and though Twilight had one that was just long enough for him it seemed that that was the only one in Ponyville. While the shop didn't have a large enough bed for him the shopkeeper yet again came up with a solution. A sofa that can be pulled out and turned into a bed for two ponies plus a simple bed to the end making it the size of two people bed for humans. Of course, that meant that he would buy even more furniture yet he wasn't the one paying for this so he didn't care.

After getting to choose everything he needed... well actually not like he did have many choices, this was a small shop after all. It had every kind of furniture that is needed in a house but there was not a big variety only a few if any. He wondered for a minute while exiting the building who the hell was so bound to their furniture that they even bring their damn bathtub with them when moving?

It was time to look for that house renovator pony and have a talk with him. On his way to the address, he was given he found that the six mares were close by waiting for him. Upon noticing the human they all trotted towards him.

"Lacy!" some of them shouted at the same time.

"Rainbow Dash told us you're back." Pinkie stated the obvious. "We were looking for you for hours but couldn't find you we even asked other ponies and some did see you but couldn't tell exactly where you were so we were just going around the town so we can find you and cheer you up because Rainbow said that you were sad and we understand that but we cannot let you stay sad because living the rest of your life sad is not a good life." she rambled while the others facepalmed.

"What she means is..." Twilight started after recovering from her reaction to Pinkie's monologue. "...that we are here for you and want to help. I can't even imagine, what I would feel in your situation." Then she realized where did Lazlo come out from. "By the way what were you doing in the furniture store?"

"I'm moving." he simply stated before continuing his walk.

"WHAT?" Twilight shouted, clearly surprised by it. "But... how? Why?" Lazlo stopped and looked at her.

"Celestia offered to buy and furniture a house for me in Ponyville as payment for those materials I provided to researchers, plus as an apology for not being able to send me back home. As for the why... I just want to be left alone for now. In a few days, I will move out of your library." he explained keeping it simple and short then decided to ignore her and the others and started walking again.

The girls tried to talk to him but it was now pointless. After a few minutes, they seemed to give up finally understanding his wish to be left alone.

When he found that renovator pony was an earth pony stallion with a light brown coat and dark blonde mane and tail, cutie mark is a pair of hooves breaking down a wall with some also some tools near it. He explained to him what he wanted and he assured him that he could do it easily. He also offered to paint any part of the house he wished but based on what he was told at the town hall it didn't need any repainting as it was in good condition. Lazlo didn't want to waste any day on it so he declined his offer and stayed with only the shower corner. That and some tiling that was necessary.

After everything was done, he went back to the library. Only a few days now and he will have his own home. Yet he wasn't excited at this. He just wanted to go back to his apartment where all his belongings were where he could contact his family and friends and tell them that everything is okay. He even wanted to go back to his workplace and work on their software. He missed the technology, the people he knew, and the life he had. But he had to let go of that and accept this new one in a completely different world far away from everything he knew as the only human. Even with all those sentient creatures here he was alone. A lone human in a world which wasn't designed for him and he wasn't designed for it.

The next day was eventless yet annoying. Since he got back to the library from the renovator pony Twilight and Spike tried to talk with him but he just told them that he was tired and wanted to sleep. This day however was worse. Many ponies came to address their sympathy for him as the news of him being stuck here got around the little town and eventually made it to the newspapers as well. Every time a pony came in trying to have a chat with him he would just tell to leave him alone. At first, it was only a lifeless response but as more and more ponies came and sometimes in smaller groups it became more forceful and rude.

The next day started as the same but eventually, a pony arrived who claimed to come from Canterlot to arrange the payment for the house and the furniture and any other costs that came up.

As they went to the town hall at first Lazlo had finally one reason to be happy. It didn't take so long to arrange everything. Basically, the stallion whose name he forgot a minute after introduction just wrote the necessary information down to a paper that seemed like some kind of contract form filling the information that can change like the cost of the house he the mayor and Lazlo signed and basically, the house was his he even got the key. He didn't meet the previous owner as he couldn't come here on such short notice but apparently, his presence wasn't necessary just his signature on a document that was spent to him with express delivery two days ago and arrived this morning back here. It confused the man for a little bit but in the end, he didn't really care as he will get his money and he got the house.

Next, they went to the furniture shop where after another quick talk and making some documents the furniture was on their way the shopkeeper promised that everything will be delivered and placed in their place by the wishes of the customer on the next day.

After that, they went to the renovator pony whose name if Lazlo remembered correctly was Wall Breaker. A few minutes later the three of them were on the way to the house. As they arrived there Lacy thought about how this will be the first time he will actually see the inside. On another note, he was also surprised but glad that apparently, this place either didn't have such a fucked up bureaucracy or maybe the princess did something to fasten things up but point was that he didn't need to wait days or weeks to process one step because of damn reasons beyond his understanding.

Opening the door for the first time should have been something special, after all, moving to a new home is not something people does often. Well, there are exceptions but Lazlo wasn't one. When he was born they lived in a quite big house, then after their parents' divorce, they moved to an apartment in one of the panel buildings in the small town he's from, then to the dorm when he went to high school, though that's not really the same, finally the apartment in the capital city. So basically two and a half. He remembered being sad when they first moved. He loved that big house he lived there for seven years but then his parents decided to 'spend some time apart' as they said to him back then. However, when he finished high school and moved to the big city and his mother decided to buy an apartment for him, he was excited when he first stepped into his new home. Even if his relationship with his mother wasn't all that good back then, repainting the rooms and assembling the furniture with her and his grandparents who also came to help was a happy memory for him, one, he liked to recall from time to time. 

As he stepped in he could see the whole length of the house. On the other end many meters away there was a window. On his left side, a wall went all the way towards the other end it had three doors. Based on the layout the middle door led to the bathroom while the other two to two rooms one will be his bedroom probably the closest one the other will be empty for now, he had no idea what to do with it right now. On his right was also a wall but that only run for a few meters on the right was the biggest space which will be his living room. Going further from there, on the right was another room that didn't have a door but a rather wide arch. That will be his kitchen and dining area. The whole place was big enough for a small family one child and the parents.

Lazlo will be living here alone. Family is another thing he will never have of his own. Twilight told him that interspecies relationship is accepted here and adoption is unfortunately available here too and there is a chance that one day he will catch someone's eyes but he didn't think he could ever go into a relationship like this. He came from a world with only one sapient species. Romantical love for any other species was very rare and basically forbidden in most places at least to his knowledge but he was also raised that way. And it wasn't even close mindlessness, after all, animals did handle this whole thing differently since for them it was mostly about just the reproduction, passing along their genes.

Since based on the layout of the plans of where to place everything was already finished Wall Breaker started working on the shower corner which is on the left far corner of the bathroom from the door.

Wall Breaker did bring everything with him so he started working on the plus wall so at least that will be ready today. Well except for the tiles because it was unknown to them what color of tiles were there it turned out it was simple aquamarine. Lazlo offered to go and get some so that could be also done today. Luckily the paint was really in a good condition so the man decided to keep it for now. The kitchen was light yellowish almost white-colored, all the other walls were light brownish-purplish colored.

Wall Breaker did work fast. By the end of the day, he was finished with everything that was his job to do. His payment was handled by that pony from Canterlot, whose name Lazlo still couldn't remember and probably won't by himself. During the day Twilight came to his soon-to-be home to talk with him but just like since he got back from Canterlot told her that he didn't want to talk about anything. She tried to persuade him but it only ended up in more and more rude declines. Finally giving up she left and Lazlo could hear her talking with others probably the other mares and Spike.

After Wall Breaker finished, he left and that other pony told him that everything was done by his end, so he will return to Canterlot. Lazlo was left alone in the empty house. He just stood there in the middle of his future living room enjoying the silence that finally came. After some time, he left and went back to the library for his final night there.

Upon entering, he spotted both Twilight and Spike the former reading a book, the latter a comic book. They looked at him for a moment but then went back to their readings much to his relief. Spending some time alone did calm him enough to feel some remorse for being so rude to the mare but he knew if they start speaking to him again the anger will come back.

Going straight to his room not even paying attention to his stomach which was trying to let him know that it's been empty for some time now. He started to pack the few things he owned here. The phoenix feather he got from Philomena as an apology for wounding his arm, the clothes Rarity made for him, and those games that Fancy Pants' factory spent him. Rarity was kind enough to make him a bag that he can put everything in it. His belongings filled it yet Lazlo still felt as it was empty.

Comparing how much stuff he owned. His computer, a laptop, television, tablet, phone, alcoholic drinks, wristwatch, everything in that apartment, like books, pictures, not to mention the things on his computer. That reminded him that he still needed to get a few more things he forgot like cutlery and plates and glasses. Well, he can always go and buy some at some local shop. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He went to open it expecting Twilight but he only found a plate with two sandwiches on it and a glass of water beside it. For the first time since coming back to Ponyville, he felt actually glad that they finally left him alone as he wished and because of that he could think a little more clearly and in this mindset, he made a mental note to make up for this to Twilight. Finishing up with the food and drinking the water he left the plate and glass on the nightstand and went to sleep.

Today was the day. It should have filled him with excitement but that was something he just couldn't feel right now. The only feeling he had was tiredness. He slept little last night. Those few shut-eyes were also interrupted by nightmares. He got up and did his morning routine then immediately grabbed his bag with his belongings and left the library. As he arrived at the house he saw an earth pony pulling a cart with some of his furniture. He greeted the pony who introduced himself as Heavy Lifter which amused the man for a moment and was glad for it as all these distractions worked on his mind momentarily filling the emptiness within him.

The next hours were filled with furniture placing. Heavy Lifter brought the furniture into the room it will be then with Lazlo they placed everything into its place. After that, he went to bring the next pack as on the cart there was space for only a few pieces so he had quite some errands to run. It was already afternoon when everything was in their place. They even managed to connect the taps, shower, and toilet to the plumbing system.

The house also had electricity. Well, at least something similar to it. Machines like refrigerator oven etc... needed to be plugged in but the 'electricity' of the house (and for every building) was provided by a special crystal that could turn the 'magic in the air' into something similar to electricity. And since magic wasn't something that the environment could simply run out of since the Sun and the Moon both radiated magic plus the leftover of a pony using its own magic no matter which tribe they belong to and some other factor as well. At least that's what stuck with him when Twilight talked about it.

Now that Heavy Lifter left he was once again alone just as he would've liked. And yet another thought occurred.

Now what?

Will he live his life in solitude keeping contact with others at the minimum? Can he return or even get close to the life he used to have? Will he feel better over time to open up again and wish for the ponies' company? Or will he shrink into such depression that will result in his death probably in a form of suicide?

He didn't know the answer but one thing was fix. He wanted to be left alone for some more time. But it wasn't given to him. A set of knocks rang through the silent rooms. He got up from his sofa and went to open the door.

Not surprisingly Twilight Rainbow Dash Rarity Pinkie Pie Applejack Fluttershy and Spike were there.

"Hello." Twilight greeted the others followed the human just stared at them. He knew where this was going and he didn't want it as he was still relatively calm for now. "You moved out without saying goodbye..." Twilight continued then used her magic to take out a sack from her saddlebags. "...And your money." Lazlo took the sack and nodded to her.

"Darling! You look terrible!" Rarity observed. "I understand that you feel on the edge now, but you shouldn't give up on yourself because of that."

"We want to see you smile again!" Pinkie said but surprisingly this time her voice wasn't that squeaky.

"We want to help you," Fluttershy said quietly.

"And we can only do that if you let us." Twilight finished while Spike Applejack and Rainbow both nodded but neither of them spoke up. Applejack because she and Lacy weren't on the best terms Rainbow because she wasn't good enough for handling this situation with words the same was with Spike.

"I just want to be left alone for now," Lazlo spoke feeling his dry throat as he barely drank anything during the day and now also remembered that he hasn't eaten anything this day. There wasn't any food in the house yet and he didn't feel like going anywhere today. He will bear it for today. He also thought that maybe he should've asked Celestia for staying in the castle for some more time as at least there was the only time he was pestered when somepony came to tell him that it was time for breakfast lunch or dinner. Celestia Luna Cadance even Shining Armor came to try to talk with him but after the first time, he told them 'no' they all agreed to leave him to his own. But these girls didn't stop. They didn't get it. And Lazlo's mind started to get worked up on that thought.

"Lazlo please talk to us! We can help you! Our friendship became strong over these months and we can't bear to see you like this! Let us do this for you!" Twilight spoke but it only pushed him onto the edge.

For days he told them that he didn't want this now he told them what he wanted. He told them both in polite and rude ways. And yet nothing changed. And it was finally enough for him to snap.

"What didn't you get of what I told you before?!" his sudden change of mood startled them. "I've told you in every possible way that I don't want your help! What didn't you understand when I told you to fuck off?! How else should I tell you that the only thing I want is to LEAVE ME ALONE!" by the end, he was shouting at them. The reaction for his episode was between teary eyes and shaking in fear.

He turned around to go back into the house when he heard Twilight.

"Dear Princess Celestia" she said between a few sobs. "Today, I've learned that sometimes a friend can be in such a critical state that no matter how hard you try to help them it will only deepen the gap between you two. You cannot simply force your way towards a solution. Sometimes you just have to give your friend space and time to let them adjust to that big change."

Lazlo thinking that she's finished muttered a 'finally' before opening his door but then Twilight continued this time her voice wasn't filled with sorrow but with determination.

"But you should never leave them! You just have to find a different way to help them without damaging the friendship between you and forcing them to do things they don't want. It might take time to find that way but I believe that in the end, it will only strengthen the bond between you. Your Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle." she finished.

Lazlo only sighed and entered the house.
> 19. One pony at a time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been three days. Three days, since he shouted at them. She was scared then a little but she also felt that he was still holding back and that made her feel grateful. It meant that he didn't want to completely send them away, he just wanted some alone time. But how much longer will be like this? She didn't have the answer, probably nopony had, after all, was there anypony ever in a situation like him? Most likely not.

The human was only spotted once in Ponyville since he moved to his new house. Two days ago on the marketplace, buying a lot of food and also some other things. Several full bags in his hands. No reaction when a pony greeted him. Not stopping for anything else, going straight to his home.

Three days. But no more. Twilight came to her yesterday evening and told her to go to the library this morning because she came up with an idea and she wanted to share it with them, as well, as asking for their help. Naturally, she said yes. So as she finished everything, she had to do this morning she immediately walked to the library.

Opening the door she noticed that all the other girls were there, she arrived last.

"I'm sorry for being late, girls." she apologized. "There are always a lot of things to do in the morning." they turned to her with understanding smiles on their faces.

"It's alright, Fluttershy." Twilight calmed her down. "The others arrived just a minute earlier." Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, hearing that, she didn't want her friends to wait for her.

She moved closer to the others as Twilight started to talk.

"Okay, so now that you're all here, let's start. It's about Lacy as you'd probably guessed already." she started but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

"And how do we do that? We tried for a few days but you know what happened."

"Yes, and I think I know why." Twilight continued. "We overwhelmed him with all of us being there at the same time. If we can try to approach him one by one, then I think we will be more successful," she explained.

Fluttershy did agree with Twilight on this one and suddenly an idea sparked in her mind. She just had to get one thing from her home and then go to his house.

"Alright, so what about a maximum of two ponies a day but at least a few hours between them?" Twilight asked and Fluttershy realized that while she thought about this idea of hers, the others also agreed to Twilight's plan and began to work out the details.

"Um... girls." she tried to speak up and share her idea with them, also ask if it's okay to start right now but she didn't want to interrupt anypony else, they might have an even better idea.

Well, they all had something in mind and they seemed good. Finally Twilight turned to her.

"And what about you, Fluttershy? You came up with anything?" she asked, the others looked at her expectingly.

"Yes, I do. And I want to do it right now if it's okay with you," she said.

"What do you have in mind, my dear?" Rarity asked.

"I'm going to bring him something," she answered.

"And what is that 'something'?" this question came from Rainbow.

Fluttershy smiled a little, then moved a little closer as if it would be a secret and she'd try to be careful not to let anypony, who'd be eavesdropping on them to hear it. And then she spoke of her idea. The others were surprised at first by what she said but then gave her an approving nod and wished her good luck. Now she only needed to go home for a minute, then she will be on her way to Lacy's house, just in time for what she planned to do.

The sun was closing at its highest position of the day as she made her way to the human's house. She had a saddlebag on her back, inside of it something she intended to give to him.

When she reached the door she raised her right forehoof to knock but stopped for a moment. What if he still doesn't want to do anything with them? What if this will only make him worse? But these questions became irrelevant as the image of his face, which showed how broken he was, came to her mind. So she knocked.

Before she could even think of what she will do if he ignores her, she heard movement then the door opened. Lazlo stood there without any emotion on his face but other than that didn't seem as bad as she expected.

"Hello." she meekly greeted him.

"Hello." he greeted her in return.

"I... um... I hope, I'm not bothering you or anything but I bought something for you," she told him.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked as if he didn't hear anything she said and just remembered that there was somepony at the door.

"Yes," she answered. "If it's okay with you," she added.

At first, she expected his home to be a mess. That's what happens to others in his state right? Or was that just something she always assumed? Her brother came to her mind at first, well mostly because of the mess, though her parents would always clean up after him and his mess would be because of a different reason. It didn't matter.

As she followed him to the living room, she noticed the lack of any decoration, just furniture was present but thinking a little more to it, as he only left once, since moving in and that too was for grocery and some other things that were necessary, it wasn't a big surprise.

"It looks nice," she commented while looking around. Lazlo gestured for her to sit down and she hopped on the sofa.

Lazlo went into the kitchen and soon returned with two glasses of water. He set them down to the small table, then noticed that it was a little far away from Fluttershy to reach it without getting off from the sofa so he pushed the small table a little closer then sat down to one of the armchairs.

"I only have water." he simply stated.

"Thank you. Oh, before I forget, I brought you something." she then reached for her saddlebags and took three fish out of it then set them on the table. "I don't know how humans eat fish, I hope you can do something with these."

Lazlo just stared at the freshly caught fish for a minute before Fluttershy could see a few tears running down his cheek. For a moment she feared that this idea of hers only made things worse but then Lacy wiped his face with his hand and began talking.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Really. I know how to prepare fish for cooking." his words calmed her down.

"How do you prepare the fish?" she asked, eager to know more about this.

"I need to remove the scales, then the head, and then cut it open on the stomach side and remove everything inside."

And that was enough for her. It sounded so gory in her imagination and yet she couldn't think any less or worse of him. But she also didn't want to hear more information so she gestured him to stop and he did. She made a mental note to tell these to her bear friend, she was sure that he can do these things next time before bringing Lazlo more fish. 

"Sorry." the man apologized. 

"It's okay," Fluttershy answered. She then noticed that he started shaking a little. It wasn't cold or anything like that. She thought it was best to leave him now since it looked like even one pony was too much for him. "I think, I'll leave you alone. I guess you want to make that fish now," she said while getting up.

"Wait." she heard him trying to stop her quietly. As she looked at him, she saw he was shaking more heavily now and it seemed that he was trying to say more but nothing else left his lips.

That's when it hit her. He was holding back his emotions, his feelings but she could also see that it wasn't anger. It was something else. Sadness maybe? No. Something much worse. She couldn't even imagine what could he be keeping in. And yet, despite how much she wanted to comfort him, she knew that it would only make things worse for both of them. She couldn't help him now if she tries to force him to talk.

It was like when she found an animal with a serious injury and didn't trust any other creature. She had spent hours beside that one but never going too close, yet trying to ease the animal to her presence. Approaching slowly, gaining the trust, and only then starting the healing when the animal was comfortable enough with her. This was a similar situation but now she wasn't alone with the injured one. She had to tell this to the others. But she also couldn't just leave him here like this so she walked to him.

"Everything will be alright." she talked to him softly, while putting one of her forehooves on his leg. He looked at her eyes. Those eyes. Full of pain, sadness, and something more. "You don't have to talk to me or any of the girls now. You will talk when you feel ready for it. And when you're ready, no matter with who will you speak, I guarantee you that they will listen and try their best to help you in any way they can." she took her hoof away when she saw him giving her a small nod, gave him a smile and then left him on his own for now.





Applejack was on her way to the human's home. She was pulling a small cart behind her, packed with a few things, mostly apple products. After her family learned about Lazlo from her, they all put together a package for him and Applejack was the one to bring it to him.

For the farm mare, it didn't matter what her personal thoughts were on the human. Their previous arguments and quarrels were put to the side now. Right now in her opinion, she was the closest to understanding the pain he was going through. This time she ignored her own stubbornness and go to help him any way she can, not just because this was also a family tradition, to help your neighbors, and for the Apple Family it went for every living being in Equestria, but she also felt, that in an opposite situation, Lazlo would do the same for her.

Upon arriving at the house, she unhitched herself from the cart and went to knock on the door. Fluttershy left the human a few hours ago and she told the others, what happened there and what to expect. Applejack prepared that her visit won't be very long but she hoped that she will be able to have at least something with him that can be called a conversation.

The door opened and for a moment she could see a slightly surprised eyebrow-raising from the human, before going back to the emotionless expression.

"I'm not in the mood for another argument with you, so if you would be so kind..." he started but Applejack didn't let him finish, because that would probably mean that he closed the door.

"I'm not here for any of that! I'm here on behalf of my whole family. We made some things to help you get accustomed to this unfortunate situation, you're dealing with."

"You really didn't have to..." he started again, sounding still depressed but she could hear some appreciation from his voice. However, this time he stopped himself as if he realized that it's pointless to argue about it and gestured her to come in.

Applejack grabbed a few things from the cart then handled them to the human, after taking them from her, she grabbed the others and followed the human inside, leaving the now empty cart out there.

Just like Fluttershy said, she too noticed that the house was relatively clean and ordered, though looked a little empty with the lack of decorations, or the empty bookcases, etc...

As she went after Lazlo towards the kitchen, a horrible smell hit her nose. The human looking at her after putting the stuff on the dining table noticed this.

"Sorry for the smell, I've made a fish Fluttershy brought me and the parts that I can't eat are still in the thrash." he apologized.

"It's okay, partner," she said and after giving him the rest of the stuff, she brought she backed away from the kitchen. She also noted that he was more talkative than a few hours ago, which was probably thanks to the fish, her friend gave to the man so it was overall a positive thing.

They both sat down in the living room and were just there looking out from their heads for quite a few seconds before Applejack decided to speak up.

"Listen, Lazlo. I understand the pain, you're going through." she began, knowing that Lazlo was listening, even if he didn't give any indication of it, as he was just staring at the small table before him. "When my Ma and Pa died, I was devastated too but my grandma helped me and my siblings even though she was just as sad as us, but it wasn't only her the ponies of this little town also come by, giving their support to us." she paused for a moment as a single sob was heard from the man. "Now it's time for us to be there for you. Whenever you want to talk about it, you can come to the farm, and Granny, Big Mac, and I will be ready to listen, but you also can go to Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, or Dash too, just like many other ponies." She noticed that Lazlo shook a little and his breathing quickened. "Do you want to talk about it now, sugarcube?" she asked, the only reaction is a small shake of his head, saying no. "Alright, I'll leave you alone for now, but don't forget, what I've told you."

"Thanks." she could barely hear the man. It seemed that bringing up this painful topic was still too hurtful for him, but he seemed somewhat okay before it, so it was progress for sure.

She left the house, hitched back the small cart her back, and walked back to the farm quickly before going to the library, where the others waited for her to tell them what happened.





The next morning it was Rarity's turn to visit their human friend. She knew that what she was bringing to him won't have the same effect as Fluttershy's gift, nor could she feel or give that kind of sympathy, like Applejack but that didn't mean that she won't do her best. She packed the few things, she wanted to bring with her and left her boutique.

She soon found herself before Lazlo's home. After knocking, the man opened the door and after the short greetings, he let her in. The first thing, she noticed was how plain was everything in this house. No decorations, one color, only the necessities. It was a horrifying sight for her eyes but her creative brain immediately started to work, filling the empty spaces with possibilities that would make this place homier and look more beautiful but also could be acceptable to the human.

"Darling!" she started as they both sat down in the living room. "I must tell you, that while your new home is lovely, it is also so plain," she remembered what Applejack told her about Lazlo being more talkative and open, though still not himself before she brought up the most painful thing for him. She decided to try the same strategy, hoping that she will get further than her two friends before. "Please! You must let me bring some style to it! I promise you, that everything will be marvelous."

"Thanks for the offer, but I rather like it like this." he simply answered.

"Alright, I won't force you but if you change your mind, let me be the first, you turn to." Lazlo nodded. "I also brought you something, my dear."

Rarity then used her magic to take out something from her bag. It was a suit. Simple, black, elegant pants. White shirt. Black suit jacket. But let's also not forget the smaller things, like a belt, socks, or even a pair of elegant shoes. It was just like the one Lazlo had.

"Twilight asked me to make it, when we first talked about it, asking the princess to give you a ticket too. We all still feel bad about you couldn't attend, no matter how it ended," she told him.

He looked at the full suit before him, reached out to run through his hands on it. She loved making that suit. It was her biggest challenge so far. And it was also hard not to put any gemstone or anything else on it.

"Thank you. It's great, really. Just like the one, I had but made from much better material." he said but Rarity already could feel the first signs of the same behavior, like what the other girls told her.

"But of course! I only use the best." she beamed at him with pride. "But I have to admit, I wanted to add something more  to it, to look more magnificent but I also remembered, when you told me about this being the standard dress code for the human stallions for formal attire." Lacy only nodded at this. "But let us focus on a more important matter at hoof now." as she said this, she could see him stiffen. "Darling, this simply cannot go on! I understand, that you are hurt but shutting yourself in won't make things better. We all want to help you but you must take the first step." then suddenly an idea popped inside her head. "I know! Why don't you join me and Fluttershy at the spa the next time? You must be overfilled with stress and tension and I can guarantee you, that the ponies there will help you with that." she finished with a smile.

She could see a few shakes on his body and she could've sworn, she heard some sobs as well, yet these all stopped and he spoke up his answer.

"I'll think about it." it was quiet but it made Rarity sure that Twilight's plan was working.

"That's all I ask." she got up. "I'm sorry for the short visit, but Sweetie Belle will be having lunch with me today and I have to start cooking in time. You are welcome to join if you wish." she offered, but Lazlo shook his head. "Alright then, see you later and don't forget, we are all there for you." with that she left his house.





Pinkie Pie always felt like personal responsibility to make sure, everypony is always happy. She would not rest until the sadness disappears from their faces, replaced by a huge and honest smile. Most of the time a party, some cupcakes, or a happy song was enough. However, this one was not so easy. She considered this one as her biggest challenge. Such a unique situation was this, that it needed a unique approach.

As she trotted towards her destination, she went through a few other things in her head, like finding a few more places to stash balls, eye patches, etc... so it would take less time to get one, in case of an emergency. She also should not forget to get more ballons because it will be Flitter's birthday next week and she will probably use most of what she has right now for that. But those can wait, this one isn't.

She stood in front of his door, mentally preparing herself because she had a feeling of what will happen and it needed preparation. Before she could knock, however, the door opened Lazlo standing there looking at her.

"Hi, Lacy! How did you know I was here?" she asked, containing herself by not asking if he has some psychic powers, she couldn't do that right now.

"The window was open and I heard you muttering," he answered. Well, that made sense.

Lazlo showed her in, she immediately took notice of everything in the house, she could see as plans began forming in her mind. Just like with the others, she too ended up on the living room sofa with him sitting in the armchair.

"How are you holding up?" she asked him.

"What do you think?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I think, you should come out more often," she told him. "You should stop holding in your feelings and let them all out." Pinkie cut right into the case. "I'll be here, listening. Trust me, it'll be easier after that."

"I don't think, it'll help in a situation like this." was all that he said.

"But it will!" Pinkie put her hoof down. "Just like the others said, we will be there for you and help you the best as we can but it's impossible if you won't do anything. Please!" she tried to force him.

"It's not your decision nor anyone else's, only mine." Lazlo's tone turned slightly irritated.

"Right now it is. As your friends, our duty is to help you through your hardships." Pinkie held on stubbornly.

"I did not ask for this. And if you'd be true friends, you wouldn't force me to do something, I don't want to." Lazlo was just as stubborn.

"But true friends also help you realize when you do something wrong." Pinkie argued. "And what you're doing now is wrong."

"What is wrong is often relative." Lazlo countered, clearly more and more annoyed. Pinkie knew she was close.

"Well then, this is one of the exceptions." she retorted. "Sitting here won't do any good for you, I know it and you know it too. It will only deepen your wound."

"Fucking fine then!" Lazlo finally snapped and Pinkie prepared herself for this, as he shot up from his chair. "I've lost everything! I've lost my job, my home, my friends, my family! I'm twenty-three now, so basically I've lost a quarter of my whole fucking life! Everything, I've earned, got, and achieved is gone now because I've lost my motherfucking world too! Of course, I don't want to go out! Why?! To see how alien am I to this place?! There is not a single damned thing out there that resembles a human! Most of the knowledge, I have is basically useless here! And the thought of never seeing my family again, the thought that they'll probably never learn what happened to me and what will happen to them... And I don't even know who to blame! I can't blame any of you but I don't know who was the fucker who managed to get me here! So there you have it! Are you happy?! Is this what you wanted?!"

Pinkie, who's been listening to every word that came out of his mouth, smiled up at him.

"Is it better now?" she asked.

"A little..." he answered after a sigh, now that he was relieved from this mental burden even if by only a little.

"Then yes," she answered his previous question. She then got up from the sofa and stood on her hind legs, then proceeded to give the human a hug. He didn't return it but didn't push her from him either. "I promise you that in a few days, I will make you feel happy again. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." she made her signature promise and tried to leave the human's home, only to be stopped by him speaking up.

"Is this why you acted so differently from how you usually behave?" Lacy asked, clearly noticing that Pinkie was more serious this time.

"Silly Lacy. I always act the way, I have to to make others smile and be happy. Right now, this was required from me on the first step to reach my goal with you. Nothing unusual about it." she gave her answer and left.

She made sure to visit Twilight and tell her everything that happened as fast as she could because she will have a few things to do to be able to keep her promise to the human.





Twilight Sparkle was the next one to visit the human the next day. After what the others told her, she view her plan as a success and began thinking about who else to involve in this. She had a few ideas, but that could wait. Right now she had to take her turn.

After the usual greeting, she quickly found herself sitting on his sofa, her packed saddlebags on the table but this time Lazlo was sitting beside her on the sofa.

"I've brought some books to fill those empty shelves." she began, as she used her magic to pull out said books from her bags. "This one here is about the history of Equestria," she said as she showed a book with the equestrian flag as the cover, titled 'Equestria From Foundation to Nowadays'. "This one focuses on the current places of Equestria. It's a great travel guide too." she pulled another book, titled 'Every Corner of Equestria'. There were also a few other books, mostly about basic things. Books that most citizens have in their homes.

"Thanks, I guess. It started to get boring, sitting here all day long," he said.

"Well, now you won't." Twilight smiled at him. He seemed clearly in a better condition, than he was before, by the description of the others. "But you could also visit your friends. Join any activities, for example, Thunderlane came to me a few days ago, asking why you're not going to the chess club. I think they're missing you just as much as the girls and I. Pinkie said that you already made the first step yesterday and I've heard that that's always the hardest."

"Goddamn Pinkie," Lazlo grunted. "I'm still angry at her for yesterday." he let out a sigh. "But I had to admit that after that, in the evening, I've finally come to accept the fact that I have to get used to my new, permanent life here."

"I guess, she helped you move forward then. To take that first step."

"I just... I've lost everything... But after my outburst yesterday, I've realized, that I'm about to lose that little I've gained here too if I'm staying like this, and yet I still wish if none of this has happened to me."

"You know after the princess allowed me to stay in Ponyville, and I've started to spend time with my friends, I've come to realize that by that I'll have less time to study. But to my surprise, it didn't slow my progression. I've written about this to the princess and she asked, what did I think was the cause of this. At first, I didn't know but later, I've realized that this was caused by not overworking my brain constantly. I know, that it isn't the same as your situation but back then, I didn't really want to meet with the girls and then go together to find the Elements of Harmony. And yet, in the end, it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me in a long time. I can still do, what I enjoy the most but now I'm also happier." Twilight finished and put her hoof on Lacy's shoulder.

"I admit, while I've been looking at this as a vacation for me, I've felt that it's been the best one so far. But I can't tell the same about living here." Lazlo admitted.

"It's understandable but who knows, what the future would bring, right?" she tried to feed him with some optimism.

"I can't see why would my opinion on that change at any time." Twilight was a little afraid, that talking about this any longer would cause him to lose the progress, she and her friends achieved so far so she had to somewhat divert the topic. That's when an idea came to her.

"Hey, something just come to my mind. How about you join us for breakfast at Café Hay? Let's say around eight in the morning? What do you say?"

"I guess I can..." Lazlo accepted.

"Great! I have to go and invite the others, I'm sure they can come too!" she then hopped down from the sofa and left his home.





Spike hated being in trouble. And boy he was in one. While Twilight was over at Lacy's house, he found something. And after Twilight got back and learned about what did he found she was pretty angry at him, especially after the scenario that most probably happened had been set up. So now he was on his way to his house to explain this to him too since it also included him.

When Lazlo opened his door, he seemed surprised to see the little dragon, he was probably expecting Rainbow Dash as she's the only pony in the group who hasn't visited him yet but that will be a few hours later.

"Hey." Spike greeted.

"Hello." Lazlo returned it.

"I... found something at the library that belongs to you." he gave him a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head awkwardly before giving him a scroll that looked like the same, Twilight usually receives and sends, when communicating with Princess Celestia. "Oh, and there is another letter from the princess." He handled him another scroll.

Lacy took it from him and opened the first one while putting the other into his pocket. A golden ticket fell out while unrolling the scroll. He picked it up and read what was on it, then also read what was on that letter.

"My invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala? Princess Celestia mentioned while I was in Canterlot that she sent one to me and there was some confusion about it." He recalled. "Where was it?"

"Hehe..." the dragon chuckled nervously. "It was under Twilight's bed. Earlier today, while cleaning our bedroom, did I notice. I showed Twilight when she got back and we figured out what happened. You see, you actually got it the day after the Princess visited for that morning get-together when she brought that phoenix with her. I was probably taking an afternoon nap, when she sent it and when I got that letter, it probably went under her bed and I didn't notice it when woke up. At least that's the most possible scenario according to Twilight. She wasn't happy about it, because it turned out, I neglected to clean a few parts of the bedroom, for example under the bed." he was still nervous, playing with his claws while telling this to the man.

"Eh... It's okay," he told him after a few seconds of staring at him. "In retrospect, I guess it's good that I wasn't there."

"Really? You're not mad?" Spike asked, not exactly believing this.

"I've got other things to be mad at." Lazlo dryly stated. "But I wasn't mad at Twilight who basically cried because she forgot about getting a ticket for me. I never was interested to go there really, plus I got to see a beautiful city instead, so..." he reassured the little dragon.

"I see. Thanks for not being mad. I... I think, I better go, Twilight still wants to punish me for this though. So, see ya!" he immediately ran off, not even waiting for Lazlo to react to this.





Rainbow Dash was troubled. She wanted to help the man just like the others but she had no idea how to do it. She wasn't good with this pep-talk stuff. She knew about was happened when the others were there and she was sure, she couldn't handle that kind of emotional thing well.

But all of that didn't matter now, plus she'd never leave a friend hanging and would at least try to help them even in situations like this one. Also, he seemed to be in better condition after pouring out his soul to Pinkie, at least according to Twilight.

By the time, she arrived she managed to create some kind of plan in her head. It was horrible and probably won't work but nothing else came to her mind.

"Hey, Lacy," she greeted him as he opened his door.

"Hey, Dash."

"So... feeling alright?" she immediately cursed herself for this was a stupid question.

"Let's say that it's better than a few days ago."

"And... um... well..." she tried but failed. "Okay, I'm not good with this but I still want to help you out." she wanted to continue but the man spoke before she could.

"It's okay, you don't have to do anything, really."

"But I have to! You're my friend and I never leave friends no matter what. I'm not good with all these mushy things that's why I'll do something else." Lazlo raised an eyebrow at this. "I'm going to be your personal trainer," she revealed her plan that only earned further eyebrow-raising. "It's simple, really. Even I know that doing some sport or activities will make you feel better. What do you say?" she had a confident grin.

"How did you come up with this?" he asked.

"You've been sitting in your house for days and you seem like you could use some exercise." she looked at his stomach area which really had some fat on it. She too remembered when she saw other humans from his memories so she got an idea she could help him get fit.

"And why would you do that?"

"I thought it would help you. Besides who else could be a better trainer than the best athlete in Ponyville?" she bragged a little. "I hope, I didn't offend you though." she quickly added.

"A certified one?" he offered as an answer. "By the way, I know how do I look and I don't get offended by facts," he stated.

"I don't think there are any in Ponyville right now... At least not one for losing weight." she wondered for a moment. "But come on, I'll do it for free and if you're not satisfied, then I'll look for one for you, how about that?"

"I guess, it's worth a try..." he sighed.

"Great, then let's start already!" she beckoned him to follow her, which he did, though his enthusiasm was clearly lacking.

Ten minutes. It took ten minutes to find out that Rainbow Dash was a horrible trainer for Lacy. He barely began her warmup but it looked like she asked too much from him. She only told him to run a hundred laps around a smaller lake on the outskirts of Ponyville but after a few laps, she got bored and wanted to make him run faster to finish it sooner so they could move on to the real training. It wasn't much right? She could do it ten seconds flat. And yet after her attempt to make him run faster, he soon stopped, panting heavily.

"Oh, come on! That was only a few laps! It's just the warmup, nothing special." she whined, clearly impatiently.

"Well... maybe you... should come... up with... something... that... wouldn't re... relocate my... lungs... from my... chest into... my hands..." his voice was hoarse from the feeling of dehydration and couldn't talk properly because of the panting. "I don't... think this... is how... should I... begin..." he continued, then began walking slowly back to his home to get some water.

"Yeah," she admitted. "I guess, I have to find you a personal trainer. Sorry about this." she apologized.

"It's okay." his breathing started to ease. "I appreciate it nonetheless," he reassured her.

Rainbow was still pretty worked up that she failed but she didn't have the patience for this and she knew that it was a better way to help him, rather than forcing both of them into doing something they can't and won't. She felt like she had to say something else.

"Hey, Lacy!" she yelled after him and the man stopped and turned back to her. "I'm... I'm glad that you are feeling better."

He only nodded at this but Rainbow could see it. A small smile. And she knew what it meant. He was happy that he had friends who cared about him. Because despite not showing these kinds of emotions often, she had an image to keep up, after all, she cared deeply for all of her friends.





Amber Glow was playing with her mother's mane as she trotted in Ponyville with the little filly on her back. When she heard from her mom, about where they were going she couldn't wait to finally leave. She will spend time with that weird pony Lacy. He was so tall and kind and funny.

They've arrived at his house now. That purple pony, Twilight told her mother where he lives now. Her mom knocked on the door and she hopped down from her back so she can go inside immediately. However, this plan failed as she ran right into his leg which knocked her back a little.

"Hello?" this was the voice of the surprised Lacy.

"Hi, Lacy! I hope it's not a bad time but I need a quick favor. My husband is at work and I need to go to a customer and I need somepony to watch for Amber. Could you do it for me, please? It'll be only for an hour." Perfect Mane quickly explained the situation.

"Sure thing, I'm free." he shrugged.

"Oh, thank you!" she then pulled a few things out of her saddlebags. "Here are a few toys so you won't get bored, a bag of sweets if she wants something to eat, and a diaper. I just changed her before coming here but you never know." she gave him the stuff as she listed them. "I must go but I'll be back soon." she then bent down to her daughter and kissed her head. "Be good for Lazlo enjoy your time sweetie, I'll be back soon." she then left Amber with the human.

Meanwhile, the little filly was trying to get the human's attention to lift her up but he was occupied with her mother. But now that she left it was only the two of them. Lacy stepped back to the house and Amber followed him inside. She ran around a little, exploring the house while Lacy put down the stuff Perfect gave to him. Now it was playtime.

A few dolls were given to him as toys and they played with them for some time now but now she got bored of this and wanted to do something else. She wanted to make his mane as her mother does. She tried to tell him what she wanted and fortunately he quickly got what she wanted. He sat down on the sofa and placed her on the top of the sofa back. It was at the wall so she won't fall down behind it. As she began to style his mane with her little hooves. While she was doing that he began to speak.

"You know, my youngest sister, Maya often did this when I was there. She tried to braid my hair and put her pink hairpins in it. There was one time when she did this before I had to go back to the dorm with the train and these things were left there. I only noticed it on the train. Well, at least I learned why were some people looking at me. I think Maya liked doing my hair because I was the only other with long hair like she was because Nora, my other sister never let her do it and my father and his wife both have short hair. I really miss them. I did promise Maya that the next time I'll spend New Year's Eve with her. But I guess I won't be able to fulfill that promise. Can't even imagine how does she feel. She always tells me how she missed me when I arrive and sometimes even cries when I need to leave."

He talked while she tried to imitate the same movements she saw from her mother. She didn't understand much of what he was talking about but she liked hearing him speak.

She soon got bored with the hairstyling too. Lazlo picked her up and put her on his lap. He smiled at her but his face had shown sadness too.

"Thank you for making my hair. How about some snack as a reward?" he asked and she laughed at it. He opened the small bag of cookies that Perfect gave him. They both ate it all together.

They played a little more before there was a knock on the door. The mother came back for her daughter.

"Thank you for helping me out on such short notice. How can I repay your kindness?" Perfect Mane asked after she got back.

"Your welcome but next time you can tell the truth. I know Twilight did ask you for doing this." Lacy told her.

"Oh, um... How did you figure it out?" she asked.

"It was kind of obvious for me but it helped that this morning I had breakfast with her and the others and I heard her mentioning it to them when she thought, I wasn't listening," he answered.

"Well, thank you anyway." she smiled then left with her daughter, almost forgetting about the toys and the extra diaper but the man reminded her since he didn't have much use of those things and Amber would probably miss the toys after a while.





Fresh News was excited as he was sitting on the train to Ponyville. He was a unicorn with a light green coat and orange mane, his cutie mark was a notepad with a pencil. As the train got closer to the small village his nerves began acting up.

Ever since the human, Lazlo Kis appeared in Equestria the press wanted to do interviews with him but Princess Celestia asked them not to do them and in exchange, she will share many details, she learned about him. It wasn't an order from her, she wouldn't go against the freedom of the press, it was more like a favor, and naturally, the Equestrian Press Committee, which had every newspaper and any other official surface of news as a member because it was the institution that was responsible keeping the free press and credibility of the news.

So the princess asked them not to bombard Lazlo with journalists and they've agreed to it though they could easily ignore Celestia's wish without any consequences they've trusted her of providing enough information.

However not long ago it turned out that it was not possible to send him back, and he has become a citizen of Equestria and the biggest newspapers got back onto the case of having an interview with him. This time Princess Celestia asked them to wait until he will be better because he was lethargic but the princess also promised that the moment he will feel better she will tell them. She also asked them to not overwhelm him. The EPC members agreed that they collect the questions and send one journalist for an interview and hopefully he will agree to more in the future.

Fresh News was the lucky one to be selected for this task. He was a well-known journalist from the Equestria Every Day. This was the biggest newspaper in the whole kingdom, available every day in every city, village, etc... But of course, this interview won't only go to his newspaper but will be available for all of them, they only need to get it from the EPC office.

So this was a very important moment for Fresh. He will be the first one to interview a human, the first journalist at least. Well, he could still say no, he had the right to decline it, but the princess promised to send him a letter in advance to prepare him and hopefully, he will agree.

The train arrived and he was on his way to the address he was given. The man opened the door, confusion on his face at first.

"Good day to you! I'm Fresh News from the Equestria Every Day. I was selected to ask for an interview with you in the name of the Equestrian Press Committee, which includes every news portal in Equestria. If my information is correct then Princess Celestia did send you a note a few days ago about this." he greeted and began his explanation.

"Oh, yeah, I got it." was his reaction. "Do I have to do this?" he asked which made Fresh worry a little because this meant he will likely say no but he had to tell him the truth.

"Of course not. If you wish, you can say no but we all would like to get to know you a little more," he answered.

"Alright, let's do this, but I can't promise anything." he sighed and let him in.

"Thank you very much!" his heart rate was going up and up every second he was looking at him, this moment was historical but he had to keep up the professional act. 

He followed him inside, sat down in the living room on the offered seat on the sofa. He began to get the stuff out of his saddlebags. He took out a recorder, his trusty notepad, a pencil, and another notepad, which had the collected questions. Lazlo brought a glass of water and put it down on the small table. He thanked him and waited for him to sit down himself to explain about this interview more before actually starting with it.

"Okay, so thank you again for accepting this interview. It will be simple, I'll ask the questions, you answer if you want to but you are not under any obligation to do so and you have the right to stop the interview at any time, you wish. The interview will be recorded by this device here. This records our talk onto two small tapes, one will be given to you and the other will be in the EPC office. The interview will be published in a few days, or in a paper that doesn't publish every day, will have the interview in their next print most likely. If you have any issues with any of the published material, you can contact the EPC, for example, if you feel like something in the papers has a different meaning without the context, you can ask the EPC to investigate." he informed Lazlo, who had a surprised expression hearing all of this.

"Wow. This sounds professional," he commented.

"What do you mean?" Fresh asked, a little confused.

"Sorry, I just had some bad experience with the 'press' in my world and have some prejudice because of that. Let's just say they're far from being professional and credible in my opinion. But it's not that important now, let's just get over it."

"As you wish." he then started the recording and levitated the two notepads and the pencil in front of him with his magic. "This is Fresh News' first interview with Lazlo Kis, the human on the twelfth of Mid-autumn. We at the different newspapers have many questions for you and I've brought some of them to ask. At first let's talk about yourself, mind giving me a quick introduction?"

"Sure, I'm Lazlo Kis, a twenty-two-year-old man. What do you want to know about me?"

"Where are you from?"

"According to the princess, this is a different world, the planet is called Earth and there are many different countries there, I'm from one of them."

"I guess, it wouldn't mean anything if you tell us which one. Anyway, I'm surprised that we speak the same language, we call it the Common Language, if I remember correctly, you call it English."

"Yes, it's one of the most spoken languages. I'm not a native English speaker myself but I needed to learn it because many things aren't available in my mother tongue, plus at my job there, I was required to communicate with others in English."

"And what about your job there? What were you doing?"

"I was a software engineer. You do have computers here, right?"

"Yes, we use them for research purposes to measure and calculate the more complicated parts."

"Alright, so we have some more advanced stuff. We can do almost anything with our computers. For example, the company I worked at was for example was manufacturing machines for factories and the software for it, that's used by the people who work there."

"Sounds impressive. I would like to talk more about it but we don't have that much time, for now, so let's continue with your current job here. You are a business partner at a game factory, which is owned by Lord Fancy Pants."

"Yeah, I sent a few that are from my world."

"Are you allowed to do that? Won't the original creators be mad at you for it?"

"They can sue me if they want."

"Okay, so I think we can move to the other questions. So, how do you like Equestria so far? How did you feel about it at first."

"It's really a beautiful place. I was very surprised and confused at first. I wasn't even sure if it was a dream, a hallucination, or something like that."

"I'm glad, you like Equestria, however all of us at the EPC would like to offer our condolences to you, as we understand you are stuck here and it must be lonely as the only human here without any means to go home. I believe, most ponies do sympathize with you."

"Thank you."

"Another question is that to my knowledge, where you come from there are only humans as sapient species. I assume, meeting other kinds of intelligent creatures must have been a new and unique experience. And what about the animals, plants, are they similar to what there are here, or are they completely different?"

"Sometimes it's still hard for me to believe this all is real. About the living things, many of them are either exist on Earth or is a mythical creatures. For example, unicorns, pegasi, griffons are all fictional, even earth ponies at some point, well about the magic stuff, um... we have horses, dogs, cats, many animals, same with the plants, like apples, pears, etc... they look somewhat different but other than that they're mostly the same."

"I see, that's not so bad, at least there are familiar things. Anyway, onto the next question..."

The whole interview took about two hours. Fresh news asked more about his world, the technology, and his adjustments to this place, mostly just basic stuff, he already talked with Twilight about them. By the end of it, the tapes were full, just like his notepad. After finishing up the interview, the unicorn ended the recording and took out one of the tapes, and gave it to Lazlo.

"Thank you very much for accepting this interview. I hope that we can have more in the future."

The moment Fresh left the house, he let all the excitement, that he repressed during the session, run through his body, and on his way to the train station he hopped through the quarter of the way there before regaining control of his body. This was the best day of his life.





Twilight Sparkle was happy. The breakfast with Lacy and the girls two days ago was somewhat successful. He showed up and the talk was almost similar that the ones before the Gala. He seemed like, he was accepting the situation and slowly but steadily returning to his old self.

Today was a special day. Today they will all be visiting him but it won't be just a casual visit, no. They have a big surprise for him. The plan was simple. They all go together, five of them will distract him with questions about the interview, while Pinkie will be doing her things to set up everything.

"Hi, Lacy!" they all greeted him at the same time, and without waiting for his reply, they basically pushed him back to his living room and occupied all the seats.

They began to bombard him, constantly asking about yesterday, while making sure to cover as much of his view as they could. He soon had enough of this and pushed them away.

"If you don't stop this, what happened days ago will be repeated." he threatened them, then looking around, he noticed that they were one mare minus. "Where is Pinkie?"

"I'm here!" this came from the kitchen. Twilight let out a relieved sigh, this meant that they stalled him long enough for her to do everything, this mare was fast.

Lazlo looked there and his eyes widened. There were several plates and forks on the table, in the middle of it a cake, balloons were knotted onto the chairs and the table, colorful and decorative ribbons were everywhere. Lazlo stood up and walked to the kitchen, confused.

"Happy Birthday!" they all yelled. As Lazlo got closer, he also noticed several gifts in one corner.

"What the...? But how did you...?" he tried to speak but couldn't properly. Then he looked at the cake more closely. "Wait. Is that...?" he observed the simple round cake. It had white, fondant icing with a familiar chocolate striped pattern. On the top of it were several candles, all lit. "Esterházy torta?" he looked at Pinkie in disbelief. "How is it possible?"

"It's really simple. You see I remembered that your birthday is on the thirteenth of October, which is Mid-autumn here so I thought that you deserve to have a birthday party, even if the last one wasn't exactly one year ago, since you said that it was winter there when you came but it was summer here, but it doesn't matter because here today is still your birthday and we all wanted to celebrate it but I had trouble with the cake and I was panicking at first because what if the cake I bake won't be good for you and then I remembered that on one of your memory, I saw a calendar on the background that had pictures on it, one of them was with you sitting at a table and before you, a cake, like this one and I had to look through the recipes, you gave me to my birthday and found this one which I thought would be at least similar, so I thought that it's worth a try and looks like I got it right." she summarized it to him. "By the way, it has the strangest name given to a cake that I ever heard."

"It's the family name of an aristocrat dynasty from my country, but Pinkie... it's... it's..." he suddenly kneeled and hugged the pink mare, while starting to cry a little. "My grandma baked one for my every birthday. It's my favorite. It's... It's so... Thank you!" he hugged her stronger, while the others also joined, making it a big group hug.

As the party went on, Twilight found herself writing her next friendship letter to the princess.

Dear Princess Celestia,
This is a follow-up lesson to my latest one.
Sometimes your friend will go through a crisis and it's hard to help them when the experience is fresh and needs time and the appropriate environment to accept the situation and move on. In these situations, you have to be patient and not rush things and be careful not to overwhelm the suffering pony or person in this case. And there are few happier moments than seeing a friend recover from that trauma and you know that you had a hoof in it. And I think that this is a sign that that friendship will only strengthen and last for a long time.
Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

"Goodbye Lacy!" the moon was already up when they left the house.

The girls all were on their way to their homes but Twilight stopped and looked back, seeing Pinkie still standing there next to the human. Twilight looked at them curiously.

"I know that you didn't let out everything, the last time, I was here." she heard Pinkie saying to him. "You can come to me any time if you want to say, what you withheld back then." Lazlo nodded, then closed the door.

Twilight frowned slightly. This meant that it will take more time than she expected. But it wasn't a problem, they had all the time in the world. This was still a big development.

She, with her friends, had helped this man, who lost everything.

And it felt great.
> 20. The return of Discord I. - A chaotic mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo Kiss felt like his mind is going to melt down. How could he not? That battle inside his head was only doing bad to him. On one side there was the feeling of how he lost everything, even his years, how he was the only human in this damned place, how alone he really was. On the other side, there were those ponies, who did so many things for him, ever since he appeared, despite being a complete alien.

He was currently in his living room. He glanced at a picture on a shelf. It was one of the gifts he got for his birthday. On it were the girls, Spike, and himself standing before the carriage near Rarity's home on the day of the Grand Galloping Gala. It has been taken before they left Ponyville to go to the biggest celebration in Canterlot.

Since he moved to this house and days later his friends started visiting him one by one and as they got closer and closer to him and finally Pinkie broke that barrier that he built around himself, and he let out some things that were inside him but not everything, he just couldn't. But after the pink mare left, he seriously started thinking about how to proceed from there. Ever since learning the fact that he cannot go home, he was trying to isolate himself from the ponies as much as he could. He believed that by not seeing them, he could convince himself, even if for a short time that he isn't lost in another world. But it was an impossible task. And that night he remembered that despite the big differences, despite basically befriending royalty, who were also powerful magic users, despite the situations that looked absurd or far fetched, his interactions with the ponies and the dragon, the time he spent with them was far more 'human' than what he was doing now. Oh, this self-destructive behavior was 'human' too but it was something he only experienced once and didn't want to happen again, and until that night in Canterlot it worked.

He began to miss those days when he was a somewhat active member of this community, though he was never an extrovert. So he tried. Tried to have some conversations, went outside, and be partners with the ponies who tried to help him, but he still cried himself to sleep some nights, when he could fall asleep, he still missed all of the people he got close to during his life, even those, who he had a bad relationship with, like his mother.

Moving on seemed an impossible task a week ago, now it was only very hard but he had to. He recalled what his grandfather often said: 'Always live your life that in the current circumstances you can be the happiest'. There were times when he thought it was some Carpe Diem bullshit but his grandpa cleared out for him that he can be the happiest at the moment knowing that with his hard work, he secured a great future for himself. And after that, he never questioned his view on this anymore.

And he won't start it now. He had to admit that under the current circumstances the best thing would be to accept the situation and move on. He accepted the situation but couldn't yet move forward and was stuck in some kind of double life.

His thoughts were interrupted by something unbelievable. The furniture in the living room started moving. The wooden legs got longer and moved like they were pony legs. The shelves on the walls were moving around randomly. In the kitchen, it was like zero-gravity in there, which is strange because that was in the same airspace as well. He didn't want to think about what was going on in his bedroom and the bathroom.

"What the fuck?" was all he could think of.

This whole situation was terrifying, to say the least, he momentarily forgot his depression and after a really quick dress up he ran out of the house with one plan in mind, to find Twilight, and hopefully, she will have some answers. Even though the door was acting weird it took a few seconds to figure out that he had to pull the handle and the door itself was like a garage door so moved upwards but out, it looked like some kind of long rain cover before the entrance after he could finally open it.

As he was going to the library he got soaked pretty soon. And it was really annoying, considering the fact that it was chocolate milk. The heavy scent of chocolate, being somewhat sticky was all getting on his nerves not to mention he had to avoid it getting into his eyes. It was good that his eyes weren't as big as ponies'.

Other ponies were running around panicking, pink clouds flew around, raining the chocolate milk. Other weird things were going on as well but he couldn't even comprehend it.

He soon arrived at the library, which luckily wasn't in total chaos, the inside was normal, like ever. Unfortunately, Twilight wasn't there, nor was Spike. Luckily, before he left to go around the town to look for them, they arrived back with the other girls.

"Alright, Spike, listen to me. You stay here, while we-" she was speaking to the little dragon but Lazlo interrupted.

"What the fuck is going on?! My home turned into a fucking madhouse!" he startled the arriving ponies and dragon.

"Lacy! I'm glad that you're okay." Twilight run to him. "Listen, I don't know what's going on but Princess Celestia sent a letter, telling us to go to Canterlot. She will have a solution, I'm sure of it," she explained. "Listen, we have to go now. We'll take the balloon. That is the fastest way especially if Rainbow will pull." she then turned to the little drake. "Spike! You have to stay here, I'll put as much defensive magic onto the library as I can, please try to stay safe!" she turned back to the human. "Lacy, could you stay here to watch over him, please?" Lacy nodded. "Thanks, come on girls! We need to go!"

Twilight quickly cast some magic but it seemed that everyone was skeptical whether it will do anything at all. Lazlo soon found himself alone with Spike. Lacy tried to interrogate the dragon, to if he knew any more, what did the princess say exactly but it turned out that what they told him was all they knew, which is basically nothing.

As they waited, a few ponies came by. They were terrified and wanted to see Twilight in hopes that she has answers or can contact the princess but he and Spike both told them that she was already on it.

They waited as a few hours passed. Spike mostly did his chores or walked around in the library. Lazlo was trying to distract himself with books but he could stop glancing outside from the window, looking and seeing Ponyville becoming more and more chaotic. He saw as some buildings with the ground under them started to rise and was floating in the air, some rotated upside down, some were turned sideways, he even noticed that it happened with his house as well.

He was now completely terrified. He saw weird things that were completely normal here but when the ponies too were running around, screaming for help, not understanding anything about this, it really made him worry.

"Spike, can't you just send a letter to Celestia to explain what's going on? She might have told Twilight but we're still in the dark." Lacy couldn't take it anymore and wanted to know more, any small piece of information would make it better for him.

"Oh, but why would you ask Celestia, when I can give you an answer?" a sudden voice made both of them jump. Looking around they didn't see anything. "Now what do we have here?" the same voice asked, then a flash and there he was.

A creature with a snake-like body, limbs each from a different animal, on the head two different horns. Just looking at him hurt the head as trying to come up with some kind of explanation of what was this thing.

The weird creature's eyes suddenly grew in size and slowly walked closer and closer to Lacy, who was backing away, clearly afraid until he hit the wall. Lazlo's heart was racing, and his breathing quickened.

"What are you?" he questioned, while he removed his head from his neck and tried to examine him closer making Lazlo more and more afraid. "I have no idea. This... is... the... most chaotic thing I ever saw!" he threw his arms up and fired confetti from his fingers. But then suddenly his expression changed to a serious one. "But this chaos wasn't caused by me." He got face to face with Lacy, who was completely frozen, barely able to listen to what the creature speaking. "So who did this?" then he suddenly got giddy. "Please tell me, it was Celestia. Or her little pet that Twilight Sparkle." Since Lazlo was still in shock, the creature got an annoyed expression. "Oh, come on! You don't have to fear me, I won't hurt you. How about some introduction? I'm Discord."

"L...L...Lazlo Kis." he managed to say. "What the hell are you?" he finally got some courage to talk.

"Why, I'm the Lord of Chaos, of course," he stated while summoning a medal on his neck that had his title printed on it. "So will you tell me finally, what are you?"

"Human."

"This will take too long..." he said while having a bored expression. "Nevertheless, you made me curious, so that deserves a prize." he snapped his fingers and a trophy appeared in Lazlo's hands, who got surprised again and dropped the thing. "No? How about a medal?" he snapped his fingers again, this time a medal was summoned around his neck on it the draconequus with thumbs up. "I'll be right back, I just need to visit some places but after that, we will have some fun together." with another snap, he disappeared.

"What... the... fuck... happened?" he muttered, unable to let go of the two feelings of confusion, and fear. Spike too was in a similar state. Lazlo turned to the little dragon. "What the hell was that thing?"

"I think that was a draconequus. I remember seeing a statue in the castle's garden that looked like that creature." realization then hit him. "He did say, he is the Lord of Choas. There was something about him in the history book. Twilight often read those. Let me find one."

He ran to one of the shelves and grabbed a really heavy-looking book. It was about the whole history of Equestria from something called the Unification. He got a similar book from Twilight but that wasn't this big, probably a simplified edition. He flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for and showed it to Lacy. The page, Spike was showing him was about an early time of Equestria because it was at the beginning of the book. 

It was about a draconequus called Discord, who one day just appeared in the newly formed Equestria and began spreading chaos and misery. Princess Celestia and Princess Lune were powerless to stop him on their own and while they were searching for something that can help to defeat Discord, the citizens of Equestria were left to him to be the victims of the crazy monster. After some time, the princesses found the artifacts that could match Discord's power. In the end, they turned him to stone with the help of the Elements of Harmony.

"Wait, so the statue at the garden, you mentioned was actually this Discord?" Lazlo put the two together.

"Looks like that. It's strange that the princess would put him in that garden." Spike spoke.

"And how the hell did he get out of being a statue?" Lacy questioned further.

"I have no idea." the dragon was clueless, which was no surprise, all of this happened so suddenly and without any sign.

"But then why don't they use it against him again?"

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with how Twilight and the others. They did use those elements not so long ago." Spike speculated.

"If that's the case, then the girls went to Canterlot for those elements?" Lacy continued the brainstorming.

"But then that means that the girls will defeat this Discord in any minute now."

"Would that require them to be where he is?" Lacy asked.

"Well... yes. But I'm sure they'll go after him and catch him soon." Spike's eyes sparkled with hope. He too had enough already with the madness that was happening here, even if the library was a relatively safe space, for now, the whole town however was a complete disaster. Pink clouds, chocolate milk rain, floating buildings, transformed animals, and many more.

However, the thought that the girls couldn't reach Canterlot got into their heads, as it was a possibility in a situation like this one. Lazlo was also hoping that the princesses do have some kind of backup plan in case everything becomes worse. The man was also worried for Spike. The little dragon might be more mature sometimes than one would guess from his age but he was still around a teenager in mentality. Lazlo told him to hide if Discord comes back.

While they waited, Lazlo's thoughts returned to his original problems. Well, one problem to be exact. Now it only worsened. He found it cool that magic here is a thing but right now it was so scary for him that this Discord had so much power and could do anything he wanted. And if someone could do anything, that someone often will do anything. This chaos that fell upon Ponyville just deepened his feelings about how much of an alien he really was. He tried to negate this thought, reasoning how the ponies were intelligent, they acted like humans would in a friendly, small village, even better. But just as he had to face the fact that he will be stuck here as the only human, he had to face this one too. He already felt helpless and weak, unable to stand on his own, and now came this creature and basically kicked him, while he was already on the ground. He hated this feeling and hated that he was completely powerless to do anything about it.

Then Discord did come back. With a stack of papers and books.

"This library is so lame, I had to get to another town to get some books. Can you imagine it?" the creature tried to joke. "Anyway all this stuff about you and your race is exciting. A world without any magic. So chaotic. Maybe even too chaotic with all those deaths." this last sentence surprised the man. Discord did notice it. "Why are you being so surprised? Do you think, I'd start killing others? You wound me! I always do pay attention not to kill anyone."

"What the fuck do you want?" Lazlo finally got some courage to speak up.

"Such language! I will answer for this one but please refrain from using profanity in your future sentences." he then snapped his fingers and Lazlo's shirt changed to one with the picture of his head with a white tape on his mouth, 'potty mouth' was written on it. "There. I will change it back later if you won't be vulgar. Now then. What do I want? That's an easy question. I wanna have some fun. The ponies' life is just so boring. Why not spice up things a bit? Now then back to you." he flipped through the papers and was pretending to study them but the pages rolled so fast that it seemed impossible to gather even a word from them. "So many funny machines that use small thingies to work, only a small displacement, and the results could be hilarious. But it's also so sad that you can't return to your own world. A tragedy really. I feel your pain, really. After all, I was in a place, I did not want to be for a very long time. In a stone prison. To think how cruel and unhelpful these ponies can be. How they talk about friendship and harmony, yet imprison poor, old me and are unable to help you. Such a shame. But don't worry, I will be your true friend, who won't let you down and will really help you." he spoke as he put an arm around the still nervous human, like comforting a friend.

"What are you talking about? If you acted like this without them provoking you in any way, then you are in the wrong here." Lacy got more and more courage to speak up.

"Whatever do you mean?" Discord asked innocently.

"It's like saying that it started when they hit you back." Lazlo clarified. "And why would you be my friend? What kind of help would you give me after turning the whole goddamn world upside down?"

"You really wound me." he acted hurt. "I may do things like what you see now but I always stick to my word. I'll have you know that I have standards too. I hid the Elements of Harmony and then told your little friends in a riddle where could they find them and I didn't put any more trick to it, if they find them, I won't take it from them again." he explained, trying to prove himself but Lazlo was still not buying it yet fear started to creep in his mind once again about what could happen if Discord's patience would run out.

"Look, I just don't understand what you want." he tried to have more talk with him, in hope that the girls will do whatever they need to get rid of this guy for good.

"Why, thank you for your compliment. I do take pride in my work of making others confused." he bowed so low that his head disappeared into the floor. Lazlo's head started to hurt while trying to process all of the images he witnessed so far that seemed to kick all kinds of nature's laws in the butt really hard. Discord got closer to him and started whispering to Lazlo's ear. "Let me tell you that it's the best occupation out there. The freedom, the creativity, the possibilities. You can't even imagine, how did it felt to be trapped in stone for so long. Being unable to do anything other than just to be after such a limitless life..."

Lazlo was glad that he liked his voice so much, yet getting more and more anxious that Twilight and the others were still not here despite leaving hours ago and taking the fastest possible way to Canterlot, the balloon.

"I still don't get what you want from me." Lazlo pushed further. Discord seemingly got annoyed at this.

"Ugh... It's simple, really. How did you not figure it out already?" he sighed. "Fine, I tell you but it's only for your ears." with a snap of his fingers, Spike, who had been there, listening and looking confused the whole time, vanished. Lacy could hear from upstairs that the dragon was probably teleported to the bedroom, upstairs. "And you have to promise me that you won't tell about this to anyone. If you do, then the deal is off. Do you understand now?"

"No, this is the first time, you mention a deal. What's this about, why do you want to make a deal with me? Why would I trust you to do your part? And what do you want from me?" Lazlo continued the questioning, getting annoyed by doing the same rounds again and again.

"I want to do this with you because you are in the best position for it." he finally started giving answers, probably having enough of the human's endless interrogation. "I will tell you later, what I want you to do but don't worry, nothing too hard, quite the opposite in fact. It will be just a tiny little favor that I will from you in exchange for something big from my side. As for trust... once I tell you more about this little favor I believe, you will see that it is a genuine business on both sides and I have no intention of tricking you."

"I'm still not convinced," Lacy stated.

"As I said, you will be later." Discord said. "So... Do you want to know my offer, or not?"

"Alright, what is it?" Lazlo agreed to hear his offer, wondering what could it be. He thought about what this creature would possibly want from someone like him. Would he want him to give him to come up with more chaotic stuff and be some kind of Chaos Advisor? Nah, he probably has enough in his mind, if he has one. Would he want him to do some of his 'work'? Probably not, since he has no power. What else could he offer and what could he want in exchange?

"My offer is getting you back to your world."
> 21. The return of Discord II. - A chaotic choice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He couldn't believe in his own hearing. Discord just told him that he can send him back to his own world. It took him some time to actually process this. The draconequus was still there, grinning like he'd won a big prize or something.

"Now I have to go to do some more chaos but soon, I'll tell you the price for getting you home. Don't worry, it won't be a big thing for you. But don't forget one thing. Not a word about my little offer to anyone, or it's off. See ya later." and he disappeared.

Spike came back down, running. He couldn't leave the room, he was teleported until Discord disappeared. He was worried about his human friend.

"Lacy! You okay?" he saw him standing there just looking out of his head, seemingly frozen. "Oh no... What did Discord do to you?" his worry only increased as he still did not respond.

At that moment the door swung open and the mares walked in one by one, except Rainbow Dash. The newcomers did make Lazlo look at them for a moment before going back to his own deep thoughts.

"Twilight! What's going on? Why is everypony so... gray?" Spike ran to the purple mare, who seemed frustrated for some reason.

"Don't ask. I need you to help me find something."

So this Discord says that he can get me back to my world...

"Hey, Twilight, what's soaking wet and clueless?"

...but can I really believe him?

"Fluttershy, I've had just about enough–"

"Your face!"

He does have godly powers it seems. He might be telling the truth.

"What's happened to everypony?"

But he doesn't seem to be the guy who would keep his word with a nature like that...

"I guess you just bring out the worst in us, Spike."

Though he also mentioned that he wants something from me so he might honor this deal.

"Ugh. No time to explain. We've got to find the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she'll regret!"

However he could use only some kind of illusion to trick me.

"The Elements of Harmony? Oh, I know exactly where that book is. Found it!"

But what if whatever he wants from me, or me to do would be very important for him that he would really do send me home really.

"Hah!"

"Fluttershy, you'd better give me that book!"

Wait... didn't Celestia say that it's impossible to create a portal to my world without endangering it and possibly this one too?

"Keep away!"

But what if Discord can create a safe portal? He did look at those research papers, if he saw this information he has to calculate with that.

"Hey! Applejack, give me that book!"

Though it's possible that he can't send me home and he would use the illusion to make me believe that I had gotten home.

"I don't have any book."

But what if he wants something from my world? Then he would have to keep his part of the deal.

"Pinkie! You guys! Stop it right now!"

No, it's probably not that. If he wants something from my world and can create a means to travel there, then he would just go and get it himself.

"Ugh!"

"Mine!"

But what if he himself can't leave this world and that's why he's willing to do this deal?

"Hey, do you even know what you just stole?"

But what would stop him to screw over me later?

"No, but if you want it, I want it!"

I really need to figure out what could he wants from me.

"GIVE ME THAT BOOK!"

Maybe he wants some kind of knowledge that I hadn't shared with the ponies?

"Where is she? Where's Rarity?"

Unlikely... What could I tell him?

"Beats me."

He didn't know anything about me so it's possible that there is something.

"Lies!"

It's also possible tha-

Suddenly he felt pain as something hard did hit his head. He acted on instinct and grabbed the thing that collided with him. It was a book, a very thick book. It had a dark brown hardcover with some golden shapes on it and a golden unicorn head. It was a nice, decorative cover. And a painful one.

"What the hell?" he was holding the book in one hand, while the other massaged the area on his head where the first contact was made.

"Lacy!" he turned to the angry-looking Twilight. "I need that book! Give it to me!" she was close to yelling at him and seemed very frustrated but since Lazlo was too deep in his thoughts until now, he had no idea why was she like that or what happened.

He handled the book for her and she finally started to calm down a little. She opened the book and gasped.

"The Elements! They were here all along!"

Lazlo looked at the now opened book that had two holes, filled with the six Elements of Harmony. Five necklaces and a tiara. Each was gold and had one gem in the middle. For the necklaces, there was a pink butterfly, an orange apple, an blue balloon, a purple diamond, and a red lightning-shaped gemstone. The tiara had multiple blue round gems on it and above them a magenta star-shaped gem.

According to Twilight those big gems, that looked like the cutie mark of their bearers were the Elements of Harmony they looked different back then but after Nightmare Moon broke them and Twilight's realization recreated the gems they got their new forms and basically created these accessories around them too.

Twilight seemed to have been looking for these things so that meant that the elements were needed to defeat Discord, probably turning him back to stone, though according to Twilight, they first banished Nightmare Moon to the Moon but the second time they did turned her back to Princess Luna so they might do something else to Discord too.

But as Lazlo made these deductions another thought invaded his mind as well.

If he really could send me home, then I have to make him do it before the girls reach him!

At that moment he made his choice. He had to try. Ever since he got here, the only chance he saw for getting back was hoping for the princess to find a way but that one option was lost not so long ago. However, a new opportunity came that was just as possible to be successful for him as the one from Celestia.

He ran out of the library. He had to find Discord immediately. The town was a complete disaster. Many buildings were still floating around aimlessly, and the sun moved randomly sometimes closing to the horizon and the moon peaking out as well but then moving back, thus keeping the daylight. The ground had many colors in a square grid pattern.

"Well?" the voice of the creature he was looking for sounded close to the man. He turned towards it and saw Discord floating near the library, looking at him. "Have you considered my offer?"

"I need to know the price," Lazlo said, trying to look confident but he knew he was on short time.

"Of course." Discord's right arm lengthened and put it around Lazlo then lifted him a little and pulled him close to him. "It would be rather unfair of me not to tell you before, right?" Lazlo managed to get free from him.

Before he could continue, however, the mares emerged from the library, all of them had one necklace on them and Twilight had the tiara. Discord turned his attention to them.

"Well, well, well, I see you've found the Elements of Harmony. How terrifying!" the ponies did still look defeated and sad. This was the moment Lazlo noticed that they were all multiple shapes of gray completely. He didn't understand why did it happen or when, though he guessed that this is how they arrived back at the library he just didn't pay much attention to them.

"Discord! I've figured out your lame riddle. You're in for it now!" Twilight was the only one, who still had her original colors. She was still angry and frustrated but also determined to defeat this creature of chaos.

This alarmed Lazlo. If they manage to defeat Discord then this might-be-opportunity of his will goes with him as well. Another part of his mind understood them, though. Looking around, assuming that the whole kingdom or even this whole planet was like this, he could see from their own point of view that they needed to get rid of this disaster and the one behind it immediately. 

What surprised Lacy somewhat was that Discord didn't seem to be worried at all. Lazlo guessed that he must've done something with those elements, probably placed replicas to the book to begin with. It was the only thing they could use to beat him after all, who would be risking to give them back once they have it?

"I certainly am. You've clearly out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate." he was clearly acting to be surrendered. He also summoned a sunglass and put it on. "I'm prepared to be defeated now, ladies. Fire when ready." he even put a target on his midsection.

Lazlo now was completely sure that he did something with those things otherwise, he wouldn't be so confident.

"Formation, now!" Twilight commanded and the other mares walked up to close to her, groaning but complying. However Lacy noticed that Rainbow Dash wasn't with them, only five were present but he remembered Twilight telling him that they needed all six of them to use it last time. This brought up another train of thought in the human. What happened to Rainbow Dash? Did Discord make her disappear? Did she leave on her own? Lacy wondered if it would work with one of them missing. This also brought some relief for him as it seemed that he had time to try that deal with Discord. "'Rainbow Dash', get over here." Twilight looked towards the library, Lacy followed her gaze and noticed Spike standing at the door with the last necklace on his neck. He seemed to be worried but did as Twilight said and ran to them, making Twilight finally smile. Discord was still there, not moving just waiting for them to begin. "All right, let's get this over with."

Suddenly, Lazlo felt the wind. The gem on Twilight's tiara started glowing in white then the mares all began floating. Twilight, who had her eyes closed opened them and they were also glowing in white. Then the five mares started glowing as well. At this point, Lazlo didn't know whether it was also part of Discord's trick or these were the real elements but a glace at Discord, who removed his sunglasses and looked shocked gave Lacy the answer. And it also made him panic.

Will this work after all? Should he try to interrupt the girls? But what if this is their only chance to defeat the draconequus? But at the moment this was his only chance too to get home.

Before he could've come to any kind of conclusion the light disappeared and they fell back to the ground.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked confused.

"Mine's workin'. There must be somethin' wrong with yours." Applejack defended herself.

"I hate the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Garbage." Fluttershy threw hers away.

"MINE!" Rarity jumped at that one, grabbed it then ran away.

"Sorry, Twilight." Spike set down in front of Twilight the one he had. "I guess I'd better get back upstairs and clean up the library. Good luck with all this– whoa!" he was running back to the library but Fluttershy used her tail to make him fall to the ground.

"Oops, sorry, Rainbow Crash." Fluttershy giggled at him.

"Bravo, ponies, bravo!" Discord clapped but each time it made a different noise and walked up to them. "Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools." he then booped Twilight on the nose and laughed. After that, he went to slide down a path made of soap.

"It's your fault it didn't work." Pinkie spoke.

"Who are you talking to?" Twilight looked at her questioningly.

"Any of you! All of you! I'm outta here!" she then left. Soon the others followed and all left until it was only Twilight and Lazlo there but the mare didn't even notice the man standing there, looking at her with confusion on his but also sadness. It was strange to him why they were all acting like this like they were the complete opposite of themselves. The only one who seemed somewhat normal was Twilight but it looked like she had enough as well.

"Fine! Leave! See if I care! I don't need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs...enemies...?"

When Lazlo saw her body turned gray too and saw that tear falling onto the ground he felt horrible. He felt like he should've done something to help them but he was just standing there, being completely passive the whole time. But what could he have done? He was just a simple human who could still barely grasp this whole magic thing and he would've gone against something that could be considered a demigod at least.

He saw Twilight grabbing her element with her magic and then throwing it away while looking completely defeated. It landed in front of Lazlo. He looked at it for a moment before looking up, seeing Twilight walking away. He bent down and grabbed the tiara, examining it closer. He was not a jeweler but he could tell by simply looking at it that it beat all the best-crafted jewelry and yet it looked simple, except for the gem at the top.

Lacy wasn't stupid he already figured out that this must've been the real thing and the others weren't fake too. So the other conclusion was that Discord did something with the girls, while they were in Canterlot that made them act like that and they probably couldn't use the elements for that reason.

Lazlo wondered if he should go after Twilight and help her. It seemed that Discord forgot about him and he still had his doubts about him and his claim.

"Poor thing..." Discord suddenly appeared next to him.

"You did something to them," Lazlo stated.

"Can you blame me? Being a statue for centuries is not a pleasant thing." the draconequus defended himself.

"Can you blame them after this?" the human retorted while gesturing around.

"How about we go back to our little deal?" Discord changed the subject.

"What do you want from me?" Lazlo asked.

"Just one simple thing. One tiny favor for me. I want you to take that little crown with you." he pointed at Twilight's Element of Harmony that was still in his hands.

"What?" Lazlo was very surprised at this. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Discord asked as if it was the stupidest question in the world. But apparently, it wasn't for Lazlo. Discord just sighed. "I made sure that those hero-wannabe ponies can't use their little jewels anymore." with a snap of his fingers, miniature figures of the six mares appeared. They were all of their original colors but turned to gray and began to float away from each other. "But who's to say there won't be others in the future who can use these things to seal me back to stone." now he made six new pony figures appear all different colors than from those figures a ray of light shot towards a figure of Discord that mimicked him turning to stone. "I'd rather prevent that. So... what is your answer?"

While his reasons and offer seemed reasonable, something that Lazlo couldn't picture him to be capable of doing, the thought of taking something with him didn't cross his mind. But as he thought more about it, it just became more and more clear to him. If he agrees and takes Twilight's element with him that means that this world will be left to Discord to do as he wishes probably for a very long time. That meant that basically most lives on this planet, or whatever territory Discord rules over would be miserable. Could he really go back knowing that?

On the other side, it was something he wished for since he awoke here. He missed his half-sisters, his parents, grandparents, friends, home, stuff, work, and everything else, maybe even the big city and all of its 'charms'. He did promise his youngest sister, Maja that he will be with them the next New Year's Eve but of course, he would visit several times. She was in her last year in kindergarten and would start school this year. Then there was Nora, who wasn't that attached to him but still loved each other nonetheless. Let's not forget about his grandparents who, following the stereotypes, always made sure that he will take plenty of food with him, whenever they met, one of the grandfathers gives him 'medicine' from time to time so he won't run out. He even missed his mother despite knowing that she most likely used this as an opportunity for getting sympathy votes.

Before his decision, he remembered that he still had to confirm that his way back to his world was legit. He recalled the questions and doubts he had when he first mentioned his offer.

"Celestia told me that opening a portal there would damage my world and maybe this one too." he wasn't sure if that last part was said but for him, it wasn't an important detail.

"Don't worry about it." He made two big 'Worry' texts on both of Lazlo's shoulders and pushed them off of him. "My magic is unique, it doesn't make sense compared to the rules of their magic and because of this, I can create a safe portal."

"But then why make a deal with me that seems logical and makes sense?" the man pressed further.

"Because sometimes making sense, or honor a deal can be the most chaotic thing." Discord replied.

"Exception strengthens the rule..." Lacy murmured but the draconequus heard it.

"That doesn't make sense... I love it! I hope you won't mind if I'll use it in the future."

"I want to see the portal," he said. "Prove me that you can open it."

"Of course but since you already have the item I want you to take with you, we can just get on with it. I open the portal, you go through it and I get to stay free forever."

With a snap of his finger a door appeared. A simple white door that looked exactly like the ones in his apartment in his own world. That was the first surprise and somewhat proof. Discord couldn't know how did that door looked like and even though it was a completely generic door, the old-fashioned, dark copper door handle and the three rectangle-shaped embossing on it were too specific to be just a randomly created door.

"Just go through this door and you will find yourself at your home." with that he opened the door.

It was like he was standing in his entrance hall. The door opened inwards. It was almost completely dark, the only light is what came from this side of the open door. To the right, it was only one meter. Along this wall, there were two desks and a tv stand between them. On the stand were a simple TV and a router which were still working, so there was still internet in the apartment. On the closer desk was a laptop, a monitor, a mouse, a stack of paper, some basic office stuff, and a table lamp. That lamp had a display on it, which showed the date and time. According to it, only twenty-seven days had passed since his disappearance. It was strange since he'd been in Equestria for months already but at this point, not impossible and the date was after his last day on Earth. On the shelves, he could see the outlines of his books but there was not enough light to see them clearly. On the shelf above the TV were many bottles of various drinks, though most of them were empty and before that were filled with 'grandpa's medicine', his homemade pálinka. A few bottles still contained that special brandy. On the other desk was his PC and two monitors and other accessories. He also saw the end of his bed, which was on the far side of the room, half of it was under the window. There was his stuff on it, which he took with him to his friend's house where the party was on that night.

It had to be his real home. There was no way Discord could know what his living/bedroom look like, there was no memory viewed about it, well not the whole at least. It was too accurate to be a trick.

"Well? Are you convinced now?" Discord asked, clearly impatient. Lazlo apparently was standing there, looking at his room for minutes.

"It seems real," Lazlo admitted.

"And all you have to do is walk through that door with that little crown in your hands. You won't see me or anything from this world ever again."

"And you will stay free to spread chaos here forever, without the danger of turning back to stone," Lazlo said the other part.

"A fair deal in my opinion. You should feel honored. You will be known as the only living being that I made a fair deal that made sense and didn't even make a riddle about it. You will be a legend." Lazlo heard something appearing above him. Looking up he saw a big 'LEGEND' text that was red and blinking.

But the man didn't care about that part. His mind was all about the door that led back to his home, to his old life, to his friends, to his family. That was what he wanted. And yet as he looked around and saw how would ponies live from now because he took the only thing that could stop this madness. This was a price he wasn't sure he could pay. He would see it anymore but he probably won't forget it either.

A decision like this one... He saw many in books, movies, and games. By their logic, the right choice would be to decline Discord's offer and help Twilight. If this would've been offered to anyone else, he'd hope for and urged them to make the right choice.

If it was a video game he'd choose the right one and end this chaos. The hero made the big sacrifice, the villain is defeated, and some cutscene or cinematic about the big victory, credits and the achievement for being the 'savior of the world' or something like that. If it was a movie or a book or anything else really, the end wouldn't change. The hero would do the right thing eventually and it would end with the fall of Discord.

But when you are in that role, everything changes. You can sympathize with the character for their loss but it's a completely different feeling when you have to make that sacrifice. After all, in those cases, you didn't lose anything. But Lazlo already lost everything once. Now it was an opportunity to gain all of that back. All he had to do was to doom millions of ponies and possibly other creatures for it.

Discord meanwhile sat on a throne with a long back cover with a glass of chocolate milk in his hand, looking at the human with a satisfied grin. He already knew his decision.

"You can go anytime you want," he informed the man. "I'll remain here to do my thing. Oh, so beautiful. Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing."

"Not as wonderful as friendship." both the draconequus and the human looked towards the familiar voice. Twilight was standing there with all of her friends. The mares had their necklaces on them and all were back to their original colors.

"Oh, this again?" he drank the glass around the chocolate milk, then throw it away causing an explosion.

"That's right. You couldn't break apart our friendship for long." Applejack said.

"Oh, Applejack. Don't lie to me. I'm the one who made you a liar. Will you ever learn?" Discord didn't really pay attention to them, just waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord: we've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!" Twilight spoke of today's friendship lesson, then looked around searching for her Element of Harmony.

"You know, I would gladly give you another chance of humiliating yourselves and prove me right again..." Discord then gestured towards Lacy, the mares finally noticed him and saw that he was holding the sixth element. "...but you see, this one already found itself a new bearer."

"Lacy!" Twilight shouted his name. "Please, give me that back!" but Lazlo didn't move a muscle, still in his inner debate about what to do.

"I don't think he would give that back to you." Discord said with a smug grin. "You see, he needs that little jewel. He has to take it with himself back to his own world." the draconequus now gestured towards the open door.

The mares all gasped at this while looking at Lazlo but his eyes didn't meet theirs, he was just looking at the element in his hand.

"What have you done to him?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"I only offered him a deal, nothing more." Discord answered.

"It doesn't look like a fair deal to me." Rarity spoke.

"Oh, but it is. I do him something no one else can and in exchange, he does something no one else can to me." Discord explained.

"Lazlo?" Twilight looked at the man.

"I... I think it's real Twilight," he spoke. This made the mares alarmed. They all made the conclusion of what will happen if Lazlo goes and takes the element with him.

"Lacy, please! Discord is trying to trick you. It might be a trick. He's just trying to break the connection between the elements just like he did to us." Twilight tried to reason.

"Yes, he just wants to rule forever and while I like chocolate milk but it would make many ponies sad." Pinkie spoke.

"Please give the element back to Twilight." Fluttershy joined in.

"I understand your wish to go back to your family but think about the families here." Applejack reasoned.

"I think Discord hypnotized him, like us." Rarity shared her thoughts with the others.

"Yeah, that snake thinks he can mess with others." Rainbow agreed with her.

"I'm not sure about this girl but I can try the same memory spell on him," Twilight said.

"I'll have you know that I did not do such a thing." Discord acted offended. "I didn't have to." He then grabbed the portal door frame and pulled the whole thing closer to Lazlo. "Now then, human. Time to choose. And no funny business. If you drop the element before fully going through the portal will push you back and closes, it also closes the moment you and the element are fully on the other side so no throwing back." he warned the man.

The mares all started to speak at the same time trying to convince him not to go and return the element. Discord was watching him with a confident smile.

Lazlo pondered the memories he made here. The first meeting with his friends, the princesses, all of the other ponies, and other creatures. The experiences and events he'd been part of, like seeing a city made of clouds. His talk sessions with Twilight and how they exchanged information about their worlds. The wonders of magic and other things that are considered fiction in his world. And the whole structure and mentality of this world are closer to his own views than what he experienced on Earth. But there was also the loneliness of being the only one of his species here. No matter how many other sapient creatures are there, the only human will remain lonely forever.

Memories of his old life also came to him. How he made friends with Victor in elementary school, how he beat the bullies there making it look like self-defense. The times he spent with his grandparents, the family gatherings, and his uncle's wedding. He graduated from high school with great grades. The programming course and his first and so far only job in a middle-sized company and loved working there. He was there at both of his half-sisters' birth at the hospital and he got to see them growing up until his disappearance. Of course, it also had its problems. His conflict with his mother which was going on for years now, the downs of living in a big city like large crowds which he hated, the whole political and economic views and situations of the world, which he could only partially agree with, and of course the thought of what will happen to the ponies here if he goes.

Finally, he made his decision.

He looked at the Element of Magic which was in his left hand. Then whispered 'I'm sorry' but so quietly that no one could hear it. And reached for the portal with his right hand.

The mares froze and Discord started to celebrate by creating small firework explosions around him while doing some kind of victory dance and continuously saying 'I win' when they all see what was Lazlo's decision.

Lacy's right hand stopped millimeters before the portal. Then he took a deep breath and pushed his whole hand through it till his wrist. However, before going further he felt unbearable pain in his right hand which went through the portal. It was like millions of small needles were inside of his hand, trying to break out. He quickly pulled back his hand and looked at it.

His whole hand was full of small holes, it really looked like all those needles did break free. Blood was slowly coming from those holes. He shouted in pain. He threw away the tiara from his left hand and put it around his right wrist, squeezing it to try and stop blood from going to his right hand. He also became very angry. That fucker did trick him after all. Turning his pain into rage he ran towards the very surprised and confused-looking draconequus, who seemingly wasn't expecting this to happen, and punched him with all the strength he had.

"*Baszódj meg! Meg foglak kínozni, te mocsadék faszparaszt! Könyörögni fogsz, hogy vessek véget a fos kis életednek, de én csak élvezettel fogom nézni, ahogy az élet elhagyja az elbaszott testeded! Rá fogok szarni a hulládra, majd hagyom, hogy a vadállatok zabálják meg, amit meg tudnak, a maradékot meg hagyom, hogy rohadjon a napon, amíg végleg el nem tűnik!"

He was yelling at him while hitting him again and again but after the first few, Discord came back from his shock and began dodging his attacks and soon summoned a cage around him which Lazlo began shaking wildly, trying to break free and didn't stop cursing and yelling profanities at him.

Meanwhile, the mares were also surprised as they were watching the whole thing. Twilight was the first to snap out of it as she saw her element on the ground, not too far from her. She quickly put it on and snapped the girls out of their own shock as well and fired up the elements while Discord was distracted.

Discord only realized what else was happening when it was too late. A ray of rainbow engulfed him and moments later he was back in stone. But the magic wasn't finished. After Discord became a statue again, everything turned back to normal. Ponyville looked normal again. The ground returned to its normal grassy self with the dirt roads. Distorted animals turned back to their original looks and biologies. Pink clouds disappeared or turned back to normal ones. And everything, Discord created also disappeared. The mares cheered. Friendship and harmony won again restoring the world. They succeeded.

Lazlo was sitting on the ground, no longer caged up, looking at his right hand. The elements also healed the injuries and only the memory of the pain was there and that was fading too. His heavy breathing started to slow down and he tried to calm himself but the many feelings inside of him made that impossible. Confusion, anger, disappointment, hate, guilt, pain, and many more are all fighting to be the dominant ones, causing headaches to the human.

He looked towards where the portal door was but that was no longer there. He then glanced at the cheering mares and Spike who were a little further away this whole time but also saw and heard everything and now was congratulating the girls and cheered with them. But they all stopped when he felt the human's eyes on them. They looked at him. The happy expression disappeared from their faces, replaced by anger or disappointment.

Lazlo closed his eyes and let out a broken, defeated sigh.
> 22. The return of Discord - Consequences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight felt the tension around her.

After their victory cheer, they remembered that there was still a human, they needed to deal with. However, before they could say anything, Spike barfed out a letter from the princess. It contained a congratulation and asked them to go to Canterlot because they will be rewarded. She also told them that a chariot would arrive shortly to transport Discord's statue back to Canterlot. So the mares all went rushed away to prepare. Applejack and Rarity went to check on their families before leaving, Pinkie did the same with the Cakes. Rainbow and Fluttershy went to retrieve the balloon that was somewhere outside of Ponyville, where they left it when coming back from Canterlot after Twilight realized where Discord hid the elements. Twilight left for the library because she felt obligated to inform the princess about what Lazlo did do. Celestia's reply was to bring Lazlo with them and they will address this after the ceremony.

Soon the chariot arrived and the guards placed the stone draconequus on it. Twilight also asked them if they could take Spike with them. She reasoned that the balloon would be already cramped and Spike could tell more details to the princess, and also help her if she needs anything. There was another reason, which she didn't mention. She got the feeling that the trip won't be peaceful and she wanted him away from that. Both the guards and the little dragon accepted her arguments and took off, soon the balloon followed them but it was slower. The four wingless ponies and the human did occupy the whole space and were almost at the weight limit, the two pegasi were flying beside the basket.

Lazlo was sitting on the ground the whole time, while they were away, staring at the ground full of sorrow. When Twilight informed him that he needed to go with them and told him to get into the basket, he nodded and complied.

"So Discord didn't force you to do it." Rainbow was the one breaking the silence a few minutes after taking off. It wasn't a question.

"No,"  Lacy confirmed in a barely audible voice and shook his head slightly.

"So it was completely your decision." Applejack spoke this time. Lazlo only nodded.

"Did you even care what would happen to all of us?" Rarity was the first to ask a question. The human did not give any answer to it. Either the answer was no or he did not deem it necessary to answer as it wouldn't matter right now.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity. These three were the angriest at Lazlo. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked more sad than angry. As for Twilight... She was mostly disappointed, partly in herself. She felt somewhat responsible. She thought that she wasn't good enough as a friend to him and that's why he would've let her and everypony else at the mercy of Discord for good. Of course, that didn't mean that she didn't feel disappointment and some slight anger towards the man, after all, what he did was something she would consider cruel. Not his wish to go home but that he would even ruin this whole world for it.

"It wasn't nice what he did but..." Fluttershy tried to speak.

"Wasn't nice? He would've lest us defenseless!" Rainbow interrupted the other pegasus.

Twilight decided to stay quiet for now, she thought it would be better to have a normal conversation after they had some time to cool down a little and the princesses are present. Besides, her mind was still on what actually happened with the portal. She knew that Discord was crazy but she could imagine that he would be behind the behavior of the portal. She could imagine that if he couldn't send Lacy back, he would place him into some kind of illusion but this... This had to be something else.

"I believe that he had good intentions." Pinkie tried a different, calmer approach but it was too soon.

"I don't think anypony with good intentions would do something like that." Rarity commented.

"Maybe someone who wanted to get back what he lost." Lazlo quietly spoke.

"At the cost of our life basically." Applejack retorted. "What a good-hearted decision."

"All of you would've done the same in my place!" Lazlo started to raise his voice.

"You can't know that!" Applejack spoke louder too. "It was you, who made that decision, not us!"

"Well, be fucking glad for that!" Lazlo got more defensive. "Do you think I didn't know what will happen?! I knew and I felt horrible about it from the moment I made that decision! But have you thought about how I feel?! Or those that are missing me?! You have no idea how alone I am! No matter how many ponies are around me, I will be the only human here and I don't think anyone would want that. I wanted to get my old life back! See my loved ones, talk to them, spend time with them! Sitting at a desk most of my time, either working on a computer or playing video games, watching movies and shows, or random videos! There are many books and book series that I wanted to finish or start! And so many more things, that I wanted to do! But instead, I'm here and while it's a really good place for a vacation but getting stuck here was not something I wished for! So yes... I did accept his offer..."

"I think we need to stop now!" Twilight spoke up before anyone else could. "Lazlo, the princess needs to know this and we will talk later," she informed him. He let out a frustrated sigh but stayed quiet and the others did as well.

However, Twilight, despite trying to keep things calm and prevent more outbursts, was nervous. She wondered how the princess will react and what will she do with the man. Will she banish him? Or imprison him? Something else? Even with her current feelings about this whole situation, she didn't want to lose Lazlo. He was her friend and she enjoyed the times they spent together, either both learning about each other's world or just having a discussion about a random topic. He was intelligent and could come up with valid arguments even if they disagreed on certain things as he usually came up with the harsher side. He sometimes was lazy but when needed, he was there, well except for the last time. But all in all, she didn't want to lose him. But she won't object to any punishment the princess will sentence him either.





Lazlo Kis was angry. Angry at the universe or any creature responsible for getting him here. Angry at Discord for tricking him. And angry at himself for believing him. He was so desperate to go home. He was ready to doom millions of others just so he can get what he wants. He should've known. The whole deal was physically nothing to him. A way back to his world and in exchange take a souvenir with him. Though emotionally it would be a rough road, probably full of nightmares and regrets but still worth it for getting back to his old life, or at least most of it. Nevertheless, this whole deal was too good to be true for him. And as it often turns out, it wasn't true after all. And now, he will suffer the consequences. Not like he wouldn't suffer them had he chosen differently but this was probably the worst case in this whole mess of a situation.

After arriving at Canterlot, they were led to the throne room by a pair of guards. The mares were told to stay out as the princess already prepared an award ceremony for them. Lazlo was told to go in and after the ceremony, the princess wants to talk with him.

The throne room was beautiful. Lazlo was standing near the main door behind the crowd that filled the room. On the other end of the hall were a few stairs and on top of the podium were the two almost equal thrones. The only difference is that on the top of them, one had a figure of the sun, and the other was a figure of the crescent moon. Before the thrones stood Princess Celestia. She was in her usual royal regalia, looking at the crowd before her smiling. As her eyes wandered around she noticed the human standing at the wall beside the main door. While her smile hadn't faded upon seeing him, the man felt it wasn't as honest as before or even after her gaze left him. Beside her stood Spike and there were several purple pillows close to him. On those pillows were items he couldn't see properly but he guessed they hold whatever award the girls will get.

On the sidewalls, huge windows made sure that the whole room is bright during the day and not being pitch-dark during the night. Some of those windows had stained glasses. One was themed after the sky in the daytime. Light blue background, the sun shining, and a few white clouds. Another one was the sky at night. Dark blue, almost black background, the moon and stars giving some light in the darkness. There was also one showing three ponies, one from each tribe as standing like they were each at a corner of a triangle. In the middle, there was a purple fire that was shaped as a hearth. Lazlo wasn't exactly sure what it symbolized, probably something about the equality of the three pony kinds. There were some others too but due to his current position, he could see only a part of them.

Suddenly music started playing, the big door opened and the six mares began walking towards the podium. The middle lane was free, red carpet was laid all the way. On both sides, royal guards stood every few meters, creating an invisible border to the crowds, which mostly consisted of the citizens of Canterlot but Lazlo spotted a few ponies he sometimes saw in Ponyville. There were probably ponies from other cities and towns as well but not many due to the short notice.

The six mares soon reached the last step on the stairs and stopped there. The princess' smile grew in size and began her speech.

"Mares and gentlecolts! First of all, my dear sister and niece send their congratulations and apology to you six for not being able to attend but they are still traveling around Equestria, visiting towns and cities to make sure that everything went back to normal and we all agreed not to postpone something they already long overdue. These six ponies showed us again that the magic of friendship can triumph over the direst situations. That no matter what, you cannot lose faith in harmony. This is the second time these ponies wielded the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria, maybe even the whole planet. We, the princesses came all to the conclusion that they all deserve one of the highest awards in Equestria. The Pink Heart of Courage." As the princess finished with her speech, Spike came a little closer holding the first pillow. The princess grabbed the item on it with her magic and then began to address the mares by name one by one.

"Applejack." the said mare came forward, and the princess placed the award, which was a pendant with a pink cord and a pink, heart-shaped gemstone surrounded by a two-dimensional golden heart-shape with small wings. After the pendant was given to the mare, she walked back to the others, meanwhile Spike prepared the next pillow. The same happened with each mare called.

"Fluttershy."

"Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"Rainbow Dash."

"Rarity."

"And Twilight Sparkle."

When all six of them received the award and a promise from the princess that a new stained glass window will be put among the others as soon s it was finished, they turned to the crowd, who stomped loudly. This was their method of cheering. Lazlo clapped his hands along with them.

"And let's not forget about Spike the dragon." Celestia continued, gesturing towards the dragon. "While he does not represent an Element of Harmony but he too did his part in defeating Discord. Because of that, a special gift will be sent to him in a few days but right now, he deserves the cheer just as much as the others." Spike was a little taken aback but soon was grinning madly at the crowd.

Soon the ceremony was over and as the crowd started to leave a guard that was standing close to the man motioned him to follow. While walking, Lazlo's worry started to come up. He knew what he had done was betrayal in their eyes and the punishment would probably be severe. He had no choice but to accept anything they will put him through. An empty feeling came over him. He felt like losing everything again and this time not his old life but the one he made here so far. Thinking more and more about it made him anxious. Will they allow him to stay here? Will he have to leave the country? Prison? What would he do then? What life could he build up somewhere else? He basically could do anything here because of all those friendly ponies who were so selfless and kind to him. And he betrayed them. No matter how justified his action seemed to him, he couldn't deny that in their eyes it was a crime.

They stopped at a door in the middle of some random hallway, he had no idea where they were going but at least it didn't seem like a dungeon. The guard told him to wait and they stood still for a few minutes before Princess Celestia came with the six mares and the dragon.

None of them said anything, the princess just led them through the door which he stood by. The room could be best described as a living room. In the middle of it were ten large cushions in a circle with a table in the middle, well more of a tabletop. On the white walls, there were paintings, most of them are about different locations across Equestria, and many were a landscape that had a part of a town or city on them. There was also a fireplace, above it a large portrait of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together. Under that is a smaller portrait of Princess Cadance and Princess Celestia together.

Celestia gestured for them to take a seat. The ponies lay down on their stomach, while the dragon and human sit. Before anyone started to speak a maid came in with a tray with water and snacks on it. Celestia thanked the maid, who bowed and left.

"Lazlo." the princess addressed him. "Tell us everything that happened between you and Discord."

So he did. He told them every interaction between him and the draconequus. What they were talking about, the offer, even his inner debate. It didn't take long, after all, he did not interact with Discord much more than anyone else here. Finally, he told them about the portal and what happened to his hand when he pushed it through the door, describing the many small holes in his skin, the bleeding, and the pain.

"I will accept any punishment you deem fit, Princess." he finished with this sentence, though his voice was a little shaky at the end.

The princess nodded, acknowledging this.

"Please go to the opposite room, I would like to discuss this with the girls and Spike here," she instructed. He nodded and left, going to the other room, which was a simple waiting room.

While he was waiting, the worry in his mind grew stronger. This uncertainty was starting to eat him. He hated this feeling. This was the biggest mess he'd ever been. And he was very afraid. Afraid that he didn't know what will happen to him. And even more afraid that he had no idea what would be the worst case. Probably banishment because where would he go? He became terrified as he imagined himself in a forest, far from any civilization as he was about to do one of the worst things, which was the only option for him in that situation. A few tears began rolling down his face. He tried to keep it together but was about to fail at any second.





Twilight watched the human leave with a sad, yet a little surprised expression. That last sentence was a little unexpected from him since she had the impression that he would continue to fight for himself as he did on the way here. However, he seemed to not care what will happen to him anymore, though he didn't sound too convinced of himself.

"So, what is your opinion?" the princess asked them after Lacy left.

"We will follow your decision, Princess." Twilight quickly answered, afraid that some of her friends would suggest something really drastic. Then realized that the princess could come up with those too.

"Well, I think he should learn his lesson." Applejack spoke up before Celestia could react to her student's words.

"Don't you think he already did?" the princess asked the farmer.

"He didn't show it on the way here." Rarity said.

"But he did say that he felt horrible about it." Pinkie came to his defense.

"That doesn't change things," Rainbow spoke.

"But we too did bad things." Fluttershy joined in.

"But we were influenced by his weird magic." Applejack reasoned.

"It isn't only magic that can twist the mind." Celestia decided to take back the word. "Words can be just as powerful sometimes. By the way, I also sent letters to my sister Luna and my niece Cadence before you arrived, asking for their input on the matter."

"How are they, Princess? I haven't seen Princess Luna since she left Ponyville and I don't even remember when was the last time Princess Cadance and I spoke." Twilight interrupted her.

"They are doing fine but let's not change the topic, please," Celestia answered. Twilight nodded. "Now then. My dear sister told me in her letter that while she's not happy about what happened but since she too was given a second chance after what she did, it wouldn't be fair to deny Lazlo that right. Cadance's letter did have similar statements." This got all of them thinking. They all did forgive Princess Luna. "And I can only agree with them. After all, I too was given another chance by my sister. Nightmare Moon was my fault just as much as Luna's. Besides, did you notice the state Lazlo was in?" they all looked confused for a second, except Twilight, who remembered his last words, before leaving them to this discussion. "One would imagine that he feels lost and alone right now, unsure of what will happen to him. And while this is true, I think what really terrified him is that he feels that he lost all control of his life. From what I've learned about his past, he was independent and in control. However, he lost most of it since coming to Equestria but since there was the hope of getting back, he could contain his fears now he feels these losses again and now he tries to grasp anything from his old life that he could get. In this case, he takes responsibility, and accepts the consequences."

"So what will happen to Lazlo?" Twilight asked, starting to get anxious about the fate of her human friend. Meanwhile, the others looked like they were still thinking about the princess' words.

"I have an idea if you're open to it." Celestia smiled at them, then told her suggestion.





That really short walk Lazlo had to do between the two rooms when a guard came in to inform him that Princess Celestia wanted him back felt ten times longer than it actually was. In his mind, many horrible plans played out, and each had a big chance of ending in a disaster for him.

He didn't sit down. He was standing in front of them, trying not to look too defeated.

"Lazlo Kis." Celestia addressed him. He stiffened a little more. "Everybody deserves a second chance so it would be unfair of us if we wouldn't grant that to you too." Lacy's eyes widened after hearing this. "Everyone makes mistakes, some are smaller, some are bigger. After Luna returned to my side we both talked about our mistakes that led to what happened and made amends with each other. I wish you do the same with these girls and Spike. I would like to receive letters when they fully forgive you." Lazlo's heart was beating faster with every word. This meant that he can stay, that he won't lose everything he got here. Relief filled him and he was very glad. He could barely believe that this was real.

"Thank you. But... why?" he dared to ask the question.

"I already told you the main reason," Celestia answered, smiling at the human for a moment before a small frown took over her face. "But there are also two things, one that I should've told you earlier. One is that the portal Discord opened was probably real, his magic is really different and unique so I think that his offer was really an honest one." Everyone gasped, hearing this. All of them thought that Discord wasn't really sending Lazlo back to his world but to an illusion maybe. "The other one is something that I could've told you because it was something that we were almost completely sure of but the researchers, who were helping me get you home needed to do some more tests but I think it's confirmed now. There is magic inside you." Lazlo looked very surprised at that. "More precisely those parts that handle magic in your body and of course the magic that is connected to them." this confused him.

"I don't understand."

"We don't have much knowledge about it, it's something we still can't research properly sadly but our main hypothesis is that magic is similar to chemical elements but it's in everything." the princess began to explain. "Our bodies have something that can connect to this element, which we named Magiconnector and something that can use them, which is named Magicutilizator, that is why the unicorns can use magic, why the pegasi can fly so good, earth ponies have that special connection to the earth, or any other species have their own magical specialty. It seems that you have Magiconnector in you but not the utilizator. So since there is magic inside you, when your hand went through that portal that magic wanted to go out of your system towards the place that has less concentration of magic, in that case, zero. It is the same, why we cannot open a portal to your world without magic making its way there."

The princess' explanation both gave some light to the situation and brought more confusion and questions. Lazlo couldn't even process everything due to him still being in a weird mix of happiness and relief because of the second chance. But one question did come to his mind instantly and by looking at Twilight, he knew that she had the same one in her mind too.

"But then wouldn't this happen to me, when I got here first?" he asked. "If that would've happened then I..." realization hit him.

"Yes." the princess nodded. "You wouldn't have survived it. And we have no idea how did these Magiconnectors get into your body. But I should've told you earlier about it."

A knock on the door interrupted their discussion. The door opened and the head of a guard poked in.

"Your Majesty." he walked in and bowed. "Diplomats and messengers from other countries arrived and wished to speak with you about what happened," he informed the princess.

"Tell them that I will be meeting with them soon." the guard bowed and left. Celestia sighed. "I'm sorry but I have to go and ease their minds. Lazlo, I won't make public knowledge of your deal with Discord, it's up to you. Twilight also can give you more information about magic but you also send me letters if you have any questions. Also, there is something else, I wished to inform you about, a completely different matter but it's not urgent yet and I really must go but I will send a letter to you about that one and if you want to know more, we can set a meeting in a later date." with that the princess stood up and said her goodbyes then left the room.

"Come on, let's go home." Twilight stood up, and the others followed her.

Soon they were flying back to Ponyville and Lacy had still mixed feelings but he tried to concentrate on the good stuff. Namely that he got another chance.

I will never go home. I will never get my old life back. But I had to get a new life here and even after I messed up, they gave me a second chance. I can't make this mistake again! I owe them even more now. And I will repay it!
> 23. What should have been already clear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo sat on the couch in his house. One week. One week has passed since he got a second chance. He didn't do much since then. The mares agreed that they all need a few days after the whole Discord incident. Most of this time he used to think about what he learned. He even had a nightmare about him arriving here and magic tearing his body. One of the few dreams he remembered. He thought about asking Twilight for more information but she too was busy, Princess Celestia asked her to make sure everything went back to normal in Ponyville, just as she did with Canterlot, then went to other towns, to help her sister and niece. It seemed that everything went back to normal. Lazlo was surprised that it happened quite fast but apparently, ponies were really good at moving on with things, or at least most of them. He was a little jealous of them for it.

How stupid he was, thinking that he did accept his fate after so little time. It took him months to accept his parents' divorce and even more time to move on and while he was still a child back then, this situation is a whole new level. And yet, he felt the need to do so and fast. He hated this feeling. The depression, the frequent musings about how good it would be if he could go back, the thought of being alone itself. And his greatest fear. He had to avoid any thought about that coming into his mind. It wasn't a simple fear, and probably not something he could face no matter how brave he would be. This one needed distraction to be under control, but in the last week, there wasn't any. Well, except for yesterday, when Pinkie visited him to invite him to a picnic the next day, so today in the late afternoon.

A knock on the door interrupted his thinking. Opening the door he found Perfect Mane and little Amber standing in there. The little filly immediately run up to him and began tapping his foot with her small hooves.

"Lah. Lah. Lah." she tried to speak, which surprised him a little.

"Hello." the mare greeted the human.

"Hello. What are you doing here?" Lacy asked her while kneeling down, taking Amber in her hands and lifting her, which resulted in some giggles and more 'Lah' from her.

"Well, first of all, my little filly finally said her first word," she told him excitedly. "It was 'mama' of course and then 'dada' and then came the third one..." she leaned to her daughter who was busy tapping Lacy's shoulder as he was holding her. "Come on my dear, how do you call your human friend?"

"Lah. Lah." Amber tried to speak. "Lah. Lah." she started getting frustrated. "Cha. Cha. Cha." she even grunted a little before finally managing to get it right. "Laca."

Lazlo smiled at the little filly. No matter his current state, even in the deepest holes of depression, a cute, little animal could lift his mood, and he's probably not alone in this. The little filly was still saying the name she could manage to get out of herself while pointing one of her hooves at the man. He can't help it and starts petting her, which just resulted in more giggling. It seemed, he got a new nickname.

"So, Lazlo..." the mare spoke again. "The other thing, we came for is to let you know that we're moving to another town in a few days." This was something unexpected. Lazlo looked at her, complete surprise on his face. "In the last few months too many crazy and dangerous things happened here and we decided that it would be better if we move away." the mare explained. "Neither my husband nor I want to raise our daughter in such an environment. Nightmare Moon, the parasprites, Discord, just to name a few and all had this town in its center. I just wanted to bring Amber here to say goodbye and thank you for all the foalsitting and other help and of course, to hear her speak."

"It's understandable, I guess." was all Lacy could say. He wasn't that surprised by them moving away, it seemed a reasonable decision, especially for someone with a little kid. What was new to him is to actually come to his house and tell him in person. Not like, people in his world couldn't send him a text at any time from anywhere to inform him about whatever they wanted. "And where do you move?" he asked.

"To Haytown," she answered and Lazlo had to fight really hard not to roll his eyes after hearing another ridiculously named town. Not like there weren't any in his world. He remembered a town in his country with a name translated to 'Panties'. And one which meant 'Bacon'. "Anyway, we need to go, we still have lots of packing to do. Sorry to cut this visit short, if you don't mind, I'm sure my little Amber wants to say goodbye when we finally leave," she spoke. Lazlo just nodded.

Just as Perfect Mane finished talking, a pegasus royal guard landed near them. He looked like any other guard with a white coat, blue mane, tail, and golden armor, but instead of a star in the middle of his chest, this one had an envelope and a bag on his back. By that symbol, Lazlo guessed that he was some kind of messenger pony in the Royal Guard. Upon his landing, Perfect Mane looked at him curiously, the little filly in Lacy's hands did turn her attention to the newcomer for a few seconds, but quickly went back to pestering the human with her neverending tapping and saying his name.

"Lazlo Kis." the guard said the human's name. He didn't need to ask, as Lacy was the only human. The guard then pulled an envelope from his bag. "Her Majesty, Princess Celestia sends this letter to you."

Lazlo gave back Amber to her mother, the filly didn't like it but luckily didn't start crying, then the man took the letter from him and looked at it. It was a simple, white envelope that was closed by a unique seal. He had to look closely at it to see the small but very detailed picture on it. It was the equestrian flag printed into the golden seal, well the part with the two alicorns and the sun and moon between them. On the other side of the envelope was his name written with the fanciest letters he had ever seen.

"A letter from the princess herself?" the mare asked but her surprise quickly turned into understanding. "Well, I guess, it's something to do with you being the only human," she stated her idea. Unbeknownst to her, every time someone mentioned being the only human was like twisting the knife that was put into his heart when he first learned that he will be stuck here. "We'll leave you to read that letter. We will see you before we leave. Bye." she said goodbye and even the little filly waved from her mother's back.

He went back to his living room and opened the letter while grumbling about how it always is that nothing happens for days and suddenly many things take place in one day and the feeling of not having enough time for each of them comes up.

Two things were inside the envelope. One was a fancy-looking card, the other is a simple piece of paper. He decided to read the paper first.

Dear Lazlo Kis,

I hope that you are getting better, I believe it must be still really hard for you but I know that you will manage to make a great life here, and please trust me when I'm saying this: In Equestria, every wound will eventually heal fully.
In this envelope, you will find another letter, which is an invitation to the Grand Summit of Species and Countries or GSSC in short. It is a big meeting between several countries and also each species that lives in a country can send a delegate so for example, from Equestria, us the princesses go, but also a donkey and a griff delegate as well and I think the buffalos will be joining to this one too. The other invited countries and delegates are on the invitation card. As you have probably guessed, as a human, your species has the right to send a delegate as well which in this case can be only you. While it is not mandatory to attend this summit, I would like you to come with us to it. The main reason would be that the leaders of other countries are interested in meeting with you and were sending me several letters or even diplomats on this matter but I could prevent it so far by telling them, that you needed time to adjust to living here and they were very understanding but their patience is not endless. There is also another reason I wish for your attendance which might not be to your liking and it is something I would prefer to discuss in person but it is not that urgent as the summit will happen in early spring so you have a few months to decide. If you have any questions, then feel free to contact me, my sister, or my niece independently of the one, I wish to have with you. I will consult about the available times with you later, for know, if you want more information about this meeting, I am sure that my most faithful student can help you out.

Kind regards,
Princess Celestia

He put down the letter on the table and picked up the card. It had more decoration on it than an invitation card to a high-class wedding. The golden frame on the edges made it look like some kind of miniature painting from hundreds of years ago. At the top of it 'Grand Summit of Species and Countries' was written using some kind of curly font. Under it was a standard invitation text and at the bottom of the card was listed all of those who were invited. He found his name under the 
Equestria column but didn't bother to read all the invited party.

He put the card beside the letter. He had conflicted feelings about this whole thing. On one hand, he realized that no one reached out to him from other nations, and it wasn't for the fact that his existence was some kind of secret. It looked like Celestia did a lot for him to not get overwhelmed. She probably shared some information about him to calm them down somewhat but it did make sense that it won't be enough. He cursed himself for not thinking about it earlier, though it wasn't like it was an everyday thing for humanity, though if a pony or any other extraterrestrial creature would randomly appear on Earth probably every country would want to gather as much information about it as possible. On the other hand, he fought so hard to avoid politics, when his mother wanted him to follow her in his choice of career. Of course, in this situation, it's hard to ignore and evade it but he tried to minimize it and was happy to see that the princess was kind enough to do the same. However, it seemed that some things were impossible after all. He knew that he will agree and attend no matter how much he didn't want but that didn't stop him from being frustrated about it and it didn't help that Celestia said something about what probably a favor is and not being to his liking.

He didn't want to think about this right now. But he also needed some kind of distraction before he'd sink back to his more depressive thoughts. He glanced at the invitation card once more, checking on the date, then putting it back in the envelope. Then he got up and get the calendar book that he got from Twilight on his birthday, only to realize that it ended with winter as the ponies counted that as the end of a year which made sense as spring had a meaning of renewal, rebirth, the beginning of new life, stuff like that so why not a new year? He grumbled at this for a moment before flipping back to today's date and his eyes widened at realization.





Twilight Sparkle was in panic mode now. A week passed and she hadn't learned anything new about friendship and she today was the due day for her next lesson to send to Princess Celestia. How could she forget about it? She's always so organized so what went wrong? Admittedly the whole Discord incident and the aftermath did give her many things to think about. But to completely forgot about something as important as this one? She made a mental note to include friendship lessons in her future schedule planning sections.

But right now what only mattered is to find a friendship problem, solve it, learn from it, and write a letter about it to the princess. However, so far she wasn't successful. She went to her friends but none had any kind of issue that could make a good lesson.

Rarity was working and while it seemed at first that she has a serious problem with all the crying and saying that 'it's the worst possible thing'. It turned out she was overdramatizing a very minor problem. Then she went to Applejack in hopes that a farm as big as hers must have something for her. And at first, it seemed that it had. She saw Rainbow Dash destroying a barn. She guessed that they had an argument, which was likely as they were often competing against each other and it sometimes ended in small fights. This time, however, Rainbow was destroying that barn because Applejack asked her to do it. So no friendship problem to solve there. Then she remembered that Fluttershy has so many animals and also fears that helping her with any of them would make a perfect friendship lesson for her to learn. But luck wasn't on her side today as she saw her giving a hardcore massage to a bear by almost breaking his neck and ripping off his head.

Panic really started to get her now. Time was running out and there was no way she would be late for an assignment. She was always on time, a perfect record. She would do anything to keep it that way. But what could she do? She could go around town and ask random ponies but it would take more time to find somepony, who has a problem, learn about the issue, find a solution, and make the report, than she had considering that because she didn't know that much about other ponies, as much she knew about her closest friends, learning every necessary information about the problem would take too much time.

"There you are, Twilight!" the voice of Spike was heard as he approached the stressed mare but she only spend a second acknowledging his presence before going back to her thoughts about the cause of her current stress. "I've been looking for you everywhere! You forgot to take the cupcakes with you to the picnic with the girls and Lacy."

She continued to ignore him until she heard the name of her human friend. Of course! How could she forget about that?

While giving Lazlo a second chance meant that they will all try their best to act around each other as they did before Discord's return, they all knew it was hard, and sometimes they couldn't avoid bringing that up. So far they have all chosen to keep their distance from each other for now but Pinkie decided to break it when he invited him too to the picnic.

Completely ignoring the picnic she immediately runs to the house of the human. When she was at the door, she allowed a few seconds to herself to catch her breath before knocking. Nothing. A few seconds later she knocked again. Nothing. She knocked more loudly the third time but then the picnic came back to her mind and thought that he might be already there. As she was about to turn and go to the park, she heard footsteps inside the house.

"Hello." Lazlo greeted her as he opened the door. He looked like he was far away in his head and wasn't really paying attention, to who visited him, this was proven when after a few seconds, his eyes widened a little as if he just realized that the pony in front of him was Twilight. "What brings you by?"

"Well, I'm in big trouble." she began, and Lazlo was now completely listening to her. "You see, I have to send a letter to Princess Celestia every week about what I've learned about friendship but this week I didn't learn anything and now I have to find something by the end of the day so I won't be tardy," she explained.

"Okay..." Lazlo acknowledged what she said and waited for her to continue.

"I visited the girls but none of them had any friendship problems but then I remembered that you have some friendships to fix and I'm here to help you so I can learn an important lesson and send a report to the princess about it." she summarized her wish. "So, who should we start with? I know that Fluttershy and Pinkie probably still see you as a friend, I'm not sure about Rarity, we can try with her but I know for a fact that both Applejack and Rainbow are mad at you, I think we will have more luck with Rainbow as she was more friendly with you before." Twilight rambled, while Lacy had trouble following what she was saying.

"Twilight, I don't thi-"

"The picnic!" she shouted, interrupting the man. "The girls must be already there! Come on! The sooner we get there, the sooner I can send that friendship lesson to Princess Celestia and I won't be sent back to magic kindergarten!"

"Magic kindergarten?" Lazlo asked but was ignored again as Twilight lit up her horn.





"Fucking hell!" Lazlo yelled as Twilight's magical aura surrounded him and then he was in the air, floating after the unicorn as she was trotting towards the park. Being in the air like this was a weird feeling. He imagined this was what being in zero gravity feels like, though it seemed more surreal as everything around him obeyed this basic law of physics. He tried to escape this prison but to no avail as the magical aura followed his movements. "Twilight! Let go of me!" he yelled after her but it looked like today was 'ignore the human' day for this mare as she was mumbling to herself but Lacy couldn't understand her, mostly due to the tingling sound her magic made. After some more trying and failing, he gave up and decided to wait patiently for this journey to end.

Soon they arrived at the picnic and as they suspected, the others were already there, just finishing setting up everything. They noticed them approaching but looked confused, probably at the method of Lazlo's transportation. Well, Rainbow and Pinkie started laughing after a few seconds, which only finished when they were finally there and Twilight let go of the human, dropping him.

Lazlo let out an 'ow' when his butt made contact with the ground first which was followed by his whole body. He grumbled as he got up.

"What's going on?" Applejack asked the obvious question.

"Girls! I'm in big trouble!" Twilight started, her voice full of panic. The others immediately gave her their full attention. "It's terrible. It's awful! And I need to solve it very soon." she continued, while the girls became more and more restless, waiting for her to finally say the problem itself. "My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven't learned anything about friendship! And I-" she was probably trying to tell them her plan, which involved at least one of them and Lazlo making amends, or something like that, however, she was interrupted, when the girls let out a relieved sigh.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened." Fluttershy was the first to speak up and it surprised both Twilight and Lazlo, who was murmuring some not nice things about the lavender mare and her methods but hearing this snapped him out of this.

"It IS awful!" Twilight reasoned. "I need to send a letter to the princess before sundown or I will be tardy!"

"No offense, sugarcube, but it looks like somepony's getting themselves all worked up over nothing." Applejack spoke as well.

"This is not nothing. This is everything. I need to learn something about friendship today and I need your help! Lacy's here and I thought-" she was again interrupted, which would've amused Lazlo as karma got her if he wouldn't have still been in a somewhat shocked state by the reaction of the mares.

"Oh, Twilight, you're such a crack-up!" Pinkie was the one cutting into her words while giggling and the others joined as well.

This caused Twilight to tear up a little and before they could react, she teleported away. The girls didn't seem to notice the distress, their friend was in, and though Lazlo was still a little mad about Twilight for how she took away him from what he was doing at home and didn't even give him time to grab that few bottles of drinks he planned to bring to this picnic. But as he heard them saying these things, he momentarily forgot all of his troubles.





Twilight teleported back to the library. Anger was rising inside of her. Her friends laughed at her issues like it wouldn't be a big deal. It was a big deal. Her whole life depended on it. If she can't produce a friendship letter to the princess in time, then she would punish her for her tardiness. The princess could order her to go back to Canterlot and then she won't be seeing them as often as now, if at all. Was she not an important friend to them? Did they see her as a friend in the first place?

She hushed away those thoughts. She was their friend. No doubt about it. They went through many things together. Sure, they have different viewpoints and sometimes they argue but this is what made their friendship so strong. They didn't understand the importance of her studies and her role as a student.

She would've gone back to explain to them but there was no time. Panic started to overtake her as she looked out of the window and saw the sun close to the horizon. But what could she do? She had maybe one hour but probably less. How can she find and solve a friendship problem in time, when she already looked for hours? Then an idea came to her.

If I can't find a friendship problem in time, then I'm going to have to make one.

Now she only needed one thing. She trotted into her bedroom, to a chest which contained some personal items of hers. One of those was a doll from her fillyhood. Smarty Pants. With the idea in her head, the needed item with her, only one thing remained. Finding some candidates.

With that, her horn lit up and she disappeared from the library.





"What the hell was that?" Lazlo asked the girls.

"It looked to me like Twilight was stressing over something too much," Rainbow answered him.

"Yeah, but why did you laugh at her?" he continued his questioning.

"Because she was funny with all those silly things she was saying," Pinkie gave the answer this time with giggles.

"Don't worry, she will calm down and come back soon." Rarity spoke.

"I don't know girls, I think she got pretty upset." Fluttershy joined in.

"You should know that if somepony doing something silly, then ponies can laugh at it. It was a good joke as well from Twilight." Pinkie said.

"Well, I think it's a bad way to treat someone, especially a friend," Lazlo said.

"It's rich, coming from you." Rainbow deadpanned.

"Look who's talking." he retorted. "Pinkie, remember that recipe collection you got from me? It belonged to my good friend, Victor. It was the middle of the week, at night. I was ready to go to bed but someone knocked on my door. It was Victor. He came to ask a favor from me. He brought a few old notebooks, really old ones, some were over forty years old, filled with recipes. He wanted to put them all into a book and give it to his grandmother as a birthday gift, it was her recipes after all just the notebooks were hanging on their last thread. Anyway, the point is that we needed to copy all recipes by tomorrow morning because otherwise the bookmaker won't be done with it by the end of the week and the birthday was happening that weekend. I was pretty pissed at him since work has been pretty taxing that time and I was tired, but apparently, there was no one else he could turn to and he wouldn't be finished alone in time. So I did as any good friend would do. Punched him, cursed him, then made a lot of coffee, which made me hear and feel every heartbeat for the next day, and we worked the whole night on it and finished just in time. So yes, you can be an asshole to your friends sometimes, when they need help but that doesn't mean you shouldn't help them." he finished his short tale.

"You shouldn't lecture us about what a good friend is like." Applejack said.

Lazlo sighed. He had expected the topic to come up, it was a safe bet. It didn't help in his current, confusing mental state. He was depressed and yet trying to distract himself from this feeling. In the last few days, he often went into a lethargic state. And during these times memories would flood him. Memories of a situation, similar to this one, not the circumstances but how he felt during that time. Among those memories, there was one that he dreaded the most and was trying to bury deep down but sometimes it was impossible and it would come up, and if that wasn't enough, he would also construct alternate outcomes from that memory. That's why he needed the distraction and despite the topic, this debate was one. Plus in these times, instinct would take over to defend himself anyway so in a twisted way it came in handy.

"Why can't you understand that I cared more about my human friends and my family than you?" he looked at them seriously. "I told you before, I felt bad about it, still am. We already talked about it and can run the same circles but that won't get us anywhere," he argued.

"You saying that you feel bad about it but didn't really show it to us." Applejack countered.

"You want me to get on my knees and start crying in front of you?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "No thanks, I do that more than enough at home." he switched in a bitter tone.

This one got all of their attention. Lazlo, however, instantly regretted saying that last sentence out loud. Not because it was a manipulative asshole move, well not mainly, but now his thoughts went back to the topic he wanted to distract himself from.

"Listen, I'm not sorry for what I've done. I wanted to go home. But apparently, in this unbelievable world, there is only one thing that is impossible, the thing I desire the most." he clarified in an even bitter tone. He then sighed. "Maybe coming here was a bad idea," he murmured to himself but loud enough for the others to hear. "I've been in the middle of something anyway."

"Going to a picnic is never a bad idea," Pinkie disagreed with him. "And why did you start doing something when you knew about it?" she questioned.

"Because I just realized that today is a national holiday. It's strange because it wasn't a year as the date is different here. And now that I think about it, I already skipped one..." He explained to them.

"What kind of national holiday? If you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy spoke.

Before he could answer her, unusual sounds were heard near them. As they turned, they noticed several ponies, all fighting with each other. There were some familiar faces, like Big Mac, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Lyra, Sweetie Drops, and many others. They seemed to fight for some kind of item, though it was hard to clearly see what it was. It was a very bizarre sight. The others seemed just as lost about what was happening as he was.

Lazlo tried to focus on that item to see what was so important or special to have half of the town fight for it.

"Don't look at it!" shouted a familiar voice. The girls turned and saw Twilight galloping to them with sheer panic on her face. 

She began explaining to them what happened but Lacy wasn't listening. He finally saw what exactly the ponies were trying to get from each other. He felt an extreme need to go there and get the item himself. He felt like that was the only thing he wanted in his life. And he didn't resist.

He began running towards the fighting ponies. He felt adrenalin pumping inside of his body. He heard yells behind him but he ignored them. He had to get that thing, nothing else mattered. As he closed on them, the big pony pile started to fall apart into smaller groups of fighting ponies, trying to prove that they wanted the item more than the others. Lazlo quickly noticed that a familiar black pegasus, Thunderlane managed to get the thing and was ready to fly out of the area now that he had what he wanted. The other ponies didn't notice that the subject of their desire was about to leave as they were all occupied with each other.

Lazlo, however, saw the opportunity and with all his power he rammed into the pegasus' side as he was about to take off with his left shoulder. With a grunt of pain, Thunderlane fell back to the ground and dropped the item. Lazlo too felt the force of the impact in his left upper arm but it didn't matter to him. He quickly grabbed what he was wanting and looked at it.

A doll. A grey pony doll with black mane and tail, one purple and one blue button for eyes, and blue pants with white dots on it. It was a simple little thing but right now it was the only thing he wanted and now that he had it, he was about to go home, when something slammed into his left side, hitting his left arm and he fell to the ground, dropping the doll as well and crying in pain. Looking toward his attacker, he saw Thunderlane as he grabbed the doll with his mouth and was ready to take off again. He couldn't let him escape with it. He managed to partially get up and grabbed the end of his short tail, then pulled with all his strength. This made the pegasus yell in surprise which resulted in dropping the doll and losing his balance and falling back. Lacy didn't get up, instead crawled his way to get the doll like a toddler and grabbed it. Thunderlane instantly got up and went after the human, jumping on his back with some force to pin him down but the man started to roll and stretched his arm to hit him. However, their fight came to an abrupt stop when a booming voice yelled Twilight's name then light blinded him and suddenly his thoughts cleared.

"What the fuck?" he murmured and got up while panting heavily as the adrenalin rush died down. At the same time, he felt pain in his left upper arm and looked at it. A blueish-brownish mark was on it that looked like a hoofprint. He touched it gently, put a little pressure on it, and hissed in pain. He then realized that the doll was in his left hand. He looked at it confused. This was what he was ready to kill for a moment ago but right now he just wanted to throw it away. Instead of doing that, he put it into his pocket with made him look ridiculous with a bulge in the left-front side of his pants and a pony doll head emerging from there.

"What happened?" Lazlo turned to see Thunderlane looking around just as confused as he was. "My side hurts." he groaned. He noticed that Lacy was looking at him and remembered what they were doing a few seconds ago. "Were we really fighting for some stupid doll?" he asked just to confirm. Lacy nodded. "Arg... You hit pretty hard," he complained.

"Sorry, though I got a nice tattoo from you too..." he showed him the hoofprint on his arm.

"Oops, I'm sorry too. But why were we wanted that doll so bad?" he asked.

"Dunno... I think it's Twilights, or at least she has something to do with it. I'm going and asking her."

"Okay. I'll look around if Rumble is here, hope he's not, though. I don't want to see him hurt. See ya!" he took off but stayed close to the ground and flew towards the big group of ponies that was also about to leave this area.

Lazlo noticed the mares, who seemed to be in a panic and all began to run off. He decided to follow them. Soon he arrived at the library, he just saw them all rushing into the building. When he was close enough he began hearing what they were talking about.

"It wasn't her fault!" Applejack spoke.

"I'm listening." came the voice of Princess Celestia. Lazlo walked inside the library through the door that was left open and closed it quietly. The girls didn't notice him, only Celestia, who smiled at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the mares.

"Please, your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset." Fluttershy said.

"But we thought that the thing she was worried about wasn't worth worrying about." Rainbow continued.

"So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her," Applejack added.

"As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!" Rarity concluded.

"Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her," Fluttershy begged.

"Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today," Celestia said and they nodded. The princess then looked up to the human. "What about you, Lazlo? Did you learn anything?" she asked as the others turned to him.

"Avoid her when she's panicking," he said in a dry tone, looking at the purple unicorn. Twilight cringed at this but Celestia chuckled. "Nothing, really. Didn't have much chance..."

"I see. Very well. I'll forget Twilight's 'punishment' on one condition." The mares seemed to agree beforehand. "From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship when, and only when, you happen to discover them. Oh, and Lazlo, you can partake in this as well. I'm quite curious what kind of friendship lesson would come from you. And about that invitation. Please consider it and we will talk about it at a later date. And now, I must take my leave. I'm expecting some letter." she began walking up the stairs, most likely to go out to the balcony and take off from there but Twilight stopped her.

"Princess Celestia, wait! How did you know I was in trouble?" she asked her mentor.

"Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you. I commend him for taking your feelings seriously. Farewell, my little ponies." she soon took off and flew back to Canterlot.

"Y'all heard the Princess. Spike, take a letter." Spike did as she asked and Applejack began dictating the lesson report.
Dear Princess Celestia,
We're writin' to you because today we all learned a little somethin' about friendship.
Fluttershy continued.
We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously.
Rainbow Dash followed her.
Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about.
Then came Rarity.
And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem...
Pinkie took it from her.
...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem.
And Applejack finished it.
Signed, your loyal subjects.

"P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and- Eheh... uh... yeah... I'll just, um..." Spike tried to add his own part but as he noticed the unamused looks on the others, he decided it was best to send the letter without a P.S. so he just rolled it up and sent it to the princess.

Now that it was over, Lazlo pulled out the doll from his pocket and showed it to Twilight.

"Your's?" he asked.

"Yes! Smarty Pants! It was my favorite when I was a filly." Twilight happily took the doll back and teleported it away, probably back to her bedroom.

It seemed that everything turned out alright and it was time for Lazlo to head back to his house. However, Fluttershy stopped him from leaving.

"Wait, Lacy. You didn't tell us about that national holiday. Would you tell us now? If you don't mind, of course..."

"National holiday?" Twilight looked at the man and summoned a notebook and a quill.

Lazlo sighed. He would rather be in his own house by now but this was a holiday that he actually liked to speak and think about so he waited as the others came around him and began to talk about it.

"It's a commemoration of a revolution that happened over sixty years ago. The world was divided by two superpower countries back then and we were under the more tyrannical one, the soviets. We didn't like their rule so at first, the students of universities started a peaceful demonstration. But the fuckers at the government decided to shoot into the crowd, killing several protestors. So after that, the people took weapons and kicked the ass of the local soviet army and also the police and other organization that was under the local puppet government. Then a new government was formed for the change and we tried to get out of the influence of the soviets but when it became clear that we won't get any help from the other side, they came back and basically invaded us again then imprisoned and killed thousands of people who took part of the revolution. This is the short version of the short version. I could tell you much more details at another time if you want but in the last few years, I was mostly focused on remembering the tales my great grandfather told me, who was part of that revolution. When he was alive, he often talked about what he did. When I was ten, he showed me how to make a Molotov cocktail, we made one together in my grandfather's workshop during a family gathering. He told me that if 'those fucking reds' come back, throw a few at them because they deserve it. My mom found out and yelled at the old man for teaching this to a kid. He was crazy sometimes, I admit but he went through some horror in his young years so it's not that surprising really." he finished his quick retelling. Despite wanting to talk more about it, he felt tiredness rising inside of him and the pain from the fight also strengthened a little.

"What's a Molotov cocktail?" Twilight asked.

"Imagine a bottle filled with some flammable liquid and cloth put in the mouth in a way that it reaches the liquid but also has a part that is outside of the bottle. You light the outer part of the cloth on fire and throw it. When it lands, it breaks and the liquid ignites and it can create a big fire. They used it against armored vehicles mostly." he answered.

"Why didn't you get help?" Fluttershy asked.

"Multiple reasons. Some said that it was a lost cause, some were afraid that it would lead to another big war, if I remember, they were also focusing to gain control over another part of the world at that time that was more important strategically." Lacy answered and then decided that it was time to go as he felt that if he stays any longer, he won't make it home as exhaustion came stronger and stronger after him. "Listen, I'm really tired, so I'm going home. The end of this day took more out of me than I expected," he informed them.

"Yeah, right... I'm so sorry about it, Lacy." Twilight apologized.

"Just please, leave me out of your next crazy period." he sighed, then said goodbye to them, as he left, the others followed his steps and all went back home.
> 24. Nightmare Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo woke up with a start. A nightmare again. And he remembered this one too. He hated it. Most of his dreams leave him in the moment of awakening, leaving him to question whether he even had a dream that night at all. Sometimes only a feeling remains as proof that something did happen in his mind during his sleep. But that nightmare about how he could've ended up when getting here if not for some mystical force or something that somehow saved him. No one had any idea behind it and he tried to avoid thinking about it but people do think about darker stuff when they're alone and have nothing else to do, which in his case was not a rarity. This time, however, a different nightmare made his sleep uncomfortable. It was about what he considers his greatest fear.

That wasn't the only problem. What the nightmare was about, he had similar daydreams as well. Never intentionally sometimes his mind just stirred that way. He had to find a way to distract himself from those thoughts. He couldn't let them deepen their roots in his mind.

As luck would have it, interruption knocked on his door this time. Opening it revealed three mares. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

"Hello, darling!" Rarity greeted him first. The others said their greetings as well and Lacy returned it too. "I hope you are not busy right now." she continued to speak and it was clear that they wanted to talk with him about something and since he wasn't busy and actually wanted some distraction from his thoughts, he let them in. They all sat in the living room and he brought some drinks that he originally bought for the picnic a few days ago.

"So... what do you want from me?" he asked them.

"This morning, while I've been baking the first batch of goodies, I've remembered something." Pinkie started. "It will be Nightmare Night soon. As I planned for the special treats I wanted to make for that night I checked that recipe collection, I got from you and then it hit me that you might not know about the holiday and I must go to visit you so I can tell you about it and you can prepare. But on the way, I realized that Twilight is better at explaining things like this so I went to her at first and asked her to come with me but then I also remembered that you will need a costume so we went to Rarity and asked her to come too and now we are here." the pink mare summarized.

"Nightmare Night..." Lacy muttered. "I think I've heard of it before. Right, that holiday, that's similar to Halloween."

"Yes, you mentioned it when we were comparing holidays before but there weren't many details exchanged," Twilight spoke.

"Well, I don't know much about it as it's not something we have in my country but it's well-known worldwide, at least the basics. People dressed up as monsters, ghosts, and other scary things. Kids go around gathering candy and other sweets. Oh, and everyone has a weird thing for torturing pumpkins." he told them what he knew.

"That's really very similar!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Well except the offering to Nightmare Moon. And a fair too and anything else, the ponies coming up."

"But didn't you defeat her and turned her back to Princess Luna?" Lazlo asked. "Nightmare Moon is no more."

"Well, yes but Nightmare Night has been there for hundreds of years. I feel bad for Princess Luna but Nightmare Night is a great and fun holiday." Twilight explained. "I believe that she will see it that way too if she gives it a chance."

"And what do you want from me?" Lazlo asked again.

"You already asked that, silly." Pinkie noticed it.

"And you didn't give an answer."

"I think, she wants you to take part in the Nightmare Night events, darling." Rarity spoke. "We are worried. You rarely leave your home, basically just for shopping."

"We are still your friends." Twilight took the word from her. "Maybe these last few weeks were full of chaos and I'm not only talking about Discord but that shouldn't leave a wall between us. We all did things that tested our friendship. Like when we didn't appreciate the dresses Rarity made for us. Or when Applejack refused to accept help and poisoned several ponies. Or what happened a few days ago. We forgave you already, Lacy."

"Really?" he asked, Twilight and Rarity nodded.

"Of course, we did!" Pinkie decided to be more vocal at the confirmation. "Though I didn't forget the letter about you winning back our trust so that means that you owe one to each of us."

Lazlo put on his 'Are you for real?' face and looked at the ponies. Besides the pink mare, the other two exchanged some awkward glances and their smile was awkward too but none of them proved Pinkie wrong or disagreed with her. Lazlo could only shake his head in disbelief.

Fucking hell... I should be angry or at least offended. I would be in normal cases but ever since getting here there were none for me. Fuck... I can't believe it... Well, this is supposed to be a punishment and it will distract me at least.

"It's not what Pinkie meant." Twilight came up with an explanation. "You are still our friend, but those letters to Princess Celestia need to be honest and we can't send an empty paper."

"How about instead of dancing around this topic, you come with me to my boutique and we can think of a great costume for you." Rarity tried to take the focus elsewhere. Lazlo sighed and nodded.

Soon they were all in the Carousel Boutique. Rarity was measuring Lazlo, while Pinkie and Twilight were throwing in ideas of what he could dress up as. Pinkie mostly came up with silly things, like animals or even sweets from Sugarcube Corner. Twilight mostly listed famous ponies from the history of Equestria but the problem with that was it would've looked stupid on someone who walks on two legs. Rarity only had a few things in mind, like a dragon costume. In the end, Twilight's idea won, she suggested a minotaur costume.

After Rarity took the needed measurements and worked out the necessary details, they left her and went to the local candy shop to buy the candy that he will give to the little fillies and colts. Sweety Drops expressed her disappointment that he missed several weeks in the chess club but also understood his reason. She showed him several packages that she always prepared for Nightmare Night. It contained more than enough candy for the kids. Lazlo chose one and soon he was on his way back home.

Soon it was the night of the holiday. Rarity brought him the costume yesterday. Lazlo was currently putting it up. This whole day, he was thinking about whether he really wanted to do more with Nightmare Night other than giving candy to the kids who knock on the door but one of the mares would surely try to get him out, also the distraction was welcoming to him, and he wished to experience Halloween as a kid but never had the chance for obvious reasons and now it was the closest he could get to it, even though it was in a different world and he was an adult.

He put up his costume. Rarity, while having never seen a real minotaur in her life, Twilight showed a picture of the creature to her so she had an idea of how it should look like. At first, he took off his clothes, except his underwear and socks. The upper body part of the costume could be best defined as a light gray fursuit, it was simple but Rarity didn't have much time to make the costume, since she had many other orders too, she apologized to Lazlo when she brought it to him and he didn't mind the simplicity. After putting on the top part, the pants came next. Its color was darker gray and at the top middle of the backside, a tail was attached to it, which wasn't very long, it reached down a little beyond his knee. Lastly a pair of horns attached to a hair band, which he put onto his head in a way that the horns were placed, as a minotaur would have. There was also a pink nose in the bundle, but he skipped that one because breathing was very hard for him when he tried it.

Just as he finished, he heard multiple knocks on his door. So this was it. The first foal came to his house for candy. He went to grab his bowl, full of sweets and went to open the door.

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" three fillies yelled together. One was dressed, what Lacy thought was a damsel in distress, a princess, who is locked up in the highest tower from the fairy tales, another was probably an astronaut, and the third was a ladybug. Behind them stood Granny Smith and it seemed like the fillies got her enthusiasm as well, since she didn't appear to have any.

Lazlo took out three candies from his package and placed one into each filly's sack.

"Hey! I'm here too!" a colt's voice was heard behind the fillies and the speaker pushed his way through the others. He was wearing a pirate costume, a really good one with a sword and eye patch and everything. Only the gun was missing. "Pipsqueak the pirate at your service." he saluted, which Lazlo found absolutely adorable. With a smile, he took one candy and put it into his sack. "This is my first Nightmare Night. I love it!" he spoke as Lacy's candy disappeared into his haul.

"Really? This is the first time for me as well," he informed the colt, who looked surprised at it. "Where I'm from we don't have this holiday, though there is a similar one in other places," he answered before he got the question.

Lazlo then turned his attention to the old mare.

"Good evening Ms. Smith." he greeted her.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Granny, when you were our guest?" she asked.

"Maybe, I guess your memory is better than mine," he answered, now remembering it.

"Eh, I'm cheating." Granny laughed. "I tell it to every guest so I'm just gotta remember those, whoever came to the farm. But you are easy to remember."

"Yeah, it's probably because of my charming personality," Lazlo said sarcastically.

"Nah, it's because you're the weirdest-looking thing, we ever had in our home."

After her bluntness kicked his sarcasm in the ass with two legs, the kids became restless and started to pull Granny to go to the next house.

"I'm coming, younglings, don't be impatient!" she scolded them, then turned back to the human. "I should've been asleep hours ago. Pinkie Pie promised to take over watching the kids but I haven't seen her. I'm starting to get really tired."

"I haven't seen her either," Lazlo told her, then finally to the kids' delight they said their farewell and they went on their way to gather more candy.

After this, other children came to his house for candy as well. The last pony knocking on his door was Pinkie Pie, dressed up as a chicken, and even acting like one. Lazlo sighed and was about to give her candy while telling her about what Granny Smith told him but she just took the package from him and added the remaining few sweets into her collection.

"Thanks for the candy, now I gotta go find Granny Smith, I promised to take over looking after a few kids. You should come as well, there are many fun things there. I love Nightmare Night!" she spoke while pulling the man for a short time, before letting him go and running to the center of the town. Lazlo just walked slowly after she shook his head.

He wasn't sure how much time he spent in the middle of the town, where most ponies were chatting or having fun with these games, like the pumpkin catapult, or apple bobbing. Lazlo thought about trying those but he didn't feel the urge to do so, so he was just observing the others.

Just as he was starting to get bored and thinking about going home, he noticed a dragon. Well, a dragon costume that was worn by a... dragon...

You fucking serious? Maybe I should've come out as myself too... Or dressed as an SS officer, though I would've needed Chris' coat for it, plus they wouldn't understand it so no fun...

Spike seemed happy with a big sack of candy in his claws, while Twilight, who was wearing some cliché wizard outfit seemed angry for some reason.

They noticed him and quickly changed their direction toward the human.

"Hey, Lacy!" they both greeted him, and the man did the same. "How do you like Nightmare night so far?" Twilight asked.

"Didn't do much, except giving out candy, until Pinkie came and took everything that was left. But it didn't seem bad as I looked around. Though I could've done it without the lightning strikes from Rainbow. Mini heart attack every time, even if none were targeting to scare me." he explained.

"Glad, you enjoying yourself then." Twilight smiled, then looked at him expectingly. "So what do you think of my costume?" she turned her side to him to let him examine her better, showing him more details.

"Looks good..." Lazlo said after a few seconds, unsure of what did she expect him to say. She just continued to look at him in the same way, waiting for him to say more. "...and well detailed... umm... who or what are you?"

"Oh, come on! Not even you?!" she yelled in frustration. Her reaction did surprise Lacy but he wasn't the only one. Applejack, who was close by, dropped the bucket from her mouth, which she was carrying water in to refill the tub for the apple bobbing. It seemed it will take many rounds with that bucket. "I was hoping that at least you will recognize him! I told you about him! It's Startswirl the Bearded!"

"Hey! Calm down!" Lazlo raised his hands. "I remember you telling me about him, one of the biggest names in the history of magic, and it was clear to me that he's an idol for you," he told her, remembering those times she talked about him during their sessions. "But you never told me how did he look like, or what did he wear, so how was I supposed to know?" he asked.

"Oh, right." she looked sheepishly at him, admitting that he had a point. She knew his looks because of the big portrait of him in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and some illustrations in some books and another portrait in the Starswirl the Bearded section in the Library of Magic in Canterlot, but Lazlo didn't see any of those. "Sorry." she apologized. It seemed that she wanted to tell more but the cheering of many ponies close by grabbed their attention.

There was a stage close to them. It had dark curtains with silver dots on them, On the top of it was a banner, the same width as the stage on it was some images of Nightmare Moon. A big group of ponies was already there, listening to the mayor, who stood on the stage. She was dressed as a clown.

The three of them joined the crowd.

"Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!" the mayor began her speech. "Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon!" she tried to sound scary at the end with an evil laugh after finished speaking.

"Spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that," Spike whispered to them, Twilight giggled, and Lazlo just nodded.

Suddenly green fog appeared on the stage and a zebra walked out from it. Lazlo looked at her. She was wearing big golden earrings and several golden rings around her neck. There were several fake spiders in her mane and she was wearing a dark cloak. Her eyes opened, looking at the crowd, then she spoke.

"Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon," she spoke with an African accent, or at least Lazlo guessed that because he had a college, who was African and sounded similar to her. Zecora then started to walk away and ponies, mostly the fillies and colts followed her. Twilight and Spike did the same, and Lazlo was also curious as well so he joined.

As they walked towards the edge of the town, Lazlo replayed in his mind when Twilight talked about her first encounter with the zebra. The whole town was terrified of her without even knowing anything about her. Made him think, about what would've happened to him if he arrived before Twilight met Zecora and then the whole town got over their ridiculous prejudice. Lacy sighed mentally. He had his own prejudices towards others but those were based on experience and that is something that no amount of openness can override, no matter how much he wants to be otherwise. But it seemed that Zecore forgave them and everyone moved on it, she didn't start to act like a bitch and use their earlier behavior as a get-out card, like many would do in his world.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Would you mind if I had a few things asked?" Lazlo didn't notice that during his thinking session, the zebra made her way next to him and began speaking. Twilight mentioned to him that she spoke in rhyme but it was still weird to hear it. "But an introduction at first occurs. Zecora is my name, what's yours?"

"I'm Lazlo Kis. Pleased to meet you." he introduced himself formally, though he guessed that she already knew a few things about him, Twilight told him that she spoke about him to her when she was visiting her once.

"Believe me when I say, the pleasure is mine, since I'm meeting one so unique in kind. From what I heard about your home, it's even further than my own."

"Well, yeah... though it wouldn't be a problem if there would be a possibility for me to do that travel." Lacy's mood started to go down. He was beginning to enjoy this night and it seemed that it will end sooner than he hoped.

"Forgive my words that into your heart tore, I didn't realize the subject was so sore." it seemed that she noticed his discomfort. "Leaving you alone now I should, but I'd really like if chatting at some point we could. While I have curiosity on my own, I think I could give you some advice on getting used to your new home." with that she trotted forward.

Lazlo calmed as she left him. Her last words made her think though. Will he ever be getting accustomed to living in this world? Or will he be like this forever? People say that time heals every wound but this was a completely new kind of damage. Will this be the exception that strengthens the rule? Deep down, he hoped not. Even if it was only the start, he knew that those distractions won't last forever. He will be just deceiving himself, just like he did with his mother back then and that too was something he started knowing how will it eventually turn up and it still hit him way harder than he expected. He couldn't afford that hit a second time, he can't let this go too long but right now, there was nothing else he could do.

They were in the forest now. It was the edge of the Everfree Forest or more like a peninsula, surrounded by the woods, except for the part that was at the edge of the town. They all stopped at a statue that Lazlo guessed was Nightmare Moon.

"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary." Zecora started her telling the children about the legend of this holiday. She pulled out some green dust from her robe, which glowed like it would be radioactive and blow at it. The dust was probably magical because it took the form of the creature this holiday is about. "Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary." she continued, while the glowing Nightmare flew towards the audience and upon hitting the ground, it filled the air around them with green mist. Everyone gasped, as they got scared by the performance. Lazlo stiffened too. "Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes." Lazlo noticed a pair of eyes behind a few foals who were close to him and even though he jumped a little back, the little ones screamed and ran away, while the zebra came forward, looking with an evil smile. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!" she continued her tale. More screaming followed as the air cleared from the green fog.

"Hungrily, she soars the sky." Zecora pulled out more glowing dust for a second round. "If she sees nopony, she passes by." the glowing Nightmare Moon now looked like she was looking for something in front of a few fillies, who Lazlo just now noticed that two of them were Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, the former dressed as a wolf, the other is as a vampire. Soon the Nightmare mist left them and went to other fillies and colts. "So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!" finally it too disappeared, but this one made some green sparkles fall as the zebra finished her tale.

"Uh, Miss Zecora, if we wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won't gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?" Pipsqueak pulled on the robe of Zecora asking a question that gave the impression to Lacy that the little colt was quite clever.

"A perfect question, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." it seemed that Zecora had a neverending supply of those dust on herself as she pulled out yet another portion of it. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two..." this time the glowing Nightmare Moon walked towards them menacingly. "...so she won't return to come eat you!" then suddenly it jumped on them, exploding into another glowing, green fog. It was a really good jumpscare, Lazlo did jump out of its way and got scared enough to forget his thought about how it wasn't really an answer to the little colt's question.

Pinkie screamed loudly and then she and the kids all run to the statue.

"Everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here!" Pinkie shouted while they all dumped a generous amount of sweets before the base of the statue.

Suddenly the wind got strong, clouds seemed to cover the sky except around the moon. It seemed it wasn't part of the show, as Lazlo noticed that even Zecora looked afraid. Then a light flashed and a chariot was seen descending, pulled by two pegasus ponies, who looked rather different. They had gray coats, their wings were leathery with no feathers, and they wore dark purple armor. That's what he could see in this distance but by the speed, they close to the ground, soon he will see more. From there, they looked like some kind of dark version of the Royal Guard.

The chariot, they pulled was occupied by a single pony. This pony seemed taller, than a normal one and wore a hooded cloak. A long horn was visible on the top of the head, so this pony must have been a unicorn. But with the guardlike ponies, the chariot, the dark colors. Lazlo wondered if this pony was her.

The ponies backed as the chariot approached, then went over above them and stopped mid-air.

"It's Nightmare Moon! Run!" Pinkie yelled and everyone, except for Twilight and Lacy ran toward the village.

The strange ponies continued to pull the chariot towards Ponyville and the two who were still there decided to head back as well. As they arrived back at the main square, where most ponies were, clouds formed above the town, and the chariot was already there, still in the air. The pony jumped down from the chariot and threw the hood back, revealing, who Lacy thought it was. All of the ponies, save for Twilight all lay down on the ground, shaking in fear.

"Princess Luna!" she said while smiling to see the princess. She was about to walk toward her but Spike grabbed her and pulled her down, it seemed that he was afraid too.

As the princess walked forward, pieces from her cloak flew away from her in the form of bats. Lazlo didn't know if the bats were real or some kind of magic. As the cloak completely disappeared from her body, she raised her big wings and stopped in the center of the shaking ponies.

"Citizens of Ponyville!" her voice boomed as if she was speaking through an overpowered megaphone. "We have graced your tiny village with our presence so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night! A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!" lightning struck and thunder roared at her last word.

"Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!" Pinkie spoke and then she and the kids ran away, yelling. Luna looked at them, confused for a second.

"What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight are what your princess desires, not screams of terror!" the princess tried to stop them but it was a futile attempt. She then walked to the mayor. "Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived." she offered her hoof and waited for a few moments but the only thing that happened was that the mayor was shaking more and hid her face behind her hooves. Luna started to get frustrated, she tried the same thing with other ponies but all reacted the same way. Finally, she had enough. "Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell." she said, clearly offended by the behavior of the ponies, and walked away.

"I'm gonna go talk to her." Twilight got up and then turned to Lazlo. "Can you come too? It seems, she needs some help and she already knows you, so together we have a better chance." She didn't wait for Lazlo to answer, she immediately started following where the night princess went. He followed her.

"So, you know what's with the yelling?" he asked when he caught up to her.

"I don't know. Maybe she wanted to be sure that everypony will hear her. Though it seems that it just scared them even more after her arrival." she tried to guess.

Soon they arrived back at the statue of Nightmare Moon. Before the stone copy of her evil form laid the princess on the ground.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight got her attention and galloped to her, stopping merely centimeters away from the alicorn. "Welcome to our celebration. My name is-" she tried to introduce herself but the princess cut in.

"Starswirl the Bearded. Commendable costume, thou even got the bells right," she said to her, while Lazlo was thinking about who the hell would wear bells on his clothes, except if he lost some big bet or just wanted to annoy everyone around him.

"Finally somepony recognizes the costume!" Twilight voiced her suddenly very happy mood. Though the princess just seemed confused at her reaction. "Sorry, my actual name is-" she was again interrupted.

"Twilight Sparkle, my sister's pupil." Lazlo was about to ask the question in his head, why she wasn't yelling now, or even when she spoke to him in Canterlot and why in the town when she pushed the volume up again. "It was thou who unleashed the power of Harmony on me and cleansed me of my darker self!"

"And that was a good thing, right?" Twilight asked after recovering from the princess' yelling.

"But of course. We could not be happier. Is that not clear?" she answered, her volume a little bit lower but still in the shouting category.

"Well, you kinda sound like you're yelling at me." Twilight shared her opinion.

"But this is the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice! It is tradition to speak using the royal 'we', and to use this much volume when addressing our subjects!" she explained and again demonstrated how the Royal Canterlot Voice. She then noticed that they weren't alone in there. The human, in a minotaur costume, was standing there, a little further away, being a passive viewer of their interaction. "Ah, Lazlo Kis. Please forgive us for not addressing thou sooner." The man nodded her way, returning her greeting and accepting her apology. "One of the reasons for our visit is that we wish to have a discussion with thou about some recent events," she informed him and Lazlo had a good idea of what she was talking about.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight took back the word. "I think, I know why your appearance met with... um... mixed results." she tried to sugarcoat what she wanted to say. "I wish to help you to enjoy this wonderful festival and I believe that all you need to do is change your approach a little bit."

"Change our approach?" the princess asked her, her voice booming again.

"Lower the volume." Twilight explained.

"Ohhh. We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are... not sure we can." Luna spoke, this time at a normal volume.

"Just speak like you did right now, or when you spoke with me." Lazlo gave her some tips.

"But this is a different situation. We art having a discussion currently and when thou were in the castle, thou were a guest. That required different behavior on our part." Luna argued. "This is a royal visit though and the Royal Canterlot Voice is tradition."

"Tradition is important," Lazlo began. "It usually carries important values, be it personal, or cultural. But sometimes a tradition needs to be abandoned or changed to keep the spirit of it."

"Lazlo is right, Princess. I've never heard Princess Celestia use it. Maybe she does when addressing a really big crowd so everypony could hear what she has to say but other than that, I don't think so."

"So we just have to speak like this all the time?" the princess asked and the other two nodded. "Very well, we will try it."

"I still don't understand the ponies' reaction, though. Even before you said a word, they were shivering in fear, but I've been told that you got a pretty warm welcome, when you first came to Ponyville after you've been... cleansed?" Lazlo pointed out a thing, that confused him while hoping that he used the right term at the end.

"That is true. We even got a necklace made of flowers. It is kept in our chambers." Luna said, then turned to Twilight.

"It's a valid point, but I don't know why is this happening," Twilight admitted.

"It doesn't matter anyway. With our normal voice, we will win the admiration of the townsponies again!" Luna then sat down and pulled Twilight into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank thee, Twilight Sparkle for thy help!" Twilight could barely mutter 'help' as a reaction and Lazlo got the feeling that she'd have turned to purple if she wouldn't be already. After a few seconds, the princess let go of the unicorn and turned to the human.

"Oh, shi-" Lazlo was cut off as he also got the same treatment from the alicorn. It was more painful that his grandma's strong hugs.

Before his spine could have changed shape permanently, they heard someone approaching.

"Come on, kids. Maybe if we offer more candy, then we will be safe." Pinkie Pie was the one speaking and a group of fillies and colts were with her. When they got close enough, she noticed them and screamed. "Oh, no! Nightmare Moon got Lazlo and now she's tenderizing him so she can gobble him up more easily! Run!" and with that, they all ran away screaming.

"Nay children, wait!" Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice as she let Lacy go, who was happy that his lungs could be filled with air once again. Luna realized that she shouldn't be so loud so she repeated, what she said in a normal voice but it was too late, they were already far away. The princess looked defeated.

"Time for plan B!" Twilight exclaimed after a few seconds, when an idea came to her, then motioned to the other two to follow her.

"Why did Pinkie act like that?" Lazlo asked the unicorn as they were walking back to town. "I mean she took part in defeating Nightmare Moon, so why?"

"I have no idea," Twilight admitted. "Pinkie could be unpredictable and strange sometimes but this is not like her."

"It is of no use, Twilight Sparkle. They have never liked us and they never shall." Luna spoke in a sad tone as she looked around, only seeing terrified ponies as they walked back to the main square. What happened so far really hurt her.

"My friend Applejack is one of the most likable ponies around. I'm sure she'll have some ideas." Twilight was leading them to the apple bobbin, where the farmer mare just prevented a little colt to fall into the tub. Upon noticing the princess approaching, she also dropped to the ground, shaking.

Lazlo had to bite his tongue so he won't comment on Applejack's behavior or anything, that would cause a scene.

"Uh... Applejack, the princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here." Twilight bent down to her.

"Fit in? Really?" Applejack looked up. Twilight growled at her and she suddenly turned all friendly. "I mean... that's easy! All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, and have some fun." she explained.

"Okay... what the fuck? It can't be that she was really afraid moments ago. But then why? Fucking hell... I shouldn't think about it too hard, but I feel bad about Luna."

"Fun? What is this 'fun' thou speakest of?" Luna asked and she was led to one of the games that were set up in the main square. It was the spider throwing. The pony with a pink coat and yellow mane, dressed up as a bee, who set up this game, was, like the others, shaking on the ground. Luna stood next to the bowl full of fake spiders. "Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?" she asked.

"Try to land the sp-sp-spiders on the web." the pony explained, not even looking up from her current, terrified state, only pointing towards the net that was a few meters away.

The princess took one spider and threw it. It landed a few centimeters before the web. Luna looked back to her three companions, who were acting normal.

"You can do it, princess!" Applejack encouraged her, and the other two nodded in agreement. The princess took another spider and threw it. This time, it hit the center of the web perfectly.

"Ha! Your princess enjoys this 'fun'!" Luna exclaimed and it seemed that other ponies started to approach her but she seemed to ignore them for now and turned to the trio. "How about you? Can you throw this toy spider as good as we?" she challenged them.

Twilight smiled and walked to the spider bowl. Before she took one of the fake, she put one bit into another bowl next to it, after all, five throw cost one bit. She then threw her spider and it landed on the left side, around the middle between the center and the edge, but closer to the center. Next was Applejack, whose spider almost fell off because it landed a little right to Luna's and only the right side stuck barely to the web. The last one was Lacy, and his was the furthest from the center, like Twilight, it was around the middle between the center and the top edge but it was a little bit closer to the edge.

All three ponies looked at him with victorious smiles.

"If it would've been darts that would be the triple twenty which is the most points." he tried to get back at them but they just laughed at him.

"Sore loser." Twilight teased.

"In what other ways may we experience fun?" Luna asked after this little competition was over.

The next game was a pumpkin catapult. This was a surprise for the human, as he never would've thought, they would set up anything like this, and also wondered, how did he not notice it earlier.

While the princess loaded the catapult with a pumpkin, Lazlo noticed that more and more ponies stopped shaking in fear and approached them, but kept their distance, though this time in respect so they won't bother Luna, while launching the pumpkin.

"Fire away, princess!" Twilight spoke and Luna sent it to fly. Lazlo was impressed that she hit the target on the first try.

"Ha ha! The fun has been doubled!" Luna exclaimed, clearly excited. The ponies cheered and it seemed that things were going in the right direction. No pony screamed and ran away at the sight of the Princess of the Night. Luna's expression also changed from her previously unamused, or even sad face to a more friendly and kind one. It was a heartwarming sight. And what came next, only added more fuel to it.

"Why don't you try bobbin' for apples? We got the best apples in Equestria here, princess." Applejack offered the next idea for fun.

"I ask that thou call us... me... Luna, fair Applejack." she then turned to the group of ponies that were also around them. "Hear me, villagers! All of you! Call me Luna!" and all ponies were chatting happily among themselves.

Lazlo was enjoying himself. Not only was this a great distraction for him but the mood of the ponies and Luna's joy that she found infected him. After all, if someone can have fun and be happy during a holiday that is basically about her dark past, her mistakes, reminding her of times that she probably just wants to forget, he has no right to be even a little bit more negative during that time. He didn't even notice that he stopped following the princess and just stood and was looking around.

This state ended when Pinkie screamed something about Nightmare Moon gobbling up someone, then after mere seconds, the pink pony in a chicken costume slammed into him, sending both of them on the ground.

Lazlo grunted as he felt his legs throbbing in pain since Pinkie mostly hit that part of his body but his back also let him know that it didn't like making such sudden contact with the ground. Still, he felt lucky that he didn't hit his head but it was quickly pushed aside as anger filled him.

"What the fuck, Pinkie?!" he yelled at the mare, who seemed completely unaffected by the crash but looked shocked at the human. "Why do you run around screaming in this goddamned town?!" he then took notice that the ponies around them were in a complete state of panic and doing the same thing, he just questioned Pinkie.

"I've been doing it because that's part of this holiday," she stated. "Princess Luna was so kind to come here and play Nightmare Moon. I should throw her a party," she said the last part mostly to herself.

"She didn't come here for that, you fucking moron!" Lazlo continued to shout at her. Part of the reason behind his frustration turned anger was the recent collision, but there was also that annoyance from her earlier acts piled up in him, and the last reason was that now thanks to Pinkie, a whole village of screaming ponies made his head hurt if the leg and back pain weren't enough.

Both of them looked at the destruction that was currently happening during the surge of panic every pony seemingly got. The decorations were torn. The stands were overturned and the food that was on them lay around. The curtains and the Nightmare Night strip were also ripped in pieces.

"Did I cause this?" he could barely hear Pinkie talking as town-wide panic attacks tended to be quite loud. He looked at the mare, who had her ears dropped, eyes watering, and even her mane started to look less poofy. "But it wasn't my-" she tried to say but a booming voice interrupted her.

"BE STILL!" and suddenly everything froze. The ponies returned to their previous state, covering the ground around Luna. Lazlo was relatively far from the alicorn and yet, his ears rang for a few seconds and he was afraid for a moment when he felt liquid tickling down under his right ear but as he put his right hand there and then checked, he sighed in relief that it was only sweat that was the result of being in the minotaur costume for hours. Sweating caught him pretty easily anyway.

He noticed Twilight getting up and saying something to Luna, probably about her voice.

"No, Twilight Sparkle! We must use the traditional royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say!" while her shouting wasn't as loud as her command earlier but it was still well within the Royal Canterlot Voice. She then jumped into the air and began floating a few meters above the ground. "Since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled! Forever!" after the declaration, she landed and walked away.

After almost a minute, the ponies seemed to snap out of the shock, they were in during the princess' decree. Children ran to their parents, crying about the end of a holiday, they loved very much. The parents tried to calm them but were unsuccessful. Other ponies started to clean up the mess they caused. And then there were those, who just stood there with guilty looks on their face, or talked with each other about how they messed up.

"What have I done?" Pinkie teared up. "It can't be the end! Lacy, please help me fix it!" she reached and grabbed the human, who was about to go home. While he enjoyed most of his time during this holiday, he respected Luna's decision and understood her pain. Who would want to be reminded of their worst times?

"What? How would you want to do that? And why should I help?" he asked, surprised.

"Please, Lacy! I want to apologize, but what if she's too angry at me? If you're there with me and tell her, that I'm really sorry, then maybe she will forgive me and bring back Nightmare Night." she sobbed while trying to convince the human.

"I don't think, I have that much influence on her, besides, it sounds like you only want to apologize to bring Nightmare Night back." he pointed out.

"What? No! No! I'm really sorry for hurting her feelings! It wasn't my intention!" she defended herself and despite not sounding like that, she really appeared to be genuinely sorry.

Before Lazlo could respond to Pinkie, the voice of Twilight Sparkle interrupted their interaction.

"Pinkie! I need to talk with you!" she yelled at her while running toward them with an angry expression. However, upon getting close and noticing the state the pink earth pony was in, she slowed down and looked a little confused. She looked at Lazlo questioningly but the man just shrugged and shook his head. "Pinkie? Why are you afraid of Luna? You know that she's not Nightmare Moon." she asked.

"I know, I just thought that she came to act as Nightmare Moon, that booming voice is really effective and then we would scream and run from her. I thought it would be great fun and I didn't realize that it wasn't her goal and I messed up everything and now because of me, one of the best holidays is canceled." Pinkie talked while trying her hardest to contain her tears, but it was leaking down on her face regardless. She was clearly depressed by where her actions brought her and everyone else and felt nothing but regret over them.

"Act? Great fun? I thought you were doing this because you were afraid of her gobbling you up."

"Why would you think that? It's Nightmare Night! The night when you get scared for fun."

Twilight seemed to think about that for a moment while murmuring about 'fun' and 'scared' and then her eyes widened. An idea came to her.

"I know what to do. Follow me!" Twilight said then began running, Pinkie soon followed her and while Lazlo thought about just going home to finally get rid of the now sweaty costume, he was curious about what had the unicorn come up with so he went after them, though he just walked.

Later, he found himself hiding in a bush with Twilight, close to the Nightmare Moon statue, waiting. Soon a group of fillies and colts approached the statue. As they got closed Lazlo could hear them talking.

"Why are we offering candy again? We already did." one colt asked Pinkie, who led them there. She wasn't the only adult with them, several others, including the mayor and Zecora were accompanying them.

"Yeah. Besides, Nightmare Night is canceled now." a filly added in a sad tone.

"Well, the princess was really upset at us so we should offer more candy as an apology." Pinkie came up with this to make the kids come to the statue again.

The children approached the statue one by one and dropped some candy at its base while asking for forgiveness. At some point, the wind picked up and clouds appeared, giving the place a creepy atmosphere.

"Citizens of Ponyville! You were wise to bring this candy to me. I am pleased with your offering." a familiar booming voice was heard. "So pleased that I may just eat it... instead of eating YOU!" suddenly in the place of the statue stood the real Nightmare Moon. The black coat, mane and tail looked like it wasn't even hair but some kind of ethereal projection, the blue helmet, leg, and chest guards. And while the cutie mark was the same crescent moon, the blot was purple instead of black, which was kind of obvious that it would be a different color, because otherwise, it wouldn't be visible at all. And of course the bigger size, Nightmare Moon was about the same height as Princess Celestia.

The foals all screamed and ran away and even the adults backed a few steps. Princess Luna then removed the illusion spell, she was doing to look like her evil counterpart and spit out the fake fangs, she had in her mouth, then jumped down from the stone base, while Twilight and Lazlo came out from their hiding spot.

"I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle." Luna still wasn't convinced about this plan.

"Just wait." Twilight was confident.

"For what? For... for them to scream some more?" Luna asked, but the moment she finished her question something tugged on her mane. Looking down at what was that she noticed a little colt, Pipsqueak was the one who did it.

"Um... Princess Luna. I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?" he asked the princess.

"Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?" Luna looked surprised.

"It's really fun! Scary, but fun!" the colt nodded.

"It is?"

"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year."

"'Well then. We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!" Luna was using the Royal Canterlot Voice by the end while backing from her previous decree.

The kids all cheered hearing this then ran back to the town followed by the adults to tell the good news to everyone, while the four remained there, the princess, Twilight, Lazlo, and Spike, who came with the kids but didn't follow them back to town.

"Thou were right, after all, Twilight Sparkle." Luna praised the unicorn, who blushed a little under the compliment. "Thank you for helping us."

"It was my pleasure, Princess. And I think today's events are perfect for a lesson in friendship. Spike, take a note please."

"I don't have anything else with me just the candy." the dragon showed his bag, which still had a good amount of sweets in it.

"Oh, then back to the library. Princess Luna, Lacy? Will you join me and hear my report?" she asked the other two.

"As much as we would like to hear it, soon we have to go back to Canterlot and we want to speak with Lazlo Kis in private." she declined her offer politely, then turned to the human. "Lazlo Kis, may we impose for a short time in thy home for some discussion?"

Lazlo stiffened a bit but kept his composure. He knew hours ago that the princess wanted to speak with him.

"Of course, princess. Have a good night, you two," he said to Twilight and Spike before leading Luna to his house. On halfway he noticed that the two guards, that brought Luna were coming after them, pulling the chariot to the ground. Soon they arrived, Luna and Lazlo went inside while the guards parked the chariot and took positions at the entrance.

Inside Lacy offered a seat and some drinks to the princess who accepted it, then Lazlo took a seat as well but before that he finally took off the minotaur costume.

"At first, we would like to have a short talk about the incident with Discord." she began. "While we do not agree with thy actions we still support the full pardon. Just as we got a second chance, thou deserve it as well. We understand thy desires as we had similar feelings in the past, as we wanted to be loved like our sister was and we would have taken the sun away from our subject for it, thou just wanted to go back to your world and thou were ready to accept anything for it." Lazlo didn't say anything, just nodded.

"Now, that we addressed it, let's talk about the main reason for our visit." the princess' words surprised the man, he thought that all she wanted to talk about was Discord. Apparently, he was wrong. "We hath seen thy nightmares." this drained some color off his face. "We apologize for not interrupting it, we admit that we were too shocked seeing them act, and by the time we realized we should stop it, thou woke up." she moved closer and put a wing on the man's shoulder. "The gruesome images of what magic could've done to thy body were bad enough but then we saw that last dream..." by then Lazlo was shaking a little but this time not in a rage. "Lazlo... We will honor thy privacy and will not tell anypony about thy dreams but thou need help. If thou not wish to discuss it with anypony else, then please speak to us about it, we will keep everything thou say to ourselves." she offered.

"It almost happened to me a few years ago," he spoke after a few seconds of inner debate about whether he speaks to her or not but in the end, he felt like he should let at least some of it out, after all, he did the same back then and it was better after that. "I didn't think about it often but sometimes it comes to me."

"What prevented it from happening back then?" the princess asked after he didn't continue.

"Luck maybe? It was really just by a chance." his answer wasn't informative at all because despite deciding to talk about it a little, he didn't want to re-live every moment of that time. Fortunately, Luna noticed it.

"We believe we have an idea for a solution to thy problem with thy nightmare." she could come up with something instead of continuing her questioning on a clearly uncomfortable topic. "If thou are afraid of it will come to that then this time thou must take the initiation. We believe that talking to somepony who is close to thee is a good start. While we never come close to that situation, after we came back we had long discussions with our sister and it helped a lot. We know that it is not the same as with thou but we believe it will help thee regardless. So tell us, who is the closest to thee?"

"Probably Twilight. But I'm already trying to distract myself from those thoughts."

"We do not think simple distraction will be enough for it to go away."

"Distraction is the only way for that, just it's usually fairly easy."

"Regardless, please consider what we said. Talk with Twilight Sparkle or anypony else. It will become better over time, believe us." Luna squeezed him with her wing a little, then let go. "We apologize but we need to depart. We can see now that during this night scary is funny but we are certain that there will be many nightmares that we need to help with. Fear not, Lazlo Kis. We will do better to help thee during thy sleep as well. Farewell." she then let herself out, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.
> 25. The personal trainer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SURPRISE!"

Lazlo sat at a table in Sugarcube Corner. A new pony came to town and since it was impossible to avoid Pinkie's signature welcome ceremony, now the shop was filled with ponies and there was also space for a dragon and a human. Spike was sitting next to him, they two shared the table currently, the small reptile stuffing his face with two cupcakes simultaneously. He had two hands after all.

The man didn't know anything about this new pony. An hour ago he was cleaning his home, when suddenly Pinkie burst through his door, almost giving him a heart attack, and cursed himself mentally for forgetting to close the door. The hyperactive mare didn't even greet him just said that he has to come with her right now to the Welcome to Ponyville party for the new resident of the town and began pulling him with her.

He didn't see this pony, the crowd blocked his view but if he or she will be living here it was inevitable that they will see each other eventually.

"May I take some of those muffins?" a gray pegasus, who had a yellow mane approached their table, focusing on a plate that was still filled with muffins since both Lazlo and Spike eat only cupcakes. Lazlo recognized her, she was the mail mare, who was cross-eyed but he didn't know anything else about her, not even her name, or cutie mark, well a new thing now, that she probably liked muffins, though it could be that she's bringing it to someone else.

"Sure, I think you can take the whole plate, we can manage without it." Lacy shrugged, Spike didn't say anything, he probably didn't even notice her as he was still occupied with destroying some cupcakes while muttering about how much better would it be if they had some small gemstones on them.

As the mare tried to leave with the plate full of muffins, she was a little too eager and started moving before she could turn completely and because of this, she didn't notice Twilight, who was coming to their table and collided with her. The gray mare dropped the plate, which she held in her mouth but luckily Twilight was able to grab everything with her magic and give it back to her.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, didn't see you there." she apologized, though it was hard to understand it as she had to hold the plate.

"It's okay, Derpy, just be careful." the unicorn responded, looking at her as she walked away before sitting down at the table. "The new pony seems nice," she said to them. "You should go and introduce yourself. It's a welcome party, sitting in a corner is not a good place for an introduction, she probably didn't even notice you here. Have you even seen her?" she lectured them.

"No, but at least now I know her gender..." Lazlo commented. "Anyway, I don't want to scare her on her first day here."

"Two things. One. If this would be a real concern for you then you wouldn't even come." she began addressing his ridiculous reasoning, which seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Well, the truth is that Pinkie forced me here," Lacy told her but Twilight just rolled her eyes.

"And two. Nopony was afraid of you here, there might be ponies who are worried or scared because of your appearance here but those only know very little or nothing at all." Twilight finished her argument.

"If I recall correctly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were afraid of me at first." he countered but in reality, he was just messing with her a little, he just said those things because they came randomly to his mind and she caught up on it by now. They shared a laugh. Lazlo was in a relatively good mood, probably because of the sugar.

"I'm happy to see you in a good mood," Twilight said to the man as she finally sat down next to Spike. Lazlo's smile disappeared, and a more neutral expression occupied his face. "But I guess, it's only temporary for now... Still, that must be the sign of healing."

"I don't know about that but I certainly don't want to live the rest of my life in melancholy. And yet..." he looked at the mare and something came to his mind. "Twilight... You are still my friend, right?" he asked and she immediately noticed how shaky his voice became.

"Of course I am! I was never really angry at you." she leaned closer and put a hoof on his arm. "Lazlo. What is this about? Is something wrong? Was it why Princess Luna wanted to talk with you?"

"In a way, yes," he answered. "She... gave me some advice."

"That's nice of her. I guess she felt she still owed you, though I'm sure she would've done it regardless." she smiled at him before realization hit her. "Do you have nightmares? It must be serious if she wanted to speak with you in person." he looked at her with a questioning look. "I asked about Princess Luna from Celestia. When she told me that you gave her the advice to help Luna and learned about how she helps others with their nightmares, I wanted to know more about it. So I asked Celestia again and she told me that Luna interrupts the nightmare, then usually listens to the pony and helps them find a solution, but usually in their dreams. She didn't tell me any concrete details, as Luna keeps all of them to herself for privacy, which is commendable in my opinion." she explained, then looked at him with a serious, yet worried expression. "You know, you can tell me about it if you want. Maybe talking about it would help you stop having them. You could talk to any of our friends. We can even go back to the library if you don't want others to hear it."

"You are right..." he spoke after just looking at her for a minute. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to know if I can if it ever comes to that." his look seemed to take a desperate turn for a moment.

"Of course, you can! But what do you mean, if it ever comes to that? Is it what the princess told you? To talk to somepony?" she asked and the man gave her a little nod. "Then my ear is ready any time. Just please talk to me and those nightmares will stop."

"It's not stopping them, what I want the most." she looked confused at the man. "I want to prevent it become reality. That's why I don't want to talk about it. Because that would probably mean I'm too close to that." he looked away from her. "But I'm glad, that I can count on you."

"Lazlo, wh-" Twilight wanted to know more about his sudden weird behavior but she got interrupted.

"There you are, Lazlo!" Rainbow Dash was the one cutting into the unicorn's words. "How come you're so hard to notice when you stand out of the crowd even sitting?"

"I don't know, maybe you were looking too fast and according to the song, 'over two-hundred-and-twenty, you won't even notice...' or you just selectively blind..." he stated with a hint of annoyance in his voice that she interrupted their talk, even if he considered it ended, the moment was still there.

"What song?" Rainbow asked but shook her head immediately after that. "Nevermind, I'm just here to fulfill my promise and also to introduce you to our newest resident." she looked behind herself and waved her hoof at a pony.

"Wouldn't that be Pinkie's job?" Twilight whispered.

After a few moments, the new pony was standing beside Rainbow Dash, a pegasus mare. This was the first time Lazlo saw her and immediately noticed that she was unique.

At first, he thought that her head was deformed, but he soon realized that her coat, mane, and tail had the exact same color, a very light blue, somewhat lighter than Dash's coat at least. As he looked at her face, trying to create a mental line, where her body ends and her mane starts, he also noticed that her eye was also the same color. She looked really weird to Lazlo, he never saw anything like this. Ponies were very colorful, but even humans didn't have the exact same skin and hair color combo, or at least he never saw or even heard of anyone with that condition. And yet here was this pony. Aside from that, she looked like any other pegasus mare, maybe a bit slimmer she probably could be considered very fit, maybe even more than Rainbow Dash. He couldn't see her cutie mark as she was facing him. 

The mare was also sizing him up, gathering every piece of information about his looks as well. She was probably very surprised as he still was the only human in this world.

"It's nice to meet you." she greeted him after she finished studying him. Her voice was similar to Fluttershy's only she lacked the shyness, that the animal caretaker had a lot, and wasn't that soft. "I've read about you in the papers and at first I couldn't believe it, but as more info came, I guess I just accepted it as truth. And now here I am speaking with you. I should feel honored. May I?" she gestured to the empty place next to him, he nodded and she happily jumped up next to him. Since the seat was meant for two ponies and as a human he was a little wider so in order for her to place her entire behind on it, she had to press herself to him.

"You know..." she continued after she got herself seated. "Rainbow Dash told me that she promised to help you get fit but she didn't have the time."

"I think, she meant that she doesn't have the patience for it..." Lazlo commented, Dash just shrugged.

"Anyway, I think I can help you, I'm a personal trainer." she continued after a chuckle, then it seemed like she just realized something. "Oh, where are my manners... I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Agile Body." she introduced herself.

"Lazlo Kis." he returned the courtesy, even if it wasn't more than a politeness at this time but at least now he knew her name. Then he thought about her offer. On Earth he always made up some kind of excuse, mostly to himself to avoid going to the gym or even doing some running outside, the most he did was take a longer route to walk home. But often this was because of his laziness, to do other stuff, like reading, playing video games, or watching stuff on the internet. But here... he had a passive income, no other work, and only books to pass time, which he was lacking since he only had those, Twilight gave to him. And since he didn't move out often, most of the time only for shopping, he found himself bored many times. So why not go on with it? People say that exercise could do wonders, not just for the body but for the mind too. And he knew that he needed to do anything at this point to get out of his current state and prevent or avoid getting back. "And sure, a personal trainer sounds good, I guess. Though I don't know how different this kind of thing is between ponies and humans," he said.

"Well, I have a few years of experience, I used to live in Baltimare and helped many ponies, so I'm sure I can come up with something for you." she sounded confident.

"Oh, you're from Baltimare?" Twilight decided to join the conversation. "What was living there like? And why did you choose to come here?" she asked.

"Oh, um... Well, I guess it's... um... I needed a change of scenery... I mean, Baltimare is a big city, lots of ponies, and can become crowded and I guess I had my fill in that and wanted to move to a quieter place." she stuttered at the beginning and seemed nervous but then turned back to her normal behavior. Lazlo thought that she was either lying or skipping something, she didn't want to talk about, he didn't really care about it, well, if she would be a wanted criminal or something like that, it would be an issue, but it didn't seem likely to him that that would be the case.

"That's understandable." Twilight seemed oblivious to the short weird behavior she had for a moment. "I'm sure you'll love Ponyville. I moved here from Canterlot not long ago and I love this town, though that's mostly because my best friends are here."

"I've got a feeling that I will, this party already makes me feel that way." Agile agreed. "So, when do you want to start?" she turned back to Lazlo.

After they agreed on tomorrow morning, Agile left them to go and talk with other ponies. She seemed nice, but Lazlo also noticed that Rainbow Dash had a look on her face, while they were talking about her job and their appointment. It was a look of mischief, maybe a little evil, like when someone is about to do a prank that can be questionable between a prank and bullying. He wasn't sure about that but it gave him a bad feeling for a moment. 

The next day, he arrived at the gym a few minutes before their supposed meeting. Despite not going to one often, he knew what to bring. A bottle of water and some clothes for the workout. He didn't have any gym-specific clothes so he just brought the ones that are most close to it. He made a mental note to have Rarity make some for him if he's really serious about this.

He just finished getting ready in the stallion's locker room and at the same time he came out of there, Agile Body emerged from the mare's locker room.

"What a great timing!" she spoke the moment she noticed him. "So how about we quickly go over the necessities before we start?" she asked and after the man nodded, she continued. "Okay, so if you're serious about this and don't plan to stop after the first attempt, then here is my suggestion. I assume you plan to lose weight, right?"

"Yeah, well, replace some with muscles and getting fit, like more... agile," he answered.

"Great. What days are you available?" she continued questioning.

"Anytime, really."

"Okay. So I was thinking that maybe three or four times a week, I would suggest the latter so you can make more of the gym pass. You have one right?" he shook his head. "Okay, so we have to start with that. So, I suggest one and a half hours for every day you come, that's three bits per occasion. Is this good for you so far?"

"Sure, four days are okay." Lazlo shrugged.

"Great. Since you're available every day how about for weekdays with Wednesday as the skipped day? And we meet around this time, ten in the morning?" Lazlo again nodded. "Perfect. Now just let's get you a gym pass and we can start, don't worry I hadn't started the ninety-minute countdown yet, we will have every second of that time dedicated to your training."

After he brought a one-month pass, they were ready. Agile Body also questioned what kind of moves he knew, but he could only list the basic stuff he did in PE class in school. Luckily despite having apparent differences in body, the activities were quite similar.

His body began to tire very early since it wasn't used to exercise at all and after the first quarter hour, he was drenched in sweat. He didn't give up though, he rarely does but Agile was attentive enough too to cut back the tempo a little. During the whole training, he did different activities on a large mattress. Agile was either doing the same thing next to him or standing beside him while saying encouraging words.

By the end of it, he could barely breathe but he was determined to keep it up for the last few seconds. He was doing sit-ups and Agile was standing somewhere around his legs. His whole clothes were soaked wet from all the sweating, his head was red and his lungs were burning. He felt like passing out as he was looking at the ceiling and could barely see even that.

"Come on, Lacy! One more! If you manage to reach the treadmill, tomorrow we will use that too." she tried to push him through her words.

Lazlo didn't really understand what she meant with the treadmill but he thought that he was in such a state that he probably misheard her. With a grunt, he managed to do one more sit-up but this time his nose did make contact with a treadmill. But this one was made of fur and was placed on Agile Body's flank. Her cutie mark, the only thing that was different color on her body. He jerked back a little, falling back on the mattress, completely caught off guard as he basically headbutted, or maybe nosebutted her butt, even if it was only a barely touching kind of contact.

Agile just laughed at this, like it was some kind of joke.

"Good job! Well, this is it for today. You did great!" she nuzzled his hand, while he was still lying on the mattress not moving both because of the exhaustion and because he was still shocked at what happened. "Go take a shower, catch your breath and I'll see you tomorrow at the same time." she then left him there.

After a minute, he managed to get up and went back to the locker room, where he just changed back into his clothes as he forgot to bring a normal towel or shower gel, so he was soon out there, still not looking in the best shape, shaking a little, but still able to go home. He didn't forget to pay Agile, but he just gave her the bits without any word, after that he just said an automatic goodbye to her and left.

After arriving back home, he immediately went to take a shower, and there, he concluded that this was probably some kind of joke. She did it on purpose that one was clear as day, given how she was leaning her rump above his stomach in what seemed to be an uncomfortable position for her, and probably even the nuzzles that she started giving him in the last third of the session was part of this whole thing. He could even imagine that Rainbow asked her to do it and that was behind her grin back at the party.

"Yeah, a nice joke you little shit," he murmured as the water poured down on him.

The next day he arrived on time and more prepared, so he won't have to walk home like he just escaped from some kind of weird torture room. His muscles were still aching from yesterday but Agile was prepared for it and instructed him in his exercises accordingly. She seemed to know what she was doing or maybe she just gave a great illusion to Lacy that this training thing will work perfectly.

But now Lazlo was paying more attention to her as in looking too not just listening. He didn't do that much at first time, but what happened at the end gave him caution. He hoped that it was just a one-time thing, a little joke or some kind of prank that Rainbow came up with.

As it turned out, what happened yesterday wasn't a 'first-time gift'. Not only did he receive more nuzzles, which actually wasn't a disturbing thing. Nuzzling here has several meanings and none is more than a friendly gesture, except maybe a parent giving it to their child and vice versa, which had usually more depth to it. It's like with handshakes, pecks on the cheeks, and hugs for humans, done as a means of greeting, congratulations, or any other situation in a non-romantical meaning, done between family, friends, acquaintances, or even people at the first meeting.

Unfortunately, the nuzzles were the least of the problem. He caught her giving a few seducing looks, or even shaking her butt a little when she knew he was looking at her usually after being finished with something and waiting for further instructions. But his reaction mostly consisted of confused expressions.

After the third time, which was basically the same, he started to think that Rainbow has nothing to do with it, he didn't even meet her since the party and he was expecting her to come and ask about the training.

The fourth session started similarly with soft touches and seductive looks. He tried to ignore it but it was getting annoying, though he used that to his advantage as he couldn't take this seriously so he just rolled his eyes at it. However, when they get to a new machine, things started to get worse. It was a machine that simulated walking upwards on stairs. It was a good way to exercise but there was a problem. It was designed for quadruped creatures, not bipeds. To solve this issue, Agile offered that she will be standing on her hind legs on the front two pedals that are for the forelegs and Lazlo can use the pedals for the hindlegs and he will help hold her.

He wanted to decline but she was insistent that it was important for the training though she did promise that it won't be a long one so he eventually nodded.

It looked ridiculous but somehow they managed to position themselves correctly and began the workout. It took some time to sync their movement correctly. Still, the awkward feeling remained for the whole time as he was grasping her forehooves to keep her on her hind legs.

After they were doing it in the right way Agile continued her teasing if it could be called that. She began moving her hips more and more until she managed to bump them into his legs with almost every step. It was starting to really bother him but he kept ignoring it while trying to come up with an explanation for her behavior. But since nothing logical came to his mind his frustration grew. As they finished, she rubbed her body to his while they were trying to get off the machine. He didn't comment on this but decided to talk to her after they finished.

But his patience, which was already thin, didn't last that long. Apparently, Agile Body left all her restraints she had at home, or wherever she kept it if she had any, today. He was doing some push-ups while trying to keep himself from coughing up his lungs and enduring the pain in his arms.

"You're doing great!" he heard her in front of his head and only see a pair of hooves not far from him. "I think you deserve a little reward for your hard work," she said as her voice turned more sultry.

Lazlo then looked up, wanting to ask what she was talking about with a little fear in his mind of what she could mean. But he wasn't prepared for the sight. She was standing close to his head but it wasn't her front hooves he saw but the hind ones. His face was centimeters away from her rear end he could feel some loose strings of her tail touching his skin. However, the worst thing was that her tail was positioned just a little bit to the right and he caught a glance at something he really didn't want to.

He lived among naked ponies for months now but because of that magic thing they had to conceal themselves he never saw it before. Not like he wanted to. Animal genitalia was something that he saw occasionally but that wasn't intentional from any of the parties. Here though was the opposite. Granted he only saw a part of her hidden treasures, it was more than enough to freak him out. This time the animal was talking and sentient and was offering the view willingly and that was a thought that horrified him.

He let himself fall to the ground and then quickly stood up even though his body was already in pain as he was in there for an hour now. But this unexpected event filled him with enough energy to move away from her.

"Oh, don't be like that," she spoke while trying to close the gap that he created between them. "I know you want a piece of this, or even more." she shook her butt more as she continued to walk toward him, still her rump facing the human.

While he was shocked, his earlier frustration didn't disappear and with that, he went from retreat to attack.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he almost yelled, his tone was just a little bit below that level. This made Agile jump a little, a complete surprise took over her previously lustful expression and she turned around so now her head was closer to the human, not her rear. "Are you some kind of pervert or what?! You were acting like this since we started but this is getting out of hand! I don't want to be a part of your fucking... whatever it is you're trying to do! I'm out!"

He got up and went to the dressing room to get changed, he didn't want to spend any more time than necessary here now, so he didn't bother to shower, just changed back his clothes and left. As he exited the room, he threw three bits toward Agile Body, who was still standing there too shocked to do anything, just when he turned his back to her and walked to the exit did she start calling after him but he didn't listen. The few ponies that were there in the gym at that time only watched this whole thing but didn't say or do anything.

When he got home, he instantly went to take a shower to calm himself down. As the water poured on his body, he tried to erase that image from his mind, but it seemed impossible. Ever since he arrived here the thought of anything sexual related to these ponies never crossed his mind, well nothing that wasn't a joke to be precise. The closest thing was when he talked about interspecies romance with Twilight after the whole Flutterhy modeling and Twilight can't keep secret incident.

At first, he thought that what Agile was doing was simple pranking. She acted normal at her party and even if there were some questioning behavior during the first three training session they had it was more or less ignorable. But today made it clear that it wasn't a prank. He wondered if she had to leave wherever she lived before, he didn't remember what did she say at the party, where she came from, because something like this happened. Was she just some kind of pervert? Or was something else behind it? He didn't really care as he didn't want to be close to her anymore. This whole thing felt very weird and somewhat wrong to him so he decided to rather avoid this problem instead of facing it. He would feel much better if Agile would be just a face that he'd seen from time to time when he walks in Ponyville because there was no way he wouldn't notice her as she would always stick out of a crowd because from afar her form would look weird with the same colored mane and coat.

The next day he decided to visit Twilight. Before this whole fiasco, he already wanted to go to her because he wanted to continue their study sessions, well more like trying to see if it would help him. He still didn't get over all of the things that happened with him learning that he's stuck here for the rest of his life, but more recently those nightmares and his talk with Princess Luna. He thought that maybe talking about his world will help him and maybe by asking Twilight for a copy of her notes, the memories of his old home won't be lost for him. Because that was all that was left for him now. Memories.

Before he could leave a knock on his door interrupted his plan. Opening the door revealed Agile Body, who stood there with a sad expression on her face. Lazlo didn't even question how did she figure out his address, she probably asked anyone who lived here and they could point her here.

"Hi, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday!" she immediately bombarded him with an apology. "Please! Let me explain!" she looked like she was about to cry now. "I promise, I won't do anything inappropriate! Just please, hear me out!" a few tears wetted her cheeks.

Lazlo wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from her. He even started feeling a little bad about his outburst yesterday, even if it was just a short one as he wanted to leave rather than stay there. He thought about it for a moment but since she seemed genuinely sorry about what happened he decided to hear her out, this decision was also helped by the fact that he the sleep cleared his mind enough to approach this whole thing more openly. He let her in and they both sat down in the living room.

"Please, understand that it wasn't my intention to act like that." she began. "I was born and raised in the Dutchy of Maretonia. After I got my Cutie Mark, I began behaving weirdly, similar to what you experienced but much worse and I had no control over it at all. My parents took me to specialists and they revealed that I have a mental illness that makes me do things like this I don't have control over it and most of the time don't even realize and remember what I did. They couldn't help me there but they said that in Equestria there are ponies who could help me so we moved to Baltimare where I got some real help. In a few years, I learned to control myself most of the time. Before that, I practically tried to seduce every stallion that I laid my eyes on, even my family members. Now when I can control myself in most situations, like in crowds, around married stallions, though only when I learn that they're married, and most of the time when I'm outside, but when I'm in an even relatively enclosed space with a single stallion, then it comes back and I lose control from time to time. That's why I moved here. I used to work as a personal trainer in Baltimare and some stallions found out about my mental illness they asked me to be their trainer which I reluctantly accepted, hoping that with my control and the crowd in that gym it wouldn't be an issue. But I was wrong. They managed to make the whole gym empty at that time and... let's just say the focus wasn't on exercising. They didn't do anything to me besides touching me there or making me touch them but it was still terrible and who knows what could've happened later. To my luck, somepony who worked there found us and saved me but after that, I just wanted to leave so after some research, I found this little town, and you know the rest." she told him her life story. 

While Lazlo didn't know a lot about mental illnesses, even less about the ones in this world as that topic never came up earlier, he couldn't confirm whether she was telling the truth or not but did choose to believe her for now and will ask Twilight later, though it sounded weird. The closest thing he heard about was Nymphomania but he didn't think it was like this or how well can be treated.

"And why didn't you tell me in advance of this?" he asked the obvious question.

"I thought that since you're not a pony, it won't be a problem," she answered. "I know, I should have but I hoped that I don't have to deal with this here. The town gave me such a warm welcome, I wanted to believe that everything will be going to be alright here. Guess I was wrong. Can you forgive me? I know what I did was inappropriate but I don't want to leave this place. I grew to like it in my short time here but I also don't want to have conflicts with others. I apologize for my behavior." she bowed her head.

"If it's really a mental illness that's been behind it, then I won't hold it against you," Lazlo spoke after a minute of thinking. "I'm still not happy about it and that you didn't tell me earlier because I should have known something like this. I need some time to think about it. I won't be angry at you because of something that's out of your control but a warning would have been a must in my opinion. And you don't have to leave this place because of this." he added that last part more for encouraging her, because he really didn't want to chase her away but she might get the wrong impression.

"Thank you! And sorry again!" she moved toward him, probably to hug him but stopped and instead just left.

He sighed after he let her out and closed the door. He didn't think about the possibility of mental issues earlier, after all, it's not something he came around often. Still, Agile should've mentioned it to him the first day.

As he was walking to the Golden Oak Library he thought about what to tell Twilight and what not. The experience in the gym wasn't something he'd like to share with her so he needed to think of a way to explain how did he come up with the questions about this kind of mental illness.

Since it was the weekend he knocked on the door and Spike opened it and let him in. However, he wasn't the only visitor. Rainbow Dash was there, trying to tell something Twilight between giggles. When they noticed him entering, Rainbow lost her ability to speak as she succumbed to just laughing.

"So... how is it to have such an... enthusiastic... marefriend?" Rainbow asked him, still barely able to speak. This also confirmed what she was talking about with Twilight.

"Well, Ponyville is a small town, word get's around fast, and apparently some ponies in the gym yesterday saw what happened," Twilight said. She seemed to be somewhat skeptical at what her pegasus friend told her and was looking at him, trying to study him to confirm the truth of this gossip.

"Yeah... Village. A place where you fart and on the other end they already talking about you shitting yourself." he groaned. This description made Rainbow laugh more, Spike joined her too and even Twilight gave out a few giggles while shaking her head. Lazlo then turned to the rainbow-maned pony. "You know, you could've told me of her mental illness." This shut them up immediately. "Or was it your idea not to let me know?" he accused her. While he crossed out the possibility of Rainbow having been a part of this earlier, it came back with the new information.

"What? Mental illness?" they all asked.

"Yes, you know, the one that made her act like a whore." he said.

"Language!" Twilight yelled since Spike was there hearing this too. She turned to the dragon. "Spike, please bring me the book about mental disorders and then go up." they all heard him grumbling about how do they want to keep him out of the interesting things but complied with her request.

"I don't know anything about that." Rainbow defended herself. "I just saw her flirting a little with some stallions at the party and thought it would be funny if she'd act like this around you. It was just a prank," she explained.

"Really?" he asked, not entirely believing her, but he could imagine her doing something like this, if she didn't know about it, but wasn't sure if she would be secretive about a mental issue.

Spike returned with the book and then left them. Lazlo was almost a hundred percent sure, he will try to eavesdrop but no one addressed it, so he kept the thought to himself.

Twilight began flipping through the pages and asked Lacy to recite what happened yesterday at the gym as the ponies there only saw that Agile was acting a little like some kind of pervert would and then the man yelled at her some nasty things then they both left. Lazlo decided since the cat was already out of the bag, he told her everything. He even told her about her apology and their talk earlier today.

"I really didn't know she'd do something like this," Rainbow spoke again. "I just thought that since I promised to help you get fit. Well and the flirting but yeah..."

"Alright, I believe you! It was just a messed up situation altogether..." he sighed.

"I found it!" Twilight yelled and then began her lecture. "According to this book, she has a mental disorder called Extrasexuality, or it's referred to as Sexual Malfunction. It's a mental disorder that can cause a pony to lose control of themself and enhance their sexual behavior during that time. Most of the time they don't even know what they're doing when they're in that state and won't remember what happened. However, their brain often fills out those blank spots in their memory with things they'd normally do. It can be treated to a degree but no complete recovery method had been discovered to this day. Usually, mares develop this mental disorder most of the time during early puberty but there have been cases where it can happen when a mare learns that she can't have foals. While it's a very rare disorder, most monochromatic ponies develop it." she finished and closed the book, then put it down on a nearby table then levitated another one from a bookcase, and opened it at a marked page. "Monochromatic ponies are born with the exact same coat, mane, and eye color. Its cause is a rare genetic error when one color becomes dominant over all others. Their Cutie Marks are not affected by this as it's linked to the pony's magic and not their genes. Monochromatic ponies are often developing mental disorders, the most common is Extrasexuality." she closed this book too.

Rainbow seemed to be on the brink of sleeping, and she probably didn't understand half of the things that were said here, but Lazlo did.

"Okay, so she's not completely okay in the head," Lazlo concluded.

"Well, it seems so, but please could you use less offensive wording?" Twilight asked.

"It doesn't change the fact."

"Then what's stopping you?" she retorted. "Anyway, does that mean, that you forgive her? She wasn't in control after all."

"Of course. I won't hold anything against a person if they can't help it, but I won't change my opinion about her not telling me beforehand."

"Oh, you're finished." Rainbow suddenly spoke up. She was apparently daydreaming, or something that she didn't even notice Twilight finishing up her explanation of Agile Body's condition. Twilight groaned and shook her head. "Anyway, I gotta go, lot's of tricks to practice. See ya!" She left.

"Well, I can see your point but it's probably hard for her to talk about it." Twilight decided not to comment on Rainbow's interruption. "Still, I hope that you will remain friends and even continue your sessions in the gym. I should try to get to know her more. And maybe you could write a friendship letter to the princess."

Lazlo didn't really want to write to the princess about a friendship lesson, so he decided to change the topic. He also wasn't sure if what he had with Agile could be considered friendship, but probably some ponies here would see it that way, but he wasn't in the mood for arguing about it.

"We'll see. Anyway, I originally wanted to come here to tell you I want to continue our study sessions."

"Really?" her eyes sparkled a little in excitement. Then her expression changed. "Are you sure? I understand if you don't want to think back about your world... Though I still can continue teaching you about Equestria, if you want."

"It might not be a bad idea to talk about my world. At least my memories of my old home won't be completely lost. I want to try it."

"Alright. I'm happy to help you in any way I can. But if at any point you feel uncomfortable and want to stop it, then just say so." she then gave him a smug smile. "But don't think I'll forget about that letter to Princess Celestia. I still think you can come up with a wonderful friendship lesson and I can't wait to hear it."

Lazlo just groaned.
> 26. Sibling issues
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So we covered a lot on human technology and automatization but there is something, that I think wasn't mentioned yet, but also very important." Twilight looked up from her notes to the human. "If you use these machines to do the works humans did before, wouldn't it create many jobless people? We use machines too but there are ponies to operate them, but you said that the company you've been working for did set up production lines for factories, that didn't require people operating them, or at least less than it used to."

"That's not true at all," Lazlo replied. "There are fewer people to work in that production line but there are people who need to maintain the machines, also there are people who need to build the machine, who need to program it, or even what my job was to develop software for supervising the whole operation. Some roles disappear but others come. Another example that comes to my mind was when I talked about the self-driving metro line, they say that it's taking away jobs from metro drivers but I remember seeing one or two workers at every station who are probably there to make sure everything is in order and to address the problematic situations and make sure everyone is safe. Not to mention the people that needed to create that technology." he explained. "Also these fully automated systems are very expensive and usually take a lot of time to set it up correctly and handle every error that comes up so most places only have a part of their operation fully automated and use human workforce for the bigger part of their production, or whatever they're doing."

"You make a good point. Anyway, I think that's enough for today but I would like to speak more about this topic next time if it's okay with you. I just wanted to have a little start on the basics." Twilight said as she remembered that she had other work to do. The princess sent her some more books on magic a few days ago and she needed to work on those as well. She was still her student after all and there were still a lot of things, she needed to learn. Even if she was probably the strongest magic user in her age group, she needed to keep gaining more and more knowledge and experience if she wants to keep her 'position' in that regard and she knew that there are other, very talented unicorns out there, who also won't stop training themselves. And while it was never for the competition, it was for her to keep worthy to be the student of Princess Celestia.

"Okay."

"I know, I asked this every time since we started these sessions again but is it helping you?" she asked. He was still her friend and she would always make time for making sure he was okay.

"I guess. I know that the thought of a good portion of my knowledge will be kept in those notes of yours puts me at ease. I've been sleeping better and I'm in a better mood." he said and she was glad to hear this.

"That's great! I think you should spend more time with your friends, we will all help you there."

"You just want me to write a friendship letter to the princess." he accused her.

"Well, you still owe me one." she chuckled. "By the way, did you see Agile Body since?" she asked. She knew that he wasn't angry at her anymore but she hoped that he would keep being her friend. She knew that she wouldn't want to lose him as a friend and he probably felt the same.

"She visited me yesterday. Asked if there was a chance of continuing the training. She said that she should be able to control herself from now on with me, and if not, a little forceful reminder would work. She also sent a letter to her doctor about it to confirm it further. She even offered to do it for free for some time." he told her.

"And will you give her another chance?" Twilight asked, hoping for a positive answer.

"I think, I will. I enjoyed the more... moderate part of it so sure. Plus I'm bored sometimes at home with nothing to do." she was happy with his answer.

"Well, if you're bored you can always take out some books from the library, or visit your friends, and spend some time with them. I'm happy that you visit me, but I think the others would be just as glad for your company as me."

"Even Applejack? Though she's not my friend, so she's out by default."

"Yes, even Applejack. Maybe you don't count each other as friends, but I'm sure she'll come around and you too."

"Are you sure, you know her that well? Or is it a different one?"

"I'm sure, that's why I'm certain of what I said."

"Okay... Anyway, I think, I'm going now." he decided to conclude their discussion and got up to leave.

"Take care, and remember. Letter, other friends." she smiled at him and he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. She then got up as well and her right forehoof made contact with his left hand. "You know, even if you didn't live here in the library for long, I missed your presence greatly ever since you moved out. I'm glad that we can have these sessions again because those were the best part and I'm happy that it's not over. And not just because of the many interesting things I can learn and also teach you about Equestria but because you are one of my best friends and I can't imagine my life anymore without you, just as I couldn't without the girls, or Spike, or even my family, even if I don't see them that much nowadays." she suddenly realized that mentioning her family like that might upset Lazlo, but even if it did, he didn't show it.

He was looking at her for a few seconds, clearly touched by her words, but also surprised a little. He probably didn't think that he had such an impact on her life, but that was the truth.

"I... I thank you." he finally spoke. "I never thought that I would be saying this to a talking, colorful unicorn but you're one of the main reasons, that I still have some sanity. Bye." he then left, leaving Twilight alone in the library.

She didn't waste her time. Spike was still out doing some errands, but he should be back soon. She used this quiet time to start studying the new books. There were still two that she didn't open at all and that needed to be changed. While she was happy for the peace that the empty library give her since the only other creature here was her pet owl was sleeping currently, she hoped that her Number One Assistant won't be out too long, because she will probably require his assistance.





Lazlo was deep in thought as he walked back home. He knew that these ponies can be so emotional at times, and he heard some stuff already, but what Twilight said, really surprised him and he was glad for her to think like this. Though he also wanted to get out of this emotional roller coaster ride. He missed being his old self, when he didn't have some kind of mental breakdown, no sapient fantasy creatures, no magic, no chaotic being offering him a chance to go back at the cost of this world, only for it turning out impossible. But it could've been worse, he had a home, a good income, and friends, also were forgiven for almost being responsible for this world's destruction or at least worsening the life of millions. Thinking about it now, he got that bad feeling about it again. But the pardon, he got and not making it public knowledge filled him with hope.

Hope for getting back to his old self. Well, at least as close as he can get here. Maybe he had a chance to move forward. Maybe he can escape from his nightmares, from his fears.

When he was almost at his house, he noticed that a filly was in front of his door, knocking on it. He immediately identified the filly as Sweetie Belle. He hasn't seen her in a while and wondered what she wanted from him. Was it again with their cutie marks? Though then where were the other two? And why now? It wasn't that late, still more than an hour until sundown, but still not the time to visit a random person.

"Nobody home?" he asked when he was close enough to her. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Hello, Lazlo." she greeted him.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to ask something from you," she answered. He nodded to her to continue. "Do you want to be my partner tomorrow at the Siblinghooves Social?"

"The what?" he looked at her, confused.

"The Apple family organizes a fun race, where siblings pair up and compete against other siblings pairs. Do you want to be my pair?" she explained and asked again.

"But if it's for siblings, then why me? You have a sister."

"She's not my sister anymore," she said, confusing the man even more.

He then realized that they were still outside and decided that this conversation is better to be continued inside. He opened his door and let Sweetie Belle in, who immediately settled down in the living room. Lazlo, being a good host, brought a glass of water, as he had currently nothing else to offer. He then settled down beside her and asked her to tell him what was going on and why she came to him.

She explained that she was spending a week at Rarity's place since their parents were on vacation and she wanted to help her but every time she did something to either help, get her attention, or just created a gift for her, she wasn't grateful, but the opposite. She scolded her for everything. She didn't let her help with breakfast, and she was angry at her when she helped with the laundry, something similar happened, when she used some of her gems to make her drawing that she intended as a gift even better, but she was angry for that, and then when she found out that her room was a mess and she cleaned it up while she was away, as a surprise she wasn't happy for that too and she sent her away. Then she heard about the Siblinghooves Social from Applebloom, but Rarity said it was a ridiculous idea when she told her and she won't be a part of it. She went back to the farm and saw that Applejack was such a good sister to Applebloom when Rarity showed up. Still, she only wanted to do things, she wanted so Sweetie Belle decided that Applejack will be her big sister now. Still, Applejack denied being her sister, as she was already Applebloom's big sister so she wanted to find someone else then she saw Big Mac and thought that maybe she needed a big brother but Big Mac won't be a part of the race as he's overlooking it with Granny Smith. Then she just came up with the idea to find Lazlo and ask him.

"Okay, first of all, don't think that you're innocent in this." he started after she finished her tale. She looked surprised but before she could complain, he continued. "When I visited my sisters, I didn't let them touch the stuff I brought with me without me supervising them. They were expensive things and I didn't want them to break them, or even just change something on them. But I guess Rarity should've spent more time with you, or been more attentive. I don't know, it's not up to me to judge that. You should just talk it out."

"But I don't want to talk with Rarity. She doesn't want to do anything I want. She would just drag me to the spa, make me a dress, or whatever else she does, but she does that with her friends too. I wanted to do something with her, only the two of us can do, something for siblings only. This thing at the farm sounds great but of course, she doesn't want to do anything like that, so she can avoid getting dirty."

"Still there are better ideas, than stating that she's not your sister anymore and looking for someone else. It doesn't work like that." he continued to argue. "And I still don't know why you came to me."

"Because I heard that you are an older brother, and I'm sure you're a great older brother," she explained, he wanted to argue further that she couldn't know what kind of older brother he is but what she said next made him freeze. "So I thought that if I adopt you as my brother, I will have a great sibling, and you can forget about your old siblings."

He almost dropped the glass of water he was holding. He felt anger run through his body as what she said was repeated in his mind constantly.

"Nora and Maya are my sisters!" he said almost yelling at her but still in a tone that made Sweetie Belle jump up from her seat. "I love them both very dearly, even if I couldn't see them often before, and now not anymore!" He continued as tears formed in his eyes, the thought of never seeing his sisters resurfacing the pain of loss. Meanwhile, Sweetie's eyes became watery too, scared of the human. "I would give anything to even see them once more! And here you are whining about a sibling who doesn't want to do what you want! Well if you are like this, no wonder she was annoyed! You're not better than her in that case! Because guess what! If you act the same way as Rarity and then cry about how she behaves, then you're even worse than she is! And I certainly wouldn't want to 'adopt' a hypocrite as a sibling!" he started shouting by the end and the filly ran out of his house crying.

It took almost an hour for Lazlo to calm down. He cursed a lot out loud, at some point, the thoughts of missing his sisters and other relatives turned into anger at himself for still not being able to move on and letting himself get into this or similar states. But in the end, the only thing he was angry about was how he shouted at Sweetie Belle. She couldn't know how he was feeling, she couldn't know how painful her word will be.

Both Nora and Maya said hurtful things to him in the past, when he did not allow them something and they threw a fit. They said that they don't want to see him again, but then when he was about to leave to go back home, they weren't happy about it and begged for him to stay, or come back as soon as he can.

He should've handled this better. He felt horrible about this. He had to apologize to her but it was already late. He decided that tomorrow morning he will head to Rarity's boutique and talk to her.

The next day he did as he planned. After his morning routine, he left his home and headed towards Carousel Boutique. But as he got close, he noticed Rarity coming out of the building and closing the door. When she turned around, she immediately noticed him and he could clearly see on her face that she wasn't in the best mood.

"Hello, Lazlo!" she greeted him. "I haven't seen you in a while. Do you need some more clothes? I'm sorry but I can't help you now, there is something important I need to do first."

"Hello, I'm actually looking for Sweetie Belle."

"Sweetie Belle?" she asked, then frowned. "You wouldn't happen to be the reason she got back yesterday crying, would you? She didn't talk to me, but I know she was hurt by something." her frown deepened when Lazlo nodded. "So what did you do?"

He told her what happened yesterday, what Sweetie Belle told him, and how he reacted.

"I know I handled it badly," he said after he finished the retelling. "No matter what she said, I shouldn't have yelled at her. I came to apologize to her."

"Well, she's not at my home at the moment, she left earlier," she told him, and her frown disappeared. "After making another mess in my kitchen," she quietly added. "And I have to apologize to her too, I wasn't the best sister, and while I'm not happy with your behavior, I didn't do my best either..." she dipped her head down a little. "She should be at Sweet Apple Acres. I need to go there and make things right. If you want to apologize, come and you can after that event." she said and motioned to him to follow as she started trotting towards the farm. He did so.

"So what are you going to do there?" he asked as he caught up to her.

"I plan to enter the Siblinghooves Social in incognito," she answered, seemingly determined. "Applejack helped me to realize what I need to do and we managed to come up with a plan. She will enter the race with Sweetie Belle, but early in the race she will fall into the mud and I will be there to come out from it." she then grimaced. "I'm going to be covered in mud, urg... but Sweetie won't recognize me."

"So what brought up this idea of yours? Isn't there a better solution for this?" he asked, as he thought about whether he would do it for his sisters. He would do many things for them, he would even say anything but that doesn't mean he won't look for other solutions.

"Believe me, darling, I'm not that fond of what comes with it but it is necessary and this is a problem that needs to fix now. I want to have my little sister back." she stopped for a moment and looked at the man. "You did the same." she didn't need to say what she was referring to, it was obvious. But there wasn't any hint of anger or malice in her voice.

"But your choice here doesn't end up with millions of creatures suffering..." he added as a wave of regret came over him. Before that, he didn't feel this way regarding that decision. So why now?

"Well... yes... I still don't agree with that but I see your viewpoint. I know it's a poor comparison, especially because my situation is different than yours and doesn't affect that many ponies and but I think I understand why you did it. I don't think I would do the same in your situation, but I'm certain it would be the hardest decision I'd have to make. And yet at the same time, and don't take it as an offense, I'm glad that it didn't succeed in the end because then life would be horrible here and I don't want Sweetie Belle to grow up in an Equestria like that would've been." she said in a serious tone but then she smiled. "Instead she will grow up in the Equestria, where even if we fight sometimes, or do something wrong we can find and give forgiveness that we can understand each other's point of view and reach some kind of agreement, or find a common solution. Yes, she did make a mess in my home, she did use up my rare gemstones, and she did ruin a special dress, but I'm at fault too, I didn't distribute enough time to care for my sister. To sit down and talk to her, to explain to her my reasons, or just to spend some time with her, since I was responsible for her." she then turned back and continued her way to the farm. "But I'll change it now! After all, she is my sister, I can't change that." Lazlo followed her, thinking of her words, especially on that last sentence. It reminded him of something that was said to him years ago.

He continued to follow her until they reached Sweet Apple Acres. The first thing he noticed was that there was a track built there. Many ponies were already present. Siblings were around the start line doing some warm-ups, and an audience was also there, mostly older ponies, probably parents. The older sibling in most teams seemed to be in the young adult age group, around twenty maybe, slightly younger than the human. The younger siblings seemed to be kids, in their early school years. He spotted some familiar ponies, like Thunderlane and Rumble, or that pegasus mail pony, who he forgot the name of, and a young unicorn filly.

He noticed Sweetie Belle wandering around with Applebloom. He thought about going there and talking to her now, as she didn't notice him yet but Applejack approached the fillies before he could even take a step and began talking to them. As Applejack talked, Sweetie Belle became more and more excited and she even screamed when she got a small neck scarf and a hat from Applebloom. He guessed that she probably learned now that she will enter the race with Applejack. Since it looked like he won't be able to talk to her before the race, he searched for a spot to sit and found a place near the finish line.

Soon after he took a seat, he noticed that many ponies stood in front of a stage. On the stage, there was Granny Smith, sitting in a rocking chair and Big Mac was standing next to her. She was speaking but he couldn't hear her due to her speaking into the wrong end of the megaphone. Big Mac did say something to her and she corrected the megaphone and continued to talk, now everyone else being able to hear her.

"Now, the event you've been all waiting for, the Sibling Soc- The Socialhooves- Oh dabnabbit, you know, the big race. We have many teams so you all head to the finish line!" Big Mac said something to her again. "Huh? The start line. That's what I said." Lazlo smiled at this. He only talked with Granny Smith a few times, mostly when he was invited to the farm. She was a sweet old lady, even if she was sometimes old fashioned even for him.

The participants all went to the start line, he noticed Applejack and Sweetie Belle at one end of the line. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't seen Rarity since he left her to find Sweetie Belle. Where was she? Probably in that mud pit near the start. He wondered how did she breathe, but she might know some kind of magic for that.

After a few moments, the race began. The first obstacle was a mud pit, which most managed to jump over but Applejack, who was in the last position fell into it. Sweetie Belle stopped and looked back, seeing the mare climbing out of the pit, her whole body covered in mud.

Lazlo smiled at it, guessing that Rarity was the one coming out of that pit. He had to admit that what Rarity does here for her sister is more than admirable, he also felt respect towards Applejack and Applebloom that they sacrificed their participation in this race to help Rarity win back her sister's trust. Though the thought of why didn't Rarity walk up to Sweetie Belle and said that she will enter the race with her came to his mind, it seemed pointless to question it now that there couldn't be done anything about it.

His thoughts then wandered to the topic of whether he would do something like this for his sisters. He was ready to basically doom a whole world for chaos just to see them again, even if it wasn't the only reason behind his decision, but there were things in the past that he declined, no matter how much they beg for. He would probably refuse to be covered in mud for their entertainment but he would most certainly try and probably find another way of having fun that they would enjoy and maybe even want more than something like this for example. It's not like either Nora or Maya would've wanted to go through a race like this, well Maya maybe but she would likely give up in the first half of the race, either because they're not in the front, or she just doesn't want to go through an obstacle, or just suddenly changed her mind.

He didn't even realize but while he was thinking, most teams were over half of the track. He spotted Sweetie Belle and Rarity arriving at the apple collector game, where the older sibling have to throw apples and the younger had to catch them with a bucket. They looked like they were having fun. And another, dark thought came to him.

This wouldn't have been possible if he would've been able to go back to his world and take the Element of Magic with him. Their life would've been full of misery and chaos. Back then he guessed he will feel back about it, he was even comforting himself that they will find another way to stop Discord. But when? What damage would be done by then? What would be the life of the children, like Sweetie Belle till then? He hadn't thought about that back then, or if he did, he quickly suppressed those thoughts. He felt horrible. No matter how justified he felt his action was, the truth is that he made a terrible choice, and even if he wouldn't be affected by the consequences physically, it would have been still horrible for many.

The cheering around him got louder and louder, making him cut his train of thought again as the race came close to its end. Two teams were fighting for first place, while others were lagging behind, or got completely stopped at an obstacle. The two were Sweetie Belle and Rarity, the other was Rumble and Thunderlane. They were only a few meters away when a small patch of mud that fell off Rarity hit Sweetie Belle's face and in panic, she rammed into the older mare and both fell on the ground just centimeters from the finish line, while the other duo crossed it without any problem, and winning the Siblinghooves Social.

Many ponies went there to celebrate the victors. Lazlo also got up but he headed to the fallen duo.

"Aww, we were so close." Sweetie Belle said as she cleaned the mud from her face. She seemed disappointed a little at first, but her expression quickly turned to a cheery one. "Well, it was very fun regardless. Thank you, Applejack! It w-" she stopped talking as she noticed that 'Applejack' had somehow grown a horn and her coat turned top white, also her cutie mark changed.  "Huh? Rarity?!" she exclaimed as she realized that this wasn't Applejack but her sister. Applejack was still in the mud pit, only the tip of her nose was out of it, so she could breathe but now that the race was over, she emerged from it. "What's going on?"

"We switched at the beginning of the race," Applejack explained.

"So we did the whole competition together?" Sweetie asked, looking at Rarity.

"Well, except for the start, but yes, little sister." Rarity nodded.

"But why?"

"Because I was a horrible sister, and neglected you. I wanted to make it right and have fun with my little sister. Because we are apple pie." Rarity said and confused everyone with her last statement, except Applejack. "Anyway, now it is time to celebrate, we deserve it."

"Where?" Sweetie asked.

"To the spa, of course!" Rarity's answer made most of them laugh. "I'm serious." she deadpanned.

"Before you leave..." Lazlo decided that it was time for him to speak to Sweetie Belle. Upon noticing him, the unicorn filly became nervous and took a step back. Seeing it, Lazlo also took a small step back and crouched down. "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday. The way you spoke was hurtful but I know that it wasn't your intention to offend me. Sometimes you just use the wrong words. I don't want you to be afraid of me, so if you need anything, or need someone to talk to, you can always come to me and I will try to help you, or listen to you, anything. Okay?" he held out his right hand to her.

She looked at him, then at her sister, who was smiling and gave her a nod. She then turned back to the human and hoof-bumped his hand. While this wasn't the gesture he was expecting, he was happy nonetheless.

"What happened between you two?" Applejack questioned, narrowing her eyes a little. Lazlo resisted the urge to groan as he didn't want another argument with the farmer mare right now.

"Yesterday she said some things that upset me and I reacted more harshly than I should've." he gave the not-very descriptive truth. Right now he just wanted to leave. Sweetie Belle accepted his apology but that sentence that Rarity said when they were on their way to the farm hadn't left his mind. It made him remember something and he needed Twilight's help.

"That's very cryptic," Applejack said.

"Come on, darling." Rarity spoke up, looking at the earth pony. "Please, don't start arguing now. Why don't you join us at the spa? You spent a lot of time in the mud after all."

"I don't know, I can clean myself up here at home just as easily. Besides, I need to start to break down the track." the farm pony rejected the invitation.

"You can go Applejack," Granny Smith spoke as she walked to them. "Big Mac will do it, and I won't let you in the house like that. You can go clean up with your friends, or Big Mac will use the sprinkler hose on you."

Applejack seemingly didn't like that second option. Probably that option involved cold water, which might not be bad in the summer heat, but it was already over the middle of autumn.

"Fine, I'll go with Rarity but I need only a bath, no fancying for me," she grumbled, and Rarity nodded.

Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Applejack then left the farm to go to the spa, The other Apples started working on tearing down the racetrack, and most ponies, that were here to participate or watch the race already left or were leaving. Lazlo too started walking away, heading to the library.

Entering the tree building, he immediately saw the purple unicorn mare, who was currently looking at a bookcase. Upon hearing the door, she turned around and smiled at the human.

"Hi, Lacy! What brings you here?" she greeted him.

"Hello. I want to ask a favor from you." he also greeted her and then cut to the case.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I want to view a memory of mine," he answered.

Twilight looked at her questioningly, and then he told her what happened yesterday and today. By the end of his tale, she was smiling a little smugly.

"Seems like you learned an important lesson," she spoke slowly and Lazlo immediately knew what she will say next. "How about you write her a letter about it, while I'm looking for the spell."

"Why do you need to look for the spell?" he tried to bail out of the letter writing.

"Well, the princess never sends me the newest version of the spell. She usually sends the first version of it or the oldest that is safe to cast if it's more urgent. I then need to work to optimize it so it won't drain me that much, will last longer, will be more powerful, or anything else that would improve it. I then usually send her the improvements, I made and she comments or rates them. I've worked some on that spell since I last used it but didn't test it, besides it's too complex and not critical enough of a spell to constantly keep in my head. So I will need my paper on that one and look through it. Spike!" the dragon came running to them in a moment. "Take his letter and then send it to the princess." she then looked back at the human. "And don't try anything. I won't go out of hearing distance."

"Dear Princess Celestia," Lazlo started, after a little murmuring. He knew that Twilight would do the spell regardless but this should at least shut her up about this. "Sometimes others say things unintentionally that might hurt you. In those cases you shouldn't lose control over your emotions, otherwise, you might end up hurting them more than they did to you. Best regards, your most unique subject, Lazlo Kis." he kept it short and simple. After the dragon wrote it down, he looked at Twilight to confirm that he can send it. She giggled a little and nodded.

"Now, we can do the memory viewing."

Before they could do anything, however, the door opened and Rarity walked in with Applejack.

"Twilight, darling, you won't believe the bad luck we had at the spa." Rarity spoke after entering. Applejack just rolled her eyes. They both noticed that Lazlo was also there. "Lazlo, dear. What are you doing here? Are we interrupting something?"

"No, Rarity. He just came to write a letter to the princess and also to have a memory viewing." Twilight answered.

"Oh, what about? May we watch it too?" she asked.

"I don't mind, it's up to Lacy, but what did you come here for?" Twilight answered.

"Well, I only wanted to come tomorrow to write a letter to the princess, but the spa ponies were understaffed, as some of them were on leave today so we could only get a bath, so after we walked Sweetie Belle home, we came here. I asked Applejack to join me as she helped me a lot with this lesson," she explained, then turned to Lazlo. "So what this memory is about?"

"Something that I should've learned long ago, but only concentrated on half of it. You'll see, I don't mind you watching it," he answered.

After that, they all sat down and Twilight cast the spell. Before them was the image of a living room. On the bottom of the 'screen', they saw Lazlo's legs as he was sitting on a white couch. In front of him was a small table, on it some magazines, a bottle half-full of transparent liquid, and two shot glasses filled with the same liquid. At the top, they could see that there was a window on the opposing wall. The view changed a little as his view turned right, and they could see another human. A man, who had long, gray hair, tied in a ponytail, his face showed that he was old, but his posture betrayed this, as he looked strong even if he was already past his prime.

"I need your help." I told him as I grabbed my glass. He did the same with his and then we drowned the content of it, he did the same. "Good stuff," I commented.

"Pear from last year." he simply told me. "What help do you need?" he went back to the topic.

"Mom wants me to follow her, and become a politician. She wants to send me to a university to study law, or something like that because that would give me the best chance. Like it would matter more than ass kissing..." I told him the situation.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" he asked, but I knew he already knew the answer to that question.

"To talk her out of it. She doesn't listen to her son, maybe she will to her parents." I told him regardless.

"She already told us about her plan, and I already told her that I don't support forcing you into it," he said, shaking his head a little.

"Well, shit... What can I do then?" I asked, somewhat disappointed with this new information. "I don't even understand why she wants me to join the party. They'd kick me out the moment they realize that I don't have any interest in fucking with the plebs while telling them it's for their own good."

"Well, I didn't get to choose which school to go to after elementary," he told me. "But that was a different time and a different reason for that." he took the bottle and refilled his glass. "Another?" I nodded and he refilled mine too.

"I have many options, I could go, but she just listed some and said those are my choices. I don't want any of that, but she will only help me if I get into one of those. And without her help, I have no chance to survive in the big city. Why does she want to ruin my life?" I was starting to get frustrated and downed the shot.

"Listen to me! Things often happen that are outside of your control. Sometimes life will put you into a situation. You can fight against it if you want, but there are times when the only option is to accept it, live with it, and change things later. The most important thing is to live your life in a way, that at that moment you can be the happiest possible. And sometimes, the only way to forward is acceptance. You can't change everything around you. But if you can adapt, that will be very important in life." He looked at me with a sad expression. "I'm sorry that I can't help you more. I tried to talk her out of it, your grandma tried to talk her out of it, but she became a politician. She would never admit that she's wrong and she would not back down easily."

"Yeah, I tried to get some stuff from her computer to blackmail her, but she's not that stupid to let me close to it..." I said. He just shook his head, clearly disapproving of my idea. "I know..."

He motioned to Twilight to end the spell. She did and Lazlo sighed.

"Back then I only listened to the fight part and did so. I don't regret that decision, but I forgot the part about acceptance." he then turned to the white unicorn. "Rarity, you reminded me of that today. I thank you for it." he then turned back to Twilight. "Thank you for the spell."

"You're welcome. May I show it to the other girls, and the princesses?" she asked.

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Your grandpa seems like a good stallion," Applejack spoke up. "A decent fellow."

"Yeah, he was my father figure after my parents divorced and my dad moved, and I didn't see him often," he said while smiling. He loved talking about the old man. "He grew up on a farm, you know?" he added. Applejack looked surprised for a moment.

"I wouldn't mind hearing more about him."

"Because he was a farmer? Or are you curious how could such a man have such a bad grandson?" he asked, but this time it wasn't out of spite, he even made sure to have some playfulness in his voice. Twilight caught on to it and rolled her eyes. Rarity, however, looked a little worried.

"None of those! I'm just curious." she defended herself. It looked like she wasn't in the mood for arguing either.

"Another time. I want to go home. I want to think about some things."

He said his goodbyes and left the library. On his way home he was again thinking about whether or not he really accepted being stuck here for the rest of his life. He lied to himself about it earlier and wasn't sure if he would tell himself that he accepted it would be the truth this time. But his grandpa was right. Sometimes acceptance is the only way to happiness in the long run.

Enough of the whining! Time to man up and live his life! He was in the best time of his life, regarding age. Still in his twenties and the first half of it. He had already started on it, but time to take the next step. But first. He had to apologize to the mares for what he did when Discord was free. No matter if he felt justified or not to make that decision, it was wrong, he had to admit it. And he wasn't really punished for it, other than the thought of continuing to live on the land, he betrayed. They were willing to give him a second chance. Time to earn it for real.
> 27. Apologies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Lazlo Kis,

It brings me great joy to receive your letter, and I must say that my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has been keeping me updated on your progress. She speaks highly of you, and I am delighted to hear that you are adjusting to your new life.

I remember telling you about the upcoming Grand Summit of Species and Countries, and I would like to invite you to discuss the matter with me before making a final decision. It is not mandatory for you to attend, but I believe it would be beneficial for you to have more information before making a choice. I have set the 1st day of winter for our meeting, but if that date is not convenient for you, please let me know, and we can arrange another time.

Furthermore, I would like to extend an invitation for you to visit my school, Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. A student proposed that you share your knowledge about a world without magic, and many of my students and professors support the idea. I believe it would be a fascinating presentation, and I have scheduled it for the 5th of Early Winter. It will be a two-hour-long event, with an hour dedicated to your presentation and another hour for questions from the audience. If you prefer a shorter presentation or a different date, please let me know, and we can make the necessary arrangements.

I understand that these invitations are not mandatory, and you are free to decline them. I assure you that there will be no negative consequences for you, but other nations' leaders may request to meet with you or send representatives if you decline the GSSC invitation. Additionally, your travel expenses will be covered, and you will be paid as a guest speaker.

Should you choose to accept both invitations, you are welcome to stay at the castle during your visit. However, if you decide not to, that is perfectly acceptable as well.

Please respond through Spike with your decision.

Warmest regards,
Princess Celestia

Twilight stared at the letter. She was at least as surprised as Lazlo was when earlier this morning a Royal Guard Messenger knocked on his door and gave him this letter, only saying that it was from Princess Celestia and then taking off.

To say that it was unexpected was an understatement, at least for the presentation part, the other could be predicted, but Lazlo already forgot about that summit too.

"The Princess wants you to speak in her school? That is a great honor! You must accept it!" Twilight spoke, seemingly more enthusiastic about this whole thing, than Lazlo.

"Didn't have much speech like that... Most of them were just as part of a group of speakers." Lazlo said to her. "Not sure, it's a good idea, but I'll think about it," he said, then got up from the couch he had been sitting on since arrived at the library.

"What about the other one?" Twilight questioned. "Being a representative of your species in Equestria. I would say, it's also a great honor, but considering your situation..."

"I'll probably accept it. I don't want ambassadors or anyone else knocking on my door constantly. I'll go for a walk, and have some things to do. I'll sleep on it and come back tomorrow morning if it's okay with you." she nodded and he left the library.

It was time for him to go around and properly apologize to the ponies, who knew about his deal with Discord. He already decided to do it a few days ago, but only now he felt he was collected enough to do it. Except for Twilight. With her, he felt he needed a little more time to do it and it needed to be the most perfect if he could say so and the biggest chance for that was if he did it with the others too. Except for the princesses. He considered writing them letters, but maybe he will have a chance to do it personally if he goes to Canterlot. It was only fair.

He needed to do this. There was no more hiding behind false justifications. No more ignoring the images of ponies, he knew and made friends with, living in the hell that Discord created. He already accepted any punishment for it, but he still had to do this. No matter what others thought of apologizing, it was still a symbol at least.

His first stop was Carousel Boutique. It was the closest and also among the girls, Rarity was probably who he was the closest after Twilight. Not like it was much compared to the others but he sometimes went to her for new clothes, also she was living relatively close to him, since Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all lived at the edge or even out of the town, and with Pinkie, he liked her, but he felt he would go completely crazy if he'd spend more time with her than necessary.

Since it was during business hours, he didn't knock on the door of the boutique just simply opened it and walked in. The ringing of a small bell signaled his arrival. He immediately noticed Rarity as she was in the shop, currently working on a dress that was placed on a mannequin but she looked towards the door when she heard the bell.

"Lazlo, darling!" she greeted. "What do I owe the pleasure? Here for a new set of clothes?"

"Hello, Rarity. Not for that, only to take away from your work for a few minutes if you can. Just want to say a few things."

"Of course, dear. I'm due for a break anyway. Come, I'll make some tea." she walked to her kitchen, and Lazlo followed.

"Just water is enough for me, not really a tea drinker," he spoke, while Rarity motioned for him to sit down at the table, and he did so.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked while placing a glass of water with her magic in front of the human.

He wanted to get right into it but hesitated for a moment. Was it really the best time, or setting? Maybe he should talk about something else. The topical nervousness and thinking about stopping before starting. But he couldn't think of anything else, and he was preparing for it for days. He had to do it. Meanwhile, Rarity finished making her tea and was trotting to the table to sit. Noticing the troubled expression on the human, she became concerned but before she could say anything, Lazlo spoke up.

"I just... I want to apologize. For what I did when Discord was free. I... No matter how justified I felt my decision is then, or how I thought, I'd get through my bad feeling about when I get back or anything I said in my defense, it doesn't matter. The truth is that I did something evil, made a choice that is cruel and would've made millions of life miserable. I knew that already, yet I still went with it. Yet, when I finally gave faces that I know to those miserable ponies, I realized just how awful and evil I was. And I am sorry for that. I did something terrible to those, who did nothing but try to help me ever since I've gotten here. And I hope, that one day, I can earn your forgiveness." the whole time, he was looking into her eyes. Yet another lesson from his grandfather. If you fuck up, then at least have the decency to do a proper apology, looking at them the whole time, and normal people will have a decent reaction to it, even if they won't accept it.

Rarity was silent for the whole time, listening to his speech. She was thinking of his words and quietly sipped her tea. After several seconds, she put down her cup and smiled at the human.

"I forgive you, darling. Actually, I already did. But I appreciate the gesture. Still, my sympathies that you can't go home, Twilight explained to us, why is it impossible." she spoke still wearing her smile that became a little sad as she said her last sentence.

"Well, I just have to accept that I'll live the rest of my life here, but thank you." he stood up. "Thanks for listening, but I have to go and visit the others, and I also don't want to keep you from your work."

"Speaking of my work..." she too stood up and levitated his empty glass and her cup to the sink. "Winter is getting close, and I assume you will need something to keep you warm out there during that time."

"Yeah... Though it's okay for now, and I can handle cold pretty well, I'll be in need of some warmer clothes," he confirmed.

"Of course, dear. Go, visit the others now, but don't forget to come back sometimes so I can make something for you, and try not to make it before you start shivering on your way here." she smiled as she escorted him out.

Since Sugarcube Corner wasn't far from Rarity's shop, that was his next destination. It was around midday so relatively few ponies were there.

"Lazlo! Hello!" the blue earth pony, Mrs. Cake, who was standing behind the counter, greeted him. "Haven't seen you in quite a while."

"Hello. Is Pinkie here? I need to speak with her." he greeted back, but getting to the point of his visit immediately after.

"Yes, she's in the kitchen, I- urgh..." she suddenly grunted, cutting herself from finishing what she wanted to say.

"Are you okay?" Lazlo asked with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine, dear!" she assures him and walks around the counter and now Lazlo can see a big bump on her stomach. "The little ones just like kicking sometimes." she patted her bump a little.

"Oh, you're expecting? Didn't know about that. And little ones? Twins?" he asked, making sure, he heard correctly. She nodded with a proud smile. "Well, congratulation! I wish you and your foals good health!" he told her while smiling himself.

"Thank you! It's such a wonderful feeling that I'm going to be a mother and my dear husband is happy too, but I also can't wait to have them out of me, it can be a struggle sometimes."

"Well, I can only imagine that maybe. But I don't know anyone who truly regretted suffering through it. I don't know about this language but in my native tongue, pregnant women are also addressed as they're in a 'Blessed state', which is a nice expression in my opinion."

"I never heard that one, but I agree with you," she said, thinking about the expression. "Anyway, Pinkie's in the kitchen, I think she can have a break since it's a quiet time here right now."

She allowed him to go to the kitchen, where Pinkie was just finishing up with a tray of cupcakes. She looked up when she heard the human walk in. She gave him a wide smile and took a cupcake from the tray.

"Hiya Lacy! You came at the perfect time!" she practically yelled. "Try one!" she was already in his face, trying to force-feed him with a cupcake, that had light blue frosting and the number of sprinkles on it, that even a kid would think is too much.

To prevent her from trying to force a whole cupcake down on his throat, he quickly grabbed the baked good and took it from her, taking a bite from it, while with his other hand, gently pushing her away. She didn't seem offended by his act, the signature smile remained.

"So what do you think?" she asked, shaking a little from excitement.

"It's good as long as I choose the size of the portion that gets into my mouth." he gave her an unamused look, that quickly changed to a more serious one. "But I need to speak with you in a more serious tone." her smile became less ecstatic and nodded. He took a big breath and started. "I'm sorry about my behavior during the Discord incident. I made an evil decision and-" A pink hoof was pushed into his mouth, silencing him.

"I already forgave you, silly! We all are! We even told you, but they'll surely be happy to hear a real apology from you. But if you really want to make up for it then spend more time with your friends, not just Twilight, but the others too. And go back to the chess club too." she told him and at this point, he wasn't even surprised that she thought about that too.

After eating another cupcake and then actually buying more tasty treats he first went home because he didn't want to carry all the baked goods with him the whole time. Also, it was already afternoon and he still didn't have lunch so he had to put some normal food in his system as well.

Another long walk was behind him as he approached the ground below Rainbow Dash's mansion. He didn't see it many times, which was surprising at first as it was floating in the sky but it was basically outside of Ponyville and wasn't that high up. She only had a mailbox and a bell on the ground, which he guessed was there since only pegasi could knock on her door.

He rang the bell and waited. A few seconds later he was about to try again but just before that she flew out of one of her windows and landed next to her.

"Hey, Lazlo. What brings you by?" she greeted.

"Hi. I came to apologize for my action when Discord was free. What I did was evil and would've ruined the life of many. I'm sorry for what I did."

"Hey, it's okay," she spoke up before he could say more. "I mean, it wasn't cool, but if you don't do it again, then I won't hold it against you." she flew up a little and patted his shoulder. "But enough of the mushy stuff. You want something else too?" he shook his head. "Then I have some napping to finish, see ya!" and she was already back in her house.

The next destination was Sweet Apple Acres. His legs were aching from the marathon he walked today so he hoped he could sit down somewhere when he was there. He immediately noticed Applejack kicking some apple trees.

"Hello!" he greeted her, getting her attention. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, but I want to talk to you." she stopped and regarded him.

"About what?" she asked, though this time she didn't seem displeased with him, quite the opposite, she seemed to be in a good mood.

"I apologize for what I did during Discord's rampage." he kept the way he did with the others and got to the point immediately. "What I did was evil and would have made life terrible for many."

"I thought you weren't sorry for that. What made you change your mind?" she asked, a little skeptical but still open to hearing more.

"I never really put faces on the images of suffering ponies. I ignored it when it occurred to me that the same fate will apply to my friends here too. Rarity kind of helped me to see the truth when we were on our way for the race a few days ago. That because of my cruelty and selfishness, your life, the other mare's life, and the life of the children would have been a living hell if it would've worked. And I'm sorry for that."

She listened to him, while occasionally giving small nods of agreement. After Lazlo was finished, she didn't speak for many seconds.

"You know..." she spoke up after. "...when I heard about how you deceived your mother, I started disliking you. If you could do that to your own ma, then what would you do to others? And yet, Twilight asked me to be nice to you and you did some good too, I admit that. But when Discord came and you were ready to leave us with the only thing that could stop him, I was furious. But the Princess gave you a second chance and asked us to do the same. And I cannot deny that if Princess Luna could be forgiven, you should have the right too. I did bad things too in the past, and my family and friends always forgave me, so I will try to do that for you."

"Thank you. I will let you continue your work now. Have a nice day." he said and left her to her work.

"Wait!" he stopped. "Will you tell me about your grandpa? And what about your father? "

"After my parents divorced, when I was just a kid, I didn't see my father often, I spent one or two weekends with him each month but sometimes even less, so not much about him to tell. He moved away to find better work. He did find someone else and that's why I have two lovely half-sisters. As for my-" before he could continue though, something interrupted him.

"APPLEJACK!" the yelling of a filly turned their attention to the newcomer. It was Apple Bloom, running towards them at record speed, while she was spinning a hula hoop with her tail and spinning two plates on two sticks on her head. "You won't believe what happened today!" she stopped just in time not to collide with her sister. Then turned side and Applejack stared at her open-mouthed. "I got another cutie mark! Two cutie marks! I have two cutie marks!" she was constantly jumping in excitement so it took Lazlo a few seconds to realize that there were two different markings, a silver ring and below it, two sticks with one plate on each.

He was here in Equestria for long enough to know that it was at least not normal. Even if a pony had a cutie mark that had multiple symbols, those were connected, like Applejack with three apples, or even Twilight with one big star and several smaller ones around it. It was probably also the reason why Applejack was in a good mood. Apple Bloom had gotten one cutie mark recently since she told her that she got another one and the mare was still happy that her sister finally got her mark.

"Yee-haw, little sis! You got not only one but two cutie marks!" Applejack cheered.

"Congratulations Apple Bloom!" Lazlo too praised her, while trying to figure out in his head, how the hell did she learn all this, as even with practicing every day, it would've taken more years, than her age, and that's ignoring the fact that she couldn't have started from birth.

"Thanks, Lacy!" she seemingly just noticed that he was there too.

"We gotta tell Big Mac and Granny Smith! And also write letters to the whole family! But first, let's go, celebrate!" Applejack told her, then turned back to the human. "Wanna join?"

"I still have others to visit, and also don't want to intrude." he politely declined.

"Alright, but Pinkie won't let you miss her cute-ceañera, so be ready for it," she told him.

After that, the Apples went back to their house and Lazlo left the orchard. The next destination was Fluttershy.

On his way, however, he wasn't thinking about what to tell the shy pegasus but how to apologize to Twilight. Oh, he knew what to say, basically the same things he told the others, yet it was so hard as it had to be perfect. Because she was the one, he was the closest.

Arriving at Fluttershy's hut, he noticed many animals move away from him, though not running in fear, more like being cautious and keeping a distance. He wasn't here many times, only once or twice and he looked different, so it was to be expected that they didn't want to be close to him.

The door opened a few seconds after he knocked, revealing the yellow pegasus.

"Oh, hello Lazlo. What brings you by?" she let him in and offered him a place on her couch.

"Hello, I just came to talk a little, if you have the time," he answered as he looked around. He didn't remember ever being in her hut, only the outside.

"Of course. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you. Not really a tea drinker." he declined.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about that." she apologized and he sighed. He remembered that the shy pegasus apologized for everything.

"I'm not even sure, I ever told you that, but never mind. I just came here to apologize." he got to the point. She looked at him confused at first, so he continued. "About the Discord incident and what I've done back then. What I did was horrible and I believe an apology is in order. I made a selfish decision and you almost suffered a lot because of it."

"You don't have to apologize." Fluttershy sat down next to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. "I already forgave you and our friends did too. I mean, it wasn't nice, what you did, but we did some bad things too, we were all under Discord's influence."

"There is a difference between hypnotizing you and offering a deal," he argued. Then he felt something poking his legs on his left. He looked and noticed a little white bunny standing there on the couch. He reached down and petted him but to his surprise, the bunny hit his hand away, then began pushing against his leg, seemingly wanting him to move away.

"Angel! You should know better than to behave like this when we have a guest!" Fluttershy scolded the bunny, but without success. Lazlo didn't do anything to the bunny, he simply let him push him, not like he had any chance of forcing even a small movement. Seeing that the man decided to ignore her pet, she did the same. "You were also hurting from the bad news, you received before that. You should talk with the others too."

"Already did apologize to Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow. They forgave me, or something like that."

"That's wonderful. What about Twilight?"

"I'll go to her too. I just need a little more time to think for hers."

"Oh, alright. I think you should be able to put behind yourself all of this." she smiled, then her face turned to shock, then apologetic. "Not that I'm implying that you should forget your old life, I'm sorry if you interpreted it like that. I just think that you would be happier if you could move on from that decision. I know, me and my friends can."

"Thank you." he smiled, glad to hear it. "I think, I should go now. Goodbye."

He left the hut and was on his way home. He thought about going back to the library to speak with Twilight but he was exhausted mentally. Even if those talks didn't take long, they still tired him. He also had to think a little more. She deserved better than he could do with the others.

The next morning, he left early. The library still wasn't open, when he arrived. Spike let him in as Twilight was still upstairs. When she got down, instead of greeting the man, she looked disapprovingly at him.

"Lazlo! You should know better, than just leave a letter from the princess just like that!" she began to lecture him, he almost fell back because of the surprise onslaught. "You shouldn't have left the letter here, you should keep it with you, at least until you answered them!"

"Yeah, sorry!" he quickly interrupted to stop her, before he had to spend the whole day here, listening to her about this. "Yesterday was more eventful than I expected."

"Why, what did you do yesterday?" she asked, but she had to wait for his answer as two ponies suddenly entered the library.

"Twilight! Need help!" spoke Applejack as she entered with Apple Bloom. The little filly was doing the same, as he last saw her, with the hula hoop and the plates but now, she was step-dancing too. Looking at her side, he could see a horseshoe with a ribbon.

Applejack quickly began to explain what happened. This morning, Apple Bloom got yet another cutie mark, but what's truly scary is that she can't stop performing her talents. It didn't take a genius to figure out how dangerous that is. Though it raised the question, of why did she bring her here and not to the hospital. It seemed like some kind of illness or a defect. However, he also thought that if it was some kind of magical disorder, then Twilight probably can figure it out too, as she has massive knowledge in magic, but still, a hospital with actual experts would've been the best choice.

"It's most likely an unusual equine illness. Now, where is that book about it?" she began looking through some books on a shelf but Spike found it quicker. She got the book from her assistant and then began flipping through the pages. Soon she found something. "Cutie Pox," she said. "This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the Paleopony Period!"

"Heh, say that ten times fast!" Spike said.

"Yeah, I know some tongue-breakers too," Lazlo added.

"Really? Can you teach them to me?" the dragon asked.

"They're not in English, or what do call it? Common language?" Lazlo shook his head.

"Random cutie marks appeared all over the ponies' bodies, causing them to perform all the talents that came with them!" Twilight continued explaining the Cutie Pox.

"And what's the cure?" Applejack asked, trying to hurry things up.

"It says here there's no known cure!" Twilight said, looking afraid. "The cause of the breakout was never discovered, and the cutie pox disappears as mysteriously as they arrived!" she continued reading the book, and with every word, all creatures looked more and more worried.

And then another cutie mark appeared on Apple Bloom's flank and from now none of them understood what she was speaking as she was speaking in a foreign language.

"My sister's speaking in fancy!" Applejack looked terrified. "What does she saying?"

"I don't know!" Twilight said, before turning to Lazlo. "Do you understand it? Is it your native language?"

"No, far from it." he shook his head, then looked at Apple Bloom's new cutie mark, which was a silver fleur-de-lis. "My guess would be French, based on the symbol."

"You mean Prench?" Twilight asked and Lazlo gave her a confused look. "It was-" she stopped herself. "Not important right now!"

"Yeah, we need to find a cure! We can't wait for it to just go away!" Applejack was now panicking and Lazlo understood it. He would too in her place. Twilight looked troubled for a moment, deep in thinking, before she looked up, smiling.

"I know! Zecora! She might have an idea!" she yelled, then they all rushed out of the library instantly running towards the Everfree Forest, where the zebra alchemist lived.

They couldn't go fast, though. Apple Bloom was slowing them down. Her state got worse by the minute as more and more cutie marks appeared on her body, forcing her to perform more and more activities. Ponies on the street looked at her and were concerned until one of them yelled that she was cursed. The true panic, however, began when Spike corrected the pony that the filly wasn't cursed, just had a mysterious and incurable illness.

At least something good happened too as they noticed the zebra, whom they wanted to visit walking in the town in their direction speaking to herself.

"Zecora! Apple Bloom has cutie pox! We were just on our way to see if you had a cure!" Twilight quickly summarized the situation.

"But magically you're here! Was your zebra sense tingling?" Applejack spoke.

"My zebra sense did not bring me round, it was a special flower that I needed found. I thought I picked enough to fix all the potions I had to mix, but after my visit from Apple Bloom, some had mysteriously left my room. Apple Bloom! What do you say? Did this flower just walk away?" Zecora said while looking at the little filly. Apple Bloom looked nervous but didn't say anything. Zecora then took a few small items out of her saddlebag. "A cutie pox cure I have forsooth, for healing power is in the Seeds of Truth." the items she took were golden seeds.

"Well then, give them to her! Quick!" Applejack was impatient, which was understandable.

"These seeds must be planted in the ground. With the truth, they'll grow, and the cure is found." Zecora explained.

"Come again?" Applejack seemed confused. She wasn't the only one, as Lazlo too was lost.

"The Seeds of Truth do hold the cure, but one must speak words, true and pure." came more explanation.

"So how does it live like that in the wild? I don't think animals just go to it and confess stuff so it can grow." Lazlo asked.

"The plant can bloom without words of true, but then it loses its power to cure you," she answered.

"Well then let's get to it!" Applejack took the seeds, quickly dig a hole in the ground, placed the seeds there, and put back the dirt. "Alright, they're planted, now somepony tell the truth!" she looked around, hoping someone will step forward to speak.

"Two plus two is four. I have five fingers on each hand. My hair is dark brown. I have two half-sisters. Humans are the only sentient species where I'm from." Lazlo began listing basic facts but nothing happened.

"I can't stand it anymore!" Apple Bloom shouted. She looked terrible. She was dirty, her mane, tail, and coat were tangled and messy. Her little bow was damaged and she looked exhausted. "It's me! I admit it! I didn't earn my cutie mark! They're all fake!" Her confession seemed to work as the plant started to grow. "I figured the Heart's Desire would help me get what I wanted most! So when Zecora left her hut, I mixed up a special potion and put the rest of the Heart's Desire in it!" as she continued a beautiful white flower bloomed.

The whole process was a sight to behold, and for Lazlo, no matter how many magical things he saw, there was always something else new that can take his breath away. Ponies got out of their homes, looking at the flower in awe. But it didn't last long as Apple Bloom pulled the whole plant out of the ground and ate it in one piece. She then collapsed and the cutie marks disappeared from her body. She was herself again. She sighed in relief along with every pony who gathered around. All were happy that it was over. Her two crusader friends walked up to her, asking if she was okay.

"I'm great, and I've never been happier to be a blank flank. But I'm awfully sorry I lied," she tried to get up but was unable to. "I was so desperate for my cutie mark, I just got carried away." she then turned to the zebra. "And I'm really sorry I snuck those flowers from you, Zecora. Why, I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted me to come by again." she looked ashamed.

"Now, Apple Bloom, do not be silly. You are always welcome, my little filly. With each mistake you learn something new, growing up into a better you." Zecora was just as forgiving as any other pony.

"Apple Bloom, would you mind writing to Princess Celestia and telling her what you've learned?" Twilight asked as she felt a great lesson was learned, one that was worthy of sending to the princess.

"I'd be happy to, Twilight!"

With the letter written and sent, Apple Bloom was taken back to the farm by Applejack so she can finally rest after what happened. She needed one, badly. Lazlo had a feeling, she fell asleep on her sister's back.

He went back to the library with Twilight, he had something important to do after all. But on his way and even at the moment of arrival, he still wasn't sure what to say, until he realized that he's been stupid. He can't say anything else than he said to the others. Still, it was time that he apologized to her, she deserved it just as much as anyone else, or even more so.

"So will you answer the princess' invitation now?" Twilight asked once they were back in the library, sitting on a couch.

"Before that, I need to tell you something." he looked at her. "Yesterday, I've been going around, apologizing to the others. It's long overdue that I apologize to you as well for being a horrible friend and betraying your trust. You've been nothing but kind and helpful. And I was ready to doom your life, your home, your country. It was a cruel and selfish act by me. And I-" He only got that far before he was interrupted by Twilight as she stood up on her hind legs and wrapped her front hooves around his neck. Lazlo was surprised by the sudden act but after a few seconds, he returned the hug, even stroking her back a little. 

"Lazlo..." Twilight whispered. "I already forgave you. And don't call yourself cruel and selfish. You are a wonderful person, you were just through a lot since you got here. I hope you can live a great life here, I know mine got better since I got to know you." they let go of each other.

"Thank you," Lazlo said. Then looked at Spike, who just came into the room. "And of course, I apologize to you too, Spike."

"Don't worry about it." he shrugged it off, then raised the parchment and quill in his hands. "I'm ready to write your response to the princess' invitation," he said.

"Oh, right. Well, I accept both. The dates are good too."

"Lazlo," Twilight spoke, while Spike was writing the letter. "Would you mind staying here for a little bit? The girls should arrive soon, we arranged a little get-together before this whole craziness with Apple Bloom. And it involves you too."

Spike then sent the letter. While they waited for the others to come, they were having a small conversation, until Twilight brought up a chess table. They played a few rounds, mostly won by Lazlo as Twilight was a little out of practice, though she said that she'll try to go to that chess club with Lazlo.

Finally, the others arrived. They were all smiling at Lazlo, which at first creeped him out a little as he was afraid, they would force him to do something embarrassing. But luckily it wasn't the case.

They each had a parchment with them that they all gave to Spike. Twilight too had her own, which was passed to the dragon along with the others. Lazlo had a feeling what they were for but he had to be sure.

"Are those...?" he asked.

"Yes." Twilight nodded.

"We decided that we will send the letter to the princess about your forgiveness together." Rarity added.

"Some of us wanted to send it earlier but we agreed that it would be fairer," Pinkie spoke.

"And you can't have it for nothing," Rainbow said.

"So we agreed that if you do something like apologizing, then we will all write our letter." it was now Applejack's turn.

"We can all move on from this and start over," Fluttershy added.

"After you left the bakery, I went to visit the others and tell them that we can finally send the letter, but then Twilight said, you didn't apologize to her, but then I calmed her down that you will tomorrow, that is today and I was right as you just apologized to her an hour ago!" Pinkie explained further.

"You can send them, Spike!" Twilight gave the word and the letters were already flying toward Canterlot.

"I... Thank you!" was all the human could say, getting really emotional.

"I know that this wasn't the life, you were hoping for, or maybe fighting for..." Twilight said as she embraced him yet again, this time he returned it immediately.

He closed his eyes for a moment but felt another presence touching him, opening his eyes revealed Pinkie, who joined the hug.

"But don't be sad! We will be here for you to cheer you up!" she spoke.

Soon every pony and even the dragon joined, making it a big group hug, with Lazlo Kis in the center of it. He felt tears running down his cheek. It was an annoying feeling but he didn't care this time. Finally, for the first time in weeks, maybe months, he felt truly happy. And he realized something. He lost so much. And yet... He felt richer than ever.
> 28. Pet race
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo walked home after another session with Agile Body, feeling a little weird about working with her now that he had seen her hidden beauty. He briefly wondered if it would feel the same to meet a pornstar in real life, though he quickly dismissed the thought. He never really watched porn, believing that real intimacy was more fulfilling when actively involved.

Not like I'll ever experience it again... I don't think pony pussy will ever look desirable to me... I hope... And now I'm thinking about Agile's... Fuck... Not like that... Damn... Or will I be that desperate one day? And what about a real relationship? Can I ever have it with one of these ponies? Shit, I don't want to think about it! Need a distraction!

That was the downside of his training sessions. He often found himself plagued by these kinds of thoughts afterward. He partially blamed Agile, even though she had been well-behaved and caught herself before crossing any ethical boundaries. But if he were being honest, he would have had similar thoughts regardless of the mare's presence.

As Lazlo strolled through the main square near the town hall, he noticed it was nearly empty, with only a few ponies scattered about, and among them were girls. Five of them were gathered on the terrace surrounding the town hall, and Rainbow Dash stood a little further in the middle of the square with several animals standing in a row. It was just the distraction he needed to take his mind off his troubling thoughts.

Observing the various animals, Lazlo was initially surprised to see them all lined up in a row. However, he soon realized that they must belong to Fluttershy, as they appeared docile in her presence. Some of the animals seemed rather exotic to him, like the toucan and the flamingo. Most of the creatures were birds, including a duck, eagle, falcon, owl, and a smaller bird that he couldn't identify. There were also insects present, such as a ladybug, butterfly, and even a wasp, which he decided to steer clear of, regardless of its behavior. He wasn't particularly fond of wasps. Lastly, there was a bat, and at the end of the line, almost hidden from view, Lazlo couldn't believe his eyes, an out-of-place turtle.

Approaching the mares, they noticed his approach and greeted him warmly.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Lazlo asked curiously.

"Hiya, Lacy!" Pinkie greeted him once again, for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. "Dashie wants to choose a pet but couldn't decide, so she's organizing a competition to determine the best fit for her."

"Okay... Good for her, I guess," he replied, uncertain of how to respond.

"What about you, Lazlo? Do you want a pet?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Nah, there is a reason why I don't even have plants in my house," he answered.

"Well, I think your home could use some, darling." Rarity spoke. " It would make it more lively, or at the very least, add some decorative touches. When I visited, it seemed rather plain."

"I've never had a talent for those sorts of things. The decorations in my old home consisted of my books, a collection of various alcoholic beverages, and some random trinkets here and there. I can't even recall where or how I acquired most of them. I suppose you could count the magnets on my fridge too."

"You should get some of those then here." Rarity suggested.

Before they could delve further into the conversation, Rainbow Dash's exclamation interrupted them. It seemed she had finished her talk and was ready to proceed with the action.

"Does she understand what a pet really means?" Applejack whispered to the others.

"Yeah, like care and attention, love and affection," Twilight replied, as Winona, Applejack's dog, approached her and licked her face. However, Twilight didn't seem to appreciate the slobbery gesture.

Spotting Lazlo, the dog made her way over to him, seeking attention. Lazlo smiled and scratched her ears, allowing her to lick his other hand, but he managed to prevent her from soaking it in dog saliva. He wasn't particularly keen on that.

They all observed as Rainbow Dash took off, followed by the animals except for the turtle, which Fluttershy carried. Lazlo and the mares followed suit, heading toward a nearby park that housed a small racetrack. By the time they arrived, all the animals were lined up at the starting point, poised and ready. Rainbow Dash stood nearby, prepared to commence the race.

"So, the winner of this race becomes her pet?" Lazlo asked Fluttershy who was already there when they arrived.

"No, it's just the first event," the mare clarified.

"Okay, what's the deal with the turtle?" Lazlo couldn't help but ask.

"Well, technically, he's a tortoise," Fluttershy corrected him in a hushed voice. Lazlo looked a bit confused at the distinction. He wasn't sure what differentiated a turtle from a tortoise. As far as he could remember, his native language used the same word for both. He guessed it was similar to his language having two words for the color red. "And he's always dreamed of being someone's pet. So, I asked Rainbow to give him a chance," she explained.

Their conversation was once again interrupted by Rainbow Dash blowing her whistle. All the animals took off, some faster than others. Rainbow observed each one individually, making comments along the way, but the distance and noise prevented Lazlo and the others from hearing what she said.

In the end, the falcon emerged as the winner, while the tortoise could only take a few steps before reaching the finish line. Rainbow shook her head in disappointment at the sight of the poor reptile.

The next competition was agility-based. Rainbow managed to borrow some equipment from the town hall that was typically used for local competitions, shows, or practice for the Equestria Games. It consisted of rings, tubes, and other obstacles on long poles, creating an aerial obstacle course. With the help of the mares and Lazlo, the course was swiftly set up.

As the course was ready, the agility test commenced to assess the animals' nimbleness. However, the tortoise couldn't participate since it couldn't fly, effectively eliminating any chance it had in this competition.

This time, the winner was the hummingbird. Fluttershy kindly informed Lazlo of the bird's identity, as he finally remembered the creature but couldn't recall its English name.

For the next challenge, they had to retrieve a toy mouse from Opalescence, Rarity's cat. None of them dared to approach the feline, except for the butterfly, which seemed to mesmerize Opalescence, easily snatching the toy from her. Meanwhile, the tortoise walked behind Opalescence's carrier and attempted to topple her over, hoping to trap her. However, Opalescence managed to leap away and retaliated, swiping at the tortoise, who was shielded by its protective shell. Rainbow had already declared a winner for this event and could do little else but gaze at the tortoise's failed attempt, looking slightly confused.

Then came the so-called 'style test', with Rarity assisting. Lazlo wasn't entirely sure what this entailed, as Rainbow had pictures of each animal in various styles. He presumed she would choose the one she liked the most. He was starting to grow bored with the entire competition, though it still beat the alternative of sitting at home doing nothing.

Well, he could read a book, but he had already read the few he had. He would need to speak with Twilight to get some recommendations. Perhaps she would allow him to peruse a few books to determine which one he should buy. Lazlo was never the type to visit libraries. He preferred owning the books he read. He used to have over a hundred books, with shelves filled and some lying around wherever he could find space.

He had no idea which animal won this particular round. Although he was certain it wasn't the tortoise, he felt a twinge of sympathy for the determined reptile. It was odd to see animals in this world behaving more trained than they typically did back in his own world. It was one of the aspects he still hadn't fully accustomed himself to. Even the animals that were supposed to be wild were mostly docile, although there were certainly untamed ones out there. Those that didn't reside near ponies were just like their counterparts on Earth.

The next challenge tested ’coolness’, which involved determining which animal had the most impressive vocalization. The eagle emerged as the victor this time.

When Rainbow announced that the following test would assess ’awesomeness’, Lazlo let out a sigh.

"How many of these fucking tests does she plan to have before she admits she can't decide?" he asked the others.

"I think she has this test and the 'radicalness' test left," Fluttershy replied, and upon hearing this, Lazlo facepalmed.

The owl won the "awesomeness" test by showcasing its ability to rotate its head 360 degrees.

The final challenge was for ’radicalness’, presented as a talent show. They utilized the outdoor stage, which was only dismantled during winter or inclement weather.

Lazlo could hardly believe the diverse performances he witnessed. If he weren't in a magical pony realm and convinced he wasn't under the influence of some hallucinogen, he might have passed out from the sheer spectacle.

The duck performed a dance routine with a rod that Lazlo couldn't identify. The eagle unexpectedly knitted a sweater, leaving Lazlo utterly dumbfounded. This whole competition had become a prime example of what he would consider a "cartoon moment", something so absurd that it only appeared remotely acceptable within the confines of a cartoon. The falcon attempted a card trick, while the wasp entertained with shadow puppets. None of these performances seemed to impress the judge so far.

The bat, however, grabbed a few glasses and started playing a little musical tune with them, creating a unique melody in the air. With a sudden screech, the bat dramatically ended its musical performance by destroying the glasses, sending them shattering into pieces. Rainbow Dash smiled, and she applauded the bat's performance.

The last contestant was the tortoise, who had an extreme obstacle course but couldn't even get past the first jump. He ended up getting stuck on his back.

"Listen, turtle!" Rainbow walked up to him.

"Tortoise." Fluttershy corrected her.

"Whatever! You've had your fun, but I think we both know who made the cut and who didn't." They looked at each other for a few seconds before Rainbow Dash clarified, "You didn't."

She pointed to the sky where the eagle, falcon, bat, and owl were flying, while the other ponies cheered. Lazlo didn't understand their enthusiasm since there were still four competitors, so it meant the competition wasn't over yet.

"I mean... 'A' for effort and everything. You gave it your best shot. Maybe I've got a gold star sticker around here somewhere you can have, but seriously, go home." Rainbow Dash praised him a little, helping him back to his feet, probably hoping he'd understand the message and leave her alone. They looked at each other for a moment before she turned to the four remaining competitors.

"So, anyway, you're all outstanding competitors, but there can only be one of you who's number one." She finally reached them. "So the final tie-breaking contest is going to be... a race against me! Through Ghastly Gorge!" She then noticed that the sun was getting close to the horizon. "Tomorrow we will see who will be my pet!" With that, she took off.

The others also said their goodbyes and left, while Fluttershy collected the animals to take them home.

"Lacy! I know it's starting to get late, but I was hoping you could come over for a short session." Twilight spoke to the human.

"Sure, one was planned today anyway. I just got a little distracted," Lazlo accepted the invitation.

"So, what do you think? Which one of the remaining contestants do you think will be Rainbow's pet?" Twilight asked as they began to walk to the library.

"I don't know for sure, but my guess would be either the eagle or the falcon."

"Most likely. Though I can't help but feel a little bad for the tortoise. He was trying so hard," Twilight expressed a hint of sympathy.

"I guess so. Although, I wonder how that would work out if the tortoise were to become Rainbow's pet. Doesn't she live in a cloud house?"

"You're right. None of the birds can walk on clouds, but the inside of her house does have a solid floor and such, so they could live there. However, for that, they would need to be able to fly." Twilight explained.

They continued their conversation about the upcoming race to determine Rainbow Dash's pet as they walked toward the library. Upon entering, Twilight quickly prepared her notebook for their session. However, before she could start, Lazlo took the initiative and expressed a desire to ask a question.

"You know, I didn't have the chance to ask about something earlier. Mind if we have an 'only I ask' session today?" Lazlo inquired. Twilight smiled and nodded, happy to change roles and answer Lazlo's questions about his world. "Alright. So I wanted to ask about when Apple Bloom mentioned 'Prench.' What was that? I thought there was only one language here?" Lazlo was curious about the reference.

"While that is true today, in the past, before the Unification, not only were the three tribes separated, but they also had several small nations. For unicorns, there were many city-states or small duchies. The pegasi had a similar setup, but in the clouds, and they probably had a different name for their territories, though we don't know what they called them. Unfortunately, very few records remain from that era. These were times long before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Most of what we know about that era comes from Celestia, as she preserved many artifacts and retained memories from over a thousand years ago.

Moving on to the earth ponies, their situation was somewhat different. Essentially, families lived together and engaged in trade with other families. It was a community-based system without any kind of centralized government structure. While earth ponies shared the same language and culture, pegasi and unicorns had distinct characteristics. Most duchies and cities had their own languages. One such example is Prance, from where the term 'Prench' originates. The same applied to the pegasi.

At some point in history, the unicorns began to unite their territories. The exact reasons and methods of this unification remain unknown. Historians speculate that it was likely a combination of warfare and diplomacy, although the limited evidence suggests that diplomacy played a more significant role. As the kingdom of the unicorns began to take shape, the pegasi embarked on a similar path. Given their more militaristic society, it is theorized that their unification involved a considerable amount of warfare. However, some scholars question this theory, suggesting that it might have been a war game or small-scale battles to identify the most capable leader with minimal casualties, as the pegasi might have been concerned about losing too many soldiers and had to face the expanding unicorn kingdom like that.

Meanwhile, the earth ponies, sensing the growing tension between the pegasi and unicorns, came together for their own protection. The larger families joined forces to form their own nation, fearing that they would be targeted for their agricultural resources. Interestingly, prior to these events, the three pony tribes, while not united like in Equestria, maintained relatively amicable relations with each other. It was only when each tribe began their respective unifications that mistrust emerged.

Returning to the topic at hoof, the old version of the language we all use today originated from the earth pony language. Both the unicorns and pegasi adopted it, likely as a means to sway the earth ponies towards their own sides and increase trade while undermining the other tribe. However, the tension between the unicorns and the pegasi wasn't the only issue. Earth ponies grew increasingly concerned about being caught in the middle of a conflict between the two other tribes, which led to their growing hostility towards both. This eventually paved the way for the unification of the three tribes and the establishment of Equestria."

Twilight concluded her history lesson, and Lazlo did his best to absorb the information. Initially overwhelming, he realized that the details were not as extensive as he had initially thought, and it all began to make sense in the broader context.

"So every pony adopted the earth pony language and then they stayed that way?"

"Basically yes,” Twilight confirmed. "However, there were already some ponies who had similar languages, such as the unicorn city that eventually united the unicorns, and language unification was already going on within the kingdom, and the pegasi followed that example. Unfortunately, what I've shared with you comprises almost everything we know about that era. We have a few names, titles, and notes, as well as the princesses' memories. I hope that we can uncover more information about that time, especially the reasons and methods behind the unicorn unification. According to the sources, it happened relatively peacefully and within a few decades." Twilight added more information.

"Well, it's all really fascinating, but it's important to acknowledge that the further we look back in history, the less we can see clearly, and the more our imagination fills in the gaps. As humans, we have learned a lot about our own past, and yet we still have only a limited understanding of what life was like thousands of years ago. The truth is, we will never know everything, or even as much as we know about more recent times." he spoke, then he remembered a few things. "My grandfather on my father's side was a history teacher. He told me that historians are already created the history of the human race based on what they found and their deductions. And when they find something new that goes against their theory, they usually just twist it in a way that it will fit, or will only differ a little. Of course, there are times when there's nothing they could do, and have to accept that their thesis was wrong, but they don't like to admit it. Just like many others."

"That's true, but it also means that there is always the potential for new discoveries and revelations." Twilight argued. " And while some historians may have their own theories, which they stick to, there are many who genuinely strive to uncover the truth."

"I believe you. There are humans who share that same passion for truth-seeking. Anyway, I think I should get some rest. It seems we'll have another adventure tomorrow." He chuckled lightly. "By the way, where is this Ghastly Gorge?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it an adventure; we're simply going to help Rainbow Dash and find out which animal will become her pet. Ghastly Gorge is not too far away, but it's not within walking distance either. We'll be taking a balloon there. It's a beautiful but somewhat dangerous location. Fortunately, we only need to be at the end of it and they will be flying so they should be relatively safe. But that is another reason we all go, to help Rainbow and the animals if they got into trouble." she explained.

"Yeah, sure. Though it's still stupid to have a competition for choosing a pet."

"Yes, but that's Rainbow Dash for you."

"Right. Well, good night, Twilight! See you tomorrow."

"Bye!"

The next morning, Lazlo arrived first and assisted Twilight in preparing the balloon. Although he had only ridden a balloon once before when they went to Cloudsdale, he found it relatively easy to handle. As he stood there, waiting for the others to arrive, he began to feel the cold as the wind picked up. Being in the last month of autumn, he realized he hadn't brought any warm clothes. He vaguely recalled mentioning the need for warmer attire to Rarity, but it seemed to have slipped his mind. Now, with the temperature dropping even lower, he resolved to order some as soon as possible.

Soon, the rest of the group arrived. Fluttershy brought the animals along, including the persistent tortoise who still seemed eager to compete. Rainbow Dash, as usual, was the last to arrive but displayed her impatience. She had brought a "finish gate" consisting of two poles with the well-known black and white squares on a flag, their ends connected to the top of both poles.

They didn't have to wait long. Those who couldn't fly boarded the balloon, which was then pulled by the two pegasi to hasten their journey to Ghastly Gorge.

As Lazlo caught his first glimpse of Ghastly Gorge, he couldn't help but gasp in awe. He had never seen anything like it before—a massive scar on the land, a testament to nature's power, and yet it held a peculiar beauty. Twilight had already warned them about the presence of quarry eels, large eel-like creatures that resided in the tunnels of the gorge. Fortunately, they were not known to move much and only attacked through the holes in the walls if someone approached. Still, everyone couldn't help but feel a slight sense of unease. The gorge wasn't very deep, around ten meters and a few kilometers in length, but its numerous twists and turns added to its allure. They landed on one end of the gorge, where they could walk down if desired, but it wasn't part of their immediate plans. Their main task was to set up the finish line. Fluttershy took the tortoise and the other animals to the starting point, where Rainbow was preparing for the race. Once they were all ready, Fluttershy flew back to the others, keeping herself way above the ground level.

As they waited for the race to conclude, the mares engaged in conversation about themselves, the latest gossip they had heard, and other small talks. Lazlo found himself conversing with Spike, paying little attention to the mares. With the temperature dropping considerably, he realized he only had spring and summer clothes on. He cursed himself for forgetting to visit Rarity and prepare for the cold weather. After this event, he promised himself he would promptly visit Rarity's boutique. Spike, engrossed in discussing his favorite superheroes from comic books, failed to notice Lazlo's shivering state.

"Are you alright, Lacy?" Fluttershy was the first to notice his trembling. "Are you feeling cold?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'll be alright, just a little chilly," Lazlo replied, though he knew there was a risk of falling ill. He didn't want to alarm them, but he was aware of the potential consequences. The others, now aware of his condition, looked at him with concern.

"Oh, darling, you should have come to me. We already discussed getting you some warm clothes," Rarity chimed in.

"Yeah, I know, I just forgot," Lazlo admitted.

"Do you think you'll be fine like this?" Twilight asked, her gaze shifting back to the gorge. "I'm not sure how long the race will take. I hope they're on their way."

"When I left Rainbow, she was giving a speech to the animals, but probably kept it short. They should be here soon," Fluttershy reassured them.

"I'll manage," Lazlo reassured them, though he knew it would be uncomfortable.

"I know what to do!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly, and in an instant, she had attached herself to Lazlo, hugging his chest. He instinctively held onto her hind legs to prevent her from falling to the ground. "We'll keep you warm! Come on, girls! Let's give our human friend a group hug!" Pinkie called out to the other mares, and then turned back to Lazlo, nuzzling his neck.

Lazlo felt a mix of embarrassment and gratitude. Pinkie's warmth against his chest and neck provided some relief from the cold. For a moment, he wished the others would join in to help chase away the chill, but he quickly realized it would be both awkward and ineffective. He couldn't bear the weight of multiple ponies for an extended period of time, even if they weren't particularly heavy.

"Thanks, but I don't think it's necessary," Lazlo said, gently setting Pinkie down.

After that, the group continued their conversation, now including Lazlo to keep his mind off the cold. It provided some distraction, although he still couldn't shake off the chill entirely.

Soon, the first racer arrived and crossed the finish line, the falcon. The ponies and Spike erupted in cheers. Next came the eagle, then the bat, and finally the owl. All the animals appeared exhausted and on the verge of collapsing. Confusion and worry started to creep in. Where was Rainbow Dash?

Twilight levitated a binocular that she brought with herself to try to find Rainbow, but Fluttershy pushed her aside  so she can look for the missing pegasus. However, Applejack took it from her, well actually it was still levitated by Twilight, who looked annoyed at her two friends.

"Great galloping galoshes! There's been an avalanche in there!" Applejack exclaimed, gesturing toward the gorge. Only she could see it from their position, as it was likely too far away for their unaided eyes to discern. The reason they hadn't heard or felt it became apparent.

Worry filled the group, and they were prepared to descend into the gorge to help their friend.

"Wait! Look!" Pinkie's loud shout interrupted them, drawing their attention. She pointed ahead, and the others followed her hoof, their gazes fixed on the approaching fifth racer.

"It's the turtle!" Fluttershy exclaimed, but was quickly corrected by the others. He was a tortoise, not a turtle.

"And he's carrying something on his back..." Twilight observed.

"Ahh! It's Rainbow Dash! It's her! It's Rainbow!" Pinkie exclaimed with excitement.

As the tortoise slowly made his way toward them and crossed the finish line with Rainbow Dash injured on his back, the group gathered around her, cheering for their friend's safe return. Fluttershy was the only exception as she ran to the balloon first and returned with a first aid kit and began tending to Rainbow Dash's injuries. The pegasus had a damaged right wing and multiple bruises on her body, but Fluttershy skillfully bandaged her up.

"Way to go, little guy!" Spike praised the tortoise, who appeared to be proud of his accomplishment.

"Are you alright, Rainbow Dash? You're not badly hurt, are you?" Twilight asked, concerned for her friend's well-being.

"Mostly my pride," Rainbow answered.

"I certainly hope all of this dreadful dust was worth it!" Rarity remarked, taking a step back from Rainbow Dash after a sudden sneeze.

"It sure was, if it means Rainbow gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on," Applejack said, though probably she too was happy that this whole thing was over.

Rainbow Dash looked at the tortoise, still uncertain about the situation.

"Uh... thanks. What you did... I owe you one." Rainbow said, hoof-bumping the tortoise.

"Rainbow! Your new pet is over here waiting for you!" Fluttershy couldn't contain her excitement as she called Rainbow's attention to her new pet waiting nearby.

"Oh... right... yeah... that." Rainbow's response lacked the expected excitement. She sounded unsure, as if she had changed her mind about having a pet. The falcon, however, had recovered from its exhaustion and flew towards Rainbow, perching on her back with pride.

"What's the matter?" Spike asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

"You got the perfect pet, right?" Pinkie added, curious about Rainbow's hesitation. Rainbow remained silent, her face displaying uncertainty and murmuring indistinctly.

"The best of the best like you wanted, remember? It can fly and it's not a squirrel!" Fluttershy seemed oblivious to Rainbow's hesitation, completely absorbed in the joy of helping her friend find a pet.

"A falcon sure looks good on ya, Rainbow." Applejack complimented, and the others, including Lazlo, nodded in agreement. The falcon seemed like the ideal choice for someone like Rainbow Dash.

Meanwhile, Rarity took out her camera, which she had brought along on the trip, eager to capture a photo of Rainbow with her new animal companion. Startled by the sudden flash of the camera, the tortoise retreated into its shell. Rainbow quickly tried to reassure him, and to everyone's surprise, he emerged from his shell again, showing his head and legs.

"The falcon sure does look cool..." Rainbow began, switching her focus between the bird on her back and the tortoise in front of her. "He's absolutely everything I wanted in a pet," she sighed. "But I said whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet!" Her tone regained its usual confidence. "And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help. The tortoise!" she exclaimed, pointing her hoof at the tortoise. The falcon let out a cry of defeat as it took off from Rainbow's back.

To everyone's surprise, the falcon landed in front of the tortoise and bowed before taking off again, followed by the other animals, likely returning to Fluttershy's house.

"Spike! Take a letter!" Rainbow called out, prompting the dragon to quickly retrieve a parchment and quill from the balloon. Rainbow then began dictating her lesson. "Dear Princess Celestia, I used to think that the most important traits to look for in a pet, or any best friend, were all physical competitive abilities. But now I can see how short-sighted and shallow that was. Today I learned what the most important quality really is. A certain kind of spirit. A stick-to-it-ive-ness. A never give up, can-do attitude that's the mark of a real winner. And this tortoise has it."

"Tenacity," Twilight interjected, offering the right word to succinctly capture Rainbow's reasoning in the letter.

"Gesundheit. You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a... Tank!" Rainbow struggled to find the right word but eventually came up with her own. "Oh, that's a good name for you, little guy!" she said, looking at her new pet, who smiled.

"But Rainbow!" Fluttershy spoke up. "Didn't you want a pet that can fly so he won't keep you grounded? And how will he be able to get up to your house?" she asked, expressing her concerns.

"Ah, dang... Well, I guess I have to get used to flying while holding him," she said, only now realizing what kind of issues can come up with having a flightless animal as a pet.

"Not necessarily!" Twilight exclaimed. "I have an idea, but it will take some time. Come to the library, and I'll show you," she offered, to which Rainbow nodded in agreement.

With their plans set, it was finally time to head home. During the journey, Twilight explained her idea, which involved an enchanted helicopter rotor. She clarified that there were ponies who possessed the ability to enchant objects. Twilight mentioned the enchanted machines in her basement as an example. As she delved into the details of enchanting, ponies stopped to pay attention. Lazlo however was drinking every word of her. It was very similar to programming. It could take a long time to create a permanent enchantment. Complex enchantments, such as the ones required for her machine, could take over a year to make. Not only did the unicorn have to infuse enough power to sustain it, but they also had to program the logic to handle every possible situation. Though most enchantments were task-specific, requiring functionality and minimal intervention in case of misuse.

Twilight herself had performed smaller enchantments before, but nothing as complex as her machines or the rotor for the tortoise. She acknowledged that she could probably create one, but it would take longer than a specialized professional who had been practicing for years. Regardless of her magical talent, she couldn't match the expertise and experience of someone dedicated to the craft. Moreover, they would still need to manufacture the device and teach the tortoise how to use it. Fluttershy volunteered to handle the training. Rainbow Dash liked the idea but was annoyed that it would take at least a few weeks, if not longer. However, Fluttershy pointed out that since it was nearing winter, Tank would be hibernating soon. Rainbow didn't fully grasp the concept of hibernation but didn't seem to mind. In the end, Rainbow discussed with Fluttershy that Tank would stay with the yellow pegasus until he could fly alongside her, and Rainbow would visit as often as possible.

After returning to Ponyville, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash went to the library to gather more information and find a company that could create the enchanted helicopter device for Tank. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity headed home, with Lazlo following the unicorn to her boutique.

Soon, Lazlo found himself once again standing in Rarity's inspiration room, where the white unicorn took his measurements. It was necessary since Lazlo had been regularly going to the gym and had started losing weight. The difference wasn't significant yet, but it was progress. Once the measurements were done, they agreed on the color, form, material, and other details, including the price, which only accounted for the cost of materials. However, Lazlo had a feeling that the generous mare had even given him a discount. Rarity would make three sets of warm clothes for him and promised to bring the first one as soon as it was finished, likely by tomorrow afternoon. She considered it a high-priority order, recognizing that the temperature would continue to drop as the days went by and they were already running late.

After that, Lazlo went home. He didn't do much besides some cleaning and the necessary tasks such as taking a bath and preparing dinner. He went to bed early.

The following morning, as Lazlo woke up, he felt a sore throat and a throbbing headache. He sensed heat radiating from his forehead as he placed his hand there. Although he didn't have a thermometer at home, he knew he had a fever. Then, he began to cough violently. After several seconds, he managed to catch his breath, but the coughing persisted, allowing only brief moments of respite. His throat felt as if he had swallowed acid, and every cough intensified the pain in his head. Amidst the third wave of coughing, anger welled up inside him, and he managed to yell a single word before inhaling again for the next bout.

"FUCK!"
> 29. Sick days
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity hummed a song as she made her way to the house of the human. She had just finished one set of clothing that would provide him with more protection against the cold. It wasn't as challenging as she had initially thought. She wished she could add more of her own ideas to this year's winter collection, but she had to take his wishes into consideration to keep it simple and plain. However, that didn't stop her from adding a little something to them.

Suddenly, she lifted the pack containing Lazlo's first set of winter clothes higher with her magic to avoid it touching the ground. Even though it was packed, she didn't want to risk them getting dirty. She felt both glad and proud of her levitation skills. Of course, levitation was one of the few magics that all unicorns were capable of instinctively, but not all of them could move multiple objects at the same time like she could, or carry heavier things for an extended period of time. She knew she was nowhere near Twilight's level, but she was content with what she had accomplished.

Carrying the package on her back would have been easier, but she didn't want to do that. As winter approached and the temperature began to drop, she, like most ponies, started growing longer and thicker fur. It was a natural process, but it had its downsides. One of them was that if anything came into contact with her body for an extended period of time, except for areas where the fur didn't grow as much, like the neck or head, she would start sweating in that area, and she despised that. So, she tried to avoid it as much as possible. Of course, she could trim her fur, like some ponies did, but then she would need to wear those winter clothes all the time. She did receive many orders for clothes like that from ponies who chose to trim their fur, but she herself preferred the fur. Wearing thicker clothes wasn't that different for her compared to having winter fur, but it felt heavier, and she didn't want to feel that way. Besides, she found it challenging to design thick clothing that looked good on her. It simply didn't match her style.

Once she arrived at Lazlo's house, she knocked on the door. What greeted her when the door opened almost made her drop the package. There stood Lazlo Kis, but he looked horrible. He appeared tired, his whole face was red, and the small area between his nose and lips seemed wet, indicating his nose was running. His long hair was messy, with a few strands falling on his face, sticking to the mucus.

"Hi, Rari-" he couldn't even finish the greeting before taking a step back, turning away, and starting to cough violently. After he finished, Rarity could hear him saying something she didn't hear, but it was probably something that shouldn't be said around a lady. She guessed it was better that she didn't understand it. "I wou-" he tried to continue, but the coughing became more powerful. "I don't want you to catch anything from me," he quickly said, though his voice was rough and got very high-pitched, making it difficult for Rarity to hear him. Half of the sentence was put together through guesswork.

"Oh, darling!" she looked at him with worry but didn't enter the house, as she didn't want to catch whatever he had. "I should've visited you sooner about the clothes." She hoped he could hear her as another bout of coughing interrupted her. "I brought your first set," she levitated it to him, and once he grabbed the package, she canceled her telekinesis. "You should go to the doctor. Can you? Or I can go to the hospital and ask them to send one here to you," she offered.

"I'll go," he continued coughing as he quickly went to the living room and dropped the pack onto the couch. "You can-" he couldn't stop. "-leave, I don-" and the coughing started to worsen.

"I understand," Rarity held up a hoof to silence him. "I don't want to catch it from you. But if you need anything, please let me know, and I'll help you." She offered her assistance. Lazlo shook his head and smiled at her, indicating that he didn't need her help at the moment. "Alright then. Off to the hospital with you! And get well soon!" she said and then left. She felt sorry for the poor human, but she really didn't want to get sick right now. She had too many orders to complete, so falling ill would really mess up her schedule.

On her way back to her boutique, she ran into Twilight and Applejack.

"Hey Rarity!" Twilight greeted her, followed by Applejack. Rarity smiled and returned the greeting. "You won't believe what happened! A filly fell into the well, but Rainbow Dash flew into it and brought her up!"

"Yeah, I admit that was pretty brave and heroic of her!" Applejack added.

"Oh, is the little one alright?" Rarity asked, shocked by what she heard.

"Yeah, she's fine," Twilight assured her. "The well was about to be properly boarded up for winter. The water had already been drained, you know, for closing it down. But the boards weren't fixed yet. The filly said she jumped on the boards and one of them moved, causing her to fall. The board fell too, but luckily it didn't hit her."

"That's horrible!" Rarity gasped. "I'm glad no one was harmed."

"Yeah, and Rainbow even received some praise for it," Applejack nodded.

"Well, she was the hero in this case," Rarity argued, and everyone nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I'm deeply sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I need to go home. I have lots of orders to fulfill."

"Right, I guess there are many ponies who want to have warmer clothes for winter," Twilight spoke.

"Yes, I already delivered one to Lazlo, but there are many others," she said, as she started walking away but then stopped.

"He was shaking like a cow before her first milking yesterday," Applejack said.

"Well, it's good that he won't have to be cold anymore," Twilight smiled at Rarity.

"Yes, but we were late, and he got sick. When he opened the door, his whole face was red, and the coughing was horrible. He could barely say a few words, and his voice was so... hoarse," Rarity explained.

"Oh... Maybe we should visit him and help him get better," Twilight looked a little concerned.

"Well, he probably went to the hospital to see a doctor. They will give him some medicine to help him. But I'm sure he would be happy for some friends to come over, but do be careful not to catch it if possible. Unfortunately, I have to go now, but please let me know if my help is required." After that, she said her goodbyes to the girls and continued on to her home and shop. She had a lot of work to do, after all.





Lazlo felt like he would go mad at any minute. This coughing was so annoying and it also hurt his already sore throat. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long at the hospital to see a doctor. The doctor wrote him a prescription for some medicine and suggested that he rest for the next few days. If the illness persisted, he was advised to come back for a follow-up. It was nothing serious, just a typical illness that he had experienced before.

The only pharmacy in Ponyville was located in the hospital, so at least he didn't have to go far to get his medication. He handed the pharmacist the prescription from the doctor, which included medicine for his cough and throat. He didn't need anything else as the medication for his throat acted as a demulcent, a weaker painkiller, and helped with his fever. He also picked up some other basic over-the-counter medicine to have on hand if needed in the future.

Upon arriving home, he first put away the additional medicine he had purchased before heading to the kitchen to take the prescribed medication. However, he noticed that there were some things on his dining table that weren't there when he left. There was a cup filled with steaming tea, a pack of tea bags, and a letter. He looked at the tea and the tea bags in confusion but then grabbed the letter and began to read.

Hey Lacy,

I met your neighbor this morning, and she told me that she heard you coughing badly when she walked by your house, so I knew you must be ill. I wanted to get some help from Fluttershy because she's good with nursing sick animals, but she was busy dealing with a fight among her animals. However, she gave me some tea that's good for coughing. I wanted to bring it to you, but you weren't home, so I decided to surprise you instead. So SURPRISE!

Get better soon, 
Look out of your window

As he finished reading the letter, Lazlo looked unsure at the last part where the sender's name should be. He already had a feeling who wrote it, but he followed the instructions nonetheless.

"What the-" he exclaimed in surprise before succumbing to another fit of coughing.

"Pinkie Pie!" the pink earth pony mare yelled as she glued herself to his kitchen window. After shouting her name, she turned away and left.

His head hurt as he tried to think of a reason why Pinkie would be there, but he felt too tired, another annoyance that came with the illness. Besides, it wasn't the first time Pinkie had broken into his house. He remembered a time when he had just returned home and noticed that his calendar book wasn't where he left it. Upon checking, he discovered that someone had written a lot of stuff in it. How could he be sure it was Pinkie Pie? Who else would mark every birthday she knew of in someone else's calendar? Regardless, it was still annoying and a little bit frightening. He made a mental note to ask her not to break into his house anymore. Perhaps he should make her take a Pinkie promise, or simply explain that it made him uncomfortable, although he appreciated the gesture she had just done for him.

Deciding it would be best, he took his medication and rested for the remainder of the day. He didn't have any plans, after all.

The next afternoon, he found himself doing the same thing as the day before and most of today—nothing. The medication was working, as his fever had gone down and his head no longer hurt, but he still had a persistent cough, particularly when he exerted himself. When he was lying or sitting still, barely moving, the coughing practically stopped, but any movement, drinking, or eating triggered it again. It was quite annoying, but he knew from past experience that the coughing would persist for some time. Nevertheless, he continued with the medication prescribed by the doctor because it was helping.

A knock on the door made him get up, triggering another bout of coughing. He cursed under his breath. Opening the door revealed Twilight Sparkle.

"Hello, Lacy!" she greeted him with a smile. "I hope you're feeling better!"

"Hi, yeah, but still no-" he began coughing. Twilight frowned at him. "What brings you by?" he asked, then coughed again. "Faszba már!" he cursed after it subsided, not realizing that he had cursed in his native language, forgetting that Twilight might not understand.

"I thought that since you're too ill to come to the library, I could visit you to see if you need any help or some company. Maybe we can have another session where I do most of the talking. We haven't had many of those," she explained.

"Are you sure about i-" coughing. "Basszameg!" more coughing. "I don't want you t-" and more coughing. "catch this shit from me." And once again, a fit of coughing interrupted him.

Twilight assured him that she would be fine and if he didn't want her to be there, she would leave. After guilt-tripping him a little, she convinced him to let her in. Lazlo made himself some tea and took his medicine before joining her in the living room. The medication was working quickly, providing temporary relief from the coughing, although it didn't last long. Overall, it helped in the long run.

"So, what's going on whi-" Lazlo started his question as he set down Twilight's tea and took a seat, but he couldn't escape another bout of coughing. "-while I'm dying here?" Twilight didn't seem to appreciate his dark humor. "What? I'm a man!" coughing. "Even the smallest illness-" and more coughing. "-feels like I'm about to die." This time he managed to finish his sentence. "So, get my lawyer and a priest." There was a pause for more coughing. "A kurva picsába! Sorry, I'll try to keep it to a minimum."

"I suggest that you let me do most of the talking today," Twilight said with a smile, although he could sense a hint of annoyance, either due to the coughing or his somewhat morbid humor, or perhaps both. He nodded. "Unless you really don't want to be bothered. Then I'll leave you alone." Lazlo gestured to her that she could stay.

"You can stay," he assured her.

"Alright. So Rainbow Dash has become quite a hero in town," she began, filling him in on what had been happening.

"Aren't you all heroes?" Lazlo asked, but after another bout of coughing, he decided to keep his questions to a minimum.

"Well, yeah. By the way, do you remember that Princess Celestia promised something to Spike?" Lazlo shook his head. "After the Discord incident, I asked him several times if he received it, but he always said no and never wanted me to write to the princess about it and ask her. Turns out, he got it a long time ago. A Fire Ruby! The princess gifted him a Fire Ruby!" Lazlo looked confused at this revelation. "Oh, right. A Fire Ruby is a very rare gemstone. Nopony knows exactly how it happens, but most gemstones can naturally gain magic. It's not like an enchantment or like with us ponies, but similar. So when a gemstone like a ruby undergoes this transformation, it will grow on its own, although very slowly. It can even control the shape as it grows. While it's extremely valuable and rare, it cannot be reproduced or duplicated. Even cutting a piece of it will cause it to lose its attributes and become a simple ruby. However, it has several uses. It can hold an enchantment practically forever, though it's challenging to enchant. Another use is in jewelry. The process of growing the gemstone into the desired shape and then encasing it is time-consuming and expensive. They need to completely enclose it or use enchanted jewelry to prevent further growth. For a dragon like Spike, it's considered the best snack they could ever have. Spike had the luck of trying a very small chunk of Fire Ruby. Princess Celestia offered him a bite from one when they accidentally let it overgrow on one side. According to him, there's been nothing he's tasted since then that even comes close to it. At least, that's how he described it," she finished.

Lazlo struggled to fight off a yawn but failed. While he always found Twilight's lectures interesting and somewhat endearing when she entered her "lecture mode," he was still weakened by the illness. He thought she would make a great teacher, but it seemed that she couldn't handle sudden topics very well. She would start talking about whatever came to her mind, turning the lecture into a spaghetti presentation—somewhat chaotic and hard to follow.

"Sorry," he said when he noticed Twilight's reaction. "I'm constantly tired when I'm ill." He decided not to share his critique for now.

"Anyway, Spike kept it a secret from me. He told me he feared that I would try to experiment on it and accidentally break it or something. I promised him that I wouldn't, as it's his gift," she said, and Lazlo nodded in approval.

"And what did Rainbow do?" Lazlo asked, relieved that he could finish the question without coughing, though a coughing fit followed shortly after.

"She saved a few ponies from serious injuries, and now all of Ponyville is praising her. Although I fear her ego may become too inflated, if it isn't already," Twilight chuckled. "It's starting to get a little annoying, to be honest. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful that she saved those ponies, but it's becoming more about her image than the actual deeds. I worry she may become overly confident."

"What the hell is going on out there?" Lazlo asked, this time without a coughing interruption. "Finally! The medication is starting to work. I can speak like a human being again, at least for a little while."

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the time, ponies manage to avoid injuries even at the last second. But it's always good to be vigilant, and Rainbow Dash certainly does that. You know how she is," Twilight replied.

"Yeah..." Lazlo agreed.

"And what have you been doing in this house all day?" Twilight inquired, taking advantage of the fact that he could speak normally, for the time being.

"Mostly just lying around, wishing I had some pálinka or Unicum with me. Then I'd be up and about already," Lazlo chuckled, though it triggered a slight cough. Twilight joined in the laughter.

"You've mentioned this pálinka before," she said, struggling a bit with the pronunciation. "But I don't think you've ever told me about that other thing."

"Unicum is a liquor. It has a bitter taste and is made from several herbs. We have a saying about these kinds of things: 'In small amounts, it's medicine; in large amounts, it's a cure,'" Lazlo explained, laughing again, but this time with a minor cough. Twilight chuckled along. "Although, it's usually not advised to drink alcohol when taking medication."

"So, what else have you been up to?" Twilight continued with her question.

"I've been working on my presentation and gathering questions for Princess Celestia about the international meeting," Lazlo replied after a moment of thought.

"Oh, and how is that coming along?" Twilight inquired further.

"Well, I have several ideas, but I don't know yet which one is the best. I guess I can check with the Princess before finalizing anything. After all, I'll be there for a few days," Lazlo explained.

"The Princess is usually very busy," Twilight mentioned. "And what do you plan to do in Canterlot while you're there?" she asked.

"Not sure. I guess I can go sightseeing. I'll see what catches my interest. There are always things to do and see," he replied with a shrug.

"There are many beautiful parks, not to mention the gardens of the castle. You could also visit a museum or a library," she suggested. Lazlo couldn't help but smile at the mention of the library. He could imagine Twilight being the type to visit a library as a tourist. If the architecture was unique or exceptionally well-crafted, it would be worth a visit.

They continued talking for a while before Twilight took her leave. Over the next few days, several ponies visited Lazlo. Rarity came by with the rest of the clothes she had made for him, Fluttershy brought more tea, Pinkie cheered him up with her energetic presence, and even Applejack stopped by with a homemade apple pie from her grandma. Lazlo had short, friendly chats with all of them, depending on his state at the time. Not everyone visited when the medication was in full effect and he could speak without coughing. At one point, the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed up, attempting to earn their cutie marks in nursing, but he quickly sent them away, not wanting them to catch his illness. As the days passed, the illness started to fade, and now only the coughing remained. Lazlo expected this, but it was still very annoying, and he cursed under his breath when the coughing fits hit.

He even ventured out one day when he ran low on groceries. It was then that he heard about the mysterious Mare Do Well, a name he found rather ridiculous. The ponies in town talked about her accomplishments and wondered who could be behind the mask. It took Lazlo only a few seconds to figure it out.

Finally, the day came when he knew it would be the last of his illness. He was feeling much better, although the coughing lingered. He knew that when he woke up the next day, he would be completely fine. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts, signaling that he would have a visitor today. Opening the door revealed Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Hello, Lacy!" they both greeted him, though Lazlo could only hear Twilight's voice.

"Hi!" he welcomed them in.

"We ran into each other on our way here," Twilight began explaining.

"I just wanted to check on you to see if you're feeling better," Fluttershy added softly. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Not at all," Lazlo assured the shy pegasus. He then turned his attention back to Twilight. "So... Mare Do Well? Really? Was it your idea?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, looking confused. "The mayor came up with the name."

"I know it's you, Twilight," Lazlo said, rolling his eyes. "Who else around here has the power to fix that dam? By the way, how could anyone let it break in the first place?" he inquired.

"A group of repair ponies was on their way when they noticed a small crack, which would've taken some time to worsen, but Rainbow accidentally broke the dam. It wasn't intentional, but I think her ego got the better of her," Twilight explained. Lazlo continued to look at her, expecting more. With a sigh, she admitted, "I was Mare Do Well that time. Fluttershy flew alongside me, and Pinkie and Applejack joined in to help save ponies. Rarity made the outfit."

Lazlo let out a sigh. "Should've expected it... If one of you gets involved, the others follow."

"Sometimes even you," Twilight retorted playfully.

"I think that outfit would be too small for me," Lazlo commented, earning a giggle from Fluttershy. Twilight smiled as well.

"I'm just glad to see that you're okay," Twilight said, changing the subject.

"Yes, me too," Fluttershy chimed in. "Are you fully recovered?"

Lazlo shook his head. "Still coughing a little." As if on cue, he started coughing. "But I think tomorrow the coughing will finally go away."

"Glad to hear it," Fluttershy spoke softly.

"Would you like to come out tomorrow? The town will thank Mare Do Well, I'm sure Rainbow will be there too. Maybe we can put an end to this whole superhero thing," Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, why not? It would probably do me good," Lazlo accepted.

The next day, Lazlo stood among the crowd in front of a stage. He was happy as he finally got rid of the coughing. The mayor was up there at the podium, and behind her was a large flag featuring the head of Mare Do Well. He spotted Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy among the ponies gathered.

"Welcome to Ponyville's first, but surely not last, thank-you parade, in honor of our city's greatest hero, the mysterious Mare Do Well!" the mayor began her speech. As she finished, Mare Do Well herself leaped through the flag, revealing the full costume to Lazlo.

He looked at the dark blue and purple colors, with light blue eyes. He couldn't help but wonder how her hat stayed on while she was running and jumping. He figured Rarity must have come up with an elegant solution for it.

The ponies erupted in cheers as Mare Do Well struck a pose, as if posing for a wallpaper picture or even an animated one. However, the celebration was short-lived. Rainbow Dash flew up to Mare Do Well.

"The mysterious Mare Do Well, huh?" Rainbow Dash said, her face inches away from the masked mare's. The crowd gasped at her audacity. "So what are you hiding? Let's see how mysterious you are without that mask!" Rainbow attempted to grab the mask, but Mare Do Well managed to evade her and ran off. Rainbow quickly gave chase.

Ponies started whispering among themselves, curious about what had just transpired. Some even approached Lazlo, asking if he knew anything. He claimed to know even less than them, explaining that he had been sick for the past few days.

Deciding to follow Rainbow Dash and Mare Do Well, Lazlo walked rather than ran. It seemed futile to try to catch up to them, considering they wouldn't leave the town, and Rainbow would surely catch up to Mare Do Well eventually. After a few minutes, he spotted Rainbow Dash perched on a rooftop before diving down. Lazlo followed suit and soon found himself among the other mares as they engaged in a conversation. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were wearing the costume, but without the mask.

"And I used my magic to fix the dam," he heard Twilight say.

"Ooh, ooh! And I did the flyby afterwards," Fluttershy spoke next.

"I made the costumes. Fabulous if I do say so myself!" Rarity bragged a little.

"And I was at home, dying," Lazlo couldn't help but make the others aware of his presence.

"WHAT?" several of them shouted, but the most surprised was Rainbow. She probably didn't know about his illness since she was the only one who didn't visit him. Rainbow flew up to him. "But are you okay now?"

"Of course he is!" Twilight answered for him, narrowing her eyes at him. "And he wasn't dying."

"Well... technically, we're constantly dying ever since our birth. Or even before it... I guess since our DNA forms," he decided to be a little philosophical. "But I'm all right."

"Good then." Rainbow sighed in relief, then turned back to the girls. "But why did you do this? Don't you want me to be a hero?" she asked them.

"Of course we want you to be a hero," Twilight answered.

"But a real hero doesn't brag," Applejack added.

"Uh, I guess I did start to brag a little," Rainbow admitted.

"A little?!" the others shouted.

"Okay, a lot." Rainbow hung her head.

"Celebrating your accomplishments is natural. But..." Twilight started to speak again.

"...Rubbing them in everypony's face is not," Applejack finished for her.

"Yeah, the only thing that should be rubbed in anypony's face is chocolate cake," Pinkie joined in.

"What we're trying to say is, it's great to be really good at something, but it's important to act with grace and humility," Twilight quickly got back to the topic.

"Oh, that makes loads more sense. Yeah, you're right. And I guess I should've also acted with grace and humility when others outshine me, like Mare Do Well," Rainbow said.

"Sounds like you've got a letter to write to Princess Celestia," Twilight said, smiling.

"Already got it covered," Spike came running to them. "As your ghostwriter, I've already penned a letter to the Princess," he showed them a parchment.

"Thanks, Spike. But I want to write this letter myself," Rainbow told him, and he looked hurt. "Plus, I don't think I need a ghostwriter anymore." This didn't seem to hurt him as much. Twilight then levitated a new parchment and a quill to her.

After the letter had been written and sent, they went to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate before heading home. In his house, Lazlo went to his desk and looked at the papers on it. There were two stacks. One was for the presentation, mostly notes on what to talk about and how. It wasn't finished, but he still had several days to complete it, and he could even work on it further in Canterlot. He didn't want it to feel like a last-minute school assignment that he threw away.

The other stack, however, was smaller, with only a few papers. But all of them were empty. These were his questions for the grand meeting. It wasn't empty because he had no questions; he just didn't want to think about it, especially while he was sick. After all, he used to go to great lengths to avoid things like this in the past, and now it seemed to find him regardless. He could have rejected it, decided not to go after all. But he had already promised Celestia. Not only that, but he knew that others would come to him, and he wouldn't have control over the timing. It also provided an opportunity to address everyone or at least most of them in one go. It would be something he would want to get over with.

He stared at the paper in front of him. He had just taken it from the empty pile. But after a few minutes, he decided to adopt the student approach. He would deal with it later, hopefully before it was time. So he stood up and started his nightly routine.
> 30. A day in Canterlot with Princess Celestia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo surveyed the interior of the building he found himself in. The Canterlot Station. It was more extravagant than one would expect from a train station, even from the largest one. While it wasn't the type where the train tracks pierced through the building, leaving it looking like they'd forgotten to build the fourth wall, similar to those in his previous city, it had its own impressive charm. Like many structures in Canterlot, white dominated its facade. The building was adorned with other bright colors and featured large windows.

As he gazed at the station while walking toward it after disembarking from the train, he noticed numerous small statues gracing its roofline. The interior boasted numerous ornate pillars, and at its center, a fountain adorned with a statue of an alicorn. It wasn't immediately evident which alicorn it represented, but it was easy to guess who had inspired it. A small golden plaque near the fountain briefly recounted its history. It had been created for the station's opening. Judging by the date on the plaque, only one alicorn had been present at the time.

The station itself was primarily designed for function, featuring rows of benches, timetables, a bistro, and, of course, ticket windows. While the ticket windows were relatively plain, they still displayed some decorative elements.

With limited time for sightseeing, Lazlo exited the building and began walking toward the castle. Although the princesses had invited him for lunch, it was already late morning, and he also wished to drop his suitcase off in the room they had arranged for him.

The walk to the castle was straightforward, as the station sat along the main road leading from the main gate to the castle. The only challenge was that the station was on the outer fringes of Canterlot, almost near the city's wall. He wasn't sure if there was any kind of taxi service available here, he hadn't seen any. Then again, he wasn't certain what to look for exactly. He had almost decided to make the long trek on foot when he remembered that most major train stations typically had an information desk or help center, or he could simply ask a pony at a ticket window.

Before he could re-enter the building, he heard his name called. Turning toward the voice, he saw two earth pony royal guards approaching him.

"Lazlo Kis?" one of them addressed him. "We were sent here to take you to the castle by the order of Princess Cadance." He was slightly surprised to hear that Cadance had sent them for him but didn't comment on it.

"All right, what do I need to do?" he inquired, uncertain about the protocol in this situation.

"Please allow us to stow your luggage in the carriage's cargo hold, and then take a seat in the carriage," the guard informed him, while his companion reached for Lazlo's suitcase.

He handed his
suitcase and backpack to the guards. The carriage had a compartment under the
seat where one of the guards placed his belongings, while the other guard
showed him how to climb into the carriage. Once they had ensured his comfort,
they began trotting along the main road toward the castle.

During the journey, Lazlo noticed many ponies on the streets looking at him. Some even had cameras and took photographs. It made him a bit uncomfortable, as he wasn't accustomed to this level of attention. It felt as if he were some rare species on display, though, in truth, he was the rarest being in Equestria, if not the entire world.

Fortunately, the guards moved swiftly, and they soon arrived at the main entrance of the castle. Two ponies dressed as butlers approached the carriage.

"Greetings, Sir. Please allow my colleague to take your luggage to your room, and I will escort you to the princesses. Her Majesties are expecting you in the Royal Dining Room. Please, follow me," said one of them, an earth pony stallion, while the other, a unicorn stallion, retrieved Lazlo's belongings from the carriage. Once they had unloaded the carriage, the guards departed, presumably returning the chariot to the depot.

Lazlo followed the earth pony butler, and soon they were in the dining room. He vaguely remembered being here before, but at that time, he had been too deeply immersed in his depression to pay much attention. The room, while not as expansive as he remembered, was still spacious enough to accommodate a smaller gathering. It featured elegant pillars along the walls and large windows. In the center was a table, albeit small, with seating for six individuals or ponies. He recalled that this table could be extended if necessary. Four dishes were set on the table, two at each end and two along one side.

"Please, take a seat," the butler instructed Lazlo. "The Princesses will be here shortly." With that, he executed a slight bow and departed, leaving the human alone.

Lazlo stood in the room, looking around, uncertain of what to do next. His gaze settled on the table, which was set with an array of silverware, similar to those he had seen in movies. He had no idea about the proper etiquette for such a setting, though he vaguely remembered that it had been arranged similarly during his previous visit. He had simply ignored it back then, like most everything else.

He didn't have to wait long. The door swung open, and a cheerful alicorn entered. Princess Cadance walked in, wearing a broad smile, and greeted the human in the "human way," which consisted of two kisses on the cheeks.

"Welcome, Lazlo!" she greeted him verbally as well, following the non-verbal greeting, although it’s usually done in the opposite order.

"Hello, Princess," Lazlo greeted her with a respectful bow of his head. "You seem very happy," he observed.

"Of course, I am! Auntie Celestia asked me to organize everything related to your stay here, well, except for your presentation at her school, and she said I did well so far. But of course, your feedback will be the final score," Cadance explained.

"Is this some kind of test for you?" Lazlo inquired.

"More of a practice. I'm still learning about being a princess, and your visit is a good way to practice for a scenario when a foreign dignitary comes and will be our guest for a few days," she told him.

"Oh... Well, good for you," Lazlo responded, not having expected this but feeling the need to say something. "So far, everything was okay, though I don't think my feedback would be very useful in this case, as I don't really know much about the procedure for handling foreign dignitary guests."

"I'm glad for any feedback, regardless. By the way, I wanted to ask you if you had plans for the day after tomorrow. I would like to spend some time with you, and I'm free on that day. Maybe have lunch and some talk," she requested.

"Sure, I don't have any plans other than the reason why I'm here, so sure," Lazlo accepted her invitation, though he couldn't help but wonder what she wanted to discuss with him.

Cadance smiled and nodded, but before she could say more, the other two princesses entered the room. Lazlo bowed his head in respect, while Cadance went up to them and embraced both of her aunts.

"Welcome, Lazlo!" Celestia greeted the human with the customary kisses on both cheeks.

"Greetings, Lazlo!" Luna also greeted him with a polite nod.

"Please, take a seat, and let's have lunch together," Celestia invited, and they all took their places. The sisters sat at the two ends of the table, with Cadance beside Celestia, and Lazlo occupying the last space between Cadance and Luna.

However, Lazlo suddenly remembered that he had something to say and stood up just after sitting down.

"I have something to tell you first!" Lazlo announced. The princesses looked at him with their usual smiles. "I want to apologize for what I've done when Discord was free. I made a decision that would've made the lives of millions miserable. And I'm very thankful that you didn't banish me or throw me in a dungeon, even though I would have deserved it." He bowed his head.

"Hold that thought," Celestia said as the doors opened, and several butlers entered, carrying plates filled with different dishes.

Lazlo wasn't very knowledgeable about pony dishes. The plates contained vegetables, fruits, various hay-based foods, and he also noticed flowers in some of them. He didn't eat out often; most of the time, he prepared his own food at home.

After placing down the plates, the butlers all bowed and left. Once there were only the four of them, the princesses turned their attention back to the human. Celestia spoke again.

"I appreciate your apology, but you've already been forgiven. We all believe in second chances, even when you feel like the crime you committed is unforgivable."

"When I returned, I was saved by the Elements," Luna added. "Even after the horrible things I've done, the threats I made, and almost destroying the world, I was forgiven not only by my sister but by the ponies in general. They were wary of me, many still are, but I am patient because I know that it will take time. It is already better than before my banishment." She finished speaking and then looked back at her sister.

"I could only hope that Luna would forgive me," Celestia continued. "After all, it was my fault just as much as hers. It was very painful to see my mistake every night when I raised the Moon in her place and then every morning when I lowered it. And I was beyond joyful when she forgave me, and now we are together again." She said this with a heartfelt tone.

"I made mistakes too," Cadance suddenly spoke up. "Maybe it didn't affect as many ponies' lives, but it doesn't change the fact that I ruined a few lives and had to work hard to make it right."

"And that's what we all can do. Make it right," Celestia nodded. "But for that, we need to give a chance. I'm so happy that my little ponies are capable of such things, and only a very small portion of them would deny it. And I'm sure that you will make it right, or maybe you already have," she said, looking deep into his eyes.

"But now, let us enjoy our meal," Celestia said, but then turned to Cadance with a small frown. "My dear niece, I think you forgot something very important."

"What?" Cadance asked, looking worried. "Aunty, what did I forget?"

"You forgot to take into consideration our guest's eating habits. If my memory is correct, humans are omnivores," Celestia pointed out.

"You're right! I totally forgot!" Cadance started to panic. "I'm so sorry, Lazlo! I will make sure that there will be some meat for your next meal here!" She bowed her head.

"What?" Lazlo asked, confused.

"It looks like Cadance forgot to mention to anypony that our guest is an omnivore. Since your diet is not well known, even among the staff, I hoped that Cadance would inform them of this. Please accept my apologies," Celestia apologized as well, then turned to Cadance. "I know it's usually not our responsibility to assess this, and that this was probably a unique incident, but we need to make sure that everything is in order for our guests, even things that may seem trivial. I know that Lazlo is a special case, but I hope you take it as a lesson. We will talk about it more in the evening," she said to her.

"Of course, I apologize again, Lazlo!" Cadance spoke.

"It's okay, but how come I hear about this just now? I was here before," Lazlo pointed out after accepting the apology.

"I told you that time that we had to send our supply of meat to a small town that had many griffons, but they had a shortage of meat. You even said that it was okay, though I could imagine you not remembering it, as you weren't really listening then," Celestia pointed out.

Lazlo nodded. He really didn't remember it, but he believed that the princess was telling the truth.

After they were done with the lessons, apologies, and explanations, they could finally begin to eat. After they all finished, the staff took away everything. Soon Luna and Cadance left, as they had duties. Celestia led him to her sitting room, where they both took a seat.

"Alright, let's get to the point of this visit. I really wish to chat about many things with you, but even if Cadance and Luna are covering for me, we can never know when I'm too needed for something. But I hope you would stay after to have some more conversation. I don't even remember if we had any, where none of us was under the influence of some negative emotion," she began.

"Okay. I was never the best at small talk and such, though," he replied.

"I'm sure it will go fine. Anyway, about this summit: it takes place on an island between this continent and the eastern continent. The island belongs to no kingdom, it's a completely neutral place. I could go into the history of this whole GSSC, but it's not that relevant right now, so let's keep it short. It started as a trade deal between Equestria and the griffons. Back then, they weren't doing well, just after the fall of their kingdom. They became small independent towns, which they called colonies. At one point, one of these colonies contacted us to seek aid and try to make some kind of trade deal. They needed food, and we had plenty, especially since they are carnivores and we are herbivores. They also needed some help to tame the weather, and it turned out that with some training, they could control it, though not as well as pegasi, but still manageable. In exchange, they could provide us with building materials and rare metals, as their territories have more mountains and some ores that we don't have here."

Celestia suddenly shook her head.

"Oh dear, I said I would keep it short, and yet I'm rambling here. Okay, let's really keep it short. So the trade deal was made, and the griffon colony started to grow and annex the other colonies, mostly, but not fully peacefully. But we both realized that the trade was good for both of us, and it slowly grew into a full alliance. During that time, we came up with an agreement that we would meet up from time to time to discuss things and help each other the best we could. Also, we made sure to invite the other species that live in our kingdoms to hear from them too, and maybe we could help the other species of the kingdom, especially those with different dietary needs than the main population."

She paused for a moment to let Lazlo absorb the information before continuing.

"As we realized how big of a positive impact our cooperation had on our kingdoms, we invited others as well. The Duchy of Maretonia was the first to join. Then came Saddle Arabia, then the Zebra Lands, and finally, the Minotaur Tribes. We meet up every four years to discuss trades, cooperation, helping each other, or a new leader's introduction. Other than you, the minotaurs have a new chief, but everyone else has been there already at least once. Any questions so far?"

"In that letter you sent me with the invitation to this summit, you mentioned that there was another reason you wanted me to come. What is it?" he asked, recalling the letter.

"I did mention it, yes. Though I'm afraid I used the wrong term. It's not a reason, more of a favor to ask. The others will likely ask about your world a lot. I'm sure they will be interested in your kind's technology, but please avoid mentioning any weapons that are more advanced than what we have now. Of course, I can't and won't stop you if you do so regardless, neither can I reprimand you, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could do this for me," she told him. However, he sensed that her response wasn't the complete answer to his question. Given what he knew about her, it was unlikely she would make such an obvious mistake.

"Of course, I won't. I never planned on it, but now I will watch myself to ensure I don't accidentally say anything inappropriate," he assured her. He noticed a brief moment of relief washing over her face but couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story. "But there really was something else, another reason. What was it?"

"It isn't relevant anymore. It was based on a possibility, and I wanted to be prepared for anything. But since you've figured me out on this, I'll tell you. Back then, it seemed that the dragons might join this time and become part of the cooperation, partly because their migration is close, and they will go to the volcanic lands southeast of Equestria. I was sure that in that case, they would be very difficult to work with, at least at first. I wanted to ask you to stand with me in case it went that way so we could have a bigger impact on them during negotiations. It may not sound nice of me to say things like these, but so far my dealings with dragons haven't been pleasant. They rarely agree to a fair deal, often trying to take more than they give, leading to limited trade and cooperation. I did inquire with their Dragon Lord if he was interested, but I only received the final answer a few days ago. He declined," she explained.

Lazlo didn't know much about the dragons in this world, as he had only encountered Spike. Spike had been raised in Equestria and had never met another of his kind. From what Celestia told him, these dragons seemed more aligned with the greedy dragons of mythologies. While he liked dragons in general, back in his world, he currently had enough on his plate with attending a political summit, something he hadn't initially desired, and meeting many other species. One less to deal with didn't particularly bother him.

"We also use this time to relax a little bit. Of course, we discuss issues, solutions, trades, deals, and assistance, among other things. But we also take time to share aspects of our culture, like sharing a part of our history with each other, showing them a meal from our land, or engaging in any other cultural activity. I'm sure they will be interested in learning more about your world's culture," she added, pausing briefly to gather her thoughts.

"If you want, I can tell you about each participant now, but we can also do it while we're traveling. We'll be taking a train, and it's a little over two days of a journey with only one stop, so we'll have plenty of time," Celestia continued.

"I think it will be okay to tell me when we're traveling," Lazlo said, not wanting to admit that he would probably forget most of it in the following week.

"Alright. I wanted to ask, though, do you only participate in this meeting to get over with meeting the leaders of the other nations?" she asked.

"Mostly," he answered honestly. "I really don't want them to come to my home and bother me, or even you. I feel weird enough already, and I don't need others coming to my house and seeing me like I'm some kind of tourist attraction. I'm glad that the ponies don't do that. But I also owe you a lot, after everything you've done for me. I know you said that you can't force me to say or do anything that goes against my thoughts or values, but let's be honest, the timing is a little too good. I just got the invite after the Discord incident."

"It might seem like that, but there is nothing behind it. As I said, as the sole member of your species and a citizen of Equestria, I am bound to invite you, and that is the time when we send out the invitations to the representatives of the kingdoms. The griffon, donkey, and buffalo received their invitations the same day as you. I promise you that the timing was nothing but a coincidence," she assured him. It was believable, so he decided to drop his suspicion, as it was most likely false.

"Makes sense," he simply said, admitting the truth behind her reasoning.

"On another note, I wanted to ask if you are prepared for the presentation. Also, I'd like to let you know that not only the students of my school will be present, but many students from the Canterlot Academy as well. We'll be using the largest auditorium, but still expect it to be packed to the brim," she changed the subject.

"Yeah, I'm ready. I can give you a run-down of it, or my notes on it, if you want," he offered.

"That's not necessary; I'll see it when everyone else does," she said, shaking her head.

"Okay. Huh, so many ponies are curious. I admit, I'm a little nervous, but I'll be okay. I haven't done a presentation this big before," he admitted.

"I'm sure you will do great. By the way, I asked the students to write down and collect their questions, so when that part comes, those will be ready. But I'm sure there will be others that come up during your presentation, so be ready for those. Also, will you show some of your memories to the class?" she asked. Lazlo looked at her, confused for a moment, and then remembered that there was a memory viewing spell. He shook his head, as he hadn't thought about it when working on the presentation. "If you wish, I can use it even now and show it to them, but in my opinion, it's better without it. Let them use their imagination," she offered, both the spell and her opinion on the matter. Lazlo nodded in agreement.

Celestia suddenly used her magic to open the door to the room and told one of the guards who stood at it to fetch a servant and bring some refreshments. They waited in awkward silence for a few minutes. Lazlo wasn't sure if he should say anything, especially when it came to small talk, which wasn't among his stronger skills. The princess just looked at him with her usual smile, probably waiting for him to speak up, but he remained silent.

Then, finally, a servant brought a tray filled with tea, water, and snacks. Celestia offered some tea to Lazlo, but he chose water.

"This is one of my favorite rooms," the princess decided to continue the conversation, again changing the subject. She looked back at the huge painting of her and Luna that hung above the fireplace, and a smaller painting of her and Cadance. "That painting is from before her banishment. One of the few things that survived the battle and was worth keeping. I feel very lucky for it. I often came here in my little free time in the past, just looking at it, remembering the better times of the past." Her smile became more and more sad, and Lazlo was sure he saw her eyes getting a little watery.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Lazlo finally broke the silence, a question that had been on his mind ever since he met Celestia but had never asked before. The princess nodded. "What is it like? Being immortal?"

"I will answer it if you will answer a personal question too after," Celestia said, and he nodded.

"Technically speaking, I am not immortal. I don't age, my immune system can protect me from almost anything, and I can completely heal myself from many injuries that would end another. Many ponies and other creatures envy us alicorns for it, and it can be really good if you have others whom you love and who won't leave you. But, of course, it has its sadder side. Your friends and family will eventually die, leaving you to make new friends or continue alone. It's very painful every time, and you can only learn to ignore the pain, but never become immune to it. Another thing is that some might try to find a way to kill you. Fortunately, that completely stopped over a thousand years ago, but there was a time when Luna and I learned about the dangers to us. How do humans view immortality?" Celestia asked Lazlo after some explaining. Lazlo knew that she wasn't finished with her answer, and he also knew that he had to answer her question now.

"I guess many humans want it, or at least want to extend their lifetimes. Since no one has achieved it before, we can only make assumptions about what it would be like. We often create stories with immortal characters. Gods in different religions are typically portrayed as immortal, and there are also fantasy creatures often depicted as immortal or long-lived. We can even imagine a future where we achieve immortality, perhaps by uploading our minds to a virtual reality. However, it would depend on whether we still consider that existence to be life or not," Lazlo sighed as he considered his words. "Our lives are short, and we have so little time. I think the life expectancy was around seventy-six for me at birth. I'm twenty-three now, almost at the third of my expected life, barely having reached adulthood, and now I find myself starting over," he sighed again, not wanting to dwell on the topic. He had already come to terms with the inevitability of death and tried not to think about it too much, especially now that he could potentially live much longer.

"My little ponies tend to live a bit longer than that on average," Celestia began speaking again. "I've met many wonderful ponies and other creatures who have left a profound impression on me, and it's always a source of sadness when their time comes to an end. I believe you're among those already. Despite my previous explanation, I can't really convey what it's truly like. Luna and Cadance experience it differently from me. Like most situations, it depends on the individual and how they choose to navigate it. I've chosen to help my little ponies and do my best to create a stable kingdom where they can all live in peace and prosperity. Unfortunately, I'm not a god, and I can't make their decisions for them. All I can hope for is that they have opportunities," Celestia said, her tone carrying a hint of melancholy.

A brief silence fell over the room, and Lazlo began to feel that asking about immortality had been a mistake. Although Celestia seemed willing to discuss it, she sensed his discomfort and decided to cut it short. It was now his turn to answer a personal question.

"What were the other reasons you didn't pursue a career in politics?" she asked, and he looked surprised. He wasn't expecting a question like this. He was about to ask why she chose this question, but she answered before he could say anything. "The only thing behind this question is my curiosity."

"Well, the main reason was that my mother was trying to force it on me," he mentioned, even though this was the one reason she knew about and wanted to explore the others. "I guess there might be other factors as well. I’m not a natural leader, or at least, I don't perceive myself that way. Also, I'd say I'm more interested in things than people. Another aspect is the way politics tends to infiltrate almost everything. For example, politics has encroached on areas like science." He paused for a moment. "But the primary reason was that I observed how radicalized it has become in recent times. One side makes a statement or takes action, and the other side immediately opposes it, regardless of the merits of the matter at hand. It's truly frustrating because they often fail to consider whether it would genuinely benefit the majority, or even if it had been suggested years ago by them. Then there's the issue of people. More and more individuals are exhibiting cult-like behavior, blindly following one side without questioning, turning a blind eye to their flaws, and harboring disdain for anyone who doesn't share their views. I don't seek that kind of notoriety," he concluded.

It was peculiar discussing these matters with a princess, a ruler. However, she had always exuded an aura that made it feel like any topic could be broached with her, that she would listen without judgment. It was a bit disconcerting, considering he had entertained the idea of being cautious around her. Strangely, that notion hadn't taken hold. He remembered mentioning the sensation that his mind wasn't entirely his own when he first met her, but since then, no explanation had surfaced.

She didn't comment on his response, merely nodded, her smile unwavering.

"I'm pleased to see you in better spirits. I can only assume that it indicates your capacity to move forward and discover happiness in your life here," she once again shifted the conversation.

Lazlo gave her a somewhat uncertain nod, conveying more of a "mostly" than a definitive yes, but it seemed to satisfy her.

"I hope your positivity continues to grow. I'm sorry we cannot send you back to your home, but I'm glad we could assist you in starting a new life here."

"Well, we humans are pretty good at adapting to things, if needed," he commented. "I could have ended up in worse places, to be honest, although the best outcome would have been not ending up anywhere else in the first place," he sighed, realizing he had run out of conversation topics. "I think I'll stop taking up your time for now. With your permission, I'd like to take my leave," he said, acknowledging that she was now his ruler, even though she wished to maintain a friendly rapport with him.

"Of course!" She stood up, and Lazlo followed suit. "Please, allow me to escort you. Where would you like to go?" she inquired.

"Just to my room." he replied.

"This way, then."

She led him to the entrance of his guestroom. The short journey allowed him to take in the beauty of the architecture. The tall hallways, elegant pillars, subtle decorations, and grand windows. The prevailing colors were white and purple, consistent with the rest of the city.

"If you'd like, I can show you the most beautiful parts of the castle at some point," she offered, and he nodded in appreciation.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance to his assigned guestroom.

"Here we are," she announced, leaning in closer to him. "Enjoy your stay here. If you wish to speak with me, my sister, my niece, or anyone else, simply find a guard or servant, and they will locate the pony you seek. I can't promise their availability at all times, but we do our best. Dinner will be served around seven, and a servant will inform you of the exact time. I hope you'll join us then. I'll ensure there's some meat for you," she nuzzled his cheek affectionately. "See you later."

With that, she walked away and soon disappeared from view, leaving him alone. He had enjoyed their conversation, even if the topics weren't the most cheerful. However, he knew much of that was his doing. Now, all he desired was some relaxation, allowing his mind to absorb the information and contemplate how to spend his free time here. With that in mind, he entered his room.
> 31. A night in Canterlot with Princess Luna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lazlo didn't do much after Celestia left him in his room. He went in, unpacked his luggage, and then looked around the room. Along the walls stood almost all the furniture: a wardrobe, a dresser, a full-body mirror, a desk with a big chair, and a bed, though that wasn't along the wall but reached toward the middle of the room. All of them were a little bigger than the average ones in his world. He guessed that this guestroom was originally for minotaur guests, but it fit him very well. Like most parts of the castle and the entire Canterlot, white and purple were the dominant colors here too. The walls were white and had many drawings hanging, showing different landscapes of Equestria.

The ceiling had a light purple coloration and a huge, golden chandelier hanging in the middle to give light if needed. The floor was similar in color to the ceiling, but had a darker tone, though Lazlo barely noticed the difference. Colors were one word to him, in this case, it would be purple and not whatever they could come up with. While the floor was made of stone, it wasn't as cold as he expected.

Two carpets were placed in the room. One under the bed reached several centimeters beyond it, probably for protecting the floor from the legs of the bed, but also to give some comfort to the tired individual to take his last or first few steps to or from the bed not on a cold floor, which gave out a loud clip-clop sound when hooved creatures walked on it. The other was a circular one, placed in the middle of the room. Its light blue color made the room look more lively, if only slightly.

Three doors broke the continuity of the walls. One was the entrance, one led to the bathroom, and one, made of glass and placed between huge windows, led to the balcony.

Lazlo thought about walking around the castle, but a clock on the wall showed him that dinnertime would come soon, so he remained there, trying his bed, which was very comfortable. Not too soft that would make him sink deep into it, but not hard as the floor.

He almost fell asleep when someone knocked on the door. It was a maid who informed him that the princesses would have dinner soon, and she escorted him to the dining room.

This time, among the dishes, there was one plate that had a relatively big fish on it. The servant asked if it was good or enough for him and told him that it was a freshwater bream. Lazlo thanked her.

The fish was delicious. It had a slightly different taste than the ones he ate in his world, but that applied to basically every food. Twilight told him that food made or farmed by earth ponies tended to be healthier, more filling, and had a better taste. It was most likely because of their connection to the earth, their magic. But after telling her that fish caught by Fluttershy tasted differently, she updated her theory, adding the fact that in Lazlo's case, magic was also responsible for it. Since there wasn't any way to test it, they had to accept it as the most likely reason.

This time, they talked about less emotional subjects. Celestia asked Lazlo if he found everything all right with his accommodation. Luna told them, well, more the other princesses about her meeting with the head of Canterlot City Development. He couldn't really follow what she was talking about, especially since he was trying to get a fish bone that got stuck between his teeth out. Cadance was curious about what fish tasted like, but he couldn't explain it better to her than when Twilight tried to explain what hay tastes like. Celestia could provide an explanation, since both she and Luna had tasted different kinds of meat in the past. She compared it to some kind of mix of different flowers and spices, which was quickly lost on the human, as he didn't know what those flowers tasted like, and also didn't recognize every one that was listed.

After dinner was finished, Lazlo decided to go back to his room and leave the exploration for tomorrow. He wanted to have a bath anyway. He rarely had one, usually showered, but now he had an opportunity to do so, as his home had only a shower corner.

He enjoyed his bath in the huge bathtub. Like with everything else, the bathroom facilities were bigger than normal too. Fortunately, not that much bigger to cause any issues, so he wasn't in any danger of falling into the toilet. When finished and dry again, he left the bathroom.

He noticed that Celestia and Luna had moved the sun and moon while he was taking a bath. It was dark outside. Glancing out through the glass door, he could see the capital city below. He quickly put on some warmer clothes and went out to the balcony.

The view was breathtaking. He wasn't on top of one of the castle's towers, more like around the middle, but whoever assigned this guestroom to him chose the perfect one. From his balcony, he could see a good part of Castle Town and most of Canterlot City. The night was still young, so he saw lights from many windows. Canterlot also had public lights on most of its roads.

Looking away from the city, he could see the stunning landscape. He could see the green, flat lands, the forests, the hills around north to the mountains on which Canterlot was built. Other mountains were visible far away. And all were shining in the silver light the moon provided. He couldn't see any other town as Ponyville was in the other direction, and no other town or city was close to Canterlot. The only thing he could see, though only partly, as the angle wasn't the best, was a train
station at the base of the mountain. Its main purpose was for transferring between trains easily, without the need for many of them to climb up to Canterlot, so only those lines would go up that ended in the capital.

As he gazed at the incredible sight, memories rushed into his mind. Memories of different times, happier times when he and his mother would spend a week in a region of his country they hadn't visited before. They did this every year. They would always ascend to some kind of lookout when they were in a place with mountains or hills. With all the conflict in his life momentarily forgotten, he wished she was standing beside him, just like many years ago. They would take some pictures and then find a restaurant to eat at. He only snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a single tear running down his cheek, realizing that it would never happen again, and the only thing that remained was the memory.

"May we join you for some conversation?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He then heard the sound of wingbeats and looked in the direction of the sound. Luna was floating in the air near his balcony. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the wingbeats.

He nodded, and the princess landed on the balcony.

"We would like to ask you some questions," she began after her hooves made contact with the floor. "But first, we would like to inform you that your dreams seem clear, without any nightmares." Lazlo noticed that her speech was a bit different.
She wasn't using the old English but the modern one. He guessed that she was taking lessons but needed more practice. Not that he was ever an expert, he could barely get by in the language for everyday communication. "We are still working on a way to help you remember your dreams," she continued.

"I'm not sure that's necessary," he said. "I mean, the few I remembered were very weird, so I think I can live without it."

"We do not wish to force you," the princess reassured him. "But dreams can be important. They can reflect your deepest thoughts, fears, worries, or sometimes provide a key to solving a problem or helping you move on," she argued.

"I will think about it."

"You have time. We haven't figured out how to resolve the situation yet," she nodded, seemingly satisfied with his words. "If we are still welcome on your balcony, we would like to ask our questions," she then said, moving on to the topic she wished to discuss.

Lazlo bit back a comment about this being more like her balcony and simply nodded.

"Why did your kind go to the Moon?" she asked.

While the question was somewhat unexpected for the man, he wasn't surprised that she knew about that, as he had already told Twilight, and she always relayed what she learned to the princesses.

"I don't know exactly," he shrugged. "I guess it was part of the arms race during the Cold War."

"Cold war?" Luna
asked.

"If my friend, Chris, were here, he could talk about it for a year, or even more..." he said. "Anyway, the short version is that not so long ago in human history, the whole world was divided into two factions, well, three, because there were neutral countries as well. But basically, the two strongest nations, we called them superpowers, had many countries under their influence. They were enemies and constantly competing, never starting an open war, but the tension between them was always there. They waged wars through the countries that were under them, though. And that's why we call it the Cold War," he gave a quick summary. "But maybe it had nothing to do with it. We just wanted to show that we are capable of this too after going into space," he shrugged again.

"Ah, yes, we know that your kind knows violence," Luna said. Though her words might seem judgmental, her tone didn't give off any negative vibes. It was just a fact she was stating. "But we still find it fascinating that you got so far without magic. Even if the past me, or Nightmare Moon, would be furious about some things in your world, like the idea that the Moon only reflects the Sun's light, or that it's much smaller than the Sun, or even that all the stars that shine during the night are just like the Sun but are far away," she continued to speak, showing him that she had read all the things Twilight had sent to her and Celestia.

"Well, it is what it is," he shrugged. "Besides, I think it's more fascinating, if not a lot frightening, that someone here needs to control the Moon and the Sun. I mean, if it would happen in my world, then we would've destroyed the planets in that system a long time ago."

"Indeed. We do have a lot of differences between our worlds."

"Yeah, I guess that would explain how you could survive on the Moon for so long. I mean, without any air, food, water. Now, I'm a little curious. How was it? If it's not too hurtful, of course."

"We weren't technically on the Moon," she said, then clarified her statement. "It was more similar to how Discord was turned to stone, but instead we became one with the Moon. We did not have a physical body on it," she explained. Lazlo nodded in acknowledgment.

Silence fell upon them for a few seconds before Luna changed the subject.

"Last time we sang with you here," she said. "How did you call upon that magic?" she asked.

"What magic?" Lazlo asked, clearly confused. "I mean, I remember that I was singing, and I felt forced to do so, but I don't know what it was."

"You never asked?" Luna seemed shocked at that. "But it is a form of magic, and it was clearly your doing."

"Really? I guess I just forgot about it. I mean, there were many other things on my mind back then. I could've asked Twilight about it, but it just never came up," he admitted.

"We will discuss this with our sister and the scientists," Luna stated. "This could mean that you are capable of some kind of magic, even if they only found Magiconnector in you."

"Okay, so what is it exactly?" Lazlo asked. "And how could I do that?"

"It is a special kind of magic. Every creature is capable of it, but it's rarely, if ever, a conscious spell. To our understanding, it is usually triggered by a strong emotion. In this case, it was your feelings about the unfortunate news of you being stuck here. You involuntarily cast a spell that affected you and many around you. The range of it is never constant; in that case, it also affected me and several guards, but it can vary from a simple creature to whole towns. At least that is our current knowledge about it," she explained. "As to how you were able to cast this spell, it is beyond our understanding. As we mentioned, we will speak with our sister and the scientists about it."

"Well, it might be just another mystery, like how did I get here, or how did I survive here," he said, but he felt his chest tightening at the last part. It was still a terrifying thought.

"You never know. We remember times when we only had a small fraction of our current knowledge and believed in things that would sound ridiculous today," Luna said, trying to sound comforting.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he shrugged. "I know my world changed a lot even in my short life there," he said, mentally comparing the technology of his early years to the ones he had before getting here.

"We believe it is time for us to depart and let you enjoy the night as you wish," Luna spoke again, and Lazlo realized that they had spent a good amount of time here, talking.

"Okay, I think I'll go to sleep soon," he said, feeling somewhat tired.

"Then we bid you a good night and continue to make sure you won't have nightmares," she said before jumping off from the balcony and flying away.

Lazlo looked at her as she soon flew out of his view before going back inside his room. Before going to bed, he decided to check where to go tomorrow. There were some books in the room, and one of them contained maps and descriptions of different parts of Canterlot and its notable buildings. Right now, he was more interested in the maps.

After browsing through the book for almost an hour, he found several spots he wanted to visit. With those plans in mind, he finally headed to bed.
> 32. A day in Canterlot with the nobles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little bell rang as he opened the door of the bookshop. As he entered and looked around, the first thing he noticed was that it was way bigger than it looked from the outside. He had thought it was just a small bookshop, but there were several rows of bookcases, leaving barely enough space between them for a pony, or in this case, a human, to walk through.

"Welcome!" greeted a unicorn mare. She was standing at the cashier's counter, which faced the entrance. She had a light green coat and a two-toned orange mane and tail. Other than her, he could only see one other pony in the shop browsing through the books on a shelf, but it was possible that other customers were present, just behind the bookcases.

Since he had no idea where to look for the books he wanted to buy, he chose to approach the shopkeeper mare and ask her. 

"Hello!" he greeted and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. "Do you have 'How to Optimize Transfiguration Volume Six' and 'Make Your Spells Failsafe Volume Four' both by the author Lit Horn? " he asked, reading the first two books from the list written on his paper.

This was his gift idea for Twilight's birthday. He had asked Spike and found out that she keeps a list of books she plans to add to her personal collection. During one of their sessions, while they took a break and Twilight went to the bathroom, he had asked the dragon to give him a copy of this list.

"Of course!" the shopkeeper mare said, walking around the counter, then moving to a bookcase and taking out two books from different shelves. She levitated them to the counter and placed them down next to each other. Lazlo looked at both and confirmed the titles. "Are they for you or for a gift?" she asked.

"For a gift," Lazlo stated. He guessed this question was part of her script, as this book was obviously written for unicorns.

"In that case, would you like me to wrap them for two bits?" she asked.

"Sure," Lazlo nodded. He was actually hoping to find a place where they could wrap the books, but it was even easier when he didn't need to go to a different place for it.

After selecting the colors of the wrap, which matched Twilight's coloration, he paid for them and left. Then, he went to another shop, where he picked up some comics for Spike's birthday, as he learned that it would come soon after Twilight's. When he bought everything he needed, he went back to the castle to put down the items he purchased so he wouldn't have to carry his stuff around all day. Since he was already there and it was close to lunchtime, he waited for it and joined Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

"I forgot to mention earlier, but Rarity is here too," Celestia started a conversation while having lunch. 'Twilight asked me to accommodate her, as she was coming to Canterlot. I don't know where she is currently, but I wanted to let you know that she will stay here for a few days.'

Beside that, most of the conversation was between Celestia and Luna as they talked about some of their duties they needed to attend to in the afternoon.

After lunch, he was again walking around the city. He was happy that ponies didn't pay too much attention to him. It seemed that they could look at him when he arrived and was taken to the castle, and they were done with it. It was preferable to him. Then again, they probably had seen many creatures, as this is the capital and foreign dignitaries, also tourists tend to visit Canterlot, though he's yet to see one that isn't a pony. Though since it was the start of winter, it wasn't the peak of tourism.

"Lazlo Kis! So good to see you again!" a female voice behind him made him stop. Looking back he saw Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis walking up to him. "I heard you're in Canterlot. What brings you here?" she asked.

"Hi," Lazlo greeted them. "I was asked to give a presentation to the students at Princess Celestia's school, and also have a talk with her about that big international meeting, but there were a few days between them and the Princess offered me a room to stay at the castle, so I can explore Canterlot," he explained.

"Makes sense, that you would be invited to the Grand Summit," Fancy spoke. "And also a presentation at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns? Sounds like you're really getting around here," he laughed. "When is this event? Do you think me and Fleur could join?"

"On the fifth," he answered. "As for joining, I don't know, Celestia said that ponies from the Canterlot Academy will come too, so the place will be packed. I think you should discuss this with Celestia or someone at the school who's responsible for these events."

"Well, despite one would believe the opposite, we nobles don't have easier access to just speak with the princess, than any other pony. But I will reach out to the event organizer. What is this presentation about?"

"How we live our life without magic. Basically about human technology."

"Sounds interesting," Fleur spoke again. "I hope we can hear it."

"Me too," Fancy said. Then changed the subject. "Say, are you free this afternoon? I have reserved the VIP box for the Wonderbolt Derby. Would you like to join?" he offered.

"The Wonderbolts? I thought that they're some kind of aerial stunt group," he asked.

"That they are, but they also have a derby now and then," Fancy Pants explained.

"Alright, sure, I can join. Thank you for the invitation," Lazlo accepted the offer.

Since they had plenty of time until the ascot, Fancy invited him to have tea at a café. While he was not a big tea drinker, he figured that there will be other options as well, so he accepted. On their way, he mainly conversed with Fleur de Lis. He asked about her modeling career, as it was among the occupations he was the furthest away from. If he would have needed to rank every occupation by the probability of him trying it, being a model would be around the bottom."

Their chat was cut short when a pony ran into Fancy Pants. Lazlo saw many bags falling on the ground and looked at Fancy, who was covered by the content of one bag. Fleur was already next to him, helping him up.

"Fancy Pants!" he heard a familiar voice and turned to the mare who ran into the stallion. It was none other than Rarity.

"Well... That's one way to meet somepony," Fancy said, not sounding happy about the collision.

"Hey, Rarity!" Lazlo decided to try and ease things up a little. "The princess said you were here, but I thought we would meet at the castle, not in the city."

"You know her?" Fancy asked, seeing the human on friendly terms with this pony.

"Of course!" Lazlo answered, while Rarity was still in shock. "She's a good friend, and she made all the clothes I have, except those that I arrived with."

"In that case, I'm glad we ran into each other," Fancy smiled at Rarity. "And my human friend here mentioned that the princess told him you're here. You know her?" he asked. Rarity nodded. "Say, I reserved the VIP box for the Wonderbolt Derby this afternoon, would you like to join us?"

"I would love to, but I also have to take all these bags back to my suite," Rarity said, looking a little desperate, as she seemingly wanted nothing more than to drop her stuff and join.

"You have plenty of time," Fancy calmed her down. "We will wait for your return at that nearby café." He pointed to a building not far from them that had some tables and chairs in front of it.

While Rarity ran back to the castle, they sat down to enjoy a cup of tea, or in Lazlo's case, coffee.

"I remember her now!" Fancy spoke. "She was one of the mares who got the Pink Heart of Courage. She and the others got rid of that Discord creature."

"Ah, yes," Fleur joined. "I'm glad they could turn back all the chaos he caused." She then turned to Lazlo. "And she made your clothes?" The human nodded. "She must be very talented."

"That she is," Lazlo agreed. "She and her friends helped me a lot when I got here. Twilight was the one who got in contact with you, well if I remember, we didn't know it was you at that time." He laughed and the others joined.

"And I'm very glad for it," Fancy Pants said. "Not only did you help to save the company, but also gave many happy moments to thousands of foals. But I guess it is very different from your previous occupations."

"You could say that. If you come to the presentation, I'll talk about that too. But it's not the weirdest change in my life..."

"Yes, I'd imagine." Fancy nodded.

"Let's not ruin the mood," Fleur spoke up. "But I hope that you're doing better now. You seems like you do," the man nodded and Fleur smiled before going back to the previous topic. "So, this Rarity mare lives in Ponyville?" Lazlo nodded. "Well, she seems like she would fit well into Canterlot." 

"She loves this place." Lazlo said. "I remember, when I was at her boutique while she was measuring me, and stuff, she talked about how she always wanted to visit Canterlot, or even move here."

"And what about you?" Fancy inquired. "What do you think of our capital city?"

"It's breathtaking, I admit. It's like a city straight out of some kind of fairy tale," Lazlo elaborated. "I always liked those parts of the city, I used to live in, that had those older buildings and designs. Canterlot resembles that, even if it has a 'fantasy skin'." that earned some confused looks from the two. "Sorry, I don't really know how to explain it in less than a three thousand word essay, but I guess we can stick to that it's a wonderful city."

Soon, Rarity came back and joined them, and together they walked to the arena. It was at the edge of Canterlot. The track itself was made of clouds and were in the air, right next to the ground where the spectator area was built. They entered at the bottom of the viewing area. Luckily there was fence at the edge, to avoid accidental fall off the mountain, though Lazlo was sure there were some kind of handling for a situation, where one would somehow fell.

They walked up to the top of the staircase, walking past the many ponies who filled the regular spectator area. Since the Derby didn't start yet, many attention was on their group, and he could even see ponies taking pictures. Upon reaching the top, there was another set of stairs that lead a little higher and seemed enclosed with a unicorn standing there. When they got close, the unicorn bowed his head and with his magic opened the tape gate that was in front of the staircase.

They reached the VIP section, which had a ceiling and provided the best view of the arena. Several tables were around, on them fruit baskets and drinks. There were already several ponies there, all wearing some kind of clothing, which were probably following some kind of high class fashion. Upon seeing the new arrivals, they all looked at them. They instantly recognized Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis. Since Lazlo was a one of a kind, it was hard to not get recognized, if they heard about the human before. But Rarity was an unknown to them. The ponies walked up to Fancy Pants and Fleur.

"Good afternoon, everypony!" Fancy greeted them. "Allow me to present my companions. I'm sure you all know Lazlo Kis." he gestured to the human. The ponies around him nodded, but didn't otherwise ignored him. "And this is Rarity." Fancy then looked Rarity. "She's a friend of Lazlo and both are guests of the Princess." now this grabbed their attention.

But while they whispered among themselves, the start of the derby was announced. They all walked to the window that granted the perfect view to the track.

"I'll be rooting for Rapidfire, of course," Fancy stated. "He's sure to take home the grand prize." the other ponies nodded. Since Lazlo had no idea which Wonderbolt was which, and how fast they were, he had no idea.

Meanwhile the race started and the five pegasi started to fly the rounds at their maximum speed. Lazlo had to admit that they were fast. He saw Rainbow flying and that seemed impossible, but this course contained some sharp turns and they didn't slow down much in those. They had talent, that was clear.

"I don't think he has a chance against Fleetfoot." Rarity spoke, shocking the other ponies.

But before they could say anything the race was over and Fleetfoot was the first to cross the finish line. That earned another round of surprise among the ponies.

"How did you know Fleetfoot would be victorious?" Fancy asked.

"My friend, Rainbow Dash knows a lot about the Wonderbolts. She said, that Fleetfoot is probably the fastest of the current Wonderbolts." Rarity explained.

"And who is this Rainbow Dash?" asked one of the ponies.

Rarity started shuttering for a moment, as if she had difficulty to answer such a simple question.

"She's probably the only one, who is faster than the Wonderbolts." Lazlo spoke up. "I mean, she did that Sonic Rainboom back at the... what was it called? Young Flyer Competition, or something like that." that made come ponies voice their amazement. The Sonic Rainboom was the thing that most likely got their attention, as it was pretty big so they must've seen it back then.

"Yes, she's a good friend of ours." Rarity said, looking at the human.

After that there were some other races too by Wonderbolt reserve and trainee groups, but it seemed like that the ponies in the VIP box weren't really interested in them. The atmosphere shifted back to some light conversation. They asked Lazlo about his species and what was his life like, and he could tell that some of them were genuinely interested in him, and did not judge him when he said that he lived in an apartment in a panel building, nor that he was a regular eight-hour shift worker, a member of the middle class basically. Some seemed to try hard not to look unimpressed by his common and simple life, most likely because he was Fancy Pants guest and he already knew that that stallion was among the most respected ponies in the 'elite'.

Despite having some prejudice against these kind of high-class gatherings, and a few less pleasant ponies, he actually enjoyed himself, and was truly regretting turning down some invitations, because he already had that time booked by Princess Cadance, or the presentation at Celestia's school. 'Big surprise', throwing in the name of any princess in the excuse granted immediate acceptance.

Rarity also seemed to enjoy herself, she really looked like she belonged here. She also got invited to many other events, that were hosted by one of these ponies. She didn't give them concrete answers, but her smile, thought somewhat strained, gave the impression to the ponies that she will attend at all of them. Lazlo, however, didn't know why was she troubled, well, he didn't know what she was doing in Canterlot to begin with, the most likely answer was that since she always wanted to come here, and now she had opportunity for it, she just used it. But that brought up the question: Why did she looked troubled?

After the event, it was starting to get late, and since there were no other events for them, Lazlo and Rarity walked back to the castle together.

"Today was wonderful." Rarity started the conversation. "I admit, I'm a little envious at you that you already knew Fancy Pants, but now I got to know him and his friends. I love this city! So much culture, so much sophistication, and you can find something beautiful everywhere!" she went on.

"Well, I really like this kind of architecture. It looks way better than our modern style." he stated. "So, what are you doing here? In Canterlot, I mean." he asked.

"I just had a few free days and decided to spent them here. Twilight was a darling to ask the princess to provide a room for me. And I simply have to thank her for that, so I decided to make her a beautiful dress for her birthday. I just hope, I will have time for it now with all the invites" she said, it also explained why did she seemed concerned earlier with all the invitations. "By the way, what will you gift her?"

"Some books I bought in the morning, today." he said.

"Is there any books that she hadn't read yet or can't be found in her library?"

"Well, it's not the biggest library... Besides she does have a list of books that she wants to own. Spike told me that those are usually releases or rare editions that she adds to that list. She usually orders some from time to time, others she gets as gifts for occasions, like birthday." he explained.

"Sounds like a perfect gift for her then."

"I'm sure she will like the dress you'll make for her too. Those dresses for the gala looked great, and that's coming from me, who has negative knowledge on female fashion."

They arrived back to the castle, and decided to have dinner together. It was relatively early, the princesses were still busy with their duties so it was only the two of them. After that they went back to their rooms. Soon the Sun disappeared from the sky and the Moon took it's place and role for providing light but giving the stars the chance to shine.

He was reading that guide book about Canterlot, when a knock on the door interrupted him. Getting up, he opened the door to find a royal guard. Not just a regular guard, but the captain himself, Shining Armor. He remembered him, when they first met during his first visit of Canterlot.

"Hello, Lazlo." he greeted him. "I heard, that you were in Canterlot, and I was wondering if you want to join me to some drinking at a local bar?" he offered.

"Sure, sounds good. Haven't drank much alcohol since coming here, but I'm curious." he accepted the invitation.

"Great! And I hope to hear some stories from your world, if you don't mind. If I remember correctly, you said that your grandpa served and had some good stories." Lazlo nodded. "Nice! I have to take care a few things before that so how about I come back in thirty minutes and we can go."

"Ok, I'll wait here then."

And with that his night was booked.
> 33. A night in Canterlot with the guards
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Put-Down Spear was the only bar in the Castle Town. It was mainly for off-duty Royal Guards, but everyone was welcome. Lots of tables were arranged around the open space, with booths lining the walls. To a pony, it would seem very packed, with as many tables and seats as possible. However, since pony bodies were longer than humans', they needed more room to maneuver, so it was actually quite easy for Lazlo to move around.

On the way there, Shining Armor told him about the place. A retired captain of the Royal Guard had asked Princess Celestia for permission and help to open the place. He wanted the Royal Guard to have a place where they could get drinks at affordable prices, meaning they'd get a discount and could relax and socialize, and it's close to the barracks. Celestia agreed, and they worked out some rules, like it's open non-stop, everypony is welcome, but Royal Guards get a discount, and they make sure the guards don't get too drunk, though mostly if they'll be on duty soon. Since then, it's been run by retired officers, all keeping the rules and traditions.

"Captain!" all the guards there yelled when they entered and noticed Shining Armor. According to another tradition, it didn't matter the rank of a guard, however, Shining also told him that when he became captain, he had a party here and bought drinks for every guard that was there, also a tradition. They greeted him like this then and they do so every time he comes, probably in a false hope of a free round.

They made their way to a free booth and sat down. Lazlo took a look at the list of drinks. There was quite the selection, well, at least with the fact that this world didn't have as many alcoholic beverages as Earth. Equestria only had wine and cider, but he noticed whiskey, beer, and herbal liquor, mostly from the neighboring countries.

When a pony came up and asked what they would like, Shining ordered a cider, while Lazlo decided to try a herbal liquor called Eagle Tear, a griffon drink, and also ordered a cider.

"Fan of the stronger stuff?" Shining asked when the drinks arrived.

"Stronger?" Lazlo asked back. "This thing is only thirty percent."

"Only?" the ping pong continued.

"My grandpa's pálinka is around fifty percent, but we have stuff up to eighty percent, I think, maybe even more," Lacy bragged. Shining and even some other ponies who sat close to them looked at him with a skeptical expression. "Nevermind. Cheers!" he raised his glass.

"Cheers!" Shining did the same.

The liquor was similar to Jägermeister, and it was pretty good. Then he tried the cider, a classic apple one, which he would say was average. 

"So..." Shining Armor started a conversation after their first sip of their drinks. "If I remember correctly, you said your grandfather was in the military, and that he had some good stories. Care to share?" By the time he got to the question, Lazlo noticed that several ponies were looking towards them.

"Eh... Two come to my mind," he leaned back. "He told me he was in a somewhat special role. He was a driver. Umm... So we have cars and other vehicles, imagine it, like a... umm... like a locomotive that can be moving on the road... maybe that's the closest one here. So anyway, sometimes he had to take stuff to other military bases or take or bring high-ranking people, things like that. And sometimes he had to do it at night."

He paused for a moment to take another sip from his drink.

"So one of those times, he was on his way out of the barracks in the middle of the night, way past the curfew when a sergeant saw him and yelled at him for walking around in the middle of the night. He didn't believe him when my grandpa told him that he had an order. So they ended up going to the... umm... To be honest, I have no idea what rank that guy was, so let's go with lieutenant since I know that one, and it's above the sergeant. Anyway, the lieutenant was in charge of this base, and when the sergeant marched into his office with my grandpa and told him what happened..." Lazlo stopped for a minute to chuckle. "After that, for minutes, the lieutenant was yelling at the sergeant for obstructing my grandpa from fulfilling his orders."

Some ponies laughed at this, even Shining Armor grinned.

"The other story, I remember, is somewhat similar to this," Lazlo continued. "So one day there was an umm... what do they call... like a practice for an alert situation... something like that." He took another sip from his drink. "He was told that in case of the alarm, he had to go and get a car and bring it to the place where they'd all be gathering during the alarm. And he did so. After that, a sergeant, I think, was checking if everything went alright and as was written down when he noticed that the lieutenant was nowhere. So he told my grandpa to get him, and my grandpa went to the lieutenant's room and told him that there was an alarm practice about an hour ago. When they got back, the lieutenant asked him, 'Private Sámray! You were supposed to get me when you went to get the car! Why didn't you do so?' and my grandpa answered, 'Sir, I was not told to bring you with the car!' Then the lieutenant turned to the sergeant, who was conducting the practice. 'Sergeant! Why did you not give proper instructions to Sámray?!' and he yet again yelled for minutes at him in front of the whole base. Though I don't know if it was the same sergeant, I'm not even sure of the ranks, to be honest."

This resulted in more laughs. After that, some of the ponies who were listening asked some questions about his world. As they consumed more and more drinks, the time eventually came for telling funny stories. 

"So, I don't remember much of it, but my first and so far only drunken vomit was a few months ago," Lazlo began another story. "As it turned out, whiskey and rum don't get along. I got plenty of both of them from some drinking game and was totally wasted. Most of what happened after that was told by my friends. They saw me suffering on a couch. Then, suddenly I got up and said, 'I'm going to go and vomit,' then walked to the bathroom and... well, yawned a colorful, then walked back and continued my suffering," he finished. "At least there was no need to clean up after it..." he added.

Of course, since most of those around him were guards, it was inevitable that they too shared some of their experiences. 

"I was on door duty when two mares walked by and stopped close to me. They were talking, and one of them was slowly backing up, but I was behind her. So I had to focus, while a young mare was slowly getting her butt close to my face. It was hard, but I managed to keep my gaze forward," some laughed at this, and some cheered on his endurance, again, some doubted that he didn't at least steal a few glances. Lazlo was a little confused, as it wasn't really hard to 'steal glances', but because of that magical decency, or whatever was the proper name for it, it wasn't like there was anything interesting to see there. Not like he had any desire to. He saw it once, though not by choice, and it wasn't that pleasant to his eyes. "Anyway, as she got closer, I was about to call her out when suddenly she stopped. And then let out a quiet and discrete fart." That again brought some reaction, many voiced their disgust or amusement. "Then suddenly she suggested to move on and as she turned, she noticed me and realized what she had done. She hurried off fast. And then, I admit, I broke procedure, because I had to use my wings to create a small wind to make it go away, it had a horrid smell, I almost passed out.

Well, technically you didn't break procedure," Shining pointed out. "As you acted in a way to clear an obstacle that was in the way of doing your duty properly." At that, many voiced their agreement and also praised the captain for his flexibility.

"Man, these 'technicality speeches' are often annoying, but I say things like that too from time to time, so fuck it," Lazlo said as he sipped another glass of whiskey. His alcohol level was rising steadily. 

He also got questions about how he reacted when he first arrived and how his first days were.

"It was weird, I mean, it's still weird at some degree, but..." he rested his head on his right hand for a moment before continuing. "It was right after the new year party, so like now, I was pretty drunk there. Went to bed, well more like a sofa to be exact, and then next thing I know is that I woke up outside on a field, and children talked around me." Some chuckled, some nodded in sympathy. "I mean, yeah, I got wasted a few times before, but never woke up in an unknown place before, not like one of my friends, who told me that he once woke up on a train, well, a regional train. And then another weird thing was that those children talked about me like they never saw an adult before, so I was like 'Wut?' and then got up and looked at them. And I saw colorful mini horses talking. I was thinking that I was drugged with some hallucinogen, like what the hell? I don't think I even realized that I was very underdressed for the supposedly middle of winter." He paused for a moment to drink some more.

"Then came the girls, Twilight and the others," he continued. "I think my brain just went to autopilot, or something to prevent overloading, or I don't know, I guess it was just too much for it, but didn't want me to faint or something. And then after some talking, they escorted me to another party. It was fucking crazy, I tell you. Part of me was still hoping then that it's just some kind of weird drunk dream, or whatever, and once I get knocked out again, I wake up on that sofa. But that didn't happen, and next thing I know, I met with Princess Celestia, who just wanted to have a tea and some chat, then offered her help," he shook his head. "I mean, I don't really trust politicians, I know them, my mother is one after all... But back then, I think I was still in autopilot mode, or something, and it was better than any other scenario I could've imagined. Back then I still had hope that one day, I'll get my old life back... but after it turned out that I can't go back..." he stopped in mid-sentence.

One of the ponies rubbed his back with his wing in comfort. Lazlo just nodded a little, silently thanking him. 

"But Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, even the princesses stayed with me, trying to help me. Even when I was an asshole to them... A horrible person. And yet, they still came to me. Trying to get me out of my hole, and somehow... they did it. I guess I still have some of it in me, but it's not that dark anymore. I don't have those dark thoughts," he stopped talking.

The ponies, who were listening, began feeling the mood dropping, so some tried to change the subject so the atmosphere wouldn't get too depressed.

They began again telling funny or bizarre experiences, like one who managed to talk a pony, who escaped from the mental hospital, to go back, or one who saw some of the things that happened at the Grand Galopping Gala, mostly about what Twilight's friends did, and how much they had to work to restore order. With that, the subject went back to the element bearers and the princesses.

"They caused quite the headache for us then." the guard said, after finished his story about how they had to clean up the mess after the gala. "But I guess we can forgive this to them, after all, they're heroes!"

"Yeah, they stopped Discord! I can't imagine my life in an Equestria under his control."

"And they brought back Princess Luna! I remember seeing the joy on Princess Celestia's face when she announced that her sister was back!" another spoke up.

"The princesses work very hard to make our life good here, they deserve the happiness too!"

"We have another princess to watch over us!"

"To the princesses!"

"To the element bearers!"

"CHEERS!"

After the toast to the rulers and heroes of Equestria, the party started to wind down. The bartender suggested they stop now, as some guards had duty the next morning, including Shining Armor. So with that, they all left the place. Most went back to their barracks, while Shining went to his house, which was close by, as there was a row of houses for the current and retired captains, or other Royal Guards, who achieved something great during their service.

A few, though, offered to escort him back to his room in the castle. On the way, he tried to explain to them the concept of memes, but wasn't successful, probably because his blood alcohol level did influence his ability to explain something, not to mention some of the tech slangs he used, when they couldn't even understand the normal tech terms. Eventually, by the time he got back to his room, he managed to dumb it down to 'pictures with texts that make it funny'.

At least, by the time he went to bed, he had more friends than when he got up that morning. And since they left the place before he got completely wasted, he hoped that he wouldn't have a hangover, or only a mild one the next morning.
> 34. A day in Canterlot with Princess Cadance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, he woke up without any effects of a hangover, not that he had gotten that drunk or anything. Still, it was a good thing, especially since he realized that Princess Cadance wanted to talk with him, and given her title as the Princess of Love, he could guess where that conversation would go.

Since arriving in Equestria, the topic of romance and romantic relationships had rarely come up. He had spoken a little about it with Twilight and Spike, mostly explaining that humans were mostly monogamous, but there were cultures where polygamy was okay or even the norm. He also touched on the topic of interspecies relationships when Spike tried to ask for some advice.

Today, he had breakfast alone. As he and Rarity were the only guests at the moment, and she wasn't there, also the princesses are usually eat earlier, he found himself sitting alone in the large dining room. As he enjoyed a simple sandwich, someone entered the room.

Looking towards the newcomer, he noticed a stallion with a white coat and blonde mane. "Good morning!" he greeted Lazlo when he noticed him. "It seems I'm late," he said as he approached the table. There, he noticed the stallion's cutie mark, which was a gold and purple compass rose.

"Good morning!" Lazlo greeted back.

"I was invited to have breakfast with the princesses, but something came up this morning. They already left, right?" he asked.

"I guess... When I came, they weren't here," Lazlo answered, while trying to figure out who this guy was.

"Next time, then," he said. "I hope you don't mind if I join you," he spoke, and after Lazlo gave him the 'be my guest' gesture, he sat down near him. "Oh, how rude of me, I know you, but you probably don't know me. I am Prince Blueblood," the stallion finally introduced himself.

Lazlo Kis, even though he said he knew him, he still introduced himself out of basic politeness. His name sounded familiar for some reason, but he couldn't think why. And if he was a prince, then how come he hadn't seen him before?

"I heard you work with Lord Fancy Pants," Blueblood continued the conversation. "And also, you provided quite a bit of material to the researchers."

"Yeah, they helped me quite a lot, and I managed to make some kind of life here," Lazlo said. "I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of you before, even though you're a prince. How come I didn't see your name in one of the books I read about Equestria's rulers?" he asked.

"Fortunately, I'm only a prince in title," he answered. "Are you familiar with the Unification? When the three pony tribes united and the Kingdom of Equestria was established?" he asked. After Lazlo said that he had some basic knowledge about it, he continued. "When Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were crowned, Princess Platinum, the former ruler of the unicorns, adopted them as her sisters. This was to give more legitimacy to their rule, at least among the unicorns. In exchange, she kept her title as princess, even though her status was now the same as any other noble. And since I'm her descendant, I have the title of Prince, and also being their nephew," he explained.

"I see. To be honest, I didn't expect you to 'downgrade' your title, if I may say so," Lazlo mentioned.

"I don't want to be on the same level as them," he spoke. "I saw their workload. I am quite busy myself. I am the head of the Equestrian Transportation Department, which is responsible for the roads between towns, the railways, and any other kind of transportation, be it by air, ground, or water. But at least, I have free time that I don't need to schedule weeks in advance. I don't want their amount of responsibility and work. Also, I don't have to stand in place and greet everypony at parties like the Grand Galopping Gala," he said.

"Wait! I remember, I heard of you before. From Rarity, after that Gala," Lazlo suddenly knew where he had heard about him before.

"Rarity? Rarity..." Blueblood thought for a moment. "White unicorn with a purple mane?" Lazlo nodded. "Oh, you also had the misfortune of meeting her?" Lazlo looked a little confused at that. "Let me tell you, she's just another mare who recently came into money or some kind of recognition somehow. I've met many like her; they try to force themselves on nobles, then leech off their status and think they are important now. In the last few years, I began to play this little game, where I act like a spoiled brat and see how long the mare can take it. This Rarity lasted pretty long."

"What are you talking about? Rarity is a pretty successful dressmaker," Lazlo started to protest and protect Rarity, but Blueblood interrupted.

"Then she's only after status, doesn't matter."

"I don't think she needs that either," Lazlo took back the word. "I mean, she's a hero. She's one of the mares who beat Discord and brought back Princess Luna!" Blueblood's eyes widened at that. "She's very generous. She even made me many clothes for free, and nowadays only charges me for the materials!" Lazlo continued. "Sure, she sometimes speaks like a little girl who thinks she's some kind of lost princess and waits for a Prince Charming, like in some kind of fairy tale, but she's still a good person!"

"Oh... I didn't know... I... I think I made a mistake back then," Blueblood said, still shocked by the new information. "Well, Auntie Celestia said that it will eventually happen, but it's just too entertaining to see how those mares react. Nothing to do about it now anyway..." he shook it off quite quickly.

"I think if you'd go and apologize and explain, she would understand and forgive you," Lazlo offered an idea. "She's here in Canterlot right now, the princess gave her a room."

"I don't really want to bother with it, really," he shrugged. "It would take too long and too much effort for me to be worth it. And she didn't look like she would forgive me anytime either."

Lazlo didn't know what to say at that. He tried to recall what Rarity told about Blueblood, but what he could remember was about how badly he treated her. But seeing him and talking with him, it seemed he was more likely just a rich guy who was somewhat lazy and bored. And also a spoiled brat but in a somewhat twisted way.

They didn't talk much else after that. Soon, Lazlo finished and left the dining hall. He didn't know what to do now, especially since Princess Cadance didn't give him an exact time when she wanted to see him. But he didn't have to wait for long. As he arrived at the door of his room, a guard was already there.

"Sir! Princess Cadance wishes to see you. If you would follow me, I will lead you to Her Highness," he spoke as he noticed him. Lazlo just nodded and went after the guard, who began leading him to Cadance.

The walk wasn't long, nor tiring, as it was mostly down some stairs, which he was grateful for, as he had to walk up many to get to his room. At least he didn't arrive with his lungs in his hands.

When they reached the door, the guard knocked, and Princess Cadance's voice answered, allowing them to enter. The guard opened the door and motioned for Lazlo to go in. He did so.

Looking around, he immediately recognized what kind of room this was. The walls were white, like most others in the castle. On the right side of the room was a red couch along the wall with a few filing cabinets next to it, a small purple table with some water and glasses in front of it, and a pink chair on the other side of the table. Along the left wall, several bookcases were filled with books and pictures. On the other end of the room, a big window gave a great view of the Royal Gardens, since the room was one level above the ground floor. There was also a desk in front of a window, and behind it sat Princess Cadance. On the desk were a few papers, a book, a bottle of ink, a few quills, and some pictures, which he couldn't see as they were facing Cadance.

"Good Morning, Lazlo!" she greeted as she put down a paper that was floating in her magic when he entered. "Welcome to my office. This is where I do my most favorite work, helping ponies, and also the least favorite work, paperwork," she giggled.

"Princess," Lazlo bowed his head.

"None of that!" Cadance got up from her chair. "In this room, I'm only Cadance!" she instructed him on how to address her. "Please, take a seat," she motioned towards the couch.

Lazlo did as she asked and sat down in the middle of the couch, while Cadance sat down in front of him, in the chair. She poured water into both glasses and placed one in front of Lazlo; the other landed in front of her.

"I can already see that you don't want to have some of the conversation I was planning for today," she told him. "I won't force any topics on you, but please, give it a chance at least," she smiled reassuringly. For a few seconds, Lazlo looked at her, then his gaze turned to the window and he gave a little nod. "Thank you," she said with appreciation. "Then how about I start? I will tell you about the time I ruined the lives of three ponies and the hard work it took to make it right," she offered.

"Look, you really don't have to-" Lazlo started telling her that it was not necessary but got interrupted.

"But I want to!" Cadance said, then began her tale. "It happened a few years ago. As you probably know, one of my duties is to help couples, usually those who struggle with their relationship. It's like couple therapy sometimes. I'm always happy to help them because coming here means that they at least want to try and fix things. Others who come are couples who've been together for some time but are afraid of making the next step, be it becoming parents, getting married, or even just moving in together. There are others too, but I don't want to bore you with all the details," she took a sip from her water.

"I was freshly out of Canterlot Academy, having obtained multiple degrees, which was a very challenging process but worth it. One of my degrees was in psychology. With that and my special talent, I was confident that I could help anypony, and soon my calendar was full of ponies, all hoping to get advice and help from the Princess of Love. And I did help a lot of ponies. At first, it was just as good as foalsitting, which I was happy for, because with my new 'occupation', it meant that I had less and less time for it until I had to completely stop. Every pony who came to me left happier. From the couples who wanted to fix their relationships, which had gone cold, I reminded them why they fell in love with each other, and the flame was there again. To the young ponies who experienced their first love and just wanted some advice. I could do all of that. And ponies always listened to me. After all, it was impossible for the Princess of Love to say the wrong things, to give bad advice, to make a mistake when it came to love, right?" For most of the time, she was smiling, but a frown replaced her expression after her last sentence.

"But then one day, a stallion came who wanted to marry his marefriend and start a family, but he was afraid that she might say no. He told me about himself, the mare, and their relationship. It sounded like they perfectly fit together, so I told him that I didn't see any reason not to try."

"Then came the mare. She told me that her coltfriend had proposed to her and even told her about how he came to me for advice. But she was afraid to say yes. She loved him, but she had a secret. She couldn't get pregnant. So if they got married, they wouldn't have any foals, but she knew that the stallion wanted to be a father. She also told me about herself and the relationship she had with the stallion. I still thought that they were perfect together. The foal problem could be solved with adoption, and though the mare was unsure about that, I convinced her to go along with it. I thought there wouldn't be any issues. They'd get married, adopt a foal or two. I thought they would be another happy family. I even wrote a 'recommendation' about them to the orphanage. When they came to me again, this time together and engaged, the mare told the stallion about her problem. The stallion felt a little betrayed, but he still loved her too much. He didn't back down from the proposal, and the mare said yes. But they were both uncertain about the adoption. I forced them to go with it. They loved each other, they both wanted foals, but their options were limited to one, and it also meant that one more orphan would get a real family. It looked perfect."

"But love is never perfect. A few months later, they came to me again. This time, they were in the process of divorcing. They had adopted a filly, who was now back at the orphanage. It turned out that they weren't fit for being stepparents, and their lives were ruined. And it was my fault. Not everypony is fit for adoption. There are reasons why ponies who want to adopt a foal have to go through a process, including a psychological test. However, due to my recommendation, the orphanage accepted them as passing the test. They questioned me, asking how could I give them bad advice. At that time, I didn't understand; I was confused. But it truly was my fault. There were signs that indicated they wouldn't be good candidates for adoption: their uncertainty, the stallion's mindset about family and his duty and role in it, and the mare's struggle with her desire to be a mother despite her inability to conceive, which made her question if she was meant to be one. None of these issues were addressed, and they couldn't love the filly as their own. They didn't experience the joys of parenting, only the burdens, which quickly turned their lives into a mess, leading to where they were now – a good marriage ruined, the flames of love extinguished, and their performance at work and relationships with friends and family declining, and a filly denied of parents for the second time.

I didn't know what to do. I had never made such a big mistake. I went to Auntie Celestia and told her what happened. She helped me realize where I went wrong. Being an orphan found in the woods and then adopted, my focus was too much on adoption, causing me to ignore the signs. I wanted to make it right and help them. At first, they didn't want my offered help, but I managed to persuade both of them to give me a chance. For the stallion, I found another mare who came to me for advice on how to find the right partner. Thinking they would be a good match, I did something I had never done before. I set up a blind date for them, which turned out well. Now they are married with two little colts, whom I even foalsat a few times. For the mare, I offered to arrange and pay for therapy. I had a friend from the Academy who specialized in helping ponies who are sterile. Now she is in a better place and has accepted her situation. She won't be a mother, but she has found another stallion to love."

"But the hardest part was the filly. The orphanage is required to inform any potential parent that the filly was previously adopted and returned. However, this had a negative impact on the likelihood of her being chosen. She was too young to remember her time with that couple, but I felt like I had robbed her of the chance to grow up with parents. Admittedly, the orphanage also made a mistake here. They shouldn't have taken my recommendation as a pass for the psychological test, as it wasn't properly conducted. Despite my qualifications for conducting such tests, my letter should have only been considered as a factor in the acceptance of a real test. However, it no longer mattered, as she would probably remain an orphan for her whole life.

"But Fate decided that I deserved a chance to fix her life too. A friend of mine contacted me. They wanted to adopt a foal, as despite nothing being wrong with them, they had been trying for a long time to conceive without success. They wanted to ask me a few things about raising a foal that is not theirs, and since I was known for foalsitting many children, they thought I could give them some advice. I couldn't offer much, as there are significant differences. When I asked if they had already chosen a foal and they said no, I told them about this little filly. I didn't want to pressure them into adopting her, but they went to see her. When it came to adoption, they chose her, and now she's growing up in a loving family."

When Cadance finished her tale, she stared at the man with a reassuring smile. It took some time for Lazlo to fully process the story he had just heard.

"Of course, it wasn't a quick process. They all suffered for months before their lives began to improve again. And it changed me too. I won't allow myself to ignore any details anymore. Also, I have reduced my time as a therapist and focused more on ruling. Auntie Celestia was pleased that I managed to right my wrongs and also began to focus more on my studies as a princess, which also meant that I could help her out more. I hope this helps you realize that here in Equestria, forgiveness and second chances are cultural norms."

"Thank you, Princess, for sharing this story with me," Lazlo bowed his head.

"You're welcome! But now, let's focus on the main reason why I wanted to talk with you. And please, don't feel like I'm forcing anything on you, but I want to have a therapy session, or something similar to that with you right now. Please understand that I just want to help you," she changed the topic.

"And what would this session be about?" he asked, though he already was certain of her answer.

"I want to ease you into the idea of interspecies romantic relationships," she spoke the answer, which almost matched word-for-word what his mind had put into her mouth.

"And why would you want to do that?" he continued questioning.

"Because I can see that you are uncomfortable with the idea of dating somepony who is not your species. And that's completely okay. Most individuals prefer their own kind. That is the natural way, after all. Love shouldn't all be about looks, but some kind of physical attraction still has to develop eventually, or it won't work for long. But sadly, there is no other option for you. And I also believe that everypony deserves the chance to find their significant other. But because of your situation, you might feel that you've been denied that opportunity, but that's not true. Interspecies couples are fully accepted in Equestria and also in most other countries, though they are very rare. But it's still hundreds of creatures who would probably be lonely without that option. And that's why I want to help you, so that you at least have a chance," she explained.

"Okay..." Lazlo said after several seconds of thinking. It was really an uncomfortable thought. But he agreed to hear her out. And what could he lose? It's not like there were any alternatives. She was right, he didn't have a chance otherwise.

"Alright, let's start with some basic information," she levitated a notepad and a quill. "What is your sexuality? Which way do you swing?" and she began making notes as he answered her questions.

"Heterosexual."

"What is the preferred age of your potential partner?"

"Around mine, usually it's the same age, or the man is a few years older. I think that's the usual. At least it was in my family. But I don't mind if the woman is older, as long as it's not by much."

"And humans are monogamous, right?"

"In my culture, yes."

"Were you in a romantic relationship when you got here?"

"No."

"Did you have romantic relationships in the past?"

"Yes, three."

"How long did they last?"

"A few months each."

"Do you feel like you're over them? More specifically, the last one?"

"I think so."

"Do you want to tell me about them?"

"I..." He didn't really want to. Those memories weren't pleasant, and he didn't like revisiting them. But he talked about them to his friends in his world, and he considered Cadance a friend.

"You don't have to. Maybe you're not completely over them. We can skip it, but I think it would be better if you talk about it, to help you move on at least. And I won't judge you, no matter what happened," she reassured him. After Lazlo gave her a nod, she smiled. "Alright. Let's start with the first."

"Her name was Anita. She was a classmate in high school. I had a crush on her, but I only asked her out after graduation. We got together, but a few months later, she cheated on me. So we broke up," he gave her a short summary.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you love her?"

"I thought I did."

"Did she tell you why she cheated on you?"

"She said she didn't like how I was so pushy, and we always did what I wanted, and I was a control freak."

"And were those accusations true?"

"Somewhat. At that time, I didn't feel like that. But in hindsight, it really was mostly me who said what we should do. I... I don't think I was a control freak, but I guess I could understand why she thought so. Still, she could have just broken up with me."

"On that, I agree. Cheating is never a good solution. And it sounds like you learned from it too. Alright, what about the second relationship?"

"After I got a job and also made amends with most of my family, I started looking for a girlfriend again. I met Stella, and we kind of clicked. It was better than with Anita. But it didn't last long either. One day she just randomly told me that she found a guy who she liked more than me and simply broke up with me."

"I see, and do you know why did she choose this other stallion- oh sorry, what's the term? Other man?" Lazlo nodded. "So why did she choose this other man, instead of you?"

"No idea. She never told me any reason."

"I see. Alright then. Tell me about the third one."

Lazlo grabbed his glass and slowly raised it to his mouth, taking a few gulps of water. Maybe he was wrong, or just lied to himself. Maybe he wasn't really over it. After all, he still hadn't tried to look for anyone else since then, and it was over a year ago. But he was here now. He hadn't thought about his exes much since getting here. Did it matter if he was over it? Maybe. So far it didn't haunt him much, but since this therapy session already made him revisit those memories, why not talk about them? Putting back down his glass, he looked at Cadance, who was patiently waiting for him to continue.

"Shortly after breaking up with Stella, I met Anna. She was a few years older than me, but that wasn't an issue for either of us. I liked her very much and probably spoiled her a little. But she never became a brat, and I really enjoyed being with her, and it seemed like she enjoyed my company too. Some smaller fights here and there, but nothing an adult couple couldn't handle. Only after a few months together, and I already thought that I found the One. I was thinking of asking her to move in together. But then one day, a man contacted me. He yelled at me for getting together with his fiancée. I was confused. Eventually, he calmed down a little, and we could talk. It turned out that Anna was already together with him, and he proposed to her shortly after she got together with me, and she still said yes. He proved it to me with pictures and messages. So basically, I was the one being cheated with."

"That must have been a terrible feeling."

"Well, yes. But I was more angry than anything. I was furious. When she came to me next time, I confronted her. I yelled at her, I even slapped her. I..." he felt tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Your reaction is understandable, even if I don't like violence. For the first two, it seemed that those were just relationships that didn't work out. But in-"

"But in this case, I was a fool," he interrupted.

"Do you know why she did that?"

"She told me that she loved both of us and couldn't decide, but that's not really a good answer when she accepted the guy's proposal while cheating on him with me and not even breaking up with me."

"And you didn't try to find anyone else since?"

"That's right."

"Because of how your past relationships ended?"

"I... I guess... I just didn't see the point. Most things were going well, so why bother finding someone when all my previous attempts ended with heartache. I just stopped putting effort into finding another girlfriend."

"But you didn't give up on it completely," Cadance stated, and Lazlo nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I'm always sad to hear about someone having bad luck in finding a special someone. Let's continue. From what I learned, I assume you were looking for a mate who you will live the rest of your life with, yes?"

"Something like that. I never saw the point of being together only for a short time, have some sex, and then goodbye. Maybe it's because of how I was raised," he shrugged.

"That is a healthy mindset. And did you want to have a family? Become a father?"

"Eventually... Though it doesn't matter anymore. I lost that chance forever."

"Not necessarily. There is adoption, though as you heard, you have to pass some tests, but it's still a possibility. As for finding a partner... I would like to talk with you about your views on interspecies relationships. Again, I'm not trying to force anything on you. I just wish to help you. How do you think humans would view interspecies relationships if there were multiple different sapient species in your world?"

"I think Twilight asked this before. Well, I can think of four groups of people. The majority of people would be those who wouldn't enter into a romantic relationship with another species but won't do anything against those who are in one. The worst some would do is give some weird or disapproving looks, maybe a comment or two about how it isn't normal, but nothing harmful. Then there would be those who also don't really care about others, but they would date other species or even prefer them over humans. By the way, I would probably be in the first group." He already answered a question he expected to come up after putting people into groups.

"There would be the problematic groups too. I don't want to get too much into it, but there are those who are actively against it and want to force their views on others, and those who are okay with it and want to force their views on others. Now while they would be small, they are loud and radicalized. But they are basically the same. They would want different rights for people in interspecies relationships, they both follow the good old 'Who is not with us, are against us' mentality, and they both think the other side is going to destroy the civilization." As he spoke, he got more and more agitated. But then he stopped and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I don't like to talk about these kinds of stuff... I think I'm gonna stop now, you have your answer anyway."

"Yes, I think it would be the best. I'm sorry for bringing up this."

"Not your fault. In my world, we can't really avoid these things anymore, and it really annoys me. But it's not like that here."

"I think you could have a great conversation about this with Auntie Celestia. But let's continue on a different note. What are the physical aspects that make a human female attractive to you, personally?"

"Umm... Well, I would say, don't be neglecting? I mean, don't be someone who only takes a bath once a month, and such. You don't need to be a supermodel and all, but at least have some standards. You get what I'm meaning, right?" Cadance nodded. "Okay, so another aspect is that don't be hairy. Having hairy arms and legs is kind of a turn-off for me, and I think for most men. Also, boobs and butts are important when it comes to looks, and preference varies. Personally, I would like them to be noticeable, but not enormous. That's what suddenly comes to my mind."

"By boobs, you mean teats, right? And humans have two of those?" Cadance asked, and he nodded. "And those are on the chest area on a human, right?" another nod. "Right, so about your first point, it has nothing to do with species, I think. As for being hairy, well, most creatures here are covered by fur, feathers, or scales. As for teats, since it's only on mammals, that would take out dragons, as they are reptiles, and griffons, as that part of their anatomy and biology isn't mammalian. As for the mammals, you have the minotaurs, who have them on the chest area, the diamond dogs, but they have more along their belly, and ponies, zebras, horses have those on their crotch area. There are some other species as well, but they are either too far away, or want to keep themselves isolated."

"Okay..." he started to become a little embarrassed. Talking about things like this with another adult wouldn't make him uncomfortable, but when that adult is another species, talking about other species, then it can get to that point.

"So the closest to humans would be the minotaurs."

"It seems so, but still too different, I mean they have fur everywhere and I think they have hooves too on their legs." Cadance nodded. "And I don't think being bipedal or not would matter too much when it's still very different. But of course, it's a completely undiscovered territory for me."

"Alright, let's approach this from a different point. Let's ignore the different species part and focus on the inside. You already befriended, or at least become acquainted with some mares, and some of them are probably single. Can you tell me about them?"

"Well, there are some in the chess club, I go every week. Umm... there are some in the marketplace, they like to have some small talk when I'm shopping. There is the mare who delivers the mails and packages, though I think she's in a relationship. And, of course, there is Twilight and her friends, or well, our friends... mostly," he listed them.

"Okay, let's go through them. First, the mares in the chess club."

"Lyra and Sweetie Drops. But I think they are into each other, at least, sometimes they really act like that. Then there is Octavia. She's a musician, I think."

"Alright, let's go with Octavia. If she were a human, would you ask her out?"

"Not really, we don't have much in common, barely any common interests and all."

"That's completely alright. Next, any mare in the marketplace?"

"They are more like acquaintances. Many of them only come to town every few weeks or once a month. They live in different towns. None come to mind who I would ask out if she were a human."

"Okay, that leaves us with Twilight and her friends. If they were humans, would you ask out any of them?"

"Hmm... Most likely Twilight. I spent the most time with her. Maybe Rarity, or Rainbow Dash."

"What about the others?"

"Applejack and I don't get along. Pinkie is too hyperactive for me. Fluttershy is really sweet, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have the patience for her, so it's more for her sake."

"I see, so the other three mares, you would ask one of them out if they were humans?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter. They are not humans, and I am. What's the point of this 'what if' scenario?"

"Because, while I don't have the power nor the will to change your mind on interspecies relationships, I can suggest trying to do it yourself. Think about the following thing for a second. You wouldn't ask them out now, but what if one of them asks you out?"

"None of them seem the type-" Lazlo started but Cadance interrupted him.

"No offense, but I don't think you can tell which types they are. Neither can I sometimes, it's not an exact thing. Besides, you'll probably meet other mares in the future who might fit into the category. What I wanted to say is that if one of them approaches you one day and asks you out for a date, be willing to give it a try at least. Be honest with her, tell her your reservations, but if it's really only the different species thing that's stopping you from instantly saying yes, then ask yourself: 'Is she worth changing my mind on it?' If your answer is yes, then go for it. Who knows, maybe your soulmate was always here, in Equestria. And maybe, she will be able to make you change your mind."

He thought about her words. He really did. He didn't consider the option of being asked out before. Only Agile Body showed interest in him, but it was only because she had a mental disorder with a self-describing name, which Lazlo forgot and just called it soft-nymphomania. But Cadance had a point. What would he do if it's someone he's close with? What would he say if it's really just her being a pony is the only reason to decline? How would he react if Rainbow Dash one day would fly by his house and just ask him if he wants to see an exclusive flying show by her with some dinner together after? Or Rarity after another order? Or Twilight after a study session? All of these seemed very unlikely now, but not impossible in the future.

He didn't know. How could he? There were no good or bad answers. But would he have any? Maybe in the future. But currently he could do only one thing.

"I'll think about it," he stated.

"Good to hear that," she got up and walked up to him. "I hope you'll find your special somepony one day. And if you ever need advice or help on anything, my door will always be open to you," she nuzzled him.

"Thank you."

"And now, how about we go and have lunch? I offered that too when you arrived two days ago, and all this talking made me hungry," Lazlo nodded in agreement, his stomach already started sending signals. "I know a great place! They don't have meat, but the grilled cheese there is so good you will fall in love with it, I guarantee it," she winked. Lazlo chuckled and followed her.
> 35. The magic of technology
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was probably the second largest building in the Castle Town after the Castle. It was an impressive building that stood out due to its dark, mostly purple coloration, while white dominated most of the other buildings in Canterlot. The huge windows indicated that each level had greater height than the average. The architectural style followed the Canterlot pattern and included towers on top. The main entrance was also huge, allowing multiple ponies to enter or exit the building at the same time. A large, round golden emblem hung above the entrance, depicting a four-pointed star with radiant lines around it.

Celestia explained that the school's history dated back to before the Unification. Initially, it was a school to train unicorns with the potential to join the team responsible for raising the Sun and the Moon. The term 'Gifted' referred to those unicorns who could be part of that team. The school not only aimed to strengthen young unicorns' magical capabilities but also to prepare them for the eventual loss of their magic, which inevitably occurred for those who were part of the team. This loss was a cruel but necessary process, as without them, the day and night cycle would cease, yet there were never enough ponies to allow them to recover properly. Consequently, they had to perform their duty until their magic burned out completely. It was both a gift and a curse.

Lazlo could sense the joy radiating from Celestia's smile as she mentioned how happy she was when she and Luna learned that they could take over this duty, thus saving them from the trauma of losing their magic. After this realization, the school was closed for some time. Following their time on the throne, Princess Platinum and Starswirl the Bearded approached Celestia with the idea of reopening the school but with a different focus. The princesses agreed, although Luna chose not to be a part of it, as she was busy focusing on the defenses of Equestria from external forces, given the kingdom's recent establishment and lack of peace. Consequently, the school was re-established, with Starswirl becoming the head stallion and Celestia taking on the role of a teacher. After Starswirl disappeared, Celestia assumed the position of head mare and held it ever since.

The most surprising piece of information about the school, however, was that there were a few pegasi and earth pony students too. While the school's main purpose was to help unicorns improve their magical abilities and knowledge, new subjects were added. Celestia introduced new classes focused on theoretical magic and classes that emphasized pegasus and earth pony magic, which were open for anypony to apply.

The auditorium was big, capable of seating hundreds of ponies. Just like in the universities from his world, this one had also been shaped like those theaters from ancient Greece. Despite its size, as Lazlo stood next to Celestia, who was addressing the crowd, he saw that probably three ponies occupied two seats, and the stairs were also occupied by sitting ponies. Some pegasi even brought in clouds to stand, sit, or lie on. They all switched their attention between him and Celestia, though those who were more focused on the princess were most likely those who weren't students here. Lazlo also spotted familiar faces in the sea of ponies. Fancy Pants, Fleur, and some nobles around them, though most of them didn't seem pleased with the population density. Surprisingly, he also spotted Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. He wondered what they were doing here. Rarity wasn't with them.

"My little ponies!" Celestia spoke. "I welcome all of you! Students and teachers of this school, and from the Canterlot Academy, and everypony else who just happened to hear about this presentation and wished to attend. It brings me so much joy to see so many of you coming here and listen to a very special presentation today!" She then gestured towards Lazlo. "Lazlo Kis here will talk about his world, which has no magic. So without further ado, let's hear it from him." She then turned to him and lit her horn. Lazlo felt something warm around his throat and then he got that feeling when he swallowed a medicine but felt like it got stuck in his throat, but in reality it didn't. This gave him a scare, but luckily it only lasted for a second. "Just a minor spell to increase the volume of your voice, so everypony can hear you and you won't have to yell," she explained, and Lazlo nodded.

"Testing, testing," he spoke and got a little jump scared at his own voice for a moment. It really was like he was talking to a microphone but the speaker was also in his mouth. "Okay, this is weird," he commented before looking at the audience. "Welcome everyone! My name is Lazlo Kis, and I'm a human. I'm going to talk about my world, and how we manage to live without magic, and then I'll answer some of the questions you have. Of course, I won't be able to talk about everything, that would take years probably. But to give you a picture about how does an average human live his life, I'm going to tell you what was one of my usual workdays like."

"But before that, I'm going to tell you about two things, really short, to give you some pointers. First is the computers. I did some research here, and from what I found, the closest thing you have here are a machine and an enchanted core that has the logic and does the calculation, or whatever function it needs to do. Well, our computers are more complex. For an average user, the machine runs an operating system, which is like a base where you can run multiple different programs, whatever you installed on the computer. I know it's not very detailed, but it would take very long to explain, and also, I only know the basics, maybe a little more. But maybe imagine it like you have a base enchantment that you use to open and control other enchantments, or something like that."

He felt a little awkward. One of the troubles he had while preparing for this presentation is how to explain technology that they don't have here, or it's different. It went way better with Twilight because it was one-on-one, so she could cut in with questions, and also she is very smart and can figure things out pretty easily when it comes to science. Actually, she was the one who told him about the works of Equestrian computers and compared them to human ones. He already noticed some of the students started to take notes.

"The other thing is what I consider humanity's best and worst creation. The internet. Now to explain what it is... Imagine that you're in a room with a door that you can write on. You write anything on it, open the door, and you get there. Not really as in teleportation or anything, but basically you can do almost anything with the help of the internet. Talk with your family or friends in real time, no matter where they are. Read information about a topic you're interested in. Look up the restaurant you plan to go, read the opinions of others about that place, view the menu, or even make a reservation. Or even create your own content that others can watch or read. And many more, it would take forever to even list half of the things that are possible, or became faster, or more accessible thanks to it. It has its dangers and downsides, but that doesn't change the fact that it's my kind's greatest creation so far. Of course, you need a computer to access it and usually a program we call a browser. That imaginary room is the browser."

He observed various reactions to his description, ranging from skepticism to awe, confusion to dreamy fascination. He wondered how each of them imagined these concepts. Did his description created entirely different images in their minds? He conceded that his description might not have been very good, but it was challenging to convey without a visual aid. The idea of asking Celestia for a memory view spell briefly crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, he wanted to accomplish this without resorting to magic.

"Anyway, let's go begin my average day. My alarm rings. Now another great device we have is the phone. Originally it was invented to talk with others in real time no matter the distance, but eventually they got more and more features and nowadays, phones are basically computers that you can hold in one hand. It has a screen that you can control with touching the screen. So my alarm rings on my phone, I turn it off, and go back to sleep." he said, eliciting laughter from himself and several ponies. "Then the next alarm rings and so on. After finally I'm ready to wake up, I do the morning routine that is basically the same as here."

"Once I'm ready, I head to work. I used to live in a relatively large city, and my office was quite far away. Walking, or even using a scooter or bicycle, which is somewhat similar to a scooter but operates differently, would take too long. Another option is the car, which is... imagine a mix of the locomotive and the carriage, where there is an engine that makes it go on it's own but you are not bound to railway, though there are many rules but you can go on the roads. This isn't a bad idea, and usually is pretty fast, but there might be traffic jams, which is basically happens when there are too many cars on the roads and we got stuck. This often happens during the morning rush hour. Additionally, there's usually no available parking near my office. So, public transportation is the best option. We have buses, which are large vehicles capable of transporting many people, trams that operate like smaller trains within the city, and metros, similar to what you have in Manehattan. However, ours are a bit more advanced, we even have driverless metros that operate autonomously with computers. They open and close the doors, wait for a set time at the stations, then proceed to the next stop. And there's no magic involved, so no enchanting the vehicles."

Some of the students looked on in awe upon hearing this.

"Anyway, I almost forgot. Phone. Another important aspect of modern technology. These phones, essentially mini computers, are also called smartphones. Yeah, we like to label our devices as 'smart,' but what do you expect from a species that named itself 'Homo Sapiens,' meaning 'Wise Man,'" he remarked, prompting more chuckles. "Thanks to our technology, these phones, along with more and more 'smart' devices, are capable of many things that make life very easy. For example, I can buy and store my tickets for public transportation on it. I can even check when the vehicle I'm about to take will arrive at the stop, or plan the fastest route for me. This also works when I need to reach a destination but don't know where it is exactly. I can use a navigation system. But how is that possible? Well, I can determine my current position thanks to many satellites orbiting our planet. That's right. Humans are already achieved space traveling, though we are only at the beginning of it. We got to the Moon though. It around sixty, or seventy years ago when the first human set foot on the Moon."

This also elicited looks of wonder and awe from his audience.

"Anyway, I arrive at work. To gain entry, I use my company card, which contains some small electronic technology. I simply touch it to a device on the wall, which scans the card and unlocks the door for me. I spend most of my time at work sitting at my desk and working on my computer. The company I worked for manufactured machines and fully automated production lines for various factories, as well as software, which is like enchantments but more complex. I worked on that software, an MES (Manufacturing Execution System), running on a server, which is essentially a powerful computer that can be accessed via the internet or a private network. In a way, the internet is a vast library of servers that you can access with authorization."

"So I worked on that software, which can be used to oversee the production process, monitor various products, machines, and so on. With this software, you can create tasks, add new products, change parameters of existing products, gather data from the machines, send data to them, view reports on selected products or tasks, and much more that I couldn't possibly list here. But you get the idea, right?" Various responses were seen from the audience. "Of course, all this data is stored in a database, which essentially consists of many tables. In simple terms, you have columns representing different data categories, and rows containing the actual data. For example, a product would have columns for a unique identifier, name, date of addition, quantity produced so far, and so on. Additionally, there would be another table listing all the parameters a product can have, each with its unique identifier, name, and value. Then, there would be another table connecting these two, linking the product identifiers with the parameter identifiers."

"I hope I've at least provided a basic understanding of it. The point is, we store a vast amount of data, which is crucial for our customers. So basically, I spend most of my time working on these tasks, like setting up starting databases for new customers, adding new or customized features to the software, testing communication between the software and machines using simulators, and so on. It may sound monotonous at first, but it's quite diverse; things are always at least a little different. I also have to write documentation for both customers and colleagues. For instance, if I customize communication between the software and a machine, or add a new feature, I have to document how it works. It's as tedious as it sounds, but it's part of the job."

"And of course, sometimes we have to support our customers when they encounter problems that we didn't notice before. The challenge is that these customers may be on another continent and in a different time zone. Do you have time zones here?" he asked Celestia, who nodded in affirmation. "Great. So anyway, thanks to the internet, we don't need to travel to them to fix these issues. We can access their servers from our office or even home to address the problem almost immediately. It's pretty awesome, right? This flexibility also allows us to working from home, which we call 'home office.' But of course, we can always go on-site to a customer if needed or requested. Fortunately, we have mobile computers, what we call laptops or notebooks. They may not be as powerful, but they are portable."

"But how do we reach a customer on the other side of the planet? Well, we fly. That's the fastest mode of transportation." This seemed to pique the interest of most pegasi in the audience. "We have airplanes, which are flying machines that are quite fast. I don't know all the specifics since I've never had the pleasure of flying myself, even though it's quite affordable nowadays. However, I'm certain that with an airplane, you can reach virtually anywhere on the planet in less than a day." This was the first time he heard murmuring among the ponies, particularly the pegasus ponies hovering in the clouds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Princess Celestia raise a hoof, and they fell silent once more.

"So... Work's over. Let's head home. But first, a little detour to buy some groceries. I go to the shop near my apartment, grab what I need, and then head to the self-checkout machines. We also have normal cashiers, but there are these machines where you can scan a unique code placed on each product. The screen will list your items and summarize the cost, essentially allowing you to do the cashier's job. You can pay with cash or a card. Speaking of which, we love those cards. We have banks too. They're kind of like the Vault here, but they do more than just store your money. Honestly, I don't know all the details, but basically most things that's got to do with money and is legal can be done there. They give us cards with information like a unique number, your name, expiry date, and codes only you're supposed to know, like a password, but with numbers only. You use the card, and they scan the chip to deduct the money from your bank account. Or nowadays, you can use your card on your smartphone or other 'smart' devices to do the same."

He noticed that not only the audience, but even Princess Celestia, looked thoughtful as he explained the various options for spending one's hard-earned money.

"After I bought everything I wanted, I finally head home. And since the eight hours I spent in front of my computer at work weren't enough, I spend some more time in front of my computer at home. There are many entertainment options available on it, especially thanks to the internet. I can play games, watch a movie, or a video that a random person uploaded, read something interesting, or order something from a different continent because I can't get it in my country. But I can buy it from six thousand kilometers away, and in a few weeks, it will arrive. I also order my lunch for the next week in advance. The internet is pretty great and probably the thing I miss the most after family and friends, of course. So yeah, nightly routine, and off to bed. I check my alarm for tomorrow, even though I can set it to automatically go off every workday. But I still want to make sure, and then lights off."

He glanced at the clock behind him, which showed that he had only spoken for around thirty-five minutes. 

"Well, now I can talk about random stuff that comes to mind or go ahead and answer your questions, as I'm sure there are many and even more came up during my presentation," he offered. When he noticed two students standing up, he knew what they had chosen.

Both ponies were unicorns and had a stack of papers in front of them, holding one with their magic. He could guess that one of them was from this school, and the other was from the Canterlot Academy, as both schools' students were seated in one group, except for those pegasi on the clouds.

Both ponies introduced themselves, but he forgot their names the moment the first question was spoken. 

"How would you compare everyday life between your world and this world?" was the first question.

"Well, it's surprisingly similar, except for the technology I was talking about. It's like you came up with the same ideas as us, except when magic got involved."

"How different is Equestrian culture from human culture?"

"Since we humans have more cultures than countries, and we have around two hundred countries, I can't say exactly, but I'd say there are many similarities, mostly on the broader scale, like the basics of society. But there are also many different segments, although those differences are relatively small. Overall, our worlds are surprisingly similar."

"Are you planning on bringing any technology from your world, or maybe is any in progress?"

"I talked about a lot of things that are not here and could be. Um... The problem is that most of them require previous technology or infrastructure that you don't have. Also, I don't know much about the base of those things, nor all the relevant details, not to mention the safety issues it might bring. Many of our technologies are dangerous, and it cost many lives to make them as safe as possible, but that doesn't mean they're completely harmless. I know that everything is dangerous to some degree at least, but I'm talking about things that could increase the chance of diseases like cancer."

"But if you know it's dangerous, why do you have them?" he asked back, instead of letting the other move on to the next question.

"It's not like everyone will get cancer. The benefits far outweigh the risks. And our medicine has developed so much that many diseases basically disappeared. Also, the most dangerous things are the safest because we have worked the hardest on making them safe."

Many more questions were asked, mostly general, as they were collected before the presentation. Most were about humans in general, the planet, or how things work there that need magic here.

"If there is no magic there, who controls the weather?"

"Mother Nature. We can't control the wea-" he paused, then thought for a moment. "Well, we can somewhat control it. I've heard of some cases where they shot something up in the sky to prevent a blizzard, but it also prevented rain, making it a very dry year. Otherwise, we can mostly predict the weather."

"What about moving the Sun and the Moon?"

"Our Sun is huge. Earth could fit into our Sun over a million times. Earth moves around the Sun in an ellipse, which creates the seasons. It also rotates around its own axis, creating the day and night cycle as the Sun will always illuminate different parts of the planet. Basically the same with the Moon, but in that case, the Moon is smaller and rotates around Earth. It doesn't have its own light but reflects the Sun's light and can be seen during the day too sometimes, depending on its position at the moment."

"What powers your technology and how do you get that power?"

"Electricity. And we get it in many ways, mostly by heating up water and using the steam to move a big turbine, or by other means to create kinetic energy and then convert that into electricity somehow. We have several methods for that, like burning wood, coal, or splitting atoms. I'm really not well-versed in the exact workings of these things."

Then after some time, free questioning came, and almost everyone raised a hoof. Lazlo began randomly pointing at them.

"How can you calculate such things, like the Sun's size?"

"We had the help of machines and several very smart mathematicians. They calculated how far away the Sun is, how big it could be, and we also know how hot it is. The surface is around six thousand degrees Celsius, and the core is around fifteen million, give or take." He could feel Celestia's stare the whole time he was talking about the Sun. It seemed even she was surprised at that. Then again, he never mentioned this to Twilight during the study session, it probably slipped his mind back then.

"You said that the internet is your kind's best and worst creation. What did you mean by that?"

"Anyone can put anything on it, even anonymously. On one hand, it's good because that means everyone has a chance to share something of value, and also the many great things I mentioned that are possible thanks to it. But that also means that people can do bad things and avoid the consequences, because they might never find out the identity of someone who, for example, used it to steal money from someone or put fake information about something or someone."

"Do you think these computers, the internet, and other technologies that you talked about can be created and used here?"

"Certainly. Though I don't know anything about how those enchantments work, so it might not be possible with those, but it can be done the same way humans did."

"How do you think our society would change if we'll have those technologies you talked about?"

"I have no idea. There would be changes, that's for sure. But what percentage of those changes would be positive, neutral, and negative? I can't even guess. Many things have improved significantly, like healthcare or communication. However, they have also caused damage to our environment. Overall, I think it's positive for humanity, and we're constantly developing new or more effective ways that often decrease the negative effects. So I can only give you perspective, not an answer."

Almost three hours passed since the start of the presentation when Princess Celestia finally put an end to it. It didn't take long for everyone to leave the auditorium, and many walked up to him and thanked him. When only the Princess remained, she turned to him.

"Thank you for this presentation. Even I managed to learn a few new things."

"Be honest, how horrible was I?"

"It's clear that you don't have experience in it, however, the answers were great," she smiled at him.

"So... very," she laughed at this.

"I hope you'll come and present in the future. I'm sure the students would be happy to learn more about your world," Celestia said as she gave a nuzzle to the human.

"Sure," they said their goodbyes and both went on their own ways. When he got out of the building, he saw Twilight and the others waiting for him.

"You?" he asked as a greeting.

"Rarity sent a message that she can't go back to Ponyville because Opal got sick, so I asked the Princess if I can move my birthday party here. She gave us the ballroom in the castle. We came a day early to let Rarity know, have time to prepare, and while we're here, we decided to listen to your presentation," Twilight answered.

That sounded weird. He hadn't seen Rarity much in the past few days. Still, he didn't know much about pet keeping, and it made sense that she might not want to put a sick animal on a train.

"So... You think the Princess can extend my stay?" he asked somewhat jokingly.

"Well, I might be able to convince her, but it'll be a big favor, so you owe me big," Twilight answered, and everyone laughed. "Let's go visit Rarity to let her know too."

With that, they all walked back to the castle, discussing the presentation, mostly criticizing Lazlo on how hard it was to understand what he was speaking about.
> 36. Happy Birthday Twilight Sparkle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say that Rarity was surprised when she opened the door of her suite to leave at the same time as Lazlo and the mares arrived and were about to knock would be an understatement.

She was wearing one of her fancy dresses and looked like she was just leaving. However, she was forced to stay as everyone entered her suite. Fluttershy instantly went to check on the cat, since Rarity had told them that it was Opal’s sickness that forced her to stay. The cat seemed healthy, but since Lazlo didn’t know much about cats, he had to take Rarity at her word.

Twilight also noticed the dress that Rarity was making for her birthday. It was a plain yellow dress, nothing special, but Twilight seemed to love it, given the hug she gave to Rarity.

Later, they went to decorate the ballroom that Celestia had given Twilight to use for the party. Everyone except Rarity, who made up some excuse and left. Twilight also showed everyone her suite, where she used to live before moving to Ponyville. It was just as one would imagine her dream home: books everywhere. It was big and fancy, yet elegant, just like everything else in Canterlot Castle.

The next day, they spent most of their time going around Canterlot, with Twilight showing them some of the places she knew before she became a complete shut-in and only went to a park to read a book. So before her parents applied her to Celestia’s school.

Of course, Rarity again managed to decline attending the tour of one of her best friend’s childhood memories. However, she came around when they were heading to the ballroom in the evening for the party. The place was way too big for six ponies, one dragon, and one human, but regardless, they enjoyed it.

“Where did you get the wine?” Twilight asked as she looked at the glass in Lazlo’s hand, the bottle on the table next to him, and the two other bottles. 

“A servant brought them. I think the Princess sent it, with an apology for missing out, as she had other duties. How about we all drink a glass?” he offered. 

“I don’t know…” Twilight looked unsure. “I don’t drink often.” 

“It’s a special occasion. It’s your birthday,” he argued. 

That convinced Twilight. She got the others to join, and they all wished her a happy birthday again, this time with a glass of wine. After that, everything went back to the standard Pinkie party level: punch, dancing, piñata hitting, and Twilight opening her presents, which were mostly books. She loved them all, just like the dress that Rarity gave her. 

The party was still in full swing when suddenly Rarity returned with a wooden hammer-like thing in her mouth. Now, that was weird.

“Uh, what’s with the croquet mallet?” Rainbow Dash asked, voicing the question they all had in mind.

“What croquet mallet?” Rarity replied, her words muffled by the very object in question.

“Duh, the one in your mouth!” Rainbow Dash pressed, stating the obvious.

“Oh, that croquet mallet. I… well, you see, the truth is… the truth is…” Rarity stammered, laughing nervously as she let the mallet fall from her mouth, unable to come up with anything.

“Were you at that other party in the garden?” Twilight inquired, as everyone else glanced out at the ponies in fancy attire in the garden.

“I… I…” Rarity’s faltering voice gave her away.

“Rarity, I’m surprised at you,” Twilight said, her tone one of genuine surprise rather than disappointment.

“Twilight, let me explain! I-” Rarity began, desperate for an explanation, but Twilight cut her off.

“I hadn’t realized you were such a savvy business pony!” Twilight exclaimed, impressed, catching everyone off guard as they had all jumped to different conclusions. Lazlo, for instance, had surmised that Rarity’s entire reason for staying was her inability to refuse Fancy Pants, who was hosting the garden party, and now she was attempting to attend at both events.

She had always been away from the castle when Lazlo inquired about her over the past few days. And since she received many invitations on the day of the derby, it seemed a reasonable explanation. Though he wondered about the secrecy. Perhaps it was something he simply viewed differently. He never made a big deal if a friend didn’t come to his birthday party, which weren’t really parties anyway.

“You must understand! I-” Rarity either hadn’t heard Twilight or had misunderstood her somehow.

“All those ponies look so posh. They are perfect clients for you. I’m sure, after getting to know you, they will only buy your dresses. Very smart!” Twilight praised her, and it seemed that Rarity finally understood.

“Why yes, I-I didn’t want you to think I was being rude, so that’s exactly the reason I didn’t tell you. The one and only reason,” Rarity chuckled nervously again.

“Oh, well, you didn’t have to worry about that. You should totally go over there and mingle!” Twilight suggested. It seemed she wasn’t the type to get offended by a friend missing her party either.

“Twilight, you really are the best friend a pony could ever ask for. I don’t know why I ever thought you wouldn’t understand,” Rarity seemed relieved as she hugged the birthday mare.

“Understand what?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing. See you girls later!” Rarity let go of Twilight and was about to leave, but the conversation wasn’t over.

“Hey, wait up!” Rainbow Dash yelled, making Rarity stop in her tracks. “We’re your friends! I’m sure they won’t mind if we check out the party too! Come on, you guys! Let’s show them how to party Ponyville style!”

With that, they all ran towards the exit to the gardens, leaving Lazlo behind, who was in no mood for running around, and Rarity, who looked horrified, exclaiming ‘Oh, no!’ out loud.

“Relax!” Lazlo tried to calm her down. “I’m sure Fancy will be okay with them. Besides, you’re all heroes, so if anything, they should be thanking you for the attendance.”

But Rarity didn’t seem to listen to him and sprinted after them, likely trying to do some damage control. He just sighed and followed her.

When he got outside and saw what was happening, he had to admit one thing.

“They could be assholes sometimes… This is not okay. This isn’t even Ponyville style, as Rainbow said… I never thought Pinkie Pie would ever take part in wrecking a party.”

Lazlo truly started to feel bad for the ponies there. He might not be any kind of protector of the ‘elite’, but in this case, he understood and mostly agreed with them on being annoyed by what his friends were doing. He wondered whether he should stay or leave, as he didn’t want to be part of this, but then Fancy Pants approached him.

“Hello, Lazlo!” he greeted. “I thought you said you couldn’t attend, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hey! Well, there were some changes, and Twilight’s birthday party was moved to the ballroom, and they decided to check out this party… Sorry about this,” he gestured at the chaos unfolding.

“No need to apologize! I’ve got this,” he winked.

He approached Twilight, who probably got drunk on that one glass of wine, because no one in the right mind would dare to do the 'dance moves' she was just doing.

“Good evening, Miss Sparkle! I haven’t seen you in a long time,” he greeted her, prompting her to halt her dance to everyone’s relief. “Might I ask where you got your ensemble?”

“Good evening, Lord Fancy Pants!” Twilight responded. “A very close friend of mine from Ponyville made it for me.”

“And who is this close friend of yours?” Fancy inquired. Rarity rushed up to him, attempting to drag him away, but Fancy stood his ground.

“Rarity made this dress, and it’s beautiful,” Twilight said, turning to the mare. This revelation caused every pony at the party to gasp in shock. Meanwhile, the others gathered around Twilight. Lazlo decided to join them. “We all think so.”

The ‘important’ ponies began to murmur among themselves, and Rarity appeared stressed as she looked between those ponies and her friends, particularly when one of them questioned if she really knew Twilight.

“Are they really not recognizing Princess Celestia’s student, or do they just don’t give a fuck?” Lazlo wondered.

“Yes, I do know them. They may not be as sophisticated as some of you Canterlot ponies, but they are my best friends and without a doubt the most important ponies I know,” Rarity finally declared.

“Important ponies? These ruffians?” one of the ponies, named Jet Set, asked as if it were the most outrageous thing he had ever heard.

“Don’t make me laugh!” his companion, a mare named Upper Crust, added.

This prompted Lazlo to give them the middle finger, but they probably didn’t pay any attention to him, and there was no way they would understand the gesture anyway.

“I find your dress charmingly rustic, and it was a lovely gesture to make such a fine dress for your friend. I believe every mare in Canterlot should have one,” Fancy Pants spoke and that changed the atmosphere entirely.

Suddenly, every mare was asking Rarity for a dress like Twilight’s, and the stallions all pleaded with Rarity to prioritize their partners.

Now that Fancy Pants had declared his appreciation for Twilight and her friends, the others began to treat them kindly, though the party didn’t last much longer, only as long as the remaining food that survived Pinkie Pie’s rampage. 

After the party ended, they all returned to Twilight’s suite, where Rarity began to write her letter to the princess. However, Celestia herself came to visit them and gave Twilight her birthday present, apologizing for her absence at the party, so it was a spoken lesson in the end. 

Afterward, they prepared for their trip back to Ponyville the next morning, although Twilight stayed behind as she would have lunch at her parents’ house so her family could celebrate her birthday too.