> The Adventures of Selina Lunar
>  by Mike728
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I find myself lying down on a cold, flat surface on my stomach but what it was, I can’t tell or take a guess because it is so dark, so dark to the point that it is pitch black. The only thing I can tell, however, is that the surface is smooth, and I mean REALLY smooth, that was it. My body feels sore and there is a feeling of stiffness in my joints.

‘Where am I?’ I think to myself. ‘Why does my body feel so sore? But more importantly; why is it so dark?’

I open my eyes with the attempt to find out where I am. Instead of being able to see, all I see is nothing but pitch blackness; the darkness itself showing no signs of having changed whatsoever. It is like I didn’t open my eyes at all, although something deep down tells me that my eyes are indeed open.

The air is as cold as the surface that I am currently lying on and I begin shivering uncontrollably. The cold is becoming so unbearable that my teeth begin chattering loudly and my shivering worsens. I feel the strong urge to curl up like a ball and honestly, I will do anything to try and keep myself warm. It will be better than allowing myself to freeze.

I move my arms and my legs a little bit when I pick up the slight sound of something rattling. I lift my head up from the cold, flat surface and freeze. I realize that I have something smooth and cold wrapped tightly around both of my arms and my legs. My heart begins racing rapidly in my chest and I begin to hyperventilate.

‘What is this?’ I think to myself. ‘What is it that I have wrapped tightly around my arms and legs? Am I chained up or something?’

Strong feelings of confusion and fear course throughout my body like crazy. Not only do I have no clue on where I was, why it is so darn cold or why it is so dark, but the possibility of being chained up sends chills down my spine. If I am chained up, what did I do that could have resulted with that happening? Not having the answer to that question is making the situation much more terrifying than it already is.

Something bright cuts through the pitch black darkness and I raise my right arm to block out the sudden blinding light. The sudden brightness causes my vision to blur and I can see the blurry outline of my arm, although for some reason, something seems off about it but I can’t pinpoint what.

“Princesses, she’s awake!!” came an unfamiliar female voice. The owner of the female voice mentioning ‘princesses’ instantly catches my attention for some reason, but I don’t dwell on that for long.

I slowly lower my arm so that my eyes can adjust to the brightness. That way, I don’t blind myself. I have to blink a few times so that my vision can adjust much quicker. Although it does little to help, the good thing is that I’m making progress.

“Well, it’s about time she woke up,” came another unfamiliar female voice. This voice didn’t sound like the one I heard a moment ago, sounding a little angry too. It even held a lot of authority. “She’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Yes, she does indeed,” came yet another unfamiliar female voice. Unlike the other one, this one was gentle, yet there is trace of slight sternness. Like the previous one, it also held a sense of authority, one of tremendous power.

‘Can those other two voices be the so-called princesses?’ I think to myself. ‘Something tells me I’m about to find out.’

With one final blink, my vision returns to me. I lower my arm back down and feel it make contact with the very cold surface. I can’t help but shiver briefly. I then take in my surroundings. From the looks of it, it seems to be some kind of room, but it’s not some ordinary room.

The room is entirely made out of stone and the size of the room is neither too big nor too small. At the far end of the room are large metal bars with some of them going from the ceiling to floor while others went from one side of the room to the other. Though I don’t much about rooms, but I’m pretty sure that they aren’t supposed to look like this.

‘What kind of room is this?’ I think to myself with wonder. I then notice something standing on the other side the bars. I am awe struck by what I’m seeing.

Standing outside of the bars are 3 strange horse-like creatures, ones that I’ve never seen before. The one on the center is a purple horse with a horn protruding from the top of its head with a pair of wings attach to both of its sides, the one standing to the left is a tall, white-furred horse that also had both a horn and a pair of wings, and the one standing to the right is a shorter dark, blue-furred horse that too had a horn and a pair of wings as well. To put it simply, all 3 of the horses have a horn and a beautiful pair of wings.

I continue to stare in awe at these strange horse-like creatures. The aura they give off is one that spoke of great respect and authority. With that in mind, this gives off the impression that they are the Princesses that the first unfamiliar female voice spoke of. I look down at their hooves and see they are wearing some kind of metal footing around them; the white one being that of beige and the blue one being that of maybe a very light blueish color. I then look up at their heads and notice what may appear to be crowns.

‘They must be the Princesses,’ I think to myself. ‘They have to be as it might explain the stuff they’re wearing.’

I take notice of the white and blue-furred horses’ hair and my awe turns into one of utter amazement. The white one’s hair is a combination of four different colors; cerulean, turquoise, blue, and pink while the blue one’s hair is sapphire blue and looks to be sparkling, like there’s small little stars.

I then take notice of their faces and I notice something off about those looks. I don’t know why, but it looks like they’re looking at me funny. I take a closer look at the white and blue-furred horses and notice them giving me a look of pure, utter hatred. I can’t help but shrink at this. I don’t know why they are giving me that look and it is honestly a very creepy and scary look. It is a look someone gives to their most hated enemy.

'Why are they looking at me like that?’ I think to myself nervously. 'I don’t like those looks one bit.’

I quickly take notice on where the sudden light is coming from. It’s coming from a small ball of light that was on the tip of the purple-furred horse’s horn. That is strange; how is a horse capable of such a feat like that? I feel a strong feeling of amazement at such a strange capability.

“Nightmare Moon, why have you come back?” the blue-furred horse asks me with a tone that was filled to the brim with venom and hatred. I snap out of my amazement upon hearing what she said.

Confusion hits me as I stare at the blue-furred horse with curiosity. What does she mean by ‘come back’? And who the heck is this ‘Nightmare Moon’? I take a quick look around the room to see if she is talking to someone else, but I see no one in the room other than me.

I look back to the blue-furred horse and I tilt my head to my left, arching my right eye as I do this.

“What do you-” I say before stopping myself mid-sentence, shock at hearing the sound of my voice. My voice sounds strangely feminine with a small bit of roughness and some regal tone to it. I quickly recover from the shock before I resume my question. “What do you mean by ‘come back’? I don’t understand what you mean.”

The expression on the blue-furred horse’s face quickly becomes intense and she slams her left hoof onto the bars. The tremendous blow of the slam is so great that the bars shake violently. I can’t help but flinch. My question must’ve set her off, but why? Did I say something wrong?

“DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO PLAY DUMB HERE!!!” she yells, her voice somehow louder than ever before. The loudness of her voice was so intense that there was slight ringing in my ears. “YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN, NIGHTMARE!! NOW START EXPLAINING; WHY HAVE YOU COME BACK?! HOW DID YOU COME BACK?!”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear!!” I shout at the top of my lungs out of fear. Her reacting like this is giving me the impression that she’s expecting me to know what she’s talking about or is expecting me to remember, but I don’t.

“YES, YOU DO!!” she yells in an accusing tone.

“No, I don’t!!” I yell back defensively.

“STOP LYING AND EXPLAIN HOW YOU CAME BACK!!”

“I don’t know anything!!”

“YES… YOU… DO!!”

“NO… I… DON’T!!” At this point, I am beginning to get angry.

“THIS… IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, NIGHTMARE MOON!! IF YOU DON’T TELL US RIGHT NOW, WE WILL TURN YOU TO STONE!! START EXPLAINING… NOW!!”

Something snaps within me and I feel all the fear wash away like dried dirt. I had enough of this creature accusing me of something that I have no clue on what she is talking about and her accusing me of not only lying but threatening me as well has only fuel the flames.

I look the blue-furred horse dead in the eyes, bare my teeth at her before I completely explode.

“STOP IT!! JUST STOP IT!! STOP ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING THAT I DON’T HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT OR ACCUSE ME OF LYING BECAUSE I’M NOT LYING TO YOU!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM, WHY YOU AND THOSE TWO ARE SOME KIND OF TALKING HORSE-LIKE CREATURES, WHY I’M LOCKED UP IN THIS PLACE OR WHO THIS ‘NIGHTMARE MOON’ CHARACTER IS!! SO JUST STOP IT… AND GO AWAY!!”

I snort and begin breathing very heavily as I glare at the blue-furred horse. This anger… never before have I ever felt such anger like this. The intensity of it is beginning to terrify me. 

I begin to calm down and soon, my body is now at ease. I look back to the three horn and winged horses and notice that they are looking at me with a hint of bewilderment on their faces.

“Did… did you just call us ‘horse-like creatures’?” the blue-furred horse asks with bewilderment in her tone.

“Yes, I did,” I reply back in a much calmer tone. “I have no clue on what any of you are supposed to be so I referred the 3 of you as that.”

The 3 horses look at each other, their faces changing from an expression of utter bewilderment to one of disbelief. From seeing this, I can tell that they weren’t expecting this turn of events. Although I still have no clue on who ‘Nightmare Moon’ could be, I have a feeling that these horses don’t have the greatest relationship with him or her.

‘I wonder what they’re thinking,’ I think curiously to myself. They turn their attention back to me with the same disbelieving expression plastered on their faces.

“Actually, we’re called ‘ponies’,” the purple one begins before she points her right hoof at me, “and you do realize that you’re a pony too, right?”

Wait a minute… what did she just say? Did I actually hear that correctly or did my ears deceive me? Did… did she just say that I was a pony too? I… I don’t want to believe it. I refuse to believe it. This has to be some kind of joke and that maybe, she is pulling my leg and trying to get a reaction out of me; nothing but a sick joke. Yeah, that has to be it, but I want to make sure that what she said wasn’t what I actually heard.

I give her my best confused look and I tilt my head slightly to my left.

“What do you mean that ‘I’m a pony too’?” I ask her. “Can you please explain it to me?”

She hesitates for a moment, like she is debating on whether to tell me or not.

“I mean that you’re a pony, just like me, Celestia, and Luna. If you don’t believe me, look at yourself.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I raise both of my arms in my line of sight about a foot away from my face. My eyes widen in shock. I have hooves and forearms that are covered completely in black fur and clamped around my forearms are metal shackles with the chains attached to the floor. I begin shaking my head in disbelief.

‘No, this has to be a joke,’ I think to myself, refusing to believe that what I am seeing is real. I quickly rest my hooves back down on the floor and turn my head to take a look at the rest of my body. What I see makes my heart skip a few beats.

My entire body is in the shape of a large equine with black fur and a pair of wings attached to my sides, which are lying limply on the ground. Just like my forelegs, there are metal shackles clamped around my hindlegs and attach to my tailbone is what looks to be some very strange magic-like cloud with stars. The starry cloud-like thing is moving like how long hair blows in the wind. Due to the structure of my body, it gives me the impression that I am female.

I feel something in the back of my mind tell me to check in between my legs to double check and see if I truly was female. I don’t know why but if I have to hazard a guess, some part of my brain is trying one last attempt to firmly deny that what was happening isn’t real. I don’t want to, but I have to at least check it out.

I roll onto my left side and slowly lift my right hindleg up into the air. My eyes catch sight of… them in between my legs. This is all the proof I need to accept the unbelievable truth; I am a large, black-furred, female equine pony.

I take a deep breath and scream. I feel the entire structure shake, but I don’t care. I begin tugging at my restrains frantically while I continued screaming. The metal chains begin rattling loudly like crazy, so loudly that my hearing begins ringing but again, I don’t care. I want to get out of this cell, escape this dreadful place and find someplace safe. I begin to feel frustrated and let out low, desperate whimpers as I continue tugging at my restrains.

‘I want to go home, I want to go home,’ I keep repeating frantically in my head. I don’t know where ‘home’ is but once again, I don’t care.

“HEY, STOP IT!! CALM DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF!!” I hear the purple pony shouts in a frantic tone.

I instinctively stop what I am doing and turn my attention back to the 3 horned and winged-paired ponies. The 3 ponies are looking at me with stunned and slightly nervous looks.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re freaking out like this, but please calm down before you genuinely hurt yourself,” the purple pony says to me in a pleading tone.

Did… did she just tell me to calm down?! Does she seriously expect me to calm down when I don’t even know why I’m freaking out right now?! I don’t even know why me being a female is such a big deal for me and not knowing the reason why is not helping matters whatsoever.

“Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!?!” I repeat in a loud and frantic tone. “HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS HAPPENED?!?! IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!”

“What do you mean ‘it doesn’t make any sense’?” the blue-furred pony asks me in a curious tone. “It should make sense as you should know how you came back.”

I feel myself become angry at the blue-furred pony’s statement. This pony still believes that I possess the knowledge on how ‘I’ came back, which I honestly don’t. Her accusations wasn’t helping the situation one bit. They were making it worse than it already was.

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU; I… DON’T… KNOW… ANYTHING!! IT’S LIKE YOU EXPECT ME TO REMEMBER, BUT I DON’T!! NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER ANYTHING PRIOR TO ME WAKING UP IN THIS PLACE!!”

I stop to think about what I said. Now that I do think about it, I really don’t remember anything. I feel a sudden cold sensation form within my chest as the gravity of the situation hits me. I… I can’t remember anything.

I shut and squeeze my eyes tightly and use every ounce of my mental strength to try and remember anything; anything at all. Nothing. I try digging deeper, but I receive the same result. No matter how much I try, the result remains the same; I can’t remember anything.

I lower my head to the floor and I feel my eyes begin to water. What… what has happened to my memories? How can they just vanish from the depths of my mind like that? Am I suffering from some kind of memory loss? How did this happen?

“Hey, what’s the matter?” came the voice of the purple pony. I look up from the floor and see her giving me a concerned look. I look the purple pony in the eyes.

“I… I can’t remember anything…” I say weakly as I feel something wet trail down my right cheek. Both the purple and white ponies give me a confused expression and they both tilt their heads to their right while the blue pony gives me a disbelieving glare.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t remember anything’?” the blue-furred pony asks me in a disbelieving tone. “I find it pretty hard to believe that you can’t remember anything. I think you do, and you’re just refusing to admit it by lying.”

I lift my head up and proceed to glare at the blue-furred pony and bare my teeth at her. This pony is really starting to get on my nerves. I absolutely hate how she is accusing me of lying when I’m not. And more importantly, I wish she would wipe that look from her face. I’m growing tired of her glaring at me all the time.

“I’m… not… lying…” I growl through my teeth. The blue-furred pony hardens her glare.

“Yes, you are,” she growls aggressively. I harden my glare as my vision begins to become blurry from whatever it is that’s building up in my eyes.

“No… I’m not,” I growl defensively.

“Yes, you ARE!” she shouts, pointing her right hoof in an accusing manner. I can’t take it anymore.

The accusations, me finding out that I’m a large, black-furred, female equine pony, me waking up in some strange place, being locked up against my will, all of it has become too much. I feel everything explode within me and I can’t stop myself from letting everything out.

“I’M NOT LYING!! STOP ACCUSING ME OF LYING BECAUSE I’M NOT!! I REALLY CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING!! I KNOW THAT MY NAME ISN’T NIGHTMARE MOON AND SOMEHOW, I DO KNOW THAT I HAVE A REAL NAME BUT I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT IT IS!! I KNOW THAT I HAVE A HOME, AND EVEN A FAMILY, BUT I CAN’T FOR THE LIFE OF ME REMEMBER THAT TOO!! I’VE BEEN TRYING SO HARD TO REMEMBER, BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, I CAN’T!! WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN?! I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS ALL MEANS!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?! WHY… WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER ANYTHING?! WHY?!?!”

I collapse onto the ground on my stomach and begin sobbing loudly into my forelegs. Why couldn’t these ponies get that I can’t remember anything? What is it going to take to get these ponies to understand? I’ll literally do anything just to prove that I’m not who they think I am and that I am telling the truth and only the truth.

After what feels like forever, I remove my face from my forelegs and I look up to see 6 pairs of forelegs standing about a foot away from me. I look up and see the 3 ponies looking down at me. I realize that they are now inside the cell with me. I must have been sobbing so loud that I didn’t even hear them come in.

I notice the purple and white ponies giving me an expression of what I can best describe as sympathy. The blue pony, however, is giving me an expression that I can best describe as both pity, but also disbelief.

“You… you really can’t remember anything, can you?” she asks me in a soft and comforting tone. I stare at the purple pony as I feel a strange feeling of ease and comfort flow throughout my body.

“I-I can’t remember anything,” I say weakly. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. I’m telling the truth.”

The 3 ponies once again look at each other and they do it for quite a while now. I have no idea what is going on in their heads and I feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest. They look back to me and I am beginning to fear that they still don’t believe me.

A soft, warm smile spreads across the purple and white pony’s faces while the blue pony’s remained the same. I guess that the purple and white pony believe me while the blue one does not. I am happy and upset at the same time. Happy because at least two of them might believe me. Upset because something tells me that the blue pony is going to be a problem.

“If that’s the case, then let’s start from the beginning,” the purple pony says before she points to herself with her left hoof. “My name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.” She then points to the white pony that is to her right. “This is my former mentor, Princess Celestia.” She then points to the blue pony that is to her left. “And this is Princess Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna. They are the rulers of Equestria and they raise the Sun and the Moon.”

Now, I know their names. That’s a good start. Small, but good nonetheless. Although I now know their names, I don’t have a single clue on what exactly this ‘Equestria’ is. Is it a place or is it something else entirely? Is that where I am?

“Equestria? What is this… ‘Equestria’ that you speak of?” I ask Twilight curiously. I see in the corner of my eye that Luna's glaring at me. I pretend to not notice.

“It’s a kingdom,” Twilight replies. “It is inhabited by ponies like us and to many other creatures, such as dragons and griffons and many others.”

I stare at Twilight with wide eyes. So, that’s what Equestria is; a world inhabited by ponies, dragons, griffons, and many other creatures. Though I now know what Equestria is, her answer has given birth to brand new questions in my head.

What are dragons? What are griffons? What other types of creatures inhabit this world other than the 3 that Twilight mentioned? Are there any creatures out there that eat ponies and if so, what can they be?

So many questions, yet no answers.

“Hey, you with us?” I hear Twilight ask. I shake these out of my head. As much as I really want to ask Twilight those quick questions, those questions can wait. There’s one question that I need to have answered.

“Yeah,” I reply. “I do have another question to ask. Where am I and do I have these metal shackles clamped around my legs?"

“Well, to answer that question, you…” She hesitates for a moment like she’s debating on whether to tell me where I am or not. “You are in the dungeons beneath Canterlot Castle.”

I feel my eyes go wide and I begin shaking violently. A cold wave of panic hits me like a ton of bricks and I begin feeling dizzy. I then begin to hyperventilate as the gravity of the situation sinks in. For some unknown reason, these ponies had decided to lock me up in the castle dungeons. That realization makes me panic even more.

“The dungeons?” I ask, trying to hide the fear that I feeling. “Why am I here and how did I even get here in the first place?”

“Yes, the dungeons,” Twilight replies, “and to answer your question; you didn’t do anything wrong. This is where we decided to keep you until you’ve woken up so that we could find out how you came back.”

“What do you mean?” I ask still slightly dizzy although my rapidly beating heart is now returning to normal and I begin calming down.

“To make a long story short, we found you unconscious at the Castle of the Two Sisters earlier this morning. We decided that it was best to bring you here as to not cause a panic.”

“Why?” I ask, now fully calm.

“Let’s just say; you are not the most popular or liked pony in Equestria whatsoever,” Twilight says with a nervous smile.

I look at her curiously and I arch my right eye. I don’t like the sound of it since it didn’t sound like a good thing whatsoever. On top of that, I can’t help but find Twilight’s smile to be somewhat… cute. I push this thought aside, feeling slightly disturb from it.

“Why is that?” I ask curiously. Even from a distance, I can see sweat form on Twilight’s forehead.

“It’s… it’s nothing too big,” Twilight replies with a very nervous smile. I narrow my eyes at her and I see her begin to sweat more.

There is obviously something she’s not telling me and something tells me that it’s something very big. If I have to hazard a guess, I’ll say that it might have something to do with what this Nightmare Moon has done. If that’s the case, then it does explain why Twilight is so reluctant to tell me about it and becoming so nervous about it too.

I wipe the look off my face and I watch Twilight begin to relax.

“Okay,” I say in a tone that says ‘this isn’t over’ because in truth, this is far from over.

My mind is once again filled with questions, mainly about this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony. Whatever it is that she did, it must’ve made him or her infamous, as well as unliked and unpopular with all of ponykind. Now that I look like this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony, I can’t even begin to imagine how ponies will react to me.

‘They probably won’t react very pleasantly if any poor pony sees me,’ I think to myself. ‘They might run away from me out of fear.’

I resist the urge to frown. The thought of ponies running away from me out of fear makes my heart ache. I especially don’t like the thought ponies fearing me because of me not only look like Nightmare Moon, but also because they might think I will do a repeat of what Nightmare Moon might’ve done.

‘Why is this happening to me?’ I think to myself. To be honest, I don’t think I will ever find the answer to that question anytime soon.

“Well, with that out of the way, let’s get you out of these shackles,” came the voice of Princess Celestia, her voice snapping me out of my thoughts.

I look up to Celestia and see her horn lighting up with this gold-like aura surrounding it. I have no idea what the Princess is going to do, but I don’t panic. Instead, I remain calm.

The feeling of the shackles that were wrapped tightly around my fore and hindlegs vanishes. I look down at my fore and hindlegs. I go wide-eye when I see no signs of the shackles; it was like they had just vanished out of thin air. I look back up to Celestia and see her giving me a warm smile.

“Try to stand up,” she said softly. I nod and do as I was told.

I slowly push myself up from the ground and I feel myself getting taller. My forelegs slightly shake, making the task a little difficult. It takes a moment for me to finish work on my forelegs, but I finally manage. I find myself sitting on my haunches and I feel a sense of pride at my achievement.

“Now, do your hindlegs,” says Celestia. I give her a simple nod.

I do slow work on getting up onto my hindlegs. There are times where I almost lose my balance trying to stand up. After a long and agonizing moment, I see that I am now standing on all four hooves. I look to Celestia and see that she is still giving me that warm smile. I notice that I am about the same size as her, which blows my mind.

“Follow us,” Celestia says and she, Twilight and Luna turn away and begin walking out of the cell. I have no idea on why Celestia wants me to follow them and begin feeling uneasy.

“Follow you? To where?” I ask nervously. They all stop in their tracks and Celestia turns her head to look me in the eyes.

“We are taking you someplace else,” Celestia says softly. “It is clear to us that something’s very wrong here and until we decide on what we are going to do with you, you will be staying in one of the guest bedrooms in the meantime.”

I calm myself down and nod my head as an acknowledgement. She nods her head in return. She gestures with her head in a way to tell someone to ‘follow’, looks away, and she, Twilight, and Luna walk out of the cell. They turn to look at me. I realize that they are waiting for me to come follow them.

Something deep down is telling me not to trust them and just make a break for it. As much as running to freedom sounds tempting, it won’t be the best course of action. I know nothing about this world and these ponies can very easily overpower me without much effort.

I sigh mentally.

‘I might as well follow them,’ I think to myself. ‘What can go wrong?’

I begin to take slow and uneasy steps. I can’t put my hoof on it, but it feels very… alien to be walking like this. It’s like I was never a pony to begin with, and that alone is very strange to me.

I step out of the cell and Twilight, Celestia, and Luna begin walking down a long hallway. I follow after them, but I walk in a much slower pace behind them. As we walk, I decide to take this time to take in the layout of the Canterlot Castle dungeons.

The dungeons appear to be made out of old stone that looks to have been around for a very long time, the place being lit by the dim red flames on candles. To the left and right are cells with iron bars, similar to the cell that I was locked up in earlier. The aura the cells give off is one of imprisonment and loss of hope. In general, the dungeons give off this feeling that it’s a place that you don’t want to end up spending any moment of your precious life in.

The sound of a door creaking open snaps me out of my thoughts. I look to see a wooden door with a round top swinging open on its own. With the door fully open, I can see a long wide spiral stone staircase leading upstairs. Celestia, Twilight, and Luna turn their heads to face me.

“This way,” they all say at the same time. They all look away and Celestia proceeds up the stairs, followed by Twilight and then Luna. Taking a deep breath, I follow after them up the stone staircase, which is also dimly lit by candles.

Much like the dungeons, this gives off the impression that this had been here for a very long time, due to how old the stone looks. Come to think of it, if the stones are showing signs of age, does that mean that the castle itself is just as old, if not older?

I really want to ask Celestia or even Twilight how old this place is, but the words are caught in my throat. I feel so timid to ask any of them this question. I lower my head down to the floor. Why am I feeling this way? It’s like I don’t feel comfortable with asking them such a simple question, which in my eyes doesn’t make any bit of sense.

“Hey, something on your mind?” I hear Celestia ask suddenly. I lift my head to see her, Twilight, and Luna looking at me with curious expressions.

“Well…” I hesitate. “I was wondering… How old is this place?”

In response, their faces change into one of utter astonishment. Judging from this look alone, I can tell that my reply isn’t what they were expecting to hear. If anything, it’s like they were suspecting that I was thinking about something entirely different.

They snap out of it and I watch a warm smile spread across her face.

“Well, to answer your question; this castle, along with the dungeons have been here for over a thousand years,” Celestia replies. “We hardly ever use the dungeons, only using them when necessary. This is the first time we ever had to use them in the last few years.”

I stare at her with wide eyes as I take in what she said. I had a feeling that the place was old, but I never imagined it to be that old!! To be very honest, it does explain why the stone walls of this place give off the aura that it has been here for a very long time. It blows my mind to even think about.

“Seriously?!” I exclaim in surprise. Celestia replies by nodding her head. I feel a wide grin spread across my face. “That sounds so incredible!! This place must have a lot of history if it has been around for that long!! I can’t even imagine the things that took place in this castle over the years!!”

Celestia, Twilight, and Luna look at each other, expressions of both shock and disbelief forming on their faces. I don’t know why, but something tells me that my reaction was also something they weren’t expecting. I can’t help but get the feeling that me reacting like this isn’t how the real Nightmare Moon would react. This gives me the impression that my behavior has rendered me, in their eyes, weird.

The grin leaves my face as a frown takes its place.

“What?” I ask. They all snap out of it before returning their attention to me.

“It’s nothing,” Twilight replies before they refocus their attention ahead so they can see where they’re going. I feel the strong urge to ask them if everything’s okay, but I fight it.

I look ahead and spot a wooden door similar to the one downstairs just a few feet away. My heart begins pounding rapidly in my chest as I suddenly grow weak in the legs. For some strange reason, something deep in my gut is telling me that something is about to go down. Like there’s something waiting on the other side of the door.

We reach the wooden door and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. Celestia reaches for the doorhandle with her left hoof before she suddenly pauses. My rapidly beating heart begins thundering within my chest. It’s beating so rapidly and hard in my chest that it feels like it’s going to explode.

“Oh dear,” I hear Celestia say.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. Celestia turns her head to face me.

“Nightmare Moon, I need you to remain in the shadows for the moment,” she instructs sternly. “When we have everything under control, I’ll let you know when you can come out. Do you understand?”

I nod my head rapidly, seeing that this isn’t the perfect to ask questions or ask her to not call me by that name, and she grabs hold of the doorhandle with her left hoof. I don’t know why but as Celestia slowly pulls the door open and rays of bright light seeps in, something within tells me that this is the beginning of something big for me. Something very, VERY big.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door fully opens and bright light shines down on us. I wince as the light shines onto my eyes and I squint. With the door now fully open, I can understand why Celestia wanted me to stay in the shadows. My rapidly beating heart drops to the pit of my stomach as my ears pick up the sound of multiple voices talking, all of them unfamiliar to me.

Something clicks in my head when I suddenly understand why Celestia paused when she reached for the doorhandle. When she was reaching for it, she heard the voices from the other side of the door and possibly not wanting to start a panic, she decided to instruct me to stay in the shadows so she can talk with the voices without any issue.

“Come,” Celestia says to both Twilight and Luna. They nod and they all step out.

I stay in the shadows, just as Celestia instructed me to do, as the voices intensify in volume. They are so loud that I can’t understand what they’re saying. They are so loud that I feel like my eardrums are going burst, just from the sheer volume.

“Be at ease, my little ponies,” I hear Celestia say in a loud, but easing tone. “Be at ease.”

Immediately, the voices stop and I feel my heart begin beating rapidly in my chest again. The tension in the air is so great that it can be cut with a knife.

“Your Highnesses, is it true that Nightmare Moon has somehow returned?” I hear a female voice ask. There’s a moment of silence as apprehension fills the air.

I have no idea what the heck is going on out there, but something deep down tells me to let Celestia and the others handle everything and that everything is going to be okay. As much as I want to believe that, something else tells me that things are about to take a turn for the worse.

“Yes, it’s true,” Celestia replies. Loud gasps of horror echo down the dark staircase as a result of the reply. “However, upon awakening, she has shown no signs of her old self and appears to remember nothing.”

I can hear the voices murmuring something, though what I’m not able to tell at all. However, what I can tell is that the voices have powerful traces of fear and panic in them. I really don’t like the sound of that.

“So Your Highnesses, what are you going to do with her?” asks an unfamiliar male voice.

“For the time being, we will be having her stay in one of the guest bedrooms until we’ve decided on what we’re going to do with her,” Luna replies in a restrained tone. More fearful and panicked murmurs quickly follow.

“We promise that she’s not going to hurt any of you,” Twilight says softly. “You are perfectly safe.”

Nervousness fills my entire being and I begin breathing heavily and rapidly. I feel the need to come out of the shadows and see what is going on. However, I stay put, reminding myself that Celestia will let me know when it’s okay for me to come out of the shadows. I have zero intention on disobeying her.

“Okay Nightmare Moon, you can come out now,” I hear Celestia call out into the darkness. I try to move but find that I can't. My body is wrecked with nervousness that I can’t even find the strength to move my legs.

“I… I don’t know about this,” I say nervously. Loud gasps echo throughout the dark staircase and that only fuels my nervousness.

“It’s going to be okay,” Twilight calls out into the darkness. I stay where I am when I realize something.

‘If I stay here, they might come and pull me out,’ I think to myself. I take a deep breath in an effort to steel my nerves and look out with a burst of determination.

"Okay, I'm coming out," I call out, slight traces of determination present in my tone.

I walk up the last few steps and step out into the light, shielding my eyes with my left foreleg. Gasps of horror fills my ears and I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach once again. After what feels like forever, my eyes finally adjust to the brightness. I lower my foreleg down and what I see makes me want to run away as fast as I can.

Standing before me is a large group of ponies staring at me with horrified expressions plastered on their faces. A lot of the mares and stallions are wearing some kind of body cloth; the mares wearing some kind of black-and-white clothing I’m not familiar with and the stallions wearing some kind of armor that looks alien to me.

I feel all the traces of determination leave my body as I stare with wide eyes, my jaw hanging open. As I continue to stare, I notice something very strange. All of the ponies before look nothing like Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. To put this into perspective, I notice that some of them don’t have a horn or a pair of wings, some that have a horn but no wings, and some that have wings but don’t have a horn and the ones with the wings are hovering in the air.

‘Are there different kinds of ponies?’ I think to myself nervously. ‘I can think about that later. Right now, they’re all staring at me.’

I gulp harshly before chuckling nervously. I give them a nervous smile as I raise my left hoof and slowly wave.

“Um… hello,” I whisper nervously. I jump as the ponies scream in absolute terror.

“IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!!”

“SHE REALLY IS BACK!!”

“WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!”

“I WANT MY MOMMY!!”

“EVERYPONY RUN!!”

They all begin to run around in circles, bumping and colliding into each other before scurrying off. I stand still as a statue as the screams echo loudly before going quiet after a long moment.

Silence fills the hall as I take in what had just happened. The way all of those ponies screamed at the top of their lungs and ran away like their very lives depended it tells me one thing; they all fear me… greatly. I shouldn’t be surprised, considering this was something I thought would happen, but in all honesty, I’m surprised.

“Well, that happened,” I say, not knowing what to say.

“Come, we will take you to your room,” Celestia says. I turn to face her and nod my head before the four of us begin walking down the right hallway in the direction of one of these supposed guest bedrooms.



I walk behind Twilight, Celestia, and Luna as they lead me down this long hallway. I try to take my mind out from what just happened moments prior but is proving to be impossible. The screams of those terrified ponies echo loudly in my head and I can feel a migraine coming on.

I turn my head to my right to see one of those mares wearing a black-and-white piece of cloth looking at me with the most terrified look on her face. The second we make eye contact, the mare lets out a scream of terror before pointing at me with a shaky hoof.

‘Here it comes,’ I think to myself, knowing full well what is about to go down.

“IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!!” the mare screams out. “SHE’S BACK!!”

Like her very life depended on it, she turns and runs down the hallway as she continues to scream. I let out a depressed sigh.

For the past 5 minutes, I witnessed a few stallions wearing armor, like the ones from earlier, let out a squeak before shaking violently in fear, some of the mares wearing that black-and-white clothing, just like the one that ran away from me just now, run down the hall screaming at the top of their lungs, and I’m pretty sure some of those poor ponies had an accident on the floor.

I let out another depressed sigh and I lower my head. These ponies fear me very greatly. I feel my heart ache at this. I really hate the fact that they are afraid of me. If anything, I despise being feared, period. It makes me feel like the bad guy and a criminal.

‘Obviously, this has something to do with me looking like Nightmare Moon,’ I think to myself. ‘They think that I am the real Nightmare Moon and are very much thinking that I’m going to hurt them.’

I turn my attention away from the terrified ponies and catch sight of Luna giving me that annoying glare yet again. She narrows her eyes at me and then arches her neck forward, as if she’s trying to look deep into my very soul. I resist the strong urge to let out another sigh, only out of annoyance this time as she turns her attention away from me.

‘What is going on with her?’ I think to myself in annoyance. ‘Why can’t she just stop looking at me like that? I wish it would just stop.’

I turn my head around slowly in circles at the structure of the hall in an attempt to keep my mind and attention away from the screaming and terrified ponies, as well as Luna’s piercing and annoying glare. The walls seem to be made out of white stone, a little bit too white for my taste. On the walls to the right, there are these large glass windows with pointed tops and I notice that some of these windows have color on them with images that seemed to tell some kind of story from what I can tell. There is a large red carpet on the floor that seems to have no end that has four hearts in the center and flowers on the sides.

Overall, the hallway looks pretty cool. I bet the rest of the castle looks just as cool as this hallway. I mean, it has to since this is a castle after all and it’s supposed to look as cool, as well as beautiful at the same time too. And besides, I have a feeling that a castle isn’t just something anypony can just move into and live in whenever they want. You will have to be one luck pony to ever get the chance of ever living in a castle. In my eyes, it is a big honor in its own right.

“We’re here.” The sound of Princess Celestia’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I shake my head to help clear it from any lingering thoughts.

Twilight, Celestia, and Luna stop in their tracks, and I do the same. They then turn their bodies to the right and I follow behind them. A feeling of amazement courses through my body as I look at the huge door that looks to be about a foot taller than me. It isn’t a fancy-looking door mind you, so don’t picture it as something super fancy.

“This is where you’ll be staying for the time being,” Princess Celestia says and I turn my head to my left to face her, but she doesn’t turn to look at me.

Her horn lights up yet again and is followed by the sound of the doorknob turning. I turn to look just in time to see a gold-like aura surrounding the doorknob before the door swings completely open. I see Celestia motion for me to enter the room with her head in the corner of my eye. I walk into the room and immediately survey the layout.

The room is huge, being about 2x bigger than my old cell, a large Queen-Sized bed with a large red blanket pressed up against the wall to the left, two large glass double doors that led to a balcony, a wooden nightstand that stands to the left side of the bed, a large wooden dresser with 5 draws that stands to the right side of the bed, a large wooden bookcase with a different variety of books that stands to the right side of the double doors, and a door that possibly leads to another room connected to the bedroom on the right wall. It isn’t the best-looking room, but it’s decent enough and it’s better than being locked up in the dungeons.

“So, what do you think?” I hear Twilight ask from behind. I turn my head to look her in the eyes and give her a small smile.

“I like it,” I say. “Not the best looking room, but it’s decent enough for me.”

“Wonderful to hear,” Celestia says. “We’ll be taking our leave now. Dinner will be ready by 6:00 PM. If you ever need anything, just ask one of the guards that we will have stationed outside.”

I nod and with that, the door to my bedroom closes. I look away from the door and continue surveying the room. I don’t know why, but it feels really cool to have a room to call my own for the meantime. And to top it all off, the room has a balcony with it so whenever I want to go get some fresh air, I can just step out into the balcony to do just that.

I walk over to the bed and rest my right hoof onto the large mattress. The mattress is surprisingly soft. I start to run my hoof on the large blanket in a circle. The cool feeling from just running my hoof on it makes my fur stand up. It radiates this refreshing and comforting feeling, which makes this much more pleasant. There is nothing in the world that can ever top it whatsoever.

I hop onto the bed and the bed creeks and bounces, the left side of my face resting onto the bed. I can feel my hindlegs dangling off the edges, but I don’t care. A soft moan escapes my throat as a blissful feeling flows all throughout my body. The softness of the bed makes it feel like I’m laying down on a cloud. I feel all of my worries flow out of me as a feeling of drowsiness hits me like a ton of bricks. My eyes slowly begin to close as I begin to lose consciousness.

Suddenly, my nose wrinkles when I pick up a very faint smell. I sniff and slightly cringe. The smell isn’t pleasant, but it’s not a good smell either. If anything, it’s a smell of filth.

‘What is that smell?’ I think to myself. I move my right hoof to my nose and sniff. I fight the urge to vomit as I realize that the unpleasant smell is coming from me. ‘Phew, I reek.’

For some odd reason, my eyes aim for the door to the right. I begin to feel curious for what could be on the other side. It might be something that can help me get rid of this stench. I seriously hope that there is because I certainly do not want to open and peek my head out of my bedroom door and ask the guards stationed outside, if there are any, if there is any place I can go to get clean.

‘I hope that what is on the other side of the door is something that I can use to get myself clean,’ I think to myself. ‘I rather save myself the utter embarrassment of having to ask a random pony to help me.’

I hop off the incredibly soft bed and walk over to the door. I reach out and try to grasp the doorhandle with my left hoof. It takes me a couple of tries, but I manage to grasp the handle and push it down. I push the door open all the way and step inside, closing the door behind me. I go wide-eye at what I am seeing.

It is a room with a sink, a toilet, and a tub with a different variety of soaps stacked on the right side of the tub. The floor has black-and-white tiles with the walls being paper white, and it is about half the size of my bedroom. I know this particular room has a name, but I can’t remember what the name is. Like for real, I know what a bathtub is, what a sink is, and for goodness sake, I even know what a toilet is, but I don’t know what the name of this room is? How the heck does that make any sense?

I look over to the tub and think about taking a nice bath. The idea of taking a nice warm bath sounds like a great idea. I walk over to the tub and peek inside. I am surprised to see that the tub is big enough for me to actually lay down in it. There is a large built-in seat within the tub, most likely there if I wanted to just sit down and soak in it whenever I felt like it.

The idea of just sitting down and soaking in it sounds way much better to me for some reason. As slowly and as cautiously as possible, I step into the tub and look over at the little silver wheels, the left wheel labeled as ‘hot’ and the right wheel as ‘cold’. I grasp both of the silver wheels and turn them all the way, the left wheel to the left and the right wheel to the right. Water comes gushing out and immediately begins to fill up the tub at a very fast rate. I flinch instinctively when I feel the warm water make contact with my body. I begin to relax as I feel its soothing effect spread throughout my body.

After about like 3 minutes, the water is almost to the top and I feel like it’s enough. I turn the wheels in the opposite directions and the water stops. I slowly lower my butt onto the seat until it comes into contact with the built-in seat. I let out a sigh as I lay my back against the wall and let my forelegs rest on the edges of the tub.

As I sat in the tub and soak in the water, I feel the stiffness that is still present in my body, although not as intense as before, wash away like dried dirt and relief flows all throughout my body. I don’t know how, but it completely and utterly amazes me on how water can have this really amazing effect on ponies, how in the heck water has this magic-like effect on washing away tension and have this calming effect to it. To be very honest, it’s a complete blessing to have something like this in the world.

As I continue to soak in the warm water, my thoughts suddenly shift to what happened back in the dungeons. The way both Celestia and Luna gave me those hateful looks, how Luna was throwing all those countless accusations at me, and Twilight telling me that they found me in some place called ‘the Castle of the Two Sisters’ earlier this morning, all of it gives birth to countless unanswered questions.

‘Why were the Princesses giving me those hateful looks? What did this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony do that would strike unbridle fear into so many ponies? What did Luna mean by ‘come back’? What is this ‘Castle of the Two Sisters’? Where is that castle even located at? And more importantly, why was Luna continuously glaring at me?’

Not having the answer to those questions is truly pretty frustrating, but the water keeps the frustration at bay. Maybe someday, I will get the answers to those questions, but I know deep down that it won’t be any time soon. It might take a long while before that happens. I doubt that Twilight, Celestia, and Luna will give me the answers so easily since they don’t trust me at all but hopefully, I will find out soon enough when the time is right.

Speaking of trust, I highly doubt that they believe me on not remembering anything. I like how Celestia and Twilight gave me those warm smiles, but that didn’t mean that they believe me or anything. Then there’s Luna. There is no doubt that she is going to be a big pain in the butt later in the mere future. The way she was acting back in the dungeons tells me that she isn’t going to be one where I can earn her trust easily.

Speaking of Luna, I think back to all of those continuous glares Luna was giving me. I can’t help but frown at this. What the heck was wrong with her? I know that I have been asking myself that question so many times, but it’s one that I really want the answer to. The way she was glaring and narrowing her eyes at me like that gives me the impression that she was doing something but what is the question.

Lastly, there is the mystery on the relationship status between Celestia, Luna, and Nightmare Moon. I can tell that whatever happened between them is something personal. It does shed some light on their hateful expression that they had on their faces back in the dungeons. I get the feeling that somehow, Luna has the most personal connection with this Nightmare Moon, judging from her behavior. You have to be incredibly stupid to not notice.

‘I wonder what happened between Luna and Nightmare Moon?’ I think to myself. Maybe I can ask either Twilight or Celestia about that in the future.’

My thoughts suddenly shift to what Celestia said to me back in the dungeons.

‘It is clear that something’s very wrong here and until we decide on what we are going to do with you, you will be staying in one of the guest bedrooms in the meantime.’

What did she mean by ‘decide on what they are going to do with me’? Did it mean that they will be deciding on what my fate is going to be? If that is the case, did that mean that I might possibly be punished for what Nightmare Moon did? Will I have to suffer the consequences of Nightmare Moon’s actions? Do they think I am going to repeat whatever it is that Nightmare Moon did? Or better yet, what kind of punishment are they coming up with? All because I look like her.

I feel anger begin to boil up in my veins over these thoughts. Just because I look like her, doesn’t mean that I have to face the consequences of Moon’s actions. In my eyes, I see that as unfair and unjust. I deserve to have at least a chance to prove that I am not who they think I am and that I am able to make my own choices, not follow down Nightmare’s hoofsteps.

‘I have to find a way to prove them wrong,’ I think to myself. ‘I have to find a way…’

Suddenly, my thoughts shift to Twilight and how she acted in the dungeons. The way she became nervous and sweating like crazy after I’ve asked her why I wasn’t the most popular or well-liked pony tells me that there’s something she doesn’t want me to know about. On top of that, the way she said that it was nothing too big tells me that what Nightmare Moon tried to do was indeed something very big. Bad even. There is no other explanation for her nervous behavior.

I suddenly think about her cute smile. I can’t help but smile at this. A strange feeling forms in the center of my chest. It is a feeling that feels warm and pleasant, one that makes my heart beat a bit fast. I feel it spread all throughout my body and I can’t help but moan softly by how pleasant it feels.

‘She is cute,’ I think to myself and I feel the smile on my face grow wider at this. I shake my head violently to get rid of this thought. ‘What am I thinking? I’ve just met her. But… why am I thinking like this? It doesn’t make any sense.’

A wave of drowsiness hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel my eyes become heavy. I shake my head in an attempt to shake off the drowsiness, but it does little to help. I try with all my mental strength to stay awake, but the drowsiness grows stronger by each passing second.

‘Gotta… stay… awake…’ I think to myself. ‘Have… to…’

Then nothing.



*SLAM*

My eyes shot open and I let out a scream, squirming wildly in the bathtub. Water splashes in and out of the tub as I sit up. Once I sit up, I place my right hoof on my chest, feeling the rapid beating of my heart as I turn my head in the direction of the door.

Standing in the doorway looking frantic is a stallion with a horn on the top of his head. He is wearing the same gold-like armor that I’ve seen some of the other stallions here wear. He has small beads of sweat on his forehead and he’s breathing heavily like he had been running for a very long time or something.

He instantly looks in my general direction. The second he sees me, I see the frantic look leave his face. A look of utter embarrassment instantly forms on his face as his face turns dark red.

I feel my entire face become hot and I instinctively cover myself with both of my hooves and forelegs. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel naked and vulnerable in this situation. I want to scream at the stallion for barging in here while I am soaking in here and tell him to get out, but I can’t. I am so embarrassed that I don’t even have the strength to speak. I can do nothing but stare at the stallion, who stares back at me.

“Um, is there something that I can help you with?” I ask sheepishly, my entire face still feeling hot. I embarrassingly watch as the stallion begins to shake in terror, his eyes growing wide.

“I-I’m so sorry ma’am, I-I was sent here by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to i-inform you that it’s time for dinner and that t-they wanted to speak with you a-about something i-important,” the stallion says in a very shaky voice. ‘W-when I saw that you w-were nowhere to be seen, I began looking for you, so I charged into this bathroom and well…” He pauses as a fearful expression forms on his face. “I-I’m so sorry, ma’am. P-please don’t hurt me!!”

I look at the stallion with a frown as I see him looking down at the floor while literally quaking in his gear. The heat in my face finally fades away. That familiar ache resurfaces in my heart and I try my best to not show it. He is so afraid of me that he believes that I’m going to hurt him for barging into the room the way he did. I feel the ache in my heart spike at that and I grasp my chest with my right hoof.

‘Whatever Nightmare Moon did, I have to try to show everypony that I’m nothing like her,’ I think to myself. ‘Maybe if I show and tell this stallion that I’m not going to hurt him, he might ease up. That’ll be a good place to start.’

After a while, I feel the ache go away and I look to the stallion, who is still quaking in his gear. I give him the best comforting smile I can muster. When he notices that I’m not going to do anything, he shakily lifts his head up and looks fearfully into my eyes.

“It’s okay,” I say in a soft tone. His jaw opens slightly and remains still as a statue for a brief moment before he snaps out of it.

“W-what?” the stallion asks, his voice still shaky.

“It’s okay,” I repeat in that same soft tone. “I am not mad at you nor am I going to hurt you. Yes, I’m a little embarrassed that you came barging in here, and giving me quite a scare, but I refuse to hurt you over something this small.”

The stallion stops shaking and I watch as his face transforms into one of genuine surprise. His surprise tells me that the stallion wasn’t expecting this turn of events.

“W-what?” he asks in a shaky voice. “Y-you’re not going to hurt me?”

I allow the smile to grow slightly.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I reply in that same soft tone. “It was only an accident and what kind of pony would I be if I assaulted you for barging in here?”

The smile on my face grows as I watch the stallion begin to relax, although he was still shaking but not as much. I hope this helps him not be as scared of me as before.

I look around the room and notice that there was nothing here that I can use to dry myself off. I look back to the stallion and give him a sheepish smile.

“Oh, and while you’re here, can you get me something that I can use to dry myself off please? While I dry myself off, you can wait for me in my room.”

He quickly nods before leaving the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I slowly step out of the bathtub and begin waiting for him to come back with something that I could use to dry myself off with. The warmth that the water provided begins to get cold and I begin shivering like crazy. I feel the strong urge to jump right back into the tub, but I resist and push the urge away.

As I wait, I feel my fur slowly begin to dry and knot. I grab at my chest fluff and try to unknot my fur. I flinch and grind my teeth together as pain shoots through my body. I walk over to the tub and hop back inside. A loud splash echoes throughout the room and the water hits the floor, soaking it some more. I splash myself with the water, soaking my entire head and body. I feel the knots come loose and I find myself starting to grow impatient.

‘Come on, please hurry,’ I think to myself as I continue to splash myself with the water. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can take this.’

I hear a few knocks at the door and I stop splashing myself with the water. I smile as the voice of the stallion that came barging in here moments prior call out from the other side of the door.

“Ma’am, I have a towel for you.”

“Thank you,” I reply back as I hop of out of the tub and walk over to the door.

I grasp the handle and push it down. I pull the door back and see a hoof slip in-between the opening with a large purple towel wrapped around it. I grab the towel and the hoof slips away. I shut the door and walk over to the center of the room. I sit down on my haunches and wrap each end of the towel around my hooves and begin drying my body off.

As I dry myself off, I take notice of how fresh and clean I feel. Something in the back of my mind tells me to check out the water in the tub. Curious, I turn my head and see that the water is not as clear as it was before. Was I really that filthy? I cringe at the thought. I don’t even know how I never noticed how filthy I looked. I guess with my fur being all black that it’s pretty much impossible to notice any dirt on my body. Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I decided to soak in the tub when I did because I definitely don’t want to sleep on the bed with me being covered in all that filth.

After a few minutes, I finish drying myself off and unwrap the towel from my hooves. I press the towel on my head and begin drying it off. I scrub the towel as I want to make sure that it’s dry and not one spot of my head is wet. In my eyes, that will be considered sloppy.

The towel makes contact with something on my forehead and I can’t help but let out a loud gasp. I remove the towel from my head and unwrap the towel from my right hoof. I slowly raise it to my forehead and it makes contact with something hard. I slowly rub my hoof on it and I let out a really loud moan. Whatever it is that I have on my forehead is something incredibly long and sensitive.

I move my hoof away from whatever it is on my forehead and I look in the mirror above the sink.

My eyes widen when I see my reflection. The towel slides off my left hoof and it flops onto the floor. I step closer to the sink to get a closer look at my face. I am both in awe and shock as I stare at my reflection.

I support a small muzzle with my facial structure looking almost similar to Luna’s, only just slightly different. I have messy, light blue hair and on the back of my head is the same magic-like cloud with stars, and I have a long black horn on my forehead, which is probably the thing that is pretty sensitive. That alone isn’t what shocks me the most; what shocks me are my eyes.

My eyes are large, but instead of looking like how Twilight, Celestia, and Luna’s look, the white part of my eyes are light turquoise with my irises being a darker colors, and my pupils are dagger-shaped. I feel nothing but dread when looking at this face. It’s like I am staring into the face of a monster.

‘Maybe that’s all they see me as; a monster,’ I think to myself, still very shocked at my reflection.

I shake my head, remembering that the stallion is currently waiting for me in my bedroom. ‘I can worry about this some other time. Right now, I shouldn’t keep the stallion waiting for me for much longer.’

My eyes widen as I suddenly remember the stallion that is waiting for me to quickly finish my business in here. Strong feelings of both utter horror and embarrassment flow throughout my body at the possibility of him hearing me.

‘Oh no, I hope he didn’t hear me moan when I rubbed at my horn,’ I think to myself, feeling my face grow hot. ’I really hope he doesn’t say anything about it. The last thing I want is to tell him what happened.’

Turning my attention away from the mirror and shaking this out of my head, I pick the towel up from the floor and resume drying my head and hair off, this time, making sure to avoid touching the long horn on my forehead. The last thing I want is for the towel to touch my horn and make me moan like that again. I don’t need anymore fuel to be added to the embarrassment that I still feel.

I remove the towel from my head and unwrap my hooves. I let the towel fall to the floor and I raise my hooves to my head. I rub them all over my head to make sure that I didn’t miss a spot because if I somehow did, I will use the towel and dry my head and hair off more thoroughly. I feel no wetness, which I take as a good thing.

With my body now fully dry, I walk over to the door, grasp the handle with my left hoof and push it down. Pulling the door open, I walk out of the room and close the door behind me. I look back to see the stallion waiting for me. The stallion looks in my direction and I notice that his face is slightly red.

“Are you done, Ma’am?” he asks sheepishly.

“Yes,” I reply cautiously. I walk over to him and watch the stallion flinch in fear when I stop about a foot away from him.

“I’m very sorry to intrude, but were you okay in there?” he asks, his face turning into a dark shade of red. I feel an icy cold feeling begin to spread all throughout my body as I fear the worst.

“Yes,” I say, trying my best to hide my embarrassment. “Why do you ask, if you don’t mind.”

“Well…” The stallion hesitates. “While I was waiting, I heard you moan very loudly in there. I wanted to go in there to see if you were okay but feared that you would hurt me if I did it again.”

I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach at his words. The stallion did hear me. I feel my entire face grow hot as I feel small beads of sweat form on my forehead. I really wish he didn’t say anything because what am I even supposed to say to that? That when my towel touched my horn and made me gasp, I decided to check what it was, rubbed it a little bit and moaned as result? Yeah, that wouldn’t work so very well because to be honest, that will be a little too much.

I swallow harshly, hurting my throat in the process before I allow a nervous smile to spread across my face. If ponies can die from embarrassment, then I’m pretty sure I would be dead by now because of how embarrassed I feel at this point.

“Y-yes, I-I’m fine. I-it’s nothing i-i-important,” I reply rather quickly. ‘Please don’t ask anymore.’

“Are you sure?” he asks. Of course, he asks. Just my luck.

A rush of frustration flows throughout my body, all traces of embarrassment washing away like dried dirt. All I want is to just forget about what just happened and move on. Why did this stallion have to become curious and ask me all of these questions.

“Yes, I’m very sure,” I reply with frustration evident in my tone. “Can’t we just get going now?”

He look at me for a moment before he nods and the two of us walk out of the bedroom. I let out a low sigh of relief as my face finally returns to normal.

‘Thank goodness that’s over,’ I think to myself. ‘I don’t think I would be able to take any more of that.’

As I follow close behind, I suddenly think back to when the stallion told me that the Princesses wanted to talk to me about something, something very important.

‘Maybe they have decided on what they are going to do with me,’ I think to myself. ‘I just hope that my fate won’t be something bad.’


****************


As both the Royal Guard and the Nightmare Moon lookalike walk out of the bedroom, a unicorn mare with gray fur and a rich blue mane and tail reappears in the room. Unbeknownst to them, she had been secretly following Nightmare Moon since ‘it’ happened and had noticed a few things that concerned her a lot.

“Looks like it worked,” she says to herself, “but something is not right. I best go report this to Her Majesty. She definitely has to hear about this turn of events.”

The unicorn mare lights up her horn and then teleports out of the bedroom, leaving it empty like it should have been when following the Nightmare Moon lookalike to the bedroom moments prior.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are we there yet?” I ask the stallion in the gold armor for like the 10th time. We have been walking for the last 20 minutes and at this point, I am starting to become impatient.

“We’re almost there,” the stallion replies for like the 10th time as well. “Just please, try to remain patient.”

I snort and I catch sight of one of the mares wearing that black-and-white clothing in the corner of my left eye. I turn to look at her. The second we make eye contact, she screams before bolting down the hall. I feel the urge to scream out of annoyance.

Just like when Twilight, Celestia, and Luna were leading me to my bedroom, anypony that happens to see me would either do the following two; let out a small squeak and tremble in fear or scream loudly at the top of their lungs and run down the hall in fear. At this point, because it has been happening so many times, it was now starting to become very annoying and agitating.

I want to scream at them, tell them that I am not going to hurt them and that they don’t have to fear me. A rational part of me tells me that going through with that course of action wouldn’t solve the problem nor will it get them to stop. I really hate to admit it, but that part of me is right; if I do take that course of action, they will fear me even more and I have no intention on having them fear me more than they already do.

‘Like seriously, if I proceed with that action, it’ll get me nowhere,’ I think to myself. ‘I just wish they would stop doing that.’

I bump into something hard and I take a few steps back. I rub my head with my right hoof and I look to see what it was that I bumped into. About a foot away from me are two huge golden double doors that happened to be about 2/3rds bigger than me. I look behind to see the stallion standing about 2 feet away from me. I must have been so lost in my thoughts that I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings, walked right past him, and bumped into the double doors before he even had a chance to warn me.

‘I guess that's what happens if I don’t watch where I’m going,’ I think to myself. ‘Lesson learned, watch my surroundings.’

“Ma’am, are you alright?” the stallion asks.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I say. “I just got lost in my thoughts and wasn’t watching where I was going, so don’t worry.”

I look back to the double doors and knock on them a few times.

There is no response and I am about to call it quits. Whatever it is that the Princesses want to talk to me about, that can wait for another time. I don’t know why, but all of those ponies running and screaming in terror upon seeing me, along with the long walk to get here, has eaten away the last of my patience.

Just as I am about to turn and walk all the way back to the bedroom, I hear one of the double doors swing open. I turn to see who it is that answered the door. Peeking out from behind the left door is the head of Princess Celestia, who has a warm smile on her face.

“Ah, I see that you’ve arrived,” Celestia says.

“If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” I reply in a somewhat sarcastic tone, making sure to hide my annoyance. Celestia chuckles lightly before controlling herself.

“Yes, you’ll be right on that,” The Sun Princess replies. “Come on in. We have much to discuss.”

She pushes the door the rest of the way open and I step inside. Once inside the room, I survey the surroundings. The room is huge, much bigger than my bedroom, and there is around 3 tables in the room. Just like the floor in my bathroom, the floor has black-and-white tiles. In the center of the room is a huge table cloaked with a white cloth.

‘If this is the dining room, then this is the biggest one I’ve ever seen,’ I think to myself with slight amazement. I turn my attention to the table with the white cloth.

Seated on the other side of the table is Princess Luna. She is looking at me with a very hostile expression plastered on her face, kind of similar to the glare that she constantly gave me when I was being lead to my bedroom. An annoyed frown spreads across my face.

‘She hates me,’ I think to myself bitterly. ‘And she has a different look on her face, only it appears to be much worse than that stupid glare. This is going to be fun.’

“Take a seat,” Celestia says as she walks past me. She sits down at the chair that is to Luna’s right. I take a deep breath and advance over to the table.

I walk beside a chair, pull it back, and sit down onto it. I jump slightly when I feel the chair be pushed a little bit closer to the table. I look over to the two sisters and see Celestia’s horn light for a second before the aura vanishes.

“Thanks,” I say as politely as I possibly can since I am still feeling the annoyance within me. Celestia simply nods her head as I try to get myself as comfortable as possible.

When it became possible, I look to see that they both had a bowl of salad in front of them. I then look down to see a plate with a sandwich cut in half resting on it. There is stuff in the sandwich that I don’t recognize; it is white and it looks to be smooth and silky. I look to Celestia and the Princess looks back at me.

“Princess, what kind of sandwich is this?” I ask, pointing to the strange sandwich.

“It’s a daffodil sandwich,” she replies. “We didn’t know what you would’ve liked so we asked the cooks to make something small for you.”

I allow myself to smile and I see Celestia’s smile grow. I have to admit; since I know nothing about the kind of foods ponies eat, I’m pretty sure I would have asked for the daffodil sandwich. Not only that, but I’m not very hungry, so I am very grateful that they asked the cooks to make me something as I don’t think I would be capable of eating a full-fledged meal.

“Thank you,” I say. Celestia nods her head at me and I nod back.

I look back down at the sandwich. I have no idea what I am supposed to do or how I am supposed to eat this, but I have to at least try eating it using my hooves. I slowly lift my hooves and reach for the sandwich. It takes me a while, but I am able to grasp the sandwich with my hooves. I tighten my grip on the sandwich as to not have it fall out of my hooves.

I slowly bring the sandwich to my mouth and take a small bite. I begin to chew slowly and wait for the flavor to kick in. A small smile forms on my face as the flavor turns out to be… delightful!! I swallow my bite and place the sandwich back down on the plate. I look to see the two Princesses eating their salad.

As they ate, I catch sight of Luna giving me that hostile expression. That is when I catch notice of something else present. I take a closer look and see something else blended in. Blended in is a small hint of concentration, like she’s trying to dig deep into my soul, but just couldn’t. After every bite of her salad, Luna will glare at me with that hostile and concentrated look and every time, it becomes more intense.

‘What is wrong with her?’ I think to myself in annoyance. I suddenly notice that Twilight isn’t present with us. I look around the room to see if I can find her, but the purple pony is nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, where’s Twilight?” I ask curiously. The double doors behind me slam open and I jump a little bit in my seat.

I turn to look behind to see Twilight come charging in and judging from how she looked, she had ran all the way here. Twilight stops by the right of my chair and begins gasping for air like she just ran for hours. She has beads of sweat on her forehead and her hair is in a disheveled state.

“Princess, I’m so sorry I’m late!” Twilight says in a quick, frantic tone. I don’t know why but seeing her like this is pretty funny. I feel laughter building up within me, but I do my best to suppress it. “I was in the library trying to find any clues that could help us figure out what is going on when one of your guards came and told me that you and Luna wanted me to be present to discuss-”

“Twilight, be at ease,” Celestia says in a soft tone. “There is nothing to get frantic about. You arrived just in time.”

Twilight stares at Celestia for a moment before a sheepish smile forms on her face. I can’t stop a chuckle from escaping my mouth. Twilight turns to look at me and gives me a curious look.

“What’s so funny?” she asks curiously.

“Your behavior,” I say after finally composing myself. “I don’t know why, but the way you were acting was just so bizarre I couldn’t help it. It was so funny.”

Twilight gives me a funny look before she shrugs. She walks over to the chair that is to Celestia’s right and sits down. The 3 of them turn to look at me and stare at me for a moment. Once again, I catch sight of Luna giving that same expression. I can feel my annoyance bubble up at this. Her acting like this is really starting to get on my nerves.

“With that out of the way, it’s time that we discuss a few things that we feel like is worth talking about with you, Nightmare Moon,” Celestia says.

I frown a little when she calls me by that name. I don’t like the name; it reminds me way too much of when I got a good look at my face in the mirror, as well remembering how all of those ponies, including the guard that came barging into the bathroom, had displayed. To me, it is name that’s given to a monster, and I wasn’t a monster, not by a longshot.

“Okay, I’ve got two things to say,” I begin to say while trying my best to keep the annoyance at bay, which is proving to be difficult in its own right at this point. “First off, don’t call me by that name. Second off, ‘Nightmare Moon’ is not my real name, which I’ve already told you ponies before back in the dungeons.”

“Well, what else are we supposed to call you other than by your real name, huh?” Luna asks in a rude and sarcastic tone. I don’t know if she is trying to act smart with me or anything but either way, I really hate her attitude and it’s not helping things either.

“I don’t know, but any name would be better than a name that fits more appropriately to a FRICKING MONSTER THAN ONE WHO ACTS NOTHING LIKE ONE!!!” I say as I shout the last few words, throwing both of my forelegs in the air in annoyance.

“Well, do you prefer to be called by a different name?” Twilight asks.

“Yes, please,” I reply in a slightly calmer tone, though the frustration is clearly present in my tone. “Any name will be much better than just being called ‘Nightmare Moon’.”

“Which is your real name,” Luna growls aggressively at me. I have grown tired of Luna’s attitude. I feel something snap and find myself giving the Moon Princess an annoyed glare and baring my teeth at her.

“Do I have to speak in another language just to help get that through your thick skull?” I growl through my teeth. “Can you stop calling me that. It’ll do me and everypony else a favor.”

Luna narrows her eyes at me and bares her teeth at me.

“By calling you something else other than your true name?” Luna also growls through her teeth. “I think not.”

I feel my right eye twitching as I continue to glare at Luna. My anger is beginning to boil in my veins and right now, all I want to do is jump across this table and slap some sense into her. As tempting as that sounds, all it will do is make me look like the bad guy and I have a feeling that’s exactly what Luna wants.

‘Well, I’m not going to give her that satisfaction,’ I think to myself. ‘I won’t give her what she wants.’

I harden my glare and Luna does the same.

“Well, by refusing to stop calling me by that name, you’re only making this harder on yourself,” I retort. “It will make your life so much easier, don’t you think?”

I watch Luna’s right eye twitch as the anger grows on her face. Something deep down tells me that I just struck a nerve. Good because she did the same thing to me. If anything, she rightfully deserved it. I really hope that’ll get her to stop and shut up for a while.

“And I think it would’ve made our lives way easier if you never showed up,” Luna retorts back. Okay, I totally didn’t see that coming, but boy do I feel my anger reach it’s limit.

I give the most intense glare I can ever muster and look Luna in the eyes as I feel my mane thrashing aggressively.

“Why don’t you do me a favor and shut your trap, Moon Butt!!” I shout in annoyance. “THAT will make everypony’s lives much easier if you didn’t say anything at all!!”

Luna gives me an extremely aggressive look and is just about to do something before Twilight stops her.

“Stop it, that’s enough!!” she yells. “We are here to discuss something important, not have you two quarrel like a bunch of little fillies.”

’Luna started it,’ I think to myself bitterly.

“Well, until we come up with a new name for you, we will continue to call you by your real name,” Celestia says in a calm tone. I give the Sun Princess a deadpan expression, which seems to have gone unnoticed. “With that out of the way, let’s get to discussing some important matters that we wanted to talk to you about.”

I give Celestia a simple nod with my head. Discussing about whatever it is that both her and Luna wanted to talk to me about would hopefully take my mind off about being called ‘Nightmare Moon’, as well as Luna’s annoying behavior. And while I’m at it, I can try and come up with a new name for myself, one that fits me better.

“So, what are the important matters that you want to talk to me about?” I ask, catching Luna glare at me in the corner on my eye. I do my best to just ignore her since acknowledging her will only fuel the flames.

“For starters, me, Luna, and Twilight have come to the conclusion that you not remembering anything is genuine and we think we know what the cause is,” Celestia says. This instantly catches my attention and I look Celestia in the eye.

“And what’s that?” I ask, arching my right eye. Celestia proceeds to give me a look that I can best describe as pity.

“We have come to believe that what you are suffering is what we ponies call ‘amnesia’,” Celestia says. The mention of ‘amnesia’ doesn’t sit well with me.

Something about it gives me a very bad feeling. If anything, the word ‘amnesia’ doesn’t sound like the kind of word that fits in the category of ‘good words’. To me, it fits in the category of ‘bad words’. And judging by Celestia’s pitiful expression, it just proves that it fits in that category perfectly.

“Amnesia?” I ask curiously after taking another bite of my sandwich, trying my best to not show my uneasiness. “What is amnesia?”

“Amnesia is a deficit within the memory, causing the inability to remember certain things,” Twilight begins to explain. “The kind of amnesia you are suffering is called ‘retrograde amnesia’, which is the inability to recall memories before the onset of amnesia.”

I go wide-eye as I begin to take in and think over what Twilight just said. According to her, retrograde amnesia is the inability to recall any memories before the onset of amnesia. If what Twilight said is true, does that explain why I can’t remember anything about my past? It kind of does make sense as there’s no other explanation as to what it might be.

The feeling of uneasiness begins to swell and spread throughout my body. I feel my heart begin beating rapidly in my chest and I try my best to keep myself from hyperventilating. I look Twilight in the eyes as a cold feeling begins to form in the pit of my stomach.

“So from what I can understand, amnesia is like… memory loss?” I say weakly, my voice showing signs of weakness.

“Yes, amnesia is the loss of memory,” Luna replies in a flat and aggressive tone. I ignore the aggression in Luna’s voice and take it her reply as the answer.

“Will… will I be able to regain my memories?” I ask very anxiously, resting my hooves onto the table.

“Well, it depends on the severity of your amnesia,” Celestia says. “If your amnesia is very severe, there is a good chance that you may never regain your memories. There have been cases of ponies with retrograde amnesia making a full recovery, but there are also have been cases where ponies don’t. The best thing we can do is wait and see if your memories return or not.”

The answer didn’t bring any comfort. According to what Celestia said, it really depends on how severe my amnesia is and if too severe, good chance that I’ll never remember anything. The thought only makes me feel just 10x worse.

I lower my head to look down at the table and I feel my eyes begin to water up with tears. Why… why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this; deserve losing my memories, possibly to the point of losing them all forever? Nothing. I did ABSOLUTELY nothing so WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!

“Hey, look at me,” I hear Celestia say in a soft tone. I lift my head up and look to see her giving me a sympathetic look. “I know exactly how you feel and I understand how hard this is for you, but don’t lose hope. If it helps you feel better, me, Twilight, and Luna will do our best to help you recover from this. Right, Twilight?”

“Right,” Twilight says with a nod.

“Right, Luna?” Celestia says without turning to look at Luna. Luna didn’t say anything nor give a response. I look to see the blue-furred pony giving me an intense glare.

Celestia turns her head to see Luna with the intense glare plastered on her face. A firm expression forms on her face and she leans her head towards Luna, the blue pony still giving me that intense glare.

“Right, Luna?” Celestia says a bit firmly. At first, Luna doesn’t give or show any sign that she heard what Celestia said.
Celestia is about to say something when Luna finally shrugs her shoulders and rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” Luna says in an uncaring tone while keeping that same intense glare targeted on me.

‘She wants nothing to do with me,’ I think to myself. ‘That suits me fine. I rather jump out a window than be anywhere near her.’

“Now that you know the reason why you can’t remember anything as of yet, there is something else that we want to talk to you about,” Celestia says. I look away from Luna and look back to Celestia.

I am genuinely curious as to what they want to talk to me about next. Maybe it might help me take my mind off of my amnesia.

“And what’s that?” I ask curiously as I wipe away the tears with my hooves.

“Me, Twilight, and Luna have come to the agreement that to see if you are capable of learning the magic of friendship, you will be moving to Ponyville to live with Twilight tomorrow at noon,” she says.

I give her a curious look when she mentions ‘Ponyville’. What in the heck is Ponyville? I can’t think from the top of my head on what it could be. Curiosity grows within me. I want to know exactly what the heck I am getting into. The last thing I want is to head over to Ponyville not knowing anything about it.

“Ponyville? What is Ponyville?” I ask.

“It’s a small town that’s not too far from Canterlot,” Twilight replies. “Celestia moved me to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship a few years back. We figured that our first step to help you get accustomed is to help teach you the magic of friendship. However, we want to hear what you think about this before we really go through with it. It’s up to you.”

I begin tapping my chin as I think it over. The idea of meeting new ponies? Sounds pretty cool. Making some friends? Meh, I guess it’s alright. Moving to some unknown part of Equestria? Sounds pretty exciting and terrifying at the same time. Living with Twilight? My heart begins beating rapidly in my chest at the idea.

I have mix feelings on the idea, but I see a few opportunities here. If I agree to this, I can make a new legacy for myself and this body. I can undo whatever mistakes Nightmare Moon made in the past and not be judged for what she has done in the past. I can make friends and allies down the road as well.

I feel happiness burst in my heart at the idea of making friends. I feel a sense of longing mix with this happiness, a desire for some companionship. It’s like I have been desiring for something like this for a very long time. It feels so familiar, yet so alien at the same time.

‘At least I will be able to have the choice of being my own mare once this is over,’ I think to myself. While I like the idea of moving in with Twilight to learn something new, I don’t like the possibility of living with her for the rest of my life.

The thought of being able to go and live my own life and not have anypony make the choices for me has this thrill to it that makes me slightly excited. I don’t know why, but I love the thrill of it.

“So, what do you think?” Twilight asks. I snap out of my thoughts and look her in the eyes.

“Yeah, I like the idea,” I say with a small smile. A small smile forms on Twilight’s face and once again, I can’t help but find the smile to be… cute. I shove this out of my thoughts. “Anything else you want to talk about with me?”

“No, that is all,” Celestia says and she begins to eat. I nod and resume eating my food as well, all the while noticing Luna continue to glare at me with that hostile and concentrated expression.



I lay flat on my back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as I think over the things that was said to me at dinner. The feeling of happiness I’ve been feeling since the idea of making friends has lingered and I can’t help but smile at this. I feel my body shake with excitement at this.

‘I don’t know why I’m feeling so happy and excited by this, but I don’t care,’ I think to myself.

A sudden flash of bright light fills the room and I raise my right foreleg to my eyes. I sit up on the bed and rub my eyes a few times with my foreleg. I lower it down and I jump a little in surprise. Princess Luna is standing at the foot of my bed with a very angry and resentful expression plastered on her face.

‘Oh great,’ I think to myself bitterly. ‘What can she possibly want at this time?’

“Princess Luna, what are you doing here?” I ask. I stare at Luna and notice that familiar hint of concentration blended in with her angry and resentful expression.

‘Like seriously, what is she up to?’ I think to myself.

“I just require a moment of your time, Nightmare Moon,” Luna replies with bitterness in her tone. “I hope that won’t be issue.”

I give her a deadpan look when she calls me by that name. I hate to admit this, but something tells me that she’s not going to stop calling me by that name. She clearly knows how much I hate being called by that, and yet she’s still going at this. When is she ever going to get the message to just stop calling me that?

I sigh mentally and look the Moon Princess in the eyes.

“I’m not busy with anything in particular, so it’s fine,” I say flatly. In truth, I am not fine with Luna being in my room. If anything, I want her to get out of my room and not bother me for the rest of the night.

“Good because I’m here to talk to you about a few things,” Luna growls very aggressively. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

‘Oh, great,’ I think to myself bitterly and annoyed. ‘I wonder what this’ll be about.’

“Like what?” I ask rudely.

“For starters, I am not pleased with the idea of you moving in with Twilight to learn the magic of friendship,” Luna replies. This catches my attention. I know for a fact that Celestia mentioned that Luna agreed to the idea of me moving to Ponyville. All of it sounds silly to me.

“That’s funny,” I say with sarcasm. “I’m sure Celestia said something about you agreeing with the idea.”

Luna narrows her eyes at me and takes a step closer to me.

“The only reason I agreed to the idea is because I wasn’t able to convince them otherwise,” Luna growls and bares her teeth at me. “I know you better than they do and I know that this is all a trick.”

Now it is my turn to narrow my eyes and bare my teeth at her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I growl threateningly.

“You know exactly what I mean,” Luna retorts. “You are tricking my sister and Twilight into believing that you are suffering from amnesia, which has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You may have them fooled, but you’re not fooling me.”

I feel the urge to slam my hoof onto my face, but I push it away. Is Luna being serious right now? If anything, is she even hearing herself right now? Does she not see how ridiculous it sounds?

“I am not fooling anypony,” I say. “I truly don’t remember anything.”

I watch as Luna’s pupils turn into slits and takes another step closer.

“Enough with that act, Nightmare Moon,” Luna warns aggressively. “You’re planning something and when I find out what you’re hiding inside that head of yours, I’ll take care of you… personally.”

“I really don’t remember anything about my past, Luna and I am not planning anything,” I retort in annoyance. “Why would I lie or make it up?”

“So you can escape facing justice,” Luna replies. I am starting to get very angry with Luna at this point. Something tells me that Luna only came here to start beef with me.

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” I ask in disgust. “I have done nothing wrong.”

Luna takes another step closer to me. She is now standing over my hindlegs. If she’s trying to make me feel small, it’s not working. All it’s doing is wasting her time having this pointless conversation with me.

“Not yet, anyway,” Luna says. I just want to scream in her face. I want to tell her to get out of my room and leave me alone. Something tells me that she will do no such thing until she is done with me.

“Why are you even here, Luna?!” I half shout at her. Luna takes a few steps closer to me and She presses her face against mine. I can see the pure and utter hatred in her eyes.

“I came here to warn you,” she replies. “You may be moving to Ponyville, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be watching you. I know you will reveal your true colors and until you do, I will be waiting and watching your every move.”

Luna removes her face from mine, turns around and walks to the foot of the bed. She turns her head to her left and glares daggers at me. I begin glaring daggers at her, my body seething anger.

“Heed my words, Nightmare Moon; I am watching your every move. You try to take over Equestria again, I will take you down and turn you to stone. This is your only warning.”

With that, Luna looks away from me, lights up her horn and poofs out of my room. I sit there completely still and think over what she said. What does she mean by ‘taking over Equestria again’? Did that mean Nightmare Moon had tried to take over Equestria before? Judging from the Princesses still being here, that means Nightmare Moon failed.

I snort at the thought of takeover. What can I possibly achieve with such a stupid idea? Nothing. I have no intentions or any desires on throwing away any chance of building a new legacy for myself. I will have to be stupid to try anything like that. I will prove Luna wrong one day, no matter how long it takes.

I feel the urge to strike something, but I do my best to resist the strong temptation to do so. In just a short amount of time, Luna has proven to be the most annoying and rage-inducing pony I’ve ever met. Just from her actions alone, she wants me out of the picture and with her declaring that she will be watching my every move goes to show how far she’s willing to go to wait for the perfect moment to strike if I try anything funny.

‘Stupid Luna,’ I think to myself bitterly. I yawn and a strong feeling of exhaustion hits me like a ton of bricks. ‘Time to get some sleep.’

I roll onto my left side, not even bothering on getting under the covers. My mind trails back to when Luna said about me hiding something inside my head. What the heck could she possibly mean by that? There’s nothing inside my head worth hiding anyway.

I then think back to the concentration she had blended in with her hostile expression while at the table. Was she trying to read my mind and was failing to do so? If so, that might explain it, but at the same time, it just sounds completely ridiculous. Maybe that was her way of showing how much she hates me. However, if she was trying to read my mind back there, isn’t that like an invasion of my privacy? The thought of that makes my blood begin to boil like water being boiled in a pot.

‘Why would she ever try to do that?’ I think to myself. ‘If I’ve tried to read Luna’s mind and she found out about it, it will probably make her mad and rightfully so.’

I might be overthinking things, but I might as well store that into my head in case something like this happens again or something that reminds me of this is mentioned at all in the mere future.

‘Better safe than sorry,’ I think to myself. ‘It might come in handy later on.’

I slowly close my eyes and fall asleep.



*MEANWHILE AT A THRONE ROOM SIMILAR TO THE ONE AT CANTERLOT CASTLE*


“Are you sure it was her?”

“Affirmative!! I saw her with my own eyes. It seems that the resurrection spell worked, but it appears that she has amnesia.”

“Amnesia? How did that happen?!”

“I’m not entirely sure how it happened. This will definitely be a problem now that she will be moving to Ponyville to learn the magic of friendship, Your Highness.”

“Isn’t there a way to fix her amnesia?”

“I’m pretty sure that there’s a spell to undo her amnesia, but I will need time to find said spell.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, Your Highness. It appears that Princess Luna has developed a seething hatred towards her. She wants nothing more than to do something about her.”

“Explain.”

“From what I’ve gathered, Princess Luna will be keeping a close eye on her, waiting for her to slip up so that she can take care of her. By that, I mean by turning her to stone.”

“Grr. If Luna even thinks about laying her hooves on her, she will have to answer to me.”

“And I don’t doubt that you will take action against Luna if she tries to hurt her.”

“Yes, I will. She may have helped me all those years ago, but I will destroy her is she hurts her.”

“I know you will, Your Highness.”

“Anything else to report.”

“No, Your Highness. That is all I have to report. I do plan on having two of our best ponies to watch over Luna, Celestia, Twilight, and all of their friends.”

“Very well, I will leave you to that. While you’re at it, continue to keep an eye on her. We can’t risk those ponies poisoning her mind about the magic of friendship. Report to me if this occurs.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

…

“Soon, the time will come where we will finally reunite and rule this land together… sister.”
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A moan escapes my throat as I begin stirring from sleep, leaving the depths of unconsciousness. I roll onto my left side and slowly open my eyes halfway. With my vision blurry, I have a hard time trying to decipher on where the heck I am. At first, my surroundings don’t look familiar and a wave of panic washes over me. My eyes shot open and I instantly roll onto my back, sitting up on the bed in a panic.

I begin looking around, turning my head left and right so fast that I can feel myself becoming dizzy. I eventually stop and take slow deep breaths to help calm myself down. As I do, memories of what happened comes flooding back to me, as well as remembering where I am. I can’t help but feel kind of silly for panicking like a scared little pony. To be honest, I don’t know why I had that momentary lapse in my memory and I don’t think I’ll ever find out or understand why.

I turn my attention to the balcony doors see light shining in through the glass. I allow a smile to spread across my face at the sight. Seeing this reminds that this is the start of a brand new day and hopefully, make some good memories that will last a lifetime. To me, a brand new day is the start of a brand new adventure.

My thoughts shift to when Princess Celestia told me about moving me to Ponyville to live with Twilight so I can learn the magic of friendship. The strange warm feeling resurfaces and I can’t help but feel somewhat excited. Of course, I am very well aware that I won’t be permanently living with that mare. Once I learn what I can from her, I’ll move out and live my own life without anypony stopping me.

Though the idea of living on my own sounds perfect, I can’t help but frown at the idea of living alone. Living alone is what I truly want, yet I don’t find comfort at the thought of living in a big house all alone with nopony to keep me company whenever I need somepony to talk to.

Something deep down tells me that I don’t need anypony and that I can live without friends. That friends are nothing but a big pain in the butt and that they will eventually betray me and leave me in the dust. I don’t know why but I find myself agreeing with that part of me.

However, another part of me tells me that making friends will probably be the best thing that will ever happen to me. That maybe having some companions will make my life better and happier and that once I learn to trust other ponies and they earn my trust, I can befriend them and maybe even do some fun things together.

I smile at the idea of making friends. Though I will be alone living on my own, I will still have friends to go and see whenever I want to see them. That thought alone makes me feel a bit better and excited at the same time. Being around that love and care about me and accept for me for who I am is something that I hope will happen one day.

‘I don’t know why, but I can’t wait,’ I think to myself excitedly before it suddenly dies. ‘Yet at the same time, I’m nervous. I will be going to some place unfamiliar to me and be learning how to befriend random ponies. Exciting as that is, it sounds very weird.’

For some odd reason, I take notice of something soft and comfortable on my hindlegs. I look down to see the large red blanket tucked around my hindlegs.

Confusion hits me like a ton of bricks. I… I know for a fact that I went to sleep without getting under the blanket. That can only mean one thing in particular; somepony had walked into my room in the middle of the night and tucked me under the blanket.

The thought of somepony walking into my room and tucking me in like a baby angers me. I am a full grown mare and the last thing I want is for somepony to tuck me like a two-year-old. That will make me look completely ridiculous and besides, I can take care of myself. Of course, since I know absolutely nothing about Equestria and all, I will have to ask for help from time-to-time.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

A series of soft knocks at the door snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn my attention to it. I stare at the door, contemplating on whether I should get out of bed and answer the door or just simply ignore it.

‘Maybe by ignoring it, whoever it is that is standing outside the door will go away,’ I think to myself.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

The knocking repeats in the same manner and I realize that ignoring it just isn’t an option. I begin to think about who could be on the other side of the door.

Maybe it’s the guards just knocking on my door to make sure I was okay and haven’t tried anything funny, like trying to escape the castle for example. Even if I wanted to do, there is no way I’ll be able to make even halfway through the castle. Even if the guards were afraid of me, I know that they will do their jobs and try to stop me. And if even if I tried to escape by jumping out of the balcony, I won’t be able to since for starters, even with wings, I can’t fly since I don’t know how to and plus, I don’t even know how far up the balcony is. I will be asking for my death if I tried to jump off the balcony.

Maybe it’s Twilight knocking on the door. I don’t know why but just the mere possibility of Twilight knocking on my door makes my face grow hot for some reason. I try my best to keep myself under control. Like seriously, I just met her yesterday and for some dumb reason, I am beginning to feel very weird every time I think about her. Speaking of Twilight, I think of a good reason as to why she would be knocking on my door.

‘Maybe she wants to tell me that it’s time for me to get ready for the move to Ponyville?’ I think to myself. It’s the only logical explanation that I can think of.

Maybe it’s Princes Luna knocking on my door, coming back to start some beef with me again like the way she did it last night. I frown at the possibility of it being that annoying Moon Princess knocking on my door. The last thing I want is to deal with her annoying butt first thing in the morning and just ruin my mood.

‘I just wish she can just leave me alone,’ I think to myself and realize something real quick. ‘No, it can’t be Princess Luna. If it was her, she’ll be pounding on the door instead of knocking on the door gently. Considering how she hates me, she might’ve barged in here without me giving a reply. It makes sense.’

Maybe it’s Princess Celestia that’s knocking on the door. That might make sense since, despite giving that one hateful look back in the dungeons, she is the only one of the two sisters that hasn’t been rude to me or tried to start any beef with me. Maybe Celestia’s here because she wants to talk to me about something that she had somehow forgotten to tell me last night. It does make sense, in a way.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

I let out a sigh, knowing that the knocking will come again unless I answer. Might as well get it out of the way so I don’t worry the pony on the other side of the door, I guess.

“Who is it?” I call out loud.

“It’s Celestia,” came the familiar voice of the Princess. “May I come in, please?”

I think this over. Although it might sound like Celestia, it might possibly be Luna using Celestia’s voice to try and trick me. Maybe the soft knocking on the door is also another way for me to let my guard down and give her a chance to start beef with me with the possible intent on provoking me. To be very honest, I don’t think I will be able to know unless I allow the pony on the other side of the door to enter my room.

“Yes, you can come in,” I respond. The door to my bedroom opens and sure enough, Celestia steps inside. I resist the urge to let out a huge sigh of relief, knowing that it isn’t Princess Luna in disguise or anything of the sort.

Shutting the door behind her, she walks over to the bed while giving me a warm smile. I really like that smile. It gives off this comforting feeling, one that tells you that everything is going to be alright. That is a feeling that I like a lot.

“Good morning,” she says, sitting down beside the bed.

“Good morning, Celestia,” I reply back.

“How are you?”

“I’m doing good.”

“I trust that you slept well.”

“I sure did,” I say softly. “With how soft the bed is, I pretty much slept like a baby.”

Celestia lightly chuckles at this. I allow a smile to spread across my face as I watch. I really want to ask Celestia if she knows who entered my room and tucked me in under the blanket, but I decide against it since honestly, it will be weird to ask that right off the bat. If I do ask, she might think that I’m weird or probably have a screw loose in my brain.

“It’s great to hear that you slept wonderfully,” Celestia says after she composes herself.

“Yeah,” I chuckle lightly before the memories of what happened last night with Luna hits me like a ton of bricks. I stop chuckling and turn my head away so that I’m not facing Celestia and look down at the blanket. I allow a frown to spreads across my face, not even bothering to resist.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asks. I don’t answer. I just continue to stare at the blanket, refusing to make eye contact with her. “Can you please look at me and tell me?”

Again, I don’t reply. I continue to stare at my blanket as the memories of the heated ‘talk’ with Luna replays in my head. I feel a rush of anger flow through me and I tighten my grip on the blanket. I really hate the fact that she threatened to turn me to stone if I try to take over Equestria and how she is watching my every move. Like seriously, it’s already bad enough that she hates me, but to know that she will be watching everything I do is just borderline creepy.

“Young mare, look at me right now,” I hear Celestia say sternly. I look to see her giving me a stern expression. “Did something happen last night? If so, I need you to tell me right now.”

I want to tell her that it’s nothing and that it’s none of her darn business because frankly, it’s not. I want to stand my ground and tell the Princess to back off, but something deep down tells me to not go through with that action. It warns me that I go through with it, I will be creating nothing but trouble for myself and that’s the last thing I need right now.

‘I might as well tell her,’ I think to myself. ‘Something tells me that she won’t let it go unless I tell her.’

I sigh and look into Celestia’s stern eyes.

“Your sister came to my room to talk about a few things with me last night,” I reply in a low tone. Celestia proceeds to give me a curious look.

“About what?” she asks. I take a deep breath in order to steel my nerves. I really hope that I don’t regret making this decision.

“She thinks that I am tricking you and Twilight into believing that I have amnesia and how I have you both fooled,” I explain. “She thinks that I’m doing this so I can ‘escape facing justice’, whatever that means. Before she left the room, she told me that she will be watching my every move and if I try to take over Equestria again, she will turn me to stone.”

I look back to Celestia and see a blank expression on her face. I have no idea what she is thinking or how she is processing what I told her, but I really hope that she believes me. Something in the back of my mind tells me that Celestia won’t believe me because this is her sister I’m talking about. To top it off, I am probably something that she, Twilight, and Luna probably want to forget about entirely. That doesn’t bring any comfort. Instead, it brings a feeling of dread.

“Celestia, please believe me when I tell you that I never want to do such a thing,” I say in a slightly pleading tone. “I want to create a new legacy for myself. I want to prove to other ponies that I am not who they think I am, despite that I look like this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony. I don’t want ponies to see me as a being of evil and terror. I want them to see that I’m a pony, just like them, not the other way around.”

Celestia looks at me with a thoughtful expression and appears to go into deep thought. I feel slightly hopeful, hoping that she sees that I am being truthful with her because I am. I hope she sees that what I’m trying to say to her is that I want to be seen as a pony, not the evil monster that they all see me as.

Celestia looks me in the eyes and gives me a warm smile.

“I believe you,” she says softly. “I can sense that your words are genuine and that is why I believe that you moving to Ponyville to live with Twilight is the best course of action.”

I stare at Celestia with wide eyes, surprised and shocked by her words. To be honest, I am grateful that she believes me. Something in the back of my mind reminds me that she still doesn’t trust me, even after what I said to her. Even if that is the case, I am still grateful that Celestia believes and probably has faith in me. That is enough for me.

My thoughts shift to what happened in the bathroom, specifically to when I saw my face in the mirror above the sink. I resist the urge to frown upon remembering that moment. In my eyes, it wasn’t my face that I was staring at; it is a face that belongs to a very terrifying monster. A monster whose legacy is feared by many. That’s something I will have to change as soon as possible. While I do look like her, I am nothing like her in mind and soul, not by a long shot.

‘If I’m going to live a happy life here in Equestria, I will have to create a new legacy for myself,” I think to myself. ‘And to do that, I will have to ask Celestia if she sees me as a monster.’

I sigh and look Celestia in the eyes.

“Celestia, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” she asks, that warm smile still plastered on her face.

“Am I a monster to you?” I ask. The smile vanishes from her face and shock takes its place.

“Excuse me?” she asks with shock present in her tone. “I don’t understand the meaning of your question.”

I take a deep breath and look the Sun Princess in the eyes. I have to be very honest with her.

“What I mean is; do you see me as a monster in your eyes?” I say. “Some of the ponies in the castle gave me a fearful expression and tremble in pure terror or run down the hallways screaming at the top of their lungs as if I was going to hurt them whenever they caught sight of me. Every time that happened, I felt my heart ache, threatening to shatter to pieces until it just got annoying. Something tells me that all the ponies will see me as a monster that came from their nightmares.”

I feel my eyes begin to water up, but I try my best to steel my nerves and continue on with what I am saying.

“If I’m going to create a new legacy for myself, I want ponies to love and respect me, see me as a pony, just like them. Do you think all of this can be possible? I want to make friends, but can it all be possible if the world only sees me as a monster? I want to have the ability to make my own choices and be my own pony, but will it be possible?”

Celestia stares at me with a blank expression, obviously taking in what I said to her. I wait for her response. As I wait, I notice something familiar in her eyes. I take a closer look and see that familiar hint of concentration in her eyes, similar to the concentration Luna had while she was glaring at me during dinner. I begin to feel very uneasy, though I try my best to not show it.

‘What is she trying to do?’ I think to myself. ‘Whatever it is, it’s taking a lot of concentration, something I think she’s trying to not make obvious. I wonder what that can be.’

After a moment, the concentration leave Celestia’s eyes as she proceeds to looks me in the eyes, giving me that same warm smile from earlier.

“I don’t see you as a monster in my eyes,” she replies. “I know that this is all very overwhelming for you, but don’t let negative thoughts get in the way of what you desire. And most important of all, don’t let what other ponies say about you get in the way. I have faith that you will be successful in your goal. All that you have to do is believe in yourself and don’t ever stop believing. Persistence is the key and I know that you have the strength and will to do it.”

I smile at her words. While I don’t trust Celestia much, along with the concentration I noticed in her eyes just seconds ago, something deep in my gut is telling me to believe and trust in her words.

“Thanks, Celestia,” I say.

“You’re welcome,” Celestia says. “Would you like to have breakfast with me and Twilight?”

I give her a shake of my head. It’s nice of her to invite me for breakfast, but I am not in the mood to eat. I want to be left alone so I can have some time to think. Being alone right now is what I need currently. Besides, if Luna will be there eating breakfast with Celestia and Twilight, there is no doubt that we will have a repeat of last night. That is something I don’t want to deal with first thing in the morning.

“No thanks, Celestia,” I reply. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not hungry right now.”

I can see a small hint of disappointment present in her eyes, but she keeps that smile on her face before proceeding to slowly nod her head.

“I understand,” Celestia says. “If you need anything, just let the guards stationed outside know.”

“I will,” I say. Celestia gives me another small nod of her head, gets up and walks out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

After waiting a minute, I remove the blanket from my body and roll out of bed. I turn my attention to the balcony doors and the idea of going out onto the balcony to get some fresh air pops up in my head. It sounds like a great idea. Maybe getting some fresh air is what I need to help clear my head and help me get my mind off a few things.

I walk over to the balcony doors, rest my hooves on the doors and push them open. I walk out onto the balcony and the smell of the fresh morning air fills my nostrils. I let out a refreshed sigh. I walk over to the column bracket and rest my hooves on the edges, looking out into the far distance. A small gust of wind blows past me, ruffling my hair in the process.

I let another refreshed sigh escape and a smile creep onto my face. I feel my thoughts become clear and my body feel at ease and at peace. Lot of the things that Celestia said to me plays in my head and of her faith that she has in me. As much as I appreciate her words, I don’t feel very assured and comforted by them. While things may look good for me at this moment, all it will take is one tiny mistake and everything will come crumbling down. That is something that I can’t allow to happen. Not on my watch.

‘Besides, if I make that one tiny mistake, Luna will see it as an excuse to turn me to stone and there is no doubt that she will take that chance in a heartbeat,’ I think to myself before shaking my head disapprovingly. ‘This is going to turn into one heck of a problem. I can tell already.’

I look down at the land below. I am shocked when I catch sight of the surroundings below.

Surrounding the castle are countless structures, all of them having this fancy-like feel to them and walking down the paths were like hundreds of ponies, many of them wearing some kind of clothing, clothing that looked really fancy. I look away from the structures below and turn my attention to the horizon. In the far distance, I see countless trees and the colorful landscapes as far as the eyes can see.

‘This is so beautiful,’ I think to myself in amazement. ‘I wonder what the rest of Equestria looks like.’

“Hey, Nightmare Moon?” suddenly came a voice from behind me. I jump a bit and I feel my heart skip a beat.

“EEK!!” I shriek in surprise.

I quickly turn my whole body around to see Twilight Sparkle standing in the doorway. I let out a sigh of relief before I glare at her. I watch her shrink slightly at this, but I don’t care.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Twi” I scold in a slightly loud tone. “You scared me to death. What were you trying to do? Give me the world’s biggest heart attack?”

“Heh, sorry about that,” Twilight says with a sheepish smile.

“It’s water under the bridge now,” I reply roughly. I calm myself down and walk over to her, giving her a curious look.

“So, what’re you doing here?” I ask curiously as I sit down on my haunches about a foot and a half away from her.

“Celestia asked me to come talk to you about a few things,” Twilight says simply.

“Okay, about what?” I say. I am curious as to where she is going with this.

“For starters, we need to give you a new name,” Twilight begins to say. I completely forgot about trying to find myself a brand new name. It must have slipped my mind when Celestia told me about what was going to happen to me and when Luna confronted me some time later. “Second, I created a disguise for you. That way, you can walk amongst the ponies without any trouble. And finally, we have to keep your real form a secret since there are ponies out there that won’t take kindly to you and might… try to…”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” I say with reassurance. “I understand completely.”

“Okay,” Twilight says with a small smile. I smile in return.

In truth, I did understand what she was saying. If the ponies of Ponyville saw me in my real form, they will come to the conclusion that I am the real Nightmare Moon and might resort to drastic measures, measures that make my fur stand up. The last thing I want is to have to deal with something like that at any point while living with Twilight.

I suddenly find her smile to be cute and I feel that warmth resurface in my chest again.

‘Why do I find her smile to be so cute?’ I think to myself. ‘And why won’t this feeling go away?’

I snap out it and look Twilight in the eyes.

“So, what should we do first?” I ask. I watch that cute smile of hers grow slightly at my question.

“Let’s start with giving you a new name,” Twilight says. “Do you have one in mind?”

I begin tapping the lower part of my muzzle as I try to think of a new name for myself. I come up with nothing. I try and try, but I come up with nothing every time. Coming up with a new name is harder than I thought.

“I’ve got nothing,” I say. I sigh in defeat. “What about you? Did you come up with anything?”

“I did actually,” Twilight says. “I came up with it last night.”

“Oh?” I ask curiously. “What is it?”

“Selina Lunar,” Twilight says cheerfully.

I stare at Twilight with wide eyes as I think over the name. Selina Lunar??? I find the name to be somewhat okay. I am not against it by any means. I am rather curious as to why she picked it.

“Selina Lunar?” I ask curiously.

“Well, I figured since you have a starry mane and tail, and since the name has connections to the moon and the night, I believed the name might suit you perfectly,” Twilight says.

I continue to stare at Twilight as I think over what she said. To be honest, I prefer that name than being called ‘Nightmare Moon’ all the time. To top it off, I find the name to be fitting. As weird as the name sounds, I really do like it. I even feel like it fits me in some way.

“So, what do you think?” Twilight asks. I give Twilight a small smile and I witness the smile on her face grow.

“I like it,” I say.

“Okay then,” Twilight says. “From now, you will now be called by your new name; Selina Lunar."

I give Twilight a small nod as a feeling of happiness flows through me.

“Okay, now for your disguise,” Twilight says and I witness her horn light up. I become curious as to what she is doing. I don’t have to wait for long.

Levitating from behind her is a really pretty necklace with a silver chain and a crescent moon pendant. I give her a curious look. What does a necklace have anything to do with the disguise that Twilight created for me? To me, it seems kind of silly.

“Twilight, what’s with the necklace?” I ask curiously.

“I placed a spell on the necklace, which will help change your appearance so that you can walk amongst the ponies of Ponyville without trouble,” she says as she levitates the necklace closer to me. “I’m going to put the necklace around your neck, so don’t move.”

I nod and the clip of the necklace opens. Twilight levitates the necklace around my neck and I hear the clip to the necklace close. With the necklace fashioned around my neck, the light around Twilight’s horn diminishes. We wait for something to happen. I don’t have to wait for long.

I feel a chill run up my spine as I begin to feel all tingly. I close my eyes and I feel something warm and fuzzy flow throughout my entire body. I feel myself shrinking and my wings sinking into my back. This entire time, I expect to be wrecked with pain throughout this entire thing. Nothing like that ever happens. Just as quick as the changes start, they stop.

“Okay, open your eyes now,” Twilight says. I open my eyes and I catch sight of a huge mirror floating about a foot away from me. I gasp as I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror.

Instead of the black-furred, winged pony, there is a mare with a horn on the top of her head. I have messy, slightly long black hair going down from the back of my neck with a puff of it on the top and a long tail in the same color. I possess emerald green eyes and a white fur coat. I also notice that I look a lot smaller than I was, probably around Twilight’s height.

I stare at my reflection, shock overcoming every part and sense of my body. It looks and feels so strange to be staring at something different in the mirror other than the face I saw in the bathroom mirror. Unlike last time, I see the face and body of an ordinary pony staring back in the mirror. As normal as this looks, I know that I am far from normal.

“Is… is this me?” I ask. I squeak when I notice the change in my voice. It is much high pitched, although not to the point where it sounds very squeaky or anything.

“Yep,” Twilight says from behind the mirror. “So, what do you think?”

I look away from the mirror and examine the rest of my body. It isn’t the best looking disguise Twilight came up with, but it is at least something. I may also not be the best looking mare in Equestria either, but I still do look good.

At the same time, something in my gut is telling me that this is all wrong. The fact that I have to use a disguise so I can fit in and walk amongst the other ponies in Ponyville is like putting on a mask and costume to hide you true self from the rest of the world. This course of action is like creating a new identity and shunning my real one.

I sigh mentally. As much as I hate the idea of using a disguise, becoming a different pony that is nothing like me, I know that it’s for my own safety. I seriously don’t want to risk something bad happening to me because of me looking like Nightmare Moon.

I shake my head and turn my attention to Twilight.

“Not the best, but I can live with this,” I say and the mirror pops out of existence. “How much time do we have left before we head to Ponyville?”

“In like about an hour,” she replies. “What do you plan on doing while you wait before we have to get going?”

“I will be staying out here to enjoy the scenery,” I reply. I walk over to the column brackets and stand up on my hindlegs. I rest my forelegs onto the edges and rest my chin on top. I don’t bother on turning my head to face Twilight. “If you’re not busy with anything, I wouldn’t mind you watching and enjoying the scenery with me.”

“Well…” I hear hesitation in Twilight’s tone. I don’t know why, but I feel my heart ache when the thought of enjoying this by myself rear its very ugly head. “If you insist…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” I quickly say. If Twilight doesn’t want to, I will not object. I won’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do against her will.

“I guess I can go for some fresh air,” she replies. I see her walk over to my side, stand up on her hindlegs, rest her hooves on the edge in the corner of my eye.

I stare out into the horizon and I sigh contently. The beauty of it all is something that you can’t describe with words alone. This is something that one has to see with their own eyes for themselves in order to get the full idea of it all. I inhale the crisp morning air and sigh. I don’t know why, but I just also love the smell that comes in the morning. It is a smell that signals to all that it is the start of a brand new day.

I feel a soft breeze whip past me. I close my eyes and feel myself become at ease. The breeze is soft enough to bring a comforting feeling throughout my body. I can’t help but smile as I feel the tension that I didn’t know I had wash away. I think the tension is from the confrontation with Luna last night or just from everything in general. Nevertheless, I’m glad that a soft breeze from the wind is powerful enough to put anyone at ease.

“This feels wonderful,” I whisper contently.

“Say that 10x fast,” Twilight replies. I open my eyes, look away from the scenery and turn my attention to Twilight, giving her a little mischievous smirk.

“I think I can,” I say mischievously. “I can give it a go, if that’s what you want.”

Twilight turns her head away from the scenery and proceeds to look me dead in the eyes. I allow my smirk to grow slightly at this. This is reaction I wanted from her.

“Please don’t,” she says in a low tone. I chuckle as Twilight turns her attention back to the scenery. Once I compose myself, I think back to what Twilight and Celestia told me last night.

I know that Celestia and Twilight told me I am moving to Ponyville to learn the magic of friendship last night, but I am nervous and honestly, scared. I know that I was excited about the idea, but now, concerns are coming to life. I don’t know what to expect once we arrive at the town. Are any of the ponies there nice? Are there any ponies I need to be worried about or avoid that I need to be aware of? The last thing I want to move to Ponyville not knowing anything.

“Twilight, I want to ask you a few things,” I say. Twilight looks away from the scenery and turns her attention to me once again.

“What is it?” she asks.

“I want to know what I am getting into before we head to Ponyville,” I say. “Is there anything I need to be aware of?”

She gives me a curious look. “Like what?”

“Are the ponies there nice? Are there any ponies in particular that I need to avoid and be careful around? Are there any rules there I have to follow?” I wait for Twilight to give me a reply. I don’t receive any so I continue. “Twilight, the reason I am asking is because I want to go prepared rather than go in not knowing about anything.”

Twilight looks at me with a blank expression on her face. She is probably processing what I said and is thinking about how to answer my questions with honesty. I wait patiently for her answers.

“I have been living in Ponyville for years and I know the ponies well, so you don’t have to worry about anything,” she replies. “The ponies there are indeed nice.”

‘That’s good to know,’ I think to myself, feeling some of the worry wash away, though it’s still present.

“There are no ponies I know in particular that you should be wary about, as far as I’m aware.”

‘I guess that means that there isn’t any pony that I need to be careful around. Maybe good, maybe bad. This can go any way and hopefully, it won’t go down the bad way.’

“You can’t steal or litter, which is one thing.”

‘Figures.’

“Other than that, Ponyville is a very safe place.”

I feel the nervousness wash away and the feeling of relief takes its place. I know the answers are not much, but they are something. I give Twilight a small smile. Twilight responds by giving me a small smile in return. I feel that strange warmth form in my chest once again.

‘What is happening to me?’ I think to myself. ‘Why am I feeling this way? It feels good, but I am terrified by it at the same time.’

I hear the balcony doors open behind us. I look to see Princess Celestia standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. I suddenly take notice of that familiar faint concentration in her eyes for a split second before it disappears completely.

“I see that you are enjoying the view,” Celestia says softly. I nod my head as a way of acknowledgement.

“I am,” I reply. “It’s very beautiful.”

“I agree,” Celestia says. “I sometimes walk out onto my balcony and stare into the horizon, enjoying the beauty of it all before beginning my duties.” She proceeds to stare at me for a moment. “I have to say, that disguise fits you.”

I feel my cheeks become hot from the statement before realizing something. How the heck does she knows that it’s me and that I’m wearing a disguise? Was she spying on me and Twilight while we were out here and we just happened to not notice her? It sounds logical as there is no other explanation for her knowing this.

‘I might as well not dwell on it,’ I think to myself. 

“Thank you, I guess,” I say before remembering something else. “Oh, I also have a new name. It’s Selina Lunar.”

The smile on Celestia’s face grows. “Did you come up with the name?”

I shake my head.

“No, Twilight did,” I reply. I watch Celestia’s smile grow slightly more. Dear goodness gravy do I love it when she smiles at me like that.

“It fits you perfectly,” Celestia says.

“Thanks,” I say with a smile. “So, what are you doing here?”

“It’s time to go,” she says. “The train will be arriving at the station in 30 minutes.”

This catches my attention. A train? I thought Twilight said that Ponyville isn’t too far, so why are we taking a train? I take my hooves off the bracket while turning my body around and getting back onto all four hooves. I turn to Twilight, then Celestia, before looking back to Twilight.

“A train?” I ask. “I thought Ponyville isn’t too far from here.”

“It’s not,” Twilight replies. “It’s how ponies get from one place to another since it’s faster.”

That makes sense, I guess. There has to be some way for ponies to go from one place to another. It would take way too much time if ponies had to walk to their destination. To be honest, I think taking the train will be a heck of a lot faster too.

I feel my stomach rumble, which is then quickly followed by a loud grumble. I look down at my stomach before turning my head to face Twilight and then turning it to face Celestia. I smile sheepishly as I feel my face grow hot.

“Hehe, sorry,” I say sheepishly, feeling slightly embarrassed by this turn of events. Celestia chuckles lightly before giving me a soft smile.

“Change of plans, lets get something to eat before you two head over to the station,” Celestia says. We both give Celestia a nod and we follow her out of the balcony.

‘I seriously hope that nothing goes seriously wrong while staying there,’ I think to myself as we exit the balcony.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I smile as Princess Celestia lays my breakfast in front of me. I look down at the plate and I feel the saliva begin to build up within my mouth. There are four pancakes stacked on top of each other with the top pancake decorated to look like a pony’s face; blueberries for the eyes, the raspberries for the smile, and whip cream for the horn. Surrounding the four pancakes are a variety of 3 fruits; strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

‘Wow, these have to be the best plate of pancakes I’ve ever seen so far,’ I think to myself. ‘From the looks of it, Celestia knows how to make some pretty delicious-looking pancakes.’

I swallow the saliva building in my mouth, take my attention away from the pancakes and turn it to Celestia, who is giving me a warm smile. I smile in return.

“Thank you for making breakfast for us, Celestia,” I say. “You didn’t have to go through the trouble to do that.”

In all honesty, it was really nice of her to make breakfast for me, herself, and Twilight. I guess she wanted to do something nice for all of us instead of having the maids or anypony that works for her make breakfast for us. In a way, I can understand that. It’s nice to have something done by yourself instead of somepony else.

Maybe Celestia made breakfast for us so she can leave a good impression on me before we left for Ponyville. I mentally scoff at that. To me, that just sounds completely ludicrous and unnecessary. If anything, I might as well try to not even think about that.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear Celestia chuckle lightly.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Celestia says, smiling. “It’s something I enjoy doing.”

Twilight, who is sitting on the right side of the table, turns her head to face me. A smile spreads across her face. Once again, I can’t help but find the smile to be cute as I feel the familiar warmth in my chest. I shake this out of my head and smile back.

“She does this all the time,” Twilight says as she takes a bite out of her pancakes.

“It’s a small way to say I care,” Celestia adds before giving me a slight smirk. “If I recall correctly, you didn’t want to join me and Twilight for breakfast and yet, here you are.”

I reply by giving her a small smirk. I remember that since it happened not too long ago. Although she doesn’t know the full reasons why I rejected the invite, it will be better to keep it from both her and Twilight. They might think that it’s to just purposefully avoid Luna, which they would be fifty-percent right on. Her antagonistic and hostile behavior towards me makes it uncomfortable and unpleasant to be in the same room as her.

I shake this out of my head, not wanting to think mainly about the dreadful Moon Princess.

“Touché,” I reply. Celestia chuckles lightly again before composing herself and walking over to the other end of the table. She sits down on the chair and begins eating her own plate of pancakes.

I stare down at the plate of pancakes, not sure on what to do. I obviously can’t just pick them up with my hooves and I don’t think I will be able to get a good grip on the silverware with my hooves. I look to both Twilight and Celestia to see their horns lit up and their forks levitating to their mouths as they stuff a piece of their pancakes into their gaping mouths. I have no idea how they’re doing this, but I wonder if I will ever be taught how to do that.

‘Are they using magic?’ I think to myself. ‘If so, does it mean that ponies with horns have the ability to use magic? Crazy as it sounds, it really does sound logical. There is no other explanation.’

Something clicks in my head and remember that I have a horn as well, which means one thing; I can perform the same feat both Twilight and Celestia are pulling off right now. That means I can use magic too if that’s what it’s even called. With magic, I can do things that would normally be difficult to pull off with just my hooves alone. Not only that, but I can also use it to protect myself when the situation calls for it.

There is only one problem; I don’t know how to use or activate my powers. What am I supposed to do? How does it even work? How do I awaken and activate it? Do I have to search deep inside me and bend it to my will so I can use it properly without messing it up entirely? So many questions, yet no answers whatsoever.

‘I wonder if Twilight or even Celestia can teach me,’ I think to myself. ‘It might come in handy when I need it most.’

*SLAM*

The sound of the dining hall doors slamming open snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn my head in response. I resist the urge to groan as the last pony I wanted to avoid enters the dining hall and proceeds over to the table we are sitting at. Welp, there goes any chance of having a good day.

‘Oh no,’ I mentally groan to myself. ‘This is going to go so downhill very fast, I can already feel it.’

Luna stands beside Twilight’s right and I notice something off about her. I don’t know why but something seems different about her. I look more closely at her and see what’s different; her face. She has a tired look planted on her face and there are bags under her eyes, like she just pulled off an all-nighter.

Despite how badly she treated me last night, I can’t help feeling concerned for Luna. She looks absolutely terrible and judging by the intense emotions in her eyes, I can tell she had a very bad night. I feel really bad for Luna and I feel the need to comfort her. Although I know that will not end well for me, that still won’t stop me from trying to offer her both pity and some comfort.

“Good morning, sister,” Celestia says cheerfully with a warm smile. “I made you some pancakes. Care to join us?”

Luna turns her head to face her sister as Celestia presents a plate full of pancakes. She stares at Celestia for a moment before turning her attention onto me. I watch as that familiar glare forms on her face. She glares at me for a moment before returning her attention back to Celestia, who still has that warm smile on her face.

Luna sighs and the glare slightly weakens. I don’t know why but something tells me that Luna’s going to refuse all because of me being here. I wouldn’t be surprised if she does.

“No thank you, sister,” Luna replies as her horn lights up and a pineapple levitates into the air. “Too tired.”

The smile on Celestia’s face weakens a little bit. I knew that Luna would refuse and she’s only doing that because she doesn’t want to eat breakfast with me here in the dining hall. To me, that seems kind of stupid and very childish.

“Busy night?” Celestia asks. Luna stares at her for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

“Yes, very busy,” Luna replies coldly and sarcastically. “My apologies, sister, but I prefer to not talk about it here.” She quickly whips her head in my direction and her glare intensifies. “Especially with her here.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes in annoyance. I don’t know why but I have the feeling that the reason why Luna’s night was ‘very busy’ is because it probably has something to do with me. If that’s the case, then what was she even trying to do? I have the gut feeling that whatever it is that Luna was trying to do last night isn’t anything good.

Celestia turns her focus on me and her smile vanishes. She begins to stare at me for a moment, probably thinking the same thing I am, but I can be very wrong here. She then returns her focus back to Luna, who’s still glaring at me.

“If I may ask, does it have anything to do with young Selina here?” Celestia asks curiously. The glare instantly leaves her face, being quickly replaced with a look of angered bewilderment.

Luna whips her head back and forth for a second before once again glaring at me. I am really starting to become fed with her constantly glaring at me all the time. It’s a good thing I didn’t go through with comforting her as that might’ve not gone so well for me.

“Is that your new name, Nightmare?” she asks coldly and aggressively. “All because you can’t stand the sound of your own name?”

I proceed to glare at Luna, unamused that she’s continuing to use the name that happens to not be my real name. Any pity I had for Luna when she came in here looking all exhausted is all gone, replaced with both annoyance and anger.

“Yes, my new name is Selina Lunar,” I reply rudely. “And in case you are wondering, Twilight is the one who gave me my new name. And yes, it’s because I can’t stand the name that fits more appropriately to a monster instead of a pony who acts nothing like one.”

“Which you are,” Luna growls viciously. “And whatever it is that you’re hiding inside that head of yours is proof that you don’t want ponies to know or see the monster you really are.”

I feel anger bubble in my chest, though I try my best to keep it at bay. I know that she’s trying to make me lash out in anger, possibly to get me to attack her. If that’s the case, I won’t give her what she wants just so she can use it as an excuse to turn me to stone.

“You know, I don’t like how you have been treating me,” I say apathetically. “Just because I have the body of Nightmare Moon doesn’t generally mean that I’m her in mind and soul. And as for what I’m hiding inside of my head, I’m not hiding anything and I don’t see what’s going on in my head really any of your concern.”

Luna proceeds to give me the most hateful expression imaginable before she begins walking over to me. I watch the Moon Princess intently as she slowly gets closer and closer to me. Judging by how slow she’s walking, I can tell that she’s deliberately trying to intimidate me. Well, Luna’s not doing a very good job at it.

Luna stops beside my right side while keeping that glare plastered on her face. I wish I can just wipe that look from her face. She bares her teeth at me as she leans her head closer to me.

“It is my concern when it involves keeping Equestria safe from you,” Luna growls through her teeth. I feel the urge to scoff in her face, but I decide against it.

“Maybe I should make this very clear to you; I’m… not… interested… in… taking… over… Equestria…” I say, deliberately saying each word slowly. Luna hardens her hateful expression as she presses her face against mine.

“I know you are,” Luna hisses with venom. “You’re keeping it all locked up in that head of yours. I don’t know what it is that is keeping me out, but when I find out how to get in there, I will expose you for the monster you are.”

Confusion hits me like a ton of bricks. What the heck does she mean by me keeping her out of my head? Is she saying that I’m purposefully keeping her out of my head using some method that is unfamiliar to me? Something tells me that Luna is being cryptic on purpose, basically trying to get me to confess, but what is the question.

“What do you mean by ‘keeping you out’?” I ask, genuinely curious. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

Luna growls aggressively in my face before slamming her right hoof onto the table, making it shake violently. I hear Twilight let out a loud squeak, though I hardly pay any attention to it.

“You know exactly what I mean, Nightmare,” Luna growls through her teeth. “You used some spell to protect your mind from being looked into. Soon, I will break through that spell that is protecting your head and find out all of your little secrets.”

I feel my confusion strengthen, as well as a rush of utter annoyance flow all throughout my body. Is Luna being serious right now? Does she seriously not notice how stupid that sounds? To be honest, the way she’s throwing all of these accusations makes them laughable.

First of all, I know nothing about spells so how would I even be able to ‘protect’ my mind when I possess no knowledge about spells or the types of spells that can be performed? The chances of me using a spell will be pretty impossible as I have a feeling that it can only be achieved by using magic, something that I don’t even know how to do or perform.

Second of all, I’m not hiding any dirty secrets that makes Luna think it’s acceptable to try getting into my head so she can find out what they might even be. Honestly, I see it as her wasting her time since she can be focusing on something else that might be important but it seems that Luna’s so bent on trying to get into my head that she sees it as her main priority.

I snap out of my thoughts and proceed to give Luna an annoyed glare.

“Are you hearing yourself right now?” I ask in disgust. “First off, I don’t know how to cast a spell since I don’t know how to use magic, and secondly, I’m only going to say this for the last time; I’m NOT hiding or planning anything.”

Luna pushes her face harder against mine as she continues baring her teeth at me. I’m forced to lean my neck back because of how hard she’s pushing.

“Don’t play coy with me, Nightmare,” she growls through her teeth. “I know you cast some spell on your head so nopony knows what you’re planning. When I do, I will expose you, just like I promised.”

I feel my right eye beginning to twitch. This… this is getting ridiculous! If anything, Luna is being completely ridiculous right now! I so badly want to slap some sense into her so the message can go through that thick skull of hers! I feel my right foreleg begin twitching and the urge to slap her intensify. In fact, everything in my body is telling me to slap her in the face, but something is holding me back.

I push back against Luna’s face and she leans her neck slightly.

“Do I have to speak in a different language so I can get the message through that thick skull of yours?” I growl. “Because if so, I will gladly do so as it’s clear that me speaking English isn’t good enough for you, but I’ll try again one last time.” I push my face harder against hers and say each word slowly, like how somepony would if they’re talking to somepony who’s having a hard time understanding. “I’m… not… planning… or… hiding… anything… and… I… don’t… know… how… to… cast… a… spell!!”

An expression of unbridle rage spreads across Luna’s face and she pushes her face back with immense force, forcing me to lean my neck back. A sharp pain shoots up my neck and I try my best to not have the pain I’m feeling show on my face.

“Yes… you… ARE!!” Luna growls loudly through her teeth as she stares deeply into my eyes. “You just don’t want to admit it by continuing to lie and are getting away with it by keeping it locked away inside that little head of yours!”

I can feel my annoyance turn into rage as the urge to slap Luna in the face transform into the need to attack her. I try my best to fight it, but deep down, I’m aware of one thing; I’m losing.

“I’m not… lying,” I growl as my vision begins to turn red. “And you saying things about my head like that are starting to get on my nerves. I have done nothing to my head and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do,” Luna growls back aggressively.

I begin trembling violently as the rage within me begins to grow and spread at a frightening rate. With as much restraint as possible, I raise my right hoof to Luna’s face and push it away from mine.

“I’m going to say this for the last time, Luna,” I begin to say in a low tone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And more importantly, why’re you treating me like a piece of garbage?”

Luna responds by slapping my hoof away and keeping that angry glare on her face. Even through my anger, I can sense that this is starting to get very heated and it’s only going to get worse.

“Because I want to keep Equestria safe from monsters like you,” Luna replies with venom in her tone. I return my attention back to her. “And you are a monster that deserves to be locked up.”

‘Don’t lose it, Selina,’ I think to myself as I feel my restraint crumbling away. ‘Don’t… lose… it…’

“Sister, that’s enough,” came the stern tone of Celestia. Luna turns her attention away from me and angrily glares at Celestia.

“And why should I?!” Luna shouts angrily and aggressively. “Can’t you see what she’s trying to do?! She’s trying to have us turn against each other so she can have the chance to strike!! She’s too dangerous to be having her roam freely!!”

I feel something snap within me as an overwhelming rush of rage flows all throughout my body. I can’t take it… I absolutely CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS! I’VE HAD IT!! I KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!! WHY DIDN’T I REFUSE WHEN CELESTIA SUGGESTED WE GET A BITE TO EAT BEFORE HEADING FOR THE TRAIN STATION?!

“Sister, that is-”

With one swift motion of my left foreleg, my plate of pancakes goes flying off the table and falls onto the floor. The plate shatters into pieces which catches the attention of Celestia, Twilight, and Luna. They all turn their attention to the broken plate before focusing their attention to me, their eyes wide with shock.

I glare at them as I begin breathing heavy and rapidly. I can feel saliva dripping from my mouth, but I don’t care.

“I knew this would happen,” I growl viciously, venom clear and present in my tone. I focus my glare at Luna and I swear I see the Moon Princess shiver slightly. “If it makes you feel any better, I will be taking my leave now. Clearly, my presence is becoming the bane of your existence and that you’re wishing for me to disappear. Well, you will be getting your wish.”

I focus my attention to Celestia, who has a slightly pitiful expression on her face. I don’t need her pity right now. It’s uncalled for right now.

“Thank you so much for breakfast,” I say as politely as possible. “I’ll be leaving now.”

With that, I turn and hop out of my chair and storm out of the dining hall, wanting to be away from them as far as possible.



I storm down the hallway, my rage still boiling in my veins. I really don’t have any course on where I want to. Right now, I just want to be left alone and have some time to cool down. I have no idea what happened after I stormed out of the dining hall, but in all honesty, it’s none of my business.

I feel the fur on the back of my neck stand up, along with the feeling of being watched. I turn my head to look behind to see several of those mares  wearing those unfamiliar black-and-white clothing and stallions staring at me, whispering amongst each other. I spot a few of them with horns looking at me with slightly concentrated expressions plastered on their face.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ I think to myself in annoyance. The second they notice that I’m staring at them, they all stop and look away, pretending to not notice me.

I feel my rage boil more and feel the urge to scream. Something deep down tells me not to and that it won’t be right to take my anger out on any of them. I hate to admit it, but it’s right. Aside from screaming and running down the hallway in terror, they have no fault for what happened just moments earlier. It wouldn’t be right to take it out on them.

I take a deep breath to help quell some of my anger and continue down the hallway. As I walk down hallway, the feeling of being watched washes over me again. I try my best to ignore it, but the feeling continues to grow. I clench my teeth aggressively as I try to fight the rage that is now boiling out of control.

‘Don’t give in,’ I think to myself. ‘Don’t… give… in…’

The feeling of being watched becomes unbearable and at this point, I can’t take it anymore. I feel my restraints snap and I give into my anger. I snap my head at them and bare my teeth at them.

“WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT?!?!” I scream angrily at the top of my lungs. All at once, they let out a loud, terrified scream and run down the hallway as fast as they can. I stay where I stand, watching all of those ponies run down hallway and wait till I can no longer hear their screams.

I snort before resuming on my walk down the hallway. Serves those stupid ponies right. Maybe that will teach them to not stare at others like that. All I want is to have some peace and if I have to scream at them to scare them and make them go away, then so be it.

“Selina!” calls out the familiar voice of Twilight, the rapid sound of her hoofsteps coming close behind me. I growl in annoyance as I stop dead in my tracks.

I whip my body 180* and see Twilight standing about a few inches away from me. A nervous and slightly worried expression is plastered on her face and I feel my anger weaken slightly.

“What do you want, Twilight?” I growl aggressively. Twilight gulps harshly before looking me in the eyes.

“Look, I know this isn’t a good time, but I want to talk to you,” Twilight replies. I proceed to glare at her, my anger beginning to boil in my veins once again.

“Talk to me?” I scoff. “I don’t want to talk to you or you talking to me. I especially don’t want to hear anything you have to say, Twilight. What I want right now is to be left alone.”

I turn around and begin walking down the hallway. Talking with Twilight is the last thing I want to do right now. I don’t know why, but I feel the need to protect her from myself and my anger. The very thought of lashing out at her both hurts and terrifies me for some reason.

‘Why am I feeling this way?’ I think to myself. ‘This isn’t normal-’

I stop dead in my tracks when I feel a tug at the base of my tailbone. I instinctively turn my head around to see Twilight looking at me with a stern expression, my tail held firmly in her hooves.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” I demand in a low tone. She doesn’t reply so I look away and try to move.

I yelp in pain as I feel my tail being pulled. I turn my head and proceed to glare threateningly at Twilight. The purple pony proceeds to glare back at me, only hers was more stern than threatening. I try to move again, only for Twilight to pull my tail again.

“Let go of my tail, Twilight,” I growl aggressively.

“Not until we talk things through,” Twilight replies sternly. I feel my patience beginning to grow thin.

‘She’s stubborn,’ I think to myself begrudgingly. ‘I’ll give her that. But her stubbornness is only going to make things worse if she doesn’t stop.’

“Twilight, I don’t want to talk,” I say harshly.

“Well, I do,” Twilight retorts sternly. “You trying to avoid and walk away from this isn’t going to make things better. You’re only hurting and making things harder for yourself.”

I can feel my anger reaching its boiling point. Why can’t she get that I don’t want to talk?! Am I not speaking clear English because I’m very certain that I am!

“Twilight, I’m going to say this one last time; let… go… of… my… tail,” I growl as threateningly as possible as an attempt to scare her. Twilight only replies by firmly shaking her head. I intensify my glare at her. “Twilight, why can’t you just let go?”

“And can’t you stop acting immature?” Twilight retorts. My right eye begins twitching as my anger flows all throughout my body.

“I AM NOT ACTING IMMATURE!!” I scream at her. Twilight doesn’t flinch. She hardens the stern expression on her face.

“Yes, you are, Selina,” Twilight replies in a low tone. “You’d just screamed at me like a filly demanding candy from her parents. I’m going to make this very clear to you; I’m not going to let go of your tail until you calm down and start acting like a grown mare.”

I proceed to harden my glare even more as I look her dead in the eyes. This is so stupid! How does she expect me to calm down if she can’t simply do me one favor and that is to let go of my tail?! Her refusing to let go is only fueling my anger.

‘Maybe if I kick her in the mouth, she might get the message,’ I think to myself angrily. As with the flick of a switch, all the anger washes away as I realize what I had just contemplated.

Did… did I seriously contemplate hurting Twilight? A wave of great horror washes over me at this realization. Twilight’s right; I am acting immature. I let my anger get the best of me and acted like a ‘little filly’, even go as far as to scream at Twilight and all of those mares and stallions. I do need to act like a grown mare instead of a little pony.

I let out a sigh before looking Twilight in the eyes. The stern expression on her face softens, her grip on my tail loosening.

“What is it that you want to talk about?” I ask calmly. Twilight breaths out what I believe is a sigh of relief before finally letting go of my tail.

“I want to talk to you about what happened back there with Luna,” Twilight replies carefully. “Selina, I’m really sorry for her behavior. I’ve never seen her behave like this before and it really worries both me and Celestia, especially with all the things she’s been saying to and about you. Not only that, but it’s like she’s changed into a different pony ever since we found you in the Castle of the Two Sisters yesterday morning.

“I can’t explain what led to me, Celestia, and Luna finding you inside the castle, but I can tell you fully what happened after we found you. When we found you in the old throne room of the castle, Luna freaked. I have never seen her fly into such a rage before. I mean yeah, I have seen her get angry before, but not to the extreme I saw. Luna was so ready to take you out that Celestia had to restrain her with magic. When Luna calmed down a little bit, we came to the agreement to keep you in the dungeons and wait for you to wake up. As we back to the castle, Luna kept muttering how she couldn’t see into your head. That was when it all started.

“After we showed you to your room, we ventured to the throne room where we discussed on what we should do with you. Luna, of course, suggested that we turn you to stone. Like earlier, she kept talking about your head, saying how you somehow casted a spell on your head, even your thoughts, so that it couldn’t be read and all of that. Celestia disagreed and she suggested that since you have amnesia, you would be moved to Ponyville and live with me so I can teach you the magic of friendship and have a chance to live as a pony, like everypony else.

“I thought it over and voiced my agreement on the idea. Luna didn’t like the idea and voiced it very clearly. She was saying how it was too much of a great risk if something bad were to happen. It took us a while but we did manage to convince her to give it a go. All she did was give us a begrudged nod before storming out of the throne room. Even seeing that nod, me and Celestia were both able to tell that there’s nothing we could say to convince her otherwise, so we just let it go.

“And finally, there is last night. After dinner and the guard escorted you out of the dining hall, she wouldn’t stop talking about you, saying all kinds of things on how she’s going find out what it is that you’re hiding inside your head. From how she was talking, it’s like she’s become so very obsessed on trying to figure out what’s going on inside that head of yours. We tried to tell her to just let it go, but she refused to listen and she angrily stormed out of the dining hall.”

I stare at her with wide eyes as everything she said sinks in. Is my head really that big of a deal that it has now become a huge obsession for her? Judging from everything Twilight told me, it seems that way. Something tells me that all this will lead down is anything but a good path. If anything, it will end up having her go down a bad path.

I snap out of it and look Twilight in the eyes.

“That’s crazy,” I whisper. “Not only does she have an unhealthy obsession, but she also hates me, like a lot. You and Celestia really thought that I deserved a chance like that?”

Twilight nods her head and gives me a soft smile.

“We felt like you deserve a chance so that’s why Celestia and I agreed to have you move into Ponyville to live with me and teach you the magic of friendship so that you have the chance to live like everypony else,” Twilight says softly. “If you’re thinking that you are in this alone, just know that you’re not. If you ever need any help, you can always come to me or any of my friends and we will do our best to help you.”

Her mentioning her friends instantly catches my attention and I give her a curious look. I don’t know why, but I feel my interest pique and feel the desire to know more.

“Your friends?” I ask curiously.

“I have friends at Ponyville that I’ve met a few years back and they are the greatest friends any pony could ever ask for,” Twilight says, her smile growing a bit.

“What are their names?” I ask. Obviously, if I ever encounter them at some point, the best thing to know is their names.

“It’s Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replies. I respond by giving her a curious look.

I find the names ‘Pinkie Pie’, ‘Rainbow Dash’, and ‘Fluttershy’ to be kinda silly. Do their names have connections to what they do or their personalities maybe? And if so, I guess that will make a little sense. Maybe Fluttershy is the kind of pony that is nervous and shy around other ponies, hence the last part of her name; ‘shy’. Maybe Rainbow Dash is a rainbow-colored pony, hence why she has the word ‘rainbow’ in her name. As for Pinkie Pie, I have no clue on what that would mean.

“Do they know anything about what’s going on?” I ask. I see a nervous look form on her face once the question leaves my mouth.

“Um, no, they don’t,” Twilight replies a little bit quickly. I arch my left eye, giving her a suspicious expression. “But I do plan on telling them once I have you settled into Ponyville and we arrive at the castle.”

Wait a minute… did she just say ‘castle’? Her mentioning a castle instantly catches my attention. Does Twilight have a castle of her own in Ponyville? If she does, does that mean she is a princess just like Celestia and Luna? The thought of that sounds both crazy and amazing to me.

“Wait, there’s a castle in Ponyville?” I ask.

“Yep, there sure is,” Twilight replies happily. “We call it the ‘Castle of Friendship’ and it happens to be where I, Spike and Starlight Glimmer live.”

‘Spike’… and ‘Starlight Glimmer’? Who the heck are they supposed to be and more importantly, who has a name like ‘Starlight Glimmer’? I don’t know why, but a name like that sounds a bit goofy and silly to me. Regardless, I feel a bit uneasy knowing that there will be two random ponies that I don’t know being there.

“Twilight, who is Spike and Starlight Glimmer?” I ask nervously.

“Spike is a baby dragon who happens to be my number one assistant,” Twilight begins to say, “and as for Starlight Glimmer, she is a Unicorn pony who was once a student of mine that I taught the magic of friendship to.”

Okay, so Spike isn’t a pony, but rather a baby dragon, and Starlight Glimmer is a Unicorn that Twilight taught the magic of friendship? That’s something so far. Only one question remained.

“Can I trust them, Twilight?” I ask. Twilight proceeds to give me a funny look and stares at me for a moment.

“Why ask such a question?” she asks.

“Twilight, you may know and trust them well, but I don’t if I can,” I begin to say. “I don’t know if they are the kind that will turn their backs and betray me if they know the truth about me. You said it yourself yesterday; I am not the most popular or well-liked pony in Equestria so goodness only knows that there are so many ways where this can go wrong. I know nothing about this Nightmare Moon pony and something tells me that they might do something rash or even worse. How do I know that they won’t do that?”

Twilight stares at me with this slightly wide-eyed expression on her face, sitting there still as a statue. I can’t tell if the purple pony is taking in and processing what I said or what, but I think she is. I also hope that she understands where I’m going with this. I don’t know much about friendship but if there is something I do know about it, it’s that it builds around a few virtues; honesty, loyalty, generosity, reliability, and respect.

Twilight snaps out of her state and looks me in the eyes.

“You can trust them, Selina,” Twilight says. “I have known them for years and they are not the kind that will ever try to take full advantage of you or try to do anything to betray you or your trust.”

“Well, I’ll have to see it to believe it,” I reply a little bit too harshly. I see Twilight’s smile slowly weaken and I frown. “Well, if it helps, I’ll like to know a little bit about your friends once we get on the train. Does that sound okay?”

The smile returns slightly and I smile in return.

“Yeah, it does,” she replies. “Let’s get ready to go.”

I nod and we both begin walking down the hallway, ready to begin the first chapter of my new life here in Equestria.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be quite honest, I was literally blown out of my mind when Twilight told me all those stories. The adventures that she and her friends had, travelling to different parts of the land of Equestria and befriending old foes along the way sounded so amazing that I’d found myself becoming more and more intrigued by each passing second. However, they are second only to some of the other stories Twilight told me.

Believe it or not, my favorites are the ones where she and her friends had redeemed and befriended those who started off as enemies. In my eyes, those stories show that anypony has the capability to change their ways and become better and wiser than they ever were. Of course, there were a few that they haven’t been able to redeem and befriend and I believe that might be because they were too far gone or just refused friendship in general.

Another thing that sticks out to me are the friendship lessons that they learned over the years. It’s crazy to think that her friends started writing friendship reports after Twilight tried to create a friendship problem for her to solve so she can write a friendship report for Celestia.

‘She’s lucky she has friends like them,’ I think to myself. ‘I wish to have friends like them one day.’

Just then, my thoughts shifted to what happened earlier back at Canterlot Castle. I can’t help but wonder why Twilight acted the way she did when I asked if her friends knew anything about my predicament. Something deep down is telling me that Twilight is hiding something and that she is lying to me about her friends. Did she… lie?

I feel my heart ache at the thought of Twilight lying to me. She wouldn’t try to ruin her chance of earning my trust by lying to me, right? Right?

A clicking sound snaps me out of my thoughts. We both look up at the ceiling at the same time as a barely intelligible and staticky voice comes out from goodness knows where.

“CALLING ALL PASSENGERS; WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT PONYVILLE IN ONE MINUTE. PLEASE GRAB YOUR BELONGINGS UPON ARRIVAL.”

I look out the window and a smile spreads across my face. In the distance, a small town stands proud and tall, the infrastructure consisting of what looks to be a medieval village-style architecture. The houses appear to be in the form of timber-framed cottages with distinct thatched roofs that look to be made out of hay and overhanging upper floors. In my eyes, Ponyville has the appearance of an old-fashioned town.

I look back to Twilight and give her a small smile.

“Looks like we will be arriving at Ponyville shortly,” I say.

“It sure seems that way,” Twilight says.

“It looks very old.”

“You’ll be surprised to learn that Ponyville was founded by Earth Ponies a very long time ago. Believe it or not, the Apple Family are the original founders of Ponyville when Princess Celestia granted the family land where they planted their first orchard.”

I go wide eye at this piece of information. It’s one thing to learn that the town was founded by Earth Ponies, but to find out that it the original founders are none other than Applejack’s family is beyond not only shocking, but also amazing. Being friends with the original founders of Ponyville will blow anypony’s mind.

“Surprising, isn’t it?” Twilight asks. I snap out of my shock and look her in the eyes.

“More than surprising, actually,” I reply. “Being friends with any of the original founders of Ponyville is mind-blowing. I’m sure your mind was blown when you first found out, Twilight.”

Twilight gives me a smile and nods her head. “Yeah, I sure was when I first found out about that.”

I smile back at her. Just then, we hear another clicking sound and something tells me I know exactly what is going to be said. If the voice said that we will be arriving in a minute, I’m very sure that the voice will say that we will be arriving shortly. I can feel it.

“CALLING ALL PASSENGERS; WE NOW HAVE ARRIVED AT PONYVILLE. THANK YOU FOR USING THE EQUESTRIA EXPRESS.”

“You ready for this, Selina?” Twilights asks. If I tell her that I am ready would be a lie.

To be honest, I’m not ready for this. I will be entering a small town with ponies who I don’t know and will be living with Twilight for the moment, to which I don’t see as bad thing. The other problem is how I will be able to fit in with the other ponies. I don’t know why, but something within in my gut is telling that I’m not going to be able to fit in, that all I will be is the town outcast. If that’s the cast, how will be I able to make friends? If I can’t make any friends in Ponyville, then what will my chances be if I try in a different part of Equestria?

I know that if I am unable to make friends here, Luna will see that moment as me being incapable of friendship and will deal with me personally, like she has promised the night prior. That’s something I don’t want to happen, not by a long shot. I’ll not give Luna the satisfaction of getting just the slight impression that I can’t make a single friend. I want to hate the Moon Princess for what she has put me through, but for some reason, I can’t even bring myself to. I find this odd, but I don’t dwell on it.

I look Twilight in the eyes and see that she’s waiting for me to give her an answer. The only good thing coming from all of this is that Twilight will be helping me with this. Again, I know nothing about friendship, except for the virtues that are necessary for a very wonderful friendship. Maybe even one that will last a lifetime.

‘I have to at least try,’ I think to myself. I take a deep breath before giving her a slightly determined look.

“In all honesty, I am not,” I reply, “but I’ll give it my best shot.”

Twilight gives me a small smile, which causes the smile on my face to grow a bit more. Seeing that smile gives me hope and I really hope that everything goes well.



The train comes to a complete stop and Twilight and I get up from our seats and proceed out of the train. We walk out of the train and onto the wooden floors of the train station. The other ponies step out of the train and walk pass Twilight and I. As they walk by us, I notice them looking at me with blank expressions on their faces. Some of them even had that concentration in their eyes.

‘Why the heck are they giving that look?’ I think to myself. ‘I seriously don’t like that look.’

It’s one thing to witness that with Luna, another thing to see that slightly with Celestia, but it’s entirely different thing if I am seeing that look in multiple different ponies. Seeing that gives me the impression that they were looking for something but aren’t getting what they want. Whatever it is that they are doing, that needs to stop. They should know that be doing something like this will only make ponies think that there’s something wrong with you or that you’re just being rude or creepy.

The thing that I do notice is that it’s mainly the Unicorns giving me that look. Although I have seen 2 to 3 normal ponies and only one pony with wings giving me that look, it’s really only the Unicorns looking at me with that concentration in their eyes.

I feel myself becoming annoyed with this. I feel the urge to glare at them or shout at them to knock it off. However, I know that if I do that, I will be draw attention to myself and doing that is the last thing I need at this point. For starters, I just entered town and if I shout at them for staring at like that, they might think that I’m very rude and see me as the type to not be friends with. That will pretty much destroy the whole purpose of me being moved here in the first place.

The last of the ponies step out of the train and then walk away into the direction of Ponyville. A few of those ponies give me that concentrated look before they look away and heading in the direction of Ponyville. When I can no longer see them, I turn my attention to Twilight. She has the familiar cute smile on her face. I feel my heart beat a bit fast and that familiar warmth form in my chest.

‘Why can’t this feeling go away?’ I think to myself. I shake this feeling away before looking Twilight in the eyes.

“So, what do we do now?” I ask. Twilight’s smile grows slightly.

“I will lead you to the Castle and have you settle there,” Twilight says.

“How far is the castle?” I ask.

“Only like a few minutes away,” Twilight replies. “It’s not really far. It is like walking distance from here.”

“Lead the way, Twilight,” I say. Twilight nods her head and we proceed to the small town of Ponyville.



‘Stop staring at me, stop staring at me,’ I keep repeating in my head as Twilight and I walk through Ponyville and, probably, in the general direction of the castle.

The walk through Ponyville has been anything but pleasant so far. For the past two minutes, the ponies of Ponyville, like the ones back on the train station, have done nothing but stare at me, giving me that concentrated look before they change into one of pure frustration. At this point, I’m beginning to get very annoyed. This is starting to get very ridiculous.

My ears twitch when I pick up the sound of… whispering.

“Who is that pony?” I hear a female pony say from my right. Are they talking about me right now? I strain my hearing so that I can hear them better.

“I don’t know, but I’ve never seen a pony as strange as her,” I then hear a deep voice say from my left. “Like, how can a pony such as her even exist?”

Yep, they are indeed talking about me and that deep voice saying that only serves to confirm my suspicions as well.

I feel a rush of annoyance flow through me. Why the heck are these ponies saying these things about me? What did I do wrong? Is there something about me that I’m not completely aware of? Not having the answer to those questions only fueled my annoyance, but nonetheless, I still strain my hearing so I can hear what they are saying about me.

“Can you hear what the new pony is thinking?”

“No, I can’t. I can’t hear a single thing.”

“What in Equestria is she thinking?”

“Why can’t I hear anything?”

“It’s like she’s not thinking anything at all.”

This immediately catches my attention and I resist the urge to stop in my tracks. What the heck did they mean by any of that? What do they mean that they can’t hear what I’m thinking? If anything, why does it matter to them? My thoughts are none of their concern. They should worry about themselves and not about what I’m thinking. I’m not prying into their lives so why are they trying to pry into mine? Makes no sense whatsoever.

I continue to listen.

“What kind of pony has a fur coat and a mane and tail in that color? Nopony, that’s for sure.”

“She looks funny.”

“Can I see the new pony, Mommy?”

“No, sweetie. I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

“This is becoming so frustrating. Why can’t I hear what she’s thinking?”

“Why is she here? She doesn’t belong here.”

I feel something from within the depths of my mind trying to break free upon hearing the last words. Those words… they sound… familiar. That doesn’t make any sense. Why do they feel like I have heard them before? I feel all traces of annoyance wash away and confusion takes its place.

‘Why does my head feel so funny?’ I think to myself. ‘What is the meaning of this?’

A strange image flashes in front of my eyes. I stop dead in my tracks and I let out a small gasp. In the image, there is a strange creature standing on two legs walking down some strange crowded area. The thing is looking at creatures similar to it. The creature stands taller than a pony, has short black hair, its skin is a pale white and it is wearing very strange materials that wrap around its upper body and its legs. For some strange reason, this creature looks… familiar.

The image fades from my vision and I see all of the ponies giving me timid looks. I look to see Twilight standing about a foot away from me with a slightly concerned expression on her face.

“Selina, are you okay?” she asks. I shake my head to help clear it before looking Twilight in the eyes.

“What?” I ask stupidly.

“When I suddenly heard you gasp and saw you standing there like a statue, I was worried something happened,” Twilight explains.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I reply softly.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Let’s go.”

Twilight eyeballs me a little bit before she turns around and begins walking away. I quickly follow behind her, trying my best to ignore the other ponies. Something deep within me is scolding me for not telling Twilight for what just happened, but in all honesty, I don’t care. The last thing I want is for Twilight to think that I’m crazy, inform the Princesses and have them deal with me.

The ponies continue to stare at me with those concentrated and frustrated looks on their faces. Remembering what those ponies were saying earlier, I can’t help but get the feeling that they’re trying to read my thoughts. Why are they trying to do that? And more importantly, don’t they have any idea that doing something like that is an invasion of privacy. I’m pretty sure that if I tried to do it, they would freak out and confront me about it so why are they doing it to me?

‘I seriously hope my mind doesn’t become a very big deal around here,’ I think to myself.

Out of nowhere, I pick up the sound of voices, but they don’t sound like they are coming from the ponies that continue to stare at me. It’s strange because the voices have this echoing effect to them. They sound like they are coming from… inside of my head.

“Look at him; thinking he is one of us!! HA!! What a loser!!”

 “Go back to where you came from, whitehead!!”

 “Stay away from me, you monster!! I rather die than be anywhere near you!!”

I begin shaking my head violently in an attempt to get the voices to stop, but they keep on coming. I stop in my tracks and clap my right hoof against the side of my head. The tone of the voices are filled to the very brim with hatred that rivaled the hate-filled tone that Luna used when she spoke with me last night.

I continue shaking my head as the voices keep echoing in my head.

“Go die in a hole, you little scoundrel!!”

 “Your mother must be ashamed to have given birth to someone like you!!”

 “Stay back, demon!! I’ll kill you if you come any closer!!”

 “No one cares what you think!! Everything you think of is always stupid as crap!!”

“N-no, stop it,” I whimper, shutting my eyes tightly. “Get out of my head… Leave me alone…”

The voices do no such thing. They begin saying things that are starting to make me feel sick to my stomach. I feel my heart beginning to ache from the harshness of their words. Never in my life have I ever heard such horrible things. I feel my eyes begin to water up as the intensity of the pain that I am feeling increases as the voices persisted.

I push myself up onto my hindlegs with the other hoof and I now clap both of my hooves onto the sides of my head, trying so desperately to get them to stop.

“Selina, is everything okay?” I hear Twilight say, which is then quickly followed by the voices yet again as I continue shaking my head a more little aggressively now.

“If you were to die, I’m sure nobody will miss you one bit!!”

 “You’re a plague to us all!!”

 “I rather date a man than a demon like you!!”

 “Go back to where you came from!!”

“Stop it, stop it,” I say, my voice getting louder with each word. I feel the tears trailing down my face as I continue shaking my head, now with much more aggression.

“Selina, what’s going on?” Twilight asks me with a hint of concern present in her tone, though I hardly pay attention to it.

Why is this happening? Why are these voices tormenting me? It just doesn’t make any sense… Where have I heard these voices before?! And more importantly to that; why do they sound so familiar?! Why can’t they stop and get out of my head?!

As all these questions go through my head, I feel this sudden rush of anger flow through me, one that I have never felt before. The anger is far more powerful than that time when Luna was throwing all those accusations at me back at the dungeons. I growl and clench my teeth aggressively as the anger continues growing at such a fast pace that it both shocks and frightens me a bit. The voices continue echoing in my head.

I can’t take it anymore. I feel everything explode deep within me. I take a deep breath and then shout at the top of my lungs. I feel the ground shake beneath me from the intensity of my voice, but I don’t care.

“SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT UP!! I AM NOT A DEMON!! I AM NOT A PLAGUE!! I AM NOT A WHITEHEAD!! I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG SO JUST GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! DO YOU HEAR ME; GET… OUT… OF… MY… HEAD!!!”

An image flashes in my vision and I feel something click in my head… and then nothing.

“SELINA!!”



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



‘You are such a disgrace, boy. Nothing but a failure and a disappointment to this family.’
 
‘I have done nothing but try and impress you, father, as well as try and do some good for this world. No matter what I do, you, mother, Lisa, and Kyle view my achievements and goals as nothing but a stupid children’s fantasy. You all view me as nothing but a failure and a terrible plague to this world all because I can do anything and that I’m different from the rest of you.’
 
‘It is your own fault that you’re a failure, not anybody else’s.’
 
‘Ooooh, so it’s my fault that I’m born with pale white skin that is as pale as the Moon itself? And I’m a failure because I have the highest IQ than the rest of the population on Earth, despite the fact that I was forced to drop out of middle school because you and mother couldn’t ‘afford’ for me to go and learn, but for some reason, you and mother can afford for my two younger siblings to go, that I even went as far as invent the cure for all arthritis and cancer in less than 2 months, only for some stupid, lazy scientist to come take the credit for all the work that I had done? Is that what you’re basically trying to tell me, father?’
 
‘Yes. So what? It’s all you’re ever good at.’
 
‘Are you kidding me? Are you ACTUALLY FRICKING KIDDING ME?!?!’
 
‘Don’t you dare raise your tone at me, you filthy swine. I am your father and you will not speak to me that way!!’
 
‘I don’t give a darn if you’re my father or not!! I’m sick and tired of you guys always treating me like a pile of dirt, a loser, a huge disappointment, and an outcast!! All because I’m different, you guys think it’s okay to do what you all have been doing to me for all these years!! And worst of all, you have been trying everything in your power to make sure that my life is nothing but a living nightmare and put me down just so you all can feel good about yourselves!!’
 
‘You little-’
 
‘‘You little’ what, father?!?! Are you getting angry because you know that I’m speaking the truth?!?! That you know that what you guys have been doing to me is wrong?!?! That I’m actually good at something that could actually help the planet?!?! You are trying so hard to deny it all, but it’s no use!! Face it, father; I’m not a disappointment and you know it!! And you know what; I’m done with all of you!! I never want to see you guys ever AGAIN!!’
 
*ANGRY FOOTSTEPS WALKING AWAY*
 
‘Okay, boy. You have finally crossed the line this time. I’ve had just about enough of you disrespecting me and it’s about time that you are taught a lesson!!’
 
*FOOTSTEPS STOP*
 
‘What are you- Oh my God, w-what are you doing with that gun?!?!’
 
‘Something that should have been done a VERY long time ago!!’
 
‘W-what?!?!’
 
‘You were never a part of this family, never have been! Getting rid of you will be lifting the burden that we had to deal with for so long!! It will be a blessing to us all!’
 
‘Y-you can’t be serious!! Y-you can’t do this!!’
 
‘Oh yes, I can. I’m ashamed to have someone like you as a son, but now, I can finally undo that mistake. Goodbye… boy.’
 
‘NOOOOO-’
 
*BANG*



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



*THE NEXT DAY*


My eyes shot wide open and I let out a loud gasp. I instantly sit up and rest my right hoof on my chest, feeling the rapid pounding of my heart. As I try to calm myself down, I think over what I had experienced just seconds ago. Everything that went down, all of it felt… familiar, like I remember it happening. It is so very confusing; what did all of this mean?

After a while, I manage to calm myself down. I begin rubbing my eyes with my black-furred hooves. Wait a minute, my hooves are back to normal? I take my hooves away from my eyes and raise them in my point of view. Sure enough, my hoof is covered in the familiar regal black fur instead of the white fur. I run my hoof around my neck and realize that my necklace has gone missing.

‘Where’s my necklace?’ I think to myself in slight panic before calming myself a little bit. ‘I can worry about that later because right now, I need to worry about something else.’

I rest my hoof against my side and take a look at my immediate surroundings. The first thing I instantly notice is the bed I am lying on. On each corner of the bed are large vertical columns that are supporting this rectangular panel that hovers above the bed. On both the left and right sides of the bed, there are these large red curtains for purposes that are foreign to me and to the right of the bed is a small wooden nightstand.

The next thing I notice is the style of the room. The room has to be about half the size of the bedroom that I previously had back at Canterlot Castle and what strikes me as odd is that it seems to be made out of some kind of bluish-purple shiny material. To the left is a large window where Sunlight is shining through and to the right is a closet with an arched top.
To say that the crystals that make up the room is beautiful would be an understatement. They are gorgeous. They are so shiny that if I would to look into them, I might be able to see my face reflect off of them. And from the looks of it, this looks a bedroom.

‘Where am I?’ I think to myself. ‘How did I get here?’

“Selina?” came a familiar female voice from my right. I turn to see Twilight standing beside the bed with relief plastered on her face. I must have been so focused on surveying my surroundings that I didn’t even notice the purple pony standing there.

“Twilight, where am I?” I ask curiously. “How did I get here? And how long was I out?”

“You’re in the Castle of Friendship,” Twilight begins to say. “After you lost consciousness, I carried you here and placed you in this bed and waited for you to wake up. And as for how long you’ve been unconscious; about all day and night yesterday so for about 18 hours. It’s 8 in the morning.”

I stare at Twilight with wide eyes. So from what Twilight is telling me, I’ve been out for the past 18 hours, meaning that I lost consciousness at around 2 ‘o clock in the afternoon on the way here yesterday. Whatever had happened to me yesterday, it caused me to faint and be so out of it for the next 18 hours. All of that sounds very crazy and really scary at the same time to me.

“I see,” I say. I suddenly remember that I’m missing my necklace. “Twilight, do you know where my necklace is?”

“I removed it from your neck after I laid you down in this bed,” Twilight replies before looking me in the eyes. “Selina, I need to ask you something. Something very important.” 

“What is it?” I ask. I don’t know why, but I feel like a good general idea of what she’s going to ask me. I can’t make assumptions but I have a feeling I know what it is already.

“What happened yesterday?” she asks. “When we were only about halfway to the castle, you began saying things like ‘stop it’ and ‘get out of my head’ before you suddenly stood on your hindlegs, clapped your hooves on the sides of your head, shaking your head violently and began shouting at the top of your lungs, shouting things that didn’t make any sense. And then afterwards, you passed out.”

“Oh…” I say weakly, knowing full well on what she was talking about. I had a feeling it had something to do with that and honestly, I’m not surprised that would be the question she would ask.

“Selina, what happened?” Twilight asks softly. I stare at her and begin debating on whether I should tell her about the voices I heard.

Something in the back of my mind is telling me that I shouldn’t tell her about what happened. If I do tell her, she will think that I am crazy or maybe even worse, she might think that I am reverting into Nightmare Moon and might even alert the Princesses about it.

On the other hoof, another part is telling me to be honest. That I should tell her the truth. It is telling me that if I don’t tell her, she will find out sooner or later and the consequences can be severe. However, if I tell her about what happened yesterday and what I experienced, this will help build up the trust and things will become easier between us.

I take a deep breath and look Twilight in the eyes, having decided on the course of action.

“I… I was hearing voices,” I say flatly.

“Voices?” Twilight asks curiously. “What do you mean by ‘voices’?”

“Well, as we were walking through Ponyville, I was hearing the other ponies talking about me, calling me ‘strange’ and ‘funny’, even go as far as saying that I ‘didn’t belong here’,” I begin to say. “Not only that, but I also heard some of them saying that they couldn’t what I was thinking. I have no idea what they mean by that. After I heard that a few times, I heard one of them say ‘Why is she here? She doesn’t belong here.’

“When I heard this, I had this strange… image pop up in my vision. In it, I saw these… strange creatures that were standing on two legs, wearing some kind of strange material around their bodies and they didn’t look like ponies at all. One of them had pale white skin, green eyes, short brown hair, and it was looking at the other creatures that looked like it. I know this will sound crazy to you but that creature looked familiar, like I seen it before or I was that very creature somehow. The image popping up in my vision was the reason I gasped in the first place.”

I stop and wait for Twilight to say something. She proceeds to stare at me with this wide-eye expression on her face. I have no idea how she is taking this, but I seriously hope she doesn’t see me as crazy. If she is, it will be the worst thing to ever happen to me. To be seen as crazy is something I’m pretty sure nopony wants to happen. The only one to know the truth will be you and if others think you have a screw loose, that might get you sent somewhere else.

When she didn’t say anything, probably waiting for me to explain about the ‘voices’ I heard yesterday, I continue explaining what happened.

“After you asked me if I was okay and me telling you that I was fine, we continued on. All of a sudden, I began hearing voices. The thing was this; the voices weren’t coming from the other ponies at all. If anything, I heard the voices from… inside my head. They were saying things, Twilight, and they weren’t pleasant.”

The memories of what they were saying comes flooding back and I look away from her, feeling my eyes beginning to water. Twilight must have noticed it because I feel a hoof resting on my right hoof. I look down to see her left hoof resting on mine. I look up to see her giving me a sympathetic look.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay,” she says in a soft tone. I shake my head firmly.

“No, I want to tell you about it,” I say, my voice trembling slightly. “There is no point on trying to hide it when there’s the possibility of you finding out anyway. It’s better this way.”

I take a deep breath and continue on finishing the story.

“The voices; they were saying things like ‘go back to where you came from’, and ‘stay away from me, you monster’, and ‘stay back, demon’, and even going as far as calling me a ‘plague’. That was when you were hearing me say those things; I was begging- pleading- for them to stop, but they didn’t. Those voices kept on going and going and that was when I shouted at the top of my lungs.” I blink and feel something wet trailing down my right cheek, but at this point, I don’t care. “But that’s not even the end of it all, Twilight. Something happened after I lost consciousness.”

“What happened?” she asks.

“I… I remember a few things…” I say weakly.

“You do?” she asks with a gasp. “What do you remember?”

“I… I remember having a father who saw me as nothing but a disappointment no matter what I did or tried to make him proud,” I begin to say as I feel my eyes water up more. I am trying so hard not to cry. “It didn’t matter if I found a cure for a disease that was seen as incurable or invented something that could change the world, he never saw it as anything good or wonderful. It was always a disappointment to him.

“I remember a mother who never gave me any love or any attention whatsoever, seeing me as a disgrace to the family… Make something nice for her? She’ll turn a blind eye on it and pretend I didn’t even exist. Make her a very good dinner? She would sigh before getting up and throwing it away in the garbage. It didn’t matter what I did, my mother showed any signs of acknowledgement or attention. I was nothing to her.

“I remember having siblings who would always beat me mercilessly for no reason at all or whenever they all felt like doing it. They would beat me, leave me out from family activities or even anything fun related, and they even went as far as to publicly humiliate me in front of everyone.

“And worst of all, I remember my last confrontation with my father.”

“What happened?” Twilight asks softly.

I hesitate and think over everything that happened. It all makes complete sense now; the vision, the creature with the pale white skin, the voices, all of it makes sense. All of those I had witnessed; they were all memories of my past!

I sniffle before finding the strength to continue.

“We… we got into a fight because he called me a ‘disgrace, a loser, and a disappointment to the family’, as he always did. Turns out that the creature with the pale white skin I saw in my vision yesterday… somehow… that creature was… me… My family treated me the way they did was because I was different from them… and they blamed me for being a disappointment and a failure. When I learned this, I…” I shut my eyes tightly as the tears begin trailing down my face like waterfalls. “I got angry and told him that I never wanted to see him or them again. As I was walking away, he said that I finally crossed the line, saying that he was going to teach me a lesson.

“I remember turning around and seeing my father pointing a gun at me. After saying that he was going to get rid of the burden he, my mother, and siblings had to deal with for so long… he… he shot me!! I remember the feeling of my life draining from me and the cold, dark fingers of death grasping my very soul!! He killed me, Twilight!! My own father killed me and he did it with a sinister grin on his face!! How could he be so cruel, Twilight?!?! I don’t understand HOW!!”

I can’t take it anymore. I clap my hooves over my eyes and begin sobbing uncontrollably. So many emotions begin bubbling up within me; anger, hatred, sadness, and confusion. How can somepony be so cruel and evil enough to take the life of a family member? Why did it have to be me?

I feel the bed shift before something wraps themselves around me. I stop and remove my hooves from my eyes to see Twilight hugging me tightly. She looks into my eyes and I can see tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Selina,” Twilight whispers. I begin whimpering and my eyes begin to water. I feel as if something within had broken and it’s all coming like a tidal wave.

‘I can’t fight this anymore!!’ I think to myself before my lower lip begins trembles violently and I fully lose control.

I instantly wrap Twilight in the biggest hug I can muster and begin crying uncontrollably again. I don’t care whether I fully trust Twilight or not or Twilight fully trusts me or not, I just need somepony to hold me right now, somepony to cry on to. If anything really, somepony I want to trust my life with.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finally begin to calm down and stop crying. I begin taking slow, ragged deep breaths, feeling my body tremble a little bit in the process. I hiccup violently, which causes my entire body to tremor. With each breath I take, I let out a violent hiccup, making my body tremor violently every time. As I continue taking deep breaths, I feel as though something has been lifted off of me.

The best way I can describe it is like something being lifted off of me, like a weight or burden I never even knew I had. I feel lighter and full of much more positive energy. As this feeling flows through me, I feel a strong feeling of happiness flow throughout my entire body. I guess talking to her about this is what I needed and honestly, I’m very glad that I went through with telling her.

Twilight unwraps and removes her forelegs from me, I do the same, and looks me in the eyes.

“Feeling better?” she asks softly. I wipe away the tears from my eyes and face and sniffle.

“A little bit, yes,” I reply weakly before letting out yet another violent hiccup. “Thanks for the hug, Twilight. And thank you so much for listening. It helped a lot.”

“You’re welcome, Selina,” Twilight replies. “I’m so sorry about your father and what he did.”

Her mentioning about my father fills me with both anger and grief. I feel absolutely no love for that punk. He killed me in cold blood and is probably feeling good about himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is throwing some kind of celebration about the whole thing too. He is known to throw parties about my ‘failures’ and obviously, I never participate for those events. It was all just a mockery, nothing more.

I let out a sigh and look Twilight in the eyes.

“You don’t have to apologize for what he did to me, Twilight,” I say. “He did it out of his own free will. I don’t care what happens to him now. He may have been my father, but I hold no love for that disgusting creature, especially for what he did to me.”

Twilight looks at me with shocked eyes. To be honest, I am quite shocked with myself for what I said, but I don’t show it. Never thought in a million did I ever think those words would ever come flying out of my mouth. At the same time, I am glad. To say that I did hold some love for my father would’ve been the biggest lie I ever told in my life. I absolutely have no love for that monster and I never will for as long as I live now.

At the same time, it felt right to say that out loud. No father should ever point a gun at their own child, say that getting rid of them will be like lifting a burden off of them, and then put a bullet in their head. Anypony that ever does that doesn’t deserve to be a father and to be left rotten in a cell to never see the light of the day again.

 ‘I hope he’s rotting in a jail cell right now,’ I think to myself in a very aggressive manner. ‘It will teach him a lesson.’

I feel my stomach rumble, which is then followed by a loud grumbling sound. Twilight lets out a soft chuckle and I can’t help but feel embarrassed.

“Looks like somepony is hungry,” she says jokingly.

“I guess so,” I say sheepishly. “To be quite honest, I didn’t eaten anything at all yesterday and I never got the chance to eat the pancake Celestia made before Luna came in and…” I hesitate. “Well, you know.”

Twilight nods her head, clearly remembering that day. There is no way that I will tell her that I thought about kicking her in the mouth when she had refused to let go of my tail. I was acting immature that day, but I refuse to tell her just how immature I was.

To be honest, I never thought of myself as an aggressive pony. I mean, yeah I can get angry, but I never imagined myself getting mad to the point that I would result to violence if things didn’t go my way. It didn’t sound right and it honestly makes me want to feel sick to my stomach for ever wanting to go that far.

“So, do you have anything in mind on what you want for breakfast?” Twilight asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“I can’t think of anything,” I reply, my face slowly becoming hot. Twilight chuckles before placing her right hoof on my own.
My face becomes intensely hot when I notice this. Her hoof feels soft and smooth and I can feel the warmth generating from it. I looks to see Twilight looking at me with a warm smile and small blush on her face. She has no idea how cute she looks with that blush on her face right now.

“Follow me to the kitchen. I will make us something there. You can help me make it too if you like,” Twilight suggests.

I nod, liking the idea of being around Twilight. Maybe by spending a little bit of time around Twilight, it might help me forget about the memories I’ve recovered. Honestly, even thinking about the things that they put me through is only going to serve putting me in a very bad mood. That is something I don’t want to happen or deal with at all.

Twilight hops off of the bed and I remove the blanket off my body. We make our way out of the bedroom and head towards the kitchen. I can feel something beginning to form between us and honestly, I love it already.



I open the very bottom cabinet looking for some ingredients while Twilight is at the stove at the far center wall of the kitchen cooking breakfast. The overwhelming smell of breakfast being cooked is making me hungrier than I was previously back at the bedroom. I feel the strong urge to chow down all of the contents in the cabinet, but I hold it back.

I turn my attention away from the cabinet and turn it to Twilight. The kitchen isn’t very huge, but it is decent enough. There is a large wooden rectangular table in the dead center of the room with a strangely shaped chandelier with four pans in different shapes and sizes hanging on the left and right side of it hanging above the table. To my left is a round-topped wooden door with a golden doorknob. To the right of the door are 3 furnaces and a stove with the center one being the one Twilight is currently using. At the far right end of the room are shelves that is littered with pots and pans in a variety of shapes and sizes. The last thing about the kitchen is that the walls held different variety of beautiful stones that reflected beautiful colors. In all honesty, the design of the kitchen makes up greatly for its size.

“Hey, Twilight?” I call out and turn my head to face her, giving the purple pony a smile. Twilight looks away from the stove and looks in my direction, giving me a warm soft smile in the process. “Thanks for letting me help you with breakfast. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome, Selina,” Twilight says with that smile still plastered on her face. “It’s the least I can do.”

“And that thought alone helps and counts,” I say, my smile growing slightly on my face. “Is there anything need while I am looking?”

Twilight thinks it over for a moment as the spatula flips over a pancake onto its other side. We decided to have some pancakes since I haven’t been able to eat any of Celestia’s yesterday. I didn’t tell her the full reason why I wasn’t able to eat the pancakes before Luna entered the dining hall, but I did tell her that I was unable to find a way to eat all of those yummy looking pancakes.

“Can you check to see if the salt and pepper shakers are in there?” Twilight asks. My smile grows slightly.

“Sure.”

I begin rummaging through the contents of the cabinet with my right hoof for the salt and pepper shakers that Twilight requested. Suddenly, my right hoof comes into contact with something hard and smooth. I grab hold of this mysterious object and bring my hoof out to see what it is. Clutched in my hoof is a small red stone that is in the shape of a heart and it appears to be sparkling. I quickly notice that there is a small note attached to the stone. I read the following;


Don’t touch or eat!! Thank you.
- Spike


I can’t help but let out a soft chuckle at the contents of the note. After it passes, I read the name ‘Spike’ once again and suddenly remember what Twilight had told me back at Canterlot Castle. According to Twilight, Spike is a baby dragon that lives here in this castle with her, along with somepony else named Starlight Glimmer.

All of the stories that Twilight told me about him fills my mind. He may be a baby dragon, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do anything heroic. You can be the size of an ant, the size of a two-story building, or even the size of a mountain. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are. You can do just about anything.

The one story that I remember Twilight told me about Spike is how he saved this kingdom called the Crystal Empire from the evil King Sombra. It was this act alone that got him recognized as a hero, even having his own statue made by the ponies of the kingdom themselves. I can only imagine the amount mares that might have the feels for him and honestly, I can’t blame them for that.

I read the note once again and notice something that strikes me as… very odd. Why would Spike write a note that said to not only touch, but also to not ‘eat’? Did this Spike dragon eat stones like the one that I am currently holding in my hoof right now? Do dragons eat stones like this?

I straighten my posture and eye the stone for a bit. If dragons do indeed eat stones like this, why is that? What would they even taste like to dragons anyway? Curiosity fills my being and I can’t help but wonder what that would be like.

‘I wonder what they taste like,’ I think to myself. I go wide-eye as an idea pops into my head.

I smirk at the humor of the idea. I’m sure Spike won’t mind me having a little lick at his treat. I open my mouth and stick my tongue out, letting the tip of it make contact with the surface of the stone.

All the humor that came with the idea comes falling down when a disgusting and burning taste strikes my tastebuds. I go wide-eye, place my tongue back into my mouth. I cover my mouth with my left hoof and I feel my cheeks puff up. And then…



“BUEARGH!!”



*THE SOUND ECHOES THROUGHOUT ALL OF EQUESTRIA*
 
 
*CANTERLOT CASTLE THRONE ROOM*


“Luna, did you hear something?”

“Have no idea what you’re talking about.”


*CANTERLOT*


“What in Celestia’s name is that?

“I have no idea, my dear Fleur.”


*SWEET APPLE ACRES*


“What in tarnation was that? Big Mac, did you hear that?”

“Eeyup.”


*CMC CLUBHOUSE*


“Girls, did ya’ll hear that?”

“Yep.”


*MANEHATTEN*


“How dare you pretend to gag at my meal!! I thought you liked me!!

“Wait? What?”

*SMACK* 


*DRAGON LANDS*
 
 
“Did you guys hear that?”

“I felt that.”


*AT THE CANTERLOT CASTLE LOOKALIKE THRONE ROOM*
 
 
“What in Faust’s name was that?!?!”

“I… have no idea, Your Majesty…”




“That’s it, let it all out,” Twilight says softly as I feel my cheeks puff up. I instinctively throw my head into the toilet bowl, vomiting violently into the toilet water.

I weakly lift my head out from the toilet and look to Twilight, who is sitting to my left and patting my back softly with her right hoof. Tears are welling up in my eyes and I groan in agony as the pain in my stomach spikes by 10fold. The worst of it all happens to be my tongue, which feels like it’s on fire. I never thought in a million years that a stone like that could be so hot and spicy at the same time. To me, it’s like I’d just licked the hottest pepper in the world.

The bathroom is about the same size as the one from Canterlot Castle with your standard sink, toilet with a towel rack standing over it, and tub. The walls are made of the same bluish-purple stones that seem to reflect some kind of invisible light. I ran into this bathroom after pulling that stunt a few moments ago.

I look Twilight dead in the eyes while breathing heavily.

“I’m… never… doing… that… again…” I say in between breaths before vomiting into the toilet once again, feeling Twilight patting my back softly again. My ears pick up the sound of something patting hard on the floor.

I weakly turn my head to the doorway just in time to see some kind of very strange creature standing there. It looks like some kind of strange lizard with purple scales, a pair of wings and green scales on the top of its head, as well as some going down its back.

We stare at each other completely still like statues. I know that the thing is seeing me in my real form, but right now, I don’t care. I am in way too much pain to even care anyway. I won’t even care if it runs down the hallway screaming at the top of its lungs, like the maids back at Canterlot Castle. I watch and wait for the lizard to give me a look of fear, scream, and run down the hall.

“Geez, you don’t look so very good,” the lizard says simply. I go wide-eye and stare at it with surprise.

The lizard is showing no signs of fear and isn’t doing any of the things I thought it would do. I am not sure if I should take this as a good thing or a terrible thing for it not to be showing any fear towards me. I lift my head up from the toilet bowl and blink a few times at it.

“Are you not going to run down the hallway screaming at the top of your lungs out of fear?” I ask uncertainly. The lizard gives me a funny look and tilts its head to its left.

“What makes you say that?” it asks curiously. I shrug.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I reply sarcastically. “Every pony did back at Canterlot Castle. Every time the maids saw me, they would scream at the top of their lungs and run down the hallways. And as for the guards, I’m pretty sure that I even saw some of them wet themselves.”

The lizard’s eyes go wide and it’s body goes stiff. I have no idea what it is thinking right now or how it is processing what I said. I believe the lizard is debating on whether it should laugh or pretend that I never said anything like that. If I was the lizard, I would go for the latter.

“Well, I was scared when I saw you being carried by Twilight yesterday,” the lizard begins to say, “but after Twilight placed you in bed and told me what’s been happening, I see no reason to be afraid of you.”

I stare at the lizard with wide-eyes as I take in what it said. So Twilight must’ve told the lizard the situation, which means that it knows that I have amnesia. Well, to a certain degree. I have some of my memories, though there are still some things that I can’t remember.

Something clicks in my head as I suddenly realize I don’t even know the lizard’s name. Plus, I can’t keep referring it to as just ‘the lizard’ all the time. It will get old and annoying pretty quickly.

“What is your name and what are you supposed to be?” I ask.

“The name’s Spike,” it replies. “I’m a dragon.”

“Spike is a baby dragon who happens to be my number one assistant,” the voice of Twilight echoes within my head. My eyes go wide as recognition hits me like a ton of bricks.

‘This is the Spike dragon that Twilight was telling me about back in the train,’ I think to myself. I give Spike a small smile before I speak. “It’s nice to meet you, Spike. My name is-”

“I know your name,” he says. “It’s Selina Lunar.”

I stare at him with shock. How does he know my name? Did Twilight tell him my name while I was out cold yesterday? Did he figure it out on his own? So many scenarios, so many different outcomes.

“How do you know my name?” I ask.

“Twilight told me your name after she tucked you in bed yesterday,” Spike replies.

“I guess that makes sense,” I say. “Twilight has told me a little bit about you as well.”

Spike gives me a curious look. “Like what?”

“Like that time you’ve saved the Crystal Empire,” I reply. I saw a smirk spread across his face, remembering that Twilight told me Spike takes pride about that moment. Twilight also told me that Spike thought of himself as a knight in shiny armor whenever it came to Rarity, a pony who he has a huge crush on.

“I remember that, though I didn’t do it,” Spike says. I nod my head, knowing that to be true. On events like that, it usually takes more than one hero to save an entire kingdom.

“Yeah, I know,” I say. “Twilight told me everything.”

The smirk on his face turns into a smile. The smile remains plastered on his face for a brief moment before a frown takes its place.

“Sorry to speak off topic, but I do want to ask you something,” he says.

“Sure, what is it?” I ask.

“Did you eat something bad?” he asks. “Your face looks a little green.”

I suddenly think back to what I did just minutes prior with the red stone. I also remember the note that was attached to the red stone as well, a note that Spike wrote that said to not touch or eat. I didn’t listen or heed the note. Instead, I licked it and that action alone led me to where I am right now. I want to tell him that I did eat something bad, but what any good does lying do when he finds out the truth later? If anything, lying would get me into trouble and getting or causing trouble is the last thing I want to do right now.

Plus, he would see that the gem isn’t in the place where it was last placed. After I licked it, I dropped it onto the ground as I ran out of the kitchen to the nearest bathroom, which is the one that I’m in right now. He obviously will ask why it’s on the floor to begin with as it will be evidence to him that somepony had touched it and was messing with it.

With that, I know what I have to do. I take a deep breath and look Spike in the eyes.

“Well, I didn’t eat something bad, rather I did something very stupid,” I say, feeling my face growing hot.

“What did you do?” he asks. “Whatever it is, it can’t have been too stupid or anything.”

I really wish he didn’t say that. Because in all honesty, it was a pretty stupid thing; perhaps the most stupidest thing I have ever done. His note did ask to not touch or eat it and yet, I did the opposite because I thought it would be a great idea to lick it. In a sense, I kind of deserved it for trying to be silly and this is my punishment for trying it.

“It’s actually pretty stupid,” I say.

“I’m listening,” he says. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. I have no idea how he is going to react to this. I will never know if I don’t tell him the truth.

“I was looking for the salt and pepper shakers since Twilight needed them for the breakfast she was cooking when I found a heart-shaped red stone in one of the cabinets,” I begin to explain. “There was a note on it that said to not touch or eat it, a note that you apparently wrote. I became curious as to why you would leave such a note, thinking that maybe you eat these kind of stones.

“I suddenly thought about what it would taste like. The note didn’t say anything about not having a lick at it so,… I placed the tip of my tongue on the stone and well, since you saw me puking out the contents of my stomach into the toilet, you can probably guess what happened next.”

I stop and wait for his response. Spike gives me a blank expression, looking like he is going into deep thought. The thought of him becoming angry with me having a lick at his stone runs through my mind. I frown a little bit at the thought. I meet him for the first time so the last thing I want is for him to get angry at me for pulling something like that off.

“Heart-shaped stone?” he asks. “Are you talking about my Fire Ruby?”

The name of the stone catches my attention. Fire Ruby? Is that what that red stone is called? The name doesn’t sound familiar. I fully lift my head from the toilet bowl, all traces of sickness completely gone.

“What’s a Fire Ruby?” I ask.

“It’s a red heart-shaped gem that happens to be a dragon’s favorite gem to eat,” Spike replies. Wait, it’s a gem and not a stone? That’s interesting. Something clicks in my head as I piece together something he said.

“Are you saying that dragons eat gems?” I ask curiously.

“Yep, it’s a food source to dragons,” he says with a smile, however it dies quickly from his face. “Although, I don’t know how you were affected by the taste from the Fire Ruby since gems wouldn’t taste like anything to ponies in general.”

I look at him with wide eyes as I take in what he said. Gems aren’t supposed to taste like anything to normal ponies, so how was I able to do it? Did I have a stronger sense of taste to where I can taste things that other can’t? This all sounds so crazy and so bizarre.

I mean, yeah I’m pretty sure that there are ponies who might have better senses, but not to the extent to where they can taste the flavor of gems or anything of the sort. Better hearing? That’s possible. Better eyesight? That is possible too. But ability to taste anything like stone? That alone isn’t possible. I believe that’s something only dragons can possess, not a normal pony and I am not normal by any means.

“I don’t know either,” I say with honesty. “I honestly wish I do have the answer to that question.”

“Looks like somepony is feeling better,” Twilight says. I turn away from Spike and face Twilight. In all honesty, I do feel a lot better than I did just seconds ago.

“Yeah, I am feeling a lot better,” I say.

“Well, let’s get you cleaned up,” she says. She closes her eyes and lights up her horn.

I see my entire body engulfed in this strange aura, one that matches the one surrounding her horn. I feel the residue on my face vanish completely and my fur become smooth and clean. I don’t know why, but I don’t like the fact that I am having Twilight clean my face like a baby. I mean, yeah I’m aware that she’s only trying to help, but I feel like a little pony having his face being cleaned by his mother.

The thought of my mother almost makes me want to burst into tears, but I resist the impulsiveness to do so. All of that is in the past and I refuse to have the past affect me in any way. Even going as far as to linger in it isn’t the best idea, nor is it the best for my health. While I did have both a mother and a father when I was a human, I don’t have one right now. I have no family, which suits me fine.

‘Right now, I have zero intention of being part of a family right now,’ I think to myself. ‘I want to save myself the pain before trying again to be part of a family, maybe one that will accept me for who and what I am, not see me as a monster. That will be great.’

Just as quickly as it starts, it vanishes completely. Twilight opens her eyes and gives me a warm smile.

“There, all better,” she says. I get back on all four hooves and walk over to the mirror that is hanging above the sink. I look good as new.

“What did you do?” I ask with shock.

“I used my magic to help clean you up,” she replies. I look away from the mirror and give her a curious look.

“Is that what the horn is for?” I ask curiously. Twilight gives me a curious look before remembrance forms on her face and silently mouths ‘Oh’.

“That’s right,” says Twilight. “Unicorns and Alicorns use their horns to perform magic. Since you have a horn as well, you can perform magic and cast spells too.”

So, that’s what they have been using and it’s called. Magic. That explains so many things; how both Twilight and Celestia were able to levitate their forks to eat their pancakes. That also explains how Celestia was able to make those chains and shackles around my fore and hindlegs completely vanish out of thin air. They have been using magic.

Then I remember something; I don’t know how to use magic. For some reason, this revelation makes me feel very silly and kinda really stupid. It’s like something within me is telling me that I should know how to use magic, but in my defense, I’ve never used magic before and since I was human back then, magic never really existed so that helps explain why I can’t do it in the first place.

I look Twilight in the eyes and give her a sheepish look and rubbing my right hoof on left foreleg.

“Um, Twilight? I don’t know how to use my magic,” I confess sheepishly.

“Well, if you want, I can teach you,” Twilight says with a soft smile. I feel a burst of happiness and excitement flow within me.

“Really? You can teach me?” I ask excitedly.

“Yep,” she says with a nod. I feel a big smile spread across my face.

I wrap both of my forelegs around Twilight and give her a big hug. I don’t know why, but the idea of Twilight teaching me on how to use my magic makes me so happy and excited. To top it off, I feel that same strange warmth form in my chest, along with a very strange feeling grow in my heart along with it.

“Thank you so much, Twilight,” I say. “This is going to be wonderful. How can I ever repay you?”

“How… about… not… trying to… break me… in half?” Twilight replies in between each gasping breath.

“Deal,” I say and release her from the hug, causing her to fall onto the ground, letting out a grunt in the process.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I stand in the center of a large room that is littered with countless books that center on different subjects, two couches, and a rectangular table in between the couches. Twilight is standing about a few feet away from me and she has a soft smile on her face. I am trying with all of my willpower to not begin hopping in excitement. I don’t know why this excites me so much, but I don’t care. I just can’t wait.

“Okay, are you ready for your first lesson on magic?” Twilight asks. I nod my head. She nods her head in return. “Okay, step one: close your eyes and search deep within you for something that you never felt before. I want you to take slow, deep breaths as you do this.”

I give her a simple nod and close my eyes. I begin taking slow, deep breaths and begin searching deep within me for something. I search high and low for whatever it is that I am looking for. Maybe it’s my magic that is currently dormant. My magic waiting for me to claim it and use it at will. I continue taking deep breaths as I continue searching within me.

I gasp as I find what I am looking for. It is a small ball of turquoise light floating in endless darkness. I don’t have to be an utter genius to know what it is; my magic. The ball disappears and I feel something flow throughout my entire body and then into my horn.

“Twilight, I found it,” I say. “I can feel it flow within me.”

“Good, that’s very good,” Twilight replies. “Now, open your eyes while you hold onto that feeling.”

“Okay,” I say. I open my eyes as I hold onto this feeling.

The feeling of the magic flowing throughout my entire body and my horn is extraordinary. It is unlike anything I have ever felt in my life before. It gives off the feeling that I can do anything. I feel a wave of excitement flow throughout my body. I try my best to push it aside as I try my best to hold onto my magic. The last thing I want is to lose my focus and having to start over again.

“Very good, Selina,” Twilight says proudly. I feel a sense of pride at this achievement. Twilight points to something on the floor. “Now, you see that book I have laid out in the center of the floor there?”

I look to see a random book lying in the center of the floor. It is in-between me and Twilight. She must have put that there while I was searching deep within me for my magic.

“Yes, I see it,” I reply. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to focus on that book and apply some of the energy that you are currently holding onto it,” says Twilight. “I want you to try and lift it up from the ground.”

I give her a nod and focus on the book.

‘Don’t put too much energy or willpower into it,’ something in the back of my mind tells me. ‘It might do the opposite. Try to do it one at a time and then take it from there.’

I apply some of my energy to my horn, but not all of it. I imagine myself grabbing hold of the book in the same manner I grabbed hold of the sandwich I ate back at Canterlot Castle just two nights ago. I feel it surge through my horn and I see an aura of turquoise surround the book. I can’t help but smile at this. I am almost there! I just have to accomplish this without failing.

‘Now, time to apply some of my will into this,’ something in the back of my mind tells me. I am planning to do that next.

I finally apply some of my willpower into lifting the book. The book slowly begins to rise up from the ground. I can feel myself becoming excited, but once again, I push it aside as it is too early to get excited or even as much as celebrate. I don’t know how high Twilight wants me to rise the book, but I will wait for Twilight to give the sign that I should stop.

The book is now about up to my chest and it continues to rise. Twilight is observing the whole thing with intense focus. She is probably observing to see if I am doing something wrong or to point something out or give me some instructs whenever the need comes up. Whatever the case may be, I just have to wait for Twilight to give me-

“Stop!” Twilight suddenly blurts out.

“Eeek!!” I shriek and jump a little. The shout catches me off guard so much that I lose my concentration and put in the rest of my energy into the book.

Smoke fills the entire room and I begin to cough harshly. I wave my right hoof in the air to try ridding the smoke. The smoke finally dissipates and I catch Twilight doing the same thing I was doing for a split second before she stops. We both look down to see the book lying in the same spot it was in earlier.

“Darn it, Twilight!!” I cry out in frustration. “Why did you do that?! I was doing so good!!”

I sit down on my haunches and wrap my forelegs around my chest. I probably have a pouty expression on my face, but I really don’t care. Twilight scared the absolute heck out of me, making me lose my concentration and do Celestia knows what on the book.

Twilight gives me a sheepish smile and rubs the back of her head with her right hoof.

“Hehe, sorry,” Twilight says sheepishly. I don’t know why, but her response just makes me more mad.

“I was doing so good and you had to do that!!” I shout angrily. “Thanks a lot, Twilight!! You screwed me up!!” I throw my forelegs into the air. “Gah, this just bites me in the butt!!”

I pick up the sound of something rapidly tapping on the floor. I look to the book to see it shaking violently on the floor. My anger washes away and nervousness takes its place.

“Uh, Twilight?” I say nervously. “Is the book supposed to do that?”

Twilight turns to see the book on the floor, now shaking much more violently than it was seconds prior. I barely make out the expression on her face and it brings more uneasiness.

“No, that is not supposed to happen,” she says uneasily. Then, something unexpected happens.

The book hops into the air and it opens. The pages within become a row of razor sharp teeth and it begins opening and closing rapidly, making chomping sounds as it did this. Yep, Twilight is right. This isn’t supposed to happen at all.

The book looks in my direction, at least I think it is, and it lets out a menacing growl. It then charges at me with threatening speed. Fear surges through me and I do the only thing I can do.

I let out a girlish scream.

“AHHHH!!!”

I begin running in circles as the book tries to bite me, targeting my butt specifically. I jump every time the book opens its jaws and attempts to bite me. I look to Twilight and give her a pleading look. Twilight is watching the whole thing with a shocked expression plastered on her face, her mouth hanging wide open.

“Twilight, help me!!” I scream in desperation. I feel something sharp latch itself to my butt. Pain surges through me like wildfire and I feel my eyes water up as a result of the pain. “MY BUTT!! IT’S GOT MY BUTT!! GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!”

I begin running around the room, flailing and screaming as I try to shake it off. I look over to Twilight to see her still standing there as still as a statue. Anger mixes in with the pain as I glare at her, my eye beginning to well up with tears. Why is she still standing there?! Can’t she see that I’m having trouble?!

“Twilight, help me, please!!” I cry out in both pain and anger as I continue to run in circles and shaking. Twilight shakes her head and blinks her eyes, obviously snapping out of her trance, thank goodness.

“Selina!!” she cries out. “Selina, stop moving!!”

Despite how much pain I’m in, I stop and wait for Twilight to do something, whimpering in pain as the tears begin trailing down my face. Twilight runs over to me and stops about a few inches away from me. She lights up her horn and I watch as the book is engulfed in a purple aura. Suddenly, the stupid book goes rigid and returns to its normal state, its paper-like teeth finally letting go of my butt.

‘It’s over,’ I think to myself through the pain. ‘Thank goodness.’

Twilight levitates the book to the rectangular table in the center of the room and rests it in the center of the table. The aura around the book and her horn vanish and she turns her attention to me. She walks over to my left and places her right hoof on my shoulder.

“You okay?” she asks softly. A rush of anger flows throughout my body as this question echoes in my head.

“I would be… if you didn’t just STAND THERE AND LET IT BITE ME!!” I shout angrily. I look at the damage to see a nasty bite mark imprinted on my left cheek. Twilight then looks at the damage and she cringes.

“Yeesh, I better get that cleaned out before trying to heal it,” Twilight says. Just then, the doors slam open and I jump. We both turn around to see Spike charging into the room and over to us.

‘Oh no,’ I think to myself, mentally groaning in the process. ‘Now, he’s going to find out what happened here. I hope he doesn’t see the damage on my butt.’

Spike stops about a foot away from me and Twilight. He has a worried look on his face as his eyes dart to both me and Twilight in rapid successions, gasping for air like he’d just ran a marathon. Something tells me that Spike must’ve heard the screaming and, thinking that something bad was happening, came charging here as fast as he could.

“Twilight, Selina, are you both okay?” he asks in between his panting. “I was my comics when I heard loud screaming coming from here. I came here as fast I can. Did something happen?”

This confirms one thing; he heard the screaming and thought that something was happening, so he came running. I have no idea where he was when he was reading his comic, but if I screamed loud enough for him to hear, that means he wasn’t very far, if that were to be the case. Whatever the case may be, Spike heard the screams.

Twilight clears her throat.

“Yeah, something happened, but it wasn’t anything bad,” Twilight replies. “It’s been taken care of.”

Spike arches his left eye in a curious manner. “What happened exactly? It must’ve been big if I could hear Selina screaming at the top of her lungs from the other side of the castle.”

I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. Somehow, I screamed so loud that Spike heard it from the other side of the castle. I feel my face heat up, both embarrassment and fear filling my entire being. Embarrassment about knowing that he heard me screaming. Fear about him finding out why I screamed in the first place.

“Um…” I stammer, feeling sweat form on my forehead. “It’s nothing important. Nothing to worry about.”

Spike turns his head to face me and he narrows his eyes at me. I can feel myself beginning to shake as I feel the sweat on my forehead trailing down my face along with the last of my tears. I am shaking so badly and violently that I feel myself beginning to crack. Although I am much bigger than him, he is somehow making me feel small. I really don’t like that feeling.

“Did you ever have anypony tell you that you’re terrible at lying?” Spike suddenly asks lowly. I feel fresh tears trail down my face as I continue to shake violently.

“Selina injured herself,” I hear Twilight say calmly. “I’m taking her to her bedroom so I can trend to it. Can you go to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit so I can treat it properly?”

Spike looks away from me, turning his attention to Twilight. I feel a wave of relief wash over me as I stop shaking and take this time to wipe off the sweat from my forehead. I have to thank Twilight for this.

“Alright, if you say so,” Spike says as he relaxes. “I’ll go get the first aid kit.”

Spike jogs out of the room, leaving the doors open. Once I can no longer hear the pitter patter of his feet, I let out a sigh of relief. I look over to Twilight and she turns her head to face me.

“Thanks, Twilight,” I say, my voice sounding grateful.

“No problem,” Twilight says. “Let’s get to your bedroom and wait for Spike to arrive with the first aid kit.”

I nod and we both walk out of the library, heading in the direction of my bedroom.



We enter the bedroom and Twilight shuts the door behind her. She looks up at me and gives me a blank expression.
“Lay down on the bed, Selina,” Twilight instructs. She doesn’t have to tell me twice.

I walk over to the left side of the bed and plop onto the mattress. I crawl to the center of the mattress and rest on my stomach. I lay there, waiting for Spike to come with the first aid kit. I want to get this done and over with so I can pretend that this never happened. My butt must look ridiculous with that bite mark imprinted on it.

‘This is so embarrassing,’ I think to myself. I snap out of my thoughts when I hear loud knocking at the bedroom door. I look over to my shoulder and watch Twilight open the door a crack and peek her head out.

“Here’s the first aid kit,” came the voice of Spike from the other side of the door.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight says as her horn lights up. “If I were you, I suggest you find something to help cover your ears. It’s going to get very loud for a while.”

I don’t like the sound of that. I feel my stomach drop at the sudden thought of how painful this is going to get. Something deep in my gut is telling me that this is going to be painful. VERY painful. If that’s the case and if I were Spike, I might as well follow Twilight’s instructions.

“If you say so,” Spike says and I hear the pitter patter of his feet going down the hallway. Twilight closes the door and she walks over to the bed, the first aid kit floating beside the left side of her head. She stops by the left side of the bed and looks me in the eyes.

“Selina, I want to warn you that this is going to hurt very much,” Twilight says. “If I were you, I would stuff your face into a pillow to scream loudly into.”

Without hesitation, I grab hold of the pillow and pull it close to me. I rest my neck onto it and nod my head as a way to show her that I’m ready to get this over with. Twilight stares at me for a moment before resting the first aid kit on the bed.

The lid flips open and Twilight looks through to find the appropriate item to use to clean out my bite mark. I feel my heart to slowly pick up speed, anticipation rocking my very core. I feel the urge to chicken out and tell her that I don’t want to do this, but I push this aside. If I try to chicken out, chances are that the bite mark will get infected and there is no telling what might happen if it gets to that point.

Twilight levitates a small rectangular box of antiseptic wipe and opens it the box. A small pad is levitated out of the box and the top is ripped off. A small wipe is pulled out from the small pad and Twilight looks me in the eyes. I give her a weak nod, just wanting to get this over with.

Twilight slowly levitates the wipe to the bite mark and it makes contact with the wound. Twilight wasn’t kidding when she said that it was going to be painful, but I never thought how painful it was going to be. A sharp wave of pain flows throughout my body and I involuntarily convulse.

“OW!!” I scream out in pain. “That hurts!!”

“I told you it was going to hurt,” Twilight points out. “Now hold still so I can continue to clean it out.”

“No, wait!!” I cry out, but it’s too late. “OWWWW!!!”

I slam my face into the pillow as I begin to sob into it. The pain that is shooting through my body is making my butt feel like it’s on fire. Heck, I might as well be on fire because the pain is sure making me feel that way, though I know I’m really not on fire.

“Selina, I know this hurts, but it has to be done so it doesn’t get infected or worse,” Twilight says softly. I lift my face from the pillow to get some air into my lungs.

“It feels like it’s on fire!!” I cry out in pain before I begin crying much harder than I was previously. “NO MORE, PLEASE!!”
“What in Equestria is going on here?” came an unfamiliar female voice. I turn to look to see a unicorn mare I have never seen before.

She has a light heliotrope coat with both a moderate purple mane and tail that have lighter purple and pale light aquamarine highlights and moderate persian blue eyes. She almost looks like Twilight, but different.

We stare at each other for a moment and are completely still as statues. Something in the back of my mind is telling me that the pony that is standing there is the one and only Starlight Glimmer that Twilight told me about back on the train. It makes sense since Twilight said that Starlight is a Unicorn pony.

“Um, are you Starlight Glimmer?” I finally ask, hiccupping violently in the process as the tears continue trailing down my face. The Unicorn mare proceeds to give me a slightly small smile.

“That’s my name,” she replies. “You must be Selina Lunar.”

I allow myself to smile weakly, despite the pain that flaring from my bite mark. I try my best to ignore the overwhelming pain, though the task itself is proving itself to be difficult.

“Yes, that’s me,” I reply. “ And FYI, Twilight told me all about you.”

That is the truth; Twilight told me everything about Starlight back on the train.

According to what Twilight told me, Starlight Glimmer was once the founder and leader of a mysterious village called ‘Our Town’ where all the residents had given up their cutie marks, which were then replaced with equal signs. As the leader of this strange village, Starlight had the philosophy that friendship that came from being equal and that special talents only led to disharmony.

When Twilight and her friends arrived to the village after being summoned there by the Cutie Map, Starlight saw that as an opportunity to spread her message to all of Equestria. She led them to the vault containing the cutie marks of the villagers, she used a wooden staff to rob Twilight and her best friends of their cutie marks and replaced them with equal signs.

When Twilight told me this, I was beyond livid. The fact Starlight had the boldness to do something like that and try to have them think like she did, it’s disgusting. Just because somepony doesn’t think the way you do doesn’t mean you have the right to change how they think. If they don’t think like you do, then that’s fine. Not everypony has to have the same opinion as you. It's not right to rob them of their way of thinking.

However, that feeling of lividness was washed away when I learned that she got her comeuppance.

When Fluttershy managed to fool the villagers and Starlight herself, the Pegasus spied on her and found out that her equal sign was simply make-up. The next day, Starlight tried again to have the others convert to her way of thinking, only to have herself be exposed as a liar and a fraud in front of her followers. She tried to run away with Twilight and her friend’s cutie marks, only to be thwarted by her followers. After losing her follower’s faith, Starlight ran away and escaped.

To be honest, I was glad to hear that Starlight Glimmer got her comeuppance. She had no right to do what she did. However, that was short-lived when I learned what came next.

One day, Starlight confronted Twilight and Spike in the castle and used a time spell created by the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded to travel back in time to prevent Rainbow Dash from performing the sonic rainboom. After doing so, the Unicorn created alternate timelines and sent Twilight and Spike to each one to prevent them from stopping her from permanently changing history.

Hearing this made me more livid than learning that Starlight Glimmer stole their cutie marks and tried to convert them to her way of thinking. I was so livid that I felt the urge to punch something. How could Starlight allow herself to become consumed by petty revenge? She got what she deserved and now she had the audacity to try getting revenge on Twilight? It wasn’t until later that I found out why she did what she did.

Eventually after escaping every alternate timeline and failing to show her the consequences of her actions, Twilight asked Starlight why she was doing what she was doing. It was there that Starlight told her everything.

It turned out that Starlight had a friend, a stallion named Sunburst, had saved her when her move caused all of the books to nearly topple on her. He earned his cutie mark for that and left for Canterlot and Starlight had lost touch with him. With that, it made her think that cutie marks causes ponies to lose friendships, not earn them.

Even after learning this, I was still livid with Starlight, though not as much as before. To be honest, I couldn’t help but feel pity for the Unicorn. For some reason, I felt like I could connect with Starlight, but I couldn’t understand why, and I still don’t understand.

After learning this, Twilight, in my eyes, had barely managed to convince Starlight to give friendship another chance, to which she did, allowing the rainboom to take place. After some talk with her friends, Twilight decided to take Starlight in as her pupil and teach her about friendship.

So, here I am, talking with a pony who was once a villain. In all honesty, I want to be angry and hate Starlight for what she did, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do so. I generally don’t hate her and feel somehow connected to her. It’s like I went through the same thing she did, but how is a mystery to me.

“She did?” Starlight asks, her question snapping my out of my thoughts. I take a deep breath and look her in the eyes, the Unicorn looking at me with a slight frown.

“Yes, she did,” I reply. “When I learned about what you did back then, I’m going to be honest; I was pretty darn livid. I didn’t like how you tried to convert them to think exactly like you and that was something that made my blood boil. It didn’t help matters when you also succeeded on changing the course of history.”

Starlight lowers her head to the floor, her ears flattening. Seeing this, I can tell that this is something that she didn’t like thinking about and tried to put behind her. However, I’m not finished with her.

“However, even after everything you did, I don’t hate you,” I say softly. Starlight lifts her head up and looks at me with a surprised look plastered on her face. “What you did happened in the past and it should remain in the past. We all do stupid things at some point in our lives, but when we learn from that, that helps us become a better pony and I can see that you learned from your mistakes and have become a better pony. I’m not going to hold your past against you.”

A warm smile spreads across her face as her eyes begin to water. To be very honest, I’m happy to not hold anything against her because if I did, that’ll make me look petty. I smile slightly, remembering something else about her that I feel like I should tease her about.

“And if I remember correctly, you were formerly Twilight’s student to learn the magic of friendship,” I say with the smile still plastered on my face. The smile on Starlight’s face grows slightly more.

“That’s true,” she replies. “And now, it looks like it’s your turn to be Twilight’s student and learn the magic of friendship.”

The smile on my face turns into a smirk at her response.

“Touché,” I say and we both laugh. When her laughter dies, her eyes drift away to something else and they widen slightly.

“Yikes, what happened to your flank?” she asks. As much as I want to feel embarrassed from her seeing the bite mark, I don’t as what she said caught my attention.

“Flank? You mean my butt?” I ask, giving her a curious look. Both Twilight and Starlight look at me with wide eyes before they start laughing loudly. “Um, what’s so funny?”

“Do you know not know what a flank is?” Starlight asks me in-between her giggles. I shake my head and they both stop laughing. They realize that I’m serious.

“Well, your butt is what we ponies call a flank,” Twilight explains as she wipes the tears away from her eyes. I feel an intense sense of stupidity hit me like a ton of bricks and I slam my right hoof onto my face.

‘How can I be so stupid?’ I ridicule myself in my head. ‘How did I have no idea that a flank is practically my butt?’

“It’s okay that you didn’t know,” Starlight says in a soft tone, probably sensing that I am ridiculing myself in my head. “You’re still suffering from memory loss, so it’s understandable.”

I lower my hoof back down on the bed and I look Starlight in the eyes. She gives me a soft smile and I return it. She turns her attention to Twilight, who proceeds to dip the washcloth back into the bucket, which I catch sight of.

“So, Twilight, do you still plan on introducing Selina to our friends at some point today?” Starlight asks her. Twilight responds by giving Starlight a simple nod.

I feel a wave of nervousness flow throughout my body at Starlight mentioning me going out to meet Twilight’s friends. I know she said that I can trust them back at the train, but since I’ve never met these ponies myself, I have no idea how they will react to me. They may sound nice, but that didn’t fully mean that I have to trust them right off the bat.

“I plan to do so after I finish tending to Selina’s bite mark,” Twilight answers. I am so not ready for the unbearable fiery pain again, but I know deep down that it has to be done.

“Speaking of which, how did she get that bite mark?” she ask.

‘Please don’t tell her. Please don’t tell her. Please don’t tell her,’ I beg in my head as I feel my cheeks become slightly hot. The last thing that I want is for her to tell her about what happened back in the library with the book.

“It’s something that you should rather ask Selina than me,” she says. The response shocks me. I turn my attention to the purple pony to see her giving me a soft smile and I respond by giving her a smile of my own.

I feel that familiar warmth in my heart and chest grow much stronger, as well as a feeling of gratitude for her not telling Starlight about what had happened without my consent. I still have no idea what the warm feeling is, but I know that I will find out soon enough, but when is a mystery.

I turn my attention to Starlight, who then turns her attention to me.

“I will tell you one day, but right now, I don’t want to as it’s embarrassing and being embarrassed before meeting the others is the last thing I want at the moment,” I say. She gives me an understanding look and I am very grateful for that.

“I’m assuming that you’re still nervous on meeting all of my friends, right Selina?” Twilight asks. I turn my attention to her and I frown.

“Yeah, I still am,” I admit right away. “I know you said for me to trust them back at the train, and as much as I really want to, I can’t and I won’t be able to for some time.”

Silence fills the room for a good moment. I take a deep breath and proceed to look Twilight in the eyes. Twilight proceeds to look me in the eyes and that is all I need to know that she is giving me her full attention.

“Why is that?” she asks. There is a moment of silence before I proceed to break it.

“Twilight, they have to earn my trust and respect in order for me to call them ‘friends’. Though I still don’t remember much of my past, the memories that I’ve regained is all I need to know that I didn’t live a good and happy life. Believe me when I tell you that I want to trust them and become friends with them, but something is holding me back and I need to see it for myself if they can be trustworthy.

“I am much different from the rest of you and overcoming the boundaries is what will be the ultimate test for me. That alone with be difficult to take down itself. You may have become friends with those mares easily, but it won’t be the same for me. I hope you understand where I’m going with this, Twilight.”

Twilight looks down at the floor, possibly taking in on what I said to her. I wait patiently for her response as I witness a pained frown form on her face. She looks up from the floor and looks me in the eyes. I can tell that something is eating away at her and whatever it is, it must be something big.

“You don’t trust me at all, do you Selina?” she asks. This question catches me off guard for some reason.

I feel my heart ache at the question. Do I trust her? I find myself become shocked as I realize that I do want to trust Twilight fully. In all honesty, I want to trust Twilight and everything she is saying, but something powerful is holding me back. I know that it has something to do with my past and if I want to trust her, she has to do something in order for me to overcome it completely.

I look Twilight in the eyes as I feel the frown grow on my face.

“Twilight, believe me when I tell you that I want to trust you completely, but I don’t,” I admit in a low and sad tone. “Well, I trust you to a certain degree, but not fully to where I can trust you with keeping secrets or with my life. One day, I will, but for now, it won’t be happening anytime soon, that much is clear.”

Twilight nods her head understandingly and looks down at the floor. I feel guilty for not trusting her, but I know it’s the right course of action for the moment. I look to see Starlight staring at me with a small frown, but I can see the glint of understanding in her eyes. I’m glad and grateful that she understands.

I turn my attention back to Twilight.

“You understand where I am getting at, right?” I ask her. Twilight looks up from the floor and looks me in the eyes.

“Yes, I do,” she says. I can tell that she is still upset with what I said, but deep within her eyes, I can see understanding in them.

“I know it pains you to hear all of that, but hearing the truth is better than hearing a small lie,” I say. She nods her heads in agreement. “And if anything, there is something very important that I must tell you that must be kept in mind.”

“And what’s that?” she asks.

“As I mentioned before, they have to earn my trust and respect,” I begin to say. “Don’t expect me to trust them in a day. Both trust and respect have to be earned, not given like a free food dish. When that happens, then maybe I will see them as friends. However, there is a severe consequence that you must be aware of; once that trust and respect becomes broken, they can never be fixed.”

I lean closer to Twilight and press my face against hers. I give her the best serious look I can muster and speak in a low and serious tone.

“They can be broken if one finds out that the one that they put all their trust and respect stabs them in the back or lies to them, they’ll never look at that individual the same way again and that relationship between them will become weak and then sever. Depending on the situation, it can take a very long time for that trust and respect to be regained, but there are indeed a few occasions where that doesn’t happen.

“The truth is simple; don’t do anything that will sabotage any attempt on making this work. If that happens, I will never trust you or any of your friends again. That is something I don’t want to happen.”

I lessen the expression and remove my face from Twilight. I notice she is giving me a shocked expression. I turn to see Starlight Glimmer giving me the same expression. In all honesty, I am shocked at what I said myself. I have no idea where all of that came from.

Twilight snaps out of her shock and looks me in the eyes.

“I understand,” she says. I nod. “Well, let’s get back to cleaning out your bite mark.”

Without warning, she places an antiseptic wipe on the bite mark. I take a deep breath…




“YEEEOOOOOOWWWW!!!”
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sit in front of a large mirror that Twilight placed in front of the closet as the purple pony herself is doing my mane. My eyes are red and bloodshot from all of the crying from when Twilight was tending to my bite mark, which is slowly beginning to heal, so that’s a good thing. I am wearing my necklace so I no longer look like Nightmare Moon. Instead, I look like the familiar white-coated and black mane and tail Unicorn mare from yesterday. Starlight Glimmer is sitting to my right, patting my back softly.

I sniffle as mucus leaks out from both of my nostrils. My eyes are still watery with tears, but only slightly. I am trembling from all the pain that I had to go through just moments prior. I don’t know why, but I’m very angry with Twilight for putting me through all of that pain. However, I know that she only did it to keep my bite mark from getting infected from the bacteria and prevent me from getting sick. Still, I can’t stop the anger from swelling within me.

‘Be grateful that she did you a favor,’ something said in the back of my mind. I really want to feel grateful, but I don’t. If anything, I find it impossible.

“Okay Selina, I’m all done,” Twilight says softly, snapping me out of my thoughts. I look in the mirror and I feel the ever-growing anger dissipate slightly.

I have three braids draping down my back and they look absolutely gorgeous. In all honesty, I look really beautiful with this mane style and I have to say one thing; Twilight did a really decent job on my mane.

“Well, what do you think?” Twilight asks with a hopeful tone. I allow a small smile to form on my face, despite the unrighteous anger I feel towards her.

“I like it,” I reply softly. In the reflection of the mirror, I see Twilight and Starlight giving me a small smile. “If I didn’t know any better, I might have believed that you were trying to make me look pretty.”

Her smile turns sheepish as her face turns red.

“T-that wasn’t my intention at all!!” Twilight squeaks. I chuckle lightly at this, feeling my anger finally fade away.

My thoughts suddenly shift to both the blush and smile on Twilight’s face. I feel that warmth in my heart, finding them both to be cute. I mentally shake this out of my thoughts, but the feeling still remains. It is stronger than ever before.

‘Why can’t this warm feeling just stop and go away?’ I think to myself in confusion and desperation. I push this aside as I keep my eyes on Twilight, who still has that blush and smile on her face.

“Twilight, calm down, I’m only teasing,” I say, and Twilight responds by playfully sticking her tongue out at me. I chuckle at this.

I feel a hoof rest on my left shoulder. I snap out of my thoughts and look to see Starlight’s hoof resting on her my shoulder. I look to see her giving me a warm smile. I find her smile to be cute but I don’t find it as cute as Twilight’s.

“You look great,” she says. I can’t help but blush at this compliment.

“Thank you,” I say sheepishly.

“Are you ready for this, Selina?” Twilight asks. I feel my heart pounding rapidly in my chest and the feeling of nervousness strikes me like a ton of bricks.

“I’m nervous,” I admit with a slightly shaky tone as I look down at the floor. Twilight softly chuckles and pats me on the back.

“Selina, everything will be okay,” Twilight says reassuringly. “You have nothing to fear. I will be right beside you. Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise.”

I want to believe and trust her on that, in all honesty. However, we have no idea how her friends will react to me. Something in the back of my mind is telling me that they may have knowledge on what happened yesterday and if that’s the case, things will become awkward very quickly. They may think that I am crazy and that something has to be done about that. I really hope that what happened yesterday didn’t mark me as ‘The Crazy Mare’.

‘I will never know if I just stay here like a coward,’ I think to myself. I put on a brave and determined look on my face and then look Twilight in the eyes.

“Lead the way,” I say.




I walk alongside Twilight’s left as we walk through Ponyville to go meet her best friends. I ignore the stares the ponies are giving me. I refuse to let this ruin my day, not by a longshot. The best part is that they are not whispering amongst each other like they did the previous day, which is a good thing in my book.

As we walk down the path, I notice a pink pony mare coming our way. Both of her eyes are closed and she has a big smile on her face. Just from seeing this, I can tell that this pony is the kind that is always happy and see a pony smile. She has this energetic vibe to her and this alone tells me that she is very active and does a lot of activities all around Ponyville. The sight of her appearance feels familiar.

“Twilight, who is that?” I ask her, pointing out to the pink pony. Twilight turns her attention to the pony and smiles.

“That’s Pinkie Pie,” Twilight replies. “She is a baker who lives in a well-known bakery here in Ponyville. She is really fun and tends to be random at times. I told you about her, remember?”

I slam my right hoof onto my face, feeling stupid. She did tell me about Pinkie Pie back at the train and I somehow forgot about it. How I managed to forget that is beyond me. I lower my hoof back down on the ground and face the purple pony.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“It’s okay,” Twilight says. “This will be a wonderful opportunity to start your first lesson.”

The pink pony, now I know is named Pinkie Pie, stops about a foot away from me and Twilight and smiles at both of us.
“Give it a try,” Twilight says with a smile. I gulp and look the pink pony in the eyes.

“Um… hello,” I say softly. Just then, her eyes widen and, by defying all laws of gravity, leaps and stays airborne in the air, lets out the biggest gasp I have ever heard, and then darts away so fast that a dust impression of her is left behind.

I look over to Twilight with a confused expression.

“What just happened?” I ask.

“She always acts like that when she sees a new pony,” Twilight says. “Come on, let’s go meet Rarity.”

I nod my head and we continue down the road. I don’t know why, but I can’t help but get the feeling that Pinkie Pie has something planned for me. For some reason, I don’t want to find out what that can be.




“Okay, we’re here,” I hear Twilight say. I look ahead to see that we have arrived at some fancy looking building I have never seen before.

The best way I can describe the place is that it’s a largely cylindrical building with decorative pillars and many pony sculptures lining the lower and upper exterior and looks to be about 2 to 3 stories tall. For some very odd reason, the place gives off this strange aura that suggests that it was supposed to be something very different than what I am seeing with my own 2 eyes.

“Twilight, what is this place?” I ask, turning my attention to the purple pony.

“This is Carousel Boutique,” Twilight says. “This is where one of friends, Rarity, lives and makes her dresses. I told you about this before back in the train, remember?”

I slam my right hoof onto my face, feeling stupid again because again, she did tell me about this back in the train and I somehow forgot it. I rest my hoof back onto the ground and I look back to the building with uncertainty.

“Looks a little fancy for a boutique,” I reply. “If anything, I don’t think this place was meant to be a boutique in the first place.”

“It always has been,” Twilight replies. “Originally, this was originally going to be called ‘Carousel Couture’. It was originally going to have an actual working carousel with carousel horses that were supposed to serve as mannequins for Rarity’s designs for the dresses, but for whatever reason, it never worked out.”

I instantly turn my head to face her, shock hitting me like a ton of bricks. Now, that was something Twilight never told me back on the train. A boutique with an actual carousel with actual carousel horses sounds really cool. I would love to see that be a reality one day.

“Get out of here!! Are you serious?!” I ask, shock clearly present in my tone. Twilight chuckles before looking me in the eyes.

“I am serious, all right,” Twilight says amusingly. “Let’s head inside so I can introduce you to her.”

I nod and we step closer to the boutique.




A dinging sound echoes throughout the boutique as Twilight pushes the door open. I look up at the doorframe to see a small gold bell hanging above our heads, obviously the thing responsible for the dinging sound. I look away from the bell and we step inside. The door closes behind us and immediately survey the place.

I am awestruck by the amazing dresses that catches my eye. All the dresses covered these wooden ponies, which I assume to be what Twilight called the ‘mannequins’. Just from seeing them, I can tell that these dresses have been made by this ‘Rarity’ pony, a pony who loves beauty and fashion and expresses that tremendously these pieces of fabric. Putting a lot of dedication into something like this? That alone is something to respect and admire.

‘Would look much cooler if there was an actual carousel in here,’ I think to myself in amazement.

“Rarity, are you home?” Twilight calls out, snapping me out of my trance and turning my attention away from the dresses.

“Just a moment, darling~” came a beautiful feminine voice from somewhere within the boutique. Just then, a door on the other side of the room opens and a pony steps out.

It is a Unicorn mare with a marshmallow white fur coat, possesses both a moderate indigo curly mane and tail, and moderate azure eyes. My eyes widen at this. I can tell that by just appearance alone, this mare possesses great beauty, and looks like the type that is never afraid to show it. She’s very beautiful without a shadow of a doubt.

A smile spreads across her face and she walks over to Twilight, who also has a smile on her face. Just by the smiles on their faces, I can tell that they are very happy to see each other and I can’t blame them. These mares have been friends for a long time and I would be smiling the same way if I ever decide to go see them.

“Twilight, it’s so good to see you, darling,” she says happily.

“It’s good to see you too, Rarity,” says Twilight. The two mares proceed to give each other a hug.

I smile at this friendly interaction. I can tell that these two really love and care about each other. That alone is wonderful in its own right. To have friends that love and care about you is something to hold dear and treasure in your heart. I feel something bubble inside of my chest and it feels very… negative. I shake and push the feeling away.

‘I shouldn’t feel that way,’ I think to myself sternly. ‘As long as Twilight is happy, I’m happy. That’s all that matters to me.’

The two mares end their hug and Rarity immediately turns her attention to me. The second she sees me and makes eye contact with me, interest sparks in both her eyes and on her face. 

“Oh, who is this?” she asks curiously.

“This is Selina Lunar,” Twilight says, pointing her left hoof at me. “She is new in Ponyville and will be staying with me in the Castle for the time being.”

Rarity walks over to me and smiles.

“It’s nice to meet you, Selina,” Rarity says. “I’m Rarity.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Rarity,” I say with a smile.

“How long have you been in Ponyville?” she asks.

“I arrived in Ponyville yesterday so, not for very long,” I reply. Rarity looks at me with surprise.

“Really?” Rarity asks. I reply with a nod. “So you must be the new pony that everypony has been talking about yesterday.”

I am caught off-guard by this bit of information. Every pony in Ponyville has been talking about me? I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach at this realization. If that is the case, then that means that all of Twilight’s friends must have knowledge about what happened when Twilight was leading me to the Castle of Friendship. Now, I'm definitely going to be seen as 'The Crazy Mare'. I know it.

“Really?” I ask, trying my best to hide my uneasiness. Rarity replies with a nod of her head. “What have you heard?”

“That they saw somepony that matches your appearance saying weird things before screaming at the top of their lungs and losing consciousness,” Rarity says. I feel the urge to throw up at this response, but I resist. “Some of the rumors say that you might be crazy and something should be done, which I find it barbaric. Twilight said-”

Rarity gasps and instantly covers her mouth with her hooves. I give her a curious look. What does Twilight have to do with this? Yeah, she was with me when it happened, but what did Twilight say about it? Did she do something that she wasn't supposed to? Something tells me that the mare is hiding something and whatever it is, it has something to do with what Twilight had said.

“What did Twilight say?” I ask curiously.

“N-nothing, darling!!” Rarity says quickly. “Nothing important!!”

She gives me a nervous smile and I arch my right eye. Rarity is definitely hiding something and something in my mind is telling me to press her on for details. I can try to interrogate her to get her to talk, but something deep down tells me to not do that. It tells me that even if I try to get her to say anything, she won't no matter how much I try. As much as I want to get some answers, I decide that I can try to get the answers from her later in the future.

‘I will let this slide, for now,’ I think to myself and look the Unicorn in the eyes, giving her an expression to let her know that I am aware that she is hiding something.

“If you say so,” I reply with a low tone. I can see beads of sweat form on both Rarity and Twilight’s foreheads and loosen the expression on my face. “So, I hear that you make the best dresses in all of Equestria. Am I right on that?”

The expression on their faces relaxes and smiles return on their faces. I am aware that they feel relieved that I’m letting it go for now. They are not off the hook, not by a long shot. I will find out what it is that both she and Twilight are hiding from me. I don’t care if it takes till the day I die, I will find out what they’re hiding from me.

“It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a little filly,” says Rarity with a smile. Wow!! Since she was little!! That explains why she is so good at what she’s doing!! “Speaking of which, I was wondering if you would like to try out my latest fashion line? The combination of your mane and coat are just so very unique, I believe you will be perfect for it.”

I stare at her with wide eyes, taking in with what she just said. Does she really want me to try out her different dresses for this new fashion line she has come up with? A feeling of uneasiness swells within my chest and I can’t help but feel uncomfortable about doing something like this. I don’t know why this feels unnatural to me and that alone confuses and frightens me a bit.

Rarity stills has that smile on her face and I can tell that the mare truly does want me to try it out. I push the uneasiness and confusion aside and give her a slightly determined look.

“I’ll do it.”




“What do you think?”

“It’s alright.”

“How about this one?”

“Decent.”

“How does this dress look.”

“Fantastic.”

“Do you like this dress?”

“It’s okay.”

I stand in front of a trifold vanity mirror as Rarity helps me try on the different dresses. To be honest, I am very impressed with Rarity’s enthusiasm at the dresses, as well as the dresses themselves. Many of the dresses had a perfect combo with my white coat and my black mane and tail. She really did have a good taste when it comes to fashion.

Despite this, I can feel my patience beginning to become thin. While I am happy to help Rarity with her fashion line, the fact that she keeps asking for my opinion about the dresses is what has been getting on my nerves. Not only that, but there is also the fact that I have been standing in front of this mirror for goodness knows how long. I do like the dresses but I feel the need to keep my opinions about them to myself.

Aside from that, I try my best to express her enthusiasm and not hurt the mare’s feelings. The last thing I want is to start some bad chemistry with one of Twilight’s friends. That is something I don’t want to happen.

“We’re done, Selina,” Rarity says and she helps me out of the dress that I was trying on and put it back on the rack. “I really appreciate you helping me with this, darling.”

I feel my face become slightly hot at the compliment. “You're very welcome, Rarity. It was an honor to help you.”

“You look really beautiful with those dresses on, Selina,” Twilight says. I go wide-eye and I feel my entire face become hot.

I slowly turn my head to face Twilight, who is standing about 2 feet away from me and Rarity with that cute smile plastered on her face. I feel that familiar warmth in my heart and stomach. Oh, why did she have to make a compliment about me in those dresses? I wish she just kept it to herself, but I can't help but feel pride at this.

“Um, t-thank you, T-twilight,” I say stammering a lot. The cute smile on her face grows and I feel my face become even hotter.

“Twilight, can you give me and Selina a moment, please?” I hear Rarity say. Twilight and I give her a curious look for a moment before I see Twilight nod her head in the corner of my eye.

“Okay,” she says and she leave the room. Once Twilight leaves the room, I look Rarity in the eyes and see that she is giving me a big grin that shows all of teeth.

“Rarity, why are you looking at me like that?” I ask nervously. Rarity lets out a giggle before straightening her posture and giving me a smile.

“Darling, I want to ask you a question,” she says.

“Okay, what is it?” I ask, allowing myself to relax a little bit.

“How do you feel about Twilight?” she asks. I am taken aback by the question and I feel my face become hot again.

“Well… I… um…” I try my best to come up with a response, but I come up with nothing. I see her smile grow slightly.

“Okay, let me ask it like this; just how long have you felt this way for Twilight?” she asks. I hesitate as I think over what is happening. Why am I having this conversation with this mare? It is none of her business, but again, I don’t want to start any bad chemistry with any of her friends.

‘Besides, didn’t I have Spike tell that I’m terrible at lying?’ I think to myself. ‘Might as well tell her.’

I take a deep breath and look Rarity in the eyes.

“Well, for the past two days,” I reply. “It started happening back in the bathroom when I suddenly thought about her smile. Every time she smiles at me, it keeps resurfacing. It has been growing much stronger over time.”

Rarity stares at me for a moment before she lets out a gasp. I look at her with an uneasy expression. For some odd reason, I don't like the sound of that gasp. It doesn't help my case when I see a big smile spread across her face, stars sparkling in her eyes.

“Darling, do you know what this means?” she asks excitedly. I shake my head in response to the question. “It’s simple; you have a crush on her.”

I stare at Rarity with wide eyes, trying to take in with what she said to me. A crush? What the heck does that mean? And what the heck is a crush? Confusion hits me like a ton of bricks. I have never heard of such a thing. I give her a curious and also confused expression.

“What is a ‘crush’?” I ask. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It means that you have romantic feelings for somepony, which in this case, you have fallen for my friend,” Rarity says. “To put it simple darling; you may be falling in love with Twilight.”

Falling… in… love... with Twilight? No... No!! That can’t be true! This can’t be happening to me!! I begin feeling sick and dizzy that it now becomes very difficult to stay still.

“You… you can’t be serious,” I say with slight accusation. “You’re trying to trick me with this nonsense.”

“I’m not trying to trick you,” Rarity says. “I know that you are confused and scared, and that’s okay. It’s normal to feel this way when you have somepony tell you things like this. If your feelings for Twilight continues to grow, that means you have fallen for her but for now, you just have a simple crush on her. I said you may have fallen in love, but that doesn’t mean you really have fallen for her. Just wait and see if your feelings for her gets stronger and see what happens.”

I try my best to calm down and control myself. Maybe Rarity is right; all I have to do is wait and see if what I am feeling for her continues on growing and turns into love. If I have fallen in love with her, then what’ll happen then? Is Twilight even into mares and if she is, will she ever feel the same way for me? Something in the back of my mind tells me that she never will. I feel my heart drop at this thought.

There is no way that Twilight will fall for somepony like me. I represent something that she wants to forget and might only be doing this because the Princesses have assigned her to this. If that is really the case, I wonder what her thought process was like when they assigned her to help me learn the magic of friendship.

"I'm not sure, Rarity," I say doubtfully. Rarity walks over to me and rests her left hoof on my right shoulder.

“Just think about it, okay?” Rarity asks. I eye her a bit before responding with a nod. “We are done, Twilight. You can come back.”

Twilight walks back into the room with the familiar smile on her face. Once again, I feel that warmth in my chest and it feels much stronger than ever before. I am beginning to fear that my apparent crush on Twilight is really beginning to turn into love.

“You ready to go, Selina?” Twilight asks. I push this feeling aside and allow myself to smile.

“Yes, I’m ready,” I reply. Twilight nods and we walk over to the door. We both turn to face Rarity, who is giving us both a smile.

“It was nice meeting you, Rarity,” I say as politely as possible.

“It was nice meeting you too, Selina,” Rarity says. “See you later.”

I allow my smile to grow a little bit before Twilight pulls the door open and we walk out of the boutique. As walk down the road, Rarity’s words echo in my head.

I can’t help but feel like Rarity may be right. It does explain why I have this strange feeling resurface every time Twilight looks at me with a smile, but at the same time, I dread having feelings for Twilight. The thought of being rejected rears its ugly head. The thought of never being able to be friends with Twilight if she learns anything about my feelings makes me want to cry.

‘I hope it never comes to that,’ I think to myself, trying my best to fight the tears that threaten to come out.




We walk for the next few minutes and arrive at some place I have never seen before. The place is filled to the brim with nothing but trees filled with numerous apples. A feeling of fascination flows throughout my body and I go wide-eyed at the sight. For some reason, I feel like I have heard of some place like this before.

“Twilight, what is this place?” I asked mesmerized.

“This is Sweet Apple Acres, home of my friend, Applejack,” Twilight replies. “I told you about this back in the train, remember?”

I slam my right hoof onto my face, feeling stupid yet again. I am starting to hate my amnesia because I know it has something to do with me forgetting it a lot.

I think Twilight can sense how I am feeling because I feel a hoof rest on my shoulder. I turn to see her giving me a comforting smile.

“Selina, it’s okay if you are having trouble remembering any of the stuff that I told you in the train,” Twilight says softly. “This is a result of your amnesia and like what Celestia said, I will help you with this.”

I can’t help but smile at this and feel that warmth grow stronger. I don’t care if my feelings for Twilight are growing stronger. I am only glad that she is helping me, despite the past thought of her only doing this because the Princesses might have assigned her to this.

“Thanks Twilight,” I say.

“You’re welcome, Selina,” Twilight says, her smile growing a little bit. “Come on, let’s go see Applejack.”

I nod and were about to proceed to enter the farm when we see an Earth pony mare standing about a foot away from me and Twilight. She has a brilliant orange fur coat, possessing both a light blonde mane and tail, had moderate sap green eyes, and is wearing a strange light brown hat on her head. From her appearance and her style of living, I can tell that she is the country pony type and likely prefers it that way.

A friendly smile forms on her face and walks over to Twilight.

“Howdy there, Twilight,” the mare, who I know is named Applejack, says with a strange accent and turns her attention to me. “Who’s this?”

“Applejack, this is Selina Lunar,” Twilight begins to say. “She is new here in Ponyville and is currently living with me in the meantime.”

I suddenly remember what Twilight had told me about the Apple Family back on the train. I resist the urge to go wide-eye when I realize that I’m face-to-face with a direct descendant of the original founders of Ponyville. I feel a powerful wave of excitement flow throughout my body.

I try my best to keep my excitement under control as I stick out my right hoof for a hoofshake.

“Hi,” I reply. With quick succession, she slightly stands on her hindlegs, takes hold of my right hoof with both of her hooves and begins shaking it with great speed.

“Well, howdy-do, Miss. Selina, it’s a pleasure making your acquaintance,” Applejack says. “It’s always a pleasure making new friends.”

‘Goodness, she trusts me right off the bat,’ I think to myself as the pony continues shaking my hoof. ‘Is that really the smart thing to do?’

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” I reply with the best smile I can muster. She stops shaking my hoof and lets go, getting back on all fours.

“So, ya’ll must be the new pony that everypony’s talkin’ about, right?” Applejack asks. I feel dread form in my chest at her mentioning this.

‘She must have heard about what happened yesterday,’ I think to myself. I look Applejack in the eyes and nod.

“Yes, I am,” I reply, trying to hide my dread as best as possible.

“Ah had a feeling you are,” says Applejack. “I was around Ponyville when I heard them ponies talking about a strange pony with white fur and a black mane and tail walking around Ponyville before suddenly screaming and passing out on the ground.” She lets out a snort. “I couldn’t believe the things Ah heard from them ponies. The rumors they were spreading were rotten as a few month old rotten apple.” She looks me in the eyes and smiles. “Here in Sweet Apple Acres, all types of ponies are accepted.”

I stare at her with wide eyes, taking in with what she said. From what she said, that means that she has no problem with how different I am from all of these ponies. I look her in the eyes and see nothing but true honesty in them.

“So, you don’t care that I can different from the others?” I ask Applejack with uncertainty. The farm pony shakes her head.

“Gosh darn, Ah don’t see any issues with ya,” she replies with honesty in her tone. I feel a smile spread across my face and I see the smile on her face do the same. “Ya want some apple pie?”

I nod happily. Something tells me that if there is anypony that I can trust if I ever want to tell something personal and be honest with me, Applejack will be the one.

‘Maybe I can trust them after all,’ I think to myself happily. But again, they have to earn it, not expect me to give it to them immediately off the bat.




“Wow Selina, I’m surprised you managed to eat all of those apple treats like they were nothing,” Twilight says with a surprised tone as I walk by her left, my stomach feeling like it’s going to pop.

“I haven’t eaten anything in almost two full days, so don’t act surprised that I ate pretty much everything Applejack and her family had offered me,” I reply before letting out a loud burp. “Excuse me.”

“You’re excuse,” Twilight says. We both let out a brief laugh.

It has been 10 minutes since me and Twilight left Sweet Apple Acres and I will say this; the food that those ponies make is delicious!! Due to all of the food I ate, my belly looks bloated to where it is about 2 inches away from the ground. Applejack herself was surprised that I was able to eat all of that food like they were nothing but chocolate chip cookies. I guess this is what happens when all you had to eat was nothing but a daffodil sandwich a few nights prior and had nothing to eat after that.

“So, who are you going to introduce me to next, Twilight?” I ask.

“The next is a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replies. “You do remember what I told you about her on the train, right?”

Memories of what Twilight told me about Rainbow Dash hits me like a ton of bricks. From what I can remember, Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus pony, like what Twilight said, with a distinct rainbow-colored mane and tail. From all of the stories Twilight recounted to me on the train, I can tell that Rainbow Dash is cocky, tomboyish, prideful, and brash. Something deep down tells me that she is one that will be very hard to get along with.

However, I do remember that Twilight mentioned that Rainbow is undyingly loyal to her friends, refusing to abandon them for her own heart’s desires. Although she doesn’t sound like the type or kind of pony I want as friends, the countless stories of her undying loyalty is one that makes up for them. To be honest, Rainbow sounded like the type of pony that I can trust with having my back when I need it.

“Selina?” I snap out of my thoughts and make eye contact with Twilight.

“Thankfully, I do,” I reply with a smile, which Twilight responds with a smile of her own. “Do you see her anywhere?”

“No, I don’t,” Twilight replies. “I won’t be surprised if we find her up in a cloud taking a nap.”

I let out a giggle. Back on the train, Twilight mentioned that Rainbow Dash loved taking naps during the day and would usually be doing that on a nearby cloud. Honestly, I don’t see any problem with taking a nap during the day, especially after a hard busy day.

“LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!” came an unfamiliar voice. I look up to see a multi-colored blur coming, and it was coming fast. I don’t even have enough time to react when the blur crash into Twilight.

“TWILIGHT!!!” I cry out her name in panic and worry. I don’t know why but seeing Twilight dazed and on the ground with a Pegasus pony with light blue fur and a multi-colored mane lying on her back made me worry that she might possibly be hurt. “TWILIGHT, ARE YOU OKAY?!?!”

“I’m okay, Selina,” Twilight replies with a reassuring tone. “No worries.”

“No worries?! NO WORRIES?!?!” I repeat in a frantic tone. “Twilight, you just had a pony crash into you and you have the nerve to tell me ‘no worries’ like this is something that happens normally?!?!”

“Selina, seriously, I’m fine,” Twilight says in that same reassuring tone. “I appreciate that you’re concerned for me but believe me when I tell you that I’m okay.”

I watch with anticipation as both she and the Pegasus recover and she gets back on her hooves while the Pegasus beginnings hovering about a couple feet in the air, the sounds of her wings flapping in the air. I instantly walk over to Twilight and begin checking her body out for any signs of injuries, patting my hooves around her body. I don’t know why I feel obligated to do this, but something is driving my body to do this.

“Selina, seriously, I’m fine,” Twilight says a bit sternly, pushing both of my hooves away. I snap out of it and look at Twilight sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” I say. “I don’t know what came over me. I just felt this obligation to make sure you didn’t have any injuries.”

Twilight gives me a soft smile and pats my right shoulder.

“I really appreciate what you were trying to do, but if I tell you that I am fine, you don’t have to worry,” she says softly. I respond by giving her a slow nod of my head.

“Hey, aren’t you the new pony everypony’s been talking about?” asked the unfamiliar voice. I turn to see the Pegasus pony giving me a very suspicious glare.

I feel sick to my stomach by catching sight of that glare. It reminds me of the same glare that Luna gave me back at Canterlot Castle. I absolutely hate that glare. Makes me feel like a criminal.

“I’m not surprised that you know about that,” I reply as politely as I can. “It seems that word spreads quickly throughout a small place like this. But yes, I am the new pony that you have heard about. And speaking of which, I’m assuming that your name is Rainbow Dash.”

The Pegasus pony, who I know is named Rainbow Dash, glares at me much more intensely than ever before. Okay, I don’t know what her deal is, but I don’t like it one bit. Something tells me that I am not going to get along with this pony, not by a long shot.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I continue to say with the same polite tone. The Pegasus pony continues to glare at me as she flies a bit closer to me.

“I’ve got my eye on you, new pony,” she says with threatening tone. “You try anything funny, I will buck you all the way to Manehatten.”

I feel something snap within me from this threat. Okay, if Rainbow wants to act like that and give me a hard time, I will gladly do the same for her.

“Okay, I don’t know what you’re problem is or why you’re acting this way, but if you want a problem, I will gladly give you one because I’m not going to have you threaten me or treat me like a criminal,” I growl aggressively, baring my teeth at her.

Just before anything else can transpire, Twilight pops up in front of us and gives us a stern look.

“That is enough,” she says sternly. “There’s no need for things to get very intense. Let’s go, Selina.”

I snort and I hear Rainbow doing the same.

“It was nice meeting you, Rainbow Dash,” I say rudely before me and Twilight head off, my gut telling me that the Pegasus is still giving me that intense glare.




“What’s her problem?” I ask once we are out of Ponyville and heading down a pathway leading to goodness knows where with nothing but woods to my left. “Rainbow was acting like Princess Luna; that glare and aggression. And what does that pony even mean by ‘trying anything funny’? It’s not like I’m going to try something bad.”

I turn to face Twilight and see a nervous expression form on her face. She shows a moment of hesitation before looking me in the eyes.

“I… I don’t know,” she says. Something in my gut is telling me that Twilight is hiding something from me and that it might have something to do with what happened back at Rarity’s. If that’s the case, then that means that Rainbow Dash knows something about me that I don’t want her to know.

“Are you sure?” I ask, giving her a suspicious look. “Twilight, I think you’re hiding something from me. Whatever it is, I have the right to know.”

Twilight suddenly goes stiff and seeing this confirms my suspicions. I give her an intense look, making sure that she is keeping her eyes on me. I don't want to do this, but she has left me with no other choice.

“Twilight, is there something you want to tell me?” I ask her sternly. She begins acting nervous and I can see sweat beginning to form on her forehead.

I begin to grow annoyed and growl a bit aggressively, stepping in front of the purple pony. If I have to intimidate her to get the answer out of her, so be it.

“Answer me, Twilight,” I growl aggressively. “Does Rarity and Rainbow know something that I don’t? Come to think of it, if they don’t know anything at all about me, Rarity wouldn’t blurt out about you saying something and Dash wouldn’t be acting like that towards me. It’s like they-”

My eyes go wide as something clicks in my head. No, Twilight wouldn’t just lie to me like that. Would she? But she said… No…

I feel something hot and intense anger bubble up inside of me as I come to the conclusion of what is going on with her friends.

“Twilight… did you tell them everything about me and what is going on?” I ask her in a low and threatening tone, giving her an aggressive glare. The purple pony’s eyes go wide and that is the answer I need. “You… you lied to me?”

“Selina, I can explain-” Twilight begins to say before I cut her off.

“YOU LIED TO ME!!!!” I shout angrily. “YOU SAID BACK ON THE TRAIN THAT THEY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON OR ABOUT ME!! NO WONDER YOU ACTED FUNNY BACK ON THE TRAIN WHEN I ASKED YOU IF THEY KNOW ANYTHING!! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME, TWILIGHT?!?!”

Twilight begins shaking and has a hard time keeping her eyes on me.

“I-I figured that i-if you knew that I told t-them about y-you, you wouldn’t want t-to g-go meet them,” Twilight says, her trembling a little bit. That statement just only fueled my anger more.

“AND DID YOU REALLY THINK LYING TO ME ABOUT IT WOULD MAKE THINGS BETTER, TWILIGHT?!” I shout at the top of my lungs in fury.

“Selina, please calm down,” she begs, but that fuels my anger even more than it already was.

“YOU THINK I’M GOING TO CALM DOWN AFTER ALL THE TIMES THAT I HAVE TOLD YOU NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, YOU WENT AHEAD AND TOLD ME THE BIGGEST LIE I’VE EVER HEARD?!?!” I continue to shout. “YOU KNOW, I WANTED TO TRUST YOU, EVEN START A FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU!! BUT THIS…” I feel my eyes beginning to water. “This is what I was talking about… You betrayed the trust that I had for you… How could you do that…”

“Selina, please… let me explain…” I hear Twilight say before feeling her hoof rest on my left shoulder.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME, YOU DIRTY BUCKING LIAR!!” I scream before jerking my shoulder away and sprinting into the woods.

“SELINA, WAIT!!” I hear Twilight shout from behind me, but I ignore her as I run. I feel my heart ache as the tears begin flowing down my face.

I have only known her for 2 days and somehow, finding out that she lied to me hurt me more than anything. In fact, this hurts me more than finding out that I have amnesia, the thought of never recovering all my memories, and remembering that my former father took my life over something petty. Is this my somewhat ‘love’ for Twilight that Rarity mentioned to me some time ago? Is that why this hurts me more than anything?

I shake my head as I stop in the middle of a small clearing. I don’t care how far, how deep I am or where I am; I just want to get away and have some personal space to think. I begin gasping for air, my lungs feeling like they are on fire. I feel the ache in my heart become stronger and I clamp my left hoof on my chest, the tears streaming down my face a bit more violently.

‘Twilight lied to me…’ I think to myself. ‘After me being honest with her, she does this…’

The ache came back, much more stronger than ever before, and I shut my eyes tightly. I feel my face become more soaked from my tears as my body begins trembling. I pick up the sound of the birds chirping in the distance, and as beautiful as they sound, they do nothing to help ease the pain that I’m feeling.

‘Twilight… why…’ I continue thinking in my head. ‘How could you…’

I feel the ache in my heart hit me yet again, and I break. I can’t take it anymore!! Here I thought this would be the start of something great and new, but no, Twilight just HAD to tell all her friends everything and then lie to me about it!! Why does this hurt me so much?! Why do I feel so strongly about her lying to me and breaking the bit of trust I held for her?! Is this connected to my supposed ‘crush’ that Rarity mentioned?! This can’t be true! I… can’t…

“OH, WHO AM I KIDDING?!” I cry out loud as I fall onto my stomach and onto the dirt, letting my tears fall freely from my eyes. “I HAVE A CRUSH ON TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!”

I cry loudly onto my forelegs, not caring on what could be out there lurking in the woods. I don’t even care if my fur is becoming dirty from the dirt. I am too broken to even care if there is something out there strong enough to kill me or the fact that I am staining my fur coat. If anything, nothing matters to me now.

As I feel myself losing consciousness, I swear that I hear the sound of hoofsteps coming up towards me from my right.
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I open my eyes halfway and I have a hard time trying to figure out where I am. I feel something brush against my body, sending a tingling sensation up my body. I feel the urge to laugh, but I hold it in. I fully open my eyes and confusion hits me like a ton of bricks.

 ‘What the heck?’ I think to myself as I take in my surroundings. ‘What is this place?’

 I am lying down in the middle of a very beautiful field filled with flowers of different kinds. There is nothing but trees surrounding this beautiful grassy field. The sky above me is a beautiful cloudless blue with the Sun shining down on me brightly. The beautifully cut grass sways with the blow of the wind and it flows past me.

 I close my eyes and a peaceful sigh escapes my mouth. Something deep within me tells me to try and find a way out of this place and find a way back to Ponyville. As much as I want to listen to it, I don’t want to listen at the same time.

 I feel so at peace here. The mystery of how I got here to this place is no matter of concern to me. I just want to spend as much time as I can in this place, not wanting to leave the safety it gives off.

 ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ I think to myself. Like with a flick of a switch, something happens.

 The safe feeling vanishes and is replaced with a feeling of dread. I quickly open my eyes and watch in horror as the flowers wilt and die. The grass then turns from green to brown in a matter of seconds by my very eyes. I instantly turn my attention to the trees and watch the leaves fall off and the trees become shallow shells of themselves. The sky turns into this deep shade of red, giving this place a very intimidating aura.

 I stand up on my hooves and look around, having no idea on what I am looking for anyway. I see nothing as far as I can see, but I continue to look around. I feel my heart beating fast in my chest, making it hard for me to breathe, sweat forming on my forehead, and my body trembling with fright.

 ‘You are a monster, and you will always be a monster.’ I stop what I am doing, my eyes widening in horror and shock. No… not this again.

 ‘Who would want to be friends with a freak like you?! No one, that’s for sure!!’

 I shut my eyes tightly, fall onto my stomach and then clamp both hooves to the sides of my head, shaking it violently.

 ‘Not again… please…’ I plead.

 ‘I’m ashamed to have a son like you.’

 ‘You never cease to disappoint me, like you always do.’

 ‘Stop it…’ I plead, this time with a slight hint of anger in my tone.

 ‘We never cared about you. We will never consider you as our brother.’

 ‘Why did mother have to give birth to someone like you?! I wish you were never born!!’

 ‘I said… STOP!!’ I shout angrily at the top of my lungs and just like that, the voices stop.

 I slowly open my eyes, breathing heavily with anger. I turn my body around 180 degrees and I scream, all the anger gone in a flash.

 Standing before me… is me, only there is something wrong. The doppelganger is wearing some kind of helmet on its head, some heavy-looking chest plate around its neck, and wearing some intimidating regal slippers.

 The doppelganger gives me the most evil smile I have never seen before and I begin to shake with fear.

 ‘Hello,’ it said in my voice.

 ‘W-who are you?’ I say in a shaky tone. The doppelganger flashes a wicked smile at me, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

 ‘I’m you and you are me,’ it replies wickedly. I want to run but my body frozen in terror. I glare at it defiantly.

 ‘No, you and I are nothing alike,’ I reply as defiantly as possible. The thing laughs evilly as it continues to give me that wicked smile.

 ‘Is that what you believe?’ it asks in a mocking tone. ‘Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are just like me. You have the same body as me and possess my magic and abilities.’ The wicked smile on its face grows. ‘You even have the same darkness inside your heart and soon, you will turn into a monster. Just… like… me.’

 I begin feeling sick to my sick. The things the doppelganger is saying to my face makes me want to spit in its face. I will never turn into a monster and hurt anypony. Even if they turn their back on me, I will never turn my back on them. Only a monster will do that and I’m not one.

 ‘You’re lying!!’ I object loudly, all traces of fear gone. ‘I’ll never turn into a monster like you!!’

 The doppelganger responds by laughing wickedly once again.

 ‘That’s what you think,’ it says mockingly. ‘Soon, you will succumb to the darkness inside your heart and you will turn on them. You will be known as the most powerful pony Equestria has ever known.’

 I can feel rage flow throughout my body. This freak is speaking nonsense!! I feel the urge to punch it in the face, but I resist and continue to glare at it.

 ‘I will NEVER turn on them,’ I growl aggressively. The doppelganger laughs once again.

 ‘Oh, yes you will,’ it says. ‘And I know just how to do it.’

 ‘Yeah, like how?’ I scoff. It steps a bit closer to me while giving me that stupid wicked grin.

 “It’s simple,’ it replies. ‘Like this.’

 The doppelganger lifts its right hoof up from the dead grass and it makes contact with my chest. My body shivers against my will from the cold feeling that the piece of metal around its hoof sent. The doppelganger poofs into a pitch black cloud-like fog before my very eyes.

 ‘W-what are you doing?!’ I demand in an angry and slightly frightened tone. It laughs once again.

 ‘Becoming one with you,’ it said evilly. It flows back away from me, stays idle for a moment before charging at me with tremendous speed. Before I can let out a scream, the cloud slams into my chest.

 I let out a loud gasp as I feel it enter my body, a cold sensation spreading all throughout in the process. Just as quickly as it started, it was over. I begin gasping for air, clutching my chest with my right hoof. I’m… fine. I let out a sigh of relief, glad that nothing bad was going to happen.

 I go wide eye as I feel something cling to my will. I gasp as I feel myself beginning to slip. I begin shaking my head violently, using all of my mental strength to fight against it. I feel my eyes water up with tears as I feel myself slipping even more; I’m losing.

 ‘Your body is mine now,’ I hear that familiar voice in my head.

 ‘No… Noo…’ I take a deep breath before I finally succumb to whatever it is that has invaded my mind. ‘NOOOOOOOO-’ 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“-OOOOOOO!!” I shout at the top of my lungs as my eyes shot wide open and I sit up. I begin gasping for air as if I ran a marathon.

‘It… it was just a dream…’ I think to myself as I finally manage to fully calm down. ‘It was only a dream…’

I feel moisture on my face and rub my right hoof. I lower my hoof away from my face and see that it is wet. I must have been crying in my sleep. I wipe the tears from my face and lower my hoof back down. I suddenly become alert when it makes contact with something soft and comfortable. If anything, I am sitting up on something that is surprisingly comfortable and soft.

I look to see that I am sitting up on some kind of couch.

“What is this?” I ask myself. I immediately survey my surroundings and realize that I am not in the woods anymore.

The place looks like to be a living room with a different pink-shaded rug in the center of the room, a large window with strange shapes by the sides by my left, a picture frame with beautiful butterflies to the left of the window, and a bookshelf next to it. The couch itself that I am sitting up on has soft green fabric and made out of brown wood for the legs. Overall, the living room itself has this aura to it that gives off this peaceful, safe, and home-like vibe.

‘Where am I?’ I think to myself. ‘How did I get here?’

“Oh, thank goodness! You’re awake!” came a sweet and angelic voice. “I was getting so worried!”

I turn my attention to the front door to see a Pegasus pony with pale gold fur, possessing both a pink mane and tail, looking at me with these worried and caring moderate cyan eyes. I have a feeling that this pony is Fluttershy, the one who lives in a cottage taking care of a bunch animals.

Just by the expression on her face and behavior, I can tell that this pony is the kind that possesses a heart of gold, always willing and ready to help those in need. To top it off, she has this motherly vibe and aura surrounding her. The feeling it gives off is pleasant and makes me feel safe. She also gives off the impression that she is the kind of pony that won’t judge you for who and what you are.

Although I have a feeling that this pony can be Fluttershy, I decide to play dumb, just so I can get some confirmation. Assuming her identity isn’t the best idea so it’ll be smarter to get confirmation.

“Who are you?” I ask. “Where am I? How did I get here?”

She closes the door behind her and walks over to me. She then sits down on her haunches and looks me in the eyes, giving me a soft and caring smile in the process.

“My name is Fluttershy,” she responds in that same soft and angelic tone. “After finding you unconscious in the Everfree Forest, I’ve had one of my animal friends carry and place you here on the couch.”

“How long was I out?” I ask curiously.

“For about 4 hours,” Fluttershy responds. “You’ve been tossing and turning, muttering stuff that I couldn’t understand. It was like you were suffering from a bad dream.”

‘You have no idea,’ I think to myself, tempted to actually say it out loud. The sudden reminder makes me tear up.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asks in a concerned tone. I shake my head violently in response. “What’s wrong?”

I stare into her eyes and begin to debate whether or not to tell her about the terrible dream I had just moments ago. Two options come to life within my head.

Option 1: I don’t tell her about it and keep it to myself.

Option 2: I tell her and be open about it, like I had earlier this morning with Twilight when I regained some of my memories.

To be honest, I feel tempted to not tell Fluttershy about what happened in the dream. If I do tell her, how will the Pegasus take it? More importantly, what will her thoughts be about it? Will she become terrified and afraid of me? I remember from the stories that Twilight told me about her is that she is very shy and can scare easily. I might scare the heck out of her if I do tell her about it.

At the same time, I feel the urge to tell Fluttershy about what had happened in my dream. With the genuine concern plastered on her face, along with the motherly and safe aura she is emitting, I feel like I can tell her anything without the fear of her judging or criticizing me. If I remember correctly, Twilight mentioned that Fluttershy is the kind of pony that will not judge you for anything and is always willing to listen to you.

I suddenly remember what happened with Twilight moments ago. The memories of me finding out that she’d lied hits me in the face like a ton of bricks. I feel my heart ache and I clutch my chest with my right hoof. I resist the urge to cringe from the result of the pain. Why did Twilight have to lie like that? Was me being openly honest with her not enough for her?

‘If Fluttershy knows who you truly are, why try to hide it from her?’ some part deep within me pointed out. ‘There is no point on trying to hide secrets from her. Being honest is the best course of action right now.’

I let out a sigh, deciding on what I will do; I am going to tell her about what happened in my dream. I really hope that I don’t end up regretting this very badly.

“I… I had a terrible dream…” I confess in a low tone. Fluttershy lets out a gasp, covering her mouth with her hooves.

“What did you dream about?” she asks.

“I’ll tell you, but I rather whisper it to you in your ear,” I reply before I beckon her over with my left hoof. She looks at me for a moment before she lowers her hooves back down and scoots over a little closer to me.

She turns her head to her right and waits. I lean my neck close to her left ear, my mouth about an inch away from her ear, and cup my left hoof around the side of my mouth. I close my eyes and begin whispering softly in her ear.

I tell her everything; me waking up in that flowery field, the sudden and rapid transformation, the voices and the terrible things they were saying, the encounter with the doppelganger, and me losing against to it and fully succumbing to it. I hear let out occasional gasps of horror and shock as I recall all of the details that took place. Something tells me that she is disturbed by how all of this turned out. I don’t blame her. To be honest, I would feel the same way if somepony whispered about this kind of thing to me.

I put my story to a close, rest my foreleg back to my side, straighten out my neck, and open my eyes. Fluttershy has a horrified and shocked expression plastered on her face, her eyes wide to the size of dinner plates. The poor Pegasus is trembling like a leaf, like she just had the literal life scared out of her.

I feel regret rearing its ugly head. Maybe telling Fluttershy about it was a bad idea. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and not say anything at all. What is she thinking right now? Is she debating on whether to run out and find a hiding place or offer me some support? I feel my heart ache at the thought of this sweet and kind-hearted Pegasus running off and find some place to hide away from me. I hate the very thought of it, to be honest. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.

I look away from her, shame taking over my face.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a low tone. “I guess I shouldn’t have told you about it. You’re probably thinking about running off and hide from me for you fear that I might turn into her physically and mentally and turn against all of you… It was very stupid of me to confess all of this to you… I’m aware that you know that the form I am in is simply a disguise so I can walk amongst the ponies of Ponyville without any trouble, and that this is a way to hide my true form from everypony else… You’re probably fear me right now…”

I feel something rest on my left shoulder. I turn to see Fluttershy’s right hoof resting on my shoulder. I look to see Fluttershy giving me a very soft smile. I sense nothing but love and care emitting from that soft smile. To be honest, I am starting to like that smile very much.

“I don’t fear you,” she says in a soft and gentle tone. I stare at her with wide eyes, shock overwhelming my entire being.

How can she say that when her body language indicated otherwise? Is Flutters only saying that as a way to comfort me or is she saying that she believes that is what I want to hear? Is this the truth or is her saying that nothing but a comforting lie?

I quickly recover from the shock and give the Pegasus a disbelieving glare. The smile slowly leaves her face and a look of apprehension quickly takes its place.

“I don’t believe you,” I reply bitterly. “I saw how you reacted, Fluttershy… You were shaking like you just had the life scared out of you… How can you say that when your body language spoke for you itself? Are you only saying that to help me feel better?”

Fluttershy slowly shakes her head as the apprehensive look quickly leaves her face. She looks me in the eyes as her lips change into that same soft smile that was present not too long ago.

“No, I didn’t say that just to help you feel better,” she replies. “I said that because it’s the truth.”

I lessen my glare and continue to stare at her. As much as I want to believe her, I don’t. After finding out that Twilight lied to me, how can I be sure that she’s not lying to me as well? I do know that Twilight never mentioned her ever lying to anypony, but I can’t take any risks.

I let out a low sigh and look her in the eyes.

“I want to believe you, but I don’t,” I say. The smile turns into a small frown as her face become pained.

“Why?” she asks. I hesitate for a moment.

“Because after being lied to by Twilight, how can I trust or even believe that you’re not lying?” I ask. Fluttershy’s eyes widen a bit, probably as a response to either hearing Twilight’s name or the part where Twilight lied to me.

“What do you mean by ‘being lied to by Twilight’?” the Pegasus asks me in a soft shocked tone.

I feel the urge to mentally slap myself for bringing up what happened with Twilight. I should have stayed quiet and not said anything. Now that I did, Fluttershy obviously wants to know what I mean by ‘being lied to by Twilight’ and something tells me that I won’t be able to get out of this by not saying anything.

‘Might as well get this over with,’ I think to myself. I sigh and look her in the eyes.

“Hours ago, I found that Twilight lied to me about you and the rest of her friends not knowing anything about me when I asked her about it back on the train,” I reply. Fluttershy stares at me for a moment before she recovers a bit from her shocked state.

“Did you find out why she lied?” she asks. I shake my head.

“No,” I answer. “I became so angry with her that I ran off into the forest where you found me.”

Fluttershy looks at me with a blank expression plastered on her face before it becomes sad. What is she sad about? Is she sad about Twilight lying to me or is she sad about me not listening to Twilight’s side of the story? It can go either way and none of them sound good.

“Don’t you think you should go find Twilight and listen to her side of the story?” she asks in that same soft tone. I look at her like she’d just grew a second head.

“No,” I say sternly. “I’m not in the mood to see her. I’m still mad at her right now.”

“And not talking about it will only make things way harder for the both of you,” she retorts softly. “I know that you’re angry with her but talking it out with her will be the right thing to do. You will feel a lot better if you do.”

I glare at her as she gives me a pleading look. I feel my resistance falling and I feel myself become frustrated with this. I want to say ‘no’, but how can I with her staring at me like some wounded animal begging for some help? And for some reason, that face looks… familiar. It’s like I have seen that face before, but where and when exactly?

I close my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. I can’t believe I am doing this, but if it makes her happy, so be it. Might as well get it out of the way, I guess.

“Ugh, fine,” I grumble. “Don’t expect it to start off friendly or even easy anyway, Fluttershy.”

“I know,” she says softly. I hop off the couch and we both walk out of the cottage, Fluttershy closing the door behind us.



Fluttershy and I are walking down the nearly empty streets of Ponyville in the direction of the Castle of Friendship. I have my attention aimed at the sky. The Sun is nearly down with the sky a beautiful shade of red and orange. Though beautiful, this offers me zero comfort. I’m not looking forward on coming face-to-face with Twilight since I’m still pretty angry with her for lying to me. I know this happened about a few hours ago, I’m still bothered by it, like a lot.

Not only that, but I’m also not very happy with Fluttershy for talking me into this. Although I’m very annoyed with her, deep down, I know that she’s only trying to help. While that does bring comfort, it’s overpowered by the feeling of annoyance.

As we walk down the path, I notice something off; Ponyville appears to be empty. It’s like all of the resident had vanished without a trace. Confusion fills my very being. What the heck happened to everypony? How could they all vanish without a trace like that?

“Selina!!” I hear the familiar voice of Twilight. I turn my attention away from the sky to see the purple pony and her friends heading towards me and Fluttershy; Rarity and Pinkie Pie to her left and Rainbow Dash and Applejack to her right.

Twilight stops about a foot away from me and gives me a look of relief. I feel a rush of hot anger flow throughout my entire body by just coming face-to-face with her again, all of my confusion washing away like dried dirt. She has a relieved look on her face. Seeing that on her face makes me want to gag.

“I’m so happy to see you,” she says with a huge hint of relief in her tone. I respond by giving her a furious glare.

The relief on her face quickly vanishes from her face and an expression of apprehension takes its place. Something tells me that Twilight thought that this might go smoothly and I’ll just forgive her right off the bat. If that is the case, then she is dead wrong. This won’t go smoothly like she possibly hoped for.

“Well, I’m so not happy to see you, Twilight,” I reply in a harsh and cold tone. Her lips turn into a frown at my response.

“Selina, I’m sorry,” Twilight says in an upset tone. “I can explain.”

“Explain what?!” I shout angrily. “About the fact that you lied to me about your friends not knowing anything when they clearly did?! Yeah, I have zero interest in listening to you!!”

“Selina, please, you don’t understand,” Twilight replies in a very pleading tone. I feel my blood boil at this.

“‘I don’t understand’?!?!” I reply in a much louder voice. “Oh, I understand completely, Twilight!! You told me a comforting lie because you thought that will make introducing me to your friends a lot easier!! That has to be your stupidest idea yet!!”

“Don’t you talk to Twilight like that!!” Rainbow calls out in a threatening tone. I snap my attention to the rainbow-colored Pegasus and give her a very threatening glare in return.

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!” I shout angrily. “IF YOU TALK OR BUT IN LIKE THAT AGAIN, I WILL BLAST YOUR ARROGANT, COCKY, AND TOM-BOYISH FLANK ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!”

Rainbow Dash bares her teeth at me and takes two steps, obviously about to do something. I watch as Applejack puts her right foreleg in Rainbow’s path. Rainbow whips her head at her and Applejack shakes her head slowly. Rainbow lets out a low growl before taking those two steps back to her original spot while giving me that glare.

‘That’s right, stay in your lane,’ I think aggressively to myself.

“I didn’t want to stress you out!!” Twilight cries out. I return my full attention to her.

“And you didn’t think about the consequences if I found out that you lied, Twilight?!” I shout loudly.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to meet my friends if you found out!!” Twilight cries out, her eyes welling up tears. I feel a tiny ping of guilt form in my chest, but I push that aside and harden my glare.

“I still would have gone to meet your friends regardless!!” I shout at her, even louder this time. “I knew that I wouldn’t know how your friends would react to me if I stayed in the castle like a coward!!” I take a couple steps closer to Twilight, stopping about 6 inches away from her. “DIDN’T ANYTHING I SAID TO YOU EARLIER TODAY MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH ANYPONY OR EVEN TRUST THEM IF YOU’RE GOING TO LIE TO ME BECAUSE YOU THINK THAT I RATHER HEAR A COMFORTING LIE THAN THE TRUTH?!?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ACTIONS, SUCH AS LYING, HAVE CONSEQUENCES?! CONSEQUENCES THAT AFFECT OTHER PONIES…” My eyes begin to water as I feel all the anger wash away. “…like me…”

Me and Twilight stare at each other for a brief moment before I lunge and wrap my forelegs around her neck. I hug the purple pony tightly as the tears start trailing down my face.

“Please, Twilight… don’t ever lie to me again…” I plead, the tears trailing down my face with much more frequency. “You have no idea how badly I want to trust you, and it hurts me when I can’t do it… I care about you more than I should, Twilight, but how can I trust you when you pull off something like this?” I hug her more tightly as I begin to sob. “Please, Twilight!! Promise that you won’t lie to me again!! I don’t like being lied to because it makes me doubt, suspicious, and wary of you!! I want to trust and be friends with you, Twilight!! Please, don’t do it again!! I beg you!! I can’t stand it; it hurts too much!!”

I continue sobbing, unable to stop the tears from flowing. The pain returns and it only serves to make me sob even harder. I feel childish crying like this, but right now, I don’t care. I can’t help it. I feel like my heart is going to break into a million pieces.

I feel Twilight wrap a foreleg around my back and proceed to hug me lightly. I gasp as my eyes shot open with alarm.

“Selina, I’m so sorry that I lied,” Twilight begins to say. “I was afraid that you’d become stressed about it and might not want to meet them because of it. And it meant a lot to me when you said those things about trust and respect earlier today. I should have told you the truth, but again, I didn’t want to make introducing my friends to you more difficult or stressful. That is why I said that they didn’t know anything about you or your predicament. That still doesn’t excuse me lying to you. Selina, I promise that I won’t lie to you again.”

I am stunned by her words. There is nothing but genuine honesty present in her tone. There is no trace of her fabricating everything she just said to me or anything that pops out to me that says ‘lie’. The very words themselves all sound like they came from her very heart.

“You promise?” I ask, my voice cracking.

“I promise,” Twilight replies in a soft tone, hugging me a bit more tightly. I become still before I resume hugging her tightly.
We remain that way before we let go and I wipe the tears away with my right hoof. Fluttershy is right; talking about it will help me feel a lot better. I am glad that she convinced me to do it. I owe her for this.

“So… friends?” Twilight asks, holding out her left hoof. I stare at it for a moment before looking at Twilight, who has a soft smile on her face.

Something deep down is telling me to not trust her and refuse her offer to be her friend. If I trust her and become her friend, she will try to lie to me again and I have nopony but myself to blame for it. Just become she made that promise doesn’t mean that there will come a time where she will throw another lie at my face again.

I push this aside and allow myself to smile slightly. Twilight has obviously learned her lesson about being honest and if that’s the case; I will allow myself to trust her and start this friendship with her.

“Friends,” I say, taking her hoof with my right. We both shake them before letting go.

“Well, now that you two have become friends, let’s head back to the castle and start THE PARTY!!” Pinkie Pie squeaks behind us before zooming off into the direction of the castle.

I stare into the direction Pinkie Pie zoomed off to, my entire body overcome with shock. I don’t know why, but the thought of a party fills me with fear and nervousness. To be honest, I don’t like the sound of it.

“Party?” I ask nopony in particular, slight signs of fear and nervousness. “Party for what and for who?”

“For you, sugarcube,” Applejack replies.

“Pinkie sets up a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’ for any new pony that comes to Ponyville,” says Rarity.

“Well, let’s go,” Twilight says. “Don’t want to keep Pinkie waiting.”

The five mares begin walking in the direction Pinkie Pie went. I stay where I am, not liking the sound of a party for some reason. I don’t know why this scares me so much, and to be honest, I don’t like it. Are parties supposed to be fun or something, so why do I feel nothing but dread at the idea of a party?

The five mares stop in their tracks and turn to look at me.

“You coming, slowpoke?” Rainbow calls out to me, her tone lacking signs of aggression and hostility. I swallow my apprehension and nod my head.

“Coming,” I reply and we run the rest of the way to the Castle of Friendship.



*BACK AT THE THRONE ROOM SIMILAR TO THE ONE AT CANTERLOT CASTLE*


“Are you sure?!”

“Affirmative, Your Majesty. It appears that she has now become friends with Twilight Sparkle. It also seems that she is beginning to fall in love with her.”

“Falling… in love… with that MARE?!”

“It seems so. This will make things much more harder than they already were, Your Majesty.”

*Growls* “Looks like I will have to step in myself.”
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I surface from unconsciousness and let out a low groan. My head feels funny and it doesn’t help that I have a massive headache as well. I rest my right hoof and begin rubbing my head softly. I groan as I slowly open my eyes.

I am laying down in the center of my bed and currently in my original form. My hindlegs are spread out into the shape of the letter V and my wings are completely spread out. My regal black fur is messy and matted with some of the tuffs tied into knots. I look to my left to the nightstand that stood to the left side of the bed to see my necklace hanging by the edge.

‘How did I get here?’ I think to myself. I try to recall anything from last night, but I come up with nothing. A putrid odor hits my nostrils and I try my best to not gag. I realize that the smell is coming from me. ‘I better go take a shower. I don’t want Twilight to see or smell me like this.’

I roll off the left side of the bed and groan loudly from the pain in my head. I slowly approach the bedroom door and grasp the handle with my right hoof. I twist the knob, pull the door open, and step out of the bedroom.




I step into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I survey the room and I softly sigh. The last time that I was in this bathroom was yesterday when I stupidly decided to take a small lick at Spike’s Fire Ruby. I smile grimly at the memory.

I walk over to the tub and examine it. It looks exactly like the one from Canterlot Castle but a little bit smaller and no built-in seat. No big deal. I only plan on taking a quick shower and get out. I carefully step into the tub, sit down on my haunches, and turn both the left wheel to the right and the right wheel to the left. Water fires out of the shower head above me. I flinch and slowly relax as the water turns warm.

I sigh as my body is continuing to be assaulted by the warm water. The nice feeling of comfort that the water brings soothes me and helps ease the pain in my head a little bit. It will make this better if I have a clue on where Twilight keeps some medication that can help with this headache.

I try once again to recall what happened last night. The result is the same thing; nothing. The only thing that I recall is arriving back to the castle and entering the library where apparently Pinkie Pie set up my ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party. That is it. I can’t recall anything else that took place after that point.

‘I can worry about this later,’ I think to myself. ‘Right now, I have to focus on my shower first.’

I begin rubbing my hooves all over my body to straighten out my messy fur. The knots became undone and my fur became smooth once again. I turn my full attention to the different variety of shampoos and body wash that are to my right. I reach out with my right hoof and grab a random bottle of shampoo. I pop open the lid, lower my neck down and squirt some shampoo onto my head. I close the lid, place the bottle back where it belongs and begin scrubbing my head with my hooves, the shampoo spreading all throughout my head.

I sigh softly as I scrub the shampoo all over my head and hair. It feels wonderful to wash off all of the filth that I probably had all over my head from the last few days. The knowledge of having been sleeping on a mattress while having dirt and grime from the last few days makes my fur crawl. I am going to have to make a habitat of taking either a shower or a bath at the end of the day and after I wake up in the morning.

I finish scrubbing my head and begin rinsing off the shampoo out of my head and hair. Not even 5 seconds later, I hear the doorknob to the bathroom door twist and turn. I freeze up as the door swings open and I hear somepony step inside. I slowly turn my head to see who it is. My heart begin racing and skip a few beats, my face becoming hot. Twilight Sparkle closes the bathroom door behind her and looks to be completely oblivious of me being here.

I stare at her, not sure on what to do. Should I scream at the purple pony to get out? Should I even say anything at all? To be quite honest, both of those options are going to lead to something embarrassing happening. I don’t know what to do.

Twilight walks over to the toilet and proceeds to sit down on it. Once sat down, Twilight lifts her head up and looks in my general direction. I cover myself with both my hooves and forelegs out of instinct. Once again, I feel so naked and vulnerable right now. This is the second time now that somepony has walked in on me while I’m in the tub. First the guard back at Canterlot Castle and now Twilight.

Twilight goes wide eye and lets out a shriek. I can’t help but do the same. She covers herself with her hooves and I hear the sound of nature take its course in the toilet.

“S-Selina?” she squeaks when she finishes.

“Um, who else?” I reply in a soft sarcastic tone.

“What are you doing in here?” she asks in a somewhat accusing tone.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I reply with a question of my own. “I came in here to take a shower not too long ago.”

“How long ago?” she asks.

“Like five minutes ago,” I answer, my heart returning to its normal state. “I woke up not too long ago not smelling so great so I decided to get washed up since the last time I did was about 3 days ago when I was soaking in the tub back at Canterlot Castle.”

Twilight looks at me like I said too much.

“Uh, a little too much there,” Twilight says uncomfortably. I feel my face heat up some more when what I said clicks in.

“Sorry,” I say sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Twilight says before twirling her left hoof around in a small circle. “Can you turn around so I can finish?”

“Sure,” I reply before turning my back to her, relaxing my posture. I turn off the water as to not waste it.

As I wait for Twilight to finish her business, the reality of the situation hits me like a ton of bricks. Here I am, sitting in the tub soaking wet with Twilight Sparkle, the mare who I apparently have a crush on, sitting on the toilet behind me. My heart begins beating hard and fast once again, my face becoming hotter than ever before. I bet my entire face is completely red as a tomato, what with my face feeling so hot. I feel a funny feeling form in the pit of my stomach and I begin trembling slightly.

‘Keep it together, Selina,’ I think to myself as I feel the blood rush to my wings. ‘Keep… it… togeth-’

*POMF*

I feel my wings fling straight out against my will. I tense up, my entire face the hottest it has ever been. I turn my head left and right to see both of my wings straighten out. I then look to Twilight. My eyes widen in horror. Twilight is staring at me with a blank expression plastered on her face. I look away from her, place a hoof on each wing and push as hard as I can in an attempt to fold them back to my sides. They refuse. My wings are so stiff that no matter how hard I try, they won’t fold back.

I look back to Twilight, who is still staring at me with a blank expression. I begin to cry. Not out of pain, but in embarrassment.

“T-Twilight, I-I think s-something’s wrong w-with my w-w-wings!” I cry out loud, tears trailing down my face. “T-they won’t f-fold b-back onto my s-sides!”

The blank expression leaves Twilight’s face and she places her right hoof on her lips, a small smile spread across her face. I hear her let out a soft giggle. Does she think that what is happening with my wings all a funny joke to her? Is this some kind of amusement to her?!

All the embarrassment goes flushing down the toilet and a hot rush of anger takes its place. I turn my body around and glare at Twilight.

“Y-you think this is funny?!?!” I shout angrily, pointing my left hoof at her in accusatory manner. I subconsciously pick up the feeling of the blood leaving my wings.

Twilight stops giggling, though the smile remains plastered on her face.

“I’m not laughing at your predicament,” Twilight says. “I’m just trying to help you.”

“‘Help me’?!?!” I shout yet again. “How is laughing at me supposed to help me?!”

Twilight still smiles at me, which only fuels my anger more.

“Try to fold your wings back to your side,” she instructs in a soft tone. “Your wings shouldn’t be stiff anymore.”

As much as I want to refuse and ignore her instruction, I decide to follow through with it. I give one push with my hooves and they fold back onto my sides without any resistance whatsoever.

I blink a few times in surprise. A few questions form in my mind. What did I just experience with my wings going stiff like that? Why did Twilight come to the conclusion that laughing at me and getting me upset was all I needed for my wings to return to normal? Are wings going that stiff a normal thing to occur?

I open my mouth, getting ready to ask Twilight some questions.

“I know what you’re going to ask, Selina,” she says, cutting me off before I can even get a single word out of my mouth. “What you just experienced is perfectly normal for both Pegasi and Alicorns. Whenever they get…” Twilight hesitates, obviously trying to find the correct word to say. “Whenever they get… excited, their wings will flare open and become stiff. They stay that way until they find or think of some way to calm down.”

Well, that answers some of the questions I had in mind, but now I am curious as to what an ‘Alicorn’ is. Is that what kind of pony me and Twilight are? Is that the kind of pony Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are? It might very well be, but it never hurts to ask.

“Twilight, what is an ‘Alicorn’?” I ask.

“An Alicorn is a specie of pony that possesses both a long horn and a pair of wings,” Twilight replies. “They are seen as a sign of royalty of Equestria since they possess great power.”

I stare at her with wide eyes, taking in what Twilight had said. Apparently, an Alicorn is a kind of pony that possesses both a horn and a pair of wings and is seen as a sign of royalty due to their power. Since I am an Alicorn, does that mean I will have to become royalty in some way or another? Will I be able to have the free will on making the choice whether I want be to or not? Will I be cooped up in a castle without ever having or getting the chance on doing things that I want do or not because of what I will have to do as a Princess or something?

I feel sick to my stomach at those thoughts. The thought of being royalty does not sound appealing to me whatsoever. Whether I do have the choice on whether I want to be part of royalty or not, I will never accept the crown. There is too much to go, too much to see and I will NOT let my status as an Alicorn ruin that for me.

Twilight hops off of the toilet, the sound of her hooves hitting the floor snaps me out of my thoughts.

“Well, I better leave you to your business,” she says as she walks over to the door. Her horn lights up and her magic grasps the doorknob. She swings the door open and take about 2 steps.

“Wait!!” I call out, stopping her in her tracks. Twilight turns to look at me, a curious expression plastered on her face.

“What is it?” she asks.

“Are there any plans that I need to be aware of?” I ask her quickly without a moment of hesitation.

“Well, I plan on reorganizing the books with some help with Spike,” Twilight begins to say. “Other than that, no. Why?”

I begin to think. Maybe I can go take a walk around Ponyville to get some fresh air? The idea sounds refreshing to me and I smile slightly. To be very honest, I think that’s something I need at the moment. Well, once I finish with my shower that is.

I look Twilight in the eyes.

“I will go take a walk around Ponyville for an hour or so,” I say. “I want to get some fresh air. It might do me some good.” Twilight’s eyes go a bit wide and opens her mouth to say something. I cut her off before the alicorn can even get the chance to say a single word. “I will be fine, Twilight. I seriously don’t want you to babysit me whenever I want to go take a walk in Ponyville. I’m not a child.”

Twilight giggles lightly and rubs the back of her neck with her right hoof.

“I guess you’re right,” she says sheepishly. “Well, I wish for you to have a nice walk through Ponyville.”

Twilight once again begins walking out. I suddenly remember that I want to ask her what happened last night. I know that this isn’t the time to ask, but I still want to know anyway.

“Twilight, wait!” I call out. Twilight stops in the doorway and looks in my direction.

“Yes, Selina?” she asks.

“Do you remember what happened last night?” I ask. “I woke up this morning in my bed, but I can’t remember anything. I was wondering if you can recall anything that took place.”

Twilight thinks about that for a moment, tapping her chin softly with her right hoof and her eyes looking down at the floor. I wait patiently for her answer, secretly hoping that she remembers anything from last night. If she doesn’t, then I will ask her friends if they know about what happened.

She lowers it back down on the floor and looks me in the eyes.

“I do remember what happened, but can we talk about this later?” she asks, her cheeks becoming a little red. “It would be best if I left you alone so you can finish.”

I feel my face become a bit hot from this, remembering that I was taking a shower before she came in here. She’s right.

“Okay, Twilight,” I say. “We can talk about this after my walk.”

Twilight nod and walks out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. I turn the water back and resume with my shower.




I take a deep breath of the fresh air and let out a contented sigh. I see the ponies of Ponyville giving me weird looks, but I ignore this and pretend that they are not there and that I am the only one walking down the streets of this small town. I feel the wind brush against my body. I close my eyes and allow a smile to form on my face.

It is really nice to take a walk by myself without Twilight guiding me. I see this as a good thing as I want to figure out the layout of Ponyville by myself and find out where everything is. I know this isn’t a good idea since the possibility of getting lost is high, I still want to learn things myself and tell Twilight about my accomplishment. If anything, I want something to feel proud about later on in life.

To be honest, I want to have a day to myself without having Twilight around me. I am still upset with her lying to me yesterday, though not as much as I want to. I know I accepted her hoof in friendship, but I only did it since it was mainly out of the need for some companionship. It is also because of my feelings for her. I learned about my massive crush for her from Rarity, and I want to see what will happen if I try to stay away from her a lengthy period of time.

I collide into something and I fall onto my back. I let out a low groan of pain, rubbing my head, which is still throbbing though not as painfully as before.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there,” came an unfamiliar voice. The voice had a musical tone to it; smooth, soft, and attractive. I open my eyes and come face-to-face with a pony I’ve never seen before.

The pony in question is a Unicorn mare with snow white fur, possessing a long red mane and tail, and has beautiful amber eyes. I stare at the pony in awe and amazement. The way the Sun was shining down on her as she looked at me with a concerned and apologetic look is like looking up at a Goddess. She was beautiful.

“Are you okay?” she asks. I snap out of my thoughts and I slowly nod my head.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I reply. “I’m very sorry too. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“It’s okay,” she says. “Let me help you up.”

Her horn lights up, an aura that is deep red surrounding it, and I feel myself being lifted up from the ground. I am placed back on my hooves and I watch the aura fade from her horn.

“Thank you,” I say with a smile.

“You’re welcome,” she says, holding out her left hoof. “My name is Sunny, Sunny Days. What’s yours?”

I look at the hoof in question and stare at it for a moment. I then take her hoof in my right and we shake each other’s hoof.

“Nice to meet you, Sunny Days,” I say, the smile still plastered on my face as we continue to shake. “I’m Selina, Selina Lunar.” We let go and we stare at each other for a moment. “I’ve never seen you here before. Are you new to Ponyville?”

She smiles a big smile.

“Why yes, I am,” she says cheerfully. “I just arrived here like 10 minutes ago and I’ve had other ponies give me weird looks.”

“That’s happened to me too,” I say with shock and surprise. “I moved here 2 days ago. I am currently living with Twilight Sparkle.”

Her eyes go wide and looks at me with shock.

“You’re living with the Princess of Friendship?” she asks in a tone that matches the shock on her face. I give her a curious look.

Twilight is the Princess of Friendship? Is that a thing; be royalty of the magic of friendship? How does that even make any sense? And more importantly, why didn’t she tell me about this? I guess I will have to ask Twilight for myself when I get back.

“You okay?” Sunny asks. I snap out of my thoughts and I nod.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I reply. “I never knew that Twilight is the Princess of Friendship. I don’t know why she didn’t tell me.”

“Maybe you can ask her when you see her again,” she suggests.

‘Which I plan on doing,’ I think to myself. I feel my stomach rumble, along with the sound of grumbling. I blush in embarrassment.

“Sounds like somepony is hungry,” Sunny says jokingly.

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten anything yet,” I say.

“Would you like to go get a bite to eat together?” she asks with a pleasant smile. I stare at her with shock.

I hardly know this pony, and yet, she just asked if I would like to go out to eat with her. I guess these ponies trust random strangers very easily, which I feel like is not the best or smart thing to do. However, I remember that the sole purpose of me moving here to Ponyville and live with Twilight is so I learn the magic of friendship. Maybe taking things slow and becoming friends with Sunny Days will be a good start for me.

“Sure,” I reply with a smile, to which Sunny replies with a bigger smile of her own.

“Do you know any good places to eat?” Sunny asks. I think about it for a moment and come up empty hoofed.

“No, I don’t,” I reply with a low tone. “This is my first time walking in Ponyville by myself so I don’t know where everything is.”

“Let’s search together,” Sunny suggests. I think about it for a moment and reply with a nod.

Stepping over to Sunny’s right, we both walk down the streets of Ponyville. Something deep down is telling that there is something about Sunny Days that doesn’t seem right. I push this aside and take in the fact that I’m beginning the start of a possibly good friendship with somepony else.
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I take a bite out of my hayburger and moan in delight. I have no idea how something like this can taste so good, but dear goodness gravy, these ponies know how to make something simple as hay taste so darn good. I begin to chew my bite and look to my companion, who is sitting at the other end of the table.

Sunny takes a bite out of her meal, a hayburger with a side of horseshoe-shaped union rings and smiles in pure delight. She is no doubt enjoying the deliciousness of her meal as much as I am.

The place we decided to stop at and get a bite to eat is at this restaurant called the Hay Burger. The restaurant is a large rectangular shaped building with possibly fake hay as a roof with a sign depicting a picture of a burger and a cup on the top. Inside, there are round wooden tables with the seats themselves looking like miniature barrels. The atmosphere that the place is giving off is one that tells you that this place has been around for a very long time, but not to the point where many ponies can call it extraordinarily old.

I swallow my bite, and Sunny does the same thing. I carefully levitate my hayburger back on the plate and rub my stomach with my left hoof and smile. Sunny repeats what I did.

“These are delicious,” I say. Sunny nods her head in agreement.

“No doubt about it,” she says as she levitates her beverage to her mouth. “It’s very nice to try different foods from different towns and cities. Always eating the same fancy food from the same place gets old and dull.”

“I bet,” I agree as Sunny takes a sip of her drink. “It’s also nice to get something in my stomach. I hadn’t eaten anything all day yesterday.”

Sunny chokes on her soda, partially spitting it out. The droplets hit the center of the table, just a few inches away from my stuff. Sunny barely gets it together, but with enough force, she manages to gulp down what was left in her mouth. She looks me in the eyes with a shocked expression plastered on her face.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asks. I shake my head and that only makes the surprise on her face grow. “How can you last a full day without eating one meal?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I guess that it might have something to do with the events that transpired.”

“What happened?” she asks curiously.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, the smile leaving my face. “It’s very personal.”

She nods her head to say that she understands. I cross my forelegs together and rest them on the table, leaning a little bit.

“So, Sunny,” I begin to say, “can you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

I’m not asking this just out of curiosity. I’m asking this because something is telling me that if I want any chance on becoming friends with Sunny, then the best thing to do is to try on getting to know her better. That way, I can feel comfortable on telling her about myself and try not to make it all sound crazy I tell her a bit about myself.

She smiles, her face beaming brightly. She seems thrilled that somepony is interested to know her life story.

“Since you seem interested, I will gladly do so,” Sunny says. She looks me in the eyes. “I was born and raised in the city of Canterlot. My father was a successful business pony, owning several other businesses all throughout the city.”

“Hold up, Canterlot is a city?” I ask, surprised by this little bit of information.

Sunny gives me a confused expression.

“Yes, it is,” she replies. “Is it not obvious?”

“Not really,” I answer. “It looks a little small to be a city. I mean, yeah it’s huge, but not big enough to be considered ‘city huge’.”

Sunny raises her right eye, giving me a suspicious look.

“Have you seen Canterlot?” she asks suspiciously. “Better question, have you ever been to Canterlot?

“Yes, I have,” I say, nodding my head.

“When?” she asks.

“2 days ago,” I reply. “I stayed at the castle for a short while before I moved here to Ponyville with Twilight. So far, living here in Ponyville has proven to be bit of an adventure.”

She continues to give me that suspicious look.

“I have amnesia,” I tell her. “While I do remember a few things, I really don’t remember anything else. I am still recovering from it.”

Sunny stares at me for a bit before nodding her head, the suspicious look leaving her face. She seems satisfied with my answer, though something tells me that something is up. For one, why would Sunny act suspicious like that? And two, the way she asked me when I’ve seen or been to Canterlot makes it look like she is prying me for something important, though what will be a mystery to me.

I push my feelings aside and decide to focus on what we were talking about earlier before Sunny asked me if I’ve seen or been to Canterlot.

“So, Sunny, you were saying about your father?” I press softly. The smile reappears on her face.

“Anyway, my father was one of the wealthiest ponies in Canterlot, second only to the Princesses of Equestria,” Sunny resumes. “With all the businesses he owned, the amount of money he earned was ridiculous. Despite that, never once in his life did he allow greed to consume him. There were times where he would give some of his money to charity, as well as making donations to many of the hospitals in Equestria.

“He was a very busy stallion, always away from home for days and even weeks at an end when he went out on business trips. When he did come home, he had always found the time to spend time with me and my little sister. No matter how late in the night it was when he returned home, he always found time to spend time with his daughters.

“My mother, on the other hoof, was a stay-at-home mom. She took care of me and my little sister while our father was away. She was very strict, always wanting us to follow the rules and teaching me on how to be independent. Not only strict, but she was also very fierce. My mother had a temper, one that made even the bravest of stallions cower in fear. Whenever she became angry or when it came to protecting me and my little sister, that mare would turn into the perfect definition of a ‘mama bear’.

“As for my little sister, she inherited mother’s fierce attitude, as well as her temper. She was very independent, even at a young age. She absolutely hated having others tell her what to do and would never back down from like anything, even a fight. She was so determined that not even our mother could get her to back down on multiple occasions. Her stubbornness got her into trouble from time-to-time.

“However, it was also because of this stubbornness that allowed my little sister to grow up independent. Even at a young age, she would always insist on learning things by herself, refusing help from my mother since she wanted to show how much of a ‘big girl’ she was.” Sunny said that as to way to mimic a child. “Over the years, she grew up to be very fierce, just like my mother, and had an attitude. Despite that, she was an amazing sister to have and I’m glad to have grown up with a sister like her.”

“Sounds like you had a good family,” I comment. The smile on her face grows a little more.

“I couldn’t ask for a better family,” said Sunny. The smile on her face turned slightly into a frown. “Especially my little sister who I miss very dearly.”

I frown as well. The way she said that was full of remorse and grief. What had happened to her sister? Did they lose touch? Did they get into a fight that might’ve put a wedge in their relationship? Did their relationship get down to where they are unable to reconcile? So many questions, and yet zero answers.

‘Well, I’m not going to get any answers if I don’t ask,’ I think to myself. I take a deep breath and look Sunny in the eyes.

“Sunny, did something happen between you and your sister?” I ask her in a soft tone. She stares at me for a moment before she takes a deep breath.

“You see, while me and my sister did get along just fine, there were indeed moments where we would fight and argue since we had different viewpoints on certain things,” Sunny begins to explain to me. “My sister is one that many would call ‘attractive’. She had many stallions and mares compare her body to a goddess.

“Of course, she didn’t like the attention at first. She thought it was very creepy and weird having all those ponies eyeing her down like that. She once said that it made her feel like prey, something that she didn’t like at the time. As time went on, some of them got very bold and unfortunately, got a little bit touchy. She didn’t like that and some of those poor ponies ended up losing a few teeth.

“However, as she got older, her attitude towards that behavior started to change. She began to like the attention she was receiving, even had some of stallions and mares confess that they had crushes on her. That boosted her ego and she became the most popular mare in school. If she didn’t get what she wanted, she would use her beauty against other ponies and it worked all the time.

“Of course, I didn’t like what she was doing and how she was using all that popularity to her advantage. One day, I confronted her about it and she did not like it. She accused me of being jealous of her for how she was receiving all the attention and how I didn’t. We got into a heated fight and we said a few things to each other weren’t very pleasant. The fight ended when I stormed out of her room, boiling with anger that I never felt before. That was only the beginning.”

She looks at me to see if I am paying attention. I nod my head to show that I am paying attention to everything she is saying. She doesn’t smile, only frowns. I can tell that this is bothering her and I feel the sudden need to tell her that she doesn’t have to tell me the rest. I don’t want her to feel more upset than she clearly already is.

She resumes her story before a single word can come out of my mouth.

“When we entered high school, I noticed something different about my sister. It wasn’t anything major, but for some reason, it caught my eye. She started talking with mares, sometimes getting flirty with them. At first, I didn’t think of it. She did that on many occasions during middle school. However, as time went on, this began to change and so did the signs.

“She started hitting on other mares at our school, flirting and winking at them, even checking them out on many occasions. During lunch, she would sit a little bit too close to the more cute and attractive mares and have her legs spread out more than they should be. Whenever a stallion went to give her attention, she would simply ignore them, only keeping her attention to other mares.

“That was when I started to pay more attention to my sister since the signs were becoming more clear. I didn’t want to come to the conclusion that she was becoming romantically interested in mares, but the signs were obviously clear. I guess I just never saw my sister as the type to be interested with mares. For the past 4 months, I kept a close eye on my sister, waiting and hoping that my suspicions weren’t true.

“One day after school, I was walking out of the school when I caught sight of my sister chatting with a mare I knew and one that I have seen her talking to countless times for the last 4 months, a Unicorn mare named Dawn Dusk. She was the smartest mare in school and almost as popular as my sister. She had light yellow fur, a beautifully curly light brown mane and tail, and she had the most beautiful set of blue eyes that would make any mare jealous. I was even a bit jealous myself.

“I became curious as to what they were doing, so I decided to eavesdrop on their little conversation. I will never forget how it went out.

“‘Has anypony ever tell you how beautiful you look?’ my sister asked in a very seductive voice. Dawn’s face went beet red.

“‘W-well, I have, but not from another mare,’ she stammered, looking very embarrassed.

“‘How would you feel if you had another mare express interest in you?’ she asked in that same seductive tone. ‘And what if that pony was me?’

“My sister was well-known for teasing other mares by asking those questions. Normally, they would shrug it off and tell her that they’re not interested. When there were mares who were into other mares, they would tell her that they already have a marefriend. Of course that never stopped my sister from doing what she does.

Dawn looked my sister in the eyes and I watched as her eyes began to water and a smile form on her face.

“‘I was hoping you would ask that,’ she replied, her smile growing a little. ‘I’ve been interested in you for a long time and I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to ask you if you would like to be my marefriend.’

“That part surprised me, and it still does to this day. I never thought in a millions years that Dawn Dusk, one of the most popular mares at school be interested in mares, let alone my sister. I don’t think she was expecting that either because I saw her face turn into one of shock.

“‘Really?’ she asked in a shocked tone.

“‘Yeah,’ Dawn said. ‘You have no idea…’

“Then, she did something that surprised both of us. She walked over to my sister and full-on kissed her on the lips. That was it for me. I didn’t want to watch the outcome so I snuck off and made the journey by myself.

“Even though I never saw the outcome, it was pretty clear what happened. Dawn and my sister began a relationship, and oh Celestia how much attention that got them. Of course, a lot of the stallions at the school were crushed and unhappy with the news. A few mares were jealous of them, mainly jealous at Dawn getting a shot with my sister.

“For the next three years, their love for each other grew stronger and they became inseparable. Dawn Dusk would come over every day and spend the night at the house, regardless if it was a school day or not. My sister and Dawn would spend their time in her bedroom, only coming down when it was time to eat. To be honest, it was painful to watch.”

I stare at Sunny with concentrated eyes. The story she is telling me is so crazy that it’s hard to believe. At the same time, I can’t help but feel a bit relieved. Relieved because the fact of her sister being in a relationship with a mare means that I can do the same thing with Twilight, if she feels the same way for me.

I look her in the eyes.

“Sunny, you don’t have to tell me the rest,” I say softly. “I can tell that it’s upsetting you and I won’t force you to do something that you don’t feel comfortable with telling me.”

Sunny smiles very weakly, probably touched.

“You have no idea how much your thoughtfulness means to me, Selina,” Sunny replies in a soft tone before a big frown spreads across her face. “However, I feel like I should tell you what happened to my sister.”

“Sunny-”

“No, you asked about what happened between me and my sister and I will tell you that,” Sunny says sternly, cutting me off.

“Which I don’t want to know about right now,” I reply back sternly. “I can see that it’s upsetting you and you have said enough. I don’t want to look back at this moment and remember that our first interaction with each other is bringing back bad memories. I may have done that in a sense, but I rather know about it later than now.”

Sunny glares at me for a moment before she relaxes her posture. Only did she do that did I relax myself.

“You’re right,” she says in a low tone. “I wanted to give you a little bit of backstory so you can understand better.”

“Which is appreciated,” I say. “Giving some backstory is a good way to put the events together and understand why things happened the way they did. It wouldn’t make sense without one, but that’s besides the point. The point is that I rather you tell me at a different time than right now.”

She smiles slightly.

“I understand,” Sunny says before proceeding to take a big bite out of her hayburger. I proceed to do the same.

As I eat, I feel a strong wave of guilt flow throughout my entire body. I think asking Sunny about what happened between her and her sister was a very bad idea. I obviously brought back some bad memories and to be honest, I’m very glad I stopped her before she could finish her story.

‘I’ll ask her about it another time,’ I think to myself as I continue on chewing the food I have in my mouth.




I walk down the pathway leading to the Castle of Friendship, still absorbing all of the things that Sunny had told me about her sister. Though she didn’t tell me about what happened between her and her sister, I have the feeling that whatever it was that took place between them is something very, VERY bad. Although I am curious as to what happened between them, I didn’t want our first encounter to be something where bad memories resurfaced.

The Castle of Friendship appears before me and I semi-run to the structure. I stop by the large doors before pushing the left one open. I step inside and walk down the hallway. I plan to tell Twilight about my walk and meeting Sunny Days. Of course, I don’t plan on telling her about Sunny’s sister for obvious reasons, however I do plan on telling her that me and her went out to eat and got to know each other a little bit.

I walk past the doors that lead entry to the library when I pick up a faint sound. I stop in my tracks and turn my attention to the double doors. I step closer and press my left ear on the right door. Though muffled, I can hear the sound of voices coming from the other side of the door. I strain my ears so I can hear the voices better.

“Is that even possible?!” came the shocked voice who I recognize as Twilight Sparkle.

“It seems that way,” came the unmistakable voice of Princess Luna. I growl slightly.

‘What is Luna doing here?’ I think to myself with hostility. I push this aside and continue listening.

“But, how can you be sure that Selina is doing that on purpose?” Twilight asks once again in that same shocked tone. “She just learned how to levitate objects!! There is no way that she can do that!!”

What the heck is Twilight talking about? And what does this have to do with me? What is Princess Luna even accusing me of? I push these aside and resume on listening.

“Twilight, be at ease,” came the unmistakable voice of Princess Celestia. My eyes widen in shock. “We are not saying that Selina is up to no good.”

What is she doing here as well? Something serious must be going on here if they are here with the possible purpose of talking with Twilight; something that centers around me. But, what can it be? Whatever it is, it must be very big.

I continue to listen.

“Don’t be ridiculous, sister!!” Princess Luna scoffs harshly. “It’s clear that Selina knows what she is doing and she is preventing us from trying to enter her dreams and more importantly, her head!!” The way she said my name was full of venom. “No matter how hard I tried, nothing works!! I even had Discord try to help me get inside her head with no success!! It’s like everything we try didn’t work or had no effect on her!!”

Wait a minute… what did she just say? Did Luna just say that she tried to enter my head? But… why? Why would she try to do that? Is it because she is so dead set on trying to prove that I am faking everything so I can ‘escape’ justice, like she said on the night before I moved here to Ponyville?

The thought of having somepony like Princess Luna trying to invade my mind fills me with anger. How dare she try to invade my head and my privacy!! My head isn’t something that Luna can just enter and leave as she pleases!! It is my head and nopony has any right to invade it!!

I take a few deep breaths to calm my anger and continue to listen. There is a pause before it is broken.

“Luna, we can’t assume that Selina is doing this on purpose,” Celestia says in a calm voice.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Luna shouts in a demanding tone. “I have tried EVERYTHING, sister and nothing works!! If Discord can’t even get into Selina’s head or even help me enter her dreams, how can you explain something of the like of that?!”

There is another pause. I have no idea what is going on in there. I think Celestia is probably trying to figure out how that can be the case. I still feel the anger of knowing the fact Luna tried to get into my head, including that of my dreams. Something deep down tells me that Princess Luna will stop at nothing until she gets inside my head and get what she wants.

Celestia breaks the silence.

“You’re right, something like this is hard to explain,” Celestia says. “But that doesn’t prove or mean that Selina is doing this on purpose.”

“How can you be so sure that this isn’t her doing?!” Luna shouts angrily. There is yet another pause.

“I have a theory,” Celestia simply says.

A theory? This instantly catches my attention and I strain to pay attention to what it can be.

“And what’s that?” Twilight asks curiously. There is another pause.

I patiently wait to hear Celestia’s response. Curiosity on what her theory can be fills my entire being. Does the Princess have a general idea on what might be going on with my head? Probably not, because she did say that it’s a theory so that means she could be wrong about this.

Celestia breaks the long silence. “It’s a hunch, but I believe Selina… is immune.”
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shock fills my entire being as I take in on what Princess Celestia had just said. Me; immune? That… that doesn’t sound possible. How can I be immune to something like this? Is she saying that I am immune to magic or powers that have something to do with affecting the mind or something? Big possibility, but it still sounds impossible.

“IMMUNE!?” Luna scoffs loudly. Her scoff snaps me out of my thoughts and I get back to listen. “DO YOU REALIZE HOW ABSURD YOU SOUND RIGHT NOW?! THERE IS NO WAY THAT NIGHTMARE MOON CAN BE IMMUNE!! HOW CAN THAT EVEN BE POSSIBLE, SISTER?! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, HOW DOES THAT EXPLAIN DISCORD NOT BEING ABLE TO GET INTO HER HEAD?!”

Just from how loud Luna said that, I can tell that she is beyond livid now. I can picture Luna glaring at her sister with an enraged expression on her face, her face beet red with anger. I don’t know why, but I find the image to be somewhat funny.

“It’s very simple, Luna, ” Celestia replies. “Since Selina has the body of Nightmare Moon, she possesses the same powers as you. With that being said, Selina is a dream walker, which is a pony that has the ability to enter the dreams of other ponies. For being a dream walker, she has the capability to keep other ponies and other creatures with the same abilities from entering her dreams. Since you are a dream walker yourself, you can’t enter Selina’s dreams without her letting you in, and the same applies to her.”

My jaw drops, the shock coming back but much more powerful than ever. I… can enter the dreams of other ponies? The thought of entering dreams sounds… very intriguing. The ability to see what ponies are dreaming and enter them fills me with excitement.

At the same time, the thought of entering an unsuspecting pony’s dreams is a little… unnerving. The idea of having your dreams being watched or entered is like having some random pony come into your bedroom without your consent. The excitement washes away like dried dirt.

The bit of information knowing that I can keep Luna out of my head and my dreams brings a smile to my face. I love my privacy and I will never allow anypony access to my head. Even if the very pony that I love most asks if they can see into my head, I still won’t allow them access to my head or my thoughts or even my dreams. No amount of pleading or begging will get me to change my mind.

“That make sense,” Twilight agrees. “Selina might be subconsciously using her magic to keep you and Discord from entering her dreams.”

Okay, that wouldn’t make sense. I never knew that I can do something like that, so how could I have used my magic to keep both Luna and Discord out? What can it be?

“Twilight, it isn’t magic that’s keeping me from entering her dreams!!” I hear Luna growl angrily. This catches my attention and I am very sure that it caught Celestia and Twilight’s attention too.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asks, sounding confused.

“I mean that it isn’t magic that was preventing me from entering her dreams, Twilight Sparkle!!” Luna repeats. “When one of Discord’s attempts to get in failed, I scanned her mind to see why even he couldn’t get in!! That is when I discovered something strange; something VERY strange!! I don’t know what it is, but it looked to be some kind of… shield or immunity; the likes I’ve never seen before!! Me and Discord have tried everything to see if we can find a way to penetrate or even bypass it in some way, but everything we tried didn’t work!!”

My head feels like it’s going to pop. The things I am learning is starting to become too much. Not only did I learn that I can enter pony’s dreams, but to know that I possess some kind of shield or immunity that is preventing not only Luna, but Discord himself, from getting into my head and even the likes of my dreams is making my head feel like it's going to explode. The possibilities are endless.

There is a moment of silence before it is broken.

“That confirms my suspicions,” Celestia says suddenly. I feel the urge to shout out ‘what’, but I push it away and continue to listen.

“Suspicions?!” Luna shouts angrily. “What do you mean by your ‘suspicions’, sister?!”

Another pause.

“It confirms why I wasn’t able to hear or read Selina’s thoughts while I was talking to her before sending Twilight in to go talk to her,” Celestia replies calmly. “And it also explains why I was unable to hear or read her thoughts while she and Twilight were out in the balcony.”

I feel my eyes go wider than ever before. Why didn’t I see it before?! Why didn’t I question the fact Celestia knew it was me in that disguise when she entered the balcony?! And more importantly, why didn’t it raise any red flags?!

I feel everything click into place and a strong realization strikes me so hard it feels like getting hit square in the face with a sack full of bricks; Celestia had been standing there the entire time trying to read and hear my thoughts while me and Twilight were looking out into the horizon. She must have entered the bedroom without me realizing or noticing and used that to her advantage. I guess the reason why I didn’t even suspect her is because she did a good job at hiding it.

I feel sick to my stomach as another realization hits me. This means that even after everything I said to her before she left the bedroom, Celestia didn’t believe me. Maybe she said that she did believe me because she wasn’t able to read my mind. That would explain why Twilight came in shortly after I went into the balcony.

I feel my heart ache, along with a rush of anger flow throughout my body. Why… just why?

“Oh, and you know EXACTLY why nothing works on her?!” Luna scoffs in a very rude and sarcastic tone. I snap out of my thoughts and continue to listen, despite the part of my brain telling me that I’ve heard enough.

“I do, and it’s something we call a ‘supernatural gift’,” Celestia replies. “For years, ponies from all races have been documented to possess some form of gift. They can range to be able to read minds and hear thoughts, possess super strength or speed, harbor a hidden power or potential, or by some rare occurrence; be resistant or immune to certain powers or magic.”

There is yet another pause. I take in what Celestia had said. According to her, ponies can be born with some kind of strange power or gift that makes them stand out from the rest of the other ponies. The possibilities of what kind of power they might possess must have been something very extraordinary to where they were documented. If I do possess some kind of strange power, what will that even be?

“And this concerns Nightmare Moon, how?” Luna asks in that same rude and sarcastic tone. There’s once again another pause. I can just imagine Celestia giving Luna an annoyed glare, though something tells me that is only in my dreams.

Celestia breaks the silence.

“In Selina’s case, she possesses an immunity in the form of a mental shield. There are two different kinds; Psychic Immunity and Meta Psychic Immunity. Psychic Immunity is when a pony possesses a mental shield that can both be penetrated with spells that can either penetrate or bypass the shield. Meta Psychic Immunity is the ultimate form of a mental shield and it’s one that can’t neither be penetrated or bypassed in any way, rendering the pony truly immune. The only way any pony can read, mentally affect, or even manipulate that particular pony is if they cast away the shield. The mental shield that Selina possesses is Meta Psychic Immunity. If I remember this very correctly, Starswirl the Bearded is the first ever pony to possess this power, which makes Selina Lunar the second pony to now possess this.”

I am so overwhelmed with shocked that even with the instinct telling me to run away, I can’t find the inner strength to do it. The knowledge of knowing that I possess some kind of mental shield that once this so called ‘Starswirl the Bearded’ possessed before me is making me feel dizzy. I want to run away and give myself time to digest everything I’ve learned, but I can’t. Why is it impossible to find the strength to get my legs working?!

“Are… you… KIDDING ME?!?!” Luna shouts out angrily. “THERE IS NO WAY THAT MONSTER CAN WIELD SUCH IMMUNITY!! WITH A POWER LIKE THAT, THAT FREAK CAN SHIELD OUR ENEMIES AND USE THEM TO TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA!! A NIGHTMARE LIKE HER NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH!!”

My heart shatters into a million pieces upon hearing the things Luna said about me. Is that all I am to her; a monster, a freak, and a nightmare that needs to be destroyed?? I feel something snap deep within me. I can’t take it anymore!! This is all too much for me to deal with!!

Tears begin to trail down my face as I begin to sob, probably loud enough for Twilight, Celestia, and Luna to hear me, soaking my cheeks. I don’t care if they can hear me or not!! Because who will care about a pony such as me?! No pony, that’s for sure!! It perfectly explains all of those ponies giving all those weird looks whenever they see me!!

‘Because I’m nothing but a freak and a monster!!’ I think to myself angrily.

I place my right hoof onto the right door and push it. The door creak opens and I slowly step into the library. I look to the center of the room to see Celestia, Luna, and Twilight sitting on the three couches that surround the square-shaped table.

The 3 ponies turn their heads in my direction and their eyes are wide with shock. The expression on Twilight’s face is one of both shock and horror, Celestia’s is one of pity, and Luna’s is one of slight anger. I aim my focus on all 3 of them, the Princesses staring at me like statues.

“So… is that what I am to you? A monster?” I ask with hurt. “That all I am is some nightmarish freak that has to be destroyed? One that doesn’t possess a soul like you and all of the other ponies?”

My face dampens a bit more as the tears begin trailing down my face a bit more harshly, soaking my cheeks more. I solely turn my attention to Celestia, who is looking at me with pity.

“Celestia, when you said that you believed me and said those things to me, I believed you,” I begin to say in that same pained tone. “I really believed that you saw that I was speaking from my heart but hearing that you tried to hear and read my thoughts to see if I was lying, I never felt so sick to my stomach before. I guess nothing I say will convince you or anypony else otherwise.”

Then, I focus my attention to Luna, who is glaring at me, though not as harshly as before.

“And Luna, am I such a bad monster that you had to try and get into my head just to prove a point?” I ask her. “I guess I am if it had to result with you trying to invade my head. Well, if you have been waiting for me to admit it, you got your wish. I hope it was worth it.”

Mucus begins leaking out of my nose and I instinctively sniff. I stare at them as I become overwhelmed with my emotions. I sniffle again as the tears continue to trail down my face. I feel the instinct to run away, but I try to resist.

“And since I possess this so-called ‘supernatural gift’, that considers me as dangerous,” I say, choking on my words as well as my sobs. “I guess being different from the rest of you is wrong of me… because everything about me is all wrong… That’s all I am to all of ponykind; everything that is wrong with this world…”

I finally had enough. I turn and run down the hallway as fast as I can, my vision blurry from the tears. As I run down the hallway, I thought I hear Twilight call out my name, but if she did, I don’t care. I just want to get to my room and cry my eyes out in private.



I am lying down on my stomach, cry loudly into the pillow with my tears soaking the pillow even more. I have no idea how I have been crying, but I don’t care anymore. Everything that Luna said about me continues to echo in my head, making me cry out fresh tears.

Is it really wrong for me to be so different? To possess some mental shield that makes me immune to everything that targets or affects my mind? In the eyes of Luna, it seems to be that way. Why do I have to be so much different from the rest of pony society?

I shudder as a twinge of pain surges through my heart, sending a fresh wave of tears down my face. This has to be the second time that I ever felt such pain before. Something tells me that this won't be the last. How much pain do I have to go through before it finally comes to an end?


*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*


I stop crying as I pick up the unmistakable sound of knocking on the door. I lift my head from the pillow and turn my attention to my bedroom door. I stare at it, debating on whether I should let whoever it could be come into the room.

The possibility of Luna knocking on the door is really slim to none. After everything that has happened between me and her, there is no way that Luna will ever come to apologize for everything. Words aren’t something that can be taken back. Once you say something, there is no way of taking it all back because it will be too late. Honestly, it will be too late to apologize for I will never forgive her for what she said.

The possibility of Celestia knocking on the door isn’t impossible, but it’s something that I won’t count on. After all that I learned about what happened back at the castle, I don’t think I will open up to Celestia any time soon, especially after learning that she tried to read and hear my thoughts for not once but twice.

The possibility of Twilight knocking on the door is most likely to happen. Out of all the three ponies, Twilight is the only one that hasn’t tried to get into my head. I truly value that, even if the purple alicorn didn’t have any plans on doing so. If anything, I prefer Twilight to be the one knocking on my bedroom door.

I take a deep breath and let out a hiccup.

“H-hello?” I call out weakly. “Who’s *hic* there?”

The doorknob slowly turns and the door is pushed open. Twilight peeks her head out, an expression of guilt clearly plastered on her face. She stares at me for a moment before stepping into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“Selina, I’m so sorry you heard all of that,” Twilight says apologetically, guilt present in her tone.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I say lowly. “Nothing can be done to take it all back.”

Twilight flinches, looks at me for a moment before her face hardens a tiny bit.

“It does matter since you are clearly hurt,” Twilight replies.

“You can thank Luna for all that she said about me,” I say before letting out a violent hiccup. “Because she’s right; a monster like me must be dealt with. Especially since I possess this mental shield. And her point is proven even more since Celestia tried to read and hear my thoughts while you and I were in the balcony. I’m a monster, Twilight and that’s all I’ll ever be to pony society.”

“Selina!!” Twilight gasps loudly before glaring at me. “Don’t you ever say such a thing!! You’re not a monster!!”

“Clearly, I am!!” I shout angrily, the tears flowing down my face violently. “You heard what Luna said; a nightmare such as me must be dealt with!! She thinks it’s all my fault that I possess this stupid mental shield, which I had no control over!!”

I glare at Twilight angrily, the Alicorn struggling to find the words to say.

“Is it very wrong for me to possess this immunity in the shape of a mental shield, Twilight?! Is it really all my fault I have it?! I guess it is since Luna thinks that way and I’m sure that you’re thinking the same way!! Why do I have to be so different from the rest of you?!?! WHY?!”

I look away and slam my face into the pillow, crying loudly into it. This is just too much!! Why did fate decide that I have to be different from the rest of pony society?! Am I the only one with this kind of gift and if so, what am I going to do then?! I guess I am in the wrong for harboring such a gift!!

I feel something rest against my left shoulder, instantly snapping me out of my thoughts. I lift my head up from the pillow and turn to see Twilight giving me a warm and comforting smile. Although I like that smile and feel that familiar warmth in my heart and chest, it does little to bring me any comfort.

“Selina, it’s not wrong of you to possess a mental shield,” Twilight begins to say in a soft tone while giving me that smile. “It’s not your fault that you have it either and I wasn’t thinking the same way that Luna was thinking. And you’re right about one thing; no pony has control on what kind of power or gift they receive. These things just happen and that’s normal. There’s really nothing wrong with being different.”

I stare at Twilight, but not in a good way. I feel my right eye twitch and a rush of anger flow all throughout my body. There is nothing normal nor is there anything good about me. I represent something that they all just want to forget about!! How dare she!! How… DARE SHE!!

“Normal? Nothing wrong?” I say, anger present in my tone before I explode. “THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT ME, TWILIGHT!!”

Twilight flinches and leans away in fear, but I don’t care! “IN FACT, EVERY THING ABOUT ME IS WRONG AND ABNORMAL!! IF I WAS NORMAL, I WOULDN’T HAVE PONIES STARING AT ME AND GIVING ME WEIRD LOOKS, LOOKING AT ME LIKE I WAS SOMETHING THEY CAN’T UNDERSTAND!! IF THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME, I WOULDN’T EVEN BE LOOKING LIKE NIGHTMARE MOON AND HAVE LUNA ACCUSE AND CALL ME THINGS OUT OF SPITE!!”

I can feel the tears flowing down my face like fast-flowing rivers. “HOW CAN YOU SAY THINGS LIKE THAT?! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AND ACT LIKE EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY?! TELL ME, TWILIGHT!! HOW CAN YOU EVEN SAY OR THINK THAT?!”

I begin breathing rapidly and loudly, my throat becoming sore from all of the yelling. My vision so blurry from all of the tears and crying that it has now become difficult to see. I probably look terrible, but that doesn’t matter.

Through my blurred vision, Twilight straightens her frightened posture and I’m assuming that she is giving me that same warm smile.

“Because everything will be okay,” Twilight replies in that same soft tone. “You’re not alone.”

I narrow my eyes while baring my teeth at her.

“No, it won’t,” I growl through my teeth. “Nothing will be okay. What makes you think that I’m not alone?”

“Because she’s right, sugarcube,” came the familiar voice of Applejack. I look to the bedroom door to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy step into the room. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are by Twilight’s right and Rainbow Dash and Rarity are by Twilight’s left.

They walk beside Twilight and give me a soft smile. I stare at them with disbelief. How is this supposed to help me realize that I’m not alone as I believe myself to be? And what do her friends have anything to do with this? And did they eavesdrop on what me and Twilight were saying just now?! Seeing them there while giving me those soft smiles, along with the fact that they eavesdropped on our conversation makes my blood boil!!

“What are you girls doing here?” I growl aggressively. “And where you just eavesdropping on me and Twilight just now?” Before they can answer, I turn my full focus on Twilight. “And what do they have to do with this?”

Twilight continues to give me that soft smile.

“Because they are just like you,” she replies softly. I stare at her like she had just grown a second head.

“Is this your attempt to try on helping me feel better by lying to me?” I accuse. “I don’t want you to waste your breath on such a worthless attempt.”

“No, Selina,” Twilight replies. “I’m not trying to help you feel better by lying. They are just like you, and so am I.”

I proceed to give her an incredulous expression.

“How so?” I ask.

“Simple, how do you think Fluttershy is able to talk to her animal friends?” Twilight asks. I find the question to be dumb and irrelevant to this little discussion.

“It’s her special talent, like you said back on the train,” I reply.

“Yes, but do you see any other pony doing what she’s doing?” she asks.

“No?” I reply, now becoming a little confused.

“Exactly, because what she has is also a supernatural gift,” Twilight says. “She has the ability to talk and empathize with animals.”

“And I have been doing it since I was a little filly,” Fluttershy adds.

I think that through. While I haven’t seen it in action, it was very clear by all of the birdhouses and with how her backyard looked while me and her left to go see Twilight yesterday. So in a sense, it does prove what Twilight is saying, but it’s still not enough to convince me otherwise.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t prove anything,” I say a bit harshly.

“Well, how do you think Rainbow Dash can fly so fast?” Twilight asks. Okay, she got me there as I can’t think of how, with only one exception.

“Super speed?” I ask. Twilight nods her head. Rainbow Dash proceeds to give me a confident smile.

“That’s right,” Twilight replies before pointing to the pink pony that is standing by her right. “And Pinkie Pie has her own supernatural gift in the form on her Pinkie Sense.”

“Which is her own ability to sense danger or other occurrences right before they happen or any other time,” I add, becoming slightly less confused and more understanding.

“Yuperoo!!” Pinkie exclaims excitedly.

“Then there’s Applejack with her strength,” Twilight says as she points to the orange pony. “You should’ve seen how she once sent a huge boulder flying with a simple kick of her hindlegs.”

“Oh gosh, Twi,” Applejack says sheepishly.

‘I can already picture it in my head, Twilight,’ I think to myself. Twilight finally points to Rarity.

“Finally, there’s Rarity with her… looks,” Twilight says sheepishly. I know what she is saying.

From all of the stories that Twilight has told me, Rarity has the capability of charming stallions, which has helped on several occasions. I can’t blame them because to be honest, Rarity is indeed beautiful in her own right, even when she isn’t trying to charm other ponies. Any who fall for her will be one lucky pony.

“And then, there’s me,” Twilight says as she points to herself. “I possess magic that rivals the Princesses, even before I became Princess.” She smiles. “Don’t you see, Selina? We are just like you. We possess our own gift, which means that you’re not alone. We’re different, just like you.”

I stare at them, still as a statue as everything she said sinks in. Twilight is right; I’m truly not alone in this. If anything, being different is kind of… unique. This means… there’s nothing wrong with being different and that it’s really and truly okay.

My eyes begin to water, but in a good way. A smile begins to creep up on my face as it all fully sinks in. With one quick movement, I lunge and wrap my forelegs around them and proceed to give them the biggest hug I can ever manage.

“Thank you,” I say as I allow the tears to flow. “This makes me feel a lot better. I guess I really needed that.”

“You’re welcome,” Twilight says as I let go.

“We didn’t want you to be all mopey-dopey all day and what kind of friends would we be if we did?” Pinkie asks quickly before she let out the biggest and most exaggerated gasp I’ve ever seen. “We would be like the worst friends in all of Equestria!!”

We laugh, but it’s mainly aimed at her behavior. Pinkie Pie stays true to her element; the ability to make ponies laugh no matter what. As ridiculous she can be, the world is a better place thanks to her.

“Pinkie is right, darling,” Rarity says. “Help out our friends? That’s what friends are for and you’re our friend after all.”

They all nod their heads in agreement. I stare at them with wide eyes as I take in what Rarity had just said.

Friend. They… they really consider me as a friend? Even though they just met me like yesterday, they already see me as a friend. They’re trusting me already. Something clicks in my head as I realize something; I… I trust them too.

Even though they didn’t really have to, which I’m pretty sure Twilight is responsible for, they all came over here and took the time to try and help me. Twilight was right; they can be trusted. I… I guess I consider them my friends now…

“You’re right, Rarity,” I say with a smile. “That’s what friends are for.”

“No offense, darling but I think a trip to the spa will be the best thing for you to do,” Rarity says. I tilt my head to my right, arching my eye as I proceed to give her a curious look.

“What makes you say that?” I ask curiously. Rarity proceeds to levitate a mirror close to my face and I see the condition of my face and hair.

I didn’t look too good; my eyes are slightly bloodshot from the crying and my hair is messier than ever. The way my face looks, it makes me look very stressed out.

“Just look at yourself,” Rarity points out. “You look terrible. I think a trip to the spa will help relax you and clear your head.”

I giggle. Of course, Rarity will choose to point that out and bring up the spa at this time. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve never been to a spa before and to be honest, it really does sound like something I need right now.

“You’re right; a trip to the spa will be nice,” I say before realizing that I don’t have my necklace on. My necklace is resting on the nightstand after I ran into the room and took it off before collapsing onto the bed. “As soon as I get my necklace on.”
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We step into the spa, a small bell hanging above the door rings, signaling to those who work or own the spa. I take a look at my new surroundings and stare in amazement. The reception room is decent-sized with the walls a dark blue color, a large pink and purple rug on the floor, huge pots containing plants, and a small green couch with the reception desk to the side. In the next room, I can see a few large comfy chairs with what looks like to be a very large hot tub that looks like it can hold at least ten ponies. Overall, the place looks decent and inviting.

“So, this is the spa?” I ask Rarity while continuing to survey the room.

“Indeed, it is, darling,” Rarity says cheerfully. “I come here all the time and many times with my friends. I even come here for my weekly-get together with Fluttershy.”

I nod my head as acknowledgement to show Rarity that I’m listening while I continue surveying my surroundings. I really love how the spa looks. Fancy as the place looks, it gives the promise that it will offer full relaxation, as well refreshment of the body and soul. From the looks of it, it fulfills that promise quite well.

I stop surveying my surroundings and look to Rarity.

“So, who runs the place?” I ask curiously. Rarity smiles.

“Well, the spa isn’t run by just one pony,” Rarity begins to say. “It is run and owned by 2 Earth ponies named Lotus Blossom and Aloe Vera.”

I look at Rarity with curiosity. So, these ponies names Lotus and Aloe both run and own the place? If that is the case, then where are the ponies that are supposed to be working here? It looks empty, aside from me and Rarity, who came here for obvious reasons.

“If that’s the case, then where are the ponies that work here?” I ask her, curiosity evident in my tone. Rarity giggles softly.

“Why darling, Lotus and Aloe own, run, and work at the spa,” Rarity replies. “Of course, they’re not doing it alone. They have Bulk Biceps provide with the extra-strength massages.”

I try my best to hold in my laughter at the name Rarity had just mentioned. Bulk Biceps? What kind of name is that?! The name alone sounds like something you give to a pony who is super buff and absolutely huge in height. I don’t know why but picturing such a pony almost destroys my attempts to keep my laughter under control.

Rarity gives me a curious look.

“What’s so funny, darling?” she asks.

“No offense, but the name ‘Bulk Biceps’ just sounds a little silly to me,” I admit right off the bat. Rarity tilts her head to her left while giving me a curious look. After a while, I manage to get my laughter under control. “So, where’s Lotus and Aloe?”
Rarity looks away and smiles.

“Right on cue,” she replies. I turn to see two Earth ponies I never seen before with smiles on their faces.

The one on the left has a light cerulean fur coat, a light pink mane and tail, and moderate azure eyes and the one on the right has a light pink fur coat, a light cerulean mane and tail, and possesses the same eye color. I stare in surprise. The two of them look so alike with the fur, mane and tail being the only differences. I feel the sudden urge to ask them if they are related, but I resist and push it aside.

‘It’s none of my business to ask if they’re related or not,’ I scold myself. ‘I came here for one purpose; to relax and get my mind off things.’

The eyes of the two ponies widen a bit and their smiles grew slightly. I’m going to guess that they are delighted to see Rarity, and to be honest, who can blame them? Since Rarity told me that she comes here all the time, that means that she’s a frequent here and quite known to be coming to the spa at any given time.

“Welcome back, Rarity!!” squeals the blue one happily. “We’re delighted to see you again!!” She then turns her attention to me and looks at me with an expression of curiosity. “Oh, who’s your friend?”

“Lotus, Aloe, this is my friend, Selina,” Rarity says, pointing her right hoof at me. I smile at being called her ‘friend’. “I invited her for a spa treatment since she has been stressed out so I figured that it might help her relax and clear her head.”

The two Earth ponies smile and they beam at me. I guess they’re delighted to be offering their services to somepony new and I don’t blame them. If I was in their hooves and given such an opportunity, I would be beaming with excitement and joy as well.

“Oh, it’ll be our pleasure to provide her with our services!!” squeals the pink one.

‘This is going to get interesting,’ I think to myself with a smile.



Me and Rarity are sitting in the sauna in robes as the light cerulean pony, who I found out is Lotus Blossom, pours a spoonful of water onto a pile of black rocks. The water sizzles and hot steam fills the room. The temperature of the sauna grows from cold to warm in an instant. I feel small beads of sweat form on my forehead and my fur slowly become slightly sticky. I ignore it and try to relax.

“Do you like the sauna so far, Selina?” Rarity asks. I turn my attention to her. She has a large pink towel wrapped around the top of her head while I only have a robe wrapped around me. I requested that I didn’t have a towel wrapped around my head, which is why I don’t have one.

I stare at her for a moment, a warm smile plastered on her face.

“It’s okay,” I say. “Very warm, that I will say. I’m starting to get a bit sweaty in here.”

“That’s normal when entering a sauna, darling,” Rarity says. I nod my head and look away.

With my head a little bit clear, I think back to what happened moments ago and all of the things I learned. I am honestly still surprised that I possess such a strange gift; a mental shield that protects me from all spells and magic that targets my mind. The fact that it has no weaknesses whatsoever brings a feeling of comfort as I favor my privacy. Your mind is the safest place where you can keep things to yourself, especially ones that you don’t want others to know about.

Well, your mind is safe unless a Unicorn or even an Alicorn use their magic to read your thoughts or even try to manipulate your mind in any way, shape, or form. The way I see it, having you mind invaded is a violation of privacy and the rights as a pony all together. I’m honestly very glad for my mental shield as it is the only thing keeping others from trying get into my head and that is the last thing I want.

My head finally feels clear and my thoughts swiftly shift to Twilight. All of the things she said to me echoes in my head and I feel my heart warm up by her words. To any random pony, those words would mean nothing to them, but not me for they mean everything to me. She made me feel like I belong, that it’s okay to be different from all of the other ponies.

I smile as I feel my face become hot. That familiar warm feeling spreads all throughout my body and I feel my feelings towards Twilight grow stronger. I love this feeling…

“Selina?” came the voice of Rarity. I snap out of it and turn my attention to her. “Were you listening to me?”

“No, sorry.” I reply sheepishly, my face becoming hotter than ever before. “I got lost in my thoughts.”

Rarity stares at me, looking at me like she is trying to guess what I am thinking. I guess my face gave me away because her eyes go wide and she lets out a loud gasp.

“Selina, are you thinking about Twilight?” she asks. I feel my face become hotter than ever before.

Rarity plants both of her hooves on both sides of her face as a huge smile forms on her face and hearts appear in her eyes. I instantly become uneasy, as well as embarrassed. Although I’m happy that ponies can’t read my thoughts at all, I don’t like the fact that Rarity can figure out my feelings easily. I don’t like it one bit.

“Oh my gosh!!” Rarity squeals in delight. “You and Twilight will be so cute together!!”

Confusion hits me like a ton of bricks. What in the heck does Rarity mean by that? Is Rarity saying that me and Twilight will look cute if me and her enter a relationship? If that is the case, how can she assume something like that will happen?

For starters, I have known Twilight for only a few days and the very idea of entering a relationship with the Princess of Friendship shortly afterward doesn’t sound all that appealing to me.

Secondly, my feelings towards Twilight is just a crush, and although I know nothing about love and relationships, I am very sure that it takes a bit of time for those feelings to grow strong and become genuine. These kinds of things can’t be rushed and be forced upon.

Thirdly, I don’t even know if Twilight prefers mares. For all I know, she might be more interested in stallions and if that’s the case, then the very chances of entering a relationship with Twilight Sparkle will be pretty much impossible. However, if she is into mares, then I doubt I might be the kind of mare that she will be interested in.

Speaking of which, if she prefers mares, I don’t know the types that she’s into. For all I know, she might be interested in mares that share the same interests that she harbors. Maybe she might be interested in mares that are always honest and open and never lies. Or maybe, she might be interested in a certain type of mare; like having an interested with a mare in one certain pony type.

I frown and feel my heart ache at the last thought. I don’t see myself in some of those categories. Yeah, I have been honest and open with every pony I’ve encountered, but the rest I’m not so sure on. I’m not very interested in books or reading, I’m an Alicorn wearing a necklace that changes me into a Unicorn so I can walk among the other ponies so in a sense, I’m probably not the type of pony Twilight would be interested in.

I feel my heart threaten to shatter into a million pieces at the thought. Maybe my chances of entering a relationship with Twilight Sparkle is pretty much close to impossible. Because by using this disguise so I can walk among ponykind is a form of trickery. I am hiding my true self from all of ponykind so I can protect myself. In truth, I… I’ve been lying to myself and all of ponykind…

“Selina, are you okay?” Rarity asks softly. I snap out of my thoughts and look the Unicorn in the eyes.

There is a frown spread across her face. She must have seen my change in mood, which is likely the most logical explanation. It’s a good thing that she can’t read or hear my thoughts.

“Just thinking about something,” I reply in a low tone. Rarity gives me a curious look.

“Oh? And what were you thinking about, darling?” she asks. I suddenly feel uncomfortable with having to share with Rarity on what I was thinking just about now.

I have two choices; refuse to say anything and keep it all to myself or I can just tell Rarity about my concerns of the possibilities of entering a relationship with Twilight being impossible. To be honest, going for the 2nd option will be my best bet. I really don’t want to share with Rarity about my feelings of lying to myself and all of ponykind for using this disguise so I can walk among ponykind. That’s something that I feel will be much more suitable with talking to Twilight about.

I take a deep breath to steel my nerves.

“Rarity, I don’t think my chances of entering a relationship with Twilight will be possible,” I reply in a disheartened tone. An expression of shock forms on her face and she lets out a loud gasp.

“Darling, what in Equestria would make you think such a thing?” the Unicorn asks in a shocked tone. I see in the corner of my left eye, Lotus is looking at me with a surprised expression.

I take a deep breath and look the Unicorn in the eyes.

“For starters, I don’t know if she's into mares,” I begin to explain. “Heck, I don’t even know if it’s normal for a mare to fall for another mare. For all I know, she might be more interested in stallions and if that’s the case anyway, I can’t even imagine how embarrassing that will be for both Twilight and I. But if she is into mares, I don’t even have a clue on the types she’s into, which race of pony she prefers or anything of the sort… Worst of all, I pretty sure that she’s not into me at all…”

Silence fills the room, which is quickly interrupted by the fresh sound of water sizzling and fresh steam filling the room. Rarity looks to be in deep thought and Lotus seems to be interested in what is being said. I don’t know what Rarity is thinking, but I’m not going to use some magic spell so I can hear what is she thinking. Her mind is her safe place, just like how mine is.

A smile spreads across Rarity’s face and she looks me in the eyes.

“If you’re that worried, I suggest you try to spend a few days with Twilight so you can get to know her better,” Rarity suggests. I stare at her, my mind racing at the idea.

Spend a few days with Twilight? Honestly, I like the idea of being around Twilight, but there is a setback. The whole purpose of me coming to Ponyville was to learn the magic of friendship and make some friends. I did make some friends, but I haven’t learned anything.

Something clicks in my head and all of a sudden, I see a way where I can still learn a few things about friendship. I can do that by spending those few days to be with Twilight and ask her for some advice. With this, I can take care of two things at the same time. In a sense, I see this solution as an absolute win.

I smile and I see the smile grow on Rarity’s face.

“I like that idea,” I say and I hug her. “Thanks.”

“I’m happy to help, Selina,” Rarity says as she returns the hug. I’m happy to have a friend like Rarity.

“So, what else can we do at the spa?” I ask curiously.

“Well…”



“I’m so not going in there,” I say firmly as I stare at the large pool of mud. Rarity, on the other hoof, who happens to be having a mud mask on her face with cucumbers over her eyes and her body wrapped in seaweed, seems to be enjoying herself.

“Oh darling, it’s not as bad as you think,” Rarity says. “It’s rather much enjoyable.”

“What? Taking a dip in mud? I don’t think so,” I say doubtfully and look to Lotus and the pink pony, who I found out is Aloe Vera. “I think I’m going to take a dip in the hot tub.”



I sigh with content as the warmth of the water flows throughout my entire body. To top it off, the peace and quiet makes this much more relaxing and refreshing. Rarity has been right so far; coming here has been a great idea so far. I feel like my soul has been partially cured from all of the stress that I’ve been dealing with for the last few days.

‘If you’re that worried, I suggest you try to spend a few days with Twilight so you can get to know her better,’ Rarity’s voice echoes in my head. I once again smile at the idea.

I have already accepted the reality that I have a crush on her and spending the day with Twilight will help on seeing if my crush on her will turn into love or just fade away. To be honest, Twilight’s very cute and beautiful in her own right and anypony who falls for her and enters a relationship with her will be one lucky pony. One of her best qualities is her willingness to help other ponies and befriend them. Of course, there are a few setbacks on that, but despite that, I’m sure Twilight knows that you can never be too careful about things. Better safe than sorry.

As for my plan, this is all I have; ask Twilight if she wants to spend a few days with me so we can get to know each other better, help me find some hobbies that I might interesting, and go out for lunch or even dinner, which all sounds even better. Not the best plan, but a plan nonetheless.

If I do this correctly, Twilight won’t have any idea what I’m planning and all. However, underestimating Twilight won’t be the smartest idea. Twilight is very smart and if she looks in the right way, she will figure what it is I’m doing and planning. Goodness only know what will happen if she figures that out. She might think I’m weird or might cut off ties with me or worse. I don’t want any of that to happen.

If anything bad happens, I doubt that there will be anything I can do to fix the problems. If the problems that come up are small, there is a good chance I can fix them, but if the problems that come up are big, then chances are that I blew it and trying to fix them will be in vain, though it won’t hurt to try anyway.

I think back to everything that has happened these last few days. Honestly, it’s a funny thing… on how so much can change so quickly. From me waking up in a dark cell within the dungeons of Canterlot Castle, moving to Ponyville, regaining some of my memories, meeting Twilight’s friends, finding out about my strange gift, and finally, befriending Twilight’s friends. To top it off, I will be spending the next few days hanging around Twilight and learn about her interests and see if my feelings towards her changes.

‘So much has changed…’ I think to myself as I let out a sigh and close my eyes…



“I can’t believe you fell asleep in the hot tub, darling,” Rarity says as we exit out of the spa. “You must have really enjoyed yourself in there.”

“I sure did,” I say as I look up at the sky. I’m slightly surprised to see that it’s twilight now. It’s crazy on how time can fly by so quickly when you’re enjoying yourself. “I better get back to the castle. It’s going to be dark soon.”

Rarity looks up at the sky and nods her head in agreement.

“I believe I should return home as well,” she says. “Would you like for me to lead you back to the castle, darling?”

“No, thank you,” I reply while shaking my head. “I can find my way back. I don’t want you to trouble yourself for me.”

“It would be no trouble at all,” she says. “But, if you insist, then I hope you enjoy your time with Twilight.”

“Thanks,” I say with a smile. Rarity smiles back at me as she walks off to her home.

As I begin my own walk home, my thoughts shift to Twilight and all of the fun things me and her can do together. There are just so many possibilities on what the next few days will bring. If luck is on my side, then something good can come out of all of this and maybe even more. Maybe-

Something collides into me and I fall over onto my back. I groan as I rub my head softly with my left hoof. I look to see who or what it was that had collided into me. Sitting up on the ground is… Rainbow Dash?

“My fault, my fault, sorry I-” Rainbow Dash begins to say but stops when she catches sight of me. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s only me,” I say as I get up and dust myself off. Rainbow Dash gets up and dusts herself off as well.

“Well, since I bumped into you, literally, I guess I might as well take it so I can get it out of the way,” she says. A wave of confusion hits me like a ton of bricks.

What did she mean by ‘get it out of the way’? Does it have something to do with me? If so, what can it be? So many questions, so many possibilities.

I stop rubbing my head with my hoof and place it back on the ground, giving the Pegasus a curious and yet confused look.

“What do you mean by that, Rainbow?” I ask. Rainbow turns her head so that she’s not facing me. She has an uneasy expression on her face, which confuses me even more.

“It’s well… it’s about yesterday,” she says with a bit of unease present in her tone. I resist the urge to cringe.

I know exactly what she’s talking about. She referencing about what happened during our first interaction. I remember her saying how she’s got an eye on me and if I tried anything funny, she would buck me all the way to Manehatten. I slightly cringe, but not at what she said, but rather how I reacted towards it. Looking back, the way how I reacted to it was a bit childish at best. I could’ve handled it better, but it got the best of me.

I snap out of my thoughts and decide to play dumb.

“What about yesterday?” I ask. I watch the uneasiness grow a bit more on Rainbow’s face. It looks like the Pegasus wants to say something to me but seems to be having a hard time spitting it out.

“Well…” she begins to say. I stare at her, curious as to what she wants to say “I just want to say that I… um…”

Just then, something clicks in my head and I stare at her with wide eyes. Judging from how she’s acting, it seems that the Pegasus is unaccustomed to giving apologies, which seems a little odd to me. To be honest, just thinking about it makes me feel uneasy.

I lift my right hoof up as a way to tell her to stop. Thankfully, Rainbow gets the message and stops.

“Rainbow, it’s okay, I know what you’re trying to say,” I say to her in a soft tone. “I understand why so I accept your apology.”

The uneasy expression leaves Rainbow’s face. She’s probably thankful that I knew what she was trying to say and saved her from having to say it. While it would have been better if she said it herself, it would be better to not have her stress herself over simply trying to say it.

“It still doesn’t excuse what I said,” Rainbow says. She takes a slow, deep breath and looks me in the eyes. “I’m sorry…”

I stare at her with slight surprise as she stares back at me. She’s probably waiting for me to say something. I snap out of my surprised state and look her in the eyes.

“Rainbow, it’s okay. I forgive you,” I say as I lower my hoof back down on the ground. “It’s all in the past now so let’s not dwell on it. Won’t do us any good if we do.”

There is a moment of silence.

“So, are we cool?” she asks. I smile and a smile forms on her face.

“Yes, we are,” I reply while nodding my head slightly. Rainbow lets out a relieved sigh. I look to see the stars being to appear in the sky. “I better get back to the castle. It’s getting dark.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Rainbow says. “Well, I best be heading home too. Catch you later, Selina!!”

She flares open her wings and takes off into the sky. Once Rainbow is out of sight, I resume my journey back to the castle. I allow the smile on my face to widen, knowing that everything will be okay now.



I enter my bedroom and a loud yawn escapes me. Today has been one heck of a day and I’m honestly glad that it’s over. I’m excited to spend the whole day with Twilight tomorrow and for what will be in store.

I walk over to the right of the bed and climb onto the mattress. I remove the necklace from my neck and I change back into my original form. I place the necklace on the nightstand and get under the covers. I let out a soft sigh as I rest my head on the pillow. My eyes slowly begin to close and I’m all too ready to let sleep takeover me.


*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*


Three knocks at the door makes me snap my eyes open. I sit up on the bed and stare at the door. A feeling of slight annoyance flows through my body, but I push it aside.

“Who is it?” I call out.

“It’s me,” calls out the familiar voice of Twilight. I feel excitement at hearing her voice as my heart begins to pick up speed. “May I come in?”

“Sure, come on in,” I call out. The door swings open and I see Twilight’s head peek inside.

She catches sight of me and a smile spreads across her face. I smile back at her as she enters my bedroom. Closing the door behind her, Twilight walks over to the right of the bed and sits down on her haunches.

“How was your trip to the spa?” she asks.

“Pretty good,” I reply. “Rarity was right. It was definitely something I needed to help me relax and clear my head.”

Twilight’s smile grows a little bit.

“That’s great to hear,” she says.

“Yeah,” I say and chuckle lightly. We stare at each other for a moment when I remember something important. “Oh, I just remembered something. Twilight, do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

She gives me a curious look. I feel my heart beat much more rapidly in my chest as tiny beads of sweat form on my forehead. I try my best to stay all composed, but the task if proving itself to be difficult.

“I plan on reorganizing the library,” she replies. “Why do you ask?”

“Well…” I begin to say. “I was wondering if you would like to… hang out… with me?”

Twilight’s eyes widen slightly, like she wasn’t expecting that to come out of my mouth. I don’t blame her, to be honest. If she ever asked me a question like that, I would be surprised by it as well. I have no idea what is going on in her head and I wish I know what she is thinking.

She snaps out of her shock and stares at me for a little bit.

“Hang out? What do you mean?” she asks.

“What I mean is do you want to spend the day with me?” I ask. She blinks a few times before a face of understanding forms on her face.

“Oh, sure,” she says. I smile brightly and feel my heart burst in my chest. I barely manage to contain my excitement. “Well, I should go. It looks like you were about to go to sleep before I came knocking. Well, sweet dreams, Selina.”

I frown and feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. Though I know I’ll see her in the morning, I don’t want her to go. I want to be with Twilight as much as possible. And there is this strong feeling of fear spreading all throughout my body. I feel confused by this fear since I don’t have anything to fear, as far as I know.

Twilight turns around and begins walking away. The urge to ask her if she can sleep on the bed with me becomes strong. I raise my left hoof and almost call out her name but I decide against it. She probably has something to do so it’ll probably be best to not keep her from what she has to do.

Twilight opens the door, turns to look at me and the smile leaves her face.

“Selina, are you okay?” she asks in a soft tone. I really want to say that I’m okay, but something deep down is telling me not to lie to her.

I sigh and look the Unicorn in the eyes.

“Twilight, can you… can you sleep on the bed with me?” I ask hesitantly. Her eyes widen as her jaw falls wide open. She remains like that for a bit before she snaps out of it.

“W-what?” she asks in shock. I suddenly feel stupid for asking such a dumb question. I shouldn’t have said anything and remained quiet. Well, no point on trying to play dumb and pretend I didn’t ask her anything.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I just don’t want to be alone tonight. You probably have something to do so I won’t keep you…”

Twilight goes into deep thought, obviously thinking about whether to take the offer or not. To be honest, I won’t hold it against her if she rejects it. I’ll understand completely. It’s her choice, after all.

“Are you scared that you might remember something and have a repeat on what happened yesterday?” she begins to say. “And you feel as though if I stay, you might feel more secure?”

I stare at her with wide eyes as all of it sinks in. It might explain the feeling of fear that I felt earlier. To be quite frank, Twilight definitely hit the nail on the head with that one.

I regain myself and nod my head.

“Yeah, I guess,” I reply. Twilight gives me a warm smile.

“Sure, I’ll sleep on the bed with you,” she says softly. I feel my heart burst as a powerful feeling of happiness flows throughout my body.

“Really?” I ask with hope. Twilight nods her head as she closes the door and walks over to the bed.

She hops onto the bed and gets under the covers. Without thinking, I wrap my hooves around her stomach and hug her. I hear the purple alicorn let out a cute ‘eep’ and I can’t help but giggle lightly.

“Thank you for this, Twilight,” I say with gratitude.

“Sure thing, Selina,” Twilight says sheepishly. I press her body against me and I let out a contented sigh. I feel Twilight’s heart pick up speed, but I give it little thought.

“Goodnight, Twilight,” I say softly.

“Goodnight, Selina,” Twilight replies softly as she shifts slightly before going still. I close my eyes as I drift off to sleep.
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘And that’s what and how I think and feel about it.’
 
*LOUD LAUGHTER*
 
‘What… what’s so funny?’
 
‘Oh Max, do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounded?!’
 
‘What…?’
 
“Max, no one cares about what you think or feel!! It shouldn’t even matter any way!!’
 
‘Then… then WHY DID YOU ASK ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!’
 
‘Because I wanted to see if you would come up with the most ridiculous thing ever, like you always do!!’
 
‘BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE, KEVIN!!’
 
‘YOU don’t make sense, so get over it!!’
 
*FOOTSTEPS WALING AWAY FOLLOWED BY A DOOR SLAMMING*
 
*LOW SOBBING*
 
‘Why did I even bother? It’s clear no one cares about what I think. Maybe I should learn to keep all to myself …
 
‘Yeah, THAT’S WHAT I SHOULD DO!! NO ONE, AND I MEAN NO ONE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT I’M THINKING OR TRY TO INFLUENCE ME AGAINST MY WILL!!
 
‘NO ONE!!’
 
 
  **************************
 
 
‘Hey, boy!! Can you tell us what you’re thinking? Wait, don’t tell me! It must be something stupid, as always!!’
 
*LOUD CHORDS OF LAUGHTER*
 
‘I’m not tell you…’
 
*LAUGHTER ABRUPTLY STOPS*
 
‘What did you just say?’
 
‘I said I’m not telling any of you what I’m thinking.’
 
‘I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.’
 
‘And I’m afraid to tell you that I do have a choice and it’s none of YOUR business to know what I’m thinking. There’s an invention called “keeping it to yourself” and I’m using this wonderful invention.’
 
‘Tell us or else!!’
 
‘Why? So you can laugh and mock me for how ridiculous it would sound to you? Yeah, I don’t think so, old man!!!’
 
‘Max, I am your father and you will-’
 
‘How about you SHUT YOUR TRAP!! I will never tell you what I’m thinking ever again!! My mind is my own sanctuary, my safe place and you will NEVER take that away from me!!’
 
*ANGRY FOOTSTEPS WALKING AWAY*
 
‘You will never know my thoughts… ever… again…’



*THE NEXT DAY*


I let out a gasp as my eyes shot wide open. I begin gasping for air like I had just ran for hours. My heart’s beating so rapidly and hard in my chest that it hurt. I notice that everything is blurry and I blink in an attempt to clear my vision. Something wet trails down my right cheek. I must’ve been crying in my sleep again.

I begin taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself down. As I do, I think back to what happened just seconds ago. That name… I… I remember that name… It’s my real name; my real name is Maxson Thompson. I really want to smile, knowing that I remember my real name, but I don’t. That’s not who I am anymore. My time as Maxson Thompson had ended. My name is Selina Lunar. I don’t care if I used to be male. This is my new life now. I refuse to let something like that get in the way of my future.

After taking a few deep breaths, my heart returns to normal and I feel at peace. I then take notice of something soft wrapped in my forelegs. I look to see Twilight looking up at me with concern present on her face. I must’ve woken her up somehow while I was reliving that memory.

“Selina, are you okay?” Twilight asks with clear concern. I stare at her for a moment before I slowly nod my head.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I say. “I just remembered something else from my past.”

“You did?” she asks with surprise. “What do you remember?”

I suddenly feel uncomfortable with having to answer that question. I can’t just try to derail the conversation and start it with something else entirely different. Am I feeling this way as a result from regaining one of my lost memories? It’s the only logical explanation as to why I’m suddenly feeling this way.

I push this feeling aside, look Twilight in the eyes and take a deep breath.

“When I was little, I used to express my thoughts, feelings, and opinions much more openly,” I begin to explain. “The only problem is that whenever I did, I would have others laugh or mock me for how I think, feel, and see things. Even my former family would laugh and mock me for those very things too.

“It didn’t matter where; school, home, the store, or pretty much anywhere, everyone treated my thoughts, feelings, or even opinions like they didn’t even matter. The worst part is that they would ask for it, only to throw it in my face. They would always say ‘because we wanted to see if you would come up with the most ridiculous thing ever, like you always do’.

“Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I figured that if I learned how to keep it all to myself, then I wouldn’t be ridiculed for it. That’s exactly what I ended up doing. When I was 7 years old, I began learning on how to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself, keep it all locked away in my head. Whenever someone tried to guess what I was thinking or even feeling in the slightest, I would glare or threaten them to back off. I despised it with every fiber of my being."

Silence fills the entire room. I watch Twilight closely to see her reaction, growing curious to see how she would take it. An expression of utter shock is plastered on her face, her eyes blinking rapidly. I don’t have to be a mind reader to know that she is having a hard time trying to take everything I said in. I suddenly worry that I might have broken her.

“Twilight, is everything alright?” I ask worryingly. Twilight jolts, like I just snapped her out of her shocked state. She blinks a few times before looking me in the eyes.

“Yeah, I’m just… surprised by what you told me,” Twilight replies. Her eyes widen a bit as if something clicked in her brain. “That answers everything.”

Confusion hits me like a ton of bricks. What does Twilight mean by how it ‘answers everything’? Does she know something I don’t? It’s a possibility. It’s the only logical answer I can come up with.

I snap out of it and give Twilight a curious look.

“What do you mean by that, Twilight?” I ask.

“Selina, when you left to go to the spa with Rarity, I went to the library to see if I can find any books about supernatural gifts,” Twilight begins to explain rather quickly. “I found a book that mentioned about different types of mental shields and I found something that caught my eye. The book mentioned that ponies, who grew up to keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves, have shown to create and develop mental shields unknowingly and subconsciously. This is a result of their desire of keeping their thoughts and feelings to themselves. That is where the interesting part comes into play.”

She gives me a slightly serious look. “The interesting part is that you have Meta Psychic Immunity, something that has been written to be impossible to have or possess. It’s a power so rare that Starswirl the Bearded was the only documented pony to ever possess it and that was over a thousand years ago.”

Over a thousand years ago?!?! Holly crow!! I had no idea that such a power was that rare!! But, that still doesn’t explain how that answers everything anyway.

“Do you see where I’m heading, Selina?” she asks. I shake my head since I really don’t know where she’s heading. She takes a deep breath. “Selina, do you remember telling me about how your father killed you a few days ago when you regained some of your memory?”

The memory of that day hits me hard. I do remember telling her that, but what does that have to do with anything?

“Yes? Why?” I ask.

“I think I know why you can’t remember anything and why your shield is the way it is,” Twilight replies. “I think somepony brought you back to life by using a resurrection spell. Instead of bringing Nightmare Moon back, for whatever reason, the spell brought you to Equestria, placing you in Nightmare Moon’s body. The thing with resurrection spells is that the one you want to bring back from the dead might not want to come back to the world of the living so the spell might resurrect somepony else instead.

“When the spell brought you back, you lost your memories and since you were reborn into Nightmare Moon’s body, it strengthened your mental shield quite immensely, which resulted with it becoming what we all know as Meta Psychic Immunity. Don’t you see, the spell gave you a second chance and your rebirth strengthened your power since you created/possessed that mental shield right before your death.”

I stare at Twilight, my eyes a little wide. I see where Twilight is getting at now, and yet at the same time, it all sounds crazy. Crazy as it sounds, it was good of a theory as any to me. It does explain my amnesia, at least. But that begs the question; why would somepony try to resurrect Nightmare Moon to begin with? What was the goal? I don’t think we will find the answer any time soon.

My stomach growls, interrupting my thoughts. My face grows hot as Twilight giggles lightly.

“Sounds like somepony is hungry,” she says.

“I guess I am,” I reply. I unwrap my forelegs from Twilight and she rolls off the bed. She lands on her hooves and gives me a warm smile.

“I head to the kitchen to start breakfast,” Twilight says. “While I’m at it, why don’t you go freshen up in the bathroom.” She points to the door at the door with the arched top. “I installed a bathroom in there yesterday so we don’t have a repeat of what happened yesterday morning.”

I smile a little bit. My very own personal bathroom right here in my own bedroom. That will make things so much easier. Instead of having to leave my room to go searching for a bathroom, I can use the one that I have right here.

“Thanks, Twilight,” I say. Twilight nods her head.

“See you in the kitchen,” she says before walking out of my bedroom. I lay on my bed for a bit before looking to the bathroom door.

I roll out of bed and walk over to the door. I grab hold of the handle with my left hoof and push it all the way down. I push the door open and step inside. The bathroom looks exactly like the other one except the tub is much bigger. I walk over to the tub and peek inside. There is a built-in seat if I ever wanted to soak in it.

I step into the tub and twist the left silver wheel to the right and the right wheel to the left. Seconds later, water comes flowing from the shower head above me and my body becomes soaked in seconds. I let out a contented sigh as the water smooths out my fur and hair. I feel my heart beating hard and rapidly in my chest as a powerful feeling of excitement flows throughout my entire body.

Today will mark the first day of me spending the day with Twilight and get to know her better. I’m very glad Twilight agreed to spend the day with me. Not only do I want to spend time with Twilight as much as possible, but I also want to see if my crush on her will turn into something like love. To spend the rest of my life with her will be a dream come true. There’s really no negative qualities about Twilight, not that I can think of at the top of my head. Spending the day with her will help me see more of her personality. That will be very exciting.

‘Let’s hope I don’t screw this up,’ I think to myself as I grab hold of a bottle of shampoo.



I step out of the bathroom, feeling like a new mare. Obviously, I plan to take a soak after spending the day with Twilight. I haven’t soaked in the tub since the day before moving here to Ponyville to live with Twilight. To be honest, I feel like soaking in the tub is better than taking a shower in general. I love the soothing feeling that the water provides and if anything, it puts me at ease and I love that.

I let out a contented sigh as I walk over to the bedroom door. I grab hold of the knob and turn it. I pull the door open and step out, closing the door behind me. I walk down the hall that leads to the kitchen. My bedroom isn’t too far away from the kitchen since it’s right around the corner. Basically, all I have to do is go straight and then left. The library and the kitchen are like next door, which is convenient, to be honest.

As I walk down the hall, I try to think about what me and Twilight can do for today.

‘Maybe we can go on a picnic?’ I shake my head at the idea. We’ll have to come back just to prepare for such an occasion.

‘Maybe we can go out shopping?’ I shake my head at that idea too. I don’t see the purple Alicorn as the type to go out shopping, so that’s out.

‘Maybe we can go take a walk through town?’ I slightly smile at the idea. It does sound like fun, though the last time I walked through Ponyville with Twilight, it didn’t go so well.

‘Maybe we can go for a swim?’ I really don’t see a problem with that with the only exception being that we will have to find some place where we can take a dip. Sounds like fun, though.

‘Maybe we can go out for lunch or dinner?’ My face heats up as I take the left turn for the kitchen. That can work if Twilight agrees to it.

‘Maybe we can go stargazing tonight?’ I smile brightly at that idea. Looking up at the stars sounds like something we can do after spending the day with each other.

I turn to my left and come face-to-face with the kitchen door. I grab hold of the doorknob and twist it to the right. I push the door open and enter the kitchen. I pick up a delicious smell and I feel the saliva building up in my mouth. I look to see Twilight placing a plate of pancakes on the table and I go wide eye at the sight.

There is a bowl filled with apples, bananas, and grapes. Surrounding the bowl are small bowls of what look like oatmeal with plates containing what looks like fried hay and eggs. Twilight did a very good job.

“This looks delicious, Twilight,” I say with surprise. “You did great.”

“Thanks,” Twilight says. “You came just in time too. I just finished making the pancakes.”

I look to Twilight and notice that her cheeks are red. She must be blushing from my compliment and honestly, I would blush too if somepony said the same thing to me. I turn my attention back to the large sums of food on the table that happen to be waiting to get eaten. I have to ask Twilight to teach me how to cook someday. That way, I can make something special for her one day. She has done a lot for me…

I snap out of it and turn my attention back to Twilight.

“So, what do you want to do today, Twilight?” I ask. She gives me a warm smile.

“Do you have something in mind?” she asks. I think about it for a moment before remembering the ideas that I came up with on my way here. One of my ideas was to go take a walk in the park, so maybe we can do that.

“Well, we can take a walk through Ponyville?” I ask shyly. Her smile grows a little bit at the idea.

“Sure, that sounds like a great idea,” she says beamingly. I smile brightly at her approval. Something deep down tells me that today is going to be a wonderful day. “Well, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

She doesn’t have to tell me twice as my stomach growls loudly. The both of us giggle in unison. This is going to be a great day.



A bright smile spreads across my face as we exit out of the castle and head in the direction of Ponyville. Happiness bursts within my heart and it flows throughout my body. My eyes begin watering as the surreal of the situation sinks in; I’m spending the day with Twilight, the pony who I harbor feelings for. It was really happening.

“Selina, are you okay?” Twilight asks. “And why do you like you’re going to cry?”

I snap out of it and turn my attention to Twilight. An expression of worry and curiosity is present on her face. She must’ve taken notice of the tears building up in my eyes and is thinking that something’s bothering me, having no clue as to what the real reason is.

I wipe away the tears that were building up in my eyes with my right hoof while keeping the smile on my face.

“Yes, Twilight, I’m okay,” I reply. “And don’t worry about why I was about to cry. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I answer while nodding my head. She eyes me a little bit before turning her attention away from me and focusing her attention to the path ahead.

It’s a good thing that she can’t read my mind because if it wasn’t for my mental shield, she would’ve been able to know the true reason and the last thing I want is for the both of us to become embarrassed. Plus, I don’t want Twilight to know about my crush on her as that would make things way more awkward between the two of us. I absolutely do NOT want her to know anything about it.

We enter Ponyville and the moment we do, the ponies all turn their attention to me and begin whispering amongst themselves. I try my best to conceal the annoyance I am beginning to feel. Something deep down is telling that they must be whispering bad things about me. I won’t be surprised if that is the case. I already had to deal with that in my previous life so this shouldn’t really be anything new, but despite that, it’s still annoying as heck.

‘Just ignore them, Selina,’ I think to myself as I turn my attention away from them. ‘I’m not going to let this get in the way and ruin our day.’

I collide into something, the force of the impact snapping me out of my thoughts. I fall onto my flank and let out a groan of pain.

“I’m terribly sorry,” I begin to say as I look to see who or what I bumped into. “I wasn’t watching where I was-”

I stop and my eyes wide with recognition. Sitting on her flank and rubbing the right side of her head with her right hoof is Sunny Days, the mare that I somewhat befriended the previous day.

“It’s okay,” she begins to say before turning to face me. “I wasn’t watching where I was going either so don’t-” Her eyes goes wide as she recognizes me right away. A smile spreads across and I allow myself to smile as well. “Oh, it’s you!!”

I get back onto my hooves and walk over to her. I offer her my left hoof and she grabs hold of it with her right hoof. I pull her back up onto her hooves and immediately brush her off with that same hoof.

“Thanks,” Sunny says.

“You’re welcome,” I say. “It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Selina,” Sunny replies beamingly.

“Wait, you two know each other?” I hear Twilight ask. I turn my attention to her and see a confused expression plastered on her face. She has no clue about what happened yesterday considering the events that took place a bit later after going out to lunch with Sunny.

We turn our bodies around so that we are facing her and point with my left hoof at Sunny, who has that smile remains plastered on her face. Twilight turns her attention to me.

“Twilight, this is Sunny Days,” I begin to say as I point my left hoof to Twilight. “Sunny Days, this is my friend, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight walks over to Sunny, refusing to take her eyes off her. I take a few steps back to give them some space. She stops about a foot away before holding out her left hoof. Sunny looks at it for a moment before taking it in her right hoof. They both shake hooves but that’s when I notice something odd. I take a closer look and notice that there’s something different in Sunny’s eyes. I don’t know why but something about her eyes makes me a bit alert.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sunny,” Twilight says in a polite tone.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Twilight,” Sunny replies in a polite tone, though something seems off about it, though I can’t pinpoint what it can be. “What are you doing out here in this fine day?”

“Just taking a stroll through Ponyville with Selina,” Twilight says as she and Sunny let go of each other’s hooves. “It was her idea.”

Sunny turns her head to face me and I take that moment to take a closer look at her eyes. Right off the bat, I notice something I didn’t catch sight of before. There is what seems to be something pink in the eye rims of her eyes. It’s so faint and barely noticeable that you would miss it entirely. Seeing this makes me more alert than ever before.

“Is that so?” Sunny asks curiously. I nod my head. “Well, I hope you enjoy your little stroll. It was nice seeing you again, Selina.”

“It was nice seeing you too, Sunny,” I say. Sunny begins walking away and soon after, disappears out of sight.

‘What was up with Sunny?’ I think to myself. ‘There was something off about her. It was like something was influencing her, but what can it be?’

“Selina, are you alright?” I hear Twilight ask. I snap out of it and turn my head to face her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply. “Let’s go.”

Twilight stares at me for a brief moment before she turns her back towards me and begins walking down the path. I follow close behind her while trying not to think about what happened with Sunny.



Twilight and I are sitting on a wooden bench in the Ponyville Plaza to take a break from all of the walking. By this point, the ponies have lost interest in me and are now minding their own business, which is both good and new at the same time, I guess. Good because they have stopped giving me those looks and new because it’s the first time that the ponies have lost interest since I moved. In all honesty, it’s nice for once.

As we sat on the bench, I try to keep my thoughts from shifting to what I saw in Sunny’s eyes. I really don’t know why this bothers me so much and it is starting to get on my nerves. It is like my brain is refusing to let me think about something else and just think about that in particular. I hate not having any control of my thoughts.

I scowl slightly. This is starting to get ridiculous. Why can’t I just let this go? Why can’t I-

“Selina?” I snap out of it and turn my attention to Twilight, who is sitting by my left.

“Yes, Twilight?” I ask.

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” she asks. “You have been thinking about something and I can tell that it’s really bothering you. Can you please tell me what it is that you’re thinking about?”

I stare at her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with sharing what it is that I’m thinking. While she is incapable of reading my mind, Twilight can still read the emotions on my face. She can obviously tell that something’s indeed bothering me and honestly, I hate it.

“It’s nothing, Twilight,” I say flatly. From the look on her face, Twilight didn’t buy it.

“Selina, don’t try to act like it’s nothing,” she says a bit sternly. “You know you can tell me anything. You know I can’t read your mind so I have to hear it from you.”

I can feel annoyance begin to bubble within me. She’s right, of course; I indeed can tell her anything and how she is incapable of reading my mind, but what can I say to her? That I notice something pink within Sunny’s eyes and how I have this bad feeling that something is going to happen? That will sound very weird.

An idea pops in my head. Maybe I don’t have to tell her exactly. Instead, I can just ask her if she ever saw something similar to what I saw in Sunny’s eyes. That way, she can figure out what it is I’m thinking without me having to say it. It’s worth a try.

I take a deep breath and look Twilight in the eyes.

“Twilight, can I ask you something?” I ask. The stern look weakens a bit and I can see a tiny hint of curiosity in her eyes.

“Sure, what is it?” she asks, her tone both stern and curious. I have to choose my words very carefully because if I ask the question wrong, Twilight might get the wrong idea.

“Have you ever had moments where you suddenly more aware and notice things that you never noticed before?” I ask carefully. The stern expression leaves her face and a look of confusion takes its place.

“I… guess,” she replies in slight confusion. “I did have moments like that before. Why do you ask?”

I feel everything come crashing down. Dang it, why did she have to ask that question? I try to think of something that can ask so I don’t have to share what it is I’m thinking, but I come up with nothing. I feel defeat seep in and I let out a low sigh. There is no way out of this.

I look Twilight in the eyes.

“I ask… because I saw something weird, something that is giving me a very bad feeling,” I reply in a low, defeated tone. The confusion leaves her face and alertness takes its place.

“What did you see?” she asks. I stare at her for a moment before I let out another sigh.

“It’s about Sunny,” I say. “When you and her shook hooves, I thought I saw something odd about her eyes. I didn’t know why until Sunny turned her head to face me. That’s when I saw something… pink. It was so barely noticeable that anypony would’ve missed it if they didn’t look hard enough. I just… I just don’t know why, but something about seeing that in her eyes gave me a very bad feeling. Like something bad is going to happen.”

Twilight stares at me with wide eyes. It looks like she is taking in what I just revealed to her. I don’t have to be a mind reader or even a full-out genius to know that she realizes that this is what has been on my mind this entire time. Come to think of it, I never asked Twilight if she had noticed anything off about Sunny after the mare walked off to leave the two of us alone. Why didn’t that ever cross my mind?

Twilight snaps out of it and looks me in the eyes.

“Is that what has been on your mind, Selina?” she asks. I stare at her for a moment before slowly nodding my head. “Now that you mention it, I did feel like there was something off about her, although I didn’t see what you’ve seen. I will have to look into that later.”

I feel slightly relieved. Although she didn’t see what I had seen, she did get the feeling that there was something off about Sunny. To top it all off, this conversation can be dropped since I told her about what was in my mind. So in a sense, it’s a win-win.

“Is there anything else on your mind?” Twilight asks. I shake my head.

“No, not really,” I reply in a low tone. “That was all I was thinking about and should I say has been on my mind for too long. I really couldn’t think about anything else other than that.”

“And did talking about it help you?” she asks expectantly. I have to admit; talking about it did help me. At least talking about it is better than have her try to read my mind to see my thoughts.

I smile lightly.

“Yeah, I guess it did,” I reply. A smile spreads across her face.

“Shall we continue with our walk through town?” she asks. I allow the smile on my face to grow slightly.

“We shall,” I reply. We both hop off the bench and resume our walk through town, this time, with my mind clear from any thoughts.
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I let out a loud burp and instantly cover my mouth with my right hoof, my face becoming hot. I look around to see the other ponies looking at me with somewhat disgusted looks. My face becomes hotter.

“Excuse me,” I say sheepishly. Twilight softly giggles from the other side of the table.

“You’re excused,” she replies between giggles. I giggle along with her before we both regain our composure.

Twilight and I are sitting at a place called the Hay Café, a massive two-story café that has both indoor and outdoor dining. At some point during our walk, I started becoming hungry, despite the fact that we ate breakfast like not even 2 hours prior. Twilight suggested that we stop here to get something to eat and I’m glad that I agreed because I have to say one thing; the food here is crazy delicious!!

“That really hit the spot,” I say with satisfaction. “Who would’ve thought all that walking can make a pony hungry.”

“I’m surprised you ate all of that food,” Twilight says. “You managed to eat 3 daffodil sandwiches, 2 vaseful of flowers, and 4 full baskets of hay fries. You ate like you haven’t eaten in days.”

“I guess I have a bigger appetite than most ponies,” I say jokingly. “The food here is delicious so that adds a bigger factor to all of this.”

A laugh escapes Twilight and I can’t help but laugh along with her. Once we regained our composure, we stare at each other and smile at each other. I feel the familiar warm feeling in my chest yet again, this time it is much stronger than ever before.

‘It’s growing,’ I think to myself. ‘It’s becoming stronger. I can feel it.’

The smile on my face grows and I see Twilight’s smile grow too. I know she’s misunderstanding why my smile grew, but I’m not going to say it to her. I will wait for the right time to tell her and right now is not the right time to tell her.

“So, what do you want to do now?” I ask. Twilight taps her lower lip with her right hoof, contemplating on what we can do next. I wait patiently for what she has in mind.

“Well, I do have to reorganize the library,” Twilight replies. I try my best not to frown at this, though I feel my smile weaken a bit.

‘Crap, I remember her telling me that last night,’ I think to myself. Then, an idea pops up in my head. ‘Maybe if I help her reorganize the library, we might have enough time to do more thing together. Plus, I can still be around her.’

I smile brightly at this idea. This will work perfectly. I’ll be able to spend more time with her, along with the fact that if I help her, the library will be reorganized in no time and we will be able to do more activities. In my eyes, I see this as an absolute win.

I lean closer to Twilight and she makes eye contact with me.

“Would it help if I leant you a hoof?” I ask, still smiling brightly. Twilight’s face changes into one of surprise.

“Really?” she asks in a shocked tone. I nod my head, keeping the smile on my face. “I don’t know what to say and I’m not saying that I’m not grateful at you wanting to lend a helping hoof and I don’t want to bore you and-”

I raise my right hoof in an attempt to get her to stop. Twilight stops talking and stares at me with that same shocked look.

“Twilight, I get what you’re trying to say,” I say. “I’m offering to help you since I figured that it will save you time if we do it together.”

Twilight’s eyes go wide as she proceeds to enter a mild stupor. I feel my heart begin to pick up. I really hope she agrees to me helping her since I want to be with her as much as possible. However, if Twilight does reject my help, then that’s okay as I can try asking her about it tomorrow.

Twilight snaps out of it and I see a smile spread across her face.

“Sure, I like that,” Twilight says. I feel my skip a beat with joy as we both hop off our respective hay piles and begin the walk back to the castle.



I place the last book in the 2nd highest shelf to my right and I smile pridefully at our work. It took longer than I expected, but if it meant being near Twilight, it was all worth it in the end.

“There we go, all done,” I say with pride. Twilight walks over by my right and I look down at her.

“Thank you so much for helping me with reorganizing all of the books,” Twilight says with gratitude.

“It was no trouble at all,” I say with the smile still on my face. It is true; I have no problem with helping Twilight with anything she needs help with. Being around Twilight makes anything much more bearable. I can’t imagine how long it would’ve taken Twilight to do this if she did it alone. Obviously, she has Spike and Starlight to help her with that, but still.

We stare at each other, our smiles still on our faces. Something clicks in my brain and I suddenly remember that I still known little to nothing about Twilight and her life story. All she ever told me back on the train were all mainly about the adventures she had with her friends and the countless times they have saved Equestria.

I mentally smack myself for forgetting that important part of the plan. What would be the whole purpose of spending time with Twilight and see if my feelings for her would grow if I didn’t try to get know some parts of her life? It just wouldn’t make any sense at all. I just can picture it; a romantic relationship between two ponies who love each other yet know nothing about their lives. That sounds kind of stupid and also weird at the same time.

I snap out of my thoughts and look Twilight in the eyes.

“You know what I just realized, Twilight?” I ask.

“What is it?” she asks.

“You know about some bits and pieces of my life and yet somehow, I know nothing about you,” I reply. “I know about your adventures, your heroic acts, and most importantly, how you first met Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy but I know nothing about you.”

Twilight blinks a few times, like she realized the same thing I did. The purple Alicorn chuckles lightly as she rubs the back of her neck with her left hoof.

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight says sheepishly. I chuckle.

“I bet your life story is better than mine,” I complement. “I love to hear all about it.”

Twilight stares at me for a moment before a smile spreads across her face.

“Well, if you insist,” Twilight says. I nod my head eagerly.

She giggles before she gestures to the couch in the middle with her right hoof. I walk over to the couch and hop onto it. I sit down as Twilight proceeds to do the same. She turns to face me and I wait patiently.

“If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask,” Twilight says. I nod my head as an acknowledgement.

‘Of course, I plan to ask her once she finishes telling me her life story,” I think to myself. Twilight clears her throat, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“This might come as a shock to you,” she begins to say. I listen intently, not wanting to miss one bit that she’s about to tell me.



Twilight finishes telling me about her life story and she looks at me with an anticipated expression. I stare at her with wide eyes, genuinely surprised with what she just told me.

Apparently, Twilight was born and raised in the city of Canterlot, the city I was in a few days prior, along with her brother, a stallion named Shining Armor. When she was a filly, she witnessed Celestia raised the Sun at some celebration called the ‘Summer Sun Celebration’, which she described as ‘the most amazing, most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen’. After witnessing the Princess raise the Sun, Twilight decided that she wanted to study as much as she possibly can about magic.

Then one day, her parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, enrolled her into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, a school mainly for Unicorns, so she can learn more about magic. In order to get in, Twilight had to complete an entrance exam; she had to hatch a dragon egg using her magic and she had to do in front of a few scrutiny judges. Because they were watching her so intently, Twilight became too stressed to perform a successful spell to hatch the egg.

Just as she gives up, she hears a loud boom come from outside. The boom startled Twilight so greatly that it inexplicitly triggered her magic and as a result, she successfully hatched the egg. However in the process, she had lost control of her magic and she ended turning her parents into plants and made Spike grow to gigantic size. This caught Celestia’s attention as a result and, seeing the potential she harbored, gave her the offer to be her personal student to teach Twilight how to control her magic. Overjoyed, Twilight accepted the offer and that was the day that she earned her cutie mark.

Since being Celestia’s student, Twilight resided within Canterlot Castle while also attending the School for Gifted Unicorns. However, as a result of studying under Princess Celestia, along with reading books about magic, Twilight Sparkle started rebuffing friendship, growing asocial as a result. Everywhere she went, she always brought a book with her so she can continue with her studies.

All of that changed when Celestia sent her to Ponyville where she met her best friends. After she and her friends saved Equestria for the first time, Celestia allowed her to stay in Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship.

It amazes me to learn that it took literally one day for Twilight’s views about friendship to change and to make friends while it took me at least three days to even consider Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie as my friends. The difference between Twilight and I is that she rejected and rebuffed friendship while her friends had to earn my trust in order for me to consider them my friends. It’s amazing that all it takes is just one push for the most magical thing to happen.

I continue to stare at Twilight with wide eyes as the purple Alicorn waits for me to say something. A strange new feeling forms in my heart and I feel myself… connect to her. I don’t know why, but I can relate to her. The way she described her views on friendship and how she acted… reminds me of something from a long time ago, though what?

I snap out of it and look Twilight in the eyes.

“Twilight,” I begin to say. “I just have to say one thing; that was interesting. I do have to ask one thing, though.”

“What is it?” she asks.

“What the heck is a cutie mark?” I ask. “Is it like some kind of tattoo that you get on your body or something?”

Twilight proceeds to stare at me with wide eyes. I don’t know why, but I feel like I just said something stupid. Just then, she suddenly bursts into laughter, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Yep, I definitely said something very stupid because she is now laughing at me.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

“Selina, a cutie mark is nothing like a tattoo,” Twilight says in between her fits of laughter. After a moment, she regains her composure and wipes the tears away from the corners of her eyes with her right hoof. “A cutie mark are these picture-like symbols that you obtain on your flank once you’ve discovered your special talent.”

Twilight turns her body and points to her flank. On her flank is a violet star with five small white stars surrounding it. Holy crow, how in the world did I notice that on her flank at all?

“I take it that our friends have one too?” I ask. Twilight turns her body back to me and smiles.

“Yep, they sure do,” Twilight replies. Well, if our friends have one, then it means I have one too.

I look down at my flank to see it… blank. I frown at this. If I don’t have my cutie mark, what does that mean for me? Am I going to be the only one who won’t get mine? As stupid as that sounds, something tells me that it might be a very big possibility.

“Twilight, how come I don’t have one?” I ask downheartedly. Twilight takes a peek and sees that I don’t have one like she does.

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t discovered your special talent,” Twilight says. That doesn’t bring any feeling of comfort.

What can my special talent possibly be? There are so many things I can try but something tells me that it won’t be that simple. I can’t just go try something and expect some picture to appear on my flank. Something clicks in my head and I realize something. Maybe those looks that the ponies have been giving me are a result of me not having a cutie mark, which would seem odd to them, considering the fact that every pony in this town probably has one. To top it off, I am a full grown pony so that would make them question why I don’t have one.

My frown grows slightly. I don’t know why me not having a cutie mark is becoming such bother to me. I don’t need to have a cutie mark to be special or something like that. So, why am I bothered and upset by this? I don’t like it.

“Selina?” I hear Twilight say. I snap out of it and shake my head to clear my thoughts.

“Sorry,” I say. “I got lost in my thoughts.”

“What were you thinking about?” Twilight asks. I stare at the purple Alicorn for a brief moment before taking a deep breath and look her in the eyes.

“It’s just…” I hesitate. “I really don’t like how me not having a cutie mark is beginning to upset and bother me. And more importantly, what can my special talent even be?”

Twilight proceeds to stare at me with a blank expression and looks to be going into deep thought. I really hope she isn’t thinking that I’m weird for becoming bothered and upset for not having a cutie mark. Gosh, I feel weird for thinking that way.

Twilight blinks a few times before a smile forms on her face.

“I find you to be lucky,” she simply says. I give her a curious look. How does that make me lucky?

“What makes you say that?” I ask curiously.

“Because you get to experience the thrill of discovering who you are, and what you are meant to be,” Twilight replies with the smile still plastered on her face. “It means that you’re full of potential and could be great at anything. Your cutie mark is what makes you unique from the rest. You don’t have to worry about it so much. You’ll get your cutie mark one day. I know you will.”

A feeling of comfort flows throughout my body and I allow myself to smile. She might be right. Maybe I’ll get my cutie mark one day and when I do, it will be the greatest moment of my life. I can just imagine myself with a cutie mark on my flank and being seen as a pony, not as some freak or anything negative.

“You think so?” I ask. Twilight nods her head.

“I do,” Twilight replies. I feel my heart melt at her reply. I wrap my forelegs around her and proceed to hug her.

“Thank you, Twilight,” I say in a soft tone as she proceeds to hug me back.

“You’re welcome, Selina,” Twilight replies in a soft tone of her own. I feel something odd in my heart; it’s a warm fuzzy feeling and it’s much more powerful than the warm feeling I’ve felt many times.

Am I… am I falling in love with Twilight? I shake that out of my head. No, I can’t be. It’s way too soon, but the feeling in my heart can’t be ignored. Maybe if I can keep a record of all the things I do with Twilight over the next few days, like writing a diary, I can keep track of how long this feeling lingers and how much it has grown over time?

I smile at the idea. This will definitely help, I’m sure of it.

I release Twilight from the hug and Twilight does the same. I try to keep from blushing at Twilight looks up at me with that cute smile of hers.

“Twilight, do you have something I can have to use as a diary?” I ask. Twilight gives me a curious look.

“Why?” she asks.

“I figured that if I use it to keep records of what’s going on, it might help me and I can look back at how much has changed,” I reply. It’s part of the truth so it’s something, at least. An understanding expression forms on her face.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Twilight says. Her horn lights up and a book pops into existence.

The book is pink with a dark pink heart in each corner with the words ‘Diary’ imprinted on it. As silly as the book looks, it will make do. I did ask for a diary, so it’s better than nothing.

Twilight levitates the diary over to me and I grasp it with my right hoof. I hold it to my side and I smile at her. I lower my head down and begin to nuzzle her neck softly, my black wings flapping slightly.

“Thanks, Twilight,” I say affectionately.

“Uh… no problem, Selina,” she replies sheepishly. I stop nuzzling her neck and I begin walking out of the library, smiling brightly.



I enter my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I bite my lip before I squeal with happiness, hopping up and down like a little pony. I really don’t care how childish it all feels; I’m just glad I got to spend the day with Twilight, as well as know her life story. My plan is going smoothly.

Once the happiness passes, I walk over to the night stand and place the diary next to my necklace. I smile sweetly at the diary. While it may seem like just an ordinary diary to any pony, I see it as very special. This was just given to me by Twilight and anything she gives me will always be special to me.

I turn my attention away from the diary and walk over to the bed. I climb onto it and lay down on my back while keeping that smile on my face. I think back to what Twilight said about cutie marks earlier. My smile weakens as the reminder of me being the only pony in this town that doesn’t have a cutie mark. Not only that, but the fact that I will earn my cutie mark is by finding out my special talent.

‘I wonder what my special talent is,’ I think to myself. ‘It can be anything. More importantly, if I do earn my cutie mark, what will it look like? Plus, can I earn my cutie mark from the connection to my supernatural gift alone or does it have to be something related to my immunity?’

A yawn escapes my throat and I begin to feel drowsy. I roll onto my right side and breath through my nose. I wish that Twilight is with me, though I know that she might think it weird if I walked out of my bedroom to come find her and ask her if she would like to sleep with me on my bed tonight. She slept with me on my bed last night, so that ought to count for something. I can’t ask Twilight to sleep with me every night as she might catch on that something is up and my plan will fall to pieces.

‘I can’t allow that to happen,’ I think to myself. ‘I can’t allow that…’

I slowly close my eyes and drift off to sleep.




*BACK AT THE THRONE ROOM SIMILAR TO THE ONE AT CANTERLOT CASTLE*


“Is everything set up for when I finally retrieve my sister?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We have her bedroom set up in the tallest tower, just like you asked.”

“Excellent.”

“Are you sure that you won’t be needing any help if something goes wrong?”

“Yes, I don’t need help. I can take care of myself.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

…

“Don’t worry, sister. You will be home, very soon.”
> Chapter 17
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I enter my bedroom, closing the door behind me. A tired smile is plastered on my face and I feel emotionally exhausted. Today had been a tiresome day and for a reason; I spent the day with Twilight once again and it was going great… until what happened back in the meadow.

I turn my attention to my diary that I have sitting out on the nightstand. I walk over to it and flip the book open to the first page. I grab hold of the feather in the ink bottle with my magic and float it out. I levitate it to the page slowly, not wanting to have ink drip onto the pages and ruin it completely.

I begin to scribble, the sound of the feather slightly scratching on the paper as I begin writing…


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 Hello, my name is Selina Lunar and I am the owner of this diary.

 If you’re reading this… actually, scratch that, I really hope that nopony is reading this as I’m pretty sure that the concept of a diary is so that you can write down your thoughts and feelings and keep them private, as well as keep records of things that happened throughout the day.

 Anyways, to make it clear from the get-go, this diary was given to me from a mare named Twilight Sparkle. She’s the Princess of Friendship and the most beautiful mare I’ve ever met and seen. Anyways, the whole purpose of this diary is so that I can keep track of all the fun things I’ll be doing with Twilight, as well as keeping track of my feelings that I have for her and see if they are growing.

 To clear it up, I have a severe crush on the mare and just yesterday, I experienced a new feeling. The best way to describe it was that it was warm and fuzzy and it was far more powerful than the warm feeling I’ve felt many times. After I experienced the feeling was when I asked Twilight if she has a book that I can use as a diary as a way to keep track and record this feeling, as well as what happened during the day.

 With that out of the way, let me tell you about my day…



*A FEW HOURS PRIOR*


I let out a groan as the rays of the Sun shine down on my eyes. I sit up on the bed and stretch, letting out a loud yawn as I do. A smile spreads across my face as the feeling to the start of a new day spreads throughout my body. If there is one thing that will put me in a good mood in an instant; it’s the idea of getting to be around Twilight and spending as much time as possible with her.

I snap out of my thoughts when my nose picks up a smell and not a very good smell at that. I lift my right foreleg up to my nose and sniff a few times. I instinctively gag at the distinct smell of sweat. Somehow, I smell like I just finished exercising.

‘There is no way I will spend the day with Twilight smelling like sweat,’ I think to myself. I roll out of bed and walk over to the bathroom, closing the door behind me as I enter.

To be honest, having my own personal bathroom is a huge benefit as not only do I have the whole place to myself, but it’s the fact that I don’t have to leave my bedroom and search aimlessly for a bathroom. I’m very grateful that Twilight installed this bathroom when she did because the last thing I want is to bump into Twilight smelling like sweat.

I walk over to the tub and turn the silver wheels. I watch at the water begins to fill the tub. After a moment, I shut off the water and step into the tub. I let out a sigh as the warmth of the water spreads up my legs. I slowly lower the rest of my body into the water before lying down flat on my back, my head and half of neck the only thing not submerged.

As I soak in the tub, my thoughts shift to Twilight and I smile brightly. To be honest, I can’t wait for all of the fun things me and Twilight might do together today. I feel my heart warm up and I rest both of my hooves on my chest. Happiness flows throughout my body at the thought of spending time with Twilight, the mare I have grown attached to over time.

‘Twilight…’ I think happily to myself.



I push the door open and enter the kitchen. The smell of food being cooked flows into my nostrils and I feel my mouth being filled with saliva. I gulp it down and close the door behind me.

 “Good morning!” I call out happily. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike look in my direction and smile.

“Good morning, Selina!” the 3 of them say at the same time. I walk over to Twilight’s right, lower my head, and nuzzle her neck softly. I feel Twilight stiffen, but I don’t think anything of it.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask.

“Y-yes, I have,” Twilight replies sheepishly. I stop nuzzling her neck and turn to face Starlight And Spike. They both have surprised expressions on their faces, like they have seen something that they weren’t expecting, but again, I think nothing of it.

“What about you two?” I ask with the smile still plastered on my face. They stare at me for a moment and I wait patiently for their answer.

“Um… we’re doing good,” they reply awkwardly. I give them a nod of my head before turning my attention back to Twilight.

“So, have anything planned for today?” I ask her. Twilight looks me in the eyes and slightly shakes her head.

“No, why?” she asks. I feel excitement at the reply and I think about what me and Twilight can.

I take notice of the purple aura around Twilight’s horn and I smile. A few days prior, she was teaching on how to use my magic, which ultimately ended with me getting bit in the flank by a book that I somehow brought to life. Maybe I can start the day off with Twilight by asking her if she can teach me on how to use magic again.

I allow the smile on my face to grow slightly. Honestly, starting off with that sounds like a great idea. I take my attention away from her horn and look her in the eyes.

“Well, I was thinking, I still don’t know how to use my magic and after what happened a few days ago with the book, I was hoping that you would like to teach me again?” I offer. Twilight goes wide eye and stares at me for a moment before a smile spreads across her face.

“Sure, I love to,” she replies. “After breakfast.”

My smile grows as excitement and a powerful feeling of joy rushes throughout my body. I wrap my forelegs around Twilight and hug tightly, stand up on my hindlegs, and I begin hopping up and down. That warm fuzzy feeling from last night resurfaces, much stronger than ever before, but that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is the pony I have wrapped in my forelegs.

“Yes!” I squeal. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!”

“Selina…” I hear Twilight gasp. “Can’t… breathe…”

“Whoops, sorry,” I say sheepishly. I place Twilight back on the floor and I get back down on all fours. I rub the back of my neck sheepishly with my left hoof, chuckling lightly. “I guess I’m very excited to be learning about using my magic again.”

“I’ll say,” I hear Spike say. I turn my attention to him and see that he’s giving me a bewildered expression. “You reacted just like Twilight whenever she’s given the opportunity to learn new spells or Equestrian history.”

I imagine Twilight reacting the same way I did and chuckle lightly again. I then smirk and arch my right eye at him.

“I’m pretty sure you would react the same way if you got to spend time with somepony you care about, like Rarity for example,” I tease.

Spike lifts his right hand up, his index finger pointing up. He looks ready to say something but his mouth closes, his index finger lowering. I giggle at this.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Twilight begins to say, “because breakfast is just about ready.”



I stand in the center of the library, aiming my full attention at the book that is lying on the floor about 2 feet away from me. Twilight is standing by my right side with a book held in her magic. The sound of the pages being turned every 10 seconds fills the room while I keep my focus trained on the book.

‘I won’t mess up this time,’ I think to myself determinedly. ‘I will keep my focus and do this nice and easy.’

“You ready?” Twilight asks. I nod my head. “Now, do the same thing you did before and this time, I won’t scare you.”

I roll my eyes in amusement before returning my focus on the book. I search deep within me and I find my magic easily. I hold onto it and apply some of my magic to my horn, but only enough to lift the book with ease. I apply some of my willpower into my horn and imagine myself holding onto the book and like before, an aura of turquoise surrounds it. I imagine myself lifting the book off the floor and I allow myself to smile as I watch the book begin to rise up from the floor.

’Stay focused,’ I think to myself as I feel excitement flow throughout my body. I push it aside and remain focused on the book.

Just like last time, the book reaches as high as my chest, only this time, I am way more prepared. At any point, Twilight is going to tell me to stop and hopefully won’t repeat what happened last time. I seriously don’t want another book to come to life and bite me in the flank. The first time was bad enough and I have a feeling that the second time will be much worse.

“Stop,” Twilight calls out, though not as loud as before. I imagine the book floating in mid-air and just like that, the book stops floating and is now up to as high as my face.

“Ha, I did it!” I say with pride, a smile spreading across my face.

“Now, what I want you to do is levitate the book all the way to the table in the center of the room,” Twilight says as she points. I turn my attention to the table and give her a nod.

Taking my focus back to the book, I imagine the book floating to the table. My smile widens a little as I watch the book make its slow descent to the table. I feel the excitement increase by ten-fold, yet I try my best to keep it under control. I’m doing good so far and the last thing I want to happen is to give in to my excitement and mess it up.

The book reaches the table and I wait until it reaches the center of the table. Applying some of my will, I slowly lower the book onto the table till the book makes contact with the table. I let go of my hold on my magic and the aura slowly vanishes.

I allow my smile to widen a bit more as a wave of accomplishment flows all throughout my body. I did it; I’ve learned how to levitate objects with my magic!! I feel something wrap around my neck. I look to see Twilight hugging me by my neck. I return the gesture by hugging her back.

“You did it, Selina,” Twilight says. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” I say, feeling that familiar fuzzy feeling resurface once again. We end the hug and Twilight looks up at me with a big smile on her face. “So, anything else you can teach me?”


For an entire hour, Twilight taught me how to use different spells and I’m happy to say that while some of them took me a bit to get the hang of, they were fairly easy. I learned how to teleport, change objects and items into different forms, and to create protective magic shields. I’ll say two things; Twilight is an amazing teacher and learning magic is exhausting…



“There we go, I have done it,” I say with pride. I breathe out a low sigh and sit down on my haunches. “I never thought that learning all these spells can be so tiring.”

Twilight walks over to and sits down on her haunches by my left. She begins softly patting my back with her right hoof. I turn my attention to her.

“Well, you’re not used to using your magic so it will take some time getting used to,” Twilight says. “I’m very impressed with how well you did. Despite the few mess ups and errors, you learned how to use your magic well. Keep this up and you’ll be good at it in no time.”

I reply with a smile. It’s really nice to know that Twilight has faith in me. Not only that, but it was really nice of Twilight for encouraging me to keep trying whenever I failed trying to master a spell or having some trouble with my magic. It’s a really refreshing action, to be honest.

“So, do you want to learn another spell?” she asks. As much as I want to, I rather stop for the day and try to learn more tomorrow. It will be better that way.

“Nah, I think I’ve learned enough for today,” I reply softly.

“Really?” Twilight gasps. “But you were so excited to learn? Have you lost interest on learning one of the greatest things in Equestria? Do I have a part in your sudden loss of interest? Have you-”

I stuff my right hoof into Twilight’s mouth, silencing her completely. She looks me in the eyes with wide eyes. I chuckle lightly before making direct eye contact.

“Twilight, I’m still interested on wanting to learn about magic,” I begin to say. “I just want to stop for the day and maybe learn more tomorrow. I just don’t want to overwork myself, you get what I mean, right?”

Twilight stares at me for a moment before she replies with a simple nod of her head. I remove my hoof from her mouth and she takes in a big deep breath. After a few deep breaths, she, along with her eyes, begins to relax.

“Oh, heh, sorry,” she says sheepishly. “So, what do you plan to do?”

I think that over for a moment. I could walk back to my bedroom and stand out in my balcony to get some fresh air. The idea sounds wonderful, though it sounds a little too original. Maybe Twilight might have a better idea on what to do for the rest of the day.

I snap out of my thoughts and look Twilight in the eyes.

“I do, though I want to hear it from you first,” I reply. “Do you have something in mind that might count as relaxing?”

Twilight taps her lower chin with her left hoof, going into deep thought. I watch her, patiently waiting for what she has in mind. Whatever it might be, I bet it will be a wonderful idea. Of course, I know that not everything that Twilight will come up with will always be great, but I will remain open to hear it out anyway. That’s what friends are for.

A smile spreads across her face and makes direct eye contact with me.

“I do, and it’s a place that I have kept a secret for a long time,” Twilight says. “This will be the first time that somepony else will know about this. You have to promise to keep it a secret.”

I stare at her, taking in what she just said. Feelings of both shock and happiness flows throughout my body. Shock for learning that Twilight has a secret that she’s kept for a long time, one that best friends probably have no knowledge about. Happiness for Twilight trusting me enough to take me to this secret place and to keep it a secret. I can’t help but feel special.

I snap out of my thoughts and reply with a nod of my head.

“I promise that I will never take a single soul about what it is that you want to show me,” I say with earnest in my tone. Twilight stares at me for a moment before nodding her head.

“Follow me then,” she says and the two walks out of the library and begin our journey to her secret place.



“Are we there yet?” I ask Twilight for like the 5th time as we walk through the woods to reach the secret place Twilight wants to show me. I mentally imagine Twilight rolling her eyes in an amused manner.

“We’re almost there, Selina,” Twilight replies as she looks to her right to face me. “Just a little bit longer.”

I roll my eyes before she returns her attention to the path ahead. Twilight and I have been walking through the woods for the last twenty minutes and at this point, I am slightly annoyed. Though Twilight had just told me that we’re almost there, I feel the urge to teleport the both of us to where she wants to go to get the walk over with, though I doubt I will even succeed since I have no idea where it is that she’s taking me. All I’ll even succeed at doing is get the both of us lost.

“Okay, we’re here,” I hear Twilight say, snapping me out of my thoughts. Sure enough, Twilight and I step into some clearing and I am awe-struck by the sight.

The meadow is huge, probably like the size of a football field with flowers adorning it in several circles and in the center is a large hill with a tree standing proud and tall at the top. Shockingly, the meadow looks precisely like the field from my dream a few days ago, aside from the large hill and tree. Now, seeing something similar to a place you’ve seen in your dreams would unnerve or even terrify somepony, but not me. While the similarities are obvious, unlike the dream, this is real and nothing like the nightmare is going to happen.

“So, what do you think?” I hear Twilight ask me. I snap out of my thoughts and turn my attention to her. I smile at her and she smiles back at me.

“I think this is perfect,” I reply. “It’s beautiful.”

“I come here if I ever need some peace,” Twilight says. “I discovered this meadow a few days after it sprouted from the Tree of Harmony. I’ve kept this a secret for all this time and now, you’re the first pony to know about this place.”

I feel my eyes begin to water. She has no idea how special that just made me feel. Knowing that I’m the first to ever know about this place tells me on how much she trusts me. I know that she trusts her friends, but why would she show this place to me? Does she feel the same way I do for her? I shake this out of my head. Twilight probably chose the meadow as it might be much closer to home.

Twilight and I walk over to the hill and go all the way to the top. We step under the shade of the tree and we stop. Twilight sits down on her haunches and she turns to face me. She gestures with her head to sit down beside her and I smile. I walk over to her left and sit down on my haunches.

We stare down at the meadow and I allow a smile to spread across my face. I now see why Twilight has kept this place a secret; it’s so beautiful and peaceful, and it gives off the impression that it’s the kind of place that nopony even knows about its existence. If I have to hazard a guess, Twilight probably comes to this place so she can have some time to herself or maybe even for some privacy. I can be wrong here, but it’s only a guess.

I turn my attention to Twilight and stare in awe. The way the Sun’s light reflects off of her, along with the way the wind blows by her, making her mane rustle, shows off her beauty. I am not sure, but I believe Twilight is unaware of how beautiful she is. Yes, she may not be seen as good looking to a lot of ponies, but if they really took the time to look, they would no doubt see a mare who is beautiful in her own right.

I feel that familiar feeling resurface in my chest and I allow my smile to grow. Gosh, I wish I can just wrap her in my forelegs and maybe, if I ever get the chance, kiss her. I can see it now; me and Twilight in a relationship, doing things together, going out on dates, and kissing. I know it won’t be happening anytime soon, but it will be a dream come true if that truly were to happen.

I turn my attention away from her and back to the meadow.

“This place is so beautiful,” I compliment. “I can see why you would keep it a secret. It’s like your own little sanctuary.”

“It is,” Twilight replies. “I come here as it helps me deal with the stress of being a Princess. It’s not a very easy task, especially since I will be the new ruler of Equestria very soon.”

I turn my head to face her, my eyes feel like they are going to pop out of their sockets. Shock overwhelms my very being that I don’t have the strength to say a single word. Twilight will be the new ruler of Equestria?! How is that possible?! Didn’t Twilight tell me that both Celestia and Luna are the rulers of Equestria way back in the dungeons because I am pretty sure she had told me that!

I slightly recover from the shock enough for me to find the mental strength to speak.

“What?! Are you serious?!” I cry out. “You’re going to be the new ruler of Equestria?! How is that even possible?!”

Twilight turns to face me with blank expression plastered on her face. She proceeds to stare at me for a moment before replying to my question.

“You see, Celestia and Luna will be retiring very soon and they feel that I’m ready for it. We were going to have my coronation, but that’s when you came into the picture.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask. There is a hint of hesitation in her eyes before she takes a deep breath and looks me in the eyes.

“It means…” Twilight pauses. “Selina, do you remember when you woke up in the dungeons with no memories?” I nod my head, remembering that day clearly. “Well, the day that we found you in the Castle of the Two Sisters happened to be my coronation day, the day where I would’ve been crowned the new ruler of Equestria.”

I stare at her in disbelief. It’s already shocking enough to learn Twilight is going to be the new ruler of Equestria, but to find out that I so happened to appear on her coronation day is beyond shocking to me. Could that be one of the reasons for Luna being so antagonistic towards me? That they now have to deal with possible new threats that might come up? That Celestia and Luna have to postpone their retirement because of me? That Twilight’s coronation will have to wait until all of this has been dealt with?

I can’t help but feel slightly responsible. If it wasn’t for me, Celestia and Luna would probably be in retirement and Twilight would be the new ruler of Equestria, but instead, they had to postpone it not only because of me, but also because of the fact that my new life might bring some new problems and threats.

At the same time, I know that this isn’t entirely my fault. I never asked to be brought back to life with the use of a stupid resurrection spell. I never asked to be reborn in the body of Nightmare Moon. If anything, I never asked for any of this. But in Luna’s eyes, this is all my fault.

“Selina, are you okay?” I hear Twilight ask. I snap out of my thoughts and turn my attention to the purple Alicorn.

“No,” I reply while shaking my head. “I can’t help but feeling responsible for what’s been going on.”

“Why?” she asks, looking at me with evident disbelief. I take a deep breath and look her in the eyes.

“Think about it, by some dumb chance, I was reborn into this body on your coronation day, which so happens to be the day Celestia and Luna were going to begin their retirement. But now, because of me, you, Celestia, and Luna had to postpone everything.

“And speaking of Luna, that might explain her antagonistic behavior and hatred towards me. I’m not saying that this might be true for it’s just a theory. I believe Luna is angry because not only did you all have to postpone just about everything, but also because that me being here might bring some new problems and consequences, possibly even new threats.

“I know that none of this is my fault, but at the same time, I feel slightly responsible. If I have never been reborn on the day of your coronation, you would be sitting on the throne, both Celestia and Luna would be in retirement and the possibility of new threats wouldn’t even be a concern.”

I roll my eyes so I’m looking down at the ground.

“Maybe everyone back at my former world is right about me… Maybe I’m nothing but a plague… that life would be easier if I wasn’t around…”

Something makes contact with the left side of my face, creating a sickening smack that echoes throughout the meadow. I cry out in pain as my head jolts back. Shock overwhelms my entire being as I slowly raise my left hoof to my left cheek. I flinch in pain as my hoof makes contact with my cheek. I look to Twilight, who is glaring at me with a very livid expression and her right foreleg wrapped around her.

“Don’t you EVER say that!” Twilight shouts angrily. “None of this is your fault and you are NOT a plague!”

“And how would you know that?” I retort, feeling angry myself. “How do you know that nothing bad is going to happen because of me being here? None of this would be happening if I wasn’t here.”

“Stop it!!” Twilight shouts even louder, her face turning a slight shade of red. “I don’t ever want to hear you say such things!! You’re NOT a plague and not responsible for what’s happened!! It’s not your fault that you were reborn on my coronation day and it’s certainly not your fault that everything had to be postponed!! Your resurrection, your amnesia, and the threats that might be coming, none of that is your fault!! None of it!! So stop blaming yourself for all of this!!”

Twilight begins breathing heavily as she continues to glare at me. She’s right; none of this is all my fault. I mentally slap myself for being stupid and for feeling that way. I can’t believe I allowed myself to feel that way. Not only did I hurt myself, but I might have possibly hurt Twilight. A wave of guilt flows throughout my body and I feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

“Twilight… I…” I hesitate as I try to find the mental strength to speak. “You’re right; none of this is my fault… When you told those things to me, I thought them over and when I put the pieces together, I felt responsible as you, Celestia, and Luna had to postpone everything so you can deal with what’s been going on… I knew that it wasn’t my fault, but at the same time, I couldn’t help feel like it was…”

The anger fades from Twilight’s face, being replaced with an expression of hurt. I know that Twilight is processing what I told her and I watch as the hurt on her face grows. Like a flick of a switch, her face changes into one of both horrified realization and sorrow. Worry flows throughout my body as I watch this change.

Twilight looks me in the eyes as tears well up in her eyes. I feel my heart threaten to shatter at the sight. She suddenly lunges at me and the impact causes me to fall on my flank. She quickly wrapping her forelegs around me and I take notice of her shaking.

“I’m… sorry…” Twilight whimpers weakly. This catches me by surprise. It’s me who should be sorry, not her. If she’s apologizing for slapping me, she shouldn’t as I rightfully deserved it.

“Twilight, it’s okay…” I whisper softly. “You don’t have to apologize for slapping me… I kind of deserved it…”

“No… not for that…” Twilight whimpers. Okay, now I am genuinely confused. If she’s not apologizing for that, then what is it?

“Then… what?” I ask, feeling my eyes begin to well up with tears. “Twilight, I don’t understand…”

“For…” she hesitates. “For making you think that this is all your fault.”

Everything clicks in my head and I fully understand. She thinks that I took what she said to heart and put the blame on myself. I feel sick to my stomach at this realization. All of this could have been avoided if I kept this all to myself. If there is anypony to blame for this, it’s me.

I instantly wrap my forelegs around her, hugging her as tightly as possible.

“Twilight… it’s okay…” I whisper softly as I feel the tears trail down my face. “It’s me who be sorry… I should have kept my thoughts to myself… This is my fault… not yours…”

“Selina…” Twilight whimpers as she hugs me tightly.

“Twilight…” I whimper before I lost control. I bury my face into her mane and begin to sob. I feel Twilight bury her face into my neck and feel her tears stain my fur and right now, I don’t care.

‘What kind of pony am I…?’ I think to myself as we continue to sob, letting our emotions run their course.



We enter the castle, the both of us emotionally exhausted. We stop by what I presume to be Twilight’s bedroom and her horn lights up. A purple aura surrounds the door hand for the right door and it swings open. Twilight takes a few steps before turning her head around to face me.

“I guess this is where we part ways,” Twilight says, her voice a bit hoarse from all of the crying.

“I guess so,” I say. “Thanks for spending the day with me, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome, Selina,” Twilight says. “I had a lot of fun today.” The smile fades from her face and is replaced with a frown. “I’m so sorry for slapping you.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “I kind of deserved it for saying those things and I’m sorry for saying those things. I should’ve kept those things to myself.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight says. “Sometime talking about your thoughts is better than keeping it to yourself. Before I go to bed, I want to ask you something.”

I allow myself to smile gently.

“Sure, what is it?” I ask.

“Why is it that you want to spend all this time with me?” she asks. “I mean I appreciate that you want to as you’re my friend, but why solely me?”

My smile turns nervous and I feel small beads of sweat begin to form on my forehead. I really wish she didn’t ask me that question because I now feel cornered. I don’t want to tell her about my feelings for her and yet, if I give out my reason, it might be enough for her to figure out what is really going on. I really don’t want to deal with the embarrassment later on.

“Well…” I begin to say, trying to come up with an idea before one pops up in my head. “Since you’re my friend and the whole purpose of me living here with you is to learn the magic of friendship, what better way to learn that than by spending the day with you.”

Twilight eyes me for a bit, obviously trying to see if I am hiding something from her. I try my best to keep myself composed, yet something tells me that I’m failing miserably.

A smile spreads across her face and I allow myself to relax.

“That sounds very sweet of you,” Twilight says. “Well, I better get some sleep. See you tomorrow, Selina.”

“See you tomorrow,” I say and with that, Twilight closes her bedroom door. I stand there at the door for a moment before turning and beginning my own journey to my bedroom.



 So, here I am, in my bedroom writing down everything that had taken place today. Maybe Twilight’s right about sharing my thought. Sharing them might be better than keeping it to myself. Then again, there’re some thoughts not worth sharing so she might be partially right about that.

 Speaking of Twilight, looking back, even when I didn’t fully trust Twilight, I was open and told her about my thoughts, what I remembered, and even went as far as enjoying her company. I told her things that I’m pretty sure that some ponies would keep to themselves, refusing to even tell those they are close to. It’s like I can trust her with anything. To top if off, Twilight would listen, even though I’m pretty sure it all sounded crazy to her.

 Is this what love feels like? Is this what it’s like to find somepony you can trust? To be more precise; is this what it’s like to fall in love with somepony? I don’t even know…


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I place the feather into the ink bottle and close my diary. I place my left hoof onto my chest as the familiar feeling spreads all throughout my body. I feel my thoughts shift to Twilight and remembering all of the times when I opened up to her.

Back to the days when I didn’t know about my gift, I was open with her and told her my thoughts and the life I had back when I was human when some of my memories came back. Even when something deep within told me to just keep it to myself and not say anything, I went against it and told her everything anyways.

Come to think of it, if me and Twilight were just friends, I wouldn’t have told her any of these things. Though Twilight has been friends with Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, I’m very positive that she hasn’t told them things that she prefers keeping to herself. That isn’t the case for me.

My friendship with Twilight has always been something more. If we were just friends, secrets would’ve been kept. However, I told her things that could’ve kept to myself, but didn’t. Maybe that something that has been telling not to tell Twilight certain things isn’t something random. Maybe that something that was telling me those things was actually a part of my old personality trying to get me to keep things to myself.

That would make sense as back when I was human, after being treated like my thoughts and opinions didn’t matter, I soon started to keep things all to myself and created a barrier around my mind to keep it from being invaded. Instead of following through with it, I opened up and told Twilight things that would make me sound crazy to others.

I close my eyes as I feel a tear trail down my left cheek.

‘Am… am I in love with Twilight Sparkle?’ I think to myself. Something deep down tells me that I am, but there is only one way to know; I will have to go see Rarity.

She somehow figured out about my crush on Twilight a few days ago. If she never did, I have no idea what would’ve happened if I found out about it by myself. I might not even have done the things that I have done with Twilight. I mean I might’ve, but how would I know that?

And about Rarity; something about her just makes me think ‘love expert’. If there is one pony I can trust to tell about my feelings about Twilight and the only one who can help me see if I really am in love with Twilight, it would be her.

I let out a sigh as I walk over and climb onto bed. I lay the covers over my body and roll onto my left side. I slowly close my eyes and drift off to sleep.