The Elements of Harmony

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Everything was still, with all eyes focused on the new creature that Nightmare Moon revealed. No one said a word, no one made a move, the only thing active was Xavier's mind.

"Wow, good job Xavier, not even a day in a new world and your discovered by non-humans, be the cause of property damage, and find yourself in an apocalyptic situation. Not only that, but everyone is looking at you like a freak, but then again..." Xavier thought as these strange ponies looked at him. His brain only stopped when the one who revealed him spoke.

"Hmm, this is quite an interesting turn of events. What is something like you wandering around at night?" When she spoke, she moved closer to Xavier, who in response backed away slowly, afraid as to what she was going to do.

"Guards, seize them!" His attention was focused on the voice instead of Nightmare. "Only they know where the princess is!" After she said that, a bunch of ponies in armor approached, spears pointed in their direction. Seeing this, Xavier panicked even more, before Nightmare Moon summoned lightning bolts at them, knocking them out.

"Stay back, you foals!" She bellowed, as she turned into a plume of smoke. The cloud then shot out of the main door, with almost everyone on shock, the only ones being the rainbow haired mare and Twilight, the former shooting out the door in hopes to catch up. As the dust settled, Xavier looked out with a mixture of emotions as he thought to himself.

"Great, things have gotten out of hand, why did this have to happen to me? Why did this entire event happen the day I come here." Sighing to himself, he heard the sound of hooves moving fast out of the building. Looking at the sound, he saw non other than Twilight Sparkle running out, which got Xavier thinking. "Wait a minute, maybe she can help! I mean, she knew about this Nightmare Moon character before everyone else, maybe she knows something that can help me!" Giving a nod, he started to chase after her in hopes in finding answers.

Following Twilight, Xavier found himself in front of the tree from before, but this time he would enter instead of hiding behind it. Entering the tree, he learned that it wasn't a house, but a library, with hundreds of books lining the walls. Coming in, he looked around in amazement until a voice interrupted him.

"What!?" Looking towards the voice, he saw Twilight on the stairs with a look of fear and worry on her face. "What are you doing here? What even are you? Wait, are you sided with Nightmare Moon!?" Twilight spoke, horn lowered in an attempt to attack if provoked. Seeing this, Xavier put his arms up in hopes to lower her fears.

"Whoa woah whoa, calm down! I'm pretty sure I'm on your side, I just came here to see if you have any answers!"

Twilight didn't budge as she kept her gaze on him. "Oh really, then why were you at the window at town hall, spying?"

"Ok look, I did spy most of the day, but that was only to get answers about where I am Twilight!"

"Ok then- wait, how did you know my name!"

Hearing this, Xavier chuckled nervously and said, "I overheard your name, but if it'll make you more comfortable with me, I'll tell you my name. My name is Xavier."

After a few seconds of tense staring, Twilight finally lowered her guard. "Alright, fine, I'll trust you for now. Right now, I've got to find something that can lead me to the Elements of Harmony."

Xavier finally lowered his arms as he asked, "Elements of what now?"

"The Elements of Harmony, they are-"

"What?" Turning around, both Twilight and Xavier saw the rainbow maned mare at the door. " What are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon in the first pace? Are you two spies?"

"Not again." Xavier thought to himself as the mare approached. She almost got in arms reach of him before the orange mare from before pulled her back, alongside the white, pink, and yellow mares.

"Simmer down Sally." the orange mare spoke. "They ain't spies, but they know what's going on, don't ya Twilight and... uh..."

Sighing, Xavier spoke, "Xavier, and I have no idea what's going on in the first place. I just woke up today in fact seeing a bunch of talking, multicolored ponies! I just came here to see if Twilight knows something"

"Right... ok then." She went as the pink pony started to giggle. "Xavier, hehehe, never heard that name before!" She soon was full on laughing on the floor.

"HEY, RUDE! Great, I guess I can put 'Being laughed at' to the list." He groaned, before turning to Twilight. "You were saying before they interrupted?"

Sighing, Twilight started to explain. " I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them, I don't even know what they do!"

"The Elements of Harmony: a Reference Guide," Looking over, everyone saw the pink pony looking at a certain book, involving the very things that were the topic of the night. Twilight ran over so fast, she knocked the mare over.

"How did you find that?!"

"It was under 'e'!" She answered happily.

"Huh, go figure." Xavier started, "Well Twilight, read the book so we can find the elements, stop this tyrant, and finally allow me to get answers about where I am."

Taking the book in her magic, Twilight began to read. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known, those being Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest." When Twilight said the last part, everyone but her and Xavier gasped in fear. Xavier just looked in confusion.

"Everfree forest? What's that?" He asked, wondering why everyone was so scared. The five looked at him like he was crazy. Looking around, he realized why. "Hey, remember, I know nothing about where I am, so you can't go off on me."

Hearing this, the orange pony explained. "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural around here. The plants grow..."

"Animals care for themselves..." The yellow pony continued.

"And the clouds move..." the rainbow one began before all three said all together, "All on their own."

Twilight looked at them in fear, but Xavier looked at them like they were crazy. "Are you serious, they are scared of that? Why, that sounds like home to me." It wasn't until he realized something and asked, "Wait, this Everfree Forest wouldn't happen to be that creepy forest out of town, the one that seems to be pitch black despite it being the middle of the day?"

"The very one dear, why?" The white unicorn spoke, as Xavier groaned, knowing that that was the forest he wanted to enter the least. "Ok, not home at all, nevermind." He thought as he heard hooves moving towards the door. Looking, he saw Twilight heading out. Seeing this, he began to ask, "Hey wait, where are you going?"

"To the Everfree Forest." She answered. "Those Elements need to be found, no matter what."

"Now wait a moment," The orange mare began. "That forest is dangerous, so you'll need backup, so we'll go too."

"No, this is something I have to do alone."

"No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple"

As everyone agreed and exited, the pink pony said, "Especially if there's candy apples in there. What? Those things are good."

Sighing, Twilight followed begrudgingly, with Xavier close behind. Noticing this, Twilight was confused. "Why are you coming, Weren't you scared too?"

"Yes, but I rather be in a dark, dank forest with people- er, ponies, than in a building alone when an evil tyrant is on the loose." He answered as they quickened their pace to catch up to the others.

Arriving at the forest, Xavier had doubts about all of this, but he knew that the only way out of this was in there, so he went in with everyone else. Along the way, he got introduced to the other five mares that came along. The orange mare was named Applejack, and she worked at an apple farm as her family did for generations, which impressed Xavier quite a bit. The white unicorn was named Rarity and she was known as Ponyville's resident dressmaker, which surprised him that ponies wear dresses, or clothes in general, but this was a different world.

Next was the rainbow maned pegasus who, ironically, was named Rainbow Dash. She was the captain of the weather team in Ponyville and says she is the fastest flier around, which made Xavier both impressed and confused, impressed with her skills and confused with the weather, but this was a different world again, so this was most likely the norm. The yellow pegasus was next, named Fluttershy. Her job involved taking care of the many animals that live in the area, Impressing Xavier with her ability.

Last but certainly not least was the pink pony, who was even more ironic than Rainbow's name, being Pinkie Pie. Her job was being the #1 party planner, throwing the best parties in town. Of course, Pinkie realized that since Xavier was new, she was going to throw a party for him, though he wasn't exactly thrilled, he never was good with parties and crowds, mostly crowds.

After everyone, or everypony as they like to say, was introduced, they were all walking single-file through the forest, with silence between them all until Twilight spoke up.

"So...none of you have been here before?"

"Oh heavens, no!" Rarity shivered. "Just look at it, it's dreadful!"

"And it ain't natural!" Applejack added. "This place don't work the same as the rest of Equestria!"

"Uh, you mean like the growing plants and stuff, cause that sounds alot like what I lived with for... seventeen years." Xavier said with confusion. "Honestly, the only thing that is getting to me is the darkness."

Everypony looked at him with shock as they walked, surprised that his world acted the same as the forest. Their shock was soon redirected though, as they heard a cracking and crumbling sound near them. Looking around, they saw nothing, at least until they felt the ground shake. At that moment, the ground fell away, with everyone except for Rainbow and Fluttershy sliding down the cliff. The two went in and saved Pinkie and Rarity, while Applejack managed to grab a root. Twilight wasn't so lucky, as she was hanging on by her hooves off the cliff edge. Xavier, however, got even unluckier, as he didn't manage to grab the ledge, falling until he managed to grab hold of a branch growing on the cliff, hanging on for dear life.

"Oh god, that was TOO close! I did NOT want my life to end like that." Xavier said as he heard Twilight and Applejack above him, as Applejack said something that made him worry.

"Let go."

"Are you CRAZY?!" Twilight cried out.

"No I ain't. I promise you'll be safe."

"That's not true!"

"Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe." Xavier was confused as to why Applejack was so determined to get Twilight to let go. He would have looked up, but there were leaves growing on the branch that was blocking his view. But as he was wondering, he heard a scream from Twilight, at least until it cut out. Xavier was worried, as he wondered if she landed, until he saw two pegasus holding her, so he let out a breath of relief as she was put down, with Applejack hopping down the cliff.

"See, I would never lie to a friend." Applejack stated. "I was being completely honest." Twilight looked at her with wonder in and regret in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry for doubting you.

Xavier looked down and was happy, but something would make him happier. "Hey, not to let this moment die, but can someone get me down please?" Everypony looked at him with embarrassment as Rainbow went up and grabbed him and put him on the ground. "Thank you Rainbow." Xavier thanked as he turned to Applejack. "Hey Applejack, how did you know that Rainbow and Fluttershy were there? I was worried that you were just saving yourself."

Applejack looked at him and spoke, "Why would I do that? I would never say or do something like that! I had to be honest, or else something worse could have happened." With that, the seven continued forward, with the oddball out thinking to himself about what she said, both confused and impress at how honest she was.

"And once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, whoosh... me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time."

It was a while since the cliff incident and Rainbow was boasting about the entire event the entire time. This lead to a few of the group, mostly the ones that just meet her, to be slightly annoyed. Twilight took Rainbow's pause as an opportunity to quiet her down.

"Yes Rainbow, I was there." Twilight said giving her a deadpanned expression. "And I'm very grateful. But we need to-" Her sentence was cut off as a giant beast stomped the ground in front of them. "A manticore?!"

Everypony was surprised, but every human was beyond terrified, seeing as he never encountered one before, or even knew they existed. "A WHAT!? They exist here!?!?" He yelled, terrified for his life.

"Yes, but now's not the time, we have to get past it." Twilight answered as Xavier backed away. "Correction, you find a way past it, I have nothing I can do, good luck!"

Groaning, Twilight and the others looked at the beast, determined to get around it, all but one. As Xavier was backing away, he overheard Fluttershy trying to get them to stop. "Heh, Fluttershy, y-you ok?" Startled, Fluttershy looked at him with a calm face. "I-I need them to stop..." She spoke softly, so Xavier decided to help her out.

"Hey, Hey girls," The girls looked over at the two in confusion. "I think Fluttershy has a plan or something." Hearing this, they allowed the timid pony to approach, but not without worry as she came closer to the manticore. What surprised them though was the fact that the first thing that she did when she got close enough was nuzzle its paw.

"Whoa," Xavier looked at her in awe. "I know you guys said that she was good with animals, but that's more than just good, that is outright astonishing." Everypony gave their own affirmation as they look at her and the manticore, the latter showing her it's paw, revealing a large thorn lodged in it. "Yeesh, that look's painful..."

"Oh, you poor, poor little baby. Don't worry, this will only hurt for just a second." Fluttershy spoke softly. "Little?" Xavier thought, "That thing is a baby? How did she know?" Of course, his questions were stopped as he heard a roar, seeing Fluttershy in the grasp of the manticore. He was about to run up to her, but stopped when he saw the beast licking her affectionately, all the while she was praising it for being so brave. Seeing this, everyone calmed down and walked past, with both Twilight and Xavier stopping to see Fluttershy.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked, confused as to how she could have even known that it was there in the first place.

"I didn't," Fluttershy responded, "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.” As she continued forward, both Twilight and Xavier looked at her with awe, seeing as she just risked her life just to be kind to a giant, angry beast. Their looks of awe soon turned to looks of happiness as they realized that they have someone that is so kind, as they moved forward towards their destination.

Continuing on, the team was crossing over a puddle of mud as Rarity complained.

"My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Her wish was granted as the forest suddenly got darker somehow. "Well, I didn't mean that literally."

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it." Twilight said as they tried to move forward, though it was hard when they couldn't see well. That's when Xavier felt a chill go down his spine.

"Uh, girls?" He began to speak. "Do you all have a bad feeling, like, spine chilling bad?" The girls looked at him in confusion, only to see a terrifying sight right behind him. "Why are you all looking at me li- it's right behind me, isn't it?" With a fearful nod from the girls, he looked behind him to see a tree warped to have a terrifying face and branches that resembled claws. Xavier jumped away in fear, only to bump into another tree with similar traits. Looking around, they all realized they were surrounded by them, all looking directly at them. They all backed into each other in fear, screaming. Well, almost everyone, because Pinkie, for whatever reason, decided to go face-to-face to one of the trees and start laughing at it, making silly faces in the process.

"Pinkie, what are you doing? Run!" Twilight exclaimed, to which Pinkie only laughed.

"Oh everypony, don't you see?" Pinkie said as a tune started up.

When I was a little filly and the sun was going down….

"Is she-?" Xavier started to say, only to be cut off by Pinkie

The darkness and the shadows, they would make me frown...

"she is." Applejack confirmed as Pinkie hopped around them as she carried on!

I’d hide under my pillow
From what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way
To deal with fears at all

“Then what is?!” Rainbow Dash demanded, the song irritating her, only for Pinkie to hop over next to her. She said.:

“Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall
Learn to face your fears
You’ll see that they can’t hurt you
Just laugh to make them disappear.”

Ha! Ha! Ha!

When she laughed, the tree she was originally looking at made a cartoony poof, revealing an ordinary tree in place of the scary one. Seeing this, the girls decided to follow along.

So, giggle at the ghostly
Guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy
Whoop it up with the weepy
Chortle at the kooky
Snortle at the spooky

As each line was sung, one of the girls laughed at a tree, turning it from scary to ordinary like Pinkie, with all of them laughing at the last line. As this was happening, Pinkie finished up the song.

And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... hahahaha... heh...

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuugh!

With the last verse sung, the rest of the trees turned back to old, barren trees, as everypony was on the floor laughing, with only one not, that being Xavier as he looked at everypony laughing like nothing happened, but he was mostly looking at Pinkie. "Huh, She must be either incredibly brave or crazy to have no fear, laugh at the scary things, and start singing in a forest. Although..." He took a brief moment to look around, "Her laughter saved us I guess. Laughter..."

Once everypony calmed down, they journey continued with Pinkie leading the way. As she was hopping though, she stopped abruptly, causing everypony to bump into her, with Xavier stopping just before he did as well as he was lagging behind slightly. Curious, he asked "Hey Pinkie, why'd you stop?" To which Pinkie pointed at a raging river with a current way to strong to cross. "Whoa... ok."

As they looked at the river, everypony heard a sorrowful crying, catching their attention as they moved towards the crying. When they approached, they were surprised to see a giant, purple sea serpent with orange hair to be the source of the crying, waving it's tail incredibly hard, causing the river to be as strong as it was.

"What a world, what a world!" It cried as it splashed the water it was in.

"Excuse me sir, Why are you crying?" Twilight asked as they approached the serpent.

"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off," As he said that, he pointed to his mustache, showing that one side of it was cut down to a nub. "And now I look simply horrid." Crying out, he landed into the water, sending a big wave of water at the group, soaking them wet.

"Ugh, great, I can add 'getting drenched' to the list." Xavier deadpanned as he began to think. "Wait, Purple cloud, was that Nightmare Moon? What is she up to?" He was interrupted when he overheard Rarity.

" Why, of course it is." She started "How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales."

"What in the world is she doing." Xavier thought out loud.

"Your expertly coiffed mane."

"Oh I know, I know!" The serpent replied, running his hand through it.

"Your fabulous manicure."

The serpent gasped, flattered that she noticed. "It's so true!"

"All ruined by your beautiful Moustache." Rarity said with a sadden tone.

"It's true! I'm hideous...!" The serpent wept, realizing his look was not complete without his mustache in one piece.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity exclaimed, as she went and popped one of the serpent's scales out of the serpent.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?!"

Holding the scale out, Twilight was about to ask what she was doing, before watching Rarity swing the scale...

Right at her tail, leaving nothing more than a nub similar to the serpent's. Using her magic, Rarity took her cut off tail and levitated it towards the serpent's mustache, repairing it with it. Seeing this, the serpent was overjoyed to see it.

“Oh! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! My moustache…!”

“You look smashing!” Rarity beamed with pride.

"But R-rarity, your tail..." Twilight started as she looked with a sad face.

"Oh. It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back." She said with a bit of hesitation.

Xavier looked at her with worry until Twilight saw something. "Look, the river!" looking at it, everyone saw that it was finally calm enough to cross. "Come on!" As she was crossing, however, the serpent's tail raised up, creating a bridge to cross over.

"Allow me." He said before he dove to finish the bridge, allowing everyone to cross. Once everyone was over, Xavier approached Rarity. "Hey Rarity, why'd you do that, you know hair takes a while to grow, right, especially that length?" He asked.

"I know dear," Rarity answered, "But I would rather give it away to someone else who sees it as more important than I do. I may be a fashionista, but you won't go far without being generous and open to everypony."

Listening, Xavier let that though simmer. "Generous, huh. Where have I heard that?"

A Little while later, they finally say their destination. In the distance, they saw a crumbling ruin, resembling a castle. Seeing it, Twilight started to run up to it, only to slip and almost fall into a giant chasm. If it wasn't for Rainbow grabbing her, she could have fallen in.

"What's with you and falling of cliffs today?" Rainbow joked as the other's looked across the chasm, seeing no way across.

"Now what?" Pinkie questioned as they looked around. That's when Xavier noticed two pegs coming out of the ground. Walking over, He saw two ropes attached, and upon closer examination, he realized that there was a bridge. Rainbow took notice and decided to take it up.

"Don't worry, I got this gang!" She exclaimed as she dove in to grab the bridge. While she went over to tie the bridge, Xavier remembered a certain item he picked up, so he decided to investigate it.

"What's that ya got there sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she looked at it.

"No clue," Xavier admitted. "When I woke up, I found this thing next to me-" At that moment, Xavier's hand grazed something on the cap, which caused a very loud *Chink* sound to go off, startling both of them as Xavier dropped the item, only to realize it changed. Now where the "gear" was, a long blade about the length of Xavier's arm was extended, giving the image of a katana.

"What in tarnation is that?" Applejack asked as Xavier picked it up.

"Like I was saying, I don't know. I just woke up with it." Xavier explained as he looked over the sword. Upon closer inspection, he saw a little switch at the cap. Flicking it the other way, the blade retracted. He was about to go back to thinking, but he was interrupted by a very worried Twilight.

"Don't listen to them!" Going over, Xavier and Applejack were confused as to what was happening. Seeing them, Twilight began to explain. "We have a problem! There are pegasi over there that don't look friendly. they may be over there to stop Rain-" Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of wings flying close. Looking, they saw Rainbow over the bridge, up and secure. Seeing it, everyone cheered and proceeded to cross, while Xavier ran up to Rainbow.

"Hey Rainbow, what exactly happened over there?"

Looking at him, Rainbow began to explain. "Some ponies called the Shadowbolts came up to me and said that if I ditched you guys, I could become their captain, leading them to greatness."

"And you chose us?"

"Of course I did! I can never leave a friend behind, even if it means losing my chance at fame, cause what's a star without knowing you have somepony to fall on."

As Rainbow flew ahead, Xavier processed what she said. "Huh, for someone of her attitude, she is kinder and more loyal than I thought."

"Whoa..."

Upon entering the ruins, Xavier and the girls looked around in awe and admiration, for despite the fact that the place was falling apart, it was still beautiful. And situated in the middle of the room was a strange alter/statue that held a bunch of spheres on it. Seeing it, Twilight knew exactly what they were.

"The Elements of Harmony! We found them!" Hearing that, Fluttershy and Rainbow flew up and grabbed all of them and brought them down to the floor.

"One, two, three, four... there's only five!" As Pinkie counted, everyone began to worry as there were six elements, not five. "Where's the sixth?"

Approaching, Twilight began to think out loud. "The book said: When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed"

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don't know what will happen." Twilight began to channel her magic at the elements. The girls backed out of the ruins, but Xavier hung back a bit, worried that something else would happen. That's when he felt it, a strange yet eerie breeze came into the ruins. Looking back at Twilight, he saw a large, black cloud swirling in front of Twilight, which she looked like she was about to jump in. When he saw this, he immediately ran over to her in hopes in saving her, at least until he saw a flash.

Opening his eyes again, he realized that he was in a different place alongside Twilight. That's when they heard laughter, and when they looked forward, they saw none other than Nightmare Moon standing over the Elements of Harmony with a smug look on her face. Xavier was terrified at the thought of what she would do to them, but at that moment, he had an idea. It was quite possibly the stupidest ides he had in his entire lifetime, maybe for the rest of his life too, but it was an idea.

"Twilight, can you reach the elements?" He whispered to her, to which she nodded hesitantly. "Then get there, I'll hold her off." Before she could argue, Xavier told her, "Don't argue please, you are the only one who knows how to finish this, so do it please." Hesitantly, Twilight raised up with her horn glowing, looking to ram Nightmare Moon, to which she looked unimpressed.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" She asked unamused, to which the duo looked at her with determination, so Nightmare also lowered her horn. Soon, the two sides were running at each other, both with different plans. At the last second though, a bright flash was created, blinding Nightmare for a second before she felt something on her horn. When she looked, she saw Xavier with his newly found sword blocking her horn, with one hand on the hilt and the other on the on the blade. realizing what was going on, she looked backwards to see Twilight over the elements. She reacted quickly by turning into smoke and racing over to her, catching Xavier off guard and making him lose balance, falling. When he looked up, he saw Twilight flying at him, to which she slammed right into him.

"No, NO!" The two heard Nightmare Moon in a panic, and when they looked up, they saw the Elements glowing, so they both were happy that it worked. At least until they stopped. "But... where's the sixth Element?!" Twilight questioned as Nightmare Moon laughed as she raised her front hooves. Stomping them down, the Elements shattered like glass, leaving nothing but shards, and expressions of lost hope on Twilight and Xavier.

"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare Moon laughed, as the duo looked with shattered hope, at least until they heard some familiar voices approaching.

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight began. "Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here!"

Standing behind them, Xavier was confused. "Huh, what do you mean? The elements are over-" As he spoke, he saw the shards of the elements shaking, confusing both him and Nightmare.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!" When Twilight said that, Shards began to surround Applejack.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness!" The same thing happened to Fluttershy, who looked a little afraid, but happy.

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter!" As the shards surrounded her, she smiled from ear to ear.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!" The two were already surrounded when she said it, with looks of calm and confidence respectively. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

"You You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon tried to break their spirits. "The spark didn't work!"

“But it did… a different kind of spark!” Twilight corrected as she faced them, Xavier included, all of them smiling. “I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you… The Spark ignited inside me! When I realized that you all… are my friends!”

Suddenly, a light was scene above the group. looking up, they saw another orb above them, knowing it was the sixth and final element.

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by...the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it summons the final element! The Element of....Magic!"

As she said that line, the six began to glow extremely bright, blinding Xavier so much that he had to cover his eyes, the only thing he heard was Nightmare Moon crying out before things went dead quiet.

Opening his eyes, He looked around to see nothing. After a bit of looking, he saw the girls on one side of the room, lying down motionless. "Oh no!" He muttered as he ran over to Twilight. "Don't be dead, please!" His please were answered as he heard groaning from all of them. Letting out a breath of relief, he began to wake them up. Soon, they woke up, wondering what happened.

"Ugh, what happened"

"You won." They all turned to Xavier, confused. "You girls saved the day from Nightmare Moon." The group felt both relief and pride from him saying that, at least until they heard a gasp of shock from Rarity. "Are you ok Rarity?"

"Of course I am!"

“Why Rarity, its so lovely,” Fluttershy complimented, as Rarity posed.

“I know!” Rarity said as she waved her tail, which was restored to its full length and same beautiful style. “I'll never part with it again!”

“No, your necklace,” Fluttershy pointed out. “The jewel looks just like your cutie-mark.”

When Rarity looked, she saw the jewel was indeed shaped like one of the jewels of her cutie-mark, colored the same purple as her mane.
“So does yours!”

Fluttershy’s jewel was a pink butterfly, much to her thrill.

“Lookit mine, lookit mine!” Pinkie hopped over, revealing her jewel to be a blue balloon, Applejack’s was an orange apple with a green leaf.

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow was feeling pretty good, her jewel a red lightning bolt.

"Cutie mark? What's that?" Xavier asked, as his curiosity came back in full force.

"Cutie marks are the pictures on our flanks Xavier." Twilight explained. "Though I'm confused as to why that is."

"Maybe because you were right," Applejack started, "I reckon you were right when you said we were reprehensive of these elements."

"Indeed it was." Hearing a voice, everyone turned to the window, to which they were greeted with the bright light of the sun. Coming out of the sun was a light, and from it came a new pony. This pony was similar to Nightmare Moon in the sense of body shape, wings and a horn, and a regal presence, though there were differences. Her coat was white with a hint of pink, her mane and tail was colored like a rainbow, and she didn't have the teeth or eyes of her. When she came, everypony bowed down, while Xavier looked at her with awe and amazement. At least, until he felt himself forced onto his knees by magic.

"Xavier, show respect to the princess!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Gah, Hey!"

Giggling, Celestia spoke with a voice as regal as her appearance. "It's ok Twilight, he is new to Equestria after all." Blushing, Twilight let Xavier stand to face the new pony. "Greetings, I am Princess Celestia, and I welcome you to Equestria."

Bowing, Xavier responded, "T-thank you your ma-majesty. I-i am Xavier, my l-lady. I swear I d-didn't mean any harm in c-coming here."

Chuckling at his act, she turned to Twilight. "You did well, my faithful student. I knew you could do it.

Twilight became confused with her praise. "But I thought you said that the Mare On The Moon was just an old pony tale."

""I told you that you need to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She turned to Xavier, "And it seems more than ponies as friends it seems." Xavier became shocked at her and everypony.

"Y-you guys see me as your friend?" Xavier asked, to which he was met with kind smiles and nods from them.

"Now if another would as well." As Celestia spoke, she walked over to the place that Nightmare Moon was defeated. When everyone looked, they say a smaller alicorn there. She had the same coat as Nightmare, but her mane was a normal blue, not flowing or anything. "Princess Luna."

Hearing the name, the new alicorn, now known as Luna, looked up and gasped. Seeing Celestia come closer to her made her scared for what was going to happen, as Celestia spoke. "It has been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this. It's time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”

"Sister?" Everypony said in the back surprised, learning that their ruler had a sister.

Celestia stood in front of Luna, hoof outstretched. “Won’t you accept my friendship?”

Everyone was in anticipation, hopeful that Luna would accept. Soon, Luna got up with tears in her eyes and ran up to Celestia. "I’m so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"

"I missed you too!" Watching them, Xavier was reminded of something, or someone in particular. Remembering that, he frowned and shed a tear. At least until heard crying and turned to Pinkie crying literal waterfalls out of her eyes.

"Hey, you know what this calls for?" She said excited, stopping the tears in an instant. "A party!"

"Wait, what?" Xavier questioned as Pinkie reached out and began to drag him over to the door. "Hey, wait a minute! Am I even allowed to come?" Everypony looked at him confused, so he gestured to himself. "I'm not exactly pony to you."

"Do not worry my friend." He heard Celestia speak, "I will explain your situation to them. I'm sure that they will accept you young Xavier." Looking at her, Xavier felt a bit calmer as he spoke. "Ok, I guess. I guess I'll try"

"This was a mistake, this was a BIG mistake."

Xavier was currently on a stage with his new friends and the princesses with the entire town looking at them, him mostly. Soon, Celestia spoke.

"Citizens of Ponyville..." She spoke with a calming power. "I come to speak with you about the recent events that have transpired here. Firstly, I would like to thank everypony on this stage for defeating Nightmare Moon and returning my beloved sister, Princess Luna. Secondly..." She turned to Xavier, "I would like to introduce Xavier, a new friend here to Equestria. He means no harm to anypony, and would like to speak to you."

Taking the stage, he spoke. "H-hello everypony, like the princess said, I am Xavier. I know I may seem different and you may be worried about my presence, but I truly mean no harm to you. In fact, if it wasn't for Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, or Fluttershy, I wouldn't be here, so I am willing to give my life to them. I just hope you will accept me as well..." He trailed off at the end, thinking that they would never accept him. At least until he heard the sounds of cheering and hooves clapping. Looking around, he saw all of Ponyville cheering at him, his friends included. When he realized that they all would really accept him, he found himself doing something he didn't do since coming here, or for years in fact.

Smile

When the party became full swing, he was on the sidelines, not exactly comfortable with crowds. Even so, he was feeling great, until he overheard a certain unicorn and alicorn.

"Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and that you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

"That's just it…" Twilight responded. "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends…I have to leave them…"

"Wait, you don't live here Twilight?" Xavier asked, as Twilight only shook her head in response. Seeing this, Celestia began to speak.

"Spike, take a note, please." With that, the lizard that Xavier saw before came up with a paper and quill in hand. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new journey for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville!"

Hearing this, her pony friends surrounded her in joy. "Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" She looked over and saw that Xavier wasn't a part of it, so she used her magic to bring him over, much to his shock. Though that shock became happiness as he smiled softly.

Later, he was seated at a table enjoying some alone time. The party was fine, he just enjoyed being alone alot. His peace was interrupted as he heard hoof steps.

"Well young Xavier, how is Equestria, to your liking?" When he looked, he saw Celestia over him.

"W-well, yeah. Everyone- er, everypony is kind and accepting, and it is beautiful, so I can't complain." He spoke with a smile.

Smiling, Celestia began to talk to him. "So, young Xavier, tell me about yourself, after all, you are anew species here in Equestria."

Sighing, Xavier began. "Well, I'm known as a human and I come from a place called earth. Though I have no idea as to how I got here in the first place. The last thing I can remember is waking up near the Evrefree Forest with the sword that I found next to me."

"I see..." Celestia began. "And are you in a hurry to get home?"

"Honestly, not really... I don't want to get into detail, but I don't exactly need to go home, not like there is anything there for me." Xavier explained, quieter around the ending.

When Celestia heard him, she was worried, but she decided not to press him on details, so she dropped the topic. "Well, as long as you are in Equestria, I'm sure Twilight and her friends will make it worth it."

"Thanks, but that does remind me. Where am I going to live? I don't exactly have a home."

"You can leave that to me." Turning, he saw the mayor come closer to them. "I know just the place."

Leading him over, he was shocked to see that the mayor lead him over to a very large house. "You mean you're giving me this house? It's so big, you don't have to..."

"Nonsense!" The mayor interrupted. "Consider this my apology for trying to capture you."

"And a welcome present from us." Turning, he was once again surprised to see his new friends behind him, as Twilight spoke. "We talked to the mayor to see if she could arrange a place for you to live in, so she did."

Xavier was confused, so he asked, "But what about you Twilight? where are you going to live?"

"I'm living in the library where we first met in, so don't worry about me."

With that, Xavier looked at the house in front of him and smiled. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all..."

The Ticket Master

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"Ugh, finally done with that."

Taking a breath, Xavier sat down on a chair in his new house. It has been a week since he found himself in a new world and he spent most of it getting his house all furnished. Well, "some" of it, since he felt guilty about having this size house (Who needs four bathrooms?!?). So the only places that were furnished was the living space, the kitchen, and a bedroom for him to sleep in. At first, he was worried that he would need to get a job in a foreign world just to get things to live, but his friends were kind and helped out. Applejack gave him some furniture, Rarity gave some décor like paintings and knick-knacks, Fluttershy gave him a bunch of plants, Twilight gave him some books and a shelf, Rainbow gave him some posters, and Pinkie... well she gave him an invitation to a party for him. Looking around, he sighed and began to think to himself.

"Well, I guess a week in and I managed to get a house for myself, a big one at that." Smiling to himself, he whispered to himself. "I bet you would like it if you were here..." When he said that, he frowned at the memories he gave himself. "No, stop that, you decided to start a new life, so don't let those thoughts in, just be happy..."

His thoughts were interrupted however when he heard arguing nearby. Confused, he went outside to investigate, and after a bit of looking he saw the source. It was his newfound friends, with all of them except Twilight yelling at each other over something, whilst she was cowering. Seeing all of this, Xavier stepped up to see what they were angry about.

"Hey, HEY!" Xavier yelled, getting the attention of nopony, so, he got in the middle of the circle. "HEY!" This got the attention of all of them as they looked at him with agitation. "There we go, now can you girls explain to me why you're arguing outside of my house?"

With that, Applejack stepped up, "Well Xavier, Twilight happens to have a ticket that she was about to give me until a certain pegasus decided to interrupt us!" She said as she gestured to Rainbow.

"Excuse me!" Rainbow yelled out, "It isn't yours's yet, and besides, I clearly deserve that ticket."

"You ruffian, That ticket was for me!" Rarity intervened, as the girls began to argue again. When this happened, Xavier backed into Twilight.

"Gah, sorry Twilight, didn't see you there."

"It's ok, I'm fine."

Looking at her, Xavier had hoped she knew some answers, so she sighed and began to explain. "Earlier today, me and Spike was at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack when Princess Celestia sent me a letter that I was invited to the Grand Galloping Gala, which is a big party in Canterlot. With the message she gave me two tickets, one for me and one for a guest. I was going to ask Applejack, but Rainbow crashed in when she overheard us, wanting to go too. Soon enough the others learned about it and well, you can see what happened."

Xavier took a second to look at the others before he asked another question. "Why are they arguing anyway? It's just a party, right, so why are they yelling at each other over a ticket?"

"Well that's because they each have their reason that they want to go. Applejack wants to set up a shop to earn money for the farm, Rainbow wants to talk to the Wonderbolts that are there every time, Pinkie wants to go because it's a party, Rarity wants to meet a prince that lives there, and Fluttershy wants to see the gardens near the party."

Xavier then realized what was wrong. "I get it now. All of your friends have a good reason to go there, and you are afraid of choosing one and disappointing the others." Twilight nodded at him, so he decided to help out. "Alright girls, quiet!" They all looked at him curiously. "Twilight is going through some turmoil about the decision and all of you yelling at each other is not helping. Why don't you all go home for a while, cool off, and meet us at the library for the decision later tonight, okay?" Despite their grumbling and looks of displeasure, they all walked away and left Twilight, Xavier, and Spike alone, leaving the place quiet.

With all of the girls going home, the three decided to grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant. While they were getting situated, Twilight decided to talk to him.

"Thank you for your help Xavier. Things were getting a little too much for me."

"No problem Twilight, anything to help a friend out."

"Though I'm surprised that you thought of that solution so quickly." Looking at her, Xavier explained to her. "Well, I guess I got the idea from all the times that a gadget I was working on failed, I would go somewhere else to cool off."

Hearing this, Twilight was intrigued. "Gadgets? You know about machinery?"

"W-well, just a bit, I'm not exactly the best, but I dabble a bit in it." Xavier stammered, fidgeting in his seat. "So, Wanna talk about your problem? That's the topic anyway."

Looking down, Twilight gave a sad sigh. "Yeah, I know, and I don't know what I'm going to do. All five of our friends have a good reason to go, and if I give one of them the ticket, will the others get upset? I mean, I could give up my spot and give my ticket, but then there are still three of them that won't go. What am I going to do?"

Looking at her with empathy, Xavier tried to give some advice. "Um, I may not know much about friendship like you, but I don't think that a single ticket is going to end your relationships with each other. Who knows, maybe some of the girls are deciding to let others have the chance, and let you have an easier choice."

Bringing her head up, she gave a weak smile. "Yeah, I guess. Thank you Xavier for that." As she was speaking, their food came. Twilight had a daffodil and daisy sandwich, Spick had a pile of hay fries, and Xavier had a bowl of celery soup. As they were about to eat their food however, they noticed a bunch of ponies running around in a panic.

"I wonder what's gotten into them?" Xavier asked as he ate some of his soup.

"Um, excuse me?" The trio looked over to the waiter that served them. "Are you going to eat your food in the rain?"

"Heh? What do you mean?" Xavier questioned before he noticed that there was indeed rain falling around them, just not on them. "Um, does this sort of thing happen often Twilight? I mean, I know different physics and all, but I doubt rain acts super different from where I come from."

"No, it doesn't. What's going on." Twilight said as she looked up, only to see a certain pegasus in the clouds.

"Hey guys, enjoying the sun shinny weather?"

"Huh, Rainbow?" Xavier exclaimed with a spoon in his mouth from a recent bite of soup. "Why are you here, I thought you were going home?"

"Oh I was, but then I saw two of my bestest friends about to get soaked so I decided to punch a hole in the clouds to keep them dry, that's all." Rainbow explained innocently.

"Rainbow," Twilight said sternly. " You're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra special favors, are you?

"What, of course not! Why, I would do it for anypony."

"Then why don't you?" Xavier question as he gestured at other ponies running around in the rain, getting a sheepish look from her. "Look Rainbow, I told you to go home until tonight to get an answer, so please go home and wait, and please don't make it harder on Twilight. Any favors like this may make it harder on her."

Groaning, Rainbow responded grouchily, "Ugh, fine!" She departed, but not before closing up the hole that she made, causing rain to fall onto all of them, soaking them, and leading to a very angry Twilight with a very wet sandwich, and a very giggly Spike.

"Oh, sorry Twilight, I-I didn't mean to get your food wet."

"It's ok, Xavier." Twilight sighed, "You didn't mean to. Thank you though for the help, though I feel like that isn't the only thing that Rainbow will do-" Suddenly, she was pulled away from him along with Spike.

"Wha- hey! What's going on!" Xavier exclaimed as he got up to follow them.

Xavier was walking around town, hoping to find any evidence of where Twilight and Spike disappeared of to since he lost them a while ago. That's when he saw the mare in question running past him.

"Hey Twilight, Twilight! Slow down!" Hearing this, she slowed down for him to catch up. "There you are, what happened? You were suddenly pulled away from me and I was trying to catch up to you, but I lost you, what happened?"

Groaning, Twilight started to go over what happened. "Well, turns out it was Rarity who pulled me away, saying she was getting me out of the rain. When she got me to her shop, she gave me a dress that she claimed would look good on me at the Gala, so I gave it back and tried to leave, but then Applejack grabbed me and brought me over to a cart filled with apple treats. Seeing it, I ran away, leading us here. Of course now all of these favors are making things even more difficult on me on my decision."

"I can imagine that Twilight." Xavier spoke with empathy, "But even so, there is still a decision, and I still believe that no matter who you chose, the others will still be understanding and let it go. So while it may be hard, you need to make a choice."

Twilight sighed as the two approached the library. "I know, it's just that I don't know who to chose. Who do you think-"She was going to finish that sentence, but the duo was interrupted by a bunch of animals in the library cleaning it, with Fluttershy humming a little tune. "Oh no Fluttershy, not you too!"

"Oh, well, hello Twilight. I hope you don't mind, but we're all doing a little spring cleaning for you."

"But it's summer right?" Xavier wondered. "I mean, last week was that Summer Sun Celebration or what you call it, right."

Realizing this, Fluttershy blushed, "Oh, well, better late than never, right? It was Angel's idea." She gestured to a bunny on a table, who had a apron on and making a salad.

"Fluttershy, you're doing this for the ticket, aren't you?" Xavier deadpanned

"Oh no, I'm doing this because you're my very best friend. Right, Angel?" Angel gave a glare of disagreement "Oh, yes, we are just doing this for the ticket."

"Well, at least you were kind enough to admit it." Xavier stated as Angel came up to Twilight with the salad in it's paws. Seeing it, Twilight snapped back.

"No, no, no! Well, this was all very nice of you and Angel, but I'm not accepting any extra favors until I've made my final decision, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"SUPRISE!!" Suddenly the door opened with confetti, and suddenly a group of hooves grabbed Twilight. When Xavier got outside, he saw a bunch of ponies throwing Twilight in the sky, with Pinkie singing.

Twilight is my bestest friend
Whoopie, whoopie!
She's the cutest, smartest, all around best pony, pony!
I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party!
She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!

"PINKIE!!!!" Twilight yelled out, causing all the ponies to drop her onto the floor. "At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket." During Twilight's little rant, Xavier became more and more nervous about where this was going, and when she said ticket, he began to sweat nervously.

"What ticket? What gala?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Xavier began to run to her, but too late to stop her. "Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"THE GRAND GALLOPING GALA!" Soon, all the ponies that were nearby were crowding Twilight in hopes of getting the ticket. Spike tried to help, but there too many. Suddenly, Twilight jumped into the air and bolted, prompting all the ponies to chase her, leaving only Pinkie, Fluttershy and Xavier, the latter incredibly confused. Of course, his confusion turned to concern as he saw rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity approaching them.

"Oh hello Xavier darling, how are you? Do you know where Twilight is, she left her dress behind in my shop."

"You made a dress for her? Seriously!?" Applejack questioned

"Yeah, come on! She is totally going to give the ticket to me!" Rainbow stated as all of the girls began to argue once again, but this time Xavier had enough, so he decided to shut them up for good.

Alright Everypony, ENOUGH!" Xavier yelled out, his sword in his hand. The girls all stopped and looked at him as he spoke. "Thank you, now let's get to the point, you all are being ridiculous. You do realize Twilight has only been here for about a week, and only just allowed friendship into her heart? You all yelling at each other and doing favors for her just for a ticket is not exactly giving a good idea to friendship. If anything, I wouldn't put it past her to go alone, after all, all I'm seeing is ponies trying to use her just for a ticket and benefits!" While he was speaking, all of the girls began to feel extremely guilty, and by the end of his speech, they all were regretting their actions. there was a small time for quiet until Applejack spoke.

"I-I'm sorry..." The others voiced their agreements, to which Xavier let his expression soften slightly.

"If you're sorry, tell that to the pony you targeted." He said as he opened the library door, gesturing them all to enter.

When everyone entered the library, they sat in silence, with the girls perched up on a ledge and Xavier in a chair, awaiting Twilight's return. It was sundown when they saw her teleport in with spike, in a panic. They all looked at her in confusion as they watched her and Spike run around the library, turning out lights and closing windows and doors. They only stopped when Xavier decided to walk in front of her.

"GAH, Xavier! Don't scare me like that!" Twilight yelped as Xavier gave a apologetic look.

"Sorry about that Twilight, but that was the only way to get you to stop to let us talk to you." Twilight was confused as Xavier gestured to the others, giving Twilight a bit of anxiety. "Don't worry Twilight, there is a reason to them being here. Girls..."

Applejack leapt down to their level and approached her. "Twilight, sugar, I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you, and if it helps, I don't want the ticket anymore. You can give it to somepony else. I won't feel bad, I promise."

"Me too." Fluttershy started as she flew down "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."

"And me too. It's no fun upsetting your friends." Pinkie apologized.

"Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Rarity spoke with an apologetic tone.

"Yeah, I guess I'm sorry too..." Rainbow admitted.

"We all got so gun-ho about going to the gala that we couldn't see how un-gun-ho we were making you." Applejack finished as all of the girls came close. "We're sorry, Twilight."

Looking around, Twilight smiled as she began to speak. "Spike, take down a note.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.

"What!"

"If my friends can't all go, then I won't either."

"Twilight," Applejack started in worry, "You don't have to do that."

"Yeah Twilight, you could have gone alone. Or invite somepony else you care for." Xavier spoke.

"Nope. I've made up my mind. Spike, you can send the letter now."

With that, Spike lit the scroll he was writing on with his breath, sending the message to the princess as Xavier looked with a blank look. "Welp, that's that. Now no one gets to go, including you Twilight."

"It's okay, girls. I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me. So I would rather not go at all." With that, all the girls surrounded Twilight in a group hug with Xavier giving a warm smile and Spike making a face of disgust, at least before starting to gag.

"Well wallop my withers, Spike." Applejack poke to him in disappointment. "Isn't that just like a boy? Can't handle the least bit of sentiment."

"HEY, I'm right here you know!" Xavier exclaimed offended.

"Oh, right..." At that moment, Spike belched out green flames, materializing into a scroll, startling them all.

" A letter from the princess? That was fast."

"My faithful student Twilight, Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" As Spike was reading, he noticed something at the bottom of the scroll. "Six tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala."

Gasping, everypony cried out in joy in knowing that they could all go, at least until Twilight's stomach rumbled. Hearing this, Rarity suggested something. "How about we go out to get some food for you. It's the least we can do to apologize."

With that, the girls left the library with a ticket in their possession. Xavier looked at them with happiness before noticing Spike looking slightly down. "Hey Spike, something wrong?"

"Why didn't I get one?"

Hearing Spikes sad tone, Xavier kneeled down to comfort him. That's when Spike began to gag and belched out another scroll. Opening it, two more tickets fell out as Spike began to read. "And one for you two Spike and Xavier."

Spike was thrilled to get one as he ran out of the library, while Xavier looked at the ticket he was given with a look of confusion. "I got a ticket, maybe this will be a good time here in Equestria." Xavier thought as he started to smile. He pocketed the ticket and began to run up to catch up to his friends.

I promise I won't leave you guys behind this time like I did before.

Applebuck Season

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It was late at night and everypony was asleep except for a certain newcomer. He was at a work desk, observing the sword that he woke up with. It was a few days since the whole ticket incident, so he decided he would finally look at the sword, hoping it would give him some answers. Unfortunately, it didn't lead to much.

"I don't get it, where did this thing even come from, let alone it's creation? This thing has no evidence of welding, screws, nails or rivets, heck, not a single glue stain. Any yet this thing seems to hold up against anything! I don't get understand..."

As Xavier was thinking to himself, he began to feel off until...

When Xavier opened his eyes, he saw a pretty beat up room, with a single light focused on a similarly beat up desk. Looking closer, he saw that someone was there, working on something. A few moments later, the person raised it up to reveal that it was the sword that Xavier had. As the sword was raised, the figure spoke, but it was distorted and choppy like a radio with a bad signal.

"Fi__lly, I fi_ish_d __is t_ing, n_w tho__ thi__s __ve a__ther t_in_ co_in_ if th_y _ome for _e." The figure sighed as the world started to fade. "I wi_h I n_v_r __d t_ __y t___, ___ I____s-"

Xavier put a hand on his head from a major headache, but when he opened his eyes he saw that he was back at his desk like nothing happened, but he knew that something happened.

"Wha- what was that? Was that how the sword was made? What was that guy talking about?" Groaning, he looked at his sword, knowing that it held a lot more secrets then he originally thought.

The Next Day

As the sun rose over the sky, Xavier was asleep on the desk, passing out a while after the strange event happened. His slumber was interrupted as he felt a vibration on the ground, quite literally shaking him awake. Waking up, he quickly realized that trouble was afoot again, so he grabbed his sword and ran outside to find the trouble. When he did however, he quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to as the trouble came from a stampede of cows coming straight for town. Looking around, he saw his friends and the mayor in the front of town, so he ran over to ask what was happening.

"What's going on girls!"

Looking over, Twilight began to speak in a panicked way. "We don't know! All we can see is a bunch of cows coming at town and-"

"Look there!"

Their conversation was interrupted when Rainbow Dash told them to look at the stampede. When they looked, they saw Applejack running alongside the horde, to which everypony cheered for her while Xavier looked in awe. Watching, he saw Applejack managing to move the cows into a more thin line as she held a lasso. Throwing it, she tossed it onto the lead cow, pulling it away from town, getting the entire group to turn away from town. With the cows posing no threat to the town anymore, the entire town cheered her while Xavier stood there speechless.

"Wow, I know she's a cowgirl and everything, but that is impressive, even for her!."

"I know right!" Xavier jumped as Pinkie appeared next to him. "GAH, PINKIE! Where did you come from!"

"Over there silly." Pinkie pie giggled.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!"

"Ahem." Turning, he saw Mayor Mare looking like she wanted to say something, so the two quiet down. "Anyway, Applejack was just... just..."

"Appletastic!" Pinkie exclaimed in the air somehow. seeing this, Xavier looked next to him where Pinkie used to be only to realize that she wasn't there, confusing him even more as the others talked.

"Exactly, We must do something to thank Applejack for single-hoofedly saving the town."

"I know... A party." Pinkie Exclaimed. Hearing this everypony agreed to this, except for Xavier as he stood there staring at Pinkie Pie with eyes of confusion.

Throughout the week, the residents of Ponyville were busy getting town square ready for a celebration party for Applejack, and today was the big day. Twilight was making sure everything was ready.

"Are we all set?" Twilight asked Rarity.

"Just one last thing..." Rarity replied as she used her magic to levitate a large banner decorated with apples like Applejack's cutie mark up onto the balcony of town hall, being repaired from the... previous events that occurred there. "There, now we're ready."

Twilight nodded as she turned to Xavier who was fiddling with something. "How's the project coming along, Xavier?"

"It's going, I think?" Xavier said with uncertainty.

Everypony turned to him confused as Twilight spoke. "Huh, what do you mean 'I think'? I thought you said you were good with this stuff."

"Yeah, and you've been working on it all week, how are you not done yet?" Rainbow added.

"I never said that I was good, I just said it was my hobby!" Xavier said as he turned over to them. "You girls just assumed that I was an expert at this sort of stuff and decided to get me to make an automated curtain system. And I may have been working on this for a week but there are so many things that can go wrong like jammed gears, a bolt falling off, the activation not working..." Xavier began to list things as he turned back around to continue work on the project, as the girls looked at him with sweat-drops.

"Oookay then... Is Applejack ready?" Twilight decided to ask to change the topic. Rainbow then gave a bit of a uncertain look.

"Actually, I haven't seen her all week."

"Not since the stampede." Pinkie added.

"But she will be here for sure, Applejack is never late." Rainbow said confidently.

"I hope so, this ceremony would be for nothing if the main guest doesn't come." Xavier spoke as he finally got up from fiddle with the gears he was installing. "Okay gang, I think it should be good, maybe. If not, there is always the old-fashioned rope pull." Everypony nodded to him as they began to wait for the ceremony.

A little while later, a crowd of ponies was looking at town hall, awaiting the start of the ceremony as Twilight walked up to the podium. Pulling out a stack of flash cards, she began to speak.

"Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to-"

"Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there?" Rainbow exclaimed as she pushed Twilight out of the way to talk "What an athlete. This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome."

Deciding to help out, Xavier dragged Rainbow off the podium, allowing Twilight to continue. "Thanks Xavier, now then-"

"And this week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time." Pinkie interrupted as she popped out from behind the podium, getting another confused stare from Xavier, wondering where she came from.

"What does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight asked.

After looking at her, Pinkie answered. "Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!"

The crowd cheered in response to Pinkie's offer of free muffins as Twilight pushed her out of the way. Slightly irritated, she gathered up her cards to continue. "Okay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter-"

"Twilight?"

"-Rupted."Twilight groaned as she turned to the voice, seeing Fluttershy looking like she had something to say, to which she did. "Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills." That's when she noticed Twilight's annoyed face as Xavier walked up to Fluttershy.

"Um, Fluttershy? I don't mean to be rude, but maybe you should get off the podium for now." Xavier calmly told her, to which she obliged.

"Anyone else? Anyone?" Twilight asked clearly irritated as everypony stood in silence. Hearing none of them willing to speak, Twilight decided that it was finally time to speak. "No? Well then, as I was trying to say..." That's when she noticed the mayor smiling at her. "UGH! Never mind!" Twilight yelled in frustration, throwing her flash cards everywhere as she left. The mayor walked up to the podium and began to speak.

"Ah-ahem. And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the prize, Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Applejack!" With that, Xavier pushed a button to activate the curtains (to which to his relief they worked) to reveal an empty stage. The crowd gasped as their cheering came to a halt as they all wondered where she was in silence until it was broken by the pony in question trying to get through the crowd. Turning to Applejack, they all saw that she was caring two baskets filled with apples and that she seemed a bit clumsy as she bumped and stepped on ponies. She finally came out of the crowd and onto the stage, revealing bags under her eyes as she moved to the podium.

"Sorry I'm late everypony." Applejack yawned, earning concerned looks from her friends as she talked tiredly. "Thank you kindly for this here... award thingy. It's so bright and shiny and, heh," She began to laugh deliriously, "heh heh, I sure do look funny heh." She then started waving her head around while "woo"ing, with Pinkie joining for some reason, earning another look of confusion from Xavier. Twilight, while also looking confused, began to speak.

"Okay. Well, thank you Applejack for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony."

Snapping out of it for a second, Applejack looked towards her, though a little off, and yawned. "Yeah. I like helping the ponyfolks and and stuff." As she was speaking, her voice began to drift as her eyes were drooping. Soon enough, she was asleep, snoring loudly until Xavier clapped, waking her up with a start. "Huh, oh, um, thanks." With that, she grabbed the trophy and began to drag the trophy across the field as everyone looked at her with concern in silence until Twilight asked a question.

"Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little-"

"Tired?" Rainbow said as she cut her off.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy added.

"Loopy?" Xavier added as well.

"Messy?" Everyone looked at Rarity. "Well, did you see her main?"

"She seemed fine to me!" Pinkie said as she proceeded to woo again. Xavier wanted to question her, but he was more worried about Applejack, so he turned to Twilight to talk to her.

"Hey Twilight, I think we should check on her. I have a bad feeling about this." Thinking for a moment, she nodded to him. Smiling a bit, Xavier and Twilight headed to Sweet Apple Acres.

Arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, the pair saw Applejack bucking trees, getting apple to fall out of them into buckets she placed, though she was having trouble concentrating on them, sometimes missing the tree or dozing off. Wondering what she was doing, Twilight called out to her while Xavier walked up to her.

"Hey Applejack, Applejack!" Even though She called out, Applejack didn't budge. Looking closer, the two noticed that she was asleep again, Xavier decided to run up to her as Twilight teleported, startling Xavier. "APPLEJACK." This woke her up as she realized that the two were there.

"Oh, howdy Twilight, Xavier."

"What are you doing AJ?" Xavier asked, confused as to what she was doing.

"It's applebuck season." Applejack answered as she walked away, prompting Xavier to follow her and Twilight to teleport in front of her.

"Applewhat season?" Xavier asked as he caught up.

"It's what the Apple family calls harvesting time. We gather up all the apples from the trees so we can sell them." Applejack explained as she continued to buck trees. This got Twilight confused.

"But why are you doing this all alone? What about the rest of your family that was here?" Twilight asked as she followed Applejack.

"Well Big McIntosh hurt himself, so he's resting, Applebloom is to young to help, and Granny Smith is too old. As for the rest of my family, they were only here for the annual family reunion and the Summer Sun Celebration. They all actually live all over Equestria with orchards of their own, harvesting them right now. So I'm on my on right now."

"Don't you have parents that can help out AJ?" Xavier asked, earning a pained look from her. Twilight was confused to the reaction, but Xavier knew that look too well, so he didn't press anymore. "Erm, well, maybe we can help out?"

"No thanks you two, I'd rather do this on my own, thank you." Applejack responded with a bit of a snarky tone as she walked ahead, prompting Twilight to teleport in front of her again.

"But there is no way that you can do this on your own. Let us help and-"

"NO!" Applejack cut Twilight off. "I told you I can do this on my own, so I don't need no help from you two! Now leave and don't come back, you hear!" Sighing, the two left the farm with concern. When they left, Xavier spoke.

"What are we going to do Twilight? Applejack won't back down and she definitely won't be able to harvest the entire farm."

Twilight sighed as she responded. "I don't know, but I guess that we should let her realize this is to much for her." Xavier didn't have a better answer so he agreed to it with a nod as they went home for the day.

The Next Day

Xavier was heading over to Twilight's home for something. What he was going over there for was a complete mystery though. All he knew was that he was sent a message from Spike and he had nothing better to do, so he headed to the library. Now in front of the door, he went to knock, but the door already opened for him, revealing Twilight.

"Oh, Xavier! You're here."

"Yep, I am." Xavier said awkwardly. "So... why did you bring me here?" Twilight gestured for him to follow her, so he did. When they stopped, they were on a balcony as Twilight began to speak.

"I asked you to come here for a few reasons actually. One is to get to know you a bit more, another is to get more information about your species for both me and Princess Celestia."

Xavier looked at her with shock. "G-get to know me an my species?!"

Twilight gave a calm look. "Don't worry, I won't get personal or anything, just some general information. Besides, this is for Princess Celestia too, so you are ok with me asking you some questions?" Hesitantly, Xavier nodded at her, allowing her to start the questioning.

Some Time Later

Xavier and Twilight were sitting on the floor, With Xavier talking to her about a historic event while Twilight was writing it down on a scroll.

"And that is how America, my home country, got it's independence."

"How could those people do that? Make taxes and life harder just because they wanted to live in peace?"

"I wish I could say that that wasn't a theme, but there are so many things that have happened over stupid stuff in my world." Xavier sighed, finally glad to get that off his chest. When Twilight calmed down she looked at him.

"Well, in any case, thank you for this information. I'm sure that Princess Celestia will be happy I got this-"

*THUNK*

Jumping, the duo looked at where the noise came from to see Rainbow Dash hanging from the railing of the balcony, with a slightly dazed look.

"Oh my god, Rainbow! Are you ok?!" Xavier asked in a panic as Rainbow groaned.

"I think somepony else needs help."

"Applejack?" Twilight deadpanned, to which Rainbow nodded. Twilight groaned as she turned to Xavier. "Xavier, can you take Rainbow to the doctor's office to see if she is hurt? I'm going to Applejack's to talk to her and try to convince her to get help."

Looking at the two, Xavier nodded. "Um, yeah, sure. I can do that, but I will need help getting there."

"I'll guide you" Rainbow offered to which Xavier shook his head. "No can do, you need to not strain yourself right now. Maybe I can carry you and you can tell me directions." Rainbow looked hesitant at the thought of someone carrying her, but she reluctantly agreed. So picking Rainbow up and putting her on his back, him and Twilight went to their destinations. On the way, Xavier began to question Rainbow. "So Rainbow... how did you end up landing on Twilight's balcony in the first place? I don't mean to offend you, but I thought you said that you were the best flier in Ponyville?"

"And I am!" Rainbow exclaimed. "It's just that there were other things that happened. You see, I made this catapult and platform, where I would stand on one end and Applejack would jump off the platform and land on the other end, With the quick lift off, I would be able to pull off this one trick I wanted to show the Wonderbolts. But she kept missing and fell on the ground! Then, she thought just pushing it down as a joke would help, and when she let go, I fell down, unprepared for the takeoff. She finally lands on it, and I was flung up into the air, losing all control... and I think you know what happened next."

Looking behind him, Xavier gave a confused look. "You built a catapult? Didn't know you were able to make that."

"You impressed by my skills, engineer?" Groaning, Xavier continued to take Rainbow to the doctors. When they arrived, a nurse was looking around franticly until they saw the two.

"Hey ma'am," Xavier started. "You have any time to look over my friend here?"

"We can, but not right now. There is a big problem right now!" The nurse exclaimed as she opened a curtain reveling dozens of ponies on beds, groaning and sick. Seeing this, Xavier and Rainbow was surprised.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Rainbow asked. The nurse began to explain. "It seems to be a mishap with some of the baked goods."

"No, not baked goods..." As Rainbow and Xavier turned towards the voice, they were both surprised to see Pinkie face down on a bed as well, not looking any better than anypony else. "Baked bads..." Pinkie groaned as she turned to a bucket, to which Xavier pieced things together.

"Rainbow, can you wait here? I need to get to Applejack!" Seeing Xavier with a serious face, Rainbow nodded and was put on an available bed. With Rainbow off his back, Xavier ran to Sweet Apple Acres, hoping to catch up Twilight and Applejack. When he arrived, he was relieved to see the two arguing, well one was arguing, one was just trying to talk. He want down to join in. "Hey girls!"

Hearing his voice, Twilight was confused. "Hey Xavier, I thought you were taking Rainbow to the doctor-"

"I was," Xavier interrupted. "but something else is going on. When the two of us got there, we saw dozens of ponies in there, all sick to the stomach."

Hearing this, Twilight was instantly worried. "What? Why?" Xavier responded by pointing to the other pony in the conversation. "I think it was Applejack and her sleep deprived head that did this. She was suppose to bake with Pinkie, so she may have misheard Pinkie and put in things that made the muffins terrible and sickly." Hearing the accusation, Applejack became even more mad then before.

"What!? What do you mean I did it? I was following Pinkie's instructions!"

"Yes, but you didn't hear her correctly I bet. It wouldn't have happened if you just let us help-"

"NO!" Applejack was fuming at this point as she glared at the two. "What do you two not get! I don't need no help from nopony!" Applejack turned around and went back to work, receiving a groan from Twilight and a sigh from Xavier as he turned to her.

"Sorry Twilight for my intrusion. I tried to help but it looks like I made things worse..." Twilight raised her hoof and spoke. "No, it's ok, I'm just worried about what else could happen to her." Looking down, Xavier decided to go home and rest, so him and Twilight left the orchard in hopes that they can eventually convince her.

The Next Day

Xavier was in his house at his desk. He decided to work on his hobby and tinker with a bunch of metal scraps that he found lying around town. It was hard though, not because the scrap didn't fit, he could usually work around that, it was because he had no tools to use. Without tools, he didn't have the means to connect the pieces together, so he was just kind of arranging them in a way that made them look attached. It wasn't until he heard something outside that made him look up. Getting up, he went outside to investigate, only to find himself in front of dozens of rabbits eating everything in sight. Even worse was that Fluttershy was trying to stop them to no avail, showing that they wouldn't stop. Realizing this, Xavier glared and ran to the orchard for the third time. Looking around the orchard, he finally saw his target, bucking a tree with a very weak kick on top of a hill. He walked up to her and looked at her with a serious look.

"Alright Applejack, that's enough! Normally I'm ok with letting others do their own thing, but not when it effects others, and you've done a great deal of damage to the town! You've launched Rainbow into a balcony, given dozens of ponies a bad case of stomach issues, and now you've destroyed every single plant in town from your attempts at rounding baby bunnies up. I don't care anymore, I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not!"

With a final kick to the tree, Applejack smirked at him. "Good luck with that, cause look. I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres all by myself. HA, how do you like them apples?"

With an unimpressed look, Xavier simply pointed at the other side, revealing that she only harvested half of the orchard. Applejack looked at it in shock, mumbled something, and then promptly fainted. Xavier ran up to her to try to wake her up. "Applejack, Applejack! Wake up!" She opened her eyes and looked to the side of her, looking over all of the apple trees. Looking back up, she began to plead.

"Help me, please. I really can't do this by myself. Please help me!"

Sighing, Xavier gave a warm smile. "There, that was a lot easier than doing all this by yourself, now was it."

When Xavier agreed to help out, he first took Applejack to the barn to rest, then he went to get the others. Fortunately, Rainbow wasn't extremely hurt and Pinkie recovered from yesterday. All six of them managed to get most of the apples out of the trees and into crates for selling. It was a few hours when Applejack came over with a cart with glasses.

"How about y'all take a little break?" Applejack exclaimed, getting them to come over. "Gang, I can't thank you enough for this help. I was acting a bit stubborn."

"A bit?" Twilight said a bit cheekily

"Okay. A mite stubborn, and I'm awful sorry. Now, I know the town gave me the Prized Pony award, but the real award is having you six as my friends." Smiling, all of them took a drink from their glasses.

"Huh, who knew that applebucking was so tiresome." Rarity sighed.

"I know, right..." Xavier said as he took of his hoodie and tying it over his waist. When he did this, he revealed that he was wearing a red T-shirt with a white stripe going vertical on his right side and a rainbow bandanna around his neck. Seeing the bandanna, the girls looked at him with curiosity.

"My, what a beautiful bandanna Xavier." Rarity complimented, as Xavier realized that it was there and blushed.

"Erm, thanks, I guess."

"Where did you get it?" Rarity asked, but everypony looked at him to see that his head was down with a very sad frown on his face.

"I-I'd rather not say..." Xavier mumbled as he turned to walk away.

"W-wait, darling! I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok, Rarity, just brings up memories. Besides, I'm tired, all the problems from this week has drained me, you know. I'm heading home, see ya." Xavier said as he walked away, getting worried looks from his friends.

Griffon the Brush Off

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It was another day in Equestria, and Xavier was taking it to walk around town. It was a week since the applebuck incident, and Xavier decided to get out of the house. He was wearing the same red shirt from before, with his hoodie on his waist again, and his bandanna was still there. He wasn't taking it to sight see, however, he was actually looking for a job for some money. After he was in his home for a while, he came to a big realization that he had no money nor personal items, so he decided to look for a way to get them.

"Easier said than done I guess." Xavier mumbled to himself. "How does a human get a job in a world where the things are fitted for hooves. I haven't seen a single place that could-"

"Excuse me?" Xavier jumped up at the voice that broke his thoughts. Turning, he saw a mare with a pink coat and a well kept blue mane. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, but I came to see if I could get your help."

Xavier looked at her with confusion. "Um... Sure?" The pony gestured to follow, so he did as she explained. "You see, I work at the spa in town, and the water there hasn't been heating properly. I'm worried that something happened to the water heater. When I saw you, I remembered that you made that curtain at the ceremony, so I thought you could help."

Looking at her, Xavier seemed a bit hesitant. "Um, well, I do dabble a bit in this stuff, but I don't know if I'm the best at it." Pausing for a second, he began to decide. "B-but if you think I can help, I'll try my best."

Smiling, the mare showed him that they were at the spa, to which Xavier was impressed as they entered. Guiding him to the backrooms, the mare showed him the heater. "Here it is. Before you begin, do you need anything?"

"Well, I will need some tools. I would get my own, if I hade any... So could you find me some? Also, once I find the problem, I'll make a list of things I will need to start repairs, so be ready for that." Nodding, the mare left to collect some tools, leaving Xavier to examine the heater. After looking over the heater though, he saw no problem to the device on the outside, nor heard anything. Looking at it confused, his eyes diverted to a circuit box nearby. When he saw it, he had an idea and went over to it. He stopped when he stepped in a puddle. When he stepped in it, things clicked in his head as he knew the problem, so he went over to the box and opened it up, revealing the problem he thought was there.

"I have the tools." Looking over his shoulder, he saw the mare with a belt of tools in her mouth. She came over to him as she was curious. "Um, did you find the problem with the heater."

"Well, yes and no." Xavier answered, earning a confused look from her. To explain, he showed her the circuit box, revealing a few parts burnt out. "It wasn't the heater with the problem, but the power system that's the problem. There is a leak somewhere in the ceiling, which caused water to drip down here, probably hitting this stuff, frying some of the pieces in the process, making it harder for the heater to get energy to heat the water. If you could get these parts somewhere, I can replace them and get things running again." She nodded to him as she handed him the tools. Xavier decided to make a list of the parts for her to get so she didn't get confused as he got to work.

"Aaanndd, there we go."

Xavier was finished with the circuit box as he closed it. It was a few hours to fix the thing because some of the parts were rusted, but he managed. Grabbing a rag, he wiped his face as he turned to the mare.

"All right then, that should do it Lotus. Just get that leak all patched up and things should be good."

"Thank you Xavier, I will make sure that is taken care of." Lotus informed him.

"Good, wouldn't want me coming over again to do this all over again."

"Well, maybe you should come back over." Lotus said, confusing Xavier. "We've been looking for somepony to have as a maintenance pony for the spa, but I think that we found someone."

Hearing this, Xavier was shocked. "Wait, you want me to be your maintenance crew?"

"Of course, you seem to know what you're doing, so why not? In fact..." Lotus reached behind her and grabbed a pouch and handed it to Xavier. Looking inside, he was shocked again to see it was filled with coins. "That should be enough to pay for the good job."

Looking at the pouch, Xavier was stunned. "I-I can't take this! I-I-"

"No, you earned that from your good job. If you didn't come to help, we would be closed for a lot longer."

Despite Xavier's thoughts, he looked over at the circuit box and thought it over. Looking back over, he gave an answer. "I-I guess if you guys need a maintenance crew, I could do that."

Smiling, Lotus and Xavier left the room for the latter to leave for the day. "If you guys need me, you know where to find me I guess. Thank you for the offer as well." Smiling at him, Lotus bid Xavier goodbye as he left the spa with the pouch in hand. "This should be able to cover the costs to get some new tools for me, and maybe some extra just in case." Xavier thought to himself. Looking around, he decided to treat himself and get a smoothie at a nearby shop.

Getting his smoothie, Xavier decided to sit at a table near the market to enjoy the rest of his day. As he was drinking his smoothie though, something broke his tranquility.

"Hey!"

Looking over, he was surprised to see Fluttershy in front of a griffon. The griffon had white feathers and brown fur along her body, with a bunch of larger feathers on her head covering one of her eyes. Taking a closer look, it looked like the griffon was yelling at Fluttershy. Knowing that she couldn't take that sort of stuff, Xavier ran to help her.

"Hey, griffon!" The griffon looked for a second before Xavier pushed her away, getting in between her and Fluttershy. "Back away from my friend!"

Reorienting herself, the griffon saw Xavier and growled. "No, you back up, you... clothed... ape, thing! This doesn't concern you anyway!"

Looking unimpressed at the insult, Xavier held his ground. "You made it my concern when you decided to yell at my friend. Now leave!"

Looking him over, the griffon noticed something and smiled. "Oh yeah, sure, I'll leave, if you give me your bits."

Looking at where she was, he realized that she saw his pouch that his money was in. "S-seriously! You're going to put a price on this!"

"Hey, if you don't want to pay, I can go back to business." Hearing this, Fluttershy whimpered, to which Xavier growled. He ultimately decided to grab the pouch and toss it to the griffon, who looked pleased. "Heh, thanks buddy. Anyway, I gotta bail, all these lame ponies are driving me buggy. Later." The griffon flew away as the area became more relaxed. Seeing that she left, Xavier helped Fluttershy up.

"Are you ok Fluttershy?" Fluttershy simply nodded in response, clearly shaken up by the recent events. "Good, now what happened?"

"I can tell you!" Looking over to the voice, he saw that it was Pinkie with a not-so-happy expression. "That griffon's name if Gilda, and she is old friends with Rainbow Dash. I would say that's good, but she is mean. I just wanted to hang out earlier but she kept driving me away! Now she was going after Fluttershy because she was guiding some ducks!"

Frowning, Xavier looked less than pleased. "Well, we can add greedy to that list, and I just earned that..."

"Um, not to offend you, but where did you get the bits?" Fluttershy asked quietly, to which Xavier sighed. "Well, I kinda got a job at the spa as maintenance, but we can worry about that later! We need to tell Rainbow about this."

"NO!" Xavier jumped when Pinkie appeared in his face. "We can't, Gilda won't let us near her. And besides, she won't believe us!. But don't worry, I'll solve this, Pinkie Pie Style!" Xavier shuddered, fearing for what she was going to do.

"Why am I not surprised"

Xavier was currently in Sugar Cube Corner with an unimpressed look on his face as Pinkie was greeting ponies who entered for the party she was hosting for Gilda. At first, Xavier thought that Pinkie would use the party to mask a revenge plan, but it turns out that she was doing this just to get Gilda to open up and become friendlier. While everypony was along with it (Though they haven't meet Gilda nor know who she is) Xavier and Fluttershy were hesitant.

"Um, P-Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy said as she and Xavier approached her. "Are you sure this is a g-good idea?"

"Yeah Pinkie, you sure?" Xavier asked. "I mean, she seems to be very mean, so maybe a party isn't-"

"Don't worry your pretty little heads about mean old Gilda." Pinkie said as she patted both of their heads. "Your auntie Pinkie Pie's got it all taken care of."

"I'm a year older than you." Fluttershy said annoyed.

"And I think you're younger than me..." Xavier said confused.

"Gilda!" They were interrupted by Pinkie exclaiming excitedly as they turned to see her hopping to the griffon in question not looking impressed. "I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties, and I really, truly, sincerely, hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk." Pinkie said as she extended her hoof to shake. Gilda looked at her a bit weirded out, but reached to shake, only to be electrocuted. As Gilda fell to the floor from shock, Pinkie revealed that she had something strapped onto her hoof as she giggled, with Rainbow joining in.

"Oh Pinkie Pie, the hoof-shake buzzer. You are a scream." Rainbow laughed as Gilda got up grumbling. "Come on G, I'll introduce you to some of my friends."

"Right behind you Dash." Gilda said as she turned to Pinkie and began to whisper at her. Unfortunately, Xavier couldn't hear them, or at least Gilda since Pinkie seemed content at being loud like she always was. It was then that Pinkie began to speak to the room.

"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash. Let's honor her and welcome her to Ponyville." Gilda looked like she was about to punch her, but the crowd cheering made her force a smile as Pinkie lead them the snack table. "Help yourself, Gilda."

"You sure this isn't a prank?" Gilda looked a bit hesitant at a bowl of vanilla lemon drops. Xavier went and took one and ate it, having no reaction other than a bit of joy in the candy. Seeing him eat the candies, she felt it safe to eat herself. "Huh, well I guess it's fine." Gilda said as she took one for herself, before her face became red and she ran around saying "HOT!"

"G, the punch." She said as Gilda ran over to drink it, only to find that the cup was rigged to spill onto her, earning a bunch of laughs from the room as Pinkie spoke. "Well, whaddya know, pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass!"

"Ha! Priceless, priceless!" Rainbow chuckled as Gilda found a cup of water not rigged and took it all in one drink. "Yeah, hilarious." Gilda spoke sarcastically as she spotted a bunch of presents on a table. Running over to it, she grabbed a cylindrical present and began to open it. When it opened, a bunch of toy snakes flew out, startling her. Of course, Everypony got a laugh out of it as Applejack spoke.

"Spittin' snakes. Hah, somepony pulled that prank on me last month."

"Ha ha, I bet I know who that was." Gilda said sarcastically as she looked at Pinkie, who looked at her Innocently. Xavier looked confused though.

"Why are all of these pranks happening? Is this Pinkie's true plot, or is this somepony's else's handy work?" Xavier thought to himself as he popped another peppered lemon drop into his mouth.

The party was in full swing with Fluttershy having her birds to sing a song and everyone was having a good time. Even Xavier was smiling a bit, finding himself having a decent time, popping lemon drops into his mouth. The party only stopped as Pinkie brought out a cake bigger then her.

"Cake time, everypony!" Pinkie exclaimed as everyone came over.

As everyone came over, Spike looked at the cake with excitement. "Hey, can I blow out the candles?"

"Why don't we let Gilda blow them out." Twilight said as she walked over. "She is the guest of honor."

"Exactly!" Gilda said as she slid in, knocking Spike out of the way. When Gilda blew out the candles, she gave a look of pride, at least until the candles relit themselves, replacing her pride with confusion. She began to blow out the candles over and over, with them always relighting when she did, getting the entire room to laugh.

"Re-lighting birthday candles, I love that prank! What a classic." Spike said giggling.

"I don't remember putting those on the cake." Pinkie said with a smile. "But they are still funny!"

"Ha ha, yeah, funny..." Gilda said sarcastically as she glanced around with rage until Rainbow spoke.

"Hey, G, you're not upset about some silly candles, are you?" Rainbow asked.

"No way, Dash. Like I said, I'm down with a good prank." Gilda said, putting on a façade of happiness. With the reassurance, Rainbow went to get some cake while Gilda looked at another, less pony, being in the room. Walking over, Gilda looked at Xavier with anger. "Hey, buddy. I don't know what your game is, but I'm warning you right now, quit it!"

Xavier looked at her with mild annoyance. "What, are you talking about all the pranks that are going on? Well, I'm not the pranking type of guy, alright. Plus, I don't even know about where these pranks are." He said as he reached for another lemon drop. Gilda was about to go deeper, but she was interrupted by Applejack.

"Hey y'all, it's pin the tail on the pony. Let's play."

"Oh, my favorite!" Rarity said as she came close to the toy tail. "Can I go first? Can I have the purple tail?" Rarity reached down to grab it, but the tail was suddenly snatched out from underneath her by Gilda. "Well, I am the guest of honor, so I'll have the purple tail."

"Yeah, you should definitely get to go first. Let's get you blindfolded." Pinkie said as Spike came over and put a Blindfold on Gilda, then proceeded to spin her around, Earning many disagreements from Gilda. "Now that we've blindfolded you and spun you around, you can pin the tail. Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail." Pinkie said as she lead Gilda over to a poster.

"Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail." Gilda mocked. "Psh, yeah right. This is another prank isn't it? I'm going this way." Gilda began to walk the opposite way of the poster despite Pinkie's warnings. While walking, she stepped on a glob of frosting, sending her sliding into Xavier. The two kept sliding into the kitchen, ending up colliding into cake supplies. When the two left, they were covered in cake and Gilda had the tail on her beak, looking like a mustache.

"Um, Gilda? You pinned the tail on the wrong end." The entire room erupted in laughter, with Xavier joining in as well, seeing how ridiculous he looked. Gilda however snapped, roaring out, scaring everypony and sending Xavier onto the floor.

"This is your idea of a good time? I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life! And Pinkie Pie, you!" Gilda pointed to Pinkie. "You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks! Did you really think you could make me lose my cool? Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together! Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene." Gilda said as she went for the door, realizing that Rainbow as not coming. "Come on, Rainbow Dash. I said, we're leaving."

Rainbow gave Gilda a disappointed look before speaking. "You know, I was the one who set up all these weak pranks up at this party, Which makes me queen lame-o." Everyone gasped at learning who was responsible for all the pranks as Gilda looked speechless. "Yes, it seemed that they were all aimed at you, but it was just dumb luck that you set them all off."

Gilda finally came out of her shock and began to give accusations. "N-no way. I-it was Pinkie Pie and t-the ape, they set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me."

Pinkie and Xavier gave a look of disbelief "Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down.. "

"And I was a victim of a few of the pranks as well, so I can't take the credit."

"And you sure didn't need any help making a fool of yourself." Rainbow said, getting in between the groups "You know, this is not how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else." She said firmly, but with a hint of hope in hoping that she would change for her. Unfortunately, Gilda growled at her.

"Rrgh... yeah? Well you, you... you are such a, a flip-flop, cool one minute and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call." Gilda said as she left, leaving the room quiet and Rainbow with a disappointed face until Twilight approached.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Twilight asked as Rainbow looked back at her. "Huh, oh, yeah. Just need some time to myself." Before anyone could do anything, Rainbow flew out of the building. The girls were about to chase her, but Xavier stood in front of them.

"Wait, girls. Maybe I should go find her." They looked at him with confusion and concern as Xavier explained. "Look, I think I can help her, just trust me on this gang, please." The girls looked at him leave the building, all of them looking worried for the two.

Looking around, Xavier managed to find Rainbow on top of a hill, looking out in sadness. Seeing her, he called out to her. "There you are Rainbow, I was wondering where you were."

Looking over, she sighed. "Oh, it's just you, Xavier. Didn't I say that I wanted to be left alone?"

"Well yes, but you seem to need someone right now." Xavier said as he sat next to her. "You want to talk about it?"

Seeing as he wouldn't leave, she sighed. "Well, I feel guilty for bringing Gilda here in the first place, and not realizing who she was. She was nicer when we were younger, but I don't understand what happened to her."

"Rainbow, you didn't know honestly. I doubt anypony will put it against you for Gilda's actions. Though to be honest, you've earned both my trust and respect." Rainbow looked at him confused. "Well, you've shown me just how loyal you are today. You only left Gilda when you were shown her true colors to us, and when Gilda decided to leave, you wanted to stay with us. And even when you saw those colors, you were willing to give a chance to Gilda for her to be loyal to you and change. And when she left, you were both disappointed and saddened. Disappointed by losing a friend you were loyal to for so long and sad that you had to say goodbye to someone you cared about for so long. It may seem cruel to you, but to me it just proved to me how loyal you are to your friends. So..." Xavier stands up and smiles at her. "I'll accept you as a true friend. I had my doubts before with friendship, but I'll give it a chance with you. Now let's start over, I'm Xavier and I'm happy to be your friend." Xavier offered his hand to her.

Rainbow looked at him and smiled. "Well, I'll play along I guess. The names Rainbow das-" Rainbow took Xavier's hand, only to be electrocuted. Flying into the sky, Xavier was snickering as he showed his hand, revealing a buzzer. Seeing it, Rainbow smirked.

"Heh, I think I found the appeal of these things." Xavier said as the two of them began to laugh. "Hey, we should head back to the party. Everypony's worried about you and it's a party."

Rainbow looked at him and smiled. "Heh, let's go then, friend." Xavier nodded and the two went back to the party. "By the way, you do know that those lemon drops are for pranking, right?"

"Well yes, but I like spicy and sour things, so they kind of grew on me..." Xavier said bashfully as Rainbow looked at him with an amused face as the two went back to Sugar Cube Corner.

Busting the Boaster

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"Hey, not bad Xavier!"

"Heh, thanks Rainbow."

It's been a few days since Gilda showed up to Ponyville and the bond between Xavier and Rainbow grew quite a bit. The two of them were currently in a field, with the former training with his sword and the latter watching.

"And you say you're bad with it!" Rainbow teased.

"I never said that, I just said I never used a sword before." Xavier said as he turned to her. "And besides, this feels... different. The only time I used this thing was with Nightmare Moon staring me down with her horn right in my face, and yet... I felt like I held it before..."

"What is that suppose to mean?" Rainbow asked.

"I wish I knew, Dash, but it feels like I know how to use this though. I wonder what secrets this thing holds..." Xavier said as both of them looked at it. Deciding not to think about it too much, Rainbow brought up another topic.

"Well, I'm hungry, so do you want to get some grub?"

Looking up at her, Xavier chuckled and put his sword away. "Alright, alright, I get it, you don't want to think about it, so I'll bite. Besides, I could go for something spicy right about now." Smiling, Rainbow flew down to join Xavier in a walk back to town.

Walking into town, Xavier and Rainbow noticed a large crowd gathered around town hall, all clearly exited for something. Curious, the two went over to investigate finding Applejack and Rarity in the crowd.

"Hey Applejack, Rarity!" Xavier called out, getting their attentions. "What's going on here? What's with this crowd?"

"I don't know, Xavier." Applejack responded as Rarity continued. "We just know that somepony is here to perform soon."

"Who's going to perform?" Rainbow asked.

"Somepony who goes by the name 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'." Applejack informed, getting a not-so-impressed look from Xavier.

"Seriously? 'Great and Powerful'? That's what they came up with?" Xavier deadpanned. Their conversation was interrupted by trumpets as a voice rang out.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Soon, a blue unicorn mare came onto stage in a cloud of pink smoke, wearing a magician's cap and hat. The crowd oohed in response while the girls and Xavier looked a bit annoyed.

"My, my, my! What boasting!" Rarity said.

"Yeah, I mean come on!" the four of them turned to the new voice, seeing Spike and Twilight coming over.

"Twilight? Spike? When did you two get here?" Xavier asked.

"We just got here." Twilight Answered. "We overheard about this from two young colts. But there's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?"

"Nothing at all, except when someone goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons." Applejack told Twilight.

"Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does NOT make one better than the rest of us." Rarity added, agreeing with Applejack.

"Especially when ya got me around being better than the rest of us." Rainbow said, getting an elbow from Xavier. "Oh, um, I mean... Magic, shmagic. Boo!"

"Well, well, well," Trixie said, overhearing the group. "it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

"More like the most annoying and overconfident one..." Xavier said under his breath as Spike came up.

"Yeah right! There is no way you are, since we all know that Twi-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence however, because he was taken by Twilight's magic away from the crowd, leaving the others confused. This didn't stop Rainbow however, as she flew up to Trixie's level.

"Oh really, miss 'Great and Powerful'? What makes you so sure you are so strong?"

"Well, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa major!" Trixie then used her magic to conjure up an illusion of a bear-like creature, receiving gasps from the crowd. "When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to, but the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave deep within the Everfree Forest!" Trixie said as she used her magic to show her tale, receiving a large amount of praise from the crowd, with the only ones who weren't was a slightly uncomfortable Twilight, three unimpressed mares and dragon, and a confused human.

"Hoofington? That doesn't sound familiar. If it did, then I would know where that is in relationship to the Everfree, which means..." Xavier whispered under his breath, clearly confused by Trixie's tale.

"That settles it." Xavier looked up to see a young unicorn colt, apparently kind of chubby and a blue coat, going up to the stage with an innocent, though oblivious, smile alongside another, lankier, colt. "Trixie truly is the most talented, the most magical, the most awesome unicorn in Ponyville." The blue one spoke.

"No, in all of Equestria!" The orange one exclaimed.

"How do you know? You didn't see it! And besides, Twi—" Spike was saying before swiftly having a magic spell cast onto him, making his mouth a zipper. Trixie, despite the outburst, seemed unfazed with her cocky smirk.

"It's true, my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville." Trixie chuckled, receiving silence in return. "Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? [chuckles] Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived?!" Trixie announced, launching fireworks behind her. Having a chance to speak, Spike unzippered his lips and got down onto his knees.

"Please! She's unbearable! Ya gotta show her! Ya just gotta!" Spike pleaded, getting whispers from Twilight. Xavier tried to listen to her, but that's when Trixie pointed.

"How about... You!" When they looked, they saw that Trixie was pointing at Twilight, shocking them all. "Well, how about it? Hm? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?"

"I-I-" Twilight stuttered, clearly in some stress. Xavier was about to get in between the two, but Applejack beat him to the chase.

"That's it! I can't stand for no more of this!" Applejack said, clearly irritated and jumped up onto the stage. "Can your magical powers do THIS?" Applejack then used a lasso and began to do a bunch of tricks with it. She ended it with using it to lasso an apple and take a bite out of it, getting a large amount of cheering from the crowd. "Top that, missy." Applejack said with pride.

"Oh ye of little talent. Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!" Trixie said as she took off her hat, allowing her horn to show. Using her magic, she made a nearby rope move like a snake towards Applejack, mesmerized by the movements. She then took the other side of the rope and grabbed an apple, bringing it closer. When the apple got near, the snaking end burst forward towards her legs, tying them up, while the apple was brought to her mouth, giving the image of a pig roast, getting the entire crowd laughing at her. "Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails." Trixie said as Applejack hopped off the stage. That's when Rainbow flew up to the stage.

"There's no need to go struttin' around and showin' off like that." Rainbow Dash challenged.

"Oh?" Trixie replied, interested.

"That's my job!" Rainbow announced as she flew off in a blur towards a windmill. After spinning it around a bit, she shot towards a cloud, breaking it. After pausing in the sun to pose, she shot back down, hitting water droplets that were still airborne and carrying them behind her as she flew back into the windmill. Landing back on stage, the water hit her back, creating a rainbow over her. "They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothin'!" Rainbow said with confidence, gaining the crowd's cheers. Trixie, however didn't look intimidated.

"When Trixie is through, the only thing they'll call you is loser." Saying this, Trixie used her magic and made the rainbow above Dash spiral around her, creating a tornado. She spun her around for a little bit until bringing her to a stop, leaving her dazed. "Seems like any pony with a DASH of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great Trixie." Trixie said as she conjured a cloud above Rainbow, zapping her as Applejack was helping her up, getting the crowd to laugh at HER now. As Rainbow and Applejack came down, Xavier went up to the two.

"Are you two ok?" He asked, clearly worried.

"We're fine, but that mare sure is not pleasant." Applejack responded as they rejoined the group.

"What we need is another unicorn to challenge her. Someone with some magic of her own." Spike said as he looked at Trixie angrily.

"Yeah! A Unicorn to show this unicorn who's boss." Rainbow agreed.

"A real unicorn to unicorn tussle." Applejack added.

Twilight was looking uncomfortable until Rarity walked up. "Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace." She said, clearly not understanding that they wanted Twilight to challenge her.

"Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?" Trixie insulted, getting a angry glare from Rarity.

"Oh, it. Is. On!" Rarity spat as she got up onto the stage. "You may think you're tough with all of your so-called powers, but there's more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style." She then used her magic to grab Trixie's curtain and make it into a dress. "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty." The crowd looked at her in awe at her beauty. Trixie, once again, didn't look worried as she charged her magic.

"Rarity won't let Trixie get the best of her!" Spike began. "She's strong, she's beautiful, she's—"

He stopped when Trixie used her magic, causing the whole crowd to gasp.

"Quick! I need a mirror! Get me a mirror! What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!" Rarity said in a panic, knowing something happened despite not seeing it.

"Nothing."

"It's fine."

"It's gorgeous."

"It's perfect even!"

"It's green." Everyone looked at Spike angrily. "What?"

"No, Green hair! Not green hair!" Rarity exclaimed in despair, seeing her hair looking like a grassy nest as she ran off stage. "Such an awful, awful color!" She cried as she ran off, probably to attempt to fix it. Xavier looked towards Trixie, clearly peeved at her and her ways.

"Well, Twilight, guess it's up to you." Xavier turned to see Spike talking to Twilight. "Come on, show her what you're made of."

"What do you mean? I'm nothing special." Twilight replied nervously.

"Yes, you are! You're better than her!"

"I'm not better than anyone."

"Hah! You think you're better than the Great and Powerful Trixie? You think you have more magical talent? Well, come on, show Trixie what you've got. Show us all." Trixie provoked.

"Who, me? I'm just your run of the mill citizen of Ponyville. No powerful magic here. I, uh...I think I hear my laundry calling. Sorry, gotta go!" Twilight nervously declined and ran off, surprising everyone. Xavier was about to run to her, but Trixie spoke.

"HA! Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria! Was there ever any doubt?" Trixie said as she began laughing. That was what broke the camel's back as Xavier glared back at her, speaking for the first time since Trixie came on stage.

"Hey, gloaty!" Trixie looked down to the voice, surprised to see Xavier. "That's enough out of you."

"O-oh really, why should listen to something like you?" Trixie said, getting over her shock quickly.

"Because you hurt my friends." Xavier said in a stern tone. "I don't know what your game is, but there is a difference to showing of and just being rude. You clearly don't know that line, so try to learn that line before you get hurt."

"Oh really?" Trixie said smugly. "Why don't you make me, ape?" Her smirk faded slightly when she saw that Xavier didn't move nor let his expression change.

"Because I know your game Trixie. You want to rile up ponies with insults to get them to come up to your stage and embarrass themselves to your hands. Unfortunately, you won't get that from me, not because I'm afraid, but because I'm smarter than that. Also, maybe don't go around saying you're the best at everything and lying about events that never happened." Trixie began to sweat a tiny bit. "Because there will be one time where everypony will look at you in hopes that you can do it, only to see that you have no power, and end up as an embarrassment to them as their problem becomes worse." Xavier's face softened slightly. "I'm not trying to be cruel, not even mean. I'm just trying to help you by keeping you from falling from the pedestal you put yourself on."

"W-well, there is no need to! Trixie IS the best, so you have no power over me!" Trixie said, with an unnoticeable, but present amount of worry in her voice.

"Your right, I have no power over Trixie. Only you have power over her, I'm just trying to warn you. But I still think Trixie should tune things down a bit. Now if you will excuse me, I have to find my friends, they need some help right now." Xavier turned around and walked away, leaving a speechless crowd and a very angry Trixie. When he found Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity (Who fixed her hair from Trixie's meddling), the three had shocked expressions. "Um, why are you three looking at me like that?"

"Well, you just went up to a pony with zero fear or hesitation and told her of, so we would be shocked." Applejack responded. Xavier sighed in response and spoke.

"Well, I have experienced those types of people, so I just said what I always wanted to say to their faces to her."

"Who was like that though, darling?" Rarity asked, getting an uncomfortable look from Xavier.

"I-I rather not say, lets just drop this, alright?" Xavier began to walk away. "I'm going to find Twilight, so don't worry about me, alright?" As Xavier walked away, the three watched him, wondering what his past was like.

When Xavier finally found where Twilight was held up, she was at her library. Xavier tried to enter, but he couldn't. He began to worry until Spike came out.

"Huh, Xavier? What are you dong here?" Spike asked.

"I came to check on Twilight. Is she ok by the way? She seemed a little uncomfortable." Xavier explained, getting an annoyed face from Spike.

"Oh, that. Can you follow me, I need to walk this out." Spike and Xavier began to walk as Spike began to explain. "Earlier today, Twilight and I were practicing her magic and she was doing very well. That's when Snips and Snails told us about a new unicorn in town, who I think you know. When we got there and saw Trixie gloating about her magic and hearing the others not approving of her boasting, Twilight became worried-"

"That she would lose us because of her magic." Xavier concluded, connecting the dots. "So that's why she looked so worried and uncomfortable at the stage. And yet... why would she be worried? She doesn't gloat nor brag about her skills. If anything, her going on stage would be defending her friends, so why is she so worried?"

"That's what I said to her, but she just doesn't get it!" Spike exclaimed, clearly frustrated at her.

"Spike, calm down." Xavier said in a bit of worry. "Remember, Twilight is new to friendship, so she may not know that using her skills won't lead to her losing us."

"Says you, Mr. 'I'm not good at electronics'."

"H-Hey, there's a difference in that! I say that because I'm not confident in my skills and I really am not the best at them! Twilight seems to have worries that she won't be able to keep both her friends and her abilities at once."

Sighing, Spike calmed down a bit. "Alright, fine. I'm going to walk alone for a while, you can go home for now, see ya." Spike said slightly down. Even though Xavier wanted to continue with him, he respected Spike's wish and went home for the day.

A Few Hours Later

It was nighttime and Xavier was getting ready for bed for the day. He had just taken a shower and had put on some bed clothes. He was now wearing a light t-shirt and some black and red plaid pajama pants, all hoof made by Rarity. While getting ready for bed, he was thinking about the day.

"I wonder how everypony is taking things? Today was stressful for all of us. Especially Twilight..." Xavier sighed as he got into his bed. "Maybe in the morning, I'll talk to her. I doubt that she want's to talk about it before bed." As Xavier was closing his eyes however...

GGGRRRRAAAAAARRRRRWWWWW

Falling out of his bed, Xavier stood up with a start. "What in the world was that!" Xavier didn't waste any time to investigate as he grabbed his sword and ran outside. Running a bit, he saw the two boys from earlier watching Trixie, who was shaking in fear. "What's going on here?"

"We brought an Ursa to town!" the blue one said with a smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJc2ZhbXIg

"Don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will vanquish it." The orange one said as they looked at Trixie in hope. Trixie, however didn't share their hope.

"I-I can't."

"WHAT?!" The two colts yelled.

"I-I can't, I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better." Trixie said in a panic.

"MADE IT UP?!" Their conversation was interrupted by another roar as they looked up, seeing the beast, a giant bear with blue fur that simmered like the stars it was under. When seeing it, Xavier felt shivers down his spine.

"Ah rust-oil." Xavier said, clearly worried. He was about to run, but he saw that the beast was focused on the two kids and Trixie, and it was tearing apart buildings to get to them, so he acted. He ran to the bear until he was in earshot of it. "Hey bear! Over here!" Xavier yelled, getting the Ursa's attention. The Ursa roared and jumped at him, Xavier dodging at the last second. Sword in hand, Xavier thought about attacking it, but he knew it wouldn't do much to it, so he held it close for defense as the Ursa swung it's claws at him. He barely blocked it as he flew back back onto his back, dazing him. Groaning, he saw the Ursa right above him as it readied to crush him, at least until a certain rainbow blur came and grabbed him as the Ursa slammed down. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was next to his friends with Rainbow holding him.

"You okay Xavier?" Rainbow asked worriedly.

"Yeah, just dandy..." Xavier groaned as he stood up.

"Why'd y'all go and fight an Ursa? You could've killed yourself!" Applejack yelled, clearly concerned and confused.

"I couldn't let anypony get hurt, especially since it was targeting Trixie and those two kids. I couldn't leave them to get hurt. Even if they were the cause of this..." Xavier said, mumbling the last part. They all looked at the Ursa rampaging, only to be surprised to see Twilight standing there. When they were wondering what she was doing, she used her magic and made a wind, creating a pleasant melody from some reeds, calming the Ursa down. she then used her magic and took hold of a nearby water tower and brought it over to a barn, filling it with milk. When it was full, she brought it to the Ursa and gave it to it, to which it began suckling on it like a baby would a bottle. Twilight then used her magic and lifted it into the sky and slowly but surely levitated it to the Everfree forest. When the Ursa was in the forest, she stopped her magic and collapsed, breathing heavy. Her breathing was interrupted by the entire town cheering for her.

"Heavens to Betsy! We knew you had ability, but not that much!" Applejack said as she, Rainbow, Rarity, and Xavier came up.

""I'm sorry!" Twilight replied immediately. "Please, please don't hate me!"

"Hate you?" The girls responded as Rarity continued. ""Why, whatever do you mean, darling?"

"Well, I know how much you all hated Trixie's showing off her magic tricks, and I just thought-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Rainbow Dash said cutting Twilight off. "Magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth."

"Most unpleasant." Rarity added.

"All hat and no cattle." Applejack finished.

"So...you don't mind my magic tricks?" Twilight asked.

"Your magic is a part of who you are, sugar cube, and we like who you are. We're proud to have such a powerful, talented unicorn as our friend." Applejack explained. I nodded towards what she said.

"And after whuppin' that ursa's hind quarters, we're even prouder." Rainbow Dash encouraged.

"You are?" Twilight asked happily.

"Uh-huh."

"Mm-hmm."

"Yep." Everypony agreed.

"Wow, Twilight, how'd you know what to do with that Ursa major?" Spike said as he approached.

"That's what I was doing when you came looking for me. I was so intrigued by Trixie's bragging that I was compelled to do a little reading up on them." Twilight said with confidence.

"So it is possible to vanquish an Ursa major all by yourself?"

"That wasn't an Ursa major. It was a baby, an Ursa minor." Twilight corrected, getting dumbfounded expressions out of everyone.

"Wait wait wait, BABY?! That was a baby!?" Xavier asked, to which Twilight nodded. Something then clicked in Xavier. "Wait, if it was a baby, then it was probably just cranky from being woken up." Xavier said as his tone grew more angry, causing the two colts to sweat nervously.

"Well, if that was an Ursa Minor, then what's an Ursa Major look like then?" Spike asked.

"You don't want to know..." Twilight said as everyone nodded, agreeing that they don't want to know.

"Huh." The crowd then turned to who scoffed, seeing Trixie approaching Twilight. "You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you have not bested an Ursa Major like I-"

"Oh can it Trixie!" The crowd gasped at Xavier as he got in between her and Twilight. "Don't you even dare say you've concurred a major! You said it yourself, you haven't, nor has anyone defeated one before." Trixie opened her mouth, but was cut off. "Don't even try to deny it! You didn't even have the guts to fight the minor, or even take it somewhere it couldn't hurt anyone!" Xavier walked towards her in anger. "I tried to warn you to cap your ego before something like this happens! Just stop, you've fallen from the pedestal I warned you about, and you are just making the fall worse by making a hole around it."

"Why you... You think you are so much better then Trixie? Well I will become even greater then you and your friend over there!" Trixie growled as she used a smoke bomb and ran off. Seeing her run off, Xavier realized how angry he was and cooled down as Rainbow came over.

"You okay man, that was quite intense, even for you." Rainbow said, slightly intimidated by him.

"I-it's nothing Rainbow. Just, don't ask please. I already said that I've dealt with people like that so please leave me be." Xavier sighed. He then noticed something and walked over to the two colts. "Now for the two of you." The two colts froze. "You two do realize that what you did was not a good idea? You could have gotten somepony hurt or worse." Xavier said, his voice showing not aggression, but instead a tone a parent would have when talking their child who did something wrong, surprising his friends. The two colts looked down in shame. "I'm not truly mad at you two, just please try to think about legitimacy before you believe something, especially if it could put you or others in danger." Xavier said softly but firm. The colts nodded, receiving a small smile from Xavier. "Good, now how about you two go and help out in cleaning the damages that the Ursa caused and you can be forgiven. Who knows, maybe if you do a good job I'll get you two an ice cream later." The two smiled at each other and got to work. Xavier then began to walk back to his home. "I'm going to go home now, see you tomorrow girls." As he walked away, the girls looked at him in awe. He was angry to burst a few moments ago, but yet he was so kind to Snips and Snails when he confronted them. What was his past that made him like this?

Dragonshy

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"I got a good feeling about this!"

It's been a little over a week since Trixie came to town and many ponies were having fun outside. All except for Xavier as he was at his work desk fiddling with something. He managed to buy some tools and found random scrap from around town in his free time and was finally working on his hobby.

"Just a few more tweaks and... There." Xavier said as he got up and held it. "Hah, feels good to do this again. Now I just need a test run somewhere and I can start modding it." Xavier said with excitement and pride. He left his house and decided to go to the park, though as he was walking, he noticed something in the sky over the park. Coming closer, he saw that it was a massive amount of smoke overhead. He began to worry for the townsfolk and ran to the park to warn them. When he got there, he saw Fluttershy trying to get other's attention to no avail. "Hey Fluttershy, what's wrong." Xavier said as he went over to her, startling her.

"Oh, Xavier, something terrible is happening." Fluttershy said meekly.

"Does it involve the giant plume of smoke above us?" Fluttershy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll get everypony to notice." Turning to the ponies, he began to shout. "Hey everypony, listen up!" The crowd looked towards the two, causing Fluttershy to cower a bit. "It's come to both me and Fluttershy's attention that there is a large amount of smoke is spreading." The ponies looked up and realized that there was, and began to worry as Xavier continued. "Now, we all know that Smoke comes from fires, and that size cloud may mean that there is a huge fire nearby, we need to-"

"It's not a fire." Everyone looked over to see that Twilight and Spike arrived. "I was just informed by Celestia about the cloud of smoke and it is not a fire."

"Well, what could cause this size of smoke then?" Xavier asked for the crowd.

"It's coming from a dragon."

"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?"

After the surprise that Twilight said to the entirety of the town, her, alongside her friends, went back to the Golden Oaks Library to discuss the situation.

"Sleeping." Twilight answered.

"Huh?"

"According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all this smoke." Twilight explained.

"He should really see a doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all." Pinkie said.

"Well, at least he's not snoring fire." Rarity added, spooking everyone a slight bit. "What are we meant to do about it?"

"I'll tell you what we're meant to do. Give him the boot." Rainbow said as she began to fly around. "Take that." Rainbow kicked a wooden horse head as Twilight kept it steady. "And that!" She tried to ram the head, but Twilight levitated it out of the way, causing her to slam into the wall, causing books to fall onto her.

"Um, Rainbow, I don't think that's wise." Xavier said as he went over to Rainbow's impact zone. "From what I can guess, this dragon will probably not be like a manticore, so fighting is probably not an option."

"Says you! You've drawn your sword multiple times." Rainbow said as she struggled around in hopes to get up.

"That's because it was either self defense or to protect you girls. Attacking something without warning usually makes things worse."

"Xavier's right Rainbow." Twilight said. "We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else. Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next 100 years!" This got a small gasp from Fluttershy and a shocked expression from Xavier.

"W-Wait, 100 years?!"

"Talk about getting your beauty sleep." Rarity added.

"Alright everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour." Twilight said as she put a saddle bag on her.

"Okay, girls, you heard her. The fate of Equestria is in our hooves. Do we have what it takes?" Rainbow asked to get the group psyched. Three of the girls voiced their agreements as they left the library, but Fluttershy seemed scared. Xavier noticed this and went over to her.

"Hey, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy shrieked as she turned to him, calming down when she realized it was Xavier. "Are you okay? You seem more... scared then usual."

"I-I'm o-okay Xavier." Fluttershy said. "I-I need to g-go." Fluttershy skittered off, getting a worried expression from Xavier as he went to get ready, mostly to see if his new invention was truly ready.

In a little bit, the group returned with supplies to climb the mountain and a little more. Twilight then came to the front and began to speak.

"Alright everypony..." Twilight said, gained the group's attention. "I'm mapping out the quickest route, but we've all gotta keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall."

"M-m-mountain?" Fluttershy asked fearfully.

"Yes, the dragon is in that cave at the very top." The group looked to where Twilight pointed, to which Xavier pulled out a metallic handheld telescope he bought earlier in the week and aimed it over to to the mountain.

"I think I see the cave that she's talking about." Xavier said as he looked. "Hmm, by my calculations, I would say it's at least a mile up the mountain"

"Looks and sounds pretty cold up there." Applejack said after Xavier observed.

"You bet it is. The higher you go, the chillier it gets." Rainbow replied.

"She's right. Up there there's less air too, so breath may be a bit short." Xavier said as he put his telescope away.

"Well then, it's a good thing I brought my scarf." Rarity said as she pulled a two toned scarf out and put it on her, posing with it, getting mixed reactions. While everyone was looking at Rarity's scarf, Fluttershy looked at the mountain with fear. She then began to walk to Twilight, to which Xavier noticed and listened in.

"Um, Twilight? I realize you're busy but-"

"Uh-huh, well we could go this way." Twilight said, only half listening to Fluttershy.

"But if I could just have a second..."

"Uh-huh. No, we want to avoid that." Twilight said, still only somewhat listening to Fluttershy

"So, um, I was thinking that, um..." Fluttershy hesitate for a second until she spoke again. "Maybe...I should just stay here in Ponyville."

"Uh-huh." Twilight muttered until she realized on what she'd just heard. "Wait!" She ran over to Fluttershy, who had just been in the process of leaving. "You have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy!" Twilight said.

"B-but I don't think I-"

"Oh and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spike's got it all covered while you're gone." Twilight said cutting Fluttershy off again. looking at Spike, he was seen holding some of Fluttershy's animals.

"You can count on me!" Spike said confidently, though Angel pounded his head, causing him to drop the animals. "Oooh! Hey! Hey! Wait!"

As Spike left to get the animals back, Fluttershy began to feel afraid again. "I-I'm not really sure he's quite up to the task. Maybe-" Unfortunately, Twilight wasn't listening as she walked away, ignoring her pleads. Seeing her fear, Xavier went over to her.

"Hey Fluttershy." This got another shriek from her as she turned to him. "Don't worry about this too much. Remember, you have all of us accompanying you up this mountain, so don't be afraid to ask for help."

"O-okay..." Fluttershy said as she looked down. She then saw her shadow and jumped into Xavier's arms, getting a exasperated look out of him.

"This may be harder then I thought." Xavier thought to himself as he brought Fluttershy back to the group.

A little while after Fluttershy's ordeal, the group moved onto the mountain. As they got closer, they soon heard a loud noise, confirmed by Twilight to be the dragon snoring. When the group arrived, a few were intimidated by the mountain, mostly Fluttershy.

"I-it's so...high!" Fluttershy spoke in fear.

"Well, it is a mountain. I'm going to fly up there and check it out!" Rainbow said as she tried to go ahead until Applejack grabbed her tail.

"Hold on, now. I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers and all." Applejack said.

"Oh alright..." Rainbow groaned. She then looked at Xavier who looked to be sizing up the mountain. "Hey engie! You worried that you can't climb?" She said cheekily

"Don't call me that Rainbow." Xavier said as he turned to her. "And no, not really, cause I just built myself something that will be useful." He said as he looked into the backpack he brought. This got the entire group curious.

"You did?!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Oh, what is it?! Metal wings, spring shoes, ROCKETS?!?!"

Xavier then found what he was looking for. As he pulled it out, the girls looked at it in confusion. What he pulled out looked like a flintlock pistol, though there were differences. There a bunch of screws and rivets across the patchwork of metal and wood that it was made of. The trigger was made out of a cut rod of metal and the ring around it was the same. The grip was covered in a fabric that, while looking soft, was pretty ugly. On the left of the thing was what appeared to be a gear with another metal rod welded onto the side looking like a crank. The entire thing looked crude and messy, and the girls had no idea what to think of it.

"Oh dear, what is that?" Twilight asked.

"Just watch." Xavier said as he turned to the cliff. Pointing the thing up, he aimed it at a branch outcropping from the cliff near a flat area, and pulled the trigger. When he did, a odd shaped metal rod came out, followed by a rope. A moment after the metal rod came out, three prongs extended from the bottom to the top. The metal rod then wrapped around the branch Xavier was aiming at, giving Xavier a rope to climb the cliff with. Seeing it, the girls were impressed at the display. "Heh, thanks girls. Glad this bad boy worked for me."

"Yes, but did you have to make it so... ugly?" Rarity said.

"Hey, I make my gear with functionality in mind, not fashion in mind." Xavier said as he began to climb his rope, with the others following along.

Climbing up the mountain, the group was in good time to reach the top.

"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests." Rarity said, breaking the silence.

"Huh, they do that here too?" Xavier asked, keeping focus on his rope.

"Why yes, they do. Ooo, if I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!" Rarity said in excitement.

"Welcome to my cave, Rarity. Care for a diamond?" Pinkie "Roared", imitating the dragon, getting the group to laugh.

"Girls! This is no laughing matter!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Hey Twilight," Xavier started. "I know that this is no laughing matter, but keeping our spirits up is an important thing to do."

"Guh, alright, I'll let it slide for now." Twilight sighed. "Fluttershy, you're the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?" It took a few moments to realize that Fluttershy was not only answering, she wasn't even there. "Fluttershy?" Looking down, the group saw her in a bush, cowering.

"Hey! What're you waiting for, an invitation?!" Rainbow asked, impatient and annoyed about not being at the top already.

"Ooo, I think I have one in my bag!" Pinkie said as she reached into her bag, causing confetti and balloons to come out, getting an annoyed look from Rainbow and a confused look from Xavier.

"It's-It's so...steep." Fluttershy said in fear.

"It is a cliff!" Rainbow said, clearly already done with Fluttershy's fears. "You could just, I dunno... fly up here already?"

"Yeah Flutters, You can do it." Xavier said calmly, confident in her.

"O-okay..." Fluttershy said softly as she began to flap her wings. She managed to get close to the group's level until the dragon's snoring rang out, scaring Fluttershy. This scare caused her wings to fold in and stop, causing her to fall back into the bush, earning a groan from Rainbow.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this." Twilight said, clearly tired of the setbacks as well. That's when Applejack took Twilight's map and looked it over. "What are you doing?"

"I'll need this if I'm going to take her around the mountain another way." Applejack replied, getting an even louder groan from Rainbow.

"Around the mountain? That's going to take forever!" Rainbow groaned as Applejack went down to Fluttershy when another loud snore roared out, causing Fluttershy to fall over in fear like a dog playing dead.

"Don't worry, Twi. We'll be there lickety-split." Applejack said as the others looked at the mountain, hoping that they would.

They weren't.

It took them at least an hour to get there, not helped by the fact that Applejack was forced to drag a still paralyzed Fluttershy. The time it took them to get up the mountain Pinkie and Rarity played 35 games of tic-tac-toe and Xavier was able to give a rundown of his new grappling hook to Twilight, showing that the gear was to reel back in the rope and the grappling hook. With Applejack and Fluttershy rejoining the group, they continued up the mountain, stopping at a gap in the path. Without hesitation, Rainbow ran and jumped the gap, getting the others to follow along. The only ones that weren't across was Xavier and Fluttershy, the former about to jump and the latter behind him a good few feet.

"Come on Fluttershy, you can do it, watch." Xavier said as he jumped, landing on the other side. "See, if I can do it, you can too."

"B-b-but it's...so wide..." Fluttershy whimpered, getting a worried look from Xavier.

"Come on, Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now." Twilight said trying to reason with her to no avail.

"You could just leap on over." Applejack encouraged.

Fluttershy looked at the group. "I-"

Suddenly, the snoring of the dragon rang out again, shaking Fluttershy's will again as she fell into a fettle position. "I don't know."

The entire group had mixed reactions, ranging from worry to annoyance. The one that wasn't a bad reaction was Pinkie. "There's nothing to be afraid of!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she jumped back over to Fluttershy. "It's just a hop, skip and a jump. See?" With that, Pinkie began to sing to her. "It's not very far. Just move your little rump. You can make it if you try with a hop, skip and jump!"

"We don't have time for-" Twilight was about to tell Pinkie that this was a bad idea, but Xavier stopped her.

"No, I think this is a good idea, look." As Pinkie was singing and hopping over the gap over and over again, Fluttershy looked a bit more confident as she got up from her fettle position.

"O-okay. Here I go. A hop." Fluttershy said as she started to hop..

Applejack, Twilight, and Xavier began to encourage her.

"That's it."

"You've got it."

"Almost there."

"You got this Fluttershy!"

"A skip." Fluttershy skipped, beginning to come closer.

"Just don't look down." Twilight added, causing Xavier to widen his eyes at her.

"Twilight! Don't!" Xavier said as Twilight looked at hem confused. That's when she heard a yelp and looked back over, seeing Fluttershy on the gap, with her hooves on each side, getting yet another groan from Rainbow Dash as she reluctantly went over to get her. "Because if you tell someone to do something, they will do it..." Xavier said with minimal enthusiasm. That's when the two pegasi came back over and Fluttershy spoke.

"I guess I forgot to jump."

After the jumping ordeal, the seven continued up the mountain. They soon managed to get to a wider area that resonated a bad feeling to some. That bad feeling only grew bigger when Twilight didn't talk, but whispered a warning.

"Let's keep it down. According to the map, we're in an avalanche zone. The slightest peep could set off a rockslide!"

Hearing her, Fluttershy began to shutter. "An ava- ava-" She stopped when a pair of fingers clamped over her mouth as Xavier looked at her with a calm yet worried look. Getting the message, she quitted down and followed the group. The walk was practically mute, with the only sound that could be heard was the very quiet tapping of hooves. It wasn't until Rainbow flew under an outcropping branch and caused a few leaves to fall out. And as luck would have it, one of those leaves happen to fall onto Fluttershy's back.

"AVALA-"

Fluttershy scream was quieted by Applejack stuffing her hoof into Fluttershy's mouth. The entire group held their breaths, worried that Fluttershy's outburst caused enough of a reaction. After a few moments of silence, they relaxed and sighed, happy that nothing happened... only for a rumbling to be heard above them. They soon realized that an avalanche was happening and they scrambled, running everywhere in hopes of not being squished. As Xavier was running, he saw that Twilight was being cut off by a multitude of boulders, all leading her to a massive one. Instinctively, Xavier grabbed his grappling hook and aimed it at Twilight's saddlebag and shot. The hook managed to lock onto the strap and Xavier pulled with all his might, causing Twilight to fly backwards, seconds before the massive one landed. After a short while, the only thing still in the air was clouds of dust stirred up by the boulders' impacts. Seeing that things finally calmed down, the team regrouped.

"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.

"I think so..." Xavier said, slightly out of breath.

"Ugh!" Rarity said as she shook herself of dust that stuck to her.

"Yay! Let's do it again!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced around happily.

"Pinkie!" Xavier exclaimed. "How was that fun?!"

"Can we ask questions later?" Rainbow said rather angerly. "We have a problem." Looking at what she was referencing, they saw that the avalanche caused a large pile of debris to form in their path.

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy whimpering in sadness.

"It's alright Sugarcube, we'll just have to climb it over." Applejack said, trying comforting Fluttershy. The group began the laborious task of climbing the mound of debris. During the climb, Fluttershy was getting stink eyes from Rainbow and curious worry from Xavier. On the way down the mound, Fluttershy slipped on a loose rock, causing her to slide into Rarity and Pinkie, with Xavier running down to help them up.

"Not your fault." Rainbow said, glaring at Fluttershy who shied away as the group continued. Rainbow flew up closer to Twilight as she began to speak to her. "Still think bringing her was a good idea?"

"We're about to find out. We're here." Rainbow was confused for the first part until she looked up and saw that they arrived at the cave, seeing smoke coming out of the large opening. As the group caught up, Twilight began to set the plan up. "Rainbow, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke."

"On it!" Rainbow said as she flew up closer to the smoke.

"Rarity. You, Xavier and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there." Rarity,
Xavier, and Pinkie nodded. Pinkie then ran of and started shaking around a rubber chicken, getting Rarity, Twilight, and Xavier to look at her in confusion. Twilight shook off her confusion and looked towards Applejack. "Applejack, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack." Applejack then took out two apples and threw them up, kicking them on the way down, shooting them into a tree. "Now, it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up, and between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?" The group nodded as Twilight went to the cave. A few seconds later, she came back out, clearly irritated. "Okay, where is Fluttershy now?" She looked around and saw that she was standing a bit away with her head in the ground. Twilight then went over to her and began to push her. "Come on! - We have to do this! - Now! Every - second longer that dragon - sleeps is another - acre of Equestria that is covered in - smoke." As Twilight was pushing her, the other girls began to join in, with Xavier on the sidelines putting things together.

"I-I-I can't go in the cave." Fluttershy finally admitted, getting exasperated groans from the others.

"Great, now she's afraid of caves." Rainbow said annoyed.

"I don't think so." Xavier said as he approached. "I think something else is scaring her more then the cave, or even the mountain we're on right now." The group looked at him confused until Fluttershy spoke up.

"H-he's right." The girls looked at her even more confused. "I-I-I'm a-afraid of..." Fluttershy tried to speak, but her fears got the best of her again. The girls looked at her expectantly until Xavier came up.

"I think I know what she's afraid of. And I think I can say it, id Fluttershy is okay with it." Fluttershy nodded, allowing him to speak. "I believe that she's afraid of the dragon we are about to face." At that moment, the dragon snored, sending a large plume of smoke out, enveloping the group. When the smoke cleared, they saw Fluttershy hiding behind Xavier.

"But Fluttershy, you have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals!" Twilight reminded her.

"Yes, because they're not dragons." Fluttershy replied.

"Oh come on! What about the time you walked right up to that manticore? It didn't seem like you were scared at all!" Rainbow "encouraged".

"Yes, because he wasn't a dragon." Fluttershy said.

"Spike's a dragon. You're not scared of him." Pinkie said.

"I think that you girls are forgetting that this dragon is probably a great deal bigger then spike and the manticore, and is most likely not a 'wild' animal. Most likely a more sentient being." Xavier said on Fluttershy's behalf.

"But if you're so afraid of dragons, why didn't you say something before we came all the way up here?" Twilight asked, clearly confused to the reason why she climbed the journey up to learn about this now.

"Because she was afraid to tell you girls." Xavier said sternly. "I believe that she never told you in fear of disappointing you girls and me, and you all doubting her and yelling at her." He glared at Rainbow, who didn't look phased, but the other's looked guilty as Applejack approached.

"Fluttershy, I can understand if you're scared, I mean we're all scared of that dragon too!"

"I'm not!" Rainbow said, receiving a rock to the head from Xavier.

"Almost all of us are scared of that dragon, but we've got a job to do. So, get in there with Twilight and show her what you're made of." The entire group (Except Dash) looked at her encouragingly. Fluttershy looked at all of them, but her feelings weren't there.

""I-I-.....I'm sorry, I just can't...." Fluttershy stammered as she began to leave, sheading some tears.

"Fluttershy" Xavier said with worry as he began to follow her.

"Xavier?" He turned to see Twilight and the others looking at him. "Where are you going? We need you."

"Well, Fluttershy need me too, so I'm going to help her." Xavier responded as he went off to find her. After a bit of searching, he found her behind a rock nearby. "Fluttershy?" She raised her head slightly, not looking Xavier in the eyes. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Raising her head, she spoke.

"I'm sorry. I caused so many interruptions without helping you in the end, I'm sorry. I just wish I was as brave as you or the others..." Fluttershy began to cry, as Xavier looked at her with a sympathetic look.

"I think you have bravery mixed up." Fluttershy's crying lessened as she looked at Xavier as he began to come to her level. "Bravery isn't being fearless, it's being able to continue forward despite your fears. Just because you're afraid, doesn't mean you are a detriment to us. Everyone has a fear, and everyone can face them differently. Just try to stay calm and believe in yourself, and you can be as brave as the rest of the girls, maybe even braver." Xavier smiled at Fluttershy, who looked at him a bit down, but not as down as before.

"Alright, that's it!" Xavier's face went from comforting to surprised as he looked from behind the rock to see rainbow looking ready to fight. "We tried persuasion, charm...whatever it is Pinkie does – It’s time to stop wasting time, I’m going in!" Rainbow then flew into the cave ready to fight.

"Rainbow, what are you doing?!?!" Xavier said as he came out from behind the rock. As he was coming out, he heard a very loud crack from within the cave, prompting a very worrying silence. After a tense second, a very load roar came out of the cave, followed by a out of control Rainbow Dash as she flew into the girls as Xavier looked from the sidelines. Shaking off their daze, the group heard very loud footsteps approaching, causing the girls to scatter. When the footsteps were revealed to be the dragon's, Xavier was incredibly intimidated by what he saw. He was expecting a big beast, but not anything bigger then the Ursa Minor before. The beast was a great deal bigger then the Minor, covered in red scales and very angry, The dragon looked over at the girls, who were huddled up in fear, and took a deep breath and breathed a powerful stream of smoke at them, blowing them into the rock that Fluttershy was hiding behind with so much force, it caused the rock to break. The dragon then noticed Xavier, and decided to go for him next. When Fluttershy looked up, she saw that not only were her pony friends hurt by her, but she saw that the dragon was slowly crawling to Xavier, who was backing away in fear of injury. At that moment, something snapped in her as she spoke.

"How dare you." The dragon turned to her, looking less then impressed or intimidated by her. "How DARE you!" Fluttershy then darted strait up to the dragon's snout and stood on it as she looked it directly in the eye. "Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not—I repeat—you do not! Hurt! My! Friends!" As she spoke, the rest of the group was in awe at Fluttershy's actions, especially since the dragon cowered a bit once she was finished. "You got that?" The dragon's head shrank in farther. "Well?"

"But that rainbow one kicked me..." The dragon said, truing to reason with her. The group of course looked at the mare in question who had a sheepish look on her face.

"And I'm very sorry about that." Fluttershy replied, showing a bit of her softer side, but not letting up. "But you're bigger than her, and you should know better! You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures."

"But I-"

"Don't you 'but I' me, mister." Fluttershy said, cutting off the dragon. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?" The dragon had no idea what to do, obviously scared and confused at being scolded by something smaller then it by a large margin. "I said...what do you have to say for yourself?!" The dragon finally broke, beginning to cry so much that it was like rain to the group. "There, there, no need to cry." Fluttershy said soothingly, rubbing his snout. "You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things, you just need to find a different place to sleep, that's all." Fluttershy then descended back down to the ground, immediately getting surrounded by her friends.

"Fluttershy!" Fluttershy turned to see Xavier running up to her. "That was incredible! I knew you could be just as brave as the rest of us." Fluttershy then blushed at the compliment and smiled at the group. The group then heard a loud wingbeat as they looked to see the dragon flying away with a large sack. Seeing that their mission was over, the team headed home.

When the group got back to Ponyville, Xavier broke off from the rest, saying that he was exhausted from the day and decided to hang it up for the day. Once he got back home, he sat at his desk and took out his grappling hook and smiled.

"Heh, I'd say that today was a successful experiment." Xavier said with pride. "I really outdone myself today. If only-" Xavier then paused and his expression became more pained and hopeless. "If only you were here to see it." Reaching for his neck, he gripped tightly to the bandana around his neck and let a tear fall. "If only you ere here in general, you would have loved it here..." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a picture. "If only..."

Bridal Gossip

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It was another beautiful day in Ponyville and as usual, Xavier was at his work desk, tinkering with his grappling hook. It's been a few weeks since the dragon incident and things have been peaceful all around, except for a large storm that happened a few days ago. Using the peace, Xavier decided to start modding the grappling hook he made and see where he could take it. While he was working on it, he got hungry so he decided to go to the kitchen and find some food. When he got there though, there wasn't much food in it that he could use.

"Hmm, I may need to do a grocery run..." Xavier murmured to himself. With a new purpose, he grabbed his sword and went to the market. While he was walking, he noticed that there was a lack of ponies outside. When he got to the market, he realized that there was no one around, not even a filly or colt playing. "Huh, what's going on?" Xavier said as he began to walk, his hand near his sword just in case. As he was walking around, he saw a cloaked figure in the distance, so he went up to ask them what was going on. As he got close, he saw that the cloaked figure was scratching at the ground, so he began to speak. "Hello, can I help you with something?" Hearing his voice, The cloaked figure looked up and was surprised to see him.

"Huh, what do we have here? A new breed of creature draws near." The cloaked figure spoke in a mystifying voice.

"Yup, a new species to Equestria I guess..." Xavier said, a bit embarrassed. "I'm guessing you're new around here then?" Xavier said with kindness in his voice.

"No, I live nearby, just not in town. But I am glad that you were found." The cloaked figure said. "For that, you may know my name. My name is Zecora, and potions are my game." Zecora said as she removed her hood, revealing that she was a zebra. Her mane was cut in a way to look like a mohawk and she had gold rings on her neck and ears. With her hood removed, Xavier was surprised to see her.

"A zebra?" Xavier said.

"Oh, I see you are well informed. Why yes, a zebra is how I was formed." Zecora responded, amused at Xavier's reaction.

"Wow, I guess we are both rare species to Equestria then." The two began to laugh as the mood was lifted. "So what's going on, why are you here Zecora?"

"I come here wishing to buy new things. Unfortunately, it seems no pony is out again to sing." Zecora said a bit down as she walked away.

"Huh, this happened before?" Xavier said as he walked up with her.

"Yes, though I wish I could tell. Why they all leave, and leave nothing to sell." Zecora responded. "Oh well, there is nothing to do, except to go back to Everfree and brew."

"E-Everfree?! Is that where you live?!" Xavier said, a bit surprised as to hear that somepony, or in this case, some zebra, lives there.

"Why yes though it is a shock, the flora makes it easy to keep my home stocked." Zecora responded.

"Well, it can be dangerous, so I'll walk with you to keep you safe." Xavier said as he pulled out his sword, surprising and impressing Zecora as it extended. Seeing as he would be fine to follow, she lead the way with Xavier next to her. As they were walking into the Everfree forest, they were striking up a conversation and getting to know each other. Their conversation stopped abruptly however as Zecora went and grabbed Xavier's shirt collar and pulled him away from a patch of blue flowers he was about to walk into. "Gah, what was that about." Xavier said as he tried to regain his balance.

"I'm sorry my friend, but you were about to walk into trouble. Those flowers-"

"Let go of our friend Zecora!" The duo turned to see Xavier's friends standing in a patch of flowers, non of them looking too pleased. Seeing their faces, Zecora began to back away.

"Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Zecora said as fog began to accumulate around her.

"Y-you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya hear?" Applejack said trying to keep a brave face, but was obvious afraid. the others except for Twilight agreed as they voiced their opinions, as Twilight gave them a look of annoyance

"Beware! Beware!" Zecora said as the fog became so thick, she could not be seen.

"Zecora wait, they won't hurt you!" Xavier said as he saw Zecora fade away. When she was gone, Xavier looked down for a second before turning to the girls angrily. "What was that about girls? You scared her off!"

"Good thing too, you were almost cursed by her" Rainbow said, clearly proud about scaring her off.

"Cursed? You think she was going to curse me? Why?" Xavier said offended.

"Cause she's evil and dangerous!" Applejack said walking up. "You could have been lead into her home and cursed by her!"

"Agreed, I mean just look at her, so horrid." Rarity said backing Applejack up. At that moment, Xavier realized what they were on about.

"Are you telling me that you don't trust her because of her species?" Xavier asked sternly, getting a slightly nervous look from them. "Well, I guess that means you girls don't trust me then." Xavier got mixed reactions from them at that logic. "That's what I thought. Maybe you should think about things before acting." Xavier said as he walked away, going back to his home to take a break from them, avoiding the blue flowers as he went along, getting a bad feeling from them.

The Next Day

Xavier was walking over to Twilight's library with a slightly down face. "Maybe I was a bit short with them. They may be blunt at times, but they may have thought something else, and besides, they all couldn't be on that bandwagon, right?" Xavier thought to himself as he got to Twilight's place. Opening the door, his thoughts were interrupted by a very interesting sight, for all six of his friends were in the library, though they were all different. Twilight's horn had blue spots and was jiggling whenever she moved her head. Pinkie's tongue was inflated and covered in the same spots as Twilight. Rainbow's wings were flipped onto her stomach and couldn't fly straight. Rarity's hair was long and shambled like dreadlocks. Applejack was tiny, having to be carried by a small filly that Xavier met before, her name Apple Bloom. And Fluttershy... she seemed fine. "G-Girls! What happened to you all!?" Turning around, the girls were slightly embarrassed to see him.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Rainbow said as she struggled to stay steady. "We've been slapped with a curse."

"Yeah, all thanks to Zecora!" Applejack added, much to Xavier's frustration.

"What?! Why do you think Zecora did this!?"

"What do you mean 'why' darling?" Rarity asked in doubt.

"Ipth all Zthecora's fault." Pinkie attempted to say, though her tongue made it hard.

"It's not a curse you girls!" Twilight said angrily.

"Maybe he's right..." Fluttershy said, though her voice was extremely deep, startling Xavier.

"What do you mean!?" Rainbow questioned. "It's clear as day she hit us all with a hex!"

"It's not a hex either!" Twilight said, which ended up getting the group to argue with each other. During their arguing though, Xavier's rage was building until he couldn't take it.

"Alright, that's it, shut UP!" Xavier yelled out, causing the entire room to fall silent. "You girls are being ridiculous!! Did my words mean nothing to you yesterday?! Zecora is innocent, and I am going to prove it."

"How?" Rainbow asked doubtfully.

"I'm going to go her home and talking to her right now!" The girls all gasped at him. "I want none of you to follow me, got that! I don't want you to girls acting before reason, and I can defend myself is things get dicey. So let me talk to her, and if any of you get in my way, so help me." Xavier turned around and headed out the door and to the Everfree forest to clear Zecora's name.

"Easier said then done though..."

Xavier was sitting on a log by the path that he and Zecora split off at, thinking about his next course of action. He had no idea where Zecora's home was, so he was sitting to keep himself from getting lost while he planned his next course of action.

"How do I clear her name if I don't know where she lives. Gah, what do I-"

His thoughts were cut off as he heard a snapping twig. Getting up and looking where the sound came from, he saw a terrifying sight. In front of him was what appeared to be a wolf, though it was a lot bigger than the average wolf and made of a large mass of wood. The beast was growling at him as it slowly crept towards him. When the wolf was a jump away, Xavier only had one thing come to his mind.

"Um, nice doggie?"

The Beast suddenly lunged at him. Xavier barely dodged as he got out his sword. He attempted a swing at the beast, but it dodged, retaliating with it's claws. Xavier didn't manage to dodge the entire thing, getting a cut deep enough to draw blood onto his right forearm. Xavier backed away in pain as he gripped it with his free hand. His hopes of getting out diminished as he looked at the wolf coming closer. Suddenly, a jar came flying at the beast, hitting it's head and bursting in a cloud of smoke and liquids. Whatever was in the jar, it stunned and disoriented the wolf so much that it began to dash around recklessly.

"You cannot just stand there!" Xavier turned to the voice to see the zebra he was looking for. "We must flee, while the effects it cannot bare." Seeing an opportunity, Xavier dashed to Zecora as the two ran away from the wolf. After a bit of running, the two came to a halt. "That was too close my friend. If I wasn't there it would have been your end." Zecora said.

"You said it, Zecora, thanks for the save." Xavier said in relief. "I need to talk to you Zecora."

"We can talk somewhere else. My home is close by for my pals. We can go there to chat, whilst I heal up that gash in my flat." Zecora said as she lead Xavier through the forest.

"You have a nice place here Zecora, fit's you to a T."

Xavier was looking around Zecora's hut as she was getting a few things to help patch up Xavier's arm. The place was filled with strange masks, pots, and other bobbles. There were shelves and tables with many different potions and ingredients. There was even a big cauldron in the center of the room filled with a strange substance. To most the place would give the creeps to them, but Xavier knew better and was instead fascinating to him.

"Your words make me smile wide, they are from my home across the tides." Zecora said as she came back over with bandages and a bottle of a strange paste. She began to apply the paste to the bandage as she came over. "This will help heal, so tightly sit. It may sting a slight bit." She then began to wrap the bandage around the wound, getting a pained cry from Xavier.

"GAH! Sting, that's more like stabs!" Xavier yelped, getting a chuckle from Zecora.

"Well, it did touch your vein. But what is the term, 'no pain no gain'"? Getting a groan from Xavier, Zecora continued to work on Xavier's arm. "I must ask you while we have time, why do you come here into this forest of grime?" Xavier then remembered why he was there, so he sighed and began to explain.

"You see after yesterday, I got a bit mad at my friends and went back to my home. Over the night I felt a bit guilty for snapping at them, so I went to one of my friend's home to apologies. When I got there however, all six of my friends had weird things happen to them. While the sudden changes was worrying, the worst part was that most of them blamed you for it, saying that you cursed them. So I got mad and decided to head out to find you and prove you weren't the cause of this. And well... you know what happened..."

"Hmm, that does sound very strange, to blame someone else for outrage." Zecora said as she got up, having finished the bandages. "Though I believe I know what's the cause. Tell me, did they step in blue before their flaws?"

Thinking about Zecora's question, Xavier then remembered that the girls did run trough a patch of blue flowers. "Now that you mention it, they were standing in a patch of blue flowers when we saw them. Is that the problem, because you did pull me away from a smaller patch before they made their appearance?"

Zecora nodded and walked to a bookshelf. "Yes, for those plants are called poison joke. This plant is very similar to poison oak. But this plant does not seek wrath. Instead, it looks simply for a laugh."

"Now that you mention it, the strange changes are pretty ironic." Xavier said with a hand on his chin thinking. "The best spellcaster's horn becomes limp, the best flyer can't stay straight, the quiet, soft-spoken one's voice is super deep, the fusionist's hair looks like vines, the chattiest one can't even speak, and the strongest one becomes the runt of the litter. I guess it really is a joke." Xavier said sighing. "Thank the lord, I was worried that there wouldn't be a good reason and the girls wouldn't have aright to believe you. Well now that we know the cause, is there a cure or is this a thing that time is the only one."

Zecora came over with a book and placed it on a pedestal. "I have the cure right here. In this book will help their fears." Looking inside he found what he was looking for.

"A-ha, Poison joke cure. Huh, it's a bubble bath? Eh whatever, whatever it takes to cure the girls. Do you think you're willing to help me here?"

"I am always up for making a cure. For you, it will work for sure." Zecora walked over to her cauldron. "Although, I do not have everything in the book. Take this list and please go look." Zecora then pointed to a sash with a bunch of casks. "Take that before you go. If trouble comes, give one a throw."

"Will do Zecora. If it means helping my friends and prove your innocence, I will happily oblige." Xavier said as he took the list and sash. "I'll be back, good luck!" Xavier then left the hut and went to look for the things needed.

A While Later

Xavier was walking back to Zecora's hut with all of the ingredients that she needed. As he was walking, he was talking to himself.

"Once Zecora finishes the cure, I'll get the girls over to the hut and get them to take a dip in it. Once they see that Zecora wasn't the cause of their problem but their solution, they will surely believe that Zecora isn't someone bad. And once they see that, the rest of the town will be sure to follow, and then Zecora won't be alone all the time." Xavier smiled and continued to walk. As he got close to the hut though, he saw a group of figures outside her window. Curious, he began to sneak closer to see who they were, becoming both surprised and upset that it was the girls looking in. He began to v=come closer as he began to listen o their conversation.

"I didn't want to believe it, but maybe she is evil." Twilight said sadly.

"Ya see, she is nothin' but bad news." Applejack said.

"Amd watph worth ipht thap we dom't know where Xbabier is." Pinkie said.

"But where could he be?" Rainbow wondered.

"How about standing behind you girls annoyed." The girls then tensed up and turned to see Xavier behind them, arms crossed and with an annoyed expression on his face. "I cannot believe you girls! I've been doing things for you ever since I've shown up and the one time I ask you to do something you do the opposite!"

"Well, we had a very good reason, darling." Rarity spoke.

"We got worried about you since you were gone for so long." Fluttershy whispered.

"And besides, you should be grateful that we did follow you, because we can save you from her." Rainbow announced

"Oh really, and what are you saving me from?" Xavier asked doubtfully.

"Saving you from her turning you into soup." Twilight said a little hesitantly, receiving a very annoyed groan from Xavier.

"UGH, seriously! You think she want's to turn me into soup? You know what, follow me, I'm going to prove to you all that she is a good zebra." Xavier then walked to the door and gestured the girls to follow, to which they complied. Xavier then knocked on the door. "Hey Zecora, it's me, Xavier. I got everything you needed."

"Of course, thank you my friend. Come in so I can make the blend." Zecora said from inside, so Xavier opened the door.

"By the way Zecora, I happened to pick up some loiterers along the way." Xavier said as he let the girls in. Looking up from the cauldron, Zecora looked surprised to see them.

"Oh, what have you brought in? Your pony friend in the skin?" Zecora asked.

"Yup, I found them looking into your window." Xavier said, glaring at them. "Anyway, here's those ingredient's you needed." Xavier handed her a satchel filled with different herbs and flora.

"Perfect young human. This will be worth the effort you ran." Zecora said as she went back to her cauldron. Xavier then went over to his friends.

"Okay, here's the deal. I know you girls doubt Zecora's not evil, so I'm going to have you ask questions to us and we will answer them, so that you girls can get answers about somepony you barely know about. Sound good?" The girls nodded. "Alright, first question." The girls looked at each other, unsure as to what to ask. It wasn't until Rainbow spoke up.

"Why does Zecora come into town in the first place?"

"She comes into town because she want's to shop around and buy things unavailable to her living here." Xavier explained.

"Why does she even live her in the first place, everypony knows that this place ain't natural." Applejack asked.

"Well, this place has a large diversity of plants and flora that you can't find anywhere else, so it makes it easy for Zecora to get the things she needs for her potions."

"Um, why does she dig at the ground?" Fluttershy asked.

"There is a particular type of beetle the lives underground in Ponyville, and it's scales have some interesting properties. She was digging to see if she could find one of those beetles to give it a few scales from it."

"Well, why do we look like this if Zecora didn't curse us?" Rarity chimed in.

"I can answer that, you pony folk." Zecora said for the first time since the QnA started. "The reason is a plant known as poison joke." This got the group confused, so Xavier joined in.

"You girls remember what she said to you before she went home? 'Beware, beware you pony folk. Those leaves of blue are not a joke.' Well, that was no curse she was speaking, but a warning about the blue flowers you were standing in. It's called poison joke."

"That plant is very similar to poison oak, but it's results are like a joke." Zecora said. "This plant does not seek wrath. Instead, it looks simply for a laugh."

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked, clearly confused.

"Well, think about it. All of the things that have happened to you six are kind of like jokes. Like the so-called best flyer not being able to fly straight for five seconds, or the most talkative one having a hard time speaking." The girls thought about it, and realized that these were like jokes played onto them, so they allowed that.

"Okay, fine, I'll give you that. But what about the Cauldron?!" Rainbow demanded.

"And the chanting?" Fluttershy added.

"And the creepy décor?" Rarity included as well.

"Treasures of the land from where I am from." Zecora explained, pointing out a couple masks. "This one speaks 'hello' and the other 'welcome'." The girls understood, though some were still off-put by them. "The words I chanted were from olden times, something you'd call a nursery rhyme."

"But what about the cauldron? What's being cooked?"

"The cure." The girls looked over at Xavier, who was holding a book open. "Check this out, This book has a cure for poison joke in it, and Zecora was brewing it, and I was out getting ingredients to help her. All it is is a bubble bath, so no drinking needed." Twilight looked closer and confirmed that it was the cure. But something still bothered her.

"But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn't find anything. What book has this natural remedy?"

Hearing her, Xavier closed the book and showed her the cover as Zecora spoke. "Here is the book, you see? Sad that you lack it in your library."

Seeing the title, Twilight's face soon dropped. "Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird." Xavier then gave the book to her so she could get a better look at it. "Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super." After reading it the title again, Twilight and the girls looked more then guilty. "I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside."

"Let this be a lesson to you all." Xavier said with a stern look. "A book can never be judged by it's cover. Now, I believe that you all have something to say to a certain zebra." The girls nodded and turned to Zecora with apologetic faces.

"We're sorry."

"There we go, glad we can all get along. Now then, how's that cure going Zecora?"

"The cauldron's cure needs ingredient's still. But those ingredients are only found in Ponyville."

"Ponyville, huh. I guess it would be good to head over, come on then." Xavier then headed out the door, prompting the others to follow along in hopes to cure their ailment.

An Hour Later

When the group arrived in town, the townsfolk ran into their homes in fear of Zecora. Fortunately, the group excluding Zecora went around and told everypony about the situation, so their fears lowered. Along their goal of clearing Zecora's name, they were also able to collect the last of the missing ingredients needed for the cure. Xavier meanwhile was talking to Aloe and Lotus to see if they could lend their bath for a bit to let the girls soak, to which they agreed. With the ingredients and a place to soak, Zecora and Xavier began adding the ingredients as the girls got into the bath (Except Applejack who had to be put into a small pail because of her size). As the girls soaked, their ailments left them, leaving them as their normal selves.

"Thanks for letting us use the bath Lotus, it really means a lot to me and the others." Xavier spoke to his employer as she smiled.

"Oh but of course, you've done so much for us, this seems fair todo for you and your friends. Although, I would love the recipe for this bath miss Zecora, it is simply luxurious." Zecora nodded as Lotus left them to recover.

"So girls, how are we all feeling?"

"Oh! I have never felt so lovely in all my life!" Rarity said in joy as Pinkie popped out of the water next to her.

"Oh, my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is not to be able to talk. I mean, I love talking so much, and when I couldn't talk anymore, my tongue was all 'ehhhh'! It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?"

"Yes." With Fluttershy's small agreement, the entire group began to laugh as a new friendship was formed between the elements and Zecora.

A little while later

After the girls soaked in the bath for a little while longer, they all got up and said their farewells to each other and left to go home. Xavier decided to walk with Zecora for a bit before he went to his home.

"You sure you don't want to live here in Ponyville? I'm sure we can get the mayor to work something out."

"Xavier, you have done so much for me, it would feel wrong to plea." Zecora said as the two faced each other outside of the forest. "Besides, I have already set up my home, to leave would be quite bold."

"Well alright, I guess. Just remember, if you feel lonely at any time, you can come to Ponyville and hang around me and my friends."

"I will remember that, my friend. May our story continue, and not end." Waving one last goodbye, the two parted ways and went back to their homes, happy that they were able to make a new friend with each other.

The "Perfect" Swarm

View Online

"A little more to the left, gang. Almost perfect."

Things in Ponyville was a bit hectic today. It's been a little over a week since Zecora was accepted in Ponyville and things were calm until Twilight got a message from none other then Princess Celestia saying that she was going to pay a visit to the town. Twilight quickly told the entire town about the visit, and soon the entire town was franticly getting things together. Xavier was also helping by supervising the preparations by Twilight's request. He was observing the placing of some wall décor on town square as two pegasus were hanging a banner.

"Stop! Perfect!" Xavier said happily. "Good job you two, now go see if there is anywhere else you can help out." Waving the two bye, he went over to Sugar Cube Corner to check the banquet. He stopped however when a voice called him.

"Hey Xavier!" Turning around, he saw Twilight coming over.

"Oh, Twilight. Hey, what's up?"

"I'm looking everything over to make sure things are perfect for Princess Celestia's visit."

"Well don't worry about it then. I've been keeping tabs on everything and things are going smoothly." Xavier said proudly. "Just going over to Sugar Cube Corner to check on the banquet."

"Great, I knew putting you as supervisor was a good idea." Twilight said happily. "Can I join you to Sugar Cube Corner? I want to make sure it's done too." Xavier nodded and lead her to the bakery. When they got there, the two looked through the door's window seeing the owners of the bakery, a married couple named Carrot and Cup Cake, working hard. twilight then went up and leaned onto the window. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. How's the banquet coming?"

Mrs. Cake turned to the two and looked a bit worried. " Uh...it would be coming a little better if..." She then pointed to the banquet table to reveal that the many pastries had large bites out of all of them. They then saw Pinkie take a massive bite out of a cream pie at the end of the table, pretty much eating the entire thing in one go, leaving a large amount of cream on her face. As Pinkie licked up all the cream on her face, Xavier and Twilight ran up to her.

"PINKIE!!" Xavier said in annoyance. "What are you doing?! Those aren't for you, they're for the princess!"

"I know. That's why I'm tasting them. Somepony needs to make sure that everything is tasty enough to touch the royal tongue." Pinkie said trying to reason with the two. "And I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess." As she was speaking, she was walking over to a big cake and was about to be yanked away by Xavier until somepony burst through the door. Looking over, the three saw that it was Fluttershy looking quite excited.

"Twilight, Pinkie, you won't believe... oh, I'm sorry. Uh, am I interrupting?"

"No, not at all. Come on in and make yourself at home." Pinkie then ate the cake in one bite, getting angry glares from Xavier and Twilight, smiling sheepishly before turning back to Fluttershy. "What's going on, Fluttershy?"

"You won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest." The three became curious and came closer. "Come on out, little guy. It's okay." Coming out of her mane was a small bug-like creature. It had big eyes and four wings. Though after a second two more hopped out from behind it, Surprising Fluttershy. "Three?"

"They're amazing. What are they?" Twilight asked, clearly interested in the new creature.

"I'm not sure. I'm also not sure where these other two came from." Fluttershy explained, clearly confused as to why there were two more.

"I'll take one off your hooves. I've never seen anything so... adorable." Twilight began to nuzzle one of the creatures before realizing that the others were watching, backing away slightly in embarrassment. "Besides, it'll be nice to have a companion for Spike so he won't bother me so much while I'm studying."

"Pinkie, do you want the other one?" Fluttershy asked, though Pinkie wasn't having the same enthusiasm as the other two.

"Ugh! A parasprite? Are you kidding?" Pinkie said irritated as she began to walk out. This got a cunfused look out the two as they began to wonder.

"How could you not like..."

"Ugh. Now I gotta go find a trombone." Pinkie said before leaving. This threw the two for a bigger loop then the disliking of the creature.

"A what?"

"A trombone, you know." Pinkie then imitated a trombone before hopping away to search for said instrument.

"Um, anyway..." Fluttershy began to speak, breaking the awkward moment. "Would you like one... Xavier?" Turning around, the two noticed that Xavier was not by them anymore. Looking around a bit, they saw Xavier in a position they did not expect. Xavier was behind the banquet table, crouched down with only his eyes and the top of his head visible, his eyes very wide, and he was shaking. The two tried to come closer, but Xavier cut them off with loud yelling.

"Don't get any closer to me with those things! Keep them away from me!"

"Things? You mean the little cuties?" Twilight asked, clearly confused and concerned.

"Cute? Those things are NOT cute in any way! Creepy little bugs!"

"A-are you afraid of them?" Fluttershy asked concerned for him.

"Yes, I am, okay! I have entomophobia, so leave with those things, please." Xavier said in a less then calm tone and look. deciding that it wasn't a good idea to keep the new creatures around, the pair left with the creatures, leaving Xavier cowering in fear.

The Next Day

When the sun began to rise from the horizon, the entirety of Ponyville was waking up, all except for one. Xavier wasn't able to get much sleep because seeing the creatures gave him nightmares. So he stayed up for most of the night, looking over a new project he was working on. Right now he was drinking some coffee, trying to get his mind off of the terrible night.

"Mmmm, Good thing I'm used to all nighters, or else today would suck." Xavier muttered. "I just hope I can recover before Princess Celestia-"

*Knock Knock Knock*

Looking up from his coffee, Xavier's attention was diverted to the door as he walked over to it. Opening it, he was greeted by none other then Pinkie Pie looking very determined.

"Pinkie? What's up?"

"Do you know where I can find a snare drum?"

Having to take a double take, Xavier's morning went from tired to confused. "Wait, what? Why?"

"So I can deal with those parasprites that Fluttershy brought to town!"

As Pinkie was finishing her sentence, Xavier began to tense up an grew a fearful face. "W-what?! What are they going to do?!"

"No time! Do you know where I can find a snare drum!"

"No, but I'll help you out if you tell me about those, Gleag, things..." Xavier shuttered, fearing what he was going to get himself into.

"Yes, good! Somepony, or in this case, someone, who will listen to me! Come on, I'll tell you." The two began to walk around to look for a snare drum. "I was told about these things back when I lived on my family's rock farm."

"Wait, you lived on a rock farm?"

"Yes, but that's a different story for another time. For now, the focus is parasprites." Pinkie said as she grabbed Xavier's face and looked him in the eye. She then went back to walking. "Anyway, the little ball things Fluttershy had with her are called parasprites and they can be humongous pests! If we don't do anything, the will eat the entire town of food!"

"They will." Xavier said a lot more fearfully then usually, though the tone was lost to Pinkie.

"Yes, but I know of a way to get rid of them! If we can collect a bunch of instruments to make a band, I can lead them back to the Everfree Forest with the power of music!"

"I-I'm not even going to question it. If you say you can get rid of those, Bleh, Things, then I will help in any way."

"Good, now let's split up! We can cover more ground to find more instruments. Let's meet back up in thirty minutes and see what we've collected. Sound good?" Xavier nodded quickly as the two got to work.

"Meet up in thirty minutes, Why did trust Pinkie in keeping time..."

Xavier was currently walking around town looking for Pinkie, who seemed to disappear without a trace after their little talk. He managed to grab a bunch of instruments for Pinkie's plan, but without her he grabbed them for nothing. His searching was interrupted when he heard something in the sky. Looking up, his face paled and his body tensed as he saw hundreds of parasprites descending. It didn't take long before the swarm began to eat all the food in town. In most cases, Xavier would be the first to jump in to help defend the town, but his entomophobia kicked in and he ran into an ally, curling up into a fetal position.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." Xavier was whispering to himself as he was cowering, to afraid to do anything else. His quiet ramblings only stopped when a little chitter rang out near him, causing him to freeze and look over, seeing one of the parasprites next to him. To say he jumped would be an understatement as he backed away quickly, the parasprite flying close, "N-NO! S-STAY BACK!! Grabbing the first thing he could reach, he threw it at the parasprite, an apple. The parasprite eyed it hungrily and opened it's mouth wide to eat it, but stopped. Xavier was confused until he saw a familiar purple glow through town. When the glowing stopped, the parasprite looked at the apple and didn't eat it. Xavier, while still not wanting to be near it at all, looked at it confused as it looked up, causing him to freeze again. The parasprite then opened it's mouth wide in his direction and dashed forward, scaring Xavier even more as he jumped out of the way. When he looked up, his face went from scared to horrified as he saw that the little thing took a huge bite out of a steel trashcan in the ally. His reaction, or more precisely, his instinct, was to run out out immediately and make a run out of the town. When he did, he instantly regretted it as he saw the parasprites eating anything that wasn't actual food. Wood, cloths, even metal was being eaten like they were nothing. Xavier went from running to sprinting away, so scared that he was shaking. He stopped when he saw the one pony he was looking for.

"PINKIE!" The pony in question looked up, relieved to see each other.

"Xavier, there you are, did you get everything?"

"Y-yeah, here." Xavier handed Pinkie his bag of instruments shakily. "B-but I t-thought you said they o-only ate f-food!?"

"They did, until Twilight decided to use her magic to try to control them." Pinkie said annoyed as she was tinkering with all the instruments the two gathered.

"W-what?! But I-I thought t-they would h-help us!"

"Ugh, they didn't! They all think I don't know what I'm doing and that they can handle it, but look now!" Pinkie was uncomfortably upset for somepony who was usually so happy, so Xavier felt bad.

"I-I'm sorry to hear t-that Pinkie, I-"

"No need for comfort, Xavier, at least not while you are shaking more then one of my maracas." Pinkie then stood up with all the instruments on her, all connected to play all at once. "All right, let's get this show on the road!" Pinkie then began to play the instruments as she marched. As she was playing, the parasprites stopped what they were doing and looked at her with not hungry eyes, but excited eyes as they flew down and began hopping to the beat. Soon enough, the entire swarm of them were hopping behind Pinkie in a single file line. Xavier looked at her with awe and fear, awe in how she was able to control all of those bugs, and fear because of all the bugs, but he followed from a distance, still shaking. He then saw the others looking very confused at Pinkie.

"H-hey, girls." Xavier called out to them, getting their attention.

"Oh, there you are Xavier! Where were you?" Twilight asked.

"Helping P-Pinkie in a m-more successful e-end-deavor, a-as you c-can see."

"Wait, she knew what was going on?" Rainbow asked.

"Y-yes, and things c-could have gone m-more s-smoothly if y-you listened t-to her. N-now the town i-is in ruins." The girls looked guilty as Xavier proceeded to follow Pinkie, so they followed as well. As they were approaching the Everfree Forest, they say something in the sky. They realized that it was none other then Princess Celestia and ran up to greet her. The group bowed as Celestia landed.

"Twilight Sparkle, my prized pupil." Princess Celestia greeted. "So good to see you and your friends."

"Hello, Princess." Twilight greeted nervously before a crashing of cymbals interrupted her. Looking over, the group became worried and the Princess became confused. "So... how was the trip? Hit much traffic?" Twilight said, trying to be innocent and oblivious to the situation.

"What is this?" Celestia asked, clearly curious as a parasprite landed onto her wing. While most would look a bit worried, Celesta smiled at it. "These creatures are adorable."

"Not that adorable..." Rainbow grumbled.

"M-more like t-terrifying..." Xavier whispered.

"I'm terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit." Celestia said quite honored.

"Parade?" Twilight was confused at first until she realized it could be the perfect cover. "Oh. Yes, the parade."

"Unfortunately, that visit is going to have to wait for another time." Celestia explained, causing everyone to become shocked. "I'm afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently there's been some sort of infestation." The group then began to sweat nervously.

"An... Infestation?"

"Yes, a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures has invaded the poor town." Celestia said knowingly. "I'm sorry Twilight, to have to put you all through so much trouble."

"Trouble? What trouble?" Twilight said nervously, clearly wanting Celestia to not see the damages done to Ponyville.

"Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship in person?" Celestia asked as she got back into her chariot.

"My... report?" Twilight asked.

"Haven't you learned anything about friendship?" Twilight and the girls looked at Pinkie who was guiding the parasprites into the forest as Twilight realized something.

"Actually, I have.
I've learned that sometimes the solution to your problems can come from where you least expect it. It's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' opinions and perspectives..."

*CRASH*

"Even when they don't always seem to make sense."

"I'm so proud of you, Twilight Sparkle, and I'm very impressed with your friends as well. It sounds like you're all learning so much from each other." Celestia said as she sat down as the chariot flew off, the group waving goodbye to her. Once Celestia was out of earshot, the group went over to Pinkie who finished guiding the parasprites into the forest, causing the music to end.

"Hey, what happened to the princess?" Pinkie asked.

"Emergency in Fillydelphia." Twilight responded.

"Some sort of infestation." Rainbow added.

"Oh no! Have they got parasprites too? Well, I have my tuba, so I will travel there." Pinkie said as she blew her tuba, but was interrupted by Twilight.

"I think the princess can handle it."

"So you knew what those critters were all along, huh Pinkie Pie?" Applejack said as she walked up.

"Well, duh! Why do you think I was so frantic to get my hooves on all these instruments? I tried to tell you. I was just lucky that Xavier listened, or else there would be bigger problems to deal with."

"We know, Pinkie Pie, and we're sorry we didn't listen." Twilight said as the rest voiced their apologies as well. "You're a great friend, even if we don't always understand you."

"Thanks guys, you're all great friends too, even when I don't understand me." Pinkie admitted.

"You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia, and more importantly, you saved Ponyville." Twilight said happily, at least until Xavier poked her shoulder.

"A-about that..." Xavier pointed to the town, which was in a big mess due to the parasprites. The girls looked quite upset at that as Xavier began to walk back. "I-I would love to h-help, but I m-may need to sit th-this one out. So many bugs..." Xavier shuddered.

"Wait, your not helping us?!" Rainbow yelled out.

"E-excuse you, but I just went through my greatest fear that was made worse because you all thought you could control those, Eugh, things! So if you will excuse me, I need to go find some comfort food in my house and sit at my desk for a few days to get over this traumatic event, see you girls in a few days." With that, Xavier left, leaving the girls confused, annoyed, guilty, and shocked at the same time as pinkie hopped away as well, holding a trombone and playing a familiar tune.

Fall Weather Friends

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It's been two months since Xavier has arrived in Equestria, and summer has just left the land with fall rapidly approaching to take it's place. Most days, Xavier would be in his house for a while before he left it, but this morning he was bright and early. Standing in the doorway, he took in a deep breath and smiled.

"Ahhh. Oh how I've missed that autumn scent." Xavier said calmly as he began to walk. Keeping a methodical pace, Xavier was taking in the sights of town as he walked to a café near Sugar Cube Corner. Once he could see the shop however, something hit the back of his head hard, causing him to fall flat onto his face. Looking up, he saw that it was a ball that hit him, with Snips and Snails as the culprits, though not too excited.

"Oh gee, we're sorry there Mr. Xavier! We didn't mean to do that!" Snips apologized as Xavier got up. The two braced themselves for some sort of scolding, but they didn't expect what Xavier's next action.

"Hey, no problem, just be careful next time, kay?" It wasn't the words said that surprised them, but more the tone, which was oddly happy for someone who didn't show high amounts of happiness. Xavier then resumed his walk to his destination as the two looked at him confused

Thirty Minutes Later

Xavier was at the moment sitting on a bench in the park, drinking out of a coffee cup. Taking a sip from it, he smiled warmly as he thought to himself.

"Warm drink, great weather, beautiful scene, this is the life. What could be better!" After a few moments, Xavier's happy expression suddenly fell as it adopted a solemn one. "Well, I can think of one thing." Reaching into his hoodie's pocket, he pulled out the photo, but it was more visible in the sun's light. On the photo were two humans, though one was noticeably younger then the other one. Gripping the photo in a gentle yet firm grasp, Xavier looked up to the sky and sighed. "If only you were here, you would have loved it here. But you're not, and I know you would not want me sad like this at this time of year." Adopting a sad smile, Xavier gently put the photo back into his pocket and sighed. When he looked up, he happened to see a familiar pair. "Hey Twilight, hey Spike."

Turning over to him, the two were surprised to see him out and about. "Xavier? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"Enjoying the beauty of fall, Twi." Xavier said as he took another sip from his drink.

"What's that you're drinking?"

"A pumpkin spice latte. Can't experience fall to it's fullest without one."

"I'm guessing you like fall then?" Twilight asked curiously.

"But of course, I love fall." Xavier said as he stood up. "The cold, crisp air. The beautiful falling, leaves. The smell of a harvest. It's an amazing time of year." As Xavier was explaining, Twilight and Spike were looking at him somewhat surprised to see the guy who didn't show an incredible amount of happiness or enthusiasm outside of his gadgets so into a season. Xavier then looked at the two with a calm smile. "But enough about me, what are you two doing? Out for a stroll?"

Snapping out of their trances, Twilight answered him. "No actually. We were actually on our way to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and Rainbow were looking for me."

"Oh, well in that case you mind if I come along with you two. I have a list of things to see during fall believe it or not." Xavier pulled out a list to prove his point, getting a slight groan from Spike.

"Ugh, don't tell me you're like Twilight who has to make a list for everything." Spike said exasperated, earning a glare from the mare in question and a chuckle from Xavier.

"No, I don't make too many lists. Just for the most important things needed or top priority. Besides, a new world, new scenes. And one of the things on the list is an orchard, believe it or not. So could I join you two?"

Twilight and Spike looked at each other and sighed as they turned back to him. "Yes, you can come with us." Smiling, Xavier drank the last of his latte and threw away the cup as he joined them to Sweet Apple Acres. Along the way they began to chat about the reason why Xavier loved fall so much. After a little walk, they saw both Applejack and Rainbow standing by the barn, the latter doing some stretches and the former watching. "Hey girls."

Turning her attention to Twilight, Applejack smiled at her. "Howdy, glad you two could make it... with Xavier? What's he doin' here?"

"A few reasons, really." Xavier answered. "One is to see your orchard in the beauty of fall and another is to see what you two are up to."

"Well, I guess you can look around if you want Xavier. But right now Twilight is goin' to be judging our contest." Applejack replied, earning a curious look from Xavier and a confused look from Twilight.

"What contest?"

"An I-"

"Iron Pony Competition." Rainbow said in between her stretches, cutting off Applejack.

"See, we've set up a bunch of events to decide which one of us is—"

"The most athletic pony ever!"

"Huh, that sound quite interesting. I think I can put the look around on hold for this." Xavier said, getting a surprised look from Rainbow.

"Huh, but you usually don't care for these things. You said it yourself when we hung out a few weeks ago." Rainbow said as she got up from her stretches.

"Well I did, but my tour around fall's beauty can come later. I think watching you two would be more interesting. Besides, I'm feeling quite good, so I think I will want to watch." Xavier responded.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, then sure. More to watch my awesomeness." Rainbow said as Applejack got into her face

"Well we'll just see about that." With that the group went over to where the events were set up.

"Hello, everypony! And welcome to the first annual Iron Pony Competition!"

After a bit of an argument between the competitors, the rules and events were laid out for them. While Twilight was looking over the rules one last time, Xavier was helping with last minute tweaks to the events and Spike was holding a stick like an announcer and "Commentating" the events.

"Uh, Spike? Who're you talking to?" Twilight asked.

"I think he's talking to them." Xavier said as he came over. Turning around, they saw the rest of the girls coming over to watch as well. Excited to know he would be able to continue to commentate, he jumped onto twilights head and announced in joy

"Let the games begin."

The group went over to the first event, a barrel weave. As Twilight and Spike were on the side, Xavier came up with a stopwatch as Applejack was prepping herself.

"Ready AJ?" Applejack went up to the starting line and got into a position to start. "Aaannndd... GO!" Applejack shot off like a rocket, going in between the barrels with a large amount of agility. Though she was a little too quick as she bopped a barrel as she was running, not going unnoticed to her as she crossed the finish line. Xavier looked at the stopwatch as he announced the time. "Seventeen seconds, not too shabby, AJ."

"You're kidding!" Applejack responded, excitedly. "That breaks my record from last year's rodeo."

"Well that would be if you didn't add five seconds for nudging that barrel." Xavier said.

"Aw, nuts and shrews!" Applejack sighed. "Still, that's twenty two seconds. Not too shabby." She then looked over at Rainbow who was looking a bit nervous. "Hey, don't be nervous. Remember, it's all in good fun. Now get on up there."

As Rainbow went up to starting line, Xavier began the countdown. "Ready, aaaannnddd... GO!" Rainbow also shot off like a rocket as she went through the barrels like Applejack. The difference being that she managed to not hit any barrels as she crossed the finish line.

"Woo! That was some fancy hoof work there, Rainbow!" Applejack congratulated her.

"Thanks, but I couldn't have been as fast as you." Rainbow panted as she flew back over.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Rainbow, 'cause you managed to get eighteen seconds on your time." Xavier said as he came over, surprising them.

"Eighteen seconds? Rainbow, are you sure you're not secretly a rodeo pony?" Applejack asked jokingly.

"Rainbow Dash wins the barre weave!" Twilight exclaimed. They looked over to the scoreboard to watch Fluttershy put up a score for Rainbow.

"Oh, I can't believe I won!" Rainbow expressed.

"Yeah, well, don't you go getting used to it." Applejack assured with a smirk.

The completion continued forward with device similar to a strength test at a carnival, except that the target was on the post instead of the stand. There were also a couple more ponies nearby, presumably to watch the competition as well. as Rainbow went up to the test and turned so her hind legs were aiming at the target. Raising her legs, she gave the target a powerful kick, sending the ball straight into the bell at the top, getting the crowd to cheer as Rainbow flew up to emphasize her strength. Applejack however, did not seem worried about it.

"Mighty respectable." Applejack replied as she went up to the target. "But let me show you how it's really done." With a swift kick of one of her hind legs, she not only managed to break the target into pieces, but she also managed to send the ball flying so fast that it caused the bell at the top to break off and fly into the distance. As the crowd cheered, Rainbow sat down slack-jawed at the display as Applejack went over to Rainbow. "Years of applebucking." Applejack simply explained as she kicked the tree Rainbow was under, causing a couple apples to fall onto her head as Fluttershy put up a score for Applejack.

After Rainbow's shock was over, they went over to a fenced area for a competition like a bull ride, except that the competitors would be trying to knock off the rider, A.K.A a hesitant Spike. Applejack was up first and as Spike was questioning the choices that lead him to this moment, Applejack began to bucking around in an attempt to knock him off. After a bit, Spike lost his grip and flew off of her, landing onto none other then Rainbow who was more then ready to begin. After the call was made, Rainbow began to do some very aggressive hops that made Spike fly off in half the time that Applejack had, leaving Rainbow as the winner. After that, the competitors put a helmet on Spike's head that resembled a bull. The event was to see who could lasso the target first, to which the two were on two different spectrums of skill. Applejack was using her lasso with great skill while Rainbow was practically struggling with it. After a few tricks with her lasso, Applejack nabbed Spike, meanwhile Rainbow managed to lasso herself into a tree, giving the point to Applejack.

As the competition continued forward, more and more ponies came to watch until the whole town was watching the competition. Everypony was fixated on the competition as the two athletes were focusing on winning, but one's mood was dwindling. As the competition moved on, Xavier's mood was dropping, but not because of discomfort from the crowd that was watching, but it was annoyance to a specific competitor with wings. Unlike the spectators who were to focused on the exciting events taking place, Xavier's habit of keeping tabs on most everything was coming in handy because he was seeing Rainbow blatantly cheating by using her wings to win a lot of the events. It all came to a head at the last event, a tug-of-war.

"Okay you two. This is the final event. Give it all you've got!" Twilight said as a whistle was blown. The two competitors pulled on the rope with all their might, but Applejack had the advantage in terms of brute force, so she was managing to pull Rainbow forward

"Looks like the workhorse might come out ahead in this one." Spike announced as Rainbow neared the mud in the center. Applejack did manage to pull Rainbow over the edge, but Rainbow began flying to keep her above the mud. Rainbow then began to gain altitude, pulling Applejack up above the mud. This pushed Xavier over the edge as he reached for something.

"That's not fair!" Applejack mumbled, still holding onto the rope. "You can't use your wings to help you win"

"Huh?" Rainbow asked as she brought a hoof up to her ear almost tauntingly.

"You're cheating!"

"I can't understand you with that rope in your mouth." Rainbow said as if she was egging her on. Applejack just about had enough and was about to yell out to Rainbow, but before that could happen, a familiar hook wrapped around Rainbow's torso and pulled her downwards, causing Rainbow to lose her grip on the rope, leading to the both of them to plummet to the mud below them. Before they landed in it however Xavier leapt forward and caught Applejack, leaving only Rainbow to be the one to land in the mud. When she came over the shock of it all, Applejack realized what happened and looked at Xavier.

"Wow, thanks Xavier for that..." Applejack said as Xavier put her down.

"Hey, what gives!" Everyone turned to Rainbow who was both covered in mud and fuming. "What was that for Xavier!?!"

"What gives is the fact that you were cheating for half of the events by using your wings." Xavier announced, shocking the whole crowd.

"What!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"He's right, she's been using her wings to win over half of those events, I saw her!" Applejack said backing Xavier up.

"Hmph, sounds like sour apples to me" Rainbow said as she got out of the mud and began to wipe it off.

"Don't play dumb Rainbow." Xavier said glaring at her. "you were literally flying over the mud pit just now to win. Besides, I saw you in those events before, using them as shields or extra distance in events." Xavier turned to Applejack with an apologetic look. "Sorry it took so long to speak up by the way..."

"It's fine, sugarcube, I'm just happy someone is on my side." Applejack responded.

"W-well even if I did, no one said I couldn't." Rainbow retorted.

"Rainbow, you out of everypony here should know that using your wings is an advantage that Applejack doesn't have access to. In my world, it's either you both have it or neither of you get it. Using that advantage would disqualify you instantly."

After a bit of thinking, Rainbow finally realized what she did was wrong and looked down. "Alright, I guess you have a point..."

"Alright, I guess I'll forgive you for now." Applejack said as they shook their hooves.

"Well now that we got that taken care of, how do we settle this competition?" Xavier asked, getting a surprised look from the two.

"Wait, you still want a winner?" Rainbow asked, getting a chuckle from him.

"Well, I know that the two of you will continue to try to one-up each other, so having a clear winner will get you two to stop."

"Well I think I have the perfect thing." Applejack said, getting their attention. "Tomorrow is the annual Runnin' of the Leaves. I challenge you to race me in it."

"Heh! Easy shmeasy." Rainbow said as she began to fly up until Xavier pulled her down.

"Rainbow, I think that this means that there will be no wings involved. It is the running of the leaves." Xavier deadpanned.

"No wings? No problem." Rainbow agreed as she shook with Applejack, confirming that the race would be on even grounds as the day was ending.

The Next Day

"Erm, maybe... no, that wouldn't work..."

It was very early morning with the sun only just beginning to peak and Xavier was near the start of the running of the leaves looking over a map. Most specifically a map of the course that the running of the leaves was going through trying to figure out the best way to follow the racers with no success. Sighing, he sat down on the stage and looked up.

"Why is it that these sort of events have such a big and winding path?"

"Well how else are they going to shake all the leaves off the trees?"

"GAH!?" Startled by the sudden response behind him, he accidentally fell off the stage and onto his face. Getting up, he saw that it was none other then Pinkie Pie. "P-Pinkie? When did you get here? And why are you here?"

"I just got here to do the announcing for the running of the leaves. Balloons need time to inflate you know." Pinkie said with a tone not normal for someone at this time, but then again it's Pinkie. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Haah, trying to map out the best route to watch the race and- hey wait. What do you mean 'shake the leaves'?"

"Don't you know that the running of the ponies is what causes the leaves on the trees to fall?"

"N-no, I didn't. Different world, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie giggled, earning yet another confused look from Xavier as he looked back at his map. After her giggling fit, Pinkie then let out a very loud gasp that startled Xavier yet again. "Oh. My. Goodness. I just had the perfect idea."

"Really, what is that." Xavier said with a hint of sarcasm.

"You should join me as a co-reporter!"

Xavier looked up from his map and looked at Pinkie in confusion. "Huh, why?"

"Because it will be more fun!" Pinkie said as she began to hop around. "I always do it alone so having a co-reporter would add to the fun! Plus, you can watch the whole race from start to finish, it's a win-win." Pinkie said as she stopped right in front of Xavier. Xavier then put a hand to his chin and began to think.

"Hmm, that does sound tempting when you put it that way, and it is usually good to have multiple pairs of eyes watching..." After a few moments, Xavier smiled and looked at Pinkie. "You know what, sure, I can join in as your co-reporter. Where do I sign up!" Pinkie then began to squeal and brought Xavier to the balloon to which Pinkie began to explain the basics and what to look out for. It wasn't before long that other ponies came in and started getting set up to either race or to watch. Once the balloon was ready, Xavier and Pinkie jumped in and flew up to begin the announcing.

"Welcome to the annual Running of the Leaves!” Pinkie started into a mounted megaphone as Xavier grabbed a nearby head-mounted mic. “This is Pinkie Pie, your official eye-in-the-sky announcer, alongside her co-announcer, Xavier!" Once the headpiece was set up, Xavier joined into the announcing.

"Now as apparently everypony except me knows, this run is what allows the leaves to fall, making this race a very important tradition across Equestria. So you should get ready racers, because the race starts in five minutes!" Once he said his part, he pulled out his telescope and peered down near the starting line. After a bit of searching, he spotted Applejack and Rainbow near the front, with the former tying up the latter's wings with a rope. "Hmm, I guess AJ doesn't want to take any chances with Rainbow and her wings." Xavier thought as he looked around a bit more, stopping his gaze at a certain purple unicorn heading into the crowd of racers. "Huh, she's joining? Well I guess she can, but she isn't an athlete. I wonder if she has-"

"Racers! Please take your positions!" His thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie yelling into her megaphone. He decided to stop snooping and lower his telescope as another voice got their attention.

"Um... Pinkie Pie, Xavier?" the two looked down to see Spike running over to them.

"Hey, Spike! What's up? Oh wait, it's us! we're up!" Pinkie laughed as Xavier groaned at her joke.

"Uh, yeah. I know you're doing the announcing today and stuff and... I'm sure you're gonna do a great job and all, but... I was just wondering..." Spike began to stammer and hesitate, getting the two's curiosity to peak.

"What?"

"Aw... forget it." As Spike began to turn to walk away, Xavier realized what he wanted and called out.

"Hey Spike, you want to join us as our third announcer?"

"Really?!" Spike exclaimed turning around.

"Oh, you totally can join in!" Pinkie exclaimed, agreeing with Xavier. "We still got plenty of space and it's sure to be even more fun with you up here!"

"You really mean it?" Spike said as Xavier tossed down a rope.

"Climb on up!" Taking the invitation, Spike grabbed onto the rope as the balloon flew up, taking him up with them. After a bit of climbing and pulling, Spike managed to get settled into the balloon and it's occupants just as the race was about to start.

"Alright ponies," Pinkie began. "On your marks."

"Get set..." Spike said into a mic.

"GO!!" Xavier yelled out as a bell rang out to signal the start, letting the racers out to run. "And there they go folks. With that, welcome to the official coverage of the running of the leaves!"

"Yup, and did you know that despite the name, no leaves do any running?" Pinkie asked, getting a questioning look from her co-announcers. "Nope, that is left to my little ponies."

"Why, yes, Pinkie, it's the running of the ponies that causes the leaves to fall." Spike responded to her.

"Well other then that, this year we have a bit more fire then the others. This is because of two particular runners that are here to win the whole thing, Applejack and Rainbow Dash." Xavier said as he pulled out his telescope to observe the race better.

"yup, these two ponies have a bit of a grudge match they're trying to settle. Trying to prove who's the most athletic." Spike added on.

"Yes, and 'grudge' rhymes with 'fudge'." Pinkie added getting a confused look from the two guys.

"Wait, what?"

"And I like fudge. But if I eat too much fudge I get a pudge and then I can't budge." Pinkie began, confusing the two even more.

"So, no fudge?" Spike asked.

"Oh, no thanks. I had a big breakfast. Let's check in with our two competitive ponies." Pinkie said as she turned back to the race. "Having come fast out of the gate, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are evenly matched running neck and neck. But what's this? Applejack is making a move, she's now ahead by a nose. But Rainbow Dash won't let Applejack have it and takes the lead. She's ahead by half a nose. Or maybe three quarters of a nose. No, about sixty-three point seven percent of a nose..." As Pinkie was commentating, the other two began to stop looking at the race and at her with increasing annoyance. When Pinkie noticed, she began to smile sheepishly. "Roughly speaking." At that moment, Applejack began a very big speed increase and passed Rainbow.

"It looks like Applejack's took hold of the lead by a large margin!" Xavier announced as the three turned their direction back over to the race. As Xavier was looking through his telescope, he noticed that Rainbow glared at the rope tied around her wings. When she did that, she managed to gain in speed, enough to catch up to Applejack.

"Ho-hold your horses, Xavier! Rainbow Dash is catching up the frontrunner Applejack!" Spike said jumping onto the balloon's ropes.

"What an upset. I thought Applejack had this in the bag." Pinkie exclaimed as Xavier noticed something. As he was looking forward, he noticed that there was decent sized rock up ahead, thinking that someone could trip if they weren't carful. He looked over at the two rivals and watched them. As he thought, Applejack in her focus on the race, failed to notice the rock in the track, falling down and losing the lead.

"Oooh, wipeout!" Xavier yelled out. "Looks like Applejack was so focused on the race she failed to notice the rock that was in the track. Now she has a lot of work to do if she wants to catch up. Hope she's okay, but we can't stop this balloon if we wanted to, 'cause we still have the rest of the race to announce." With this, the race continued. A few minutes later, they saw that Rainbow started to trot, seeing that Applejack wasn't directly behind her, only for her to pass her up in an instant.

"I don't believe it. After a huge setback, Applejack is back at the front of the pack." Spike announced.

"She's the head of the pack, all right. The pick of the litter! The cat's pajamas!" Pinkie then paused. "Oh wait, why would Applejack take some poor kitty's PJs? That's not very sporting of her." Spike looked at her in confusion as Xavier rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, let's get back to the race..." Xavier said as he once again looked ahead, this time seeing a stump in the path. Once again, a competitor tripped on the obstacle, this time being Rainbow as she fell down. "Looks we got ourselves another wipeout! This time it's Rainbow with a stump tripping her up. Seems that the road ahead is going to be challenging with these mishaps. Hopefully nopony gets hurt." With that, the balloon moved forward in pursuit of the racers.

A Little While Later

"And we are back Ponyville, this is Xavier, Pinkie Pie, and Spike coming back to bring you some action."

When Rainbow tripped, the trio of announcers decided to take a short break to watch how things played out (mostly Xavier). Once they decided to resume their announcing, Rainbow not only managed to catch up to the front, but is managing to get a lead on Applejack.

"That's right Xavier, and it looks like Rainbow is doing her best to catch up to Applejack." Spike announced.

“I’m not sure how ketchup is going to help her in this contest." Pinkie said, turning the topic off course again. "Now, in a hot dog eating contest it can make them doggies nice and slippery, but personally I prefer mustard. How about you guys?”

"Uh... I... like... pickles?" Spike answered a bit hesitantly. Xavier decided to opt out of the question as he decided to be the main one to focus on the race.

"Aaand it looks like Applejack has found herself in quite a pickle as Rainbow overtakes her." Pinkie said as she turned to the race. What Pinkie said was true as Rainbow managed to pass Applejack who was trying her hardest to catch up. While running though, Rainbow noticed a branch that was pretty low, and got a devious idea. She grabbed it with her mouth and ran with it for a moment before releasing, causing the branch to swing into Applejack. To many, this action could have looked like bad timing on Applejack's side, but Xavier knew better.

"What the- grrr. Seriously Rainbow, you didn't learn from yesterday. Xavier thought as he looked at Applejack, worried at her reaction. What he saw though was not what he was expecting. Instead of trying to play fair like before, she grabbed the branch and launched herself with it to gain the lead. "S-Seriously AJ?! You're going to stoop to her level?! Xavier thought with growing concern as he watch more. Of course, his eye saw another attempt at sabotage as Applejack kicked a tree, dropping a beehive onto Rainbow. It ended up backfiring though as Rainbow began to run even faster to avoid the bees that were chasing her, managing to pass Applejack before diving into a bush and losing them. When Rainbow saw it was safe, she saw an arrow sign and got another idea and turned it to face left instead of right. Applejack saw the sign and followed it, getting a scowl from Xavier as he took hold of the balloon's direction.

"Um, Xavier? What are you doing?" Spike asked.

"Following Applejack." Xavier said as he saw her on a cliff, confused. "Hey AJ! Grab on!" Xavier yelled out as he tossed a rope to her.

"Huh, why?"

"Because Rainbow tricked you in going this way, so I'm doing you a favor!"

A Little While Later

Once Applejack grabbed the rope, Xavier brought her down to the race before letting her go right before a forest of oak trees with a bunch of taps for collecting syrup. Once she was back in the race, Xavier let the balloon rise back up. Once the balloon was back in a high up position, Xavier took his telescope back out as the announcers resumed.

"I must say, Spike, that this has been the most interesting Running of the Leaves in Equestria history!" Pinkie announced.

"With the most interesting announcing..." Spike said exasperated.

"But it isn't the running that's been fascinating. It's the lack of running!" As Pinkie was saying that, Applejack knocked one of the pails of syrup, spilling it's contents right in front of Rainbow who proceeded to get stuck. Rainbow didn't let that stop her though as she tried to move forward, which she succeeded to do for a few feet before snapping back even farther. Fortunately for her, the syrup acted like a slingshot, flinging her at an incredible speed, grazing Applejack. The graze caused Applejack to spin out of control, eventually catching Rainbow in the spin. As they spun, they managed to go up a nearby cliff as they stopped. They looked at each other and jumped up. This caused the rock they were standing on to break off, causing them to slide down the cliff, to which they saw the rest of the racers pass them. After a second, they made a mad dash to try to catch up.

"Once again, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are neck and neck, jockeying for position." Pinkie said as both Spike and Xavier watched the two with great interest. "Applejack inches ahead, now it's Rainbow, it's Applejack, it's Rainbow Dash, it's Applejack..." The finish line came into view, and the final stretch was approaching. It wasn't until Rainbow decided to bump Applejack did it start to fall apart.

"Oh no, she di'int!" Spike said as Applejack went to do the same thing.

"Oh yes, she di'id!" Pinkie responded as the two began to argue between each other. The two became so aggressive that they began to pull each other back. Applejack however misjudged her aim and grabbed the ropes that Rainbow's wings were tied in.

"That's it! All bets are off!" Rainbow yelled out as she began to fly.

"Oh no, you don't." Applejack yelled out as she leapt up and tackled Rainbow out of the sky. The two began to fight between each other as they tumbled over the finish line. The two then got up and looked around.

“I won!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“No, I won!” Applejack counteracted.

"No, you two tied!" Xavier yelled out as he grabbed the rope to get down.

“TIED?!” They exclaimed.

“For first?” Applejack asked.

"No, for last." Xavier said as he began to slide down the rope.

“T-then who won?!” Rainbow questioned, as they heard some hoof steps approaching. When they turned around they say that Twilight had a medal around her neck, looking quite proud of herself.

“You?!” Rainbow and Applejack asked in shock.

“Oh no, but I did win 5th place.” Twilight said. “Which is rather good as I’ve never run a race before.”

"Nice one Twi." Xavier said as he came over. "I was worried about you entering, but I guess I had nothing to worry about."

"What? How's that even possible?" Applejack asked flabbergasted.

"You ran so slow, and looked at the scenery." Rainbow added.

"Exactly. I paced myself, just like my book said. Then at the end, when all the other ponies were worn out, I sprinted to the finish." Twilight explained.

"Heh, leave it to the brains of the group to plan out a race." Xavier said felling proud of her.

"I don't believe it. Twilight beat us." Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well with the way that you two were acting throughout the race, I can understand that." Xavier said as he got into his signature 'I'm very disappointed in you' pose. "You two need to understand that rivalry is fine, but acting like that will end up hurting in the long run."

“You’re right, you guys. Our behavior was just terrible.” Applejack admitted.

“We weren’t very good sports.” Rainbow added.

“Sounds to me like an important lesson was learned.” When a new voice chimed in, everyone was incredibly surprised to see none other then Princess Celestia approaching.

"P-Princess!" Twilight exclaimed as the group bowed down.

“W-what are you doing here?!” Applejack asked.

“Fall is one of my favorite seasons so I came here to celebrate the Running of the Leaves.” Celestia explained.

"Heh, I guess that means we have something in common, your majesty." Xavier said as he got back up.

“I’m sorry you had to see us being such poor sports, Princess.” Applejack apologized, with Rainbow nodding in apologetic agreement.

“That’s alright, Applejack, anypony can get swept up in the excitement of competition.” Celestia replied.

“It’s important to remember that the friendship is more important than the competition.” Twilight added.

"And like I said, rivalry is fine, but acting like that can be hazardous. you two could have gotten hurt more then a few scrapes." Xavier said.

"Exactly you two." Princess Celestia agreed before turning to the forest. “Now, unfortunately as the two of you were so busy tricking each other instead of shaking down leaves, many of the lovely trees of Equestria are still covered.”

“Why Princess, I bet we could knocked down those leaves for you, lickety-split!” Applejack replied. She then gave Rainbow a smile and said “What do you say, friend, wanna go for another run?”

“I’d love to stretch my legs.” Rainbow agreed before zipping off, Applejack rearing and following after her. Twilight, Celestia and Xavier looked at them fondly as they saw the two running side by side not as rivals, but as friends.

"Heh, I doubt that they will stay like that for long." Xavier said smiling. "But as long as they don't end up doing something like this again, I'll allow it." As he watched them, he wondered what nonsense and crazy antics the girls would get him into. He wasn't too worried though, because he knew that as long as he had his friends by his side, he was sure he could get through any challenge life throws at him.

Call of the Cutie

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It's been a little over a week since the Running of the Leaves and like Xavier guessed, Applejack and Rainbow went back to being competitive with each other. This time however they weren't exactly getting aggressive, just mild teasing. However Xavier wasn't focused on them today, he was just enjoying the moment of fall at the moment. He was enjoying it by having another pumpkin spice latte while standing around town.

"Ahh, this is the life." Xavier sighed. "A beautiful autumn day with a spiced latte and a crisp breeze to take the worries off my back. There is nothing that can break this bliss right no-"

*CRACK*

Once again in mid sentence, his bliss was interrupted, but not in the way he expected. Instead of a loud noise or somepony or something getting his attention, he was hit by an unknown object right on the back of his head. This caused him to fall straight onto his face, leaving him lying there with a growing goose egg right on the back of his head. Fortunately, he was quite resistant to the head, so it didn't knock him out, but it did hurt.

"I stand corrected." Xavier groaned as he began to get up. When he looked to see what struck him, it was revealed to be a now splattered apple on his head and ground. "Why is there flying apples?" He began to walk in the direction of the apple with a hand on his head. What he found was the Apple sisters by one of their apple carts, though the eldest was not looking too happy. "Hey AJ, Applebloom." The two of them turned around to see him.

"Oh, howdy Xavier." Applejack responded. "What brings you around here?"

"Well for one, do you know if somepony around here is launching apples at Mach speed around here?" Xavier then lifted his hand to reveal a pretty noticeable bump on his head to the sisters, causing the younger one to cringe and the older to glare at her.

"*Sigh* Sorry Xavier, I believe that it would be my sister that launched that at ya'" Applejack apologized.

"Sorry Xavier." Applebloom apologized as well.

"I-I'll for give you, but why are you launching apples like that?"

"I was just trying to get my cutie mark in apple selling so I wasn't the only one without one..." Applebloom said quietly.

"you sure you aren't trying for the 'apple launching' cutie mark?" Xavier strained a chuckle before moving his hand back to his head. "Don't you have any other friends here?"

"W-well I have one friend, and I guess she doesn't have a cutie mark yet either..."

"Well there ya go!" Applejack joined in. "Why don't ya go and round her up and go to the party with her."

"A-alright, that sounds like a good plan." Applebloom said as she began to wander off, presumably to her friend's house, her spirit rising a bit. "I'll see you later then you two." As Applebloom got farther away, Xavier was curious to the situation.

"So what's this about a party? And why is Applebloom so interested in getting her cutie mark?" Xavier asked as he turned to Applejack.

"Why don't I tell you back at the farm? I think that bump need some attention." Applejack said as she gestured him to follow, so he did.

A Little While Later

At Applejack's farm, the said pony was seen bandaging Xavier's head around his bump. Meanwhile she was explaining to him the situation.

"Ya see, Applebloom is a mite upset that everypony in her class has their cutie mark and she doesn't. she is also quite upset about some bullies there."

"Wait, she has bullies?" Xavier said as Applejack was finishing up the bandaging.

"Yup, and they've been acting quite rude to her and her friend. One of them also got their cutie mark recently, so she is saying that she is supposed to go, despite her not wanting to go."

"Well what's stopping her from getting one? Not to be quick to doubt, I just don't know much about them is all. All I know is that they are those marks on your flanks." Xavier asked as he felt around his head for any pain.

"Well to be honest, getting a mark is only there if you find your special talent. Once you do, it magically appears, but it takes time. She is much to young to get one right now, and she can't force it." Applejack explained.

"I guess that makes since, after all patience is a virtue." Xavier said as he crossed his arms. "Heh, reminds me of me..."

"It does?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, believe it or not humans can have these thoughts as well. I was always thinking about what I was good at when I was younger, and one day I found this broken music box lying around. I decided to bring it home and look at it. After a while of looking at it, I began to repair it. I soon was able to 'restore it'. While it did look crude, it did what it used to do and play a beautiful tune. Once I did that, I tried to look at different things and saw them in a new light. Since that day I always found solace in my gadgets when I'm working. If I were you, I would give her some time by herself to find her calling." Applejack thought over what he said since it was quite different from her story, but she took it to heart.

"I guess your right, but I still worry about her. I've met her friend and I think that she is close to getting her mark soon, and when she does my sis may drift from her."

"That I have no advice on sadly." Xavier admitted. "I guess she will met somepony that will become as close as us and the girls, right?"

"I guess your right again... thanks."

"No problem AJ. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to resume my day of fall appreciation, so see you later." Xavier said as he bid Applejack farewell and left the farm. As he was walking around town though, he felt something hit his leg hard as he found himself faceplanting again. "Why me." Xavier groaned as he began to get up.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" When Xavier put his eyes on the voice, it was a pegasus similar in age to Applebloom in front of him. The young filly had an orange coat with a dark purple mane underneath a helmet. From the looks of it, she also had a scooter with her. "Hey wait a minute, your that human in town, aren't you?"

"Geh, yep, that's me." Xavier groaned as he sat down, hand on his head to check for more damage.

"*Gasp* OMG! I can't believe that I get to meet you!" The filly began to fangirl, getting the attention of Xavier.

"Wait, you wanted to meet me?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" She said as she ran up to him. "My name is Scootaloo, Mr. Xavier! It's such an honor to meet you!"

"Huh, I never thought that there would be a time that I would be 'an honor to meet'." Xavier said as he looked at Scootaloo with a smile.

"What do you mean!? Besides Rainbow Dash, you are like, the coolest, erm, guy, there is! You faced off against an ursa minor, looked a dragon in the eye, and even clashed against Nightmare Moon with her horn mere inches from your face!" Scootaloo said as she began reenacting them.

"Heh, I don't think that some of those stories are entirely accurate, but glad to see you so interested in those things." Xavier said with a warm smile. "So you mentioned Rainbow before, you know her?"

"Well yeah, she is quite possibly the most awesome pony in Equestria, I want to be just like her!"

"Well in that case, maybe I can introduce you two." Scootaloo's eyes widened in excitement at what Xavier said.

"Y-you really mean it!?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty close to her, so I think that she won't mind me bringing a guest over next time we hang out."

"EEEEEEEE!!" Scootaloo began to dance around in excitement knowing that she had a chance to hang out with some of the coolest people she knew. She then gasped as she remembered something. "Oh shoot! I got to go! I promised my aunt's that I would meet them at the train station today and I might be running late." Scootaloo said as she got onto her scooter again and took off. "See ya later, Mr. Xavier!"

"See you!" Xavier said as he waved her off. He then processed what she said and paused. "Wait, did she just say 'aunts'?" Shaking it off as a slip of the tongue, he got up and began walking again. He walked around town for a while until a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Xavier, over here." Looking over at he voice, he saw that it was Rarity calling for him.

"Oh, Rarity hey." Xavier walked over, to which Rarity noticed the bandage around his head.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you?!"

"Heh, a bit of an incident involving an apple and the ones who grow them. Don't worry about it, what's up with you?"

"Well, if it really is okay, can you follow me? I have some things for you at the boutique." Rarity said with a bit of concern in the beginning, but slowly goes to her normal tone. Xavier complied and followed her to the boutique, to which she let him in. "So you're probably wondering why I brought you here..." Xavier nodded, his curiosity peaking. "Well, I brought you here to give you these." Rarity then used her magic to levitate over a stack of cloths.

"Whoa, are those for me?" Xavier said as he picked up a blue t-shirt with a orange star on the shoulder.

"Why of course. You don't have anything to where other then the clothes that you had since we met, so I figured I'd do you a favor. Honestly, it's an honor to make the first batch of clothes for the first human in Equestria." Rarity said with glee.

"Well, I'm flattered that you would go out of your way to do this." Xavier said blushing a bit. "I wish I had something to-"

"Rarity!" Xavier paused when he heard a new voice ring out in the boutique. When Xavier looked over to where the voice was, he saw that it was another filly, this one was a unicorn that was similar to Rarity, only she was a unicorn and her mane was light purple and pink. "Rarity, I need to-" The little filly paused when she saw Xavier. When she did, she looked at him in both curiosity and worry.

"Hm? Rarity, who's this?"

"Oh, she is my little sister."

"Wait, you have a sister?" Xavier said, taken aback from the reveal.

"Yes, I do. Sweetie Belle, there is nothing to be afraid of, this is the friend I was telling you about." Rarity said to the filly now dubbed Sweetie Belle. Thanks to her sister's confirmation, Sweetie Belle managed to muster enough courage to approach. Seeing that she was still a bit scared, Xavier knelt down and got onto her level.

"Hey, it's okay, I don't bite." Xavier said calmly, wearing a warm smile. "So your name is Sweetie Belle?" She nodded. "Well that's a cute name for you. Now just ignore me for now, what is it that you wanted to talk to Rarity about?"

"W-well, I was just hoping that you would go with me to the Cute-ceanera with me tomorrow." Sweetie Belle admitted, to which Rarity made a sad frown.

"Oh Sweetie Belle, I wish I could, but I have a client to deliver some clothing to tomorrow, so I can't." This made Sweetie Bell quite sad, a sight that ripped at Xavier's heart. That's when he got an idea.

"Hey Sweetie Belle, you know I could always go with you to the Cute-ceanera with you." This caused Sweetie Belle's face to light up.

"Really? You would?"

"Sure, I have nothing to do and I can tell you're uncomfortable with going by yourself..." For a brief moment, Xavier then remembered something he said earlier in the day.

I guess she will met somepony that will become as close as us and the girls, right?

With that memory, his mind began to process something in a brief moment. "Is it possible that..." He stopped thinking to himself to continue to talk to Sweetie Belle to not make her and Rarity worry about him. "So if you want somepony, or I guess someone, to go with you I can go with you." Sweetie Belle thought about it for a second before looking back at him.

"I guess that you could come with me." She still sounded a bit uncomfortable around him, but something in her did say that he was trustworthy and safe to be around.

"Heh, that's good. I need to head home now, but I'll meet you over at the party tomorrow then. Um, where is it exactly?"

"Sugar Cube Corner, darling." Rarity answered.

"Cool, I'll see you there then Sweetie." Giving one final smile to the two, Xavier grabbed his new clothes and exited the boutique. On his way home he was thinking to himself about the recent events. "So Sweetie Belle is worried about going by herself, Applebloom is worried about that too, I wonder if they were meant for each other. Now that I think about it, Scootaloo didn't have a cutie mark either when I saw her, maybe..." His thoughts would continue as he entered his home, wondering about how fate would play out.

The Next Day

Since the party wasn't until later in the day, Xavier decided to stay in for once and catch up on his latest gadget before heading out. As he was walking, he was thinking once again about the three fillies from yesterday.

"I wonder if Scootaloo will be at the party today. If she is, I'll introduce Sweetie Belle to her, I think they could get along." He stopped thinking when he saw that he was at Sugar Cube Corner. Upon entering the bakery, he saw that the party was in full swing, with ponies having a good time. While Xavier didn't exactly feel comfortable in large crowds like this, he would be strong for Sweetie Belle, so he would try to stay calm here. While looking around, he saw Twilight looking around. "Hey Twi!" Looking over, she saw Xavier calling to her, so she went over.

"Hey Xavier, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't like parties."

"I don't, but I promised somepony I would be here for moral support, so here I am." Xavier admitted, knowing that he would rather be in his home working or admiring the fall colors.

"Well, I'm glad to know your here. But while you're here, have you seen Applebloom?"

"Huh, Applebloom's here?" Xavier asked, both happy and confused that she came.

"Yeah, but isn't doing too well." Twilight answered worriedly. "When I got here, she was trying to bake with Pinkie in hopes of getting a baking cutie mark, but she burnt all of the cupcakes. When she saw me, she wanted me to use my magic to give it to her. It didn't work and now she's gone."

"Well, I guess give her some time and she will come around. Speaking of, I got to find my escort, so have fun." Xavier and Twilight went their separate ways to look for the kids. As Xavier was walking around, he happened to see a purple tail laying near a table. Thinking that it was for that pin the tail game from before, he decided to go and pick it up to give to Pinkie. When he pulled it however, he did not expect what happened next.

"YEOWCH!" Xavier pulled back from the tail when it suddenly yelped, to which he gave a closer look at it and realized that it was Scootaloo's tail. When he looked underneath the table, he saw not only her but also Sweetie Belle. The two immediatly jumped up, but relaxed when they saw it was Xavier.

"Huh, what are you two doing under here?"

"Hiding from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Scootaloo replied.

"Who?" Xavier said with a confused look on his face.

"They are these rich kids that taunt us for not having our cutie marks yet." Sweetie Belle began. "This Cute-ceanera is for her and we don't want to be taunted for being blank flanks."

Looking at the two, Xavier gave a warm smile before speaking. "If that's the case, then you have nothing to worry about." The two looked at him in confusion and doubt. "If these two are so mean to you, then they aren't going to go far in life if words are their strongest tool. And here's some advice from Rainbow Scootaloo, 'just because somepony says they are better then you or worse then others, it doesn't mean you can prove them wrong with action.' It's good to keep your head up and look to your friends for support. Who knows, you may end up becoming greater then them in the future while they still rely on insults and mean comments to get by." He then looked between the two and smiled. "And I think they did something for you two, and that's bring you together." The two fillies then looked at each other.

"Really?" They both asked in curiosity.

"Yup, you two have something in common and can build off of each other. Soon enough, you can find your cutie marks and overcome any challenge that comes your way." The two fillies then realized that he was right and smiled at each other. The warm moment was cut short however by the music stopping abruptly. Getting up, Xavier saw Applebloom by the record player. Before he could run over to help her, he heard laughing from the other side of the room. Looking at the laughing, he saw two fillies, one pink and one grey, and he quickly put it together that those two must be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. It was then that Silver Spoon began to speak.

"Wow, that is an amazing cutie mark." She said in a snarky tone.

"Nice try," Diamond Tiara added before both of them yelled out at the same time, "BLANK FLANK!" As the crowd was talking amongst themselves, Xavier's anger grew. But before he could get up, two close-by individuals stepped up before him.

“You got a problem with blank flanks?!” Scootaloo said as she got out from underneath the table. Xavier saw the two's eyes were filled with determination, so he let them carry on for a little bit.

"The problem is, I mean, she's like, totally not special." Silver Spoon said to retort.

"No, it means she's full of potential." Sweetie Belle said as the two went over to Applebloom.

"Hmph, I don't see how a blank flank is full of potential." Diamond Tiara said. It was then that Xavier decided to step up to the plate.

"It means that they aren't bound to a single role just yet." Xavier said as he got in between the two sides. Since this was the first time that the two have seen him, they backed up a bit due to his stature. "These three can be anything for now and enjoy the time with others." When Xavier said that, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo revealed that they didn't have cutie marks either, surprising Applebloom. "And who knows what they can be when they get their marks? They may become scientists, teachers, artists, or even mayors." That's when Xavier got closer to the two bullies with a stern face. "And I will warn you know, you two should find something else to use instead of just words, because later in life words lose their power to action and plans. Keep this up and you will end up lost in life." The look in Xavier's eyes was enough to get the two to back away in fear, not wanting to bother anypony else for the rest of the day. Once the two were out of the scene, many other young fillies and colts went over to the three, becoming the biggest thing in the party.

After a bit the crowd decided to go back to the party while the three fillies went over to a table to celebrate their new friendship. Xavier also decided to head over there after grabbing a drink. "Hey you three, you doing okay?"

"Absolutely!" Applebloom said excitedly. "We decided to help each other in finding our cutie marks together! We just need a name..."

"Heh, well whatever you decide on, I know that your crusade will be great." Xavier said in a light joking manner. This comment however got the three fillies thinking.

"That's it! The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Applebloom announced, getting voices of agreement from the other two. As they talked between each other, Xavier smiled at them knowing that they would become very close as they search for their talents. Maybe he would even help them from time to time as he looked forward to spending time with them more.

A Foxy Winter Wrap-up

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After the cutie mark incident, things began to cool down, quite literally since winter came rather quickly. Fortunately, there wasn't much for Xavier to complain about. There was a fashion show that Rarity hosted that he missed, but he was working that night on spa repair. He heard it went quite poorly though so he was a bit worried about Rarity and her mental state, but when he wen to check on her a few days later, she said everything was fine, so he didn't pester for too long. During winter, Xavier tended to stay in his home for the most part, working more on his latest invention. It was almost finished too, he just needed a few more things. As he was working on it one very early day however, he heard a series of very fast knocks at his door. When he went to answer the door, he was surprised to see Twilight and a very sleepy Spike.

"Twilight, what's up? What's going on that you are here at this time?" Xavier asked in concern and curiosity.

"Well, I cam to get you so you can help with winter wrap-up." Twilight answered in excitement, earning a very confused look from Xavier.

"Winter what?"

"I'll explain on the way, c'mon!" Twilight said as she grabbed Xavier's hand, to which he pulled back.

"Hold up, can I at least get dresses first?"

"Okay, but hurry up." Xavier then went and got dressed in his classic orange hoodie, then proceeded to get dragged out of his home courtesy of Twilight's magic. After a bit of moving, Twilight finally decided to explain. "Winter wrap up is the day that Ponies in Ponyville clean up winter."

"Clean up?" Xavier asked.

"Yes, to make way for spring to come in time. It's a very important day for Ponyville, so I want to get there as soon as possible."

"I still don't get why..." Spike said tiredly. "I still say using magic to clean up like Canterlot is a better way to go..."

"Because I already said that Ponyville was founded by earth ponies and they never used magic to do that. And since I am now a resident of Ponyville, I will carry out those traditions." Twilight said proudly.

"Well, I'm proud of you for following traditions Twi." Xavier said with a smile. "I guess if it's a tradition here and that I am a resident myself, I guess I can join in too."

"Great, let's get moving then." The trio began to pick up the pace to get to town hall quicker to begin. As they approched the hall, they saw a large crowd, all of them wearing different vests. "Those must be the team vests Rarity designed." Twilight said happily. "Blue for the weather team, green for the plant team, and tan for the animal team. I wonder which team vest I'll be wearing."

"I'll take a blue vest, same color as my blankie," Spike said grumpily. "which I think I hear calling my name. 'Spike! Spike! Come to bed!' Ugh, it's too early." As the team got closer, they began to hear the mayor speak.

"Thank you, everypony, for being here bright and early. We need every single pony's help to wrap up winter, and bring in spring." The crowd cheered out to her, rallying them all. "Now, all of you have your vests, and have been assigned to your teams, so let's do even better than last year, and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever! All right everypony, find your team leader, and let's get galloping!" At that, the crowd began to disperse, leaving Twilight, Spike and Xavier lost.

"Oh gosh, where should I go? I'm not sure where I fit in. What exactly does everypony do?" Twilight said in a panic.

"Hey Twilight, calm down." Xavier said calmly. "I'm sure we can find out where you belong. For now, how about we look for our friends. I'm sure that they can help us out."

"Yeah, I guess." Twilight admitted. At that moment, a familiar rainbow trail flew past them. Looking up, the three saw Rainbow talking to some other pegasi.

"All right team, you're clear for takeoff." Rainbow said to them as they left. Xavier decided to get her attention.

"Hey RD!" Looking down, Rainbow saw Twilight and Xavier.

"Oh, hey Twilight, Xavier, what's up?"

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, hopeful to get a role in winter wrap up.

"Sending off one of my flight crews to retrieve the birds that have flown south for the winter." Rainbow said as she began scouting around form her position.

"Oh, can I help? How about if I help clear out the clouds?" Twilight asked, getting a look from Xavier.

"Um, Twi?" Xavier then used his hand to mimic a wing flapping, to which Twilight realized the problem.

"Right, no wings." She said defeated.

"Sorry, Twilight." Rainbow apologized as she flew off to continue work. Twilight looked off at her direction in sadness and slight annoyance.

"Great, now what do we do?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna be nappin'." Spike said as they looked over at a bush that he was lying in, sleeping. Twilight then used her hoof to try and wake him up.

"Come on Spike, this is serious business. Winter needs to be wrapped up, and I'm determined to do my part. Somehow."

As Twilight was trying to wake up Spike however, in another bush nearby, some rustling could be heard and seen in it. Looking out were a pair of light blue eyes trained at the group, most specifically the human.

After Spike woke up, they decided to look around for their friends. As they walked around, they saw Rarity doing something with a bunch of things. Curious, the they came over.

"Rarity, please tell me there's something, anything I can help you with." Twilight pleaded.

"Well, how would you like to help create Ponyville's finest birds' nests?" Rarity said, earning a confused look from Xavier.

"Birds' nests?" He asked.

"Why yes. When the weather team guides the birds back north for the spring, they'll need a place to live and lay their eggs." Rarity explained, earning an even more confused look from him.

"But I thought birds make their own nests?"

"Well, maybe in your world, but here in Equestria we make their nests." Xavier wanted to press her more, but he decided against it. "But in any case, Would you two like to help me?"

"Would I? Yes!" Twilight said excitedly, though Xavier didn't look so thrilled.

"Heh, sorry Rarity, but I think I'll watch." The two ponies looked at him quite confused and disappointed. "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I think Rarity would have a heart attack from my methods. Like I said before, I value function over fashion, so my nest would probably look pretty bad." Xavier explained as he reached for a ribbon and fiddled with it.

"Oh, well if you're so sure, you don't have too." Twilight said. "But maybe something else is there for you."

"Maybe..." Xavier mumbled as he went over to a nearby bench and sat down, ribbon in hand. After a few moments of playing around with the ribbon, it was suddenly snatched from his hand. It took him a few moments to realize what happened, but when he did he was confused. Looking around, he did not expect what the culprit was. The culprit happened to be a artic fox with blue eyes playing with it. The fox seemed to be quite young and energetic as it whipped the ribbon around with a lot of speed. When he approached, he got a bigger surprise from it because it didn't run away or try to defend itself, but instead ran up to him and jumped around him. Seeing it prance around like it won the championships made him smile a bit as he found it's antics cute. As he was about to bend down and interact with it however, a voice caught his attention.

"That nest needs to be condemned." Xavier went over to see what happened, and was surprised to see that the nest that Twilight was making was terrible.

"Oh, Spa-ha-hike, it's not so bad, ah, maybe birds can use it as a..." Rarity began to think of something that would not sound like an insult, but Spike was thinking something quite blunt

"An outhouse?"

"Spike. It's just fine. It's just a little rough around the edges. Let me lend you a hoof." Rarity then began to look over the nest and changing it around. "Let's just untie this ribbon, and let me take out these sticks here, we'll shave this..." Before long, Rarity went onto a tangent and was focused on fixing the nest, much to Twilight's dismay.

"I think we lost her." Spike said as Twilight began to walk of, prompting Spike and Xavier to follow. As they were walking off however, the fox from before was watching them, mostly Xavier since it never saw something like him before.

After a while of walking, they found themselves at the frozen lake, with pinkie skating around. Seeing her, the group decided to head over to her.

"Hello Twilight! Hello Xavier!" Pinkie chimed, skating without a car in the world.

"Wow, Pinkie Pie, you're quite the skater. Probably the best skater I've ever seen." Twilight complimented as Pinkie stopped in front of the group.

"Thanks Twilight, I've been doing this since I was an itty-bitty little-wittle Twinkie-Pinkie. Just comes natural." Pinkie thanked as she resumed skating around. "Which is probably why they designated me the lake scorer. I cut lines in the lakes with my skates. That way, when the rest of the weather team comes here to break the ice, it'll be easy as pie." Pinkie explained.

"Ooh, clever." Xavier admitted. "The Lines that you skate into the ice is where the ice will melt first, leaving smaller pieces to melt instead of a large piece, I like it."

"Well, you sure have a lot of work ahead of you, there's quite a few lakes in Ponyville." Twilight said as Pinkie slid by.

"Ha, tell me about it." Pinkie then stopped as she looked at them. "Hey, Twilight, Xavier, wanna help me out?"

"Would I?" Twilight said excitedly, though Xavier was once again not keen on the idea.

"Yeah, I'll skip out on this as well. I was never good on the ice." Xavier admitted, putting his hands into his hoodie's pockets.

"Aw, don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it someday! But for now, grab some skates Twilight, I'm sure you'll be a natural as well."

"Okay." With that, Twilight went over to put on the extra bundle of skates that Pinkie had as Xavier went over to a nearby tree to relax. As he was sitting down, he saw that the same fox from before was looking at him at a distance with curious eyes and the ribbon in it's mouth. Xavier saw that the fox had no ill intent, so he decided to try and beckon it.

"Um, hey there little one, there is no need to be afraid." Xavier said calmly. "You can come over if you want." The fox wasted no time after that, bolting over to him excitedly and jumping onto him. "Whoa, happy little one, aren't you?" Xavier commented as the fox sat on his lap contently. Xavier manages to muster up the courage to give it a pet. As he's moving his hand to the fox, it moves it's head into his hand, welcoming the pets happily. As he is petting the fox however, a large thump is made onto the tree, startling both of them. The fox was more scared however as it ran off. Xavier wanted to follow it and let it know nothing was wrong, but he wanted to check if that was his friends. When he looked on the other side of the tree, he was surprised to see that spike, Pinkie, and Twilight stacked on top of each other like a snowman. As they shook off the snow off of them, Spike fell down laughing.

"Ha ha, you are a natural, Twilight. A natural disaster." Spike laughed as Xavier approached.

"So I take it you can't skate either?" Xavier asked.

"Ugh, you saw that too?" Twilight asked in a annoyed tone.

"No, I was... preoccupied by something... But I think I can tell you didn't do well. Maybe practice before you do it professionally?"

"Uhh, maybe..." Twilight admitted.

"Aw, don't worry Twilight! I think you'll be super awesome at something that keeps your hooves on the ground." Pinkie cheered "I know, Fluttershy could probably use your help with the critters."

"Well... I'm pretty good with little animals. Yeah, I'll go help her." Twilight decided as she took off her skates. Once she took them off, they left to find Fluttershy, with the fox tailing behind once again.

The three took some time to find Fluttershy, but they eventually did. They found her because they heard a bell ringing, so they went over. When they saw her, she was over a burrow in the ground and what appeared to be talking inside. as They got closer, they heard what she was saying.

"Wake up, little sleepy heads. Hope you had some wonderful dreams and restful hibernation, but it's time to get up now, spring is coming." When she finished, a pair of hedgehogs came out off the burrow yawning.

"Awww, how cute." Twilight said, getting the attention of Fluttershy.

"Aren't they? This is my favorite task the whole season, when I get to see all my little animal friends again." Fluttershy said in silent joy.

"Uh, what's 'hibernation'?" Spike asked, clearly confused.

"It's like a long sleep." Fluttershy answered, getting Spike's attention.

"Long sleep?"

"Well, it's a bit more complicated then that." Xavier explained shrugging. "Since food becomes more scarce during the cold times of winter, many animals tend to hide away and sleep, conserving their energy so they can last until spring arrives."

"I definitely like the idea of hibernation." Spike said happily as Fluttershy sighed.

"Yes, but would you just look at all these warrens and dens? I'm worried that I won't be able to wake up every animal before spring comes." Fluttershy said sadly.

"Well, I'll help, Fluttershy." Twilight said happily, excited that she may have found something that she could do.

"You will? Oh, that would be wonderful." Fluttershy then gave a bell to Twilight, who then walked off to begin. Spike didn't head off instantly though as he looked at Xavier.

"Let me guess, you won't help here either." Spike said with a deadpanned expression.

"Hey, I was going to help here." Xavier answered, a bit offended at him for assuming he wasn't going to do anything. "Besides, the last two I had very reasonable excuses." Before Spike could press Xavier further, he walked off to help, leaving Spike to go to Twilight. Xavier looked around for a decent den to start at, and once he did he crouched down to it. "Hello in there? It's almost spring, so naptime is over." After a few moments though, nothing came out. "Um, hello?" Before he could do anything however, the fox ran over and into the den, causing Xavier to jump a bit. He heard a bit of yapping from inside the den, and after a few moments, the fox and three groundhogs came out of the den yawning. The fox then sat right next to Xavier with a big grin on it's face. Xavier then realized that it was helping him out, so he smiled and pet them. "Hey, thanks buddy, I was worried there for a second." His praising was cut short however as he heard a familiar voice screaming. He became worried that something happened so he began running over, the fox following behind. They both stopped however when they smelled something foul, causing them to stop in repulse. After a bit of getting their wits together, they continued forward, though slower. After a bit of looking, Xavier saw Fluttershy looking quite sad. "Fluttershy! What happened?"

"Well, Twilight was at the snake's den, which scared her into a cave with bats. She ran out of it without looking ahead of her, and ran into a tree with a beehive on it. The beehive fell onto her head, to which she ran again, right into the skunk den and-"

"Wait, don't tell me, I can smell it." Xavier exclaimed before looking a bit down. "This may ruin Twilight's mood even more." Xavier and Fluttershy looked sad for a moment before Fluttershy noticed that the fox was next to Xavier.

"Oh my, this is where you were?" She exclaimed, catching Xavier's attention.

"Wait, you know this fox?"

"Yes, she was a newborn this winter and quite the troublemaker." She began. "I am always trying to keep her still but she is always running around."

"Seriously? Cause she's been with me the entire day." This sentence surprised Fluttershy.

"Really? She never showed this much affection to a single pony. B-but I guess you aren't a pony." Fluttershy paused for a moment to think about something. "U-um, Xavier, can I ask you to take care of her?" She requested, taking Xavier for a loop.

"H-huh?! What?"

"W-well, it's just that she has never has been like this ever. Seeing her this happy is great to see. I always want what's best for my animal friends, so you taking care of her may be the thing she needs. You're a very responsible person, so I think you are just what she needs to get her to learn some discipline. It's still your choice though, so I won't pressure you to..." Xavier began to think about it. It seems that the fox really enjoys him, and it has been a bit lonely back at his home.

"Well, I guess I could take her in..." The fox, listening to the conversation the entire time, became extremely exited to be able to be with Xavier. So excited that she jumped up right onto Xavier's shoulders, perching herself there, earning a chuckle from Xavier. "Hehe, I think she thinks that it's a good idea. I guess we're housemates now." The fox began chittering in agreement. "Well now that that's settled, I need to find Twilight. She needs some help now, see ya Fluttershy." With a wave goodbye to Fluttershy, Xavier and his new fox friend went off to find Twilight.

"I just realized, you don't have a name from what I can tell."

It's been a while since Xavier accepted the fox into his life and went looking for Twilight, though there wasn't much luck in finding her.

"Fluttershy never mention your name, so unless you have a name, can I make one?" The fox began nodding at him in hopes of getting a name. "Okay, well... how about... erm... Rune?" The fox began nodding again happily. "Well then, Rune it is." The fox, now dubbed Rune, Began giggling in excitement at her new name. Their celebration was cut short when they heard a strange rumbling. The two began looking around in concern, but Rune saw the source first in the form of a giant snowball rolling towards them. Rune alerted Xavier to the threat, causing him to panic and jump out of the way. Looking at the snowball, he saw the both Applejack and Spike were trapped in it with Twilight in a snow plow. When Xavier got over his shock, he began to run after them, though he was greatly outpaced in speed. After a bit of running, he saw Twilight run past him crying. Before he could chase after her, Rune jumped off his shoulder and ran over to a pile of snow with Applejack and Spike inside of it, trying to dig them out. Seeing them, he decided to get some answers. "AJ, Spike! What happened?"

"I'll tell ya what happened! Twilight just used her magic to try and help, but ended up making a bigger mess! She knows that using her magic here is not how we do things around here." Applejack explained, though Xavier became more and more upset.

"Well you weren't with Twilight the entire day, and while I don't know the full context of this, I know for a fact she only did it out of desperation to try and help. Whatever you said to her before now probably made her worse because she just ran past crying. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find her to comfort her. Come on Rune!" Hearing her name, Rune went over to her new friend as the two ran off to find Twilight, leaving Applejack feeling guilty over her actions.

"C'mon, where is she?"

Xavier was in town at the moment, searching for Twilight. He was here because he followed the hoofprints of twilight here, but the melting snow made it harder since the trail ended cold. He figured that Twilight was somewhere, so he began looking. It wasn't until Rune began acting up and running off. "Huh, hey Rune! Where are you going!?" Xavier yelled out as he chased her. When he stopped, he saw that Rune was hopping around a bush, almost like she was telling him something was here. When he looked around the bush, he saw none other then Twilight crying softly. Seeing her like that was sad to anyone, but the way she was made him have memories of a similar scene before coming to Equestria. But he put those thoughts away because Twilight needed someone, so he spoke up to begin. "Hey Twi, you okay?"

"I'm a winter mess up." Twilight whimpered.

"Come on Twi, I know you can do many things well." Xavier said softly, trying to cheer up Twilight.

"Really, because all I've done today is fail at arts and crafts, ice skating, waking up animals, and plowing fields. What can I do." Twilight began crying a bit harder after that. Xavier wanted to help her, but he had no idea on how. Rune however, did have an idea as she jumped onto Twilight and began softly nibbling on Twilight's ear. This was soft enough to not cause any pain, but hard enough to get Twilight's attention. Once Twilight saw Rune, the young fox began nuzzling up to Twilight affectionately, stopping Twilight's crying for a bit. "Huh, who is this?"

"That's Rune, my new housemate." Xavier answered, not feeling comfortable with calling her a pet. "I met her today at Rarity's, and she's been following me all day. Fluttershy saw that she was attached to me so she asked if I could take care of her."

"Okay, but what is she doing?" Twilight asked as she gestured to Rune's affection.

"I would say that she doesn't want to see you sad like this, so she is doing what she knows what to do." Upon saying that, Xavier thought of something. "Hey Twilight, why don't you try to do something your good at instead of going for positions you don't really know how to do?"

"Well, I can't because magic is what I'm good at..."

"well there are many things you can do, you just need to find out what you can do here." Xavier encouraged. As Twilight was about to ask what she could do, another voice rang out behind them.

“Rainbow Dash!” Looking out from behind the bush, they saw Applejack yelling up to Rainbow Dash with an annoyed tone. “Y'all need to melt the rest of the snow on the ground and in the trees, pronto!”

“Got it!” Rainbow replied ass eh began to fly off.

“You can’t!” Fluttershy stepped in with a worried expression, cutting off Rainbow's flight. “My poor little animals homes will get flooded if the snow melts too fast!”

“Got it!” Rainbow nodded, flying back.

“I’m telling you Rainbow! The snow’s gotta go!” Applejack demanded again.

“No, you simple must wait!” Fluttershy begged.

“Go!”

“Stop!”

“Go!”

“Stop!”

“Urgh! Make up your minds!” Rainbow exclaimed, annoyed with their fighting.

“Oh, what in Equestria are you all arguing about?” Mayor Mare demanded as she stepped out of Town Hall. “It’s this kind of silliness why we’re always late for spring!”

"Wait, did she say late?" Twilight said to Xavier, who nodded in confirmation that she heard right.

"I was hoping my amazingly inspirational speech would urge everyone to do better than last year, but now it looks like we're going to be later than ever. I mean just look at this catastrophe! The ice scorers made the ice chunks too big to melt." Looking over at the lake, what the mayor said was true as there were huge ice chunks still in the lake with ponies stranded on them, and Pinkie only shrugged in response. "The nest designer is horrendously behind. We need several hundred, and she's only made one!" Looking over, Rarity was still fixated on fixing Twilight's "nest" and began bawling at it. "And don't get me started on all the clouds in the sky, the icicles on the trees... this isn't good, not at all!"

“And it’s all gonna be all to pieces disastrous if we can’t get all our seeds planted!” Applejack announced as she looked over at Rainbow.

“Chillax, Applejack, we’re busting our chops as fast as we can!” Rainbow responded to defend herself.

“No, not so fast!” Fluttershy said as politely as possible while holding urgency. “We have to wake up all the animals slowly!”

“Uh, AJ?” Turning, Big Mac could be seen walking over with a pony with a face of guilt.

“Oh good gravy, Caramel lost the grass seeds again, didn’t he?” Applejack said as she face-hooved.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac nodded, as the pony next to him looked ashamed.

“Rainbow!” One of the Pegasus ponies flew over to Dash and complained “Ditzy Doo accidentally went north to get the southern birds!”

“Oh that featherbrain. Didn’t she learn her lesson last year when she went west?” Rainbow asked angrily.

Soon enough, the entire town began arguing between themselves. It was so much chaos that Xavier jumped in, with Rune following close behind. "Hey, hey! Can we all just calm down! Arguing between each other is not how you solve problems. I can tell you right now, infighting is what loses wars back where I come from."

"Well, what can we do?!" Rainbow asked, her temper and patience worn thin at this point.

"I hate to break it to you, but it seems like you all are unorganized and uncoordinated, which you end up looking to somepony else to help, and when they can't help, you end up blaming others and creating a cycle. I wish I could help you there, but my organization skills aren't the best either." Xavier explained and confessed, thinking about how his work area was a mess as well. He was about to continue until a certain voice rang out.

"But I am good at that!" Looking over, they saw Twilight standing before them, confident and ready compared to a few minutes ago when she was looking just about ready to give up. "If it's organization that you need, I am the pony that can do it." As Twilight called over the team leaders and Mayor Mare, Xavier smiled at Twilight knowing that she found what part she played in the town.

After laying out the plan to the leaders and the town, they all got to work. Over at the birds nest station, some of the stronger ponies were pulling over some supplies over, which Rarity and a few other ponies were working like an assembly line on the nest, making an easy and smooth nest production rate.

The ice scorers, working together and in formations, were able to cut the ice in clean and easy lines.

With the plant team, similar coordination was in place there. Three ponies were in each group, one to remove the snow, one to plow the fields behind them, and one to plant the seeds behind them, cutting time needed by a huge margin.

At the animal fields, Xavier finished hanging up a bell on each of the animal dens with a rope. Once they were all up, Fluttershy pulled on the rope, ringing all the bells in succession, waking all the animals quickly. Once the last animal was out of their den, Xavier pulled out his grappling hook and shot it at a tree that Rainbow was laying it, shaking it and signaling her to start the next phase. Rainbow then flew up into the sky where a bunch of other pegasus were, and all at once they flew in a formation that was strong enough to create a vortex that blew away not only all the clouds in the sky, but also snow and loose ice that was on ground level.

With all the snow, ice, and clouds gone, it made the land warmer, allowing for any remaining cold to melt away. There was still work to be done, however, so the entire town continued to work through the night. By the time the morning sun was rising, the weather team managed to come back with the southern birds, where they were all guided to the completed nest. It was then, that Xavier and Twilight looked out and saw that spring had arrived.

“I can’t believe it!” Mayor Mare said happily as the two looked over to her. “Spring is here! On time!” Mayor Mare then looked over at Twilight, as everypony else gathered. “And we have you to thank for it. If it weren’t for your organizing skills, we would still be arguing.”

"Eeyup." Big Mac said, getting a laugh out of everyone.

"It was a team effort." Twilight said proudly, happy that she could help.

“And since you helped every team we have an official vest for you.” Mayor Mare said as Rarity approached, levitating a new vest as she placed it upon Twilight. “We give you the title ‘All-Team Organizer’.” Once it was placed onto her, she and Xavier looked at it in awe, a combination of all three team colors.

“Gosh, I don’t even know what to say! Thank you, everypony!” Twilight said, happily gazing at her vest.

"Heh, you deserve it Twi, wear it with pride." Xavier said as Rune hopped up to show her own form of congratulations.

“I hereby declare that winter is wrapped up on time!” Mayor Mare proudly announced, stirring the crowd in happiness and joy that they were not only able to clean up winter on time, but the thought that they wouldn't be late anymore as long as Twilight was there to lead them.

"Well, welcome to your new home then Rune."

It was late afternoon and Xavier finally got home with Rune. It only took him so long because he went over to Fluttershy's to get some things for Rune. What he got was a bag of food, some toys, a bed, and a bunch of other odds and ends for her.

"Make yourself comfortable, Rune. My home is yours now, kid." Rune took no time to do that as she jumped up onto the couch and instantly fell asleep. "Heh, well that was quick." Putting down all the stuff he had, he sat down next to Rune and began petting her. He didn't know what would happen in the late future, or even the near future, but he did know that he would have someone to look forward to seeing every time he came home.

The Sonic Rainboom

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It's been a little over a week since winter wrap-up and Xavier has been busy. Alongside taking care of Rune and making sure she didn't get into any trouble, but he finally finished his newest gadget. at the moment, both him and Rune were out taking a walk, both to get out Rune's seemingly endless energy and to see if he could find something to test run his newest gadget. At the moment, Rune was running and jumping all around Xavier without a care in the world.

"Hehe, calm down Rune," Xavier chuckled. "I swear, you have more energy than a power plant back at my world." After a few moments, Rune stopped in place with her ears raised. Before Xavier could ask what was wrong, Rune ran off. "What the- hey Rune!?" Chasing after her, Xavier soon saw his pegasus friends in the direction that Rune was running in. Once Rune was close enough to them, she made a very big jump right onto Fluttershy's back, surprising the two. "Gah, I'm sorry Fluttershy! I don't know what's gotten into her." Xavier apologized once he caught up.

"Oh, it's okay Xavier." Fluttershy replied as she was petting Rune, who was happily accepting the attention.

"We can't take too long though, we have work to do if I'm going to be ready for the best young flyers competition!" Rainbow said proudly, catching the attention of Xavier.

"Hmm? What's this about a competition?"

"The best young flyers competition is coming soon in Cloudsdale, and I am going to win it!" Rainbow said with pride.

"Well, the competition is sure to be difficult, but I know you can do it." Xavier said.

"Thanks, and I know that I will win! Plus, the prize for winning is being able to hang out with the Wonderbolts for a whole day, how cool is that?!" Rainbow asked excitedly.

"Really now? Well, I guess that's another piece of motivation for you to win. Know you have my support then." Xavier replied happily, knowing how much Rainbow idolizes the Wonderbolts.

"Thanks, now all I need to do is perfect my performance and I'll win for sure!"

"Well, I may not know as much in flying as you or Fluttershy, but I can still help with my newest gadget." Xavier said happily, catching the two surprised.

"You made a new thing engie?"

"First, stop calling me that Rainbow, and second, yup." Xavier then pulled out his new invention, which happened to be his telescope, though it was quite different. The difference from its original appearance was the presence of a new clear casing with wires and circuit boards seen. There was also a small lens at the top of the telescope. When the girls looked at it, they were just as confused as when they looked at his grappling hook for the first time. "I modded my telescope to do a bunch of new things like recordings and projections. I can use it to record your performance and show it to you when you're done so you can see where you can change and improve." Xavier explained with a bit of pride and excitement in his voice, happy to know that he can help out his friend with his new gadget.

"That, could actually be useful. Thanks Xavier, I'm sure to be even better than before!" Rainbow exclaimed, happy that she had more help in her goal, making Xavier happy that she was excited to help him do a test run.

A Short While Later

After a brief run down on what would happen, Rainbow got into position onto a cloud with Xavier, Rune and Fluttershy watching, the former prepping his recording on his telescope. After a deep breath and a thumbs up from Xavier, she jumped off the cloud, diving straight down until she pulled up mere inches from the ground. As she was flying, she began weaving in between a row of trees with grace. After she passed the last tree, she then flew up quickly and begun flying circles around a bunch of clouds, causing them to spin at great speeds. After the third cloud, she flew straight up and ascended quickly. After she made a lot of distance, she did a few loops to regain her momentum before doing a nosedive downwards. As Xavier was watching her descend, he noticed that the air around her was bending around her as she began to glow, catching him off guard, though he still kept his telescope on her. Unfortunately, as she was about to break the barrier around her, she suddenly stopped, and after a moment she flew the opposite way like a slingshot, causing Fluttershy to cover her mouth, Rune staring blankly and Xavier to lower his telescope is shock. Once they got over the shock, the three of them ran off in the direction that Rainbow flew in. After some running, they saw Twilight's library, though they saw a few books on the ground under a window. When they looked in the window, they saw that there was a huge mess of books in the library and the rest of the girls.

"Whoa, is everypony okay!?" Xavier asked in both shock and worry.

"I think so..." Twilight groaned as she and the rest of them got up.

"Hehe...Sorry about that ladies." Rainbow said as she got up as well. "That was a truly feeble performance."

"Actually, it wasn't all bad." Fluttershy admitted. "I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin."

"Ugh. I'm not talking about my performance, I'm talking about yours. That feeble cheering!"

"Hey! She was trying her best, don't be bitter about it!" Xavier said defending Fluttershy. During their argument, they managed to catch the attention of the others.

"What are you arguing about?" Twilight asked for her and the rest of them.

"Were we arguing? I'm sorry." Fluttershy apologized, earning a sigh from Rainbow and a sympathetic smile from Xavier.

"I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." Rainbow admitted, confusing Twilight.

"What's that?" Before anyone could explain, Pinkie jumped up and began to speak in her own excited way.

"It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles! Some are fast!" She began to run around the room, kicking up books as she went. "And some are graceful." She stood on one hoof to begin to demonstrate, but lost her balance and fell over into a pile of books.

"Golly. I'd love to see you strut yer stuff in that competition." Applejack said, bummed that she would miss out on seeing Rainbow preform.

"Yeah. I wish you guys could be there. Fluttershy's a great support, but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational." Rainbow said, before receiving a somewhat light punch from Xavier, earned through her backhanded comment.

"OOOH! I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom! It's like, the most coolest thing ever!" Pinkie commented as she bounced around happily. "Even though I've never actually seen it, but I mean come on! It's a sonic rainboom! How not cool could it possibly not be?"

"Sonic rainboom?" Xavier said, clearly confused. "What is that, and was that the thing you were trying to do?"

"The sonic rainboom is legendary!" Pinkie said, starting to explain again. "When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going so fast...BOOM!" Pinkie crashed into another pile of books. "A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!"

"Now that, sounds awesome." Xavier admitted, clearly impressed.

"And Rainbow Dash here's the only pony to ever pull it off!" Applejack added.

"Really!?" Xavier said shocked.

"Yeah, but I was just a filly..." Rainbow admitted bashfully.

"Well, this sonic rainboom sounds like a perfect move for you Dash." Xavier commented as he nodded.

"Yeah, and you will do it again, right?!" Pinkie asked happily, putting Rainbow into a corner.

"A-are... you kidding? I'm the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale! I could do sonic rainbooms in my sleep." Rainbow said confidently, though Xavier could sense hesitancy and nervousness in her sentence.

"Wow." Twilight replied, impressed with Rainbow's confidence. "If you pull that off, you'll win the crown for sure!"

"Thanks Twi. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rest up for the big day. Don't wanna over prepare myself, you know." Before she left though, she turned to Fluttershy. "You, on the other hoof, better keep practicing! I need a cheering section to match my specular performance." After she said that, she left through the window, with Fluttershy following behind, leaving the rest in a book-filled room.

"Well, better get this place cleaned up... again..." Twilight sighed as she went over to pick up a book, before Rarity interrupted her.

"Well, go on, go on." She said.

"Go on what?" Twilight asked, feeling annoyed.

"Find a spell that will get us wingless ponies and humans into Cloudsdale." Rarity explained, confusing the other girls. "Didn't you see how nervous she was?"

"Nervous? Have you spit yer bit or somethin'? She was tootin' her own horn louder than the brass section of a marching band!" Applejack said doubtfully.

"I'll have to agree with Rarity here." Everypony turned to Xavier. "I've hung out with Rainbow enough to know when she is nervous about something, and she is. Look at this." Xavier then pulled out his telescope with a small twirl, ad after a bit of fiddling, a projection of Rainbow right before attempting the sonic rainboom came out of the lens, surprising them all.

"Whoa, when did you make this?" Twilight asked.

"Finished yesterday, but not important right now. Just watch." Dismissing Twilight's curiosity (much to her displeasure) he began the recording. After a bit, Xavier paused right before the moment that Rainbow flew back. "See that, I think that her failing that trick is causing a bit of nervousness onto her, and knowing rainbow, it'll impact her quite alot."

"You see, I'm not alone in seeing it. Now go on." Rarity said, pushing Twilight into another pile of books.

"Ugh, how am I supposed to find a flight spell in this mess?" Twilight yelled.

"A flight spell? One sec." Pinkie then dashed off and grabbed a book, to which she lobbed over to Twilight. "Page twenty-seven."

"How'd you do that?" Applejack asked.

"It landed on my face when Rainbow Dash knocked me into the bookcase." She explained happily as Xavier looked at her dumbfounded.

"Here it is!" The group turned to Twilight who found the spell. "A Flight spell that will allow earth ponies to fly like a Pegasus. Ooh, it looks really difficult! I'm not sure I could do it."

"Well, is there any consequences to failed spells?" Xavier asked, a bit worried.

"Sometimes, this one seems to have a bit of irritation for a few days."

"Well, that's at least not bad, so I guess you can try it out."

"Well, alright, but who's gonna volunteer to be the test subject?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I would, but we don't know how these more complex spells work on humans like me." Xavier admitted, with not a hint of fear in his voice, indicating he would if the effects were more predictable to humans like him.

"In that case, I'll do it! For Rainbow Dash." Rarity declaimed, stepping forward.

"Okay, just hold still." Twilight replied as she faced her horn at Rarity and began casting the spell. As her horn was working her magic, Rarity was being encased in a colorful blue light, looking almost like a cocoon. After a bit, a spark occurred, sending Twilight flying and the cocoon of light to burst. When the light died down, everyone looked at Rarity in awe, as she looks to have butterfly wings made of pure light. "I think it worked..." Twilight said dazed.

"That it did." Xavier said as he looked at Rarity, who was also looking at her new wings in glee.

"They're gorgeous! I love it!" Rarity exclaimed, happy to have them.

"Oh oh, me next." Pinkie said, flailing her hoof around happily. Xavier took one look at Twilight and had other thoughts.

"I'm sorry Pinkie, but I don't think it's safe for us to continue. Twilight's already used up a lot of energy to give Rarity wings, so I don't think it's wise to continue. Hmm..." Looking at the book that the wing spell was in, he found something that could work. "Hey Twilight, will this work?" Giving the book to her, she looked at the spell he was suggesting.

"A cloud walking spell? Well, it seems like it could work. It's simpler, so I think I can cast it." Twilight then cast the spell after a small delay, coating the group in a soft white light. Once the spell was done, they all smiled knowing that they would be able to help Rainbow.

Once they were ready, the group went over and rented a balloon to get up to Cloudsdale. Xavier had to drop off Rune at his house, and once he did they left for the city in the sky, with Rarity leading them along. As they were flying Xavier was giving details about his modded telescope. As Xavier was wrapping up his explanation, the group looked over and saw familiar pegasi looking up at them in awe, mostly Rarity. Once the balloon landed, Rainbow spoke up after overcoming her shock.

"This is so cool, you guys made it!"

"Sure did!" Pinkie said as she hopped out of the balloon, much to Rainbow's horror.

"Wait!" She was about to do something, but she then saw Pinkie land on the clouds with no sign of falling through. The rest of the group hopped out, though Xavier was a bit hesitant due to magic still being foreign to him. "What the- how'd you do that? Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds."

"Pretty cool, huh?" Pinkie asked as she began cartwheeling around.

"I used a spell to give temporary wings." Twilight explained, pointing at Rarity. "But it was too difficult to do more than once. So we found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds."

"And we came to cheer you to victory!" Applejack announced.

"To be honest, I was starting to get just a teeniest, tiniest bit nervous. But I feel a lot better now that you guys are here." Rainbow said, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, we've got some time before the competition. Why don't Fluttershy and I show you around Cloudsdale?" The flightless group gave their approvals, so their tour around Cloudsdale began.

"Here it is!" Rainbow announced. "The greatest city in the sky!" The group looked out in amazement at the city, though Xavier was looking with more awe since he never experienced something like this. Rainbow had a look of pride on her face until she noticed that Rarity was not paying attention at all, instead at her own wings. "Uhh... Some of the greatest Pegasi in history came from Cloudsdale." Rainbow said ignoring Rarity as she guided the group along, prompting Rarity to follow interrupted. As they traveled, the Pegasi were looking at the group for two reasons. One was Rarity and her wings' beauty, and the other was Xavier since they never saw a human before. While Rarity was all on board with all the attention, Xavier wasn't as he pulled up his hoodie to try and comfort his mind.

"Be careful with those wings, Rarity." Twilight warned as Rarity was flying around. "They're made from gossamer and morning dew, and they're incredibly delicate."

"Don't worry, Twilight. I'm sure they can't get worn out from too much attention." Rarity responded, confident and joyful of her wings.

"But I can, can we go somewhere with less ponies wanting to look at me?" Xavier said, already getting uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting.

"Sure engie, I'll humor you." Rainbow said, trying to get Xavier to chill out. "Come on, I'll show you the weather factory." With the next destination confirmed, the group headed off to the weather factory.

After a bit of traveling, (Made difficult due to the city being designed around only flying ponies) the group made it to the weather factory. Once they got there, the group put on protective gear to protect them (Xavier simply put on a helmet since there were no human coats). Once they had their equipment, they began the tour of the factory, starting with the snow room.

"This is where they make the snowflakes, each one hoof-made." Rainbow announced in a hushed voice. Inside, they saw about a dozen ponies working with precision. "As you can see, it's a very delicate operation."

"I guess making snowflakes would be difficult. I wouldn't know since weather isn't on a timed schedule like here in Equestria." Xavier said, also hushed seeing that Rainbow was quiet.

"Ooh! The snowflakes look even better from up here!" Rarity said as she flew up to some snowflakes that were hanging. Unfortunately, due to how big her wings were and how light the flakes were, she managed to create a breeze strong enough to blow all the snowflakes around. The workers then began running around, trying to catch all the snowflakes that were blown about.

"We'd...better move on before Rarity ruins winter and causes a drought." Rainbow said with a deadpanned expression as a snowflake landed next to her, creating a decent sized crack.

With that, the group went to another area, this one with large fountains of rainbow-colored liquids. "And here's where they make the rainbows!" Rainbow announced, getting gasps form the group. As they looked at the flowing liquid, Pinkie dipped her hoof into it and gave it a lick. After a moment, her face began lighting up in multiple colors other than her's.

"Spicyyyyy!" Pinkie gasped as she ran off, getting a laugh out of Twilight and Applejack as Xavier shrugged with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, rainbows aren't known for their flavor." Rainbow explained.

"Whoa! Where'd you get those amazing wings? I want a pair!" The group overheard somepony yelling and looked over, seeing Rarity and three other pegasus looking at her. The trio then saw the rest of the group and smiled. "Oh, it's Rainbow Crash again!" The darker pony said.

"Hehehyeah!" The light brown pony with the long brown mane added as they walked towards the group. "Rainbow... umm... Crash!"

"Rarity! What're you doing talking with these guys?" Rainbow immediately asked, seemingly already annoyed by the presence of them, to which Xavier took notice of just as fast.

"Oh, they were just admiring my wings." Rarity replied like it was no big deal.

"Yeah, you should forget the sonic rainboom and just get yourself some wings like these!" The darker one said, getting a laugh out of the trio of troublemakers, to which Xavier had enough.

"And who are you to say that?" When the three looked at him, they were taken aback at his appearance. "I'm just going to tell you this once and only once. Being a bully is not a lifestyle."

"Oh yeah, and who are you to tell us you- hairless- ape- thing?" The darker one asked. Xavier stood unflinching in his posture and his expression.

"Because I know bullies, and I know that they grow up after school. And since you three seem to like to bully, I think you three should run back to the schoolhouse before they catch you diching class." Xavier said with a cold look, all the while everypony went quiet, dumbfounded at the comment that he made. The darker one recovered first, though not in a happy or calm way.

"Why you-" The pegasus went in for a punch. Before anypony could do react, Xavier pulled out his sword and blocked the punch with the flat side of the blade, startling the pony and scaring him that he would retaliate. Xavier however simply pushed the hoof away from him harmlessly and lowering the sword to show he was not going to hurt him, yet. He looked at him before deciding to leave, prompting the other two to follow. Seeing them leave, he sheathed his sword and turned back to the others.

"Sorry to act like that girls, I just didn't want them to continue to insult Rainbow." Xavier said, his look back to his original calm expression, though most of them were still in shock at the events. One however caught Xavier's attention, and that was Rainbow's panicked expression. Fluttershy noticed it too, so she decided to continue the tour to get her mind off things.

"Uhh....come on. Why don't we go see how clouds are made" Fluttershy announced, prompting the others to follow. As they were walking, Xavier went over to Rainbow.

"Don't worry Dash, I know you'll do well in the competition."

"Are you kidding, I can't do the sonic rainboom!" Rainbow exclaimed in fear. "And just look at these boring feathered wings, I'm doomed!" Xavier looked at her in worry, hoping that her trademark confidence would resurface soon.

After a bit of walking, the group made it to where clouds were made. There, they saw pegasi pouring water into large machines that after a bit of time, produced clouds. While most would be fascinated and would lock their gaze onto this, Xavier was looking more so to his friend who was looking pretty down. He was going to go over, but a crowd of ponies distracted him since they were looking at a part of Rainbow's confidence problem.

"What, these old things? Go ahead, everypony. Photos are encouraged." Rarity bragged, earning deadpanned expressions from the girls and a very annoyed look from Xavier.

"Rarity." Twilight walked over to Rarity and glared at her. "We're supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember? Put your wings away and stop showing off!"

"Oh pfft! How can you asked me to put away perfection?" Rarity asked as she drifted upwards in front of the sunroof. Once she did get in front of it, her wings acted like a bunch of lenses that, when the sunlight passed through, created a kaleidoscope of colors. This display was brilliant enough to even get the girls to look impressed, but Xavier looked at Rainbow who was in a fettle position.

"Hey Dash, you good?" Xavier asked, crouching down next to her.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be okay?" She answered frantically. "Everyone's so in love with Rarity's wings that they won't even notice when I totally blow it in the Best Young Flyer's Competition."

"Hey, there's an idea!" One of the workers said. "You should enter the competition!"

"What?" Xavier was at a loss of words.

"Yeah, I could watch you fly all day long!" An elderly Pegasus mare agreed.

"There really isn't anypony who uses their wings quite like me." Rarity boasted. "Perhaps I should compete!"

"WHAT?!" Rainbow screamed as Rarity left to sign up. As she left, the workers followed her to look at her more while the gang went to a panicking Rainbow Dash.

What am I gonna do? I don't stand a chance at winning now..." Rainbow uttered, leaving Xavier in a state of worry and sympathy.

Some Time Later

After ushering Rainbow over to where the contestants were set up, the rest (Excluding Rarity, who was in the same room as all the contestants) went over to the spectator seats. As the girls were getting comfortable and ready to cheer, Xavier was sitting over the edge with a face of worry and sympathy. He was thinking about Rainbow and how she was acting, since he never seen her like this, and another pegasus close to him noticed.

"Are you okay, Xavier?" Looking up and over, he saw Fluttershy looking over him.

"Yeah, but I doubt Dash is." Xavier sighed. "I know that I may not have known her for as long as you or the others, but she was the one pony that I actually began opening up to, so I care for her. To an extent and not to exclude you and the other girls, but she's the first that I've truly became friends with." Xavier looked over at the curtains that the contestants were to exit through, but as Fluttershy was about to comfort him, horns began to ring out.

"Fillies and gentlecolts! Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!" Looking over, the crowd saw none other than Princess Celestia descend from the sky. after Celestia landed and got settled, the announcer rang out again. "Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyer Competition: the Wonderbolts!" Once the announcer said that, six trails of smoke with lightning coming out of them came flying in. Once the trails ended, it was revealed that there were three pegasi that were landing onto a seat. Each of them had goggles and a blue jumpsuit with yellow patterns that looked like lightning bolts on them. Once the got settled, the announcer rang out once again. "And no, let's find out who will take home the prize as this year's Best Young Flier!" After a moment of the crowd cheering, Xavier thought of something and got up to leave. As he was getting up, Fluttershy looked at him confused.

"W-where are you going?"

"To find Dash, I need to talk to her for a second. I'll be back, don't worry." Xavier explained before moving out. After a bit of traveling, Xavier made it to the competitor's room. Entering, he saw Rainbow in quite a panic as she was looking around. Xavier decided to go over and begin his pep talk. "Hey Dash."

"Gah! Xavier? What are you doing here?!" Rainbow said jumping up a bit.

"I'm here to help a friend." Xavier said as he put on a sympathetic face. "Now Dash, I understand you are feeling nervous about things, but being nervous never helps in any capacity. From what I know, you joined this competition to have the opportunity to hang out with the Wonderbolts, am I right?" Rainbow nodded. "And I know that your dream is to join them, right?" Rainbow nodded again. "Well, I think that winning isn't exactly what you need to do. You just need to do your best." Rainbow looked at him skeptically. "Let me explain. Don't think of this as a competition, rather a talent scouting that you managed to attract a crowd to watch. If you do that, you'll preform your best without worrying about looking like a fool. Even if you don't win, you'll make an impression on the Wonderbolts, so when they are thinking about who to recruit, they have you in mind. You get me, right?" Once again, Rainbow nodded. "Good, now I'm going to go back to the stands, don't let this crowd get to you." With that, Xavier left her to go back to the stands.

Later

After Xavier's pep talk, he went back to the stands and to his friends. When his friends asked him where he went, he simply replied, "Just helping a friend." before sitting back down to watch the show. As much as they wanted to press him on it, they decided to not press him on it and continue to watch the show. After a bunch of contestants, they were chatting between themselves.

"I loved number seven. Doing fifteen barrel rolls in a row can't be easy." Twilight said excitedly.

"My favorite is number ten. She just looked like such a nice pony." Fluttershy added.

"Hmm... Wonder how come we haven't seen Rainbow Dash or Rarity yet. The competition's almost over." Applejack pondered out loud, getting the girls thinking.

"Don't worry, she'll be out soon, I know it." Xavier said confidently, getting stares from the girls. Before they could do anything to press him on the subject, the announcer rang out.

"And now, for our final competitor of the day, contestant number fifteen!" With that, Rainbow came out of the curtains, with Rarity following behind in a very over the top costume. "Uhh... And apparently contestant number four..." While everypony was cheering, expecting a grand finale, Xavier stayed in quiet worry, hoping that Rarity being there wouldn't affect Rainbow. He was immediately proven wrong as classical music started playing instead of some more intense music, causing Xavier to put his hand onto his face. Soon, the two's performances began, with Rarity doing some sort of arial ballet and Rainbow hyping herself up. After a moment, she zoomed off to her first part, the tree weave, though there weren't any, so she used some tall clouds shaped like trees. As she was speeding through, she misjudged her flight and hit one of the clouds, sending her into the wall, where her bullies were sitting.

“Nice work, Rainbow Crash!” The dark brown pony mocked, laughing with his friends. They stopped though when something hit their heads. When they looked up, they saw Xavier holding a small bolt with a cold glare pointing their way, so they decided to shut up for a while. Rainbow then flew back and began her second part, rocketing into the air and spinning around some clouds nearby. Unfortunately, a piece of one of the clouds ripped off, hitting her face and sending the cloud off course, right at Princess Celestia who ducked under the impact zone, leaving her unscathed. All of this was getting Xavier to worry that she may not be able to succeed anywhere in the performance as he looked over at Rarity, who herself was having no problems anywhere as she began to ascend, most likely to do what happened at the factory, only at a grander scale. Rainbow saw this too and, after a bit of hyping herself, flew up faster than her. Once Rarity was right in front of the sun, she looked down.

“Look upon me Equestria…” She announced loudly. “For I am Rarity!” When she did that, her wings showered the stadium in bright and colorful lights. As the crowd was gazing upon the spectacle, nopony noticed some embers on Rarity's wings, soon followed by them just disintegrating in a blast of flames. When she realized this and looked at where they once were, she fell very quickly into the hole that was in the stadium.

“Oh no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!” Twilight exclaimed. Wasting no time at all, Xavier jumped from the stands and dashed over to the hole in hopes of catching her. He thought that he did it once with Applejack at the iron hoof completion, so he decided to do it again as he jumped. He forgot one thing though, Applejack was only a couple of feet off the ground, Rarity was more than a hundred feet high as she was falling. When Xavier grabbed her, she hit him like a cannonball as he fell with her through the hole. The Wonderbolts flew after them in hopes of saving them. Rarity unfortunately, during her flailing, kicked all three of them hard, hard enough to daze them and knock them unconscious, sending all five of them into a freefall. Xavier panicked until he saw Rainbow flying after them, so he called out to her.

"Rainbow, come on!" Rainbow flew even harder to reach them, creating the barrier from before that caused Rainbow troubles. Xavier knew what could happen, but he knew Rainbow, somepony who never gave up, especially on her friends, so he screamed out one last time. "RAINBOW!!!" That sent her the burst she needed to succeed, as the barrier closed in on her and snapped, creating the fabled sonic rainboom as she nabbed everyone falling and flew the up to the stadium. Once she got there, some other pegasi flew in to grab the Wonderbolts and Rarity while Xavier jumped onto the clouds. Once the adrenaline began clearing up, she realized that she actually managed to do the move she was planning to do.

"I did it. I did it!" She said in excitement.

"You sure did. Oh thank you, Rainbow Dash. You saved my life!" Rarity said, her voice filled with things like pride, relief, and guilt, as Xavier simply raised his thumb at Rainbow in happiness.

"Oh yeah. I did that too. Ha, best day ever!"

A Little Later

Once things calmed down a bit, the group was in the stadium talking, with Rarity in the balloon as she couldn't walk on clouds anymore without her wings.

“I just want to apologize to you all, especially you Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said sadly. “When I got my…beautiful wings! I guess I just lost my head." The girls excluding voiced acceptance for her apology, while Xaiver just stood next to Rainbow. "And I'm especially sorry that I was so thoughtless as to jump into the contest at the last minute after you had worked so hard to win it. Can you ever ever forgive me?"

"As much as I want to lecture you about what you did, I think that a near-death experience is enough to teach you." Xavier said, not having the energy to lecture after going through the same thing.

"Aw, it's okay. Everything turned out all right, right?" Rainbow said, accepting her apology. "I just wish I could have met the Wonderbolts when they were awake" As Rainbow put her head down in disappointment, a hoof poked her shoulder. When she turned around, she was face to face with none other than the Wonderbolts. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow said in amazement.

“So you’re the little pony who saved our rumps! We just wanted to thank you.” One of the Wonderbolts said.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow continued in glee. A moment later, Princess Celestia landed near the group.

“Princess!” Twilight said, getting everyone to bow in her presence.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too." She said, very glad to see them/

"Princess Celestia, I am sorry I ruined the competition." Rarity spoke as she held her head low. She looked over to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash here really is the best flyer in Equestria."

“I know she is my dear.” Princess Celestia nodded. “That’s why for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular sonic rainboom, I am presenting the grand prize of the Best Young Fliers to this year’s winner, Miss Rainbow Dash!" The announcement sent the crowd into cheering as some pegasi put a crown on Rainbow Dash to her excitement.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Once again, Rainbow began saying that again as Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie picked her up and carried her for a victory lap. As they were doing that, Celestia turned to Xavier, Twilight, an Rarity.

“So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?” Celestia asked.

I did Princess.“ Twilight replied, looking over to Rarity. ”But I think Rarity learned even more than me.“

“I certainly did.” Rarity nodded. “I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground and be there for your friends." Xavier smiled at her in approval.

“Excellent, a well learned lesson, Rarity.” Celestia nodded. It was then that Rainbow and the others returned from their victory lap.

"This really is the best day ever!" Xavier walked over to her and gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder as his form of congradulations.

"See, what did I tell you? Everything will work out."

"Uhh, hey, Rainbow Cra- erm, I mean Dash." The duo paused and looked over to see the group of bullies, though they looked a bit more guilty. "Uhh, we just wanted to congratulate you on winning the competition." The darker pegasus said.

"That sonic rainboom was awesome!" The lighter one said.

“Well, thanks guys!” Rainbow smiled appreciatively.

“And we’re sorry we gave you such a hard time.” The dark brown pony added.

“Ah, don’t sweat it!” Rainbow waved it off, balancing her newly prized crown on her head.

“Hey, do you wanna hang out with us? We’d love to learn how you did that incredible trick!”

“Sorry boys.” Rainbow streaked past them and instead, headed with the two waiting Wonderbolts. “But I’ve got plans!” She glided along with her idols as they headed somewhere else. As they were flying off, Xavier looked at her proudly.

"I must be returning to Canterlot now." Celestia said. "I have some work to do now, I will see you all later." With that, Celestia flew off back to Canterlot, leaving the group of friends alone.

"I say we head home too." Xaiver said, earning nods from the others as they walked over to the balloon. As they were walking however, Xavier stopped suddenly, having a weird look on his face as he began looking around, locking his eyes on a cloud in the sky. The girls noticed this and became concerned.

"Um, Xaiver? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Fluttershy, can you look at that cloud for me?" This caught the girls, mostly Fluttershy, off guard. "Before you ask, something is off around here, and that cloud seems suspicious to me, so can you?"

"Umm, sure." Fluttershy said as she flew up to it. When she got to the cloud's level and looked at it, she gasped and had very boggled face.

"What is it Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy, knowing that words couldn't explain it, brought the cloud down to their level. When she did and the others got a good look at it, they all were surprised as well as they saw-

"A-another human?" Xavier gasped as he looked on the cloud, where a human was on it, though it was hard to tell if they were asleep or unconscious. This human was female around Xavier's age with blonde hair, in it was a cloud hairpin and a white streak of dyed hair. She was wearing an eggshell white top shirt with a yellow stripe in the center of it and a snow-white skirt. On her back was what appeared to be a strangely shaped sky-blue branch around her height, with it ending at a hook and a small white crystal suspended in it. There were many questions that arose in this exact moment, but the biggest one in everyone's mind was how there was another human in Equestria.

Stare Master

View Online

It was another day in Ponyville and everything seemed great, but Xavier was not exactly relaxed. This was because of the new discovery of another human in Equestria yesterday in Cloudsdale. He decided to take her into his home and question her about what she knows and see what she knows, if anything, with the girls. At the moment, he was pacing around the living room, a large amount of questions and thoughts going through his head. He only stopped when a knock at the door caught his attention. When he answered it, he saw that it was Twilight and Applejack.

"Oh, Twilight, Applejack." Xavier said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to check up on you and your guest." Twilight answered on her and Applejack's behalf. "How is she?"

"Erm, come on in." Xavier invited them in to talk. The girls got comfortable on the couch while Xavier pulled up a chair for him. "Well, I check her for a bit, and she isn't unconscious, just asleep. There aren't any other injuries on her too, so she is just a mystery on how she got here. I wish I knew who she is, or how she got here..."

"Well, I guess we'll find out sooner or later, right?" Applejack reassured, getting a smile out of Xaiver. It was at that moment that they heard a large thump and when they turned around, they saw the girl on the floor.

Meanwhile

In the bed of Xavier, the mysterious girl was laying in it asleep, but she soon began to stir. As she was waking up, she felt something was off.

"Hmm? This doesn't feel like the cloud..." When she finally opened her eyes, she realized that she wasn't on a cloud, but a bed in a room. "Eh? Where am I?! She thought as she jumped out of the bed in shock. Looking around, she saw a work bench with a bunch of parts and tools, a small pet bed, and a rack for storage. After a bit more looking, she spotted the branch that was on her back when she woke up and felt a bit of relief as she went over to it. "Oh thank the skies, it's safe and in one piece." She thought as she strapped it back onto her back. Deciding to not waste time, she went over to the door and left the room, only to stop quickly when she heard voices and hid behind the door. When she looked out, she saw two heads from the couch and Xavier talking, and when she listened closer, she realized that they were talking about her. As she was listening, she felt something tug onto her skirt, scaring her enough to freeze. Slowly turning around, she saw a white fox pulling her, and when the fox realized that she was looking at her, it backed up and yipped at her, causing her to jump back and fall, getting the attention of the others.

Present Time

"Rune! What are you doing?!" Xavier said as he called her over, to which she came over happily. "I-I'm so sorry, Rune here is learning discipline, though she is quite bad at it. Are you okay?" The girl was shaking quite a bit, though the cause was a bit unknown. Whether it was the scare that Rune gave her, or that she was in a new place, or the multicolored horses that she just heard talking, one of which had a horn, either way she was very afraid. "Erm, hey Twilight, do you think that you can make some tea, and maybe I can calm her down enough to talk to her." Twilight nodded and went to the kitchen while Applejack went over to the couch to give Xavier time to usure the girl over to the couch.

After a bit, the girl managed to go over to the chair, though she was still shaking. Twilight made the tea and set it onto the coffee table and poured some into teacups, one of which Xavier passed to the girl, who hesitantly took it. Once the mood settled a bit, Xavier started.

"Well now that we are all settled, I'll introduce us." He spoke in a calm voice as to not cause alarm to her. "My name is Xavier, and these are my friends, Twilight and Applejack." He motioned to them, to which they both nodded in response. "What's your name?"

"J-Jasmine..." The girl said in a soft voice. She then looked around a bit before speaking again. "W-where am I?"

"Well, you're in my house in Ponyville. And before you say anything, I know Ponyville isn't a place that's on earth, that's because we aren't on earth, we're in Equestria, where ponies like Twilight and Applejack are the dominant species, and until now, I was the only human." This explanation left Jasmine in a bit of shock since she just learned that she was one of the only humans here in this world, the other one was in the same room as her. "But don't worry, I can say for sure that the ponies here are very friendly, right girls?" The two nodded in response. Jasmine didn't react, so Xavier decided to change the subject for a while. "So, when we found you, you were on a cloud sleeping, how did you do that?" Jasmine looked at him confused for a bit. "Well, you see, only pegasi can stand on clouds without something to keep them there, so how did you do it?"

"W-well, I made that cloud..." The entire room went silent, and it was for a while until Twilight yelled out.

"YOU WHAT?!" This not only caused Jasmine to jump in surprise, but also Applejack and Xavier due to how loud it was. "HOW!?"

"W-well, I think it's this staff..." Jasmine began, pointing at the branch that was still on her back. "I-I don't know h-how, but when I have it, I can do things like make clouds and, this." To elaborate, Jasmine put her hands close and focused, and in them a small tornado was made, not large enough to cause any harm but enough to make a point. The others were amazed at the display as Twilight got up and trotted over to her.

"This is incredible! Where did you find this?"

"I-it was with me when I woke up..." This got Xavier's attention. "When I woke up, I didn't know where this staff came from or why it was next to me, but I took it, I guess. When I saw that there were towns, I kind of hid away in the clouds, only coming down for things like food. I never stole though, just a few fruits on trees. I wanted to get close, but I was scared. I decided to take a nap and, well, you can guess where that led..."

"So you don't have any memories of how you got here either?" Xavier asked.

"N-No..." jasmine said, earning a sigh from Xavier.

"Well, I guess answers will come later, but for now you don't have to worry about anything. Equestria is more than safe, and the residents are very accepting, just give them time." Xavier paused for a bit and thought. "In fact, if you want to, you could live here in my home." This surprised the group, Jasmine especially.

"R-really, you'd allow me to live here?"

"I mean, yeah. You'd probably feel safer if you had somewhere to stay without worry about if you would get food or have a warm place to sleep, so I would allow it. Besides, this house is huge, you can have a room all to yourself if you want." As Xavier was talking, Jasmine had a sparkle in her eyes. "So would you like to?"

"Y-yeah, if it really means no trouble..." Xavier smiled, knowing that Jasmine may find this place great and peaceful.

"Well, now that that's settled, I gotta go." Applejack said as she got up. "I still got some chores on the farm to do, so I'll leave you to get settled." Applejack then left to go back to her home, wishing Jasmine luck in settling in.

"I need to go as well; I was planning to pick up some of my favorite tea from Zecora's place." Twilight said as she headed to the door.

"Well, be careful, you know the path isn't the safest, so stay safe." Xavier said as he waved Twilight goodbye. With Twilight and Applejack gone, it left the humans alone. "Hey Jasmine, since you're new here, how about a tour around town so you don't end up lost?" Jasmine simply nodded in response. Xavier went and grabbed his gear and, alongside Jasmine, left his home.

As Xavier was showing Jasmine around town, many ponies in town were stopped and stared at them, but mostly at the new girl.

"Is that-"

"Another human?"

"But isn't Xavier the only human here?"

"Apparently not anymore..."

"Where did they come from?"

As the town was looking at them, Xavier was worried that Jasmine would feel quite uncomfortable or even scared, but when he turned to her, he was surprised to see that she wasn't bothered by them. In fact, she looked quite distant as she looked up at the sky vacantly. "Um, Jasmine?" She didn't respond, or even react. "Jasmine?" He nudged her shoulder to see if she was okay and was met with a surprised yelp from Jasmine as she turned to him. "Oh, sorry about that, I just wanted to see if you were okay, you weren't responding."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry... I get... distracted easily..." Jasmine admitted, looking quite ashamed.

"Hey, no need to feel ashamed about that, I was just worried is all." As the two were walking, Xavier saw that they were right in front of Sugar Cube Corner. "Oh, here's one of our stops, Sugar Cube Corner." Jasmine looked at it in awe.

"It's like a giant gingerbread house." Jasmine said with wonder in her voice.

"It really is, and it's where one of my friends' lives." Xavier then led her inside in hopes of introducing her to Pinkie. "Now I must warn you, my friend here is Pinie Pie, and she is... unpredictable. It would be in your best interest to not question what she's doing and just roll with-" Just as he was about to finish his warning, a large crash could be heard from the kitchen. Wasting no time, Xavier ran in to see if anyone was hurt, and upon entering he saw that Pinkie was on the floor with a mess of batter. "Pinkie?! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just tripped on my pet alligator when I was about to put the batter into the cupcake holders." To prove the point, a small alligator walked out from behind her.

"You know, normally I would question you about having a gator as a pet, but I've given up on questioning you..." As this interaction was going on, Jasmine peeked her head around to see what was going on, and Pinkie noticed her. With one loud gasp, she bolted out of the kitchen and got right into her face.

"Ohmygoshit'sthehumanthatwefoundincloudsdalehowareyouwhoareyouandwheredidyoucomefromohwaitweshouldhaveapartytocelebrateandthen-" She was cut short when Xavier grabbed her and pulled her back, leaving Jasmine very confused.

"Pinkie, I know it's hard for you to keep you calm whenever you meet someone new, but maybe slow down a bit. She's new so I don't want to panic her. So if you could please not get into her face like that and speak clearly I would appreciate it." Xavier explained, earning a salute from Pinkie as she walked over to Jasmine.

"Hello there, I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?"

"J-Jasmine..." She replied, still processing what happened.

"I can't believe that you are here! Where did you come from? Oh! we need to plan a party for you!" Pinkie began as she hopped in place. Jasmine simply stood there in confusion. Xavier was about to talk but before he could, he smelled something.

"Um, Pinkie? What's that smell?" Sniffing the air, Pinkie realized something.

"Ah, the cupcakes!" Pinkie then rushed right back into the kitchen, leaving Jasmine and Xavier.

"I think we should leave for now, come on." Xavier said as they duo left the bakery.

"She's your friend?" Jasmine asked hesitantly, still processing what happened.

"Yeah, she is. I know she is very energetic, but trust me when I say she'll do anything to make you happy." Xavier explained with a shrug. They continued to walk to their next destination when Xavier noticed something hanging in a cloud. "Huh, isn't that?" Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was the tail of a certain friend of his. "It is, Hey Dash, down here!" With a bit of a shake, the head of Rainbow popped out from the cloud.

"Huh, oh hey Xavier, hey other human." Rainbow greeted. After a moment of processing, Rainbow jumped up in surprise. "Other human?!" The jump made Rainbow lose her balance and fall of the cloud, causing her to fall onto the ground.

"Uh, Rainbow? Are you okay?" Xavier asked. Rainbow responded by flying up close to them.

"When did another human get here?!"

"Well, she seems to have come a few days ago, but I only discovered her yesterday when you went to hang out with the Wonderbolts." Xavier explained. With the explanation, Rainbow began examining Jasmine by flying around her, making Jasmine quite uncomfortable. "Erm, Rainbow, meet Jasmine. Jasmine, meet my good friend Rainbow Dash, a very good flier and loyal to the end."

"Hey, you forgot about being the most awesome pony in Equestria." Rainbow said backing off and giving Xavier a light punch to the shoulder.

"Right, forgot about that. But anyway, Jasmine here is going to be staying with me, so you can get to know her more."

"Cool, it's nice to meet you, Jasmine." Rainbow said flying upwards. "Sorry I can't chat more, but the weather team needs me soon, so I'll see you later." Rainbow then flew off, leaving the two humans alone again.

"S-she seems... interesting." Jasmine said unsure.

"Yeah, she is pretty interesting. Anyway, come on. We have more places to be." The duo began walking once again. "Next I think we'll visit Rarity. She's a fashionista and a designer, but she is also very generous, so I'm sure that we can get her to make you some new cloths." Once they got to Carousel Boutique, they noticed a piece of paper on the door. Xavier read it out loud.

Due to some recent events,
I won't be available for some time.
Sorry for any inconvenience

"Well that stinks." Xavier sighed. "I guess you won't meet her today." Xavier thought for a bit before looking back at Jasmine. "I think we should head over to my last friend's place." Walking away, Xavier led Jasmine over to Fluttershy's cottage. "My final friend here to take note of is Fluttershy. She's very kind, so don't worry about her not accepting you. She's a bit shy though, so it may take some time for her to get comfortable with you. Don't worry though, she'll accept you in time, she did for me." The duo continued to walk to Fluttershy's and after a while they made it to her cottage. "And here we are, Fluttershy's cottage."

"Wow, it looks like it came out of a storybook." Jasmine admired, forgetting about her previous edge about the forest.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I haven't been around here much, so I never noticed it." Xavier admitted with a blush. After admiring the small home for a bit, they walked up to the door. When they were close though, they heard something going on inside when Xavier knocked on the door. While they waited, a large impact could be heard, worrying the two. Fortunately, Fluttershy did manage to answer.

"Oh, hello Xavier. What brings you here?" Fluttershy asked though a cracked door.

"Well, I wanted to introduce you to the other human we found in Cloudsdale the other day, but you seem busy." Xavier explained. "What is going on in there anyway?"

"Well..." Fluttershy opened the door, revealing that none other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders were running around Fluttershy's cottage, making quite the mess and noise. Seeing them, Xavier ran in to see what was going on.

"Girls? Girls!?" The three stopped and looked over at Xavier. When they saw him, they smiled and went over to him.

"Xavier!" The three cheered at once as they happily jumped onto him.

"Woah, hey girls." Xavier greeted, happy to see them. "What are you doing here?"

"The three are here for a sleepover. It was originally supposed to be at Rarity's, but something happened that made it impossible to watch the girls and finish a project by tomorrow. Since I was there, I offered to take them." Fluttershy explained.

"Huh, I guess that would explain why Rarity closed her shop when I went to introduce Jasmine." Once Xavier explained all eyes were on her. Fluttershy had a healthy amount of curiosity since she saw her yesterday, but the crusaders were very confused.

"Is that another human like you Mr. Xavier?" Applebloom asked.

"Yep, she's another human. Everypony, meet Jasmine. Jasmine, meet some of my friends. The adult pegasus is Fluttershy, and the fillies are known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo." Xavier said introducing all parties. Jasmine simply waved at them.

"It's nice to meet you, Jasmine." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you." Scootaloo added, getting the other two to nod.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I need to talk to Fluttershy for a bit, so stay out of trouble for a bit." Xavier said.

"I-I'll watch them if you need me too." Jasmine offered.

"That would be great Jasmine, thank you." With Xavier's approval, Jasmine went to watch the three. "Now that we can talk, are you sure that you can handle those three Fluttershy?"

"Why wouldn't I? I can take care of animals well, what's the difference with children?"

"Well, for one, the girls can be quite troublesome, even more so than other children."

"Well I'm sure that I can take care of them. Besides, those little angels couldn't do anything bad."

Knowing he was defeated, Xavier sighed. "Alright, I guess I can't change your mind on this, so I'll help out if that's okay with you." Fluttershy didn't have any objections, so she allowed him to. When they turned to see the kids and Jasmine, they were surprised to see Jasmine looking quite dizzy as she sat on the floor. "Jasmine, you okay?"

"T-those g-girls are f-fast. Too fast." Jasmine answered wearily as she tried to regain her senses. Meanwhile, the CMC were back to exploring the cottage.

"So girls, what do you want to do to get our cutie marks?" Applebloom asked.

"Oh, how about we go explore the Everfree Forest?" Scootaloo suggested as she pointed to the forest from the window, getting approval from the other two as they went to the door, only to be stopped by Xavier and Fluttershy.

"Oh no! The Everfree forest is much too dangerous." Fluttershy said.

"I will have to agree on this one girls, not there. You only go there if you have business in there." Xavier added, much to the disappointment of them and the confusion of Jasmine.

"Huh, why's that?" Jasmine asked.

"Because that forest is very dangerous. It acts very different from the rest of Equestria and is home to many dangerous creatures like manticores." Xavier explained, scaring Jasmine at the mention of Manticores.

"M-manticores!? But I thought they were only in mythology!"

"Well maybe back on earth, but here they are more than real, many other creatures as well. Trust me, you never go in unless you have business inside of it." Xavier warned to both Jasmine and the CMC, mostly Jasmine.

"But we do have business, we can get our cutie marks there." Scootaloo said.

"Well I doubt that you'll earn them in there, so sorry girls." The three whined a bit, but Jasmine was pretty confused.

"Umm, what is a cutie mark?"

"You see the butterflies on Fluttershy's flank?" Xavier asked, and Jasmine nodded in response. "That's a cutie mark. Around here, a cutie mark represents a pony's talent. Fluttershy's means that she's good with animals." Xavier explained, putting the lesson Twilight gave him to good use. "But a cutie mark only appears when he or she discovers their special talent."

"Um, okay...? How do they appear like that?" Xavier hesitated since he didn't know the answer.

"Erm, I really don't know. Let's just chalk it up as magic, alright?" Xavier finally responded. Jasmine was about to ask more, but Sweetie belle interjected.

"Hey, why don't you and Fluttershy come in with us, Mr. Xavier. We could be, umm... creature catchers!"

"YEAH, CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CREATURE CATCHERS!!!" The three yelled, making Fluttershy flinch, Xavier to be surprised at how loud they could be and startle Jasmine. Before Xavier could say anything though, Applebloom and Scootaloo went and grabbed a carpet, putting it over themselves, making the illusion of a dangerous creature.

"Arrrr! I am a dangerous creature from the Everfree Forest! Rrrarr!" Scootaloo roared, prompting Sweetie Belle to respond.

"Halt, dangerous creature of the Everfree Forest. I am Sweetie Belle, the creature catcher, and I'm here to catch you!"

"You can never catch me! I am far too powerful and dangerous!"

"You cannot run from me!" This prompted a chase to ensue around the cottage. As they were running around, they were on the verge of creating a mess, whether it be from ramming into something with the size of the "creature" or from Sweetie Belle jumping around. The three finally did when Sweetie Belle jumped onto the others, sending the trio into a table, breaking it.

"Oh no, are you okay girls?" Xavier asked as he rushed over. The three were fine, but they had guilty faces on them.

"Sorry, Fluttershy." Sweetie Belle began.

"Yeah, sorry." Scootaloo added.

"I guess we aren't creature catchers." Applebloom ended. Fluttershy being the kind pony she was, wasn't mad.

"Oh, girls, it's okay. I-"

"I know! We could be Cutie Mark Crusader carpenters!" Applebloom interrupted. The three went to get tools, but Xavier stopped them.

"Um, sorry girls, but I don't think you can do that yet."

"Aw, why not?!" The three said in unison, though Xavier didn't change his opinion.

"Because you three are still young, so I don't want you three to handle broken wood or sharp and/or heavy objects. I'll take care of it."

"You can rebuild that?" Jasmine asked, not exactly believing he could.

"Well it's a lot less complicated than most machinery and electronics, so I think I can manage. In the meantime, do you and Fluttershy think you can distract the girls for a while?"

"I think we can." Fluttershy answered, with Jasmine nodding. With that, Xavier went to get some tools from his house while the two girls went to distract the kids. "Alright girls, how about we play a game?"

"A game?" Applebloom asked as she and her fellow crusaders sat on a couch, pretty disappointed that Xavier trust them to rebuild the table.

"It's called, 'Shhh!'" Fluttershy said

"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, it's a game about who can be quiet the longest. Sound fun?" Fluttershy explained, leaving the girls less than impressed. "I'm the world champ, you know. I bet you can't beat me!" Fluttershy took in a deep breath after a big smile. It was quiet for a bit before the girls got bored.

"I lose!" Scootaloo immediately shouted out.

"Me too!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Me three!" Apple Bloom finished. As each filly said they lost, they rushed off the couch and began to jump around again, leaving Fluttershy to sigh at this.

"Okay, now what can we do?" Apple Bloom asked her friends. "Oooh! How about Cutie Mark Crusader coal miners?"

"YEAH!"

"NO!" Fluttershy announced.

"Awww!" The three sighed, sad they wouldn't be able to try that out.

"I mean, it's time for bed, don't you think?" Fluttershy said, trying to get the girls to stay calm and encourage them to do something less dangerous or overbearing. "Aren't you excited to get all toasty and warm in your snuggly-wuggly widdle beds?"

"Snuggly-wuggly? But we have more crusading to do!" Apple Bloom replied.

"We've got plans!" Scootaloo added.

"And capes!" Sweetie Belle replied, showing some capes that were in her saddlebag, the capes having a golden glow.

"Well, maybe you can pick it up tomorrow?" Jasmine said, backing Fluttershy up. "It's getting late, and sleep is important for kids like you." As much as the crusaders wanted to argue, they knew that they were beat and headed up to bed. Once they were in bed, they tried again.

"How are we gonna find our special talent in our sleep?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Maybe you'll have a lovely little dream about getting your Cutie-Marks?" Fluttershy replied as she blew out some candles and Jasmine tucked them in.

"But we're not even tired!" Scootaloo complained.

"W-well, maybe if I sing you a lullaby?" Jasmine asked. The three gave their approval as Jasmine began to sing.

Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed

Jasmine sung with a voice like silk. Her voice was clear and melodic alongside a soft tone. As she sung, the crusaders were beginning to get lulled to sleep and Fluttershy listened in quiet awe. As Jasmine finished the first verse, she spoke up.

"Wow Jasmine, that was beautiful." Jasmine froze up a bit.

"I-It was?"

"Yes, it was amazing." Fluttershy said with a warm smile. Jasmine simply blushed in response. As the three crusaders were about to fall asleep, Sweetie Belle's eyes shot opened.

"I know this one!" She said excitedly.

"Really? Well, maybe you can sing it as well." Jasmine encouraged. When she did, she noticed that Applebloom and Scootaloo covered their ears as Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. Jasmine was about to ask why when-

Hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to lay your sleepy head!
Said hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to go to bed!

Sweetie Belle began to sing very loud, albeit it was very good. Jasmine and Fluttershy were startled by the outburst as the room itself began to shake. She didn't let up though.

Driftin' off to sleep!
Exciting day behind you!
Driftin' off to sleep!
Let the joy of dream land find you!

As she sung, things began to fall off of shelves and tables in the room. Jasmine and Fluttershy tried to calm her down, but to no avail.

Hush now! Quiet now!
Lay your sleepy head!
Said hush now! Quiet now!
It's time to go to bed!
OOWWWWWW

With the loud exclamation at the end, things calmed down, but only because another noise could be heard by the crusaders outside. As Jasmine and Fluttershy were putting the things that fell back onto their respective places, they noticed that the girls were gone and the window open. When they looked out of it, they saw that the crusaders were outside and that Fluttershy's chickens were running loose in the pen.

"Fluttershy, your chickens are on the loose!" Applebloom said.

"I wonder what could have caused that..." Sweetie Belle thought out loud, earning deadpan expressions from the other crusaders.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders will handle this!" Scootaloo exclaimed, prompting the three to yell out, "Cutie Mark Crusader chicken herders! Yay!", as the three began to chase the chickens. By the time that Jasmine and Fluttershy made it down, there was more chaos than before with the crusaders chasing the chickens, making them scatter more and more. Before Fluttershy could say anything, Jasmine reacted faster. She created a small tornado once again, but this time she held it and ran into the center of the pen. Once in the center, Jasmine took the tornado and slammed it onto the ground, sending a gust of wind outwards from her position. This wind wasn't too strong, only enough to blow around hair, but it was enough to get the attention of everyone in the pen. Once everyone was looking at Jasmine, Fluttershy approached.

"What was that Jasmine?"

"M-magic, I-I think." Jasmine responded. "I-I can tell you more about it later, but I just acted on instinct. I just wanted to calm everyone down."

"Well, thank you Jasmine. I'll take care of the chickens; can you get the girls." Fluttershy asked. Nodding in response, Jasmine went to get the girls while Fluttershy went to get the chickens back into the coop.

"Okay girls, I think it's time to head to bed this time." Jasmine said to the crusaders.

"But-"

"I don't think buts are going to persuade me or Fluttershy. Besides, it's late now, so please?" The crusaders once again knew they were beat, so they conceded. Unbeknownst to them, Fluttershy was using a special technique that would come in use later.

"So, no more crusading for tonight, all right?"

Once back inside, the crusaders were put back into bed with Fluttershy and Jasmine looking over them.

"Yes, Fluttershy!" Scootaloo said closing her eyes.

"We promise, Fluttershy!" Sweetie Belle continued, closing her eyes as well.

"Good night, Fluttershy!" Applebloom finished, closing her eyes.

"Okay, good night." Fluttershy said as her and Jasmine left the room. Once they made it down, Fluttershy went to her couch and Jasmine went to a chair. Once they got comfortable, Fluttershy started to talk to herself. "It really wasn't that hard ... I mean, all I needed to do was just show them who's in charge. Nothing's gonna get past Fluttershy! Good with animals, good with kids."

"They are pretty energetic though. I'm just happy they are in bed now." Jasmine said tiredly. As things were quiet, the cottage door opened, revealing Xavier at the door with his toolbox.

"Hey girls, I'm back. What did I miss?" He asked as he put his toolbox next to the broken table.

"Nothing much, the crusaders are in bed, and we were about to rest." Fluttershy replied.

"Really? Hmm..." Xavier began to think for a bit. "Something doesn't feel right." After a quick decision, he told the girls. "Well, I'm going to check on them, be right back." Xavier then went upstairs to see them. Fluttershy took this as an opportunity to ask Jasmine about her power.

"Hey Jasmine, how do you have magic?" Caught off guard, Jasmine decided to explain.

"Well, I think it's this staff that gives me it. Whenever I have it, I am able to make those small tornados and clouds, alongside stand on those clouds. I don't know why I have it, but it seems important." Before Fluttershy or Jasmine could continue their conversation, Xavier ran down the stairs frantically.

"They're not their!" He said.

"What?!"

"When I went up to see them, they weren't in the bed. I looked around for a bit, but they weren't anywhere. Then I saw that the window was open." Hearing that, the three went outside to try and find them. While looking around, Xaveir saw something. "Hey girls, I think I found something!" Coming over, the girls saw that there were footprints of a chicken leading out of the coop. When Fluttershy looked inside, she noticed something.

"Elizabeak! She's missing!" She said worried. Realizing something, Xavier followed the tracks to the fence that surrounds Fluttershy's property. When he made it, he saw that a bit of the crusader's cape ripped off and ended up on the fence.

"I found a piece of cloth girls!" When Jasmine saw it, she knew what it was.

"That's the cloth that the crusader's capes were made out of!" When she said that, they all drew the same conclusion.

"They must have gone into the Everfree forest to find the missing chicken." Xavier said to confirm their thoughts. "We have to go after them."

"What?! B-But you said that place was dangerous!" Jasmine said fearfully

"Yes, but the kids are in there. If they stay there, they are in grave danger. Don't worry though," Xavier pulled out and extended his sword. "I can protect you." Seeing as leaving the crusaders in the forest could lead to disaster, Fluttershy and Jasmine swallowed their fear and followed Xavier into the forest.

As the three entered the forest, the three's reactions were very different. Fluttershy was predictably afraid, Xavier wasn't afraid due to having previous experience in the forest, but Jasmine a mix between them, knowing that getting the girls out was priority one, but she was still afraid.

"Girls?! Come on out!" Xavier called out. "You know you can't be in here." A quiet wind blew around them, causing Fluttershy to whimper loud enough for the others to hear. "Fluttershy, there is no need to be afraid. We'll get the girls and get out before anything bad happens."

"I-I know..." Fluttershy whimpered. "It's still worrying to me and-" A crack could be heard. When Xavier looked, he saw that Jasmine just stepped onto a dry twig. Unfortunately, Fluttershy didn't know that and instantly went on edge. "Ahh! What was that?" She said fearfully as she backed up. She only stopped when she bumped into a tree. This made Fluttershy even more afraid as she bolted.

"Wait, Fluttershy! It was just a tree!" Xavier yelled out to her as he and Jasmine followed her. After a bit of running, they managed to catch up to Fluttershy, but she wasn't alone as there was another figure with her and she was talking to them. Getting closer, Xavier knew who it was. "Twilight? What are you doing here? I thought you would have-" He was cut off by a short yelp from Jasmine. When he was about to ask why, the moonlight began to shine brighter, revealing that Twilight was a stone statue. "What the-"

"W-W-What happened to her?!" Jasmine asked panicked as Xavier looked in worry and confusion. Fluttershy however knew what it was.

"We need to find the girls!" She exclaimed as she ran off. Seeing her panic and worry, the humans followed along. As they were running, they heard some talking nearby, so they followed it and found the crusaders. "Girls!"

"Fluttershy? Xavier? Jasmine?" Applebloom asked.

"Oh thank the skies we found you." Jasmine said relieved. "I think we can get out of here now, right?"

"But we haven't found the chicken yet." Sweetie Belle said.

"There's no time for that. There's a cockatrice on the loose!" Fluttershy said panicked. When Fluttershy finished, Jasmine and Xavier were fearful.

"A cockatrice! Oh yeah we need to leave now!" Xavier yelled out. The crusaders were more confused then scared.

"A cocka-what now?" Applebloom asked.

"It's a terrifying creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now, come on, I don't want to be here anymore!" Jasmine whined. The crusaders weren't convinced however and continued forward.

"The head of a chicken and the body of a snake? That doesn't sound scary, that sounds silly!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Why, if I ever saw one of them cockathingies face-to-face, I'd laugh at how silly it was." Applebloom dared. Fluttershy got in their way before they could get farther.

"No! Never look one in the eye!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "If you look a cockatrice in the eye-" At that moment, the lost chicken ran behind her.

"The chicken!" Applebloom said, getting the crusaders to chase after it. This prompted Jasmine and Xavier to run after them.

"Wait, no, girls!" Xavier said as he and Jasmine ran after them. When they caught up to them, they saw the crusaders looking at two chicken heads in the bushes, though one seemed off to the crusaders, though they still went to grab them both. It didn't to Xavier and Jasmine as they knew exactly what it was, but they were too late to warn them as the head sunk back into the bushes. After a brief moment, the 'chicken' rose out, though it was followed by a long, scaly body. It had wings like a dragon and talons like an eagle. This was the cockatrice, and it soon set its sights on the scared and helpless chicken. It slithered over to it and looked it in the eyes, and in only a moment the chicken was encased in stone, leaving it to fall over. The crusaders and the humans looked at this display, and when the cockatrice looked over to them, they ran away fast. As they were running, Fluttershy was going to meet up with them, and as she came into sight, Xavier grabbed her and ran with her. After a bit of running, they all collided with something. When they all looked, they saw that they collided with the statue of Twilight. Once the crusaders looked at it, they screamed in fear. Xavier was about to try and calm them down, but he soon heard the roar of the cockatrice closing in. In that moment, his instincts kicked in and began to prepare to do what he does when somepony is threatened.

"GIRLS!" The crusaders stopped their screaming. "Behind Fluttershy, NOW!" The trio complied quickly and did just that. As they did that, the cockatrice came into view, and Xavier pulled out his sword to defend himself. The cockatrice wasted no time and lunged at him, but Xavier was ready this time thanks to training sessions with Rainbow. He dodged to the left, swinging the blunt edge of the sword up into the chest of the beast. His intention wasn't to kill it, but to hopefully chase it off or to have it take too much and faint, so the hit was enough to cause bruising in many. The cockatrice was stunned at this and held back for a second to recover, but Xavier wasted no time and ran at it, preforming a slide right at its feet. As he hit, the cockatrice was sent right onto its face. Xavier went in for another blow, but the cockatrice was ready as it used its tail to grab Xavier's neck. Xavier didn't see it coming and was grabbed, sending him down onto the ground. As Xavier was struggling to get it off, the beast reared its head to turn him to stone until...

"Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?" Xavier looked and saw that Fluttershy was right in the face of the cockatrice, looking it directly in the eyes, the beast having a face of slight fear in it. It didn't let that stop it as it began to use its powers, slowly turning her to stone. "You should be ashamed of yourself. I have a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man. Now you go over there and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again. Do you understand me?" As Fluttershy was scolding the beast, it became more and more afraid until it couldn't keep it up and the stone that Fluttershy was being encased in shattered and the grip around Xavier was released, allowing him to sit up. Once he did, the cockatrice ran off. "Are you okay, Xavier?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, but that thing has quite the grip." As he was recovering, he saw that Jasmine had this look in her eyes. Not one of fear, not one of relief, but one of amazement. As he was wondering, Jasmine ran over surprisingly fast, startling the two.

"OMG, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN!?" Jasmine said in excited glee. "You two were incredible! You both didn't hesitate and went right up to that thing with no fear! You guys are amazing!" As Jasmine was gushing over them, the crusaders walked over.

"Yeah, you two are awesome!" Scootaloo said, backing up Jasmine.

"Xavier, you are like a knight with those skills." Applebloom said.

"And Fluttershy, you're like the queen of stares." Sweetie Belle said. "You're the..."

"Stare master." The three crusaders said together.

"We’re sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest.” Sweetie apologized.

“Yeah, we should’ve listened to you.” Apple Bloom nodded in agreement.

“We promise that we won’t disobey you for now on.” Scootaloo assured with a soft smile.

“Oh, you do, do you? Well, you better, or I’ll give you… the stare.” After a moment, the six of them found the situation funny and couldn't help but laugh. As they were laughing, Twilight, who was just reawaken, walked over confused.

"W-what happened?"

The Next Morning

After the events in Everfree, the group got out of the forest and decided to settle down for the night. Once they awoke, the group were outside, the crusaders playing and the others talking about the events.

"...And that's when it brought you back from stone." Fluttershy ended.

“This is gonna make quite a letter to the princess.” Twilight said, smiling happily after she was done writing her letter. “I’m glad things turned out well, and I can’t wait for her to know about you Jasmine."

"I just she accepts me here to Equestria." She admitted.

"Don't worry, Jasmine, she will. I mean, she accepted me." Xavier comforted.

"Yeah, but you're so cool and heroic, so she just had to." Jasmine complimented; leaving Xavier flustered.

“Yeah, but it was partly my fault, I suppose.” Fluttershy said sadly. “I assumed I’d be just as good with kids as I am with animals and boy was I wrong! I really learned the hard way about biting off more than I can chew.”

“You and Rarity both.” Twilight agreed.

"And speak of the devil." Xavier said as he saw the unicorn in question walking over. "Hey Rarity."

"Good morning, darlings. I hope I'm not too late." Rarity said.

"No, you're good." Xavier said.

"Did you finish all those capes?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, it was difficult, but I did." Rarity said.

"That's great." Xavier said. "Oh, right. Rarity, I want you to meet Jasmine. Jasmine, this is Rarity."

"Hello there." Jasmine waved.

"Hello darling, it's wonderful to meet you. I would love to stay around, but I have some things to do, Girls, pack your things, it’s time to go." Rarity spoke, but she soon realized that the crusaders weren't listening. The others smirked as Fluttershy went over to her.

"Allow me." She said. "Girls?" the three fillies stopped and went over to her quickly.

“Yes Fluttershy? Apple Bloom responded.

“You called?” Scootaloo asked.

"Go and get your things. Rarity is here to see you home."

"Of course, Fluttershy, right away!" Sweetie Belle said as they ran off to do just that. As they ran off, Rarity was left in a state of shock and confusion.

“H-how d-d-d…How did you do that?!”

"I guess I'm just as good with kids as I am with animals." Fluttershy said as she winked at the others. At that moment, the crusaders ran past them and were heading home.

“Uh, speaking of which,” Rarity spoke up. “I could use your help with Opal.”

“Of course! How about later today?” Fluttershy said, but a loud hiss could be heard. Looking at Rarity, she revealed that a cat, presumably Opal, was slinging onto Rarity with her claws, looking quite aggressive.

“How about…now?" Rarity said, strained. Seeing the scene, Fluttershy, Twilight, and the humans began to laugh at the absurdity of the scene as Fluttershy went to get Opal. As she was, Jasmine was thinking of something.

"These people- er, ponies- are so nice. I hope I can repay their kindness they've shone to me.

A dog and pony show.

View Online

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"For the hundredth time, yes, I'm okay with doing this."

With Jasmine entering Xavier and his friend's lives, things have changed, but not by much. One might think that another human walking around would stir something up, but since the residents of Equestria are kindhearted and accepting, it took only a day for them to accept Jasmine into town. Now that Jasmine's been accepted in a few days since her arrival, Xavier has taken her around town to buy her things for a room that she claimed in his home, though she was adamant.

"But you shouldn't be spending money on me, I should be buying this stuff..." Jasmine argued, trying to get Xavier to stop from spending his money on her.

"Hey, you shouldn't be sleeping on the couch for too long. And besides, I have enough money to spend on you for this. Plus, the other's said that they would help out if needed, so there is no worry. And before you say anything about them using their money, they gave me everything since they didn't need it. Everything they gave me just needed some polishing and it looks brand new. So don't worry, we have you covered." Jasmine was about to retort, but a crowd cheering got their attention. Confused and curious, the two where the cheering was. When they found the crowd, they saw that they were fanning over another pony that was in town. She was in a blue suit and looked quite polished.

"I wonder who that is." Jasmine wondered out loud.

"Somepony in blue and very popular." Xavier said, earning a deadpan look from Jasmine.

"Anyway, why do you think she's managed to attract this crowd, and why do you think she's here?"

"Dunno, I guess she's popular. I haven't exactly been following the trends here. Whoever she is, she seems to be loved." As Xavier was speaking, the pony left, leaving a bunch of bodyguards to keep the distance from her. Seeing that getting to her wasn't an option, the crowd dispersed and left, leaving the two humans standing. "Well, since she's gone, I guess we should-" Turning to Jasmine, Xavier saw that she was walking away. "Huh, Jasmine? Where are you going?" Jasmine looked back at him sheepishly,

"Um, well I was going to try and follow her. I kinda want to know who she is." Jasmine admitted, earning a sigh from Xavier.

"You haven't even been here for a week and you're already looking for trouble..." Jasmine blushed. "Well, she did look like she was heading over to Rarity's place, so we can go over there if you want." Jasmine smiled brightly as Xavier led her along, happy to be able to meet somepony so popular.

After a bit of walking and chatting about who the mare was, the out-of-place duo made it to Rarity's boutique.

"Now, are you sure that you want to do this?" Xavier started. "We don't know who she is and for all we know, she could-"

"Yes I'm sure. C'mon, I want to see her." Sighing, Xavier opened the door to the boutique, to see both Rarity and the pony talking. The two ponies turned around, and upon seeing the humans, they each had different reactions.

"Oh, Xavier. Jasmine. What brings you here?" Rarity asked.

"Well, Jasmine kind of wanted to see what the crowd outside was interested in, so she convinced me to help her follow her. So here we are." Xavier explained as Jasmine looked at Sapphire Shores with bright, gleamy eyes like a kid amazed at a magic trick.

"Rarity, are these those 'humans' that have been stirring up things?" The blue-dressed mare asked, surprising Xavier, as Jasmine was too preoccupied in aweing at her.

"You know us?"

"Of course I do, the Princess made it known since forever ago. Though, I remember her saying that there was only one of you."

"Well, she kind of only came here recently. My name is Xavier, and this is Jasmine." Xavier introduced, though Jasmine wasn't paying attention, so Xavier nudged her, earning a very surprised jump from her. "And sorry about her, she's a daydreamer."

"Oh, it's okay, she hasn't seen somepony so dazzling before." Rarity said, with the mare nodding to confirm that she was okay with it.

"Phew, I was worried it would make you uncomfortable, Ms..."

"Oh, It's Sapphire Shores, famous pop-star." The mare said, now known as Sapphire.

"Wait, you guys have pop stars here?" Xavier asked, earning a nod from Rarity.

"And I happen to be know as the pony of pop." Sapphire said with pride, which made Jasmine even more impressed. Sapphire Shores then turned back to Rarity. "Anyway, back to our conversation, I'll take it." This made Rarity very happy. "And five others." Rarity stopped herself.

"I beg your pardon?" Rarity asked.

"Yes, five more. Each in a different jewel. For costume changes." Upon the short explanation, Rarity looked over to an empty chest, and fainted soon after. As Xavier ran over to Rarity, Sapphire Shores began to leave. "Yes, I do have that effect on ponies." Once she left, Jasmine began to fangirl about the experience as Xavier helped Rarity up.

"You okay Rarity?"

"Yes and no." Rarity said pretty sadly. "I was happy to know that Sapphire loved my dress I made, but I used up the last of my gems to make it. Now I have to go and collect more. *Sigh* But there are too many to collect."

"Well, maybe you can get some help. It's always easier with another helping hand, or hoof." Xavier offered.

"Yes, I will get some help. I wonder if Spike is free?" As Rarity began to get up and leave, Jasmine spoke up.

"Oh, can I come?" The other two looked at her confused. "If I help you, I can say that I helped Sapphire!" She said squealing.

"Of course, I can use all the help I can get." Rarity said, earning a high pitch "EEE" from Jasmine. Soon the two left, with Xavier left behind.

"Wait, weren't we supposed to go shopping for you?!"

After grabbing Spike (Who was more than willing to help for some reason) the trio began to their destination, a baren flat of dust and rock. As they were walking, Spike and Jasmine were fanning over Sapphire Shores.

"Oh my gosh! Sapphire Shores! The pony of pop! She is awesome!" Spike said excitedly.

"I know, she seems so cool, especially when you're right next to her." Jasmine replied happily.

"She is! I mean, she's gorgeous and talented and-" The two felt a gaze aimed at them. They looked over at Rarity, who was looking annoyed at the two. The two began to sweat under her gaze. "Heh... and not even half the pony you are."

"Y-yeah." Jasmine said. "I mean, you're ten times more gorgeous and talented and-"

"Spike, Jasmine. A lady is never jealous." Rarity reassured.

"Eh, of course not. But were you totally flipping out or what?!" Spike asked.

"Ladies do not "flip out", Spike. However, I was quite in awe." Rarity paused before aiming her horn down. "Oh, I need to find more jewels than ever before to decorate her costumes." As she was doing that, Jasmine looked at her curiously.

"So... how do we find the gems?" Jasmine asked.

"Well, I happen to create a spell that can detect any gems and lead myself towards them. Once I do that, you and Spike can dig them up." Rarity explained.

"Oh, got it!" Jasmine saluted. As Rarity smiled at her enthusiasm, her horn stopped right above a silhouette of gems.

"Oh, I found some." Spike hopped over and began to dig with his claws. After a bit, he reached them, and upon seeing them, his eyes began to glow.

"Ooooo! You look so delicious..." Before he could do anything however, Jasmine began to pick up the gems.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about this." Jasmine said as she put the gemstones into a wagon that they brought along.

"But of course. Now onto the next pile!" Rarity said. The three began a system. Once Rarity found a gem deposit, Spike dug into the ground, and Jasmine gathered them. After a while, the three managed to fill up the wagon. Spike of course continued to look upon it in hopes of having one. As he was looking at them, Rarity patted his head.

"You've been very patient today, Spike. And for that you get the finest reward." Rarity said as she used her magic to pick up a large gemstone and gave it to Spike. "This is from me to you." Before Spike could bite into the gem, he looked up at Rarity. "Is something wrong, Spike?"

"No. It's perfect." Spike said as he held the gem close instead of eating it. This confused Rarity a bit while Jasmine looked with gleaming eyes with a silent "aww". Before Rarity could ask, her horn lit up again and led her again.

"Ooo, bring the cart, Spike. There are more over here." When they got over to the gem's location, Rarity became confused. "Oh... oh, strange. It's in the trees."

"I'll get it." Jasmine said as she used her magic to conjure a cloud to fly up to it. When she got up to it, she admired the gem for a second, the next becoming fearful as a strange, dog-like head came out, revealing that the gem was part of a collar. The scare was so great that the cloud she conjured dissipated as she fell onto the ground, where she scattered back over to Rarity and Spike.

"Uh... uh... good day, gentle... uh, fellow." Rarity said, trying to reason with it. "Uh, I am Rarity and these are my friends, Spike and Jasmine." The two waved nervously. "And you are..." The creature dropped down from the tree to reveal itself. It was a lanky, bipedal dog-like creature with a vest and grey fur.

"A diamond dog." It said, walking closer, getting the trio to back up a bit more.

"Oh really? Oh well, that explains your fine taste in jewelry." Rarity said nervously as she and the others backed away some more, with the diamond dog moving closer. "I mean I-I-I know that diamonds are a girl's best friend and now I know that they're a dog's best friend too, ha ha ha. So, um, *Cough* you're out hunting for gems as well?"

"Yes. We hunt." The creature said.

"D-did it just say 'we'?" Jasmine asked.

"We hunt for gems. But you are a better hunter." As the dog was speaking, Jasmine heard something behind them, and when she looked down, she saw some mounds moving. "So now we hunt... for you!" Jasmine realized what was about to happen and jumped out of the way of two more dogs popping out of the ground, one very small and the other very large. Spike didn't though and got knocked back while Jasmine ran off behind the tree that the dog came out of. She looked out from behind it and watched how Spike defended Rarity as much as possible. Unfortunately, Spike and Rarity were overwhelmed by the three as the first one grabbed Rarity and brought her over to a large hole in the ground and the largest one launched Spike into a tree. Seeing it, Jasmine tried to grab Rarity but was too late, leaving Spike devastated. As he was grieving over what happened, Jasmine began to mentally beat herself up.

"What was I doing? Why did I run?" Jasmine thought. "I left them, to deal with those three, and now Rarity's gone..." After a bit more thought, Jasmine made up her mind on what to do. "Spike, go get the others please." Before Spike could ask anything, Jasmine jumped into the hole herself, aiming to save Rarity and make up for abandoning her.

Once inside of the hole, realized that there wasn't a simple tunnel but entire cave system, dug out by the dogs. The bad side is that she could end up lost. The good news was that there were plenty of tunnels tall enough for her to maneuver on her cloud as to not be seen. As she got on her cloud, she heard some high pitch screaming that she knew belonged to Rarity. Following the voice while also avoiding the wandering eyes of some armored dogs that were patrolling around, she entered a big room that Rarity and the three dogs that kidnapped her were. Looking over her cloud, she decided to listen to them before taking action.

"P-Please let me go.” Rarity shivered in fear as the dogs began to laugh at her.

“No!” The small one stated.

“You’re our precious little pony!” The big one stated.

“Forever! Muhahahaha!” The first said as they all laughed. Jasmine looked at them in worry and regret. She wanted to help, but she didn't know how to, she was just too scared.

“B-but whatever do you want from me?” Rarity asked, confused but still terrified.

“Gemsss!” The First one hissed.

“Yes! The gems, the jewels!” The small one stated.

“Find them! Find them all!” The big one shouted.

“Oh! Is that all?” Rarity said almost casually. Using her magic, she looked around for a bit until she found a pocket of gems. “There. A lovely pocket of jewels are right there.” Rarity said as she began walking away from them. “Now, you would be so kind as to show me the exit?” Unfortunately, one of the armor-wearing dogs pointed a sharp spear at her, preventing her exit.

“Good!” One of the dogs hopped excitedly as he pointed his finger on the X-mark. “Now, dig them up, pony!”

“What?” Rarity raised a brow. “But you said you wanted me to find the gems.”

“Yes! Find and then dig!” The diamond dog demanded.

“Dig?” Rarity asked, feeling quite irritated now.

“Yes…Dig.” After a bit of hesitation, Rarity began to dig. Well, more like tap the ground lightly as she was barely digging. The three dogs and even Jasmine looked with wide eyes confusion as she "dug".

"What are you doing? We said dig!" The small one yelled out, getting in Rarity's face.

"Forgive me, but prior to you so rudely dragging me into your dirt pit, I had a pony-pedi and I am not about to chip a hoof because you dislike my style of digging." Rarity explained annoyed. Once she finished the explanation, she went to "digging", and after a moment the first dog couldn't take anymore.

"Oh, for goodness— Fine! Just stop. Stop!" He turned over to some of the armored dogs and pointed at the dig site. "Dig, dogs! Dig! And fast." The armored dogs leapt at the spot and began to dig very fast. Jasmine looked down in wonder as she saw the other two bringing a cart over.

“She won’t dig, she pulls!” The big one said, surprising Rarity.

"I beg your pardon, but what, pray tell, are you doing?" Rarity asked as the dogs began to put a saddle connected to the cart onto her.

"Others will dig. You will haul the wagon.” The big one answered.

“Prrrecious pony-pedi will be reserved.” The small one added as he and the big one began to secure the saddle.

“Well, somebody certainly needs proper nail care. When was the last time you two had a manicure?” Rarity asked, noticing their messed-up fingers. “You’re scratching up my coat with those jagged things.”

“Please be quiet!” The first one yelled out in annoyance, but for some reason Rarity gagged

“Good heavens, what is that smell?” Rarity exclaimed, putting her hoof on his nose.

“Smeeeell?” The average asked as he released a horrid stench of his breath at Rarity. The smell was so bad that even Jasmine smelt it from the roof, silently gagging and covering her nose in disgust.

"Ah, mystery solved. It's your breath." Rarity said, surprising the first one as he smelled his breath, gagging a bit from it. But he soon realized what was happening.

“Enough! Search, pony!” He ordered angrily.

“Well, since you insist…” Rarity muttered sadly at she began pulling the cart while finding gems and marking them with a stick. “But I must say the working conditions in here are simply dreadful. Musty and damp, it’s going to wreak havoc on my mane. And this air is stifling, suffocating. And when I try to take a deep breath, the stench of all you dogs makes me nauseated. And when I try to take a deep breath, the stench of all you dogs makes me nauseated. You look and smell like if you haven’t bathed in weeks. Have you never heard of soap? You could all do with a good round of soap and water. Water, water, I’m terribly thirsty. Could I please have some water?” During this entire time she was complaining, Jasmine looked down in even more confusion than before.

"What is she doing? Complaining at a time like this. She's a captive and yet she is complaining about everything in this hole."Before she could question farther, the small dog finally had enough of Rarity's complaining.

"Good gracious, I can't take this anymore. Be quiet, pony!" He yelled out in rage.

"And that's another thing. I would appreciate if you stopped calling me 'pony'. I am a lady and I wish to be addressed as such. So you may call me 'Miss' or 'Rarity' or 'Miss Rarity'." Rarity began her complaining again, getting the dogs to go from annoyed to angry, and then to fear and pain from hearing her complain more.

"Enough! Your whining! It-it-it hurts!" The first one finally said, cracking under Rarity's complaining.

“Whining? I am not whining. I am complaining. Do you want to hear whining? Thiiis iiis whiining!" Rarity began to speak in a high pitch cry, which sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "Oooh, this harness is too tiight! It’s going to chafe. Can’t you loosen it? Oooh, it hurts and its sooo ruuusty!" As Rarity was complaining, everyone in the room was getting hit from her whining, even Jasmine wasn't faring well as her ears hurt from the echoing that was happening from the top of the room. ”Why didn’t you clean it first? It’s gonna leave a staaain! And the wagon’s getting heeeavy, why do I have to pull it?!“

“Ahh! Make it stop!” The little dog ordered, covering his ears.

“Stop whining!” The average one demanded, can’t take it anymore.

"But I thought you wanted whiining!" Rarity whined. During the short break in between Rarity's whining, Jasmine realized something. Rarity, despite being a hostage forced to work, she seemed rather calm. And when she was told to stop whining, she began to get worse. The only ones who were in distress was the dogs and their hearing. Even Jasmine wasn't unphased from the whining, so she realized that she is getting the dogs to play her game. If they wanted to keep her, they would have to put up with her.

“We’ll do anything, pony!” Th first one exclaimed. Rarity glared at them with an annoyed stare. “Oh, uh, we’ll do anything, ‘Miss Rarity’.” He laughed nervously.

"Anything?"

"Or maybe she just like to be treated like a queen..."

The events that followed Rarity's whining-fest was something that Jasmine thought was over the top. Still, Rarity was still making the rules. After all, she got the dogs to make her a little room for her to relax in, with a pillow, curtains, a gold chalice of water, and even two armored dogs fanning her with large palm leaves (Where they got those things she will never know. Unfortunately for Jasmine, Rarity also got a bunch of the armored dogs to decorate the area, with some dogs getting uncomfortably close to her hiding spot. The three original dogs were hit the hardest though, as they were forced to pull the carts. As Jasmine was trying to stay hidden, she overheard the trio of dogs speak.

"Wait! Why are we doing this?" The first asked.

"To stop the awful noises from the pony's mouth, remember?" The little one began imitating Rarity's whining, but the first dog placed his paw on his mouth, shutting him up.

"Yes, yes, I know. This is ridiculous! Letting a pony order us around. What are we? Mice or dogs?" The first asked.

“Mice!” The other two replied, which the first one glared at them disapprovingly, as they realized their answer. “Dogs!” Jasmine facepalmed at the sheer incompetence of these dogs

The average dog stared at them for a moment, and then continued his speech. "Dogs do not pull. Ponies pull. Let her make the awful noises."

They walked up to Rarity and began placing the saddle on her. "What are you doing?" She asked. The first dog didn't answer as he "Accidentially" bumped her drink over. "Hey, you spilled my drink. Oh! Not sooo tiiight!"

"Ha! Make the noises all you want. But move while you make them. Hyah, mule!" The first ordered Rarity, slapping her from behind. Rarity then stopped and processed what he said.

"Did you just call me a... mule?" Rarity asked. Unbeknownst to all of them, the one unaccounted for was faring differently. Before those on the ground could continue, they felt a strange wind blow through the room, confusing them all since they were underground where no wind should blow. Before anyone could question it though, one of the dogs that were decorating fell to the floor, stunned. Before long, the rest of the decorators fell to the ground. When the rest looked up, they saw Jasmine holding a tornado with a bunch of rocks in it in her hand, clearly mad. To the dogs, seeing her was both concerning and frightening, but to Rarity, she was confused. Not at why she was here, but to the cloud Jasmine was on, for it wasn't white like before, but a dark grey, almost reflecting Jasmine's emotions. Jasmine didn't wait for long before throwing the tornado in her hand at an armored dog, hitting it square in the face. The dog fell over as the tornado dissipated. Jasmine then cast another tornado and threw it at another dog with quick succession. Soon, Jasmine was sending dogs into the ground as the trio of dogs ducked for cover as one of the last armored dogs fell. When things calmed down, Jasmine floated over to the three and glared at them.

"Let me make this clear to you three, you ever do something like this again to someone, I will not be so nice as to just leave your troops dazed, got it?" The three shuttered under her gaze and simply nodded. Once they did, Jasmine's face lost its glare and adopted a worried one as she floated over to Rarity. "Are you okay Rarity?!" She asked in her normal, shy tone.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you, Jasmine." Rarity said, a bit shocked at first but grateful in the end. "When did you get here?"

"I-I was here since the beginning..." Jasmine admitted, feeling guilty. "I wanted to save you earlier, but I was afraid to do anything."

"Well, not to sound ungrateful, but what got you to come down?"

"Um, well, it was when the dog called you a mule..." Jasmine said, sounding sadder than usual, almost broken. "W-what they were doing brings up bad memories..."

"Does that explain why your cloud is grey?" Rarity asked, trying to change the topic. Jasmine's sad demeaner broke and was replaced with a confused one as she looked at it, raising her leg up a bit to see.

"Um, I don't know actually. Why is it-" Jasmine dropped her leg with a bit more force than she realized. When she did this, a decent sized burst of loud thunder came out, scaring the girls and the dogs as Jasmine jumped up so high that she fell off the cloud, to which it dissipated soon after. The two looked at where the cloud was in confusion and wonder. "Um, yeah, I don't know why that happened."

"Well... I guess we should get out of here, oh!" Rarity turned over to the three dogs, all of which cowered in fear. "Hey boys, do you think we can take the gems you so generously mined up with us?"

"Y-yes. o-of course. Just k-keep your fr-friend away!" The first said, fearing over both the sheer noise of Rarity and the scary power of Jasmine.

"Thank you boys." Rarity thanked them as she walked back over to Jasmine, who was giggling at Rarity's exploit. "Well, that solves my problems."

"Um, sure. But how are we going to get them out?" Jasmine asked as she pointed to the carts of gems, for there were way too many for the two of them to take up to the surface alone.

"Hmm, well maybe-"

Ka-Crash!!

Rarity was soon interrupted as she and Jasmine looked over to what the sound was. What they saw was none other than the rest of the others entering the room from a barred door, with Spike riding Twilight like he was a knight and Xavier holding his sword, ready for anything.

“Lady Rarity!” Spike shouted. “I’m here to save you.” Before the duo could react, the trio of dogs ran over to the group, pleading like their lives depended on it. The duo knows why but the group knew nothing of what happened before.

“Please, get rid of them!” The smaller one begged. "She's so loud."

"She's so scary!" The big one said fearfully.

"Take them away!" The first said like his life was on the line. Before any of them could ask...

"Hey gang." They all looked over to the voice, to which they were surprised to see Jasmine and Rarity not only safe, but a room of fallen over dogs.

"Rarity! You’re safe!” Spike jumped off of Twilight and immediately hugged Rarity.

“Why yes, hello everypony!” Rarity greeted, feeling quite happy with herself. “You’re all just in time to assist me.”

“Assist you with what?” Rainbow asked.

“She means those.” Jasmine smirked, pointing towards several wagons full of gemstones and jewels. Seeing them all being casually given away was a very big surprise to the group

“So wait, you’re letting them leave with all these... jewels?” Spike asked, confused with what’s happening.

“Yes, take them!” The first one demanded as he and the two others cowered in a corner. “And them with them!”

"Umm... so what happened here exactly?" Xavier asked, clearly confused as to what was happening.

"We'll explain on the way up. Come on and help out please." Jasmine said as she led over the group over to the carts.

"Let me get this straight. You managed to turn an entire crowd of greedy dogs that captured you into a bunch of servants to mine up gems for you and you managed to knock out said crowd without taking a single hit?"

The group had made it back out of the tunnels and back onto the surface, each with a cart of gemstones with them (Except for Jasmine and Xavier who were pushing a cart together) Along the way Jasmine and Rarity told them the story of what happened.

"I'm more surprised at Rarity's feat." Jasmine giggled.

"Still, I'm impressed at you two." Xavier said, causing Jasmine to blush and Rarity to smile.

"Well, just because I’m a lady doesn’t mean I cannot handle myself in a stick situation.” Rarity replied. “I had them wrapped around my hoof the entire time, I even had a plan to deal with the dogs before Jasmine's appearance."

“You know, I can’t wait to write to Princess Celestia to report what you and Jasmine taught me." Twilight said, suprising the two.

"Us?" Jasmine asked.

“Just because somepony is lady-like dosn't make them weak.” Twilight replied with a smile.

“In fact, a seemingly defenseless person can be the most deceiving out of them all, and that alone is all that's needed to outshine all the other brutes.” Xavier added.

“Mmm, outshines is right!” Spike agreed as he began munching on some gems. “Now you have enough gems to complete Sapphire Shores’ costumes!”

“Not if you eat them all, Spike.” Rarity giggled as she took the gem right out his grasp before he could finish it, causing everyone to start laughing, even Jasmine. The little bit of praise made her feel good about herself, so she truly felt like she belonged with them all, and she was looking forward to spending time with them all, through even the harshest storms and weather.

White looks better then green

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As the days passed since the diamond dog incident, Xavier and the others have been helping Jasmine settle in. Now it's been over three week since she came to Equestria and she has settled into Xavier's home nicely. At the moment she was reading a book on her bed. Her room was on the upper floor and there was a lot more decorations than Xavier's room that only had his workbench and some pet supplies for Rune to count as decor. An antique lamp was on a wood bed stand. On the wall was a poster of some pop singer famous in Equestria, apparently in her signature face veil and purple outfit. She had a simple white and grey rug on the floor and a small bookcase, nothing to fancy but enough to make her comfortable. As she was reading, she heard a loud crash from downstairs, so closing her book she ran down to see what was wrong. When she got there, she saw that Xavier was picking up tools and putting them back into his toolbox.

"Xavier, are you okay?" Jasmine asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Rune just ran between me and I lost my balance." Xavier explained as he was putting his tools into his toolbox. Jasmine decided to help out and grabbed some tools.

"So what were you doing with your toolbox." Jasmine asked as she handed him some tools.

"Well, the Ponyville spa is in need of me again, so I was going over to there."

"You work at a spa?" Jasmine asked, surprised to know.

"As the maintenance crew. It's not consistent work but it pays for the food." Xavier said as he put the last of his tools into the toolbox. As him and Jasmine were getting up, he had an idea. "Hey, why don't you come with me and have a spa day?"

"Huh, why?" Jasmine asked.

"Well, even though you know that everypony here is friendly, you're still tense. I figure that you could loosen up by having a day there."

"B-but I don't want to burden you. I figure that me coming would-"

"Don't worry about it. Between you and me, the owners pay me a lot more than they should. Probably to make up for the fact I'm one guy, but I get a lot of money from a job there. Plus, I think I can get you an appointment for free. The owners also say that if I want to, I can have a spa day once in a while. I haven't had one for the months I've worked there, so I think I can get you an appointment there free of charge." Hearing everything, Jasmine became less worried.

"W-well, if you insist." Smiling, Xavier led Jasmine out the door to the spa.

Arriving at the spa, Jasmine took a quick minute to look at the spa.

"Wow, it's pretty."

"Nice of you to say that, now come on in." The two entered the spa soon after, and inside they spotted their friend Fluttershy inside.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here?" The sudden saying of her name surprised her as she looked up.

"Ah, she's probably waiting for Rarity." Xavier said, with Jasmine looking at him confused. "I've seen the two come here once in a while for a get-together here in the spa. But for now, I'm going to get you an appointment." Xavier then began to walk over to the counter where one of his employers was, giving Jasmine and Fluttershy some time to themselves.

"So, how has getting settled in been?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's been going well enough. I really can't complain about anything." Jasmine said, sort of happily since she wasn't still used to things. After a bit of silence, the spa's door burst open and when the two looked over, they saw Rarity in a pretty fancy hat come in.

"So sorry, Fluttershy, I didn't mean to be tardy for our weekly get-together." Rarity said until she noticed Jasmine. "Oh, Jasmine. Are you here for some relaxation as well?"

"You could say that. I really only came because Xavier persuaded me to come here." Jasmine admitted blushing.

"Well, that's quite alright. Why don't you join me and Fluttershy, we won't mind the company?" Rarity offered, as Fluttershy nodded to show agreement. Jasmine was thinking about it when Xavier came over.

"Alright Jasmine, I got it all set up for you. Just tell them what you want to do and they'll get it all set up." Jasmine looked over at her pony friends and smiled a bit

"I think I'll do whatever Fluttershy and Rarity are going to do."

"Fine by me. I need to get to work, so have fun you three." Xavier said as she went off to do his work.

"I think that's our cue. The usual!" With those last words from Rarity, Aloe and Lotus came over and was ready to give them their spa day.

After a bit, the three girls got into some bathrobes (Thankfully they still fit Jasmine despite being for ponies) and they were inside a steam room with Lotus pouring water onto some coals, creating the steam. While Rarity and Fluttershy were used to this relaxation, Jasmine had a face of placid peace on her.

"Haaa, thhiiis feeels sso goood." Jasmine said with the calmest tone in her voice since meeting her.

"This really is the life." Rarity replied. "Now, you wouldn't believe what happened to me on the way here."

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, it’s much more than alright. On my way here, while wearing my latest hat creation, I was stopped by none other than Photo Finish!”

"Who’s that, Rarity?" Jasmine asked as she got up and out of the steam room and over to some tables for some facials. Rarity got a full mud mask with some cucumbers being put onto her eyes, Jasmine got the same without the cucumbers, and Fluttershy got two little dots of mud on her.

"She is the most famous fashion photographer in all of Equestria." Rarity explained. "Anywho, she saw my hat and said it was absolutely marvelous!"

"What a lovely compliment." Fluttershy said.

"She was so impressed that she wants to take some pictures of my shop featuring some of my clothes!" Rarity said as the spa pony Aloe began to file her hooves, the spa ponies offered them to Fluttershy and Jasmine, but they both declined.

"Oooh, that's so cool!" Jasmine said, already beginning to want to see her. That was until another worker in the spa began to massage her, to which the placid face from the steam room returned to her.

"Do you know what this could mean for my fashion career?" Rarity asked as she was being massaged, though her massage was a lot more aggressive.

"Oh, Rarity, I'm so happy for you." Fluttershy said as she was also getting a massage similar to Jasmine. After a while of massaging, the three went over to a mud bath, while Fluttershy went in and Rarity was being wrapped in seaweed, Jasmine simply took a seat nearby as she wasn't comfortable in this part. As Rarity was being wrapped up, she began to speak again.

"But I'm going to need somepony fabulous to model for me. Somepony with beauty. Somepony with grace. Somepony... like you two?" Upon saying that, Fluttershy and Jasmine both became surprised.

"Oh, goodness. I don't know..." Fluttershy replied a bit worriedly.

"Y-yeah, I don't know the first thing about modeling..." Jasmine said in the same worried tone.

"Oh, this is such a huge opportunity. And it would mean so much to me." Rarity began to beg.

"I'm flattered, really." Fluttershy said.

"Me too, but why me?" Jasmine asked.

"Nopony is going to have your elegance and poise, Fluttershy. And Jasmine, I want you because Photo Finish has never seen a human before, so having you model can get her attention more." Rarity explained, not exactly raising the two's confidence.

"But..."

"Nopony!"

"There has to be somepony more quali-"

"Please!"

"Somepony more into fashion."

"Please!"

"Somepony more comfortable in the spotlight."

"Please, please, pleeease!" After this last plead, a pause of silence was in the air. It was only broken when Fluttershy and Jasmine sighed simultaneously.

"Oh, if it's that important to you, of course I'll do it." Fluttershy said giving in.

"Yeah, I'll do it too. I'll get to meet somepony famous I guess." Jasmine said, also giving into Rarity's pleas.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Rarity exclaimed happily. “You’re the best friend a pony could ever have!”

"So why am I here again?"

After the spa trip, the three left the spa and went to get a bit of help from everyone and return to Rarity's boutique. Unfortunately, Applejack and Rainbow were busy with their jobs, so Xavier, Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie were only available to help. While Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike have been doing things for Rarity to help perfect Fluttershy's dress (Which was incredibly flashy, too flashy for her in fact), Xavier hasn't done anything since entering the boutique, so he became quite annoyed that he couldn't have just gone home and relax by working on his gadgets, but he was literally dragged by Rarity from the Spa as soon as he left.

"Well darling, Jasmine asked if you could be here for moral support, and since she has agreed to helping me, I had to get you." Rarity explained as she was working on perfecting Fluttershy's dress.

"Well why couldn't she have asked me? I would rather that then you literally dragging me from-"

"I-I'm ready, Rarity..." When Xavier looked over to the voice, he suddenly stopped and paused. What he saw was Jasmine in a dress made by Rarity. It was both simple and dazzling at the same time, it was white with soft yellow accents that hugged her upper body firmly but not overly, while the bottom was the length of a skirt, and hung onto her arms but didn't cover her shoulders. Her hair was in two ponytails on the back of her head and had white accents in each. As Xavier looked, he felt his face warm up slightly, but he quickly snapped out of that thought as he lightly slapped his face and looked away.

"Why, you look beautiful darling, now come here and let me help you." Rarity said as she dismissed everyone helping her. As Xavier finally got his act together, he noticed that Spike had dozens of needles and pins on his back.

"Oh, jeez Spike! You okay buddy, that looks painful!"

“Thick scales. Can’t feel a thing.” Spike explained. "And even if I could, there is no pain that would keep me from assisting the most beautiful creature in the world." Twilight groaned at that explanation while Pinkie giggled, Xavier simply stayed silent. "I'm gonna tell you three a secret. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I promise." Twilight said.

"Yeah, safe with me." Xavier added.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie said, doing a bunch of gestures that confused Xavier even more. Spike looked back at Rarity, who was busy adjusting Jasmine's hair. Spike gestured at them to come closer, and even closer to keep it even more secretive.

“I have a crush on Rarity!” Spike whispered with a grin, to which they all had a different reaction. Pinkie gasped like it was brand new news to her, Twilight gave an unimpressed look and Xavier smiled since he already knew, but he knew that Spike was still young.

“We promise we won’t say a word!” Pinkie exclaimed with a salute.

"Yeah, we'll keep it under tabs." Xavier said, playing along with the "secret". Meanwhile Twilight simply sighed.

“Oh give me a break, everypony already knows how you-”

"Twilight!” Pinkie stopped her, surprising her and Xavier. “You promise Spike that you won’t tell anyone about this! He trusts you!” Pinkie pointed at Spike, who looked back to see Rarity continuing her work before putting his claws together in a begging pose. “And losing a friend’s trust means losing your best friend forever!”

"I'll have to agree to a certain extent." Xavier agreed. "He gave you that secret in hopes you'll keep it like that, so you should." He leaned in close to Twilight and whispered. "Even if it's not really a big surprise." Twilight, knowing she was outnumbered, sighed.

“My lips are sealed.” Twilight promised. “But I’m sure Rarity will one day pick up on your feelings.” Xavier was confused at that phrase until he looked at Spike, who was somehow wearing a white t-shirt with Rarity in a heart, who earned the same expression that Xavier gives to Pinkie a lot. Before he could question it though, a voice rang out in the boutique.

“Photo Finish...has arrived!” Looking at the voice, they saw a pony with a gray mane and tail as she wore black sunglass with pink lenses, along with a black dress with white outlines and pink dots in them, followed by two other ponies.

“Let me just say…” Rarity walked towards her with a hopeful smile. “What an honor!” Unfortunately, she walked past her, much to Rarity’s surprise.

“We began…” One of the ponies accompanying Photo Finish walked up and brought a suitcase and set it on the ground. “Now!” Photo Finish touched the suitcase, as it popped out and turned into a camera. As she was getting adjusted, she noticed Jasmine. "Oh, that is the human I've heard about, yes?"

"Probably not, she's new here. You're probably thinking of me." Photo Finish looked over at Xavier who waved at her.

"Well, I will say that she seems very elegant." Jasmine blushed at the compliment.

"Um, thank you." She said blushing.

"Ah, her voice is even graceful." Photo said before going back to the camera lens. As she did that, Rarity went up to Jasmine and Fluttershy.

“Remember, attitude and pizzazz!” She said before getting out of the way. As soon as she left, Photo snapped a picture with a very bright flash, catching the two off guard as they both flinched.

“Yes! Show Photo Finish something.” Photo Finish encouraged as she kept snapping pictures at them. As she was taking photos, Rarity was giving poses and expressions to the two to mimic, though Photo shot those down in an instant. When the two stopped posing and looked unsure, Photo gave a smile and snapped a picture. As this vicious cycle was going on, Xavier couldn't keep his eyes off of Jasmine. After a bit, Photo stopped.

"ENOUGH!” She yelled as she turned the camera back into a suitcase as a pony came by to pick it up. Photo Finish then began walking out the shop.

"She hardly took any pictures.” Twilight whispered, feeling worried.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity. I tried my best.” Fluttershy said, removing her headdress.

“Y-yeah, me too. I really didn’t mean to let you down.” Jasmine added, feeling guilty.

“It’s alright you two.” Rarity said, making a weak smile. "The headdress is too big for you Fluttershy, and the cape. I also put too much emphasis on your hair Jasmine. I can’t believe I ever thought I could impress her.”

“It seems that I, Photo Finish, have found a next fashion star here in Ponyville.” Photo Finish exclaimed as she re-entered the boutique.

“Really?!” Rarity asked, her eyes sparkling in joy.

“Yes, really! And I, Photo Finish, am going to help her to shine all over Equestria.” Rarity grew a grin at that. “In an hour, a photo shoot in the park!” She then had a very long, awkward pause. “I go!” She immediately ran out of the door, leaving Rarity in pure joy.

“Did you hear that?! I am going to ‘shine all over Equestria’.” Rarity exclaimed.

“Oh, Rarity. I was so worried we’d ruined everything.” Fluttershy responded.

“Yeah, me too.” Jasmine added.

“Oh, never. I knew you’d be perfect.” Rarity said calmly, but soon Rarity began to giggle, which soon became a very excited laughter and bounced happily up and down on Spike’s tail, inflicting pain in him as he just stood there, staring at her in pure wonder. He didn't care so much so that Twilight had to drag him out.

"I think that's our cue to leave. Good luck Rarity." Twilight said as she dragged Spike out of the boutique as Pinkie hopped out. Xavier also left, but he had a very confused face on him.

"What is wrong with me today? Why am I acting like this?"

One hour later

After Photo Finish's shoot, Rarity, Jasmine, and Fluttershy collected a few things before going over to the park to join her. At the moment, Rarity was deciding on what outfit that the two models would wear behind a curtain.

"No, no, no, yes!" Once Rarity was done, she moved the curtain to reveal that Fluttershy and Jasmine were in gem-studded dresses. “That is definitely the one! Photo Finish is going to love it! Everypony is going to love it!”

“Oh, I am so excited for you.” Fluttershy responded happily but softly. "Just don't forget us little ponies when you become the most famous designer in all of Equestria."

"Never" Rarity responded genuinely. Their moment was interrupted however when they heard somepony.

“Put me down here.” When they turned to look, they say that it was Photo Finish who was being carried by her pony friends via a platform. She jumped off of it and observed both Fluttershy and Jasmine's outfits for a moment. “Oh, no no no no no. The models should be in something simple! Something inspired by...the nature, and the sky!” Phot Finish said.

“That’s just what I was thinking!” Rarity responded after some hesitance. After looking at the cart of dress she had, she realized she didn't have a dress like that, so she kicked away the dresses. “Um...give me a moment and I’ll, uh, put a little something together.”

“Yes...that will not be necessary.” Photo Finish replied.

“B-b-but...how are you going to help me ‘shine across Equestria’ if I don’t design something new for these pictures?” Rarity asked.

“I am not going to help you shine across Equestria. I am going to help them to shine!” Photo Finish pointed her hoof towards Fluttershy and Jasmine, surprising them all. "They are my stars." As Photo Finish was speaking, the ponies that carried her in went over to the two and nudged them away. "You! Go!" The photographer finished, stunning Rarity as she watched the ones that decided to help become the stars instead of her. After getting over the shock, she ran over to where Fluttershy and Jasmine were, the two already in dresses less flashy and more natural.

"I can't, Rarity." Fluttershy said worried.

"Y-yeah, I never signed up for this!" Jasmine said nervously.

"Oh, but you must you two." Rarity said, trying to encourage the two. “Photo Finish wants to make you a star. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I know we were all hoping it would be my lifetime, but nonetheless you can’t throw away this chance. You must do this for me. You must. You must! YOU MUST!” Before the two could respond, Photo called to them.

“Fluttershy! Jasmine! It is time to make...the magics!” Photo Finish exclaimed. After a forced smile from Rarity, the two went over to Photo Finish, and regrettably left Rarity behind.

A week later

Ever since Jasmine and Fluttershy became models for Photo Finish, the two's popularity skyrocketed almost instantly. The two's face was everywhere, form magazines, to posters, to even being a sponsor to many, even Applejack had them on her products. Everypony was all over the two, but some weren't too happy, and one was Rarity. While Rarity was the one who push encouraged them to become models, her jealousy grew more and more. But one that wasn't too happy as well were the models themselves. the two weren't exactly thrilled about the attention that they were getting, but one seemed to be faring worse than the other. At the moment though, a group was over at the spa, most notably Rarity and Twilight, the former in the hot tub and the latter walking over to it.

"My hooves are getting positively pruney, I've been waiting here so long." Rarity complained. "Obviously Fluttershy's just too busy with her new career to spend time with her best friend."

"I'm sure she just got tied up." Twilight reasured.

"Of course she did. She's a big bright shining star! I wish that star would burn out." Rarity said bitterly, shocking Twilight.

"Rarity! Fluttershy is your friend."

"I know, I know. And I should be happy for her, but instead I'm just... jealous! Oh, please promise you won't tell her I feel this way. Please, please, pleasepleaseplease!" Rarity pleaded, hoping to not lose her friend

"You have my word." Twilight promised. "Losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend."
"Forever!" Scaring all of them, Pinkie jumped out of a bowl, yelling out. After the shock, she sunk back in like she wasn't there. Once she did, Twilight looked over at Rarity, who was behind a curtain before walking out, revealing that she was in a very nice dress.

"Wow! You look great!" Twilight said.

"Fluttershy may be the one who's famous, but that doesn't mean I have to stop looking fabulous." Rarity said before walking out of the spa, leaving Twilight to prepare for a relaxing day. As she was doing that, she heard footsteps, and when she looked, she saw Xavier with his tools coming out of one of the spa's rooms.

"Hello Xavier." Twilight greeted, getting the original human's attention.

"Huh, oh. Hey Twilight." Xavier greeted back. "When did you get here?"

"Just now. You doing some more work for the Spa?"

"Yep, I just finished as well." Xavier said. As he was talking though, Twilight thought she heard some sadness in his voice.

"Hey, are you okay Xavier?" twilight asked, a bit worried.

"Well, not exactly." Xavier admitted. "I'll admit it, it's been a bit quiet at my home since Jasmine left the house because of ponies crowding the house every day. I know it seems weird, since I like being alone, but I guess I liked the company that Jasmine brought. But don't worry about me though, I'm fine. But if you see Fluttershy and Jasmine, can you tell them to try and schedule a day we can just talk?"

"Yeah, sure I can." Twilight said.

"Thanks Twilight. I'm going to head home now, I'll see you later." With that, Xavier left the spa, leaving Twilight alone again. As he was walking however, he wasn't looking at where he was going, and he ended up running into a pony. "Gah, sorry sir." Xavier apologized. As he was, however, the pony he bumped into was looking him over.

"Hey, aren't you that human that's good with tech?" The pony asked.

"Um, well, yes, but..."

"Perfect, we need your help." The pony began. "You see, my boss, Photo Finish, booked this place for a photo shoot in a few days, but one of the lights are busted. I want to ask you if you can repair the thing before the shoot. You'll be paid well and we'll even give you access to the shoot itself." Xavier paused when he heard Photo Finish's name. He began to think, if he had access to the shoot, he could see Fluttershy and Jasime again and talk to them. After a bit of thought, he decided.

"Sure, I'll do it."

A few more days later

Since Xavier took the job, he's been focusing on two things. HIs first one was the job itself, which he was almost done with. The second was his main focus however, as it was looking for Jasmine and Fluttershy. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful in finding his friends, but he was in fixing the light. At the moment, he was climbing down a ladder from where the broken light was.

"Alright, it should be good for now. All should be good now."

"Oh thank you sir, I was worried that it wouldn't be finished by the show." The pony who hired him said as he reached for a pouch. "Here's your payment and a ticket. You can stay here until the show or leave, just show the ticket to the bouncer and he'll let you in."

"Thank you sir, I hope the show goes well." Xavier said as he took the bag. Waving the stallion goodbye, he went to leave the building. He stopped however when he saw Twilight's tail turn a corner. Confused and curious, he followed behind to where the dressing rooms were, to which he saw Twilight enter one of the rooms. Walking over, he looked through the cracked-open door to see Twilight, Fluttershy, and Jasmine talking. Deciding to wait, he listened to the conversation.

"Alright, so here's the plan." Twilight began. "Since Photo Finish and everypony sees you two as beautiful and perfect, the best way to get them to stop is to get you two to act unattractive." At the last word, Xavier silently gasped, worried at where this was going.

"Um, so how do we do that?" Jasmine asked.

"Don't you worry about that, just leave it to me and my magic." Twilight said. Hearing that, Xavier knew what was going to happen, and he didn't want that to happen, so he silently sneaked through the door, stopping a few steps away from the group.

"And what are you going to do to them?" Xavier asked, startling the three as they looked over.

"Xavier!? When did you get here?!" Twilight asked panicked.

"Ever since you started to explain your plan. Now spill it, what is going on here." Xavier said very firmly.

"Erm, can we take this outside?" Twilight asked, to which Xavier nodded. Once they got out of the room, Twilight began to explain. "Well, a few minutes after you left the spa, Fluttershy and Jasmine came into the spa to meet with Rarity, but she left. When they got there, they told me that they didn't want to be models, and earlier Rarity said she didn't want those two to be models. I wanted to tell them about it, but I Pinkie promised not to tell, so I was stuck. When I was walking thinking, I thought that if Fluttershy and Jasmine were to do something that made them unattractive, no pony would want them as a model, so-"

"You decided to embarrass them on stage where many high standard ponies would be watching." Xavier finished, leaving Twilight conflicted.

"Well, when you put it that way-"

"It's a terrible plan." Xavier finished again. "Look Twilight, I understand that you can't break a promise, but your plan is not the right answer. If you go through it, you'll leave the two laughing stocks, and out of our friend group, they are the most vulnerable to criticism and the like, so they would be even more miserable then before." As Xavier was talking, Twilight became more and more guilty. Her guilt trip was interrupted by Xavier putting his hand onto her shoulder. "Listen, I don't blame you for this thought, you had made two promises that cross into each other, but this plan will end with more pain then good." Xavier reassured.

"W-Well what do we do?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I can't say anything, so the best thing to do is to get them to confess. Right now though, let's try and convince Fluttershy and Jasmine to talk to Rarity about this, alright?" With a nod from Twilight, the two went back into the room to talk to the models to end the drama.

A few hours later; after the show

Once the duo re-entered the dressing room of Jamine and Fluttershy, a new plan was made. Firstly, the two began to convince the two to talk to Rarity about their thoughts on modeling. Once they managed to, Xavier went out to get Rarity and convince her to come to the show. Thought it was hard, Xavier managed to convince her to come. At the time of the show, Xavier used his ticket to say rarity was his plus one, to which the bouncer let them in. At the show, Xaiver and Rarity hung back so that when the show was over, they had a clean way to get to the models' dressing room without much interference. On stage, Jasmine and Fluttershy did their thing that the crowd adored, and during it Rarity saw them and how they acted a bit scared and worried, thinking about how they were acting. Once the show was over, Xavier led her over to the dressing room where Twilight, Jasmine and Fluttershy were waiting.

"Alright, now that we are gathered here, Jasmine. Fluttershy. Is there something you want to tell Rarity?" Xavier asked, confusing Rarity. The two hesitated, but they began.

"R-Rarity, we don't want to be models..." Fluttershy said, surprising Rarity.

"Y-yeah, we really don't." Jasmine continued. "It's too much for us to handle. The fame, the popularity, we hate it."

"B-But why are you still doing it then?" Rarity asked.

"Because we were afraid of disappointing you." Fluttershy admitted. bringing even more shock to Rarity. "We were both afraid that we quit, you'd be mad at us for not wanting to... 'shine all over Equestria'."

"W-Well, I guess I have a confession to make as well..." Rarity said. "I'm jealous of you two. I wanted all the attention. And instead of me, Photo Finish said it was going to you As time went on, my jealousy only grew. I even started hoping that you would do something silly so your modeling career would be over. But now that I know, I can see you are both upset too."

"I think there's a lesson here." Xavier said catching everyone's attention. "Keeping secrets is something that friends need to do, but if someone is suffering due to a secret, be sure to tell your feeling, especially to the ones that they impact the most. Feel free to use that as your lesson, Twilight." Everyone got a light laugh out of that last phrase.

"Well, here's a promise we both can agree to." Rarity proposed to Jasmine and Fluttershy. "Let's promise never to keep any of our feelings in secret again."

"Let's." Fluttershy agreed.

"Yeah, let's." Jasmine said.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The three of them said together, getting the group to laugh out. Their joyous promise was interrupted by Photo Finish bursting through the door.

“You were brilliant, brilliant!” Photo Finish said with an exciting grin. “I’ve already got six photo shoots lined up for tomorrow alone!”

“I’m sorry, Photo Finish, but I'm afraid we won’t be making any of them.” Fluttershy declined.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that we're quitting." Jasmine said.

“What?!” Photo Finish yelled in shock.

"We go!" The three of them said in unison, as the group left the room laughing like nothing happened, leaving Photo Finish standing in confusion.

"What has just happened?"

The next day

After the events of what happened, the group decided to have a spa day to relax after the stress that they went through. The group at the moment were simply unwinding.

"Now this is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon." Fluttershy said as she was relaxing in the jacuzzi

"Isn't it, though?" Rarity agreed as she was in a seaweed wrap.

"Yep, this is the life." Twilight said as she was relaxing in a bubble bath. Xavier however was simply sitting on a bench. "Thanks for paying for this by the way Xavier."

"No problem, that light fixing job got me quite a lot of money, so I think it's a good idea to spend it on a relaxing trip for you all." Xavier said, not feeling guilty about using it all or sitting out of it. Jasmine however didn't want to leave him out of the trip, so she went over and decided to get him involved.

"Hey Xavier, why don't I give you a massage?" Jasmine asked, stunning Xavier. Before he could reject the idea, Jasmine grabbed his arm and brought him over to the massage tables. "C'mon, it'll be good for you." Jasmine then put him onto the table belly-down. As Xavier was about to get up to reject the idea, Jasmine put her finger onto a spot on his back, and immediately he collapsed. When he did, his face of shock and panic was replaced with a face of bliss similar to Jasmine's the first time she was at the spa, for she managed to hit a big knot on Xaiver. Seeing as Xavier wasn't resisting anymore, she began to massage him, to which he laid oblivious to the world, including his boss Aloe as she was watched her. Impressed, she came over.

"Oh, miss Jasmine, I'm impressed." Aloe said, surprising Jasmine. "I never would have though you would be able to get Xaver to fall into bliss."

"Oh, well, thank you." Jasmine said bashfully. "I really just copied how your employees were doing it, so I decided to do that."

"Really, you managed to get Xavier to relax through just copying my employee?" Aloe asked, to which Jasmine nodded. This got Aloe thinking before she decided. "Miss Jasmine, I want to ask you something. If you are willing, would you want to take up some training in becoming a masseuse here?" Jasmine was taken back by this offer. "Well, you see one of our masseuses are going to retire soon, so we will need another one. Since you seem capable, I want to ask if you would be willing to train under them until they retire. Are you willing?" Jasmine thought for a bit, since this was a big offer. But after she thought it out, she decided on one thing that would brighten her horizons."

"I think I will."

Over a barrel

View Online

"I never would have thought that our next adventure outside of Ponyville would be in the desert."

Things have been pretty calm since the modeling fiasco. Nothing notable happened during the two weeks that followed other than Jasmine's training in being a masseuse. Recently though, Applejack told the group that her cousin alongside several others created a settlement in the desert and invited her, to which Applejack extended that invite to them. Everyone was excited, so once they were packed, they got onto a train straight for the new settlement. At the moment, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were talking between each other, Xavier was looking out the window thinking to himself, and Jasmine was reading a book, all while an evening sun was setting. Xavier decided he'd window gazed enough, so he turned over to the rest of the girls.

"So what was this place's name again?" He asked, needing some clarification.

"It was Appleloosa." Twilight answered.

"Right, you excited to see more of the world, Jasmine?" Xavier asked, but when he turned to Jasmine, she didn't respond as she was focused on the book. Taking a closer look at it, Xavier saw that the book was about becoming a masseuse. Xavier went in to tap her shoulder to see if she heard, and when he did, she jumped in shock. "Whoa, sorry Jasmine, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay Xavier, I guess I got too focused on my book." Jasmine admitted, feeling sheepish.

"Well, how about you join in on the conversation for now? C'mon, we're going somewhere new, relax for a bit." Xavier suggested, knowing that taking a break would do her some good.

"Um, sure." Jasmine said putting down her book and joining the others. Suddenly, they all heard a door slam, and when they looked over, they saw Rarity at the end of the train car looking very angry.

"Erm, you okay Rarity?" Rainbow asked as Rarity walked over to the group and sat down.

"NO! I can't believe that Applejack booked a private sleeping car entirely for an apple tree!" Rarity complained.

"Um, well, I don't know much about farming or plant life, but I'm guessing that the tree needs that car." Xavier said.

"Yeah, maybe it likes to be alone." Jasmine said, not confidently since she also had little knowledge of raising plants.

"A- Erm- Gah! Alright, I'll let it slide." Rarity finally said, accepting the circumstances.

"Well, anyway, so she brought a tree?" Xavier asked.

"Yep!" Pinkie responded appearing between him and Jasmine, surprising them both. "Apparently, that tree is the first tree Applejack grew by herself, so she really cares about it."

"Really now, that's pretty cool." Jasmine said. "And she's giving it to the town?" Rainbow nodded to answer. "So when are we going to get there?"

"Tomorrow morning." Twilight said as she got up from her seat. "I think we should be heading off to bed." The rest of them decided that that would be a good idea as well as they got up except for Xavier and went off to the sleeping cabins. Rainbow noticed Xavier not following and got curious.

"Hey, engie. You coming?"

"Um, not yet Dash. I want to watch the landscape some more." Xavier answered. Rainbow nodded and followed the girls.

Later

After the group went to the sleeping cars, they were settled in and began to converse amongst themselves outside of Rarity who tried to find another bed to sleep in and Spike who was trying to sleep. The rest were talking for a good while before Spike had enough.

“Do you guys mind? I was up early fire-roasting those snacks you’re all eating, and I’m pooped!” Spike exclaimed, trying to get some sleep.

"Uh, speaking of, some of these popcorn kernels didn't get popped." Rainbow said as she nudged a bag of popcorn.

“Ugh, fine...” Rainbow looked pleased until she saw a flame larger then needed to cook the popcorn coming at her, prompting her to duck, leaving her bag of popcorn burnt to a crisp. "There! Good night!" Spike then turned over to go to sleep.

“ Uhh... maybe it's time we all got a little shut-eye." Twilight suggested. "We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.” The girls then all groaned as Twilight dimmed the lights. After a while however a voice could be heard whispering.

“Psst, Pinkie Pie, are you asleep yet?” The voice belonged to Rainbow as she was holding a candle.

“No, are you asleep, yet?” Pinkie whispered back.

“If I were sleeping, how could I have asked you if you were asleep?”

“Oh yeah! Heh-ha!”

“When we get to Appleloosa, do you think we’ll have to carry that big, heavy tree all the way to the orchard?”

“Are you complaining about Bloomburg?” Jasmine asked as she hung her head from her bunk.

"...No, Fluttershy." Rainbow responded.

“Fluttershy isn’t a tree, silly!” Pinkie said, a bit louder.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked, not whispering at all.

“Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy’s a tree!” Pinkie answered.

“I do not think she’s a tree! I was just-”

“Did you say she was a tree?” Twilight asked

“No. Well...Yes. But not exactly-”

"Ya know she's not a tree, right?" Twilight said

“She’s not a tree, Dashy!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I’d like to be a tree…” Fluttershy said, joining into the conversation as well.

“Oh for pete’s sake!” Spike exclaimed as he got up, grabbed a pillow, and jumped off the bed he was on. He then walked out of the car with a slam of the door.

“Well that was kind of huffy…” Jasmine said, a bit sad.

“Huffy the magic dragon!” Fluttershy added, chuckling a bit, and ending with everyone giggling.

“Would you all be QUIET...NOW!” They all stopped when they heard somepony yelling, and when they saw a pony at the door, they saw a scary face yelling at them angrily. The catting girls yelped in surprise and blew the candle out without realizing that it was only Rarity in a facial mask, leaving the train silent as they all went to sleep.

The middle of the night

After the scare that Rarity gave them, the girls fell asleep pretty easily, other than one certain human. At that moment, Jasmine was in her bed sleepless as she gripped her staff in fear.

"mmm, I can't sleep after seeing that." She thought to herself as she gazed at her staff. "Why can't I just have your power in me, why do I have to hold you to use you?" After some gazing at the staff for a bit longer, her head began to feel fuzzy until-

Upon looking around, Jasmine realized that she was no longer in her bed on the train but rather a forest clearing in the night. Looking a bit more, she saw a figure in the clearing sitting down. Walking over, she noticed that the figure was holding the staff that Jasmine has. When she went to the face of the figure however, their face was covered in a mask of what looked like black static. After staring for a bit, the figure began to speak.

"W_er_ _id you __me _ro_?" The figure spoke. Jasmine could tell that it was female, but that was it, since it sounded heavily obscured like a voice in a incredibly terrible storm "F_r th_t _at_er, w_at e_e_ _re y_o? I d__bt y_u __e re_l, b__ I ca_ c_ea_ly hol_ yo_." Soon, the sound of howling wind began, and became apparent when winds began to surround Jasmine forcefully, and as she covered her eyes from the winds, the voice, even more obscured from the howling winds, began to talk for the last time "W__te_er. __'ll b_ u__f_l f__ __e_ __os_ t__n__ c___ __ f__d m_ a__in-"

When the wind died down, Jasmine uncovered her eyes, but to her surprise she was lying back in the train's sleeping car in her bed, still clutching the staff. As she looked around the car, she became even more confused. When she finally settled down and relaxed into her bed, she looked at the staff one last time before thinking.

"What are you?"

The Next Morning

After the events of what happened last night, Jasmine was able to fall asleep, though she was still troubled. As the sun was rising along the mountain pass that was in the distance however, something happened in the sleeping car that jostled the car enough to send Jasmine falling out of her bed.

"GAAAHHH!" Jasmine yelled as she landed as the rest of the girls woke up. Confused, they all went over to the window of the car and looked out of it. When they did, they were all surprised at what was going on outside.

"A buffalo stampede!" Outside were a large group of buffalo, running along with the train. As they were running, the group

"I just love their accessories!" Rarity said, but Jasmine noticed something.

"Um, are they getting too close to the train?" At that moment, a buffalo on the other side of the car rammed it, knocking the girls off balance. Soon enough the buffalo began ramming multiple parts of the train, sending the passengers into disarray. Soon the girls got enough of a grip to look out the window to see the buffalo stacking up.

"What are they doing now?!" Jasmine asked, still dizzy from being tossed around. After a moment, a smaller buffalo jumped up onto the stack.

“I know! I know! They’re doing tricks!” Pinkie answered as the small buffalo prepared to jump. "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Now do a backflip!” The buffalo then leapt onto the train with a loud thud. “Or...just jump?” With Pinkie disappointed, the group heard thumping on the roof of the car, presumably from the small buffalo running across.

"Something tells me this isn't a circus act." Rainbow said as she opened the window and flew out of it.

"Hey girls, you should follow." Jasmine suggested. "I just realized that Xavier isn't with us, so I'll look for her." With that, the ponies ran to follow Rainbow while Jasmine went to look for her human ally, though it was slower not because they weren't as fast but because the buffalo were still ramming the train, though not as hard to most likely keep their ally from falling off the train. When they reached the end of the train, they saw that the small buffalo managed to unhook a car, that car being the private sleeping car that Bloomberg.

"They've got Bloomberg!" Applejack yelled out. That's when a familiar purple head rose out in panic.

"And Spike!" Twilight yelled out as well. As the sleeping car drifted farther away from the train, Jasmine ran up to them in a panic.

"Girls! I can't find Xavier!"

Meanwhile

At the same time that the events were happening, Xavier was asleep at the seat he sat at the day before. Turns out he never let and fell asleep where he sat. As he was sleeping however, a pretty big bump had shaken the car, waking him up.

"Huh, what was that?" Xavier said sleepily. As he looked out the window, he saw something moving. Curiously, he went and opened the window to look out, and when he did he saw the buffalo horde running along. "Huh, buffalo?" Xavier was much more awake then before, and was a bit worried at the display. "Um, excuse me everyone? What's going on?" Xavier asked as he leaned out the window, but never got an answer as he felt a bigger bump then before, and soon the car he was in was getting bumped around as well. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep his balance or grip on the window as one buffalo did a particularly strong slam onto the opposite side of the car, sending Xavier flying out of the car. Bouncing off of a buffalo, he fortunately landed "safely" on the ground onto his face. Laying there shell-shocked, he began to rise. "Ugh, some answer." Looking in the direction off the train, he realized he was stuck in the desert, at least until he saw a bunch of buffalo running with a train car along the tracks coming right for him. As he jumped out of the way o the buffalo, he saw for a brief moment Spike's head in the car as the buffalo ran. Taking a few moments to process what happened, he heard a familiar voice yell out to him.

"Xavier!" Looking over his shoulder, he saw Rainbow fly over to him. "How did you get here?"

"Those buffalo knocked me out of the train, but what are you doing here?"

"Those buffalo took Spike! What do you think I'm doing!?"

"Fair point." Xavier said. "Come on then, let's go get him." With that, Xavier and Rainbow ran off to follow the buffalo. After a while of running, the two decided to take a break behind a rock, just in case a buffalo came around.

"Ooh, I can't wait to get my hooves on that little buffalo!" Rainbow growled.

"Hey, calm down Dash. Our main goal is getting Spike." Xavier said, trying to keep her from doing something rash.

"Yeah, I know, but still! Nobody tricks Rainbow Dash and gets away with it."

"Boo!"

"GAH!" The two jumped at the sudden word that was said. When they looked, they saw that it was only Pinkie Pie.

"P-Pinkie?!" Rainbow asked flabbergasted.

"Ah, ya caught me! Looks like I tricked you and didn't get away with it either! You're good." Pinkie said like there was nothing wrong.

"hhshh!" Rainbow hushed Pinkie. "What do you think you're doing?! You gotta get out of here!"

"I do?" Pinkie asked.

"You're gonna blow our cover." Rainbow explained. At that moment, Xavier noticed something in the distance.

"I am?"

"We're trying to save Spike!"

"Um, girls?"

"Oh my gosh! So am I!"

"Girls?!"

"And the more of us there are out here, the more chances of us getting..." Soon, trembling was heard, and before the group could process the noise, they realized that they were surrounded by buffalo. Xavier seeing the danger that they could pose, reached for his sword. As he pulled it out however, a loud crack could be heard as Xavier's hand recoiled in pain, dropping his sword. Before the ponies could figure out what happened, they were suddenly sent to the ground as two bolas were tied around their legs, with one more following to ensnare Xavier.

"Ya'll are pretty dumb for coming into buffalo territory." As the three were recovering from the shock that the rapid assault gave them, a voice spoke out. When they looked at where the voice was, they were given another shock to see...

"Another human!?" Rainbow yelled out. Standing was a girl that looked taller and older than Jasmine or Xavier. She wore a pair of jeans that went just below her knees along with a belt with a few things on it like a water skin and a simple t-shirt, though she was also wearing brown vest. She was also wearing boots that looked like they were from the wild west and a hat like Applejack, though it was in a darker tone. her hair was brown and cut short save for two braids on each side of her head that went down a bit below her shoulders, and she had an earring of a crystal on her right ear. In her hands were the explanation to the assault the three outsiders received, as in her right was a long, leather whip and in her left was another bola that she was spinning.

"Yes, I'm human, you're point?" She spoke with a voice slightly rough voice. Her voice was filled with annoyance as well. "Just because you have another human with you doesn't mean I trust you one bit."

"Well why are you against us-"

*CRACK*

Rainbow immediately shut up from the girl snapping her whip over the three. The three began to worry, not only because there were multiple buffalo surrounding them, but the second that any of them try to do something, the human would retaliate with either her whip or a bola, at least until another voice rang out.

"Stop!" Everyone turned to the voice, and the buffalo saw who it was and moved out of the way. When they moved, the trio saw that it was Spike running up to the center. "Cali, please stop. Everyone stop, they're my friends."

"Why!? But they're trespassing!" The girl said, now known as Cali.

"Because I said so! Now stop!" Cali looked at Spike in disbelief. After scrambling to find words, Cali roared in frustration.

"GAH, FINE!!!" Cali yelled out. She began to attach her whip and bola to her belt as Spike turned to the buffalo.

"Hey, no worries, I know those guys. They're cool." Spike said to them as he walked over to them.

"If you say so, Spike. Catch ya later, bro." One buffalo said as they bump Spike's fist with his hoof. Once he did that, the buffalo ran off, leaving the rest there, three of which were extremely confused.

"What just happened?" Xavier asked as he got up, wincing a bit from the pain still in his hand.

"Look, I would rather you all be tossed out into the desert, but the buffalo won't allow that." Cali said getting into Xavier's face. "The only reason why is because of your friend. If he wasn't a dragon that the buffalo respect, it would go differently, so Ya'll better count your blessings."

"Erm, noted..."

Some Time Later

After what happened, the trio followed Spike and Cali for a while. The sun began to set when they stopped at the camp of the buffalo. The group then sat around a campfire and looked around.

"Huh, they're a lot calmer then I thought." Xavier observed. Outside of some of a few buffalo bashing heads together, they were mostly calm.

"Yep, they are, and they even treat me like royalty." Spike said as he snapped his claw, getting a few buffalo to serve the group some food, though it didn't look appealing being bowls of greenish goo. "Still don't like ponies much, though... But you're with me, so it's cool. And they already know about humans from Cali, so your neutral to them Xavier."

"Erm, thanks." Xavier said as he looked at the food he was given suspiciously. Rainbow immediately pushed the food away.

"Yeah, no thanks." She spoke.

"How ungrateful." Rainbow and Xavier looked over to Cali who had a bowl of the food and was eating it. "The buffalo spent a lot of time on that food and are being generous by giving you some, and you reject it." She spoke with some annoyance and coldness in her voice. She gave the two a look and turned to Pinkie, who was eating it happily. "At least one of you are grateful to the gift." She muttered before returning to her meal.

"I never said I wasn't going to eat it; I was just looking it over before." Xavier retorted as he picked his bowl up and took a bite. "Mmm, tolerable."

"How can you even think of eating it?!" Rainbow asked.

"You do remember that I'm the one who ate those pepper drops, right?" Xavier asked rhetorically.

"Whatever. I still don’t trust them. I say we turn tail and bail while we still-"

“Before we finish eating?! Are you loco in the cocoa?!” Pinkie asked. While they were talking, the smaller buffalo came over with a bowl of blue rocks. Seeing her, Pinkie grew excited.

"Can I please have more that mushy stuff, whatever it was?” Pinkie asked her.

"Certainly.” She said. "“And, Mr. Spike, you like gemstones, yes?” She asked as she passed the bowl to him.

“Ooh, turquoise!” Spike said as he reached for the bowl and began to eat the contents. "Everyone, this is Little Strongheart. And these are my friends, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Xavier." With the introductions, Pinkie waved happily, Xavier gave a nod, and Rainbow was not there as she was looking around a tent. When she looked over though, she recognized the little buffalo immediately.

"YOU!"

"YOU?"

The two locked eyes, but both had different looks, one was of anger, and one was of confusion. As they were staring, Xavier was confused.

"Dash, you know her."

"Yeah, she was the one who tricked me into slamming into a sign!" Rainbow explained, getting a confused look from Xavier.

"Um, Dash? You sure it was her fault and not you just not paying attention?" Rainbow looked at him in confused anger, but before she could say anything, Strongheart interjected.

"Your friend's right. It was never my intention to harm you, so please accept my apology." She said in a worried tone.

"Yeah, right. I'm out." Rainbow said as she began to fly away, but Strongheart jumped in front of her.

"We only wanted the tree." She began to explain. "The settler ponies have overtaken the land and have planted an orchard all over it! Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds."

"Settler ponies, you mean the ponies of Appleloosa, right?" Xavier asked to which Strongheart nodded. "Well, what's a 'stampeding ground'?"

"I think it’s time they met Chief Thunderhooves.” Spike suggested to the small buffalo. Soon, Strongheart, Spike, and Cali left the fire to gather the rest of the tribe and get the chief. When the visiting trio saw him, they were a bit intimidated since he was bigger than the other buffalo.

"We have a long and winding stampeding trail we have run upon for many generations.” He began to explain their history. “My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and-” It wasn't long before the chief began to continuously repeat the same line to emphasize that this tradition was old, but the time it took was so long that some of the buffalo in the crowd began to fall asleep.

"Ai, chief. We get the point." The chief stopped when Cali yelled out. Seeing as the group got the idea, he coughed and continued.

"It is a sacred tradition to run the path every year. But this year, these... settler ponies, these..." The chief snorted angrily, so angrily that smoke puffed out his nostrils. "Appleloosans!" His anger grew even more until Strongheart put her hoof on his head, cooling him down.

"The lot decided to plant all those trees right on their grounds without even a thought of asking." Cali continued the explanation.

"So that's why you dislike ponies, huh." Xavier said understandingly.

"Yes, and they refuse to remove them when we ask, so we are stuck here and it's not fair!" Strongheart said, annoyance in her voice at the end of her statement. As the group processes the information, Rainbow growled as Spike came over.

"See, Rainbow Dash? They had a good reason to–" Rainbow flew up in quickly, cutting off Spike and surprising the buffalo. Xavier saw this and worried.

"I'll say they had a good reason! C'mon. We have some apple-pickin' Appleloosans to talk to!" To Xavier's surprise however, Rainbow decided to announce her support to the buffalo. Everyone smiled at her save for the humans, Cali keeping a neutral expression and Xavier sighing. Xavier began to think however, since he was worried about the outcome and the reason as to why the settlers planted their trees there.

The next morning

After going to sleep for the night, the plan was for a group to head to Appaloosa, that group being comprised of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Little Strongheart, Xavier, and Cali. As the group were walking over, Xavier decided to find answers about Cali though a conversation.

"Hey Cali." Xavier greeted to her, to which she looked over with an unimpressed look. "Listen, I know you don't trust us, but I need to know, why are you with the buffalo." Groaning in annoyance, she spoke with annoyance.

"Look, I'll be brief with you in this, I don't know why I'm here. All I know is that I woke up here in the desert and the buffalo found me and allowed me to stay. And before you ask anything more, I'm working with them because I respect them and they respect me. Now please leave me alone."

"Why do you respect them?" Xavier asked.

"Grr, because we have the same view that actions speak louder than words, something you seem to cling onto." Cali said more angrily. "Now please shut up before I show you what I mean." Understanding the threat she made, Xavier decided to stop. After some more walking, the group saw a town coming up.

"There's Appleloosa." Strongheart said. As they were approaching, they happen to see a group standing outside the town. Upon closer inspection, they saw that it was the girls looking ready to head out of the town along with another pony, a male one with a vest. Seeing them, Strongheart and Cali decided to duck behind a rock nearby as they approached. When the girls saw them, they immediately were confused.

"Sug guys." Xavier said awkwardly, only to be tackled by Jasmine.

"Xavier!!" She yelled in worry. Seeing how close she was to him, he began to blush. The girls soon came in to question them.

"How did you escape from the buffalo?" Twilight asked.

"We didn't" Pinkie said as Strongheart came out from behind the rock she was hiding behind, rubbing her leg shyly. The group gasped in surprise seeing her. Before any of them could do anything, Xavier held his arm out to defend her.

"She isn't here for trouble, we just promised her a chance to talk." Xavier said with his signature glare. Many of the group were intimidated by it, but Applejack held her ground.

"Oh yeah?” Applejack said as she looked at the buffalo suspiciously. “About what?”

“We brought our new friend, Little Strongheart here To explain to the Appleloosians why they should move the apples trees off the Buffalo’s land.” Rainbow said as she pushed Strongheart closer. The stallion looked at her with interest.

"That information would be quite help–"

"Huh, that’s weird." Applejack interjected. "Because my cousin, Braeburn, here, wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay.” Similarly to the stallion, Strongheart became interested despite the aggression in Applejack's voice.

"That would be a useful thing to-”

“The land is theirs!” Rainbow interjected like Applejack. "You planted the trees not knowing that. Honest mistake. Now, you just gotta move 'em, that's all." The stallion looked nervous at that idea.

“They busted their rumps here! And now they’re supposed to bust their rumps again, just because buffalo won’t stampede somewhere else?!” Applejack yelled out, more annoyed then before.

“Plant the trees somewhere else!” Rainbow insisted.

“Where?!” Applejack exclaimed. “It’s the only flatland around these parts!”

“The buffalo had it first!”

“The settler ponies need it to live!”

“Come on already, Applejack!”

Soon the two began to argue with no end in sight. At least until Cali made her presence know.

"Haa, this is why I said that I don't like words." Turning to her, the group aside from the ones who knew about her were surprised to see her leaning on the rock that she and Strongheart were hiding behind.

"What?! There's another human here?!" Jasmine asked.

"Yep, there is." Xavier said relieved that the arguing was stopped from her injection. "Everyone, meet Cali, a human who's been living with the buffalo."

"Hey." She greeted unimpressed.

"Now that we are all quiet, can we assess the situation?" Xavier asked. "Look, from what I'm getting at, both sides have a reason to have that land. Can we be reasonable and make a plan?"

“Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!” Pinkie raised her hoof. Xavier sighed at her and groaned.

"Okay Pinkie, what is your plan."

“Get every buffalo and pony to come to a stage. I have a plan that is sure to work!” Pinkie then rushed off, leaving the group confused, other than Cali.

"Hm, taking action first. This pink one is getting on my good side." Cali said.

"Don't be, she's too much to handle." Xavier groaned. "Let's just do what she wants and get this over with."

After Pinkie's idea announcement, Rainbow went flew to get the buffalo while the rest of the group got the townsfolk to go to the stage in town. Once both sides were gathered, it was only a matter of waiting plan as they all stood in front of the stage. As time went on however, tensions began to rise as the two sides were next to each other, and neither side liked the other very much. Teh tension was broken when a piano rang out. Looking on the stage, Spike was up on it playing a piano as a clam prop was on it. The clam began to open, and soon Pinkie came out of it in a dress.

We may be divided
But of you all, I beg

To remember we’re all hoofed
At the end of each leg

As two ponies went to help her out of the clam, Xaiver's eye twitched. "You have to be kidding me."

No matter what the issue,
Come from wherever you please
All this fighting gets you nothing
But hoof and mouth disease
Arguing’s not the way

Hey, come out and play!
It’s a shiny, new day
So, what do you say?
You gotta share
You gotta care!
It’s the right thing to do!
You gotta share
You gotta care
And there’ll always be a way through!

Both our diets, I should mention
Are completely vegetarian!

We all eat hay and oats
Why be at each other’s throat?
You gotta share
You gotta care!
It’s the right thing to do
And there’ll always be a way!
Thro-o-o-o-ugh!

Once the music finished, the crowd was silent in bewilderment, all except for Xavier who had his hand on his face in annoyance. During the silence, both the buffalo chief and the sheriff (At least presumed to Xavier) Nodded at each other.

“It appears that Sheriff Silverstar and I have to come to...an agreement.” Chief Thunderhooves said.

“We have.” Silverstar agreed. The group all leaned in in hope that they agreed that-

“...That was the worst performance we’ve ever seen!”

“Teh...Abso-tively!” They all were shot down by them only saying they hated the performance. As the group recollected themselves from the disappointment, the chief's eyes narrowed.

“The time for action... Is upon us!” Chief Thunderhooves threatened. “Our stampede will start at high noon tomorrow. And if the orchard is still there, we’ll flatten it! And the whole town!” This announcement shocked the ponies as they all gasped.

"B-but chief!"

“And we Appleloosians say you’d better bring your best, cause we’ll be ready and waiting.” Sheriff Silverstar said, glaring back at Chief Thunderhooves in an attempt to intimidate him out of this idea, but didn't work.

“But, Sheriff…”

Even with nopony wanting it, there was no stopping it as both sides ran off in different directions to prepare, leaving the six pony friends, the three humans, and the stallion who was now known as Braeburn. As they all were processing, only one thing broke the silence.

"Oh...That wasn’t the message of my song at all…” Pinkie said sadly, having a facepalm from Xavier in response.

"Ya tried, pink. I'll give you that much." Cali admitted. "But now words are meaningless like I said, so I'm going to prepare." Cali then went off in the direction of the buffalo to prepare herself.

"Wait, aren't you against this as well?!" Xavier asked in worry.

"I'm with the buffalo. If the settlers won't move the trees, we'll do it ourselves." Cali said as she looked at him. "The brought this upon themselves for not taking action, now they'll pay for it." With that, Cali turned away and walked.

"She dosn't seem very friendly." Jasmine said.

"Ha, we can worry about that later, right now we need to stop this thing from happening. Me, Spike, and Dash will go convince the buffalo, the rest of you will try and convince the townsfolk, got it?" With a nod from the rest, they split off to stop the war.

In town

When the group saw what was going on in town, they saw that the ponies worked fast as there were already defenses being set up. Seeing it, Applejack felt a bit guilty, seeing as how this event was from her arguing instead of talking.

"I want my kin ta' have what they need to live... but a storm's a-brewin' here. And I don't like the look of it." She said with guilt.

"We've just got to talk some sense into them before somepony gets hurt." With that, the group split up to talk to ponies to try and stop. Unfortunately, everypony they tried to speak to either ignored them or gave a very anger face at them. Soon the sunset was seen as a flag was raised on a pole, signifying that the town was ready to fight.

Later in the night, the buffalo were seen getting ready as well as some buffalo were butting heads to strengthen themselves, sharpening their horns and painting their faces. Seeing the display, Spike, Xavier, and Rainbow grew worried as they went to different beings to try and convince them. Spike went to Strongheart to talk to her.

"Isn't there some way to stop this?" Spike asked.

"Unless the settlers remove those trees, I do not think so." Strongheart replied in sadness. Meanwhile Xavier was talking to Cali, who was making some more bolas.

"Cali, please! I know that you prefer action, but a war is not what we need!"

"Hmph, that's what you want to believe, but those settlers are dead-set on keeping those trees on the buffalo's grounds, so we'll remove them by force, along with the town."

"But why the town itself! There are innocent ponies there!"

"And yet none of them thought about telling the sheriff to move the trees." Cali replied. "Listen, I get that you think everything can be solved through peace, but everything can't be. You're just lucky that I told the buffalo not to burn the tree that we took."

"Y-you did?"

"Yeah, I can't watch a tree burn, so try and stay out of this matter." Cali finished, leaving Xavier defeated in trying to stop her. Rainbow wasn't having much success either.

"I know you don't want to do this." She said, worried for the outcome.

"But they have taken our land. What would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?" Thunderhooves asked, genuinely wondering if there was a solution to this.

"I don't know... but it's never too late to think of something."

"At noon, it will be too late."

The next day

The group met back up in an ally in the town to report to each other, both with similar failure in convincing either side. As they waited for the stampede, they all heard rumbling, and when they looked at a hill, they saw the buffalo gang approach along with Cali who was riding a buffalo, standing on them and using his horn as a reign. As the two sides stared each other down, Xavier's mind began racing for a solution. Unfortunately, he was too late in finding a solution as the town's clock tower began to ring, signifying that it was high noon, the time for a showdown. Except here, it was the signifier of a civil war. As Xavier and his friend group looked at the buffalo, they noticed that Strongheart put a hoof onto the chief, trying one last time to try and convince him, to which it looked to work as he held his head down.

"He's not gonna do it!" Rainbow said in relief. As the group gave a wave of sighs of relief, the silence was broken, and they all widened their eyes in fear.

What do you say? You got to share! You gotta care! It’s the right thing to do!

Right in the middle of the two sides, none other than Pinkie was dancing and singing her song. When the song was heard, the chief's rage grew incredibly fast as he began to see red. He decided soon after that.

"CHARGE!!!"

"PINKIE!!!!"

As Thunderhooves yelled out the cue for attack, Xaiver yelled out not in fear of his friend, but snapped anger at her since she was the thing to snap the camel's back as the buffalo charged in, ramming straight into Pinkie. The war was on as the townsfolk armed themselves with pies, throwing them at the buffalo as weapons while the buffalo charged into many. As the chaos happened, Cali was also in the offensive, throwing bolas left and right with surprising accuracy as she nailed pony after pony, stunning them with each impact, meanwhile using her whip to snap at anypony trying to get close to her. As the chaos was happening, Xaiver noticed that chief Thunderhooves was locked onto the sheriff with anger. He began to charge at him, but Xavier notice that there was another pony locked onto the chief. Seeing as if the pie landed, the chief and the sheriff could be in danger, so he acted and bolted, faster than anyone would think. As he passed Cali, who took notice of him, the pie was thrown. Seeing that he wasn't able to stop the pie, he had only one option as he jumped in front of the chief. By doing that, he took the pie right in the head. The chief saw him and immediately realized what was happening and tried to stop but was too late as he had managed to ram Xavier, not as hard as he would have the sheriff but still hard enough to send Xavier flying past the sheriff and into the building behind him. The town went quiet after that as Xaiver's friends ran straight for him. Both sides were stunned at what happened as the friends looked at him in worried fear. Everyone was surprised at what happened, but none was as shocked at Cali. As the entire crowd feared he was hurt more than can be recovered...

"Grreh" Looking at him, they say Xavier moving slightly as his eyes opened. Seeing that, Jasmine ran in and hugged him.

"You're okay!!" Jasmine yelled out in worry as a tear could be seen falling. Xavier, seeing her sadness, patted her head.

"Y-yeah, but that hurt real bad." Xavier said. "Who was even throwing the tins with the pies anyway?" As he was wondering that, Cali went up to him, still shocked.

"W-why did you do that? You took both hits from both sides, why?"

"Because there was no other option." Xavier explained. "If I tried to stop the chief, the pie would hit him. If I stopped the pie, then the chief would keep going and hit the sheriff, and he was mad." Realizing this, the chief and sheriff grew faces of guilt. Seeing them with those faces, Xavier carefully got up to do what he did best, use his words.

"Maybe I can put this in perspective. Chief." He looked at Thunderhooves with a sympathetic look. "Imagine you are the very first chief of your tribe and decided to settle down with your tribe. Now imagine that you finally find the perfect place and set up your food source, only to find that there was somepony before you that claimed those grounds. You wouldn't want to remove the food source, would you?" The chief looked down, realizing that he was right. "Now sheriff. Imagine that this town wasn't a few months old, rather centuries old. The place was perfect, and suddenly a group decides to settle nearby and starts building right onto land that was important to the town. You would be pretty angry as well, would you?" The sheriff thought about it for a bit, and frowned realizing that Xavier was right. "You both have good reasons, but never thought about the reason for the other side's perspective. Now how about we try and make a compromise, together?" Xavier smiled at the two kindly, and as the two looked at him, they decided.

"Let's do that."

After a bit of talking between sheriff Silverstar, chief Thunderhooves, and Xavier, the three decided on a plan.

"After much though with each other, we have decided on a solution." Xavier said as he spoke to both the settlers and the buffalo.

"Since the grounds are the buffalos' and are needed by the settlers, they have decided to share the land. A trail will be made by cutting down a row of trees so the buffalo can run through it whenever they want. Since the buffalo will be sacrificing a sufficiently large amount of land compared to the settlers, the sheriff has decided to give the buffalo some of the pies they make, since we all know the apple family makes the best pies." With a bright smile from Xavier, the two sides gave approval to the terms and got to work. As some of the trees were cut down, pies were being baked and given to the buffalo. AS everything was happening, Cali watched in awe and confusion. Soon enough, the trail was made, and the buffalo made their stampede, happy that they were finally able to stampede after so long. As they were doing that, Applejack planted Bloomberg on a hill and smiled in pride. Once everything calmed down, the heroes were standing at the station with Braeburn, Strongheart, and Cali who was looking less angry and distrusting, rather a bit ashamed, talking to Xaiver.

"I can't thank you enough for helping us settle things." Braeburn said, thanking Xavier.

"Yes, without you, we would still be at each other, and who knows what may have happened." Strongheart added.

"Hey, I'm just happy you'll be living in peace from now on." Xavier said. With both getting what they needed to say out, they waved Xavier goodbye and left. Cali however, stayed put. "Um, Cali, you okay?" To Xavier's surprise, she bowed to him.

"I want to apologize to you for being so rude to you." Cali said. "You were always so kind to everyone and yet I was mean."

"Hey, it's fine. I get it." Xavier reassured.

"But there is something I want to ask you..." Xaiver grew confused at this. "I want to come with you guys."

"Wait what?"

"Let me explain, please." Cali said, hints of sadness in her voice. "I don't want to get too deep into my past, but as I grew up, I learned the lesson that action will always speak louder over words. I lived with that philosophy for my life. And yet, you were able to quell an entire civil war without a sword, but rather your words. You made me think, is action really the loudest, or is life more complicated. I want to come with you to learn more about this type of thought. I know you might not want to have me, but please think about it." As Cali held her head down, she saw a shadow below her, and when she looked up, she saw Xavier with his hand out.

"IN that case, let's start over. My name is Xavier, and I work on machinery as a hobby." Looking at Xaiver's smiling face, Cali smirked and took his hand.

"And the name's Cali, a country girl who likes action over words, but will try to change that." With the handshake to given between the two, they entered the train together not as enemies, but as growing friends.

Author's Notes:

Ya'll know what motivation spikes are? Storytime!
So my original plan for this chapter was for Xavier and Jasmine to find Cali in the desert near the end. But as I was on a break from writing, the idea for this chapter's plot came into thought. Once it did, I ditched my break and began to write, incredibly fast. I feel proud of what I did. With that out of the way, bio time for...
Cali:
Headstrong, stubborn, and down to earth, Cali believes that actions speak louder than words. This leads to her acting rash and jumping into something that leads to trouble. Besides that, however, once you get past her hard shell, you'll see that she is an honest worker that will stand for anyone who gains her trust.
If you like it, great. If not, tell me why, I'm up for critiques. But for now, I need some pie, Koops out!

Feeling Pinkie Keen

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With the addition of Cali into the friend group, things have changed, more than when Jasmine joined. The big difference though is the personalities of them. While Jasmine was kind and more willing to mingle, Cali was a lot more stubborn and short. She wasn't mean, Xavier knew this from his interaction with her at the train station, but she wasn't exactly used to friendship. Even so, she wasn't opposed to learning about others, but she did get impatient after talking for too long. Even if the townsfolk were a bit worried about her, the girls and Xavier reassured that she was friendly, just needed to open up. It's been going like this for a week since they returned, and another day was about to start. Right now, the humans were home and enjoying some freshly cooked breakfast.

"Hey Cali, this stuff great." Xavier said as he was eating some eggs (covered in a lot of hot sauce) cooked but Cali

"Yeah, this is really good." Jasmine agreed as she was working on her own plate. "I never thought you would be this good of a cook."

"Erm, thanks..." Cali said unenthusiastically. She also had a plate she made but was only just poking at it, and the other two noticed this.

"Um, you okay Cali?" Jasmine asked. Since she was working on opening up, Cali sighed.

"Do you guys find me a bother?" The two were immediately thrown for a loop at the question.

"W-what?! Why would we?" Xavier asked worriedly.

"Well, ever since I've been here, I haven't been able to grow close to anyone here, I even have trouble getting close to your friends. I know I said I wanted to learn about how to make friends and stuff, but I haven't made any progress. I just feel like, a parasite for just living here and not doing much, so I just feel useless." As she was talking, Xavier and Jasmine could hear the sadness in Cali's voice, something foreign for her to express. When she finished, Xavier began to speak.

"Cali, you're not a burden, and you never will. Remember, having a simple conversation is new to you, and action isn't the first reaction of many here in Equestria, so be patient and everypony here will warm up to you eventually. I mean, it took them time to warm up to me, heh." While Xavier was smiling a warm smile to reassure Cali, Jasmine had a very depressed look on her.

"It was hard for me too..." Jasmine said sadly, earning confused looks from the others.

"Um, what do you mean Jasmine?" Xavier asked, to which Jasmine sighed and began to talk.

"Well, I mean she's not the only one who had trouble making friends."

"Huh, but you seemed good at that when we first met."

"Well, yes, but that was after I saw how kind everyone was, especially Fluttershy. Before that, you remember how on edge I was in, right?" Xavier nodded, remembering that she was always quiet and shaky. "W-well, I was afraid, and not from being in a new world, but from everyone here. I... I never had a friend in my life before now. Instead, I was the target in school for bullying." When she said that, a tear could be seen forming in her eye, and the others immediately began to worry from her words and actions. "Everyone targeted me because I was always thinking, and they would always scare me and make fun of me. I wish I could say that I had someone at home, but my parents were never around, they were always busy with work. I was always alone, so I grew weary of others, and I-I" Throughout Jasmine's story, her tears grew and her voice began to break more and more, until it was hard to speak. When she stopped, it wasn't because she finally broke from her tears, but from a hug from an unexpected person, that being Cali.

"I'm sorry you went through that..." Cali said sympathetically. "Here I am complaining when you've been through so much." With Cali apologizing, Jasmine took a bit to process her words, and when she did, she laughed very lightly.

"Heh, for someone who says they don't do conversations, you know what to say in a moment." Jamine worked her way out of Cali's grasp and stood up, looking at Cali. "We're both new to this, so let's both try our best to learn, together." With Jamine's small declaration, Cali smiled and gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, you and me partner." As the two began to show a connection, Xaiver looked at them and smiled, knowing that they could help each other in the future.

After the events and bonding that happened at the house, the three decided to take a trip around town to get their minds off of things. As they were walking, Cali decided to try and start a conversation for once.

"So... what do you two do?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Xavier asked.

"Um... you know.... like a, um... a job or something..." The two looked at her strangely. "Don't look at me like that! I'm trying to make a conversation!"

"Sorry Cali, just unexpected from you." Xaveir admitted, apologizing along the way. "Well, the two of us happen to work at the spa." It was Cali's turn to look at them strangely as Jasmine nodded to confirm.

"Wait, there's a spa here? And you two work there?"

"Well, sorta. I'm their repair team and Jasmine is in training to become a masseuse." Xavier explained, with Jasmine blushing.

"Well, you have some interesting jobs. Maybe I should get a job here..." Cali wondered.

"Well, if it makes you more comfortable living here, you can always do that. Just know you have our support in anything you need, alright."

"Heh, thanks Xavier." As the three were walking, Cali noticed something. "Hey, isn't that the dragon and unicorn up on that hill?" When the others looked over, they were surprised to see Spike and Twilight on the hill Cali was looking at and form what it was looking like, Twilight was practicing her magic.

"Yeah, I think it is, let's go say hi." Xavier then led the group over. "Hey Twilight, hey Spike."

"Huh, oh. Hey everypony." Twilight greeted with surprise with the trio of humans coming.

"Hey guys." Spike greeted as well.

"Hi Twilight and Spike."

"Sup Purple, sup scaly." The group looked at Cali at the names she just gave. "What?"

"It's okay Cali, don't worry about it." Twilight said. "What brings you three here?"

"Well, we were curious on what you and Spike were doing." Xavier said.

"Well, I'm practicing my magic for when we go to the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight explained.

"Oh yeah, that's coming up soon." As Xavier was remembering that there was a big event coming up soon, Cali and Jasmine were left completely in the dark about what was going on.

"Um, excuse me, but what?"

"Oh, right. You two don't know what that is." Xavier realized as he rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Well, the Grand Galloping Gala is this big party that takes place in Canterlot." When Xavier mentioned the city, he pointed at the mountain it was on, impressing the two.

"Whoa, that's impressive." Cali admitted with Jamine nodding in awe.

"Well, that's not only where the Gala will take place, but also where Princess Celestia lives."

"That name is familiar..." Jasmine said before realizing where she heard that name. "Oh, that's the pony you told me about when I first came here."

"Yep, she's the ruler of Equestria. I've met her a few times in my time here and she's very kind. And powerful I should mention, I mean, she does raise and lower the sun every day." When Xavier finished his sentence, Jasmine and Cali went wide-eyed.

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah, she does that. She even did the moon as well for a couple hundred moons before her sister came back." Xavier said like it was normal, but the two other humans saw it as anything but normal. "Anyway, we're off topic. The gala is a big, fancy party that happens there every year, and this year me and the others got tickets to go this year."

"Really, aw." Jasmine said upset. "That sounds fun..."

"Hey, I bet we can get you two a ticket if you want to go."

"Yeah, I can send her a letter soon to ask." Twilight offered, getting a happy squee from Jasmine, and an uncertain look from Cali. "For now, I think I need to go back to practicing."

"Oh, sure. Go ahead, we'll leave if you want." As Xavier was talking, Cali noticed something moving in town.

"Hey, what's the Pink one doin'?" Cali asked, getting the group's attention. When they looked over to where she was looking, they saw none other than Pinkie Pie, darting around between hiding place to hiding place, looking up a lot scared, wearing an umbrella hat on her head.

"Don't worry, that's just her being Pinkie Pie." Twilight answered.

"Super-extra Pinkie Pie today." Spike added.

"Yeah, maybe we should go and check on her." Xavier suggested as he went to see her, the others following along. When they get closer, they see that Pinkie was holding her tail, that tail was shaking violently. Seeing her, Xavier decided to speak up to get her attention. "Um, hey Pinkie, what are you doing?"

"Oh! It's my tail! It's my tail! It's a-twitch a-twitchin'!" Pinkie explained as she got into Xavier's face. "And you know what that means!" The group excluding Pinkie looked at each other confused.

"Actually, Pinkie, we don't have the slightest idea." Twilight said for everyone there.

"The twitchin' means my Pinkie Sense is telling me that stuff's gonna start falling! You guys better duck for cover." Pinkie explained and warned, getting some more confused looks from the humans and a laugh from Twilight.

"Oh, Pinkie, it's not gonna rain. Why, there's barely even a cloud in the-"

*SPLAT*

Her sentence was cut short when she looked up, for something landed on her face with a splat. When the thing impacted, the group excluding Pinkie jumped in surprise as they looked at what landed, it was a frog. As they were confused as to where the frog came from, a voice rang out above them.

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry. You okay, Twilight Sparkle?" looking up, the group saw that it was Fluttershy flying over them, carrying a wagon, saddlebags, and even baskets filled with frogs.

"Um, Fluttershy, what's with all the frogs?" Xavier asked.

"Oh, well, I just couldn't stand to see the pond getting so over-populated, what with the frogs all hopping into each other and all, so I decided to fly as many as I can on over to Froggy Bottom Bogg." Fluttershy explained.

"Oh, well be careful then, we don't want any more frogs landing on ponies." Xavier said as he took the frog off of Twilight's face and giving it to Fluttershy.

"I will, bye-bye." Fluttershy then flew off with all the frogs, leaving the rest alone.

"Huh, that happened." Cali said as she began to walk away, the rest following her after a bit.

"I think we need to find another spot to practice." Twilight said, pausing when Spike jumped onto her back.

"Wow! That was amazing! Pinkie Pie predicted something would fall, and it did!" Spike said excitedly.

"I didn't know she could do that, pretty cool if you ask me." Cali said impressed, getting a groan from Twilight.

"Oh, come on. She said that something would fall, and a frog just happened to fall right around the same time. A coincidence, nothing else to it." Twilight said unimpressed. As they were walking however, Pinkie rushed over to them.

"My tail! My tail! Twitch-a-twitch! Twitch-a-twitch! Somethin' else is gonna fall!" With Pinkie's warning, the group had different reactions. Twilight looked unimpressed, Xavier had a blank stare, and the rest were looking up, Jasmine and Spike more worried and Cali more curious.

“Oh Pinkie please! Nothing else is gonna fa-"

"AAAUUUGGG!!!"

As Twilight was debunking Pinkie's claim, a scream could be heard, followed by a thump. When they looked, they saw that Cali was face down on the ground.

"Cali?! You okay?!" Jasmine asked worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tripped and fell..." Cali groaned as she got back up.

"Oh, that's what was going to fall, you Cali." Pinkie giggled. "Don't worry everypony, my tail stopped twitching." Pinkie then took off her hat and skipped away happily.

"Well that happened." Xavier said. "I really don't know what to say."

"What do you mean!" Twilight asked. "Out of everypony here, you'd be the most suspicious of this!"

"If it was anypony else besides Pinkie." Xavier said casually. "I've pretty much given up on understanding her and let her do her thing." Twilight looked at him dumbfounded and growled, and as she was, another pony came by.

"Howdy." The group looked over to see Applejack. "What's going on."

"Just being impressed at Pinkie." Jasmine said.

"Please, just because it happened twice doesn't mean that Pinkie can predict the future through her tail twitching." Twilight said swinging her tail around for emphasis. Despite Twilight saying that though, Applejack immediately went on edge.

"Twitchy tail? Pinkie Sense?" Applejack said worried. She looked up for a second and then dived underneath a cart, Catching everyone off guard.

"Don't worry, Cowgirl, the coast is clear. Pink said it herself." Cali reassured.

"Oh, wait. Don't tell me you believe in this stuff, too?" Twilight asked annoyed that others believe in Pinkie's sixth sense.

“I know it doesn’t make much sense, but those of us who’ve lived in Ponyville long enough eventually learned if Pinkie’s a twitching you better listen.” Applejack explained, making Twilight's mood worse. It was then that Pinkie came in again.

“My ears are flapping, my ears are flapping!” Pinkie said, her ears doing just that.

"What does that mean?!" Spike yelled out, flinching.

“I’ll start a bath for you.” Pinkie said, pointing at Twilight. When she did that, the group backed away from Twilight except for Xaiver, the pony laughing.

"Huh? A bath? This thing keeps on getting more ridiculous by the minute!" As she was talking, Xaiver heard something nearby. When he looked, he saw that a pony was coming to pass them, and he looked down to see a puddle of mud. When he realized what was happening, he panicked and dived out of the way, dodging the splash of mud that was created. Twilight, however, didn't avoid the splash, covering her in mud. When Twilight realized what happened, she growled as she grew angrier as the humans looked at each other confused and worried.

Later

After waving Applejack goodbye, the humans, Twilight, and Pinkie headed over to Sugar Cube Corner to get Twilight cleaned up. After Cali looked over the building for a bit, the group were now in a room with a tub, that tub filled with water, bubbles, and Twilight getting clean. As they were waiting, Pinkie came around with a couple towels.

"Hey Pinkie, are you willing to tell us about this whole 'Pinkie Sense' stuff?" Xavier asked, genuinely curious about how it worked.

"Sure!" Pinkie said as she put the towels down. "Sooo, basically, it works like this: I get different, little, niggly feelings and they mean different things. Like when my back is itchy, it means it's my lucky day. And, when my knee gets pinchy, that means something scary's about to happen."

"Is it right now?" Twilight asked.

“No, but my shoulder’s achy. That means there’s an alligator in the tub.” Confusing the entire room, Pinkie went over to the tub and put her head in. When she surfaced, she was holding her pet Gummy with her. Out of the room, Twilight was the most scared as she jumped out of the tub with a scream.

"How come your knee didn't get pinchy?! That isn't just scary, it's downright dangerous!"

"Nah, that's just Gummy." Xavier said, getting looks from Twilight and Cali. "I met the little guy when I was introducing Jasmine to everypony. Don't worry, Pinkie told me he has no teeth." To prove the point, Gummy opened his mouth, confirming that he indeed had no teeth as he jumped up and latched onto Pinkie multiple times, getting giggles out of her.

"Heh, energetic. Reminds me of Gex." The other humans heard her and grew curious.

"Who's Gex?" Knowing that she wouldn't get out of this question, Cali sighed and put her hand into a pocket in her vest. Xavier and Jasmine were thinking that she was going to pull a picture out, but she never moved her hand in a searching motion. Ater a moment, Cali smiled and pulled her hand out slowly, revealing a small leopard gecko on her hand.

"*GASP* IT'S SO CUTE!!" Jasmine said as she went in close, patting the gecko's head with her finger, the gecko smiling at them.

"Yep, this is Gex." Cali admitted. "I found him when walking around the desert before meeting you, and he never left my side. He really likes me I guess." She raised her hand along with Gex to her face, where the little gecko nuzzled her happily.

"Well, looks calm enough, so I'll allow it." Xavier said in a joking manner.

After Twilight got dried off from the bath, she decided to go back home for the day, the others deciding to escort her. Along the way though, Twilight still wasn't convinced.

"Well, I still don't believe all this... 'special power' stuff. It's just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo." She said.

"And what's not to believe?" Cali asked. "I mean, Y'all have magic goin' around, so what's the difference?" Cali's disbelief earned an offended glare from Twilight.

"Huge!! For one thing..." Twilight noticed a box on the ground with a few things on it, to which she knocked the items of and stood on it. "Magic is something you study and practice. It only happens when you decided to do it, and it’s meant to make something specific that you choose to happen, happen. With Pinkie, uh…it makes no sense at all!” As Cali looked at her unimpressed, Pinkie looked offended as well.

"That's so not true, Twilight! Sometimes it's a bunch of random things happening to my body at random times that supposedly predict the future. I call 'em 'combos'."

"Combos?" Xavier asked as him and his fellow humans looked at her confused while Twilight wasn't interested as she walked away.

"Sure! You know, like, ear flop, then knee twitch, then eye flutter. That means the sky is about to be graced with a beautiful rainbow!"

"Seriously?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, sure..." Twilight said unimpressed as she was walking to the library. As the humans looked at her annoyed, Pinkie began to act up.

"Uh oh, I feel a combo coming on. Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch!" As Cali and Jasmine looked up and Twilight was about to enter her home, Xavier tilted his head.

"Wait, that's dif-"

*BANG*

Hearing a large bang nearby, the group looked over to where the sound came from, only to see that Twilight was hit in the face by the library's door, courtesy of Spike backing out of it with a stack of books. The group walked over as Twilight was recovering, with Xavier talking.

"Pinkie, what did that combo mean?"

"Huh, but she said that that combo meant a rainbow." Jasmine replied confused.

“Oh no-no-no-no-no. You’re talking about ear flap, knee twitch, then eye flutter. This one was ear flap, then eye flutter, then knee twitch, that usually means ‘look out for opening doors’.” Pinkie explained, getting looks of understanding.

"That's what I thought." Xavier said, thanking his observation skills once again as he turned over to Twilight. "You okay Twilight?"

"I don’t believe this….” Twilight muttered in annoyance.

“You don’t believe it because you don’t understand it.” Xavier replied, knowing how she thinks. Twilight then began to think about something. "Oh no. Twilight, what are you thinking about?"

"Xavier, I'll need you help. Pinkie, come with me!" Twilight then grabbed Xavier and Pinkie and went into the library and closed the door, leaving Jasmine and Cali standing outside in confused shock.

Later

"So what's the deal with Purple anyway?"

After the what happened at the library, the two girls decided that they weren't involved and left. After a bit they decided to get some lunch at the restaurant that Xavier and Twilight went to during the ticket incident. After they ordered, Cali decided that she needed to know a bit more about the others, most specifically Twilight.

"W-well I haven't exactly been with Twilight enough to say, but I think she just like's having a reason that something is happening... I think..." Jasmine admitted and explained, getting a sigh from Cali.

"I guess that's enough for me to know." As they were waiting, another sat down at their table. "Huh, oh hey Xavier."

"Hey girls." Xavier greeted sounding a bit exasperated, the two girls noticing the tone.

"Um, are you okay?"

"Haa, it's nothing, just Twilight." Xavier replied. "She decided to run an experiment with Pinkie and needed my help in making a machine to test her. We hooked Pinkie into a machine that would get reading when her Pinkie sense acted up. What Twilight didn't account for was that Pinkie wasn't doing anything, since they were supposed to go off if something was about to happen. Twilight got fed up and unhooked Pinkie to let her go, and as we were leaving, Pinkie's twitches began again, the combo that meant opening doors, to which Twilight got hit with another door. I decided to leave it at that and left." As Xavier finished, the girls looked between each other with concerned looks and back over to Xavier.

"Is Twilight going to be okay?" Jasmine asked.

"If I had to guess, no. She's probably going to do something over-the-top again."

"Again?" Cali asked.

"Yeah, she does that. anytime she is determined about something and fails, she'll start to get desperate and do something that she'll regret later." Xavier replied, remembering the winter wrap-up event and shuddering at how she made the parasprite incident worse.

"Ah, I see." Cali said as the girl's food came. Xavier took that as a chance to order some food for him. After a while of eating, the three were content with lunch and headed out to walk around some more (mostly to Cali's suggestion from liking being outside) As the trio were walking through the park however, they saw a very strange thing.

"Is that Twilight in a bush with one of those safari hats?" Jasmine asked, to which the others looked over at where she was looking, just to confirm what she saw. Spike was there too, holding a notepad.

"*Sigh* Here we go again..." Xavier said exasperated as he walked over, prompting the others to follow. "Alright what are you up to now."

Hearing Xavier's voice startled Twilight as she jumped out of the bush. When she recovered to see the three humans looking at her. "G-guys! Get down!" Twilight then used her magic to pull then three into the bushes.

"Gah, why!"

"I need you three to be quiet!" Twilight whispered as she moved some of the branches to show that Pinkie was nearby, smelling flowers. "I'm doing scientific research on Pinkie, scientific name: Pinkius Pieicus."

"Seriously." Xavier deadpanned as the girls looked confused and worried.

"There's something fishy going on with the whole twitchy prediction thing, and I'm getting to the bottom of it." Twilight explained. "I'm honestly surprised you're not on this as well Xavier."

"Because I've pretty much thrown most things I knew about science out the window upon coming here." Xavier said. "I've also accepted that things here aren't able to be explained easily like the Everfree Forest, so I don't question things and just role with it. I'm not a scientist anyway, I'm someone who just puts a bunch of scrap together to make things."

"Grr, still. I'm getting to the bottom of this!" Twilight growled, not convinced in the slightest to give up, earning another sigh from Xavier.

"Well, I'm going to stick around and make sure you don't do anything rash like Rainbow."

"I'll stay too, I don't have anything to do,,," Jasmine said.

"Meh, seems interesting to do some spying, I'll stick around too." Cali added. At that moment, Twilight saw that Pinkie was moving away.

"Wel, come on then, she's leaving." The group began to follow Pinkie around. When they stopped, they were at the schoolhouse.

"So where are we now?" Cali asked.

"The schoolhouse, Cali." Xavier replied as they were observing Pinkie, who was just rolling around in the grass.

"She seems so relaxed." Jasmine observed. After a bit, Pinkie got up as she began to itch her nose.

"Hmm, itchy nose..." Twilight murmured. When Pinkie was finished, her face grew scared and she ran over to a tire seat, hiding underneath it, peaking her head out to look up. While most of the group were confused, Twilight felt accomplished. "Aha! That makes no sense. See? She's hiding like something's about to fall from the sky, but a twitchy tail means something's gonna fall from the sky, not an itchy nose." She said this like she was the one that discovered a groundbreaking fact about a species, but most weren't listening too much, rather their attention was focused as to why Pinkie was hiding as they all looked up. When they were looking, they immediately grew worried and scared when they a swarm of wasps flew in. The swarm noticed them and flew in, to which the group minus Twilight panicked and ran away (Xavier bolting away faster due to his entomophobia), to which annoyed Twilight. "Guys! Where are you going? I'm trying to teach you the value of scientific—" The swarm struck the bush, leaving Twilight at the mercy of the aggressive insects as they stung her repeatedly, the rest of the group watching in in guilt, except for Xavier who was cowering in fear in another bush.

After a few moments of contemplating what to do, Jasmine finally managed to scare the swarm away with a gust of wind. After patching Twilight in plenty of band aids, they went to find Pinkie again, to which they found near Applejack's farm. As Twilight was watching from behind the barn of the farm with Spike, the two human girls confronted a slightly shaking Xavier.

"So what was that all about?" Cali asked. "I thought you were the heroic one here?"

"Yeah, not to sound judgmental, but why did you run and hide? I would think you would at least grab Twilight before you ran." Jasmine wondered.

"Look, I have fears too, and that fear for me is insects and arachnids!" Xavier spoke shakily and a bit angrily. "I can't stand those things, so please stop pestering me!" If it wasn't the fact that Xavier was being a lot more aggressive than they were used to, the fact that he had phobias of insects and arachnids is what go them.

"I-I'm sorry to push you, Xavier." Jasmine apologized shyly.

"Y-yeah, sorry." Cali apologized, though it wasn't as sincere as she wanted since she wasn't used to saying sorry. Xaveir realized how aggressive he was being, so he calmed himself down.

"I-it's okay girls, I just need to calm down for a bit." Xavier said, still shaking. "Let's just return to Twilight or now." The three then went over to Twilight who was noticing something.

"I'm getting something. Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch." Twilight said, the trio realizing what that meant, and so did Spike.

"Hold on... You told me that's the combo that says 'watch out for opening doors'!" He said as he ran from the barn door.

"You really, really believe this stuff, don't you?" Twilight said in disbelief. "Here, let me show you there's nothing to be afraid of." Twilight then leaned onto the door, showing that it wasn't going to open. "You see? I promise you there's nothing to fear from that-" She never finished the sentence as a cellar door opened in front of her, something that she never paid attention to as she was looking at Spike as she was talking confidently. Since she wasn't paying attention, she fell into the cellar, the group running over to the cellar's opening. When they got there, they heard a lot of crashes and when it ended, they heard a voice inside.

"Twilight! You came to visit my new apple cellar, how nice." They heard Applejack greet Twilight happily, at least until she didn't hear a response. "Twi? You okay? Uh, Twi?"

Once the shock was over with Twilight falling into the cellar and realizing 'opening doors' meant ANY door, the group brought Twilight to the doctor to get patched up. When she left, she was in a strange contraption similar to a wheelchair, but it had a bunch of parts that were attached to it with the purpose of raising Twilight's front legs. Despite the injuries however, Twilight was still insistent in following Pinkie, and seeing as how she wasn't changing her mind, the others sighed and pushed her to find Pinkie again. When they found her, they saw her sitting on the ground in the park, so they went over behind a bench and watched.

"Here, let me help." Spike said as he pulled a crank, raising Twilight's front legs up as she focused into a pair of binoculars.

"Okay, take this down: twitchy tail."

"Twitchy tail?" When the group realized what she said, both Jasmine and Spike yelled out in fear. "Twitchy tail!" With the fearful scream, Spike released the mechanism that kept Twilight's arms up, causing them to fall painfully onto the bench. She didn't pay much attention to it as she glared at the two.

"Hush you two! We can't let Pinkie know we're here, remember?" She hissed, clearly done with everything.

"Something's gonna fall, something's gonna fall! Run for your lives!" Spike yelled out as he and Jasmine ran off, leaving the other humans worried as they looked up and Twilight done.

"Ugh, honestly you two, you're overreact-"

Her sentence was cut short as a flower pot fell onto her head, startling the humans that didn't run off. Before they could question it, an anvil fell onto Twilight's head as well, scaring the two humans as they jumped backwards in shock. A moment later, a cart of haybales fell onto Twilight as well, then a piano. As the humans were processing what happened, they looked up to see what appeared to be a pegasus-pulled moving van, and why that thing had all these things was a mystery to them all.

"Twilight, seriously. I think you need to stop."

After digging Twilight out and getting Spike and Jasmine, they group were walking over to Pinkie to talk to her. On the way, Xaiver was trying to convince Twilight to give it on trying to justify Pinkie.

"NO! I AM GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS!!!" Twilight yelled out.

"Well, all it's done is get you hurt." Xaveir pointed out.

"I am getting to the bottom of-"

"Oh, letting Twilight secretly follow me all day without me knowing." The group looked at Pinkie to see that she was talking to Applejack, and heard that she knew they were following her, despite her saying otherwise.

"You mean you knew all along?! Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight glared.

"Silly, that would've spoiled the secret!" Pinkie explained with a giggle, frustrating Twilight even more. As she was growling, Spike peaked out from behind her.

"Tail... still twitching?" He asked fearfully.

"All done, clear skies from here on in, as far as I can tell-" As Pinkie was reassuring Spike, she was cut off by her whole body shaking. This startled them all as they looked in worry.

"Oh no! What does that one mean?" Jasmine asked.

"Dunno, never gotten any like it before, but whatever that shudder's about, it's a doozy." Pinkie said, worrying the group except Twilight who looked unimpressed as she rolled her eyes. "Something you'd never expect to happen is gonna happen!" She began shaking again. "And it's gonna happen... at Froggy Bottom Bogg!"

"That's where Fluttershy's headed!" Applejack gasped.

"Oh no! Is it about her?" Spike asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure." Pinkie replied worriedly

"We better go and make sure she's okay." Applejack said as she took off.

"Calm down, everypony. All we know right now is that Pinkie Pie just got a case of the shivers. That's all." Twilight said doubtfully. Unfortunately for her, nobody took her side as they all ran off with Applejack, much to her frustration. As they were running, Xaiver went up to Applejack

"So, where even is Froggy Bottom Bogg anyway?" Xavier asked.

"It's in the Everfree Forest." Applejack replied, Xavier's eyes widening.

"Are you serious! How many times do we need to go there!?" As Xavier was groaning, Cali was confused.

"Erm, what's the Everfree Forest?"

"It's a dangerous forest with incredibly dangerous monsters and flora. I've been in there a couple times and each could have ended my life." Xavier explained, getting a boggled look from Cali.

"Seriously?!" Before she could go farther in questioning however, Spike interrupted her.

"Hey! I thought you didn't believe in this stuff?" Looking over, the group say that Twilight picked up Spike and was running with them.

"I don't. I just want to be there to see the look on Pinkie's face when we find out nothing's wrong." Twilight explained, hoping to make Pinkie worry.

"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie replied, no hint of worry whatsoever as they ran into the forest. After some time running, the group decided to slow down to catch their breath just in case Fluttershy was in danger when they got there. As they were walking, Pinkie began to shake once again.

"Cold? Need a jacket or something?" Twilight asked, slightly cockily.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Pinkie responded, right before shaking again. As Twilight was frowning from the reaction, the others were in a conversation.

“So…what you think happened to Fluttershy?” Spike asked.

“I hope nothing!” Applejack responded.

“I know but…but what you think happened?"

“Try not to think about it, hope for the best.” Jasmine said, hoping to keep Spike from worrying.

“Me too…but I’m thinking about it anyway.” Spike said, worriedly. “Like, what if she exploded?!”

"Just exploded?" Cali asked doubtful. "Um, how exactly?"

"You know, like... boom." Spike said, using some hand gestures to emphasize.

“Whoa!” Pinkie said, joining into the conversation.

“I know, right?”

“What if…” Pinkie thought for a bit before speaking again. “What if she exploded, and then exploded again?!”

“Can you do that?!” Spike asked in shock. “Can you explode twice?!"

"No, you can't." Xavier said. "That's not even possible, let alone exploding once without a catalyst."

"A cata-what?" Spike asked.

"Something to cause an explosion, like gunpowder." Xavier explained. "And since Fluttershy is not a bomb, she can't explode. Even if she was, there would need to be something to cause her to-"

"We get the idea, Xavier." Cali deadpanned. "I thought you weren't a scientist."

"I'm not, but somethings need some explanation, like someone exploding out of nowhere. If anything, we need to stay calm and hope for the best, for Fluttershy." Xavier's speech calmed the group down a bit as they walked, at least until Applejack noticed something.

"Look, there’s Froggy Bottom Bog!” When the group looked over to where Applejack was pointing, they saw a very large swamp with large bodies of muddy water and large amounts of flora like moss.

"Wow, this is quite the swamp." Cali noted as the group entered the bog and split up to search for their friend. They each looked around for any signs of Fluttershy in hopes she was okay. As they were looking, Cali felt something off nearby, but as she was about to look around, she was interrupted.

"Fluttershy!" When she turned, she and the rest of the group saw that Spike was hugging their target, who was simply releasing frogs into the bog. "You're okay!"

"Of course." Fluttershy said, a bit confused and surprised to see the group.

“Phew, what a relief.” Applejack sighed.

“I’m so glad everything’s alright!” Pinkie added.

"Yeah, Pinkie said something was happening here." Xavier mentioned.

"Sorry, I know it's not nice to gloat but... Aha!" Twilight yelled out, catching everyone off guard. "I told you there was nothing to worry about, and I was right." As Twilight was going off on Pinkie's sense, Cali's bad feeling came back as she began to look around. As she looked around, she smelled something wrong and decided to mention it.

"Hey, Xavier." Cali whispered, catching Xavier's attention.

"Yeah?"

"Something is wrong." Xavier tilted his head in confusion. "I've been having a bad feeling since getting here, and now something doesn't smell right. What exactly is in this for-" She didn't finish her sentence as she, Xavier, and the rese minus Twilight who was still talking heard something. When they looked at where the sound was, they noticed something in the mud behind Twilight as a green miasma began to form around her, and it was causing her to cough from the smell of it.

"Pinkie Pie said whatever she was shuddering about was a *cough* doozy, and *cough* and the only *cough* doozy here is how right I am." The group then saw that the something was rising up from the mud, and when they saw it they immediately began to grow worried and scared, even Cali.

"Um, T-Twilight?"

"Pinkie's made a lot of predictions today but *cough*" Twilight had to take a short break from the stench she was smelling. "Ugh, what is that smell? But what we've shown here is that there's no point in believing *cough* in anything you can't see for yourself."

"That's great and all Purple, but maybe you should see what's behind you!!!" Cali yelled out in worried panic. When she did, she was met with a terrifying sight of a large, reptilian creature with four heads, each attached to long necks that made it taller than a building. "What the hell even is that?!"

"It's a hydra! RUN!!" Applejack yelled out as she booked it, the rest of the group following her example and running deeper into the swamp as the hydra roared. It soon began to pursue them, giving chase in hopes of getting a meal. As the group ran deeper, they noticed a hill that wasn't covered in mud.

"Everyone, up that hill!" Xavier yelled out, but stopped when he noticed that Spike was behind them all stuck in the mud. "Spike!" The group turned to see him in his situation, and out of everyone, Jasmine was the one to take action as she hopped onto a cloud and flew over to him as the hydra was closing in on him. When she was close enough, she reached down to Spike's open arm and pulled, releasing him from the mud. Once Spike was free, she did a 180 similar to someone on a skateboard and flew towards the group, the hydra barely missing the two with a head biting at them as Jasmine put Spike onto her shoulder. Once she managed to catch up to the others who running up the hill, she dropped Spike off carefully and looked backwards, and saw that the hydra managed to get stuck in the same patch of mud that Spike was in.

"It's stuck! We might make it!" She said hopeful, but Spike noticed something as well.

"But Pinkie's still shuddering!" He commented to Pinkie shaking intensely, at least until she stopped completely.

"Oh, lookie there, it stopped." She then began to shake again. "O-h-h-h, t-h-e-r-e i-t i-s a-g-a-i-n!" Not having any time, Xavier grabbed her tail and ran up the hill with her. When everyone was at the top, they were all shocked that it was a dead end, save for a series of stone pillars that connected to a mountain pass. The worst part was that they heard rumbling footsteps belonging to the hydra climbing up the hill once again.

“He’ll be up here in no time!” Twilight exclaimed. “Quick, one at a time, cross!” Spike then went and looked over the edge, and when Spike looked over the side of the cliff, he had second thoughts.

"Uh, do you know how to turn a Hydra into a mouse?” He asked going over to Twilight

“No.” Twilight responded.

“How about a squirrel." He suggested.

“No!”

‘How about-“

“No small rodents of any kind!” Twilight snapped, cutting Spike off.

"Can't Cloudy make her cloud bigger?" Cali asked

"No, she can't. Even if she was able to, only Fluttershy would be able to walk on it." Xavier explained.

"Really? Well that's just great."

After the short argument, the group began to hop across the ravine one at a time, save for Jasmine who floated across. As the group was crossing, Xavier looked over to see that the hydra was closing in.

"Gah, it's getting to close. Applejack!" The pony in question turned to Xavier. "You and Twilight take Pinkie across the ravine, I'll stall the thing."

"WHAT!?" Twilight yelled out. "You can't face that thing!!"

"I've dealt with bigger before, just go!" Xavier said as he pulled his sword out and rushed at the hydra. As he was running however, he heard some hoof steps next to him, and when he turned, he saw Twilight running alongside him.

"You're not doing this alone!" Twilight said, getting a smile from Xavier as the duo closed in on the hydra. When the beast saw them, three of the heads lunged at the two, barely missing them as they dove underneath the beast. Seeing them slide underneath it, the heads chased them as well, but unfortunately for them, they were attached to the body they were going under. As the duo came out from under the hydra, the beast managed to flip itself over, leaving it dazed. Wasting no time, Twilight and Xavier took the opportunity to run to the ravine to cross. As they were running, they heard a loud thump as the hydra got back up and chased them again. When the two were close to the pillars, the head that didn't chase them lunged at them, missing the two. That miss however was redirected to the stone they were standing on, causing it to fall down and hit the first pillar, sending it and a few other pillars down like dominos. While Twilight managed to dodge falling, Xavier didn't as he began to fall. He wasted no time however as he pulled out his grappling hook and aimed it at the others and shot. The hook managed to snag itself onto a branch on the other side, saving Xavier as he swung over to the other side. He didn't take a moment though to recover since Twilight was on the other side, so he climbed up as fast as he could.

"Xavier!" Jasmine yelled out in worry.

"I'm fine, just help Twilight!" Xavier yelled to her, getting a nod from her as she ran over to the others as Pinkie was yelling out to Twilight.

"T-T-T-Twilight! You have to jump!" Pinkie yelled out, surprising the entire group.

"She has to WHAT?!" Cali asked in shock.

"I'll never make it!" Twilight said in worry.

"You'll be fine!"

"I will not!" A roar could be heard as the group looked over to the hydra who recovered from the pain it took from hitting solid rock, and it was not happy as it went for Twilight with even more rage than before.

"It's your only ho-o-ope!" Pinkie said, shaking once again. "You have to take a leap of faith!" Twilight weighed her options, and neither looked good for her, so she decided. Taking a few steps back, she began to take a running start before she jumped. Before she could however, one of the hydra's heads lunged at her, missing and hitting the ground again, breaking the ground she was on. With no time to hesitate, Twilight jumped, aiming for the closest pillar that didn't fall. The jump was impressive, but it wasn't enough as Twilight missed the ledge by an inch. Flailing to reach the edge, Twilight plummeted.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Twilight cried out as she fell into the ravine. Before she managed to land however, a particularly large bubble formed underneath her, that bubble she landed on. The bubble acted like a trampoline, with it launching Twilight back up into the air and onto the pillar she was initially aiming for, bouncing on it and the other pillar before landing on the platform that the group was on, joined by Xavier who finished climbing the rope to see Twilight flying. When she landed, the entire group cheered for Twilight's safety.

"I knew you could do it, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she hugged Twilight.

"Well, I don't know how it happened; coincidence, dumb luck, or what, but you said there'd be a doozy here at Froggy Bottom Bogg, and I'd say we just had ourselves one heck of a doozy." Twilight admitted. "I mean that hydra-" Pinkie interrupted her sentence as she began to shake again.

"That wasn’t it.” Pinkie said, much to the group's shock.

“What wasn’t?” Spike asked.

“What are you taking about Pink?” Cali demanded.

“The Hydra wasn’t the doozy.” Pinkie replied. Xavier and Cali looked at the hydra, who was walking away seeing that it's prey escaped, one head blowing a raspberry at them. “I’m still getting the shudder!" Pinkie said shaking before stopping abruptly. "See, there it is again! Whatever the doozy was at Froggy Bottom Bog, my Pinkie Sense says it still hasn’t happened.” The group looked at each other in worry, all except Twilight.

“Wha…But I…What?!” Twilight snapped. “The Hydra wasn’t the doozy? How could it not be the doozy?! What could be more…doozier than that?!”

“Dunno, but it just wasn’t it.” Pinkie shrugged. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, as Twilight gritted her teeth and her eye twitched, she jumped up and growled in rage. This rage was so much that it literally ignited her, turning her mane and tail into fire. As the group looked in fear at her, she quickly extinguished and sighed.

"Gah, I give up." She said as she fell to the ground.

"Erm, give what up?" Xavier asked.

“The fight! I can’t fight it anymore…” Twilight said depressed. “I don’t understand, how, why, or what, but Pinkie Sense somehow…makes sense! I don't see how it does, but it just does. I should have listened to you Xavier, just because I don't understand doesn't mean it's not true."

"Y-y-you m-m-mean you b-b-believe?” Pinkie asked, somehow shaking harder.

“Yup, I guess I do…” Twilight sighed. At that moment, Pinkie began to shake even harder and bounce around, stretching and twisting like putty. As the group looked at her in worry (the humans more so since they've never seen any living thing do something like this) she abruptly stopped and stood still for a moment. The group looked at her confused, but stopped when Pinkie gasped.

“That was it! That’s the doozy!”

“What?” Twilight asked, clearly confused.

"You believing.” Pinkie explained. “I never expected to happen! That was the doozy, and oh what a doozy of a doozy it was!” Pinkie then began trotting away merrily as the rest just looked at her.

"And this is why I've given up on understanding her." Xavier said as he began to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Cali asked.

"Home." Xavier said simply. "This day has been too much for me so I'm going to go home for the day to recover." Xavier walked away, the others following. As they were walking however, Cali began to think.

"This is going to be interesting, but I'll keep y'all safe from anything. Promise.

A bird in the hand and hoof

View Online

"C'mon girls, we're going to be late."

It's been another week since Cali came to join the group, and a week since the Pinkie sense incident, and Cali has been faring better than when she first came to town. She was able to become closer to the others and was moving steadily to being friends with more in the town, but just not yet. At the moment however, the humans were in Xavier's home getting ready for something.

"I know girls are known for taking their sweet time, but this is ridiculous!" Xavier announced, annoying the others.

"Hey, you said we needed to look presentable to a princess, so we are doing that!" Cali yelled back.

"Well why didn't you wake up sooner! We're going to be late for the get-together with the princess!"

A few days ago, Twilight got a message from the princess saying that she was planning to attempt another visit, but more as a casual get-together as to not get the entire town to stress themselves in making the town look nice. Twilight still stressed over it however and would have done just that if Xavier didn't interfere and got her to calm down. After she did calm down, she still went out to tell others about the princess's visit, but the majority of the visit would be contained to Sugar Cube Corner.

"I never said to dress up either, just to look nice for the princess." Xavier said. After a few more moments, Jasmine came down the stairs in a casual dress with her staff strapped onto her back as always, not frilly or anything but still nice looking, enough to get Xavier to blush a bit and turn away a bit as he hid a face of shock and surprise. "J-Jasime! Do you think you could check on Cali?!" Xavier stuttered out, coming out a bit too loud.

"Sure, I can do that." Jasmine said, oblivious to Xavier's current state as she walked over to Cali's room. Cali decided to set up her room on the ground floor, she didn't want to go up the stairs every time. When Jasmine entered her room, she took a moment to take it in. The day after the hydra incident, the trio of humans went out to get Cali a comfortable room to live in. Her room had a simple dark wood dresser with a coat pole next to it to hang up her hat and vest (she insisted on the pole greatly). She also had a desk with a good-sized tank that had plenty of things to keep her gecko Gex happy (He was in paradise with a smile). She had a basic lamp and a potted cactus near her bed, that bed having metal poles and a light blue blanket on it. As Jasmine was looking around, she noticed Cali putting her hat on. "Oh, Cali. Are you done?"

"Yep, I needed to coax Gex though." Cali said annoyed. "He wanted me to stay with him after the hydra scared him." Cali sighed. "I don't get why Xavier is so insistent in not being late, is this princess not happy with being late?"

"Well, from what I can tell, it's not that the princess is upset at it, she sounds kind."

"Well, we should get moving to keep Xavier from calling us out again." Cali then began to walk out of her room with Jasmine. Xavier saw them and came over to the two.

"There you are Cali, took you long enough."

"Ah quiet. Let's just get going." Cali said annoyed as she walked past him along with Jasmine. Seeing that the two were mad at him, he sighed and followed the two with his head down. When they left the house, Xavier noticed that he was walking next to Jasmine, and flustered he moved that made it so that Cali was in the middle of them. While Jasmine was oblivious to what he was doing with a head tilt, Cali took note of what he did and became suspicious of him. After some time walking, Cali decided that the awkward silence was too much for her, so she decided to try to start a conversation.

"So what's the princess like anyway? You've already said that she can move the sun by herself, so anything else?"

"W-Well, I can say that she is kind and honest." Xavier explained. "I haven't gotten to know her as well as the girls, but I can say that she is very kind to her subjects and treats them with respect. She also is wise, she has given some good advice the times I've met her."

"Wow, she seems very nice." Jasmine said.

"Yep, she is." After a bit more walking, they made it to their destination of Sugar Cube Corner. Outside of the cafe however was Fluttershy, though she was being stopped by two guards that were at the entrance with their wings out to block. "Oh, it's Fluttershy. Hey Fluttershy!" Jasmine called out to get her attention, to which it worked as she turned to see them.

"O-oh, hey everyone..."

"Everything okay?" Jasmine asked.

"Um, not really." Fluttershy admitted. "I was taking care of some of my animals when Angel reminded me about the get-together. When I got here though, the guards blocked me."

"Ah, I got it." Xavier said. "Don't worry, I got this." The girls looked at him confused as he went up to the guards who were still on guard. "Hello gentlecolts. I was wondering if me and my friends could enter? The princess's student Twilight Sparkle is expecting us." The guards looked at each other for a moment before looking back and lowering their wings. When the guards did this the girls looked impressed.

"Woah, that was impressive."

"Well, when you've lived here for a while, you pick up on some things." Xavier led the girls into Sugar Cube Corner. Once inside, the three humans and pegasus began to talk. "Alright, now the princess is a very tall pony with both wings and a horn, flowy mane and tail, and should be wearing a gold crown."

"You mean like her?" Cali asked as she pointed over to a table where the pony in question was sitting, eating a slice of cake.

"Oh, yep. That's her."

"Well she is quite the sight." Cali admitted as Jasmine was looking in awe at the princess with glittering eyes. "I wonder if she's available..." This statement was so out there that even Jasmine was broken out of her trance as the group collectively stared at her.

"What do you mean by that?!" Xavier asked dumbfounded.

"I mean if she's single. I wouldn't mind dating a pony that nice-looking." Cali explained nonchalantly.

"I- Bu- Ga-" Xavier was at a loss for words as he stuttered. "But she's a several hundred-year-old pony princess!!"

"And I know that. I'm joking." Cali said smirking. "A little joke I picked up living here."

"I-I- Oh forget it. Let's just meet the princess..." Xavier sighed as he gave up, walking over to the princess. Cali followed along with a smirk as Jasmine recovered and dashed to keep up, though Fluttershy was still processing what Cali said. As they were walking up however, they were stopped by a voice.

"There you all are." Looking over, they saw Twilight approaching, and she looked quite nervous. "Where were you?!"

"Sorry Twilight for being late, but the girls were taking their time when it came to getting dressed." Xavier said, getting glares from the two other humans.

"Well, whatever. As long as you're here, it should be fine. At least, I think it should be. It has to be, right?" Twilight began to ramble in worry.

“Wow, Twilight. I thought I was the one who got nervous at social gatherings.” Fluttershy commented as she rejoined the group.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized. “I just want the princess to approve my friends.”

"But she's met all of us, what's to worry about?" Xavier asked.

"And read about you from my letters.” Twilight said. “But this is the first time she’s spent any real time with you, I want everypony to make a good impression. Plus, this will be the first time that she’ll meet both Jasmine and Cali."

"I get that, but still." Xavier reasoned. "This is a casual get-together. There's nothing to worry about."

“Don’t touch me!” The group was interrupted from their conversation by a loud shout. When they turned, they saw Rarity in a very fancy dress, avoiding other ponies like her life was on the line. ”Watch the dress. Careful! You might spill that on me.” She was then approached by Mr. Cake holding a tray of cupcakes. “Ooh, that looks delicious!" Rarity admitted before she backed away form him. "Oh, does it stain?! Keep it away from me!" As the scene was playing out, Xavier face-palmed as the rest of the group were just watching the scene.

“Or...perhaps not that casual.” Fluttershy admitted as she watched Rarity.

"Yeah, let's just meet the princess." Xavier groaned. Seeing as there were going to be things that were out of the group's control, they all went over to the princess. Once over by princess Celestia's table, Xavier made a slight bow before speaking. "Hello princess, it is a pleasure to see you again."

"It's a pleasure to see you too, Xavier." Princess Celestia replied with a smile. "I take it you are well?"

"I am, princess." Xavier said as he rose from his bow. "We are all doing well." The princess smiled at him before turning her attention to the others, most specifically the other humans.

"And I assume that these are the other humans you've found?" The two tensed up a bit when princess Celestia noticed them.

"Why yes, princess, they are. Girls, introduce yourselves." The two came up next to Xavier.

"H-hello princess, I-I am Jasmine. I-it's an honor to m-meet you." Jasmine greeted with a bow, though she was a bit afraid.

"And my name is Cali, I hope that you're okay with us here." Cali greeted after, bowing with her hat to her chest in an act of respect.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Princess Celestia replied to them with a bow of her head. This act made the two less tense as they rose. "So when did you two come to Equestria?

"We met Jasmine after you left Cloudsdale during the young flier's competition." Xaveir began to explain. "And we met Cali a few weeks ago in Appaloosa's desert. They apparently woke up a few days before us meeting them"

"Interesting..." Princess Celestia pondered. "And they don't have any idea on how they got here?"

"No, they don't."

"This is quite the mystery." Princess Celestia admitted. "How did you all get here to Equestria?" This question got them all to wonder, with Xavier thinking out loud.

"I wonder too, maybe-"

“Whoo-hoo!" Their conversation was interrupted by a pink blur as Pinkie Pie ran past them.

"P-Pinkie! Calm down!" Xavier yelled out, annoyed at her antics in front of the princess. "This is a calm event! Get over here!" Xavier then began to chase Pinkie to try and slow her down, leaving the other humans, Fluttershy, Twilight and princess Celestia alone in an awkward moment.

"That gal's got some energy to her." Cali broke the silence, bringing a bit of laughter from the others. As they were laughing however, Jasmine noticed that the princess was staring at her with a puzzled face, and it was making her uncomfortable.

"Um, p-princess? Is something wrong?" Jasmine asked, snapping the princess out of her trance.

"Hm, oh. Sorry."

"Is there a problem with me?"

"No, no there isn't. It's just that I feel like I've seen that staff before..." Princess Celestia answered with uncertainty. Her words shocked the group.

"Wait, you think you know this staff?" Jasmine said as she took the staff off her back and showed it to the princess. "Because I found it next to me when I woke up here in Equestria."

"I don't know. I feel like I've seen it before, but I don't know where..." Princess Celestia trailed off, leaving the staff in a bigger mystery than before.

"That pony is fueled by sugar, I swear." Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by Xavier rejoining the group with an exhausted expression. "Did I miss anything?"

"You didn't miss much." Princess Celestia replied as she took a sip of her tea. "Just a little conversation with the other humans." As she was speaking, she put her teacup down, and once it touched the table...

“Empty teacup at 4 o’clock!”

“Uh, I see it honeybun!” Soon, the princess's teacup was refilled by none other than Mr. Cake with a teapot.

“Oh! Um...Thank you.” Princess Celestia thanked.

“Not at all, your highness.” The princess then took another sip of her tea, to which it was refilled by Mrs. Cake this time. “Thank you again.”

“Oh, but of course, Your Majesty.” Princess Celestia soon ended up in a vicious cycle where every time she took a sip of tea, it would be refilled. At least, it was until she took a second to look around before pretended to take a sip of the tea, to which Mr. Cake poured more tea into the already full cup, overflowing it. "Gotcha." As the scene was playing out, the humans were having a laugh while Twilight was sighing. As the humans were laughing, Xavier grew curious.

"So what were you talking about with the princess?"

"Well, she says that she might recognize my staff." Jasmine answered.

"Wait, really?!" Xavier said surprised.

"Maybe." Cali replied. "She said that she felt like she's seen it before, but she didn't know if she did or where. For now though, the staff is still a mystery."

"Well that's a shame..." As Xavier was mulling over the information, the Princess turned her attention back to the group.

"And what about you, dear? Fluttershy, is it?"

"Me"? Oh yes, your Highness.” Fluttershy said nervously.

“I understand from Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures, correct?” Princess Celestia asked Fluttershy, who was happy to hear.

"Yes, I love to take care of animals." She replied happily.

"As do I. As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small." As the princess was talking, a very loud cough caught the group off-guard as they began to look around for the cough. It wasn't until they noticed a golden bird cage next to the princess. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects." As the princess was finishing her sentence, something arose from the cage and sat on the perch of the cage. That something looked like a bird, but it looked very poor with most of its feathers either gone or starting to fall off. The group looked concerned at the bird as it coughed again. "Ah, Philomena my pet, you’re awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts.” The princess said to it like nothing was wrong, the bird coughing again.

“Oh...my…” Fluttershy muttered in shock.

"I-is that another mythical creature?" Cali asked in concern.

"I-I'm not sure..." Xavier replied in a similar vain.

"She is quite a sight, isn't she?" The princess asked with pride, oblivious to the current state of her bird.

"I... I... I've never seen anything like it." Fluttershy responded in worried wonder. As they were looking over the bird, a guard from before came over to the princess and began to whisper into her ear.

“Really?” She asked the guard with wide eyes, which he nodded. “Well, if I must.” Princess Celestia soon stood up and began to announce something to the room. “I’m so sorry everypony. I’m afraid that I have to cut the party short.”

"Huh, why?" Xavier asked.

"Well, the mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls." The princess joked. "Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better."

"It was nice meeting you two princess." Cali said bowing. Smiling, Princess Celestia took her leave, her guards following her. As she passed everypony, they each bowed to her to show their respect. Once the princess left, the ponies began to funnel out of Sugar Cube Corner, meanwhile Xavier and the other humans were having a short discussion.

"Well?" He asked, wondering about the other's impressions of the princess.

"She's okay in my book." Cali admitted.

"Yeah, she's cool." Jasmine said happily.

"I'm glad. So shall we get going?" As Xavier was talking, Jasmine noticed that there was a distinct lack of a cage, and she was pretty sure that the princess didn't take the cage. After looking around a bit, she noticed that there was a faint trail of feathers that belonged to Philomina. After seeing it, she decided to follow it.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you two later." Jasmine said as she hurried out of the bakery, leaving the other humans confused.

As Jasmine was following the trail of feathers, she found herself at Fluttershy's cottage. Opening the cottage's door slowly, she gasped when she saw Fluttershy putting Philomina down onto a cushion.

"Oh, you poor little thing. How did you ever get in such bad condition?" Fluttershy wondered. "Don't you worry, Philomena. I'll nurse you back to health."

"Fluttershy?" Jasmine made her presence known as she entered the cottage, startling Fluttershy. "What are you doing with Philomina?"

"W-well, I was going to help nurse her back to health. I was worried about her condition, so I wanted to take care of her."

"Oh, well does the princess know?" Jasmine asked, to which she got a nervous look from Fluttershy. "You didn't ask?" Fluttershy shook her head. "But what is the princess going to think about you taking her pet?!"

“I’m sorry Jasmine, but I had to do something to help Philomena! Look at her." Jasmine took a second to look at Philomina, who coughed again as a few more feathers fell out. Seeing the bird looing so poor made Jasmine sad and made up her mind.

"Alright, you win. But I'm going to help as well." With a smile, Fluttershy hurried over to Jasmine and gave her a hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Fluttershy said happily as Jasmine returned the hug.

"It's no problem, I can't let Philomina alone like that anyway." Jasmine said as she broke off the hug. "Now, let's focus on Philomina."

"Yes, we shall." Fluttershy said as they turned to the bird. "As favor to the princess who’s obviously too busy to care for her properly.” In response, Philomina made another sickly cough that the two flinched at. "I’m sure Princess Celestia will appreciate the favor we’re doing for her, at least.” Philomina simply yet dizzily held her head in a wobble before it fell over in a strange angle.

"I don't think that's healthy..." Jasmine noted.

“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasp as she picked the bird up. “We’d better get her to bed right away!” She then took Philomina over to a small bed and put her in.

"Aw, that's pretty cute." Jasmine commented as Fluttershy put a blanket over the bird and a thermometer into her beak. In a sudden moment, the temperature went up significantly, and Philomina became red and sweaty. Alarmed by the display, Fluttershy quickly took off the blanket and Jasmine put an icepack onto her head to try and cool her off. This worked, too well as the temperature of the thermometer dropped and Philomina began to shiver as her body became an icy blue. The two caretakers gasped as Jasmine took the icepack off and Fluttershy reapplied the blanket, causing Philomina to overheat again. Soon a vicious cycle was made where the blanket and icepack on and off with Philomina going to different temperatures, the cycle breaking only when the thermometer shattered, shocking the two. "Well that happened."

"Oh, this is far worse than I thought." Fluttershy said in worry. "What you need is some medicine. Stat!" Philomina sent the thermometer remains out of her beak with a very sickly cough, earning a sigh from Fluttershy and a look on concerned shock from Jasmine.

After the events that occurred, Fluttershy decided to make some soup for Philomina, meanwhile she tasked Jasmine with giving Philomina the medicine.

"Okay Philomina, this should help you out." Jasmine said as she showed a pill Fluttershy gave her to Philomina, but the bird was not being cooperative as she turned away. "Oh, um..." Looking around for a bit, she noticed a bag of bird seed near a table and got an idea. Taking the bird seed, she put the pill onto a plate and poured a small amount onto the pill, hiding it from sight but not enough to ruin the bird's appetite from the soup being made. Satisfied, Jasmine gave it to Philomina, the bird soon began pecking at the small pile with hunger. "Yes." Jasmine said with joy, but as she was patting herself on the back, she noticed that the pill was still there, but the bird seed was gone. Jasmine sighed, sad knowing that she failed in the task as Fluttershy came over with a bowl.

"Did you give Philomina the medicine?"

"*sigh* No, I didn't. She won't take the medicine."

"Oh, well you tried your best, right?" Fluttershy said as she put the bowl down. "Maybe some homemade soup can help." She then blew on it to cool it off before offering it to Philomina. Unfortunately (and predictably) Philomina turned her head away in defiance. “Come on now, you’re not gonna get better if you don’t cooperate.” Fluttershy then pretended to drink out of the bowl. "Mmm... see? It's delicious. Good and good for you." Philomina still didn't budge as she crossed her wings and turned away. Seeing her, Fluttershy tried something else. "Here comes the choo-choo train. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, whoo-whoo!" Picking up the bowl of soup, she brought it to Philomina's beak, the bird turning away. Fluttershy tried again, and the bird twisted her head in the same direction. this kept up until it became too much for her neck, as it began to spin her head like a propeller, leaving her dizzy afterwards and sending her head into the bowl of soup.

"Oh no, that's not good..." Jasmine commented as she and Fluttershy looked at each other in worry. Fluttershy then got an idea.

"I have another idea! Wait with her, I need to find something, be right back." Fluttershy then left the cottage, leaving Jasmine to watch Philomina who coughing, despite still being in the bowl.

As Fluttershy was getting something, Jasmine was sitting on the couch with a worried expression as she watched Philomina eat some bird seed that she gave her. She was worried about the condition of Philomina since nothing up to this point has been doing much to help, and she has continued to lose feathers.

"Look, Philomina!" Jasmine looked over to the door to see Fluttershy with a small bird in her hoof, more specifically a hummingbird.

"Aww, who's that little guy?" Jasmine asked, her worry leaving temporarily in the presence of the small creature.

"This is Hummingway. He was sick as well, but he let me help him and he got better, didn't you boy?" The hummingbird nodded as it began to fly over to Philomina. "Say hello to your new friend, Philomena!” Once close to Philomina, Hummingway began to nuzzle her in affection. “Aw look, I think he likes you!”

"That is too cute." Jasmine admired. After a bit more nuzzling, Hummingway flew over to Fluttershy.

“Ahh, ah-ah-ah, ah!” Fluttershy then sand a short tune, Hummingway mimicking the tune with perfect accuracy. The little show got a bit of applause from Jasmine as she was impressed. "Thank you, Jasmine. Now it's your turn Philomina." Fluttershy then flew closer to Philomina. “Go ahead, you can do it!” As Fluttershy was encouraging her, Jasmine noticed that Philomina looked uncomfortable and a bit off.

"Um, Fluttershy? I think something is wrong-"

*HACK*

Philomina coughed up the bird seed it was eating, right onto Fluttershy's face. As Jasmine was looking disgusted, Fluttershy began to wipe off the gunk off of her face.

"Um...good try?”

After what happened and Fluttershy cleaned herself off, she, Jasmine, and Philomina went into the bathroom.

“I know what’ll help that tickle in your throat, a humidifier!” Fluttershy said as she put Philomina onto a chair.

"Oh, good idea." Jasmine said approvingly. "I know that a humidifier is used in the spa for some nice, fresh air. " Smiling, Fluttershy turned on the humidifier in the room as it began to pump in clean air. Jasmine and Fluttershy took in a deep breath and felt relaxed.

"How's that feeling now for you, Philomena? Better?" Fluttershy asked. Philomina took in a deep breath as well, getting hopeful looks from the girls as they hoped that Philomina was finally healing. At least, until she wheezed and coughed again, losing more feathers in the process, dampening the moods of the two.

"Well, that didn't work..." Jasmine commented sadly.

"Don’t worry, I know lots more cures and remedies!” Fluttershy assured. "How about..."

Turns out that nothing worked.

Fluttershy decided to try anything to bring Philomina back to health, but nothing worked.

Aromatherapy left Philomina in a sneezing fit and felling down.

A warm bath somehow got Philomina waterlogged with the entire bath's contents.

Ointment strangely covered Philomina in blemishes as soon as it was applied.

Jasmine even tried to help out with her knowledge of massaging and tried to give her one, only for Philomina to gain a cramp in her back a short while later. (It really ruined Jasmine's moral)

Every different method also caused more and more feathers to fall out, and Philomina began to look more and more sick. It began to get so bad that Fluttershy went to desperate measures as she and Jasmine were huddled over a table alongside Angel bunny, all of them with a mask over their mouths.

"Scalpel."

"Scalpel." Jasmine said as she handed Fluttershy a scalpel.

“Surgical tape.”

"Feathers." This time Angel bunny gave Fluttershy a basket filled with the feathers that Philomina had shed during the time she was here. After a bit of working, Fluttershy backed away from the table to reveal that she had taped all the feathers onto Philomina, looking more goofy than actually healthy.

"Um, how does this help?" Jasmine asked.

"It doesn't..." Fluttershy admitted. "Oh Philomena! I thought it would be easy to nurse you back to health! But I’ve tried everything I know! And now look at you, you’re worse than ever!” Fluttershy was practically on the verge of tears as she looked at Philomina. Jasmine felt bad since she knew that Fluttershy was good with animals, but she didn't know how to help much so she just went in and hugged her.

"It's okay, you're doing all you can to help Philomina. I know it's hard, but just know that I will help you in any way I can. I don't know much about caring for animals, but I can still be here for you." Jasmine's words managed to reach Fluttershy and move her, so much that she felt better as she returned the hug, Jasmine's supportive words helping her feel better about the situation. Unbeknownst to the two however, the small crystal in Jasmine's staff began to glow faintly brighter and made a very quiet whir. The moment was interrupted however, as a knock at the door disturbed them. Fluttershy went over the door cautiously since Philomina was still here, but it did not matter as the door slammed open to reveal Twilight, much to her and Jasmine's dismay.

"Hi, Fluttershy! Oh, and hello to you Jasmine." Twilight said happily, though Fluttershy and Jasmine were not too happy seeing Twilight. "I just wanted to drop by and say thank you so very much for making such a good impression on the princess today..." She stopped and gasped when she saw what was on the table. "What is Celestia's pet doing here?!"

"I couldn't leave the poor thing there." Fluttershy began to explain. "She needed my help."

"And I couldn't leave Fluttershy with all the work." Jasmine added.

“Oh no...No no no no, this is bad!” Twilight exclaimed, getting worried.

"How could I just walk away and not do anything?" Fluttershy retorted.

“S-she doesn’t even belong to you!”

“I had to do something!”

“Without telling anypony, without asking permission?!”

"Um, girls?" The two looked at Jasmine. "Should we really be arguing about this? I mean-" She was cut off by lots of coughing and a loud bonk sound as they looked over to see that Philomina had fallen off the table. As Jasmine rushed over to make sure she was okay, the ponies continued to talk.

“I know you had good intentions, but you have got to return the Princess’s pet!” Twilight exclaimed.

"But-" Fluttershy was cut off by a very big gasp from Philomina who was in Jasmine's arms, but she froze mid-gasp, freezing. As they looked at her, Fluttershy made up her mind with a sigh. "*Sigh* You're right. Okay, let's..." Philomina finally coughed, getting everyone to flinch. "Go…” The three them made preparations to leave, mostly just putting Philomina in a basket to conceal her.

"If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she’s missing.” Twilight planned as she went for the door. When she opened it however, she was terrified to see the two royal guards from the get-together right at the door.

“We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here.” The first guard said.

“We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing.” The second guard added.

“Really?! You don’t say.” Twilight replied with a nervous smile, until a loud hacking startled them.

“What was that?” The second guard asked. Twilight fumbled to find an explanation until...

"*Ack* Sorry." The ponies looked over to see Jasmine "coughing". "I've been having a bit of a problem in my throat."

"Well, in that case, we should take care of our friend here." Twilight said with a bit of desperation as she began to push the two guards out of the cottage. “And you guards should be on your way if you’re gonna find the princess’s missing pet, Philomena was it? Thank you ever so much for keeping me in the loop, bye!” She then slammed the door onto them, sighing in relief. "Phew, that was close. Thanks for that Jasmine."

"No problem." Jasmine said. She then noticed that Fluttershy was headed for the door. "Fluttershy, where are you going?"

“Going to return Philomena, remember?” She responded as she reached for the door, but was stopped by Twilight.

“We can’t now!” Twilight exclaimed.

"Why not?"

“You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds you’re the one who took her pet, do you?” Twilight yelled out in fear.

"Do you?" Fluttershy asked, getting an uncertain look from Twilight.

"Well... no. But it can't be anything good. She might banish you from Equestria. Or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!"

"Um, Twilight? I don't think that's likely." Jasmine said, getting a glare from Twilight. Flinching, Jasmine continued. "W-well. I may not know much about her, but from my interaction with her, she is too kind and understanding to do those things." Twilight took a second to think over things.

"Okay. Granted that probably won't happen, but do you wanna take any chances?" Jasmine sighed at Twilight's overthinking.

"All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well." Fluttershy explained as Philomina coughed again in the basket, opening it and falling to the floor again, earning more concern from Jasmine.

“That’s very noble of you. I’ll write to you when you’re banished. Unless I’m banished to somewhere there’s no post office. Then you’ll have to write to me. Deal?” Jasmine facepalmed at Twilight's overthinking.

"Please, Twilight. You just have to help me get Philomena healthy and then we can return her to the princess. And everything will be fine." Fluttershy's explanation made Twilight realize that she wouldn't budge on helping Philomena, so she thought of something.

"Did you give her any kind of medicine?"

"Well, I did try, but she didn't want to take it." Jasmine admitted as she showed the pill to Twilight.

"Then you have to make her take it." Twilight groaned, causing Jasmine to flinch. "You can't be such a pushover, Jasmine! You need to show this patient who's the boss. Make her straighten up and fly right!"

"She can't fly." Fluttershy said as Twilight took the pill.

"No excuses!" Twilight took the pill to Philomina who was lying on the floor still. She pressed onto her legs, opening the bird's beak like a trash can and dropped the pill in, the bird chewing it. "Done. Okay, what else?"

"Uh... well, she keeps pulling her feathers off. The ones that haven't fallen out yet from all her coughing, I mean." Fluttershy explained, gesturing to Philomina who was doing just that. Twilight simply put a cone on her.

"There you go." They then watched Philomina struggle for a while with the cone.

"I don't think she likes it." Fluttershy commented.

"Tough love, baby. You want her to get well, don't you?"

"Of course, but..."

"Next!"

"Well, she desperately needs some bed rest, but I can't get her to stay put." Fluttershy explained as Philomina once again proved it by moving around a lot trying to get the cone off, at least before running into Twilight.

"One step ahead of you."

Twilight's solution to the problem was to put Philomina into a cage with a blanket over it. It didn't work well as the cage was shaking violently as Philomina screeched from inside.

"It's for your own good, Philomena, I promise. Please, just relax and try to get some sleep." Fluttershy tried to comfort to no success. As she and Jasmine looked at the cage in worry, Twilight noticed the bowl of soup from before.

"What's this soup over here? Smells delicious." Twilight wondered.

"I made it for Philomena. But she wouldn't eat it." Fluttershy explained as Twilight used her magic to pick up the bowl.

"Oh, she'll eat it, all right." Twilight then went over to the cage and was about to open it to feed the bird, but Jasmine immediately knew what would happen when she opened it.

"Wait, Twilight! NO!" It was too late when the cage opened. Philomina became even more restless as she bolted out of the cage.

“Hey! Where are you going?!” Twilight asked as Philomena ran out of the cottage.

“No! Philomena! Come back!” Fluttershy cried out.

"No no no no no NO!" Jasmine yelled out as the three went after her. It soon became a seek and chase with little success as the three chased Philomina across town. After a while of chasing Philomina, a familiar rainbow maned pegasus flew next to them.

“What are you three doing? Are you having a race? Oh, can I play? One, two, three, go!” She then flew off in a rush, but the three were not amused as they continued to look for Philomina who they lost. A moment later they saw the rest of the heroes, including the humans who were with their pets this time. The searchers didn't have much time though to talk so they went over and looked over there, with Fluttershy picking up Pinkie.

“Excuse me!” Fluttershy said as she looked for Philomena.

“Hi!” Pinkie responded, spitting out a few pieces of food.

"Beg your pardon!" Twilight apologized as she lifted Rarity

"Put me down!" Rarity yelled out annoyed

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack said in confusion.

"What's going on here?" Xavier asked, Rune looking with a smile thinking they were playing.

"Sorry, but we've gotta find..."

“The princess’s pet bird!” The group looked over to see the guards from before looking up a pole, and on that pole was Philomina, who much to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Jasmine's dismay, had only one feather left on her.

“Philomena! Please come down here!” Fluttershy demanded worriedly. At that moment, the last feather popped out. Once it fell out, Philomina began to dramatically cough, wheeze, and gag before falling over, looking dead. After an awkward pause, she got up again and gasped, this time falling off the pole. "I'll catch you!" Fluttershy said as she ran in and dove to catch her. But before she could catch her, Philomina's unconscious body burst into flames, earning a gasp from Fluttershy. Once Fluttershy landed from her dive, the only thing she caught was a pile of ashes left from Philomina. As Fluttershy looked at the pile with tears, the rest of the group gasped in shock at what had happened, all except for Xavier who looked confused.

"Wait, isn't that..."

"What is going on here?” Looking over, the group minus Fluttershy looked to see none other than princess Celestia walking over. Upon seeing her, everyone bowed in respect, all except Fluttershy who was still mourning. The princess glanced at her before looking over to Twilight. "Twilight?” The pony in question rose and walked over, along with Jasmine since she was a part of it.

“Yes, your Majesty…” She responded with a sad tone on her voice. “There’s been a terrible accident.”

“It’s all my fault.” Fluttershy admitted sadly.

“No, Princess. Fluttershy didn’t know any better. It was my fault.” Twilight intervened.

“I’m the one who did it.”

"But you were only trying to help."

"Some help I was."

"Will ya let me do this? She'll go easier on me."

"But it's my fault!"

"No, it's my fault!"

"No, it's my fault!" Pinkie said jumping in the middle of the conversation, not knowing what was going on. "Wait, what are we talking about?" The sound of a whip was heard as Cali's whip wrapped around Pinkie's tail and pulled her away.

"Thanks for trying to protect me, Twilight, but... Princess Celestia, I'm the one who took your pet bird. I really was only trying to help the poor little thing. Then I was gonna bring it right back to you, honest." After Fluttershy explained things, the princess looked at the ashes of Philomina. "So, if you wanna banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to, then that's what I deserve." As the group looked at the pile of ashes in despair, Xavier spoke out.

"Your majesty, Philomina isn't actually dead, is she?" The group save for the princess looked at him like he was crazy. "I think I've read about what Philomina did. So she isn't dead, is she?" Unexpectedly, the princess didn't show any form of sadness or hostility, but instead chuckled

"Looks like you caught me. Philomina, you've been found out. Might as well show them." Everyone looked at the princess confused, at least until Philomina's ashes began to move and flow into the sky. A few moments of the ash moving and a bright flash, a powerful yet graceful caw could be heard, and where the ashes were was a large, colorful bird that shined like a bright fire. As the group looked at it in confusion and awe, Xavier smirked.

"I thought so."

"Wh- What happened?! What about Philomina?!" Jasmine asked in confused shock.

“This is Philomena.” Princess Celestia replied as the bird landed on the princess's foreleg, much to the group's shock.

“W-what?!”

“Yes, she’s quite the sight, as I said before. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn’t that right, Philomena?” Philomina gave a proud caw.

“A...A phoenix?!” Fluttershy asked.

“A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird." Princess Celestia explained. “While it appears healthy and happy most of the time…” The phoenix rose from Princess Celestia's foreleg and began flying in the air.

“…every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame." Xavier said, continuing the princess's explanation. The princess then leaned in close to Jasmine and Fluttershy.

"Rather melodramatic, if you ask me." She said, earning a short chuckle from Xavier.

“It then rises from the ashes, fresh as the day it was born. All just a normal part of the life cycle of a phoenix." Xavier finished as Philomina landed on the princess's back.

"Correct, young Xavier. You are quite well-informed." Xavier rubbed the back of his head in bashfulness. "But I'm afraid, mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy and Jasmine.” Philomena lowered her head in embarrassment. "Say you're sorry, young lady.” Philomina gave a few squawks to show she was sorry.

"So... aren't you gonna banish me? Or throw me in a dungeon? Or banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to?" Fluttershy asked, leaving most of the group confused as to that description.

"Of course not, my little pony. Where on Earth would you get such an idea?" Fluttershy and Jasmine looked over at Twilight who looked sheepish.

"I guess I have some imagination." Fluttershy responded, leaving the reason up in the air.

"Fluttershy and Jasmine really did do everything they could to try to take care of Philomena for you." Twilight said.

"And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, children. But all you had to do was ask me and I could have told you Philomena was a phoenix and saved you all this trouble" Princess Celestia said in understanding.

"I know. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Next time I'll ask before taking matters into my own hooves." Fluttershy said, leaching her lesson. Twilight then realized something.

"Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?"

"No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember." The princess then turned to Jasmine. "Now Jasmine, I was told that you and miss Cali would want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala this year, am I correct about that?" Jasmine nodded as Cali came over.

"But how did you know that?" She asked.

"Twilight wrote to me about it." The princess admitted. "And wouldn't you know it, I have two tickets with me right here." The princess then levitated two tickets over to the duo. They both took their tickets, though Jasmine was much happier about getting it, Cali was a bit iffy about it. "Also, I will think about your staff, Jasmine. It is curious to me, so I will think about it." Jasmine nodded, hoping to get some answers about it. "I think it's time we headed home Philomina." The princess then turned to walk away, but not before Philomina took flight over to Fluttershy and stuck one of her feathers into her head.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Philomena. No hard feelings." Fluttershy said, forgiving the bird as it flew back over to the princess. Before she could however, she was stopped by Rainbow as she began whispering to it. Once she was done, Philomina flew away, but not to the princess, but rather to the guards and landed. Using the feathers on her wings, Philomina began to tickle the guards, the guards struggling to hold their composter. They finally broke though, as the two laughed hard as Philomina flew away and gave a high five with her wing with Rainbow's wing. The scene was ridicules enough to get everyone laughing, the mood happy as Fluttershy and Jasmine's little journey came to an end.

Owl's Well That Ends Well

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"I can't wait for the meteor shower tonight!!"

Jasmine's voice rang out with excitement in the human's house. It's been over two weeks since Princess Celestia's visit and things haven't changed much outside of Rarity starting to work on dresses for the humans and Cali picking up a new hobby of cooking. There was something with the Crusaders that the girls told them about, but they were busy that day with Xavier and Jasmine busy in the spa and Cali buying groceries. Today, or rather tonight, was a very rare event.

"I know, a meteor shower tonight. What are the chances." Cali said happily, though not with the same excitement as Jasmine.

"It only comes every 100 years apparently too, so many other ponies will be there."

"This brings back memories of the meteor shower that happened back on earth." Cali reminisced. "I watched it with my family that night."

"Oh yeah, there was a meteor shower that one night!" Jasmine remembered. "I watched it with my parents that night."

"I thought you said they were always too busy?" Cali recalled.

"I did, but they took the night off to watch it with me. They still loved me, they were just busy with work and were usually tired after work and usually went straight to bed."

"Ah, got cha'." Cali said as she grabbed a basket with a blanket over it. "Anyway, I made a special dish for tonight's picnic."

"Ooh, what is it?"

"That's a surprise."

"Aww, okay." Jasmine said as she turned to Xavier who was sitting on the couch. "Are you ready Xavier?"

"Huh, oh. I was actually thinking of sitting this one out." Xavier admitted, surprising the girls.

"What, why!?"

"It's nothing, I just think I'm going to sit this one out. Besides, I'm close to finishing another project, and I want to focus on it." Xavier explained with a solemn face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't let me ruin the mood though, go have some fun tonight." Xavier put a smile on, though it was clearly faked. The girls wanted to question it, but they didn't want to press further since he already was feeling down.

"Well, have fun I guess." Cali said as she and Jasmine left the house. Once the door closed, Xavier dropped the smile and sighed.

"Sorry girls, but I don't think I can go without crying." He whispered to himself as he pulled out his photo again. This time however, he reached behind the photo and lifted, revealing that the photo was folded in half. Once he lifted the photo's other half, three more humans could be seen, the three looking older than the other two. One was male while the others were female, but one of the females were younger than the other. "I wish I could spend this day with you..." Tears began to form in Xavier's eyes, but this time they flowed unrestrained as a memory formed in Xaviers head, a memory of a hill with five humans sitting on the top, a meteor shower falling for them to watch.

"So do you know what's wrong with Xavier?"

"I don't, sorry Cali."

When the girls left the house, they walked in silence for a bit until Cali broke the silence by asking Jasmine if she knew something.

"I might have been here longer, but he hasn't really said much about himself. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize, I just wanted to know."

"Maybe we can ask the others? They've known him longer than us. Maybe they know something about him?"

"That sounds like an idea, we can try that." After a bit more walking, they saw some of the girls on top of a hill, with the rest of them walking up, including the crusaders. "Howdy girls!"

"Oh, perfect timing." Twilight said happily. "Spike just finished setting up."

"Yeah, I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them." Rainbow said.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! Me!” Scootaloo exclaimed, bouncing up and down. “I’ll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh yeah, Pipsqueak?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How about taking out the trash?” She then tossed an apple core to her.

"Yes ma’am!” Scootaloo nodded as she picked up the apple with her teeth and ran off.

"Wow, really? Thanks kiddo." Cali said as she gave Spike a small noggie.

"Oh, come on." Spike said bashfully.

"Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make a little bow tie for you." Rarity said as she levitated a big bow that was studded in gems onto Spike's neck.

“Gosh, you guys are embarrassing me.” Spike replied with a blush. “Stop it.” There was a silent pause before Spike spoke again. "Twilight, your turn."

"Spike, that's enough." Twilight lightly scolded.

"Oh, right. That's enough." Spike said. It was then that Fluttershy noticed something.

"Hey, where's Xaiver?" The two humans tensed up a bit at that question.

"Oh, well, he's not coming tonight." Jasmine's answer left the ponies and dragon in shock.

"What, why!?" The crusaders asked.

"Well, we don't know." Cali explained. "All we know is that he seemed upset at the idea, maybe even pained."

"So we kind of wanted to ask if any of you know something about Xavier that could explain why he didn't come." Jasmine added. The others looked at each other with uncertainty.

"Well, we really don't know much else honestly..." Twilight admitted.

"Now that I think about it, he hasn't talked much about himself that much." Applejack added.

"Really?" Jasmine asked in shock.

"Yeah, not even me honestly." Rainbow admitted. "I honestly only know that he's good at making those gadgets and jumping in to protect us a lot." The group stood in silence for a while, realizing how little they know their friend. It was only cut off by Cali putting down the basket that she brought down onto the picnic blanket.

"I'm sorry we brought this up everypony. We came for a nice evening, but instead we ruined the mood."

"It's not your fault, don't blame yourselves." Twilight said, trying to make them feel better.

"Well, I want to make it up to you girls, so why not lighten the mood with..." She removed the blanket that was covering the basket to reveal... "My special hot cross buns." Everyone looked inside of the basket with wonder, the baked goods tempting them all.

"Wow, these look great." Pinkie commented.

"Yeah, I made them whenever I could, though it's been a while since I made them honestly."

"Well I'm sure they will be great." Jasmine said, flattering Cali.

“Hey everypony! Look!” Sweetie Belle pointed upwards to the night sky. “It’s starting!” The group made their way over to Sweetie Belle's location and sat down to watch. Once they did, dozens of small lights flashed in the night sky, lighting it up with beautiful streaks. Everyone was in awe, but while most were simply admiring the show, two certain watchers were thinking about their families and the night they watched a similar event with them.

Once the shower ended a few minutes later, the group began to chat among themselves, simply having a good time while eating the snacks they brought.

"Mmm, these things are great." Rainbow said as she was eating one of the buns Cali brought.

"Heh, thanks Rainbow." Cali said a bit embarrassed. "They are something I made when I had the chance."

"These cookies are great too." Jasmine said as she was eating a cookie that was available as well.

"Spike made them." Twilight said. "Speaking of, Spike, can you bring us some punch?" There was a notable pause with no response from the dragon. "Spike?"

"Over here, Sparke." The group looked over at where Cali was, to which they saw Spike fast asleep with his head inside of a punch bowl.

“Ooh, poor little thing.” Rarity said with a concern expression.

“Aww...He’s worked himself to the bone.” Twilight added.

“And now the punch has been...spiked!” Pinkie joked, causing everyone to laugh.

"I think that's the sign that it's getting late." Cali said as she took her now-empty basket and stood up. "I think I'm going to call it a night."

"Me too." Jasmine said as she stood up as well.

"I guess we'll see you girls later. Take care." The pair then left the picnic to go home. As they were walking, Cali decided to start a conversation. "I'm glad that everyone liked my buns."

"They were great, where did you learn to make them?"

"W-well, I learned it by myself." Cali said in a sadder tone than usual, and Jasmine noticed.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Erm, well." After stuttering for a bit, she sighed and looked at Jasmine. "Listen, please don't tell anyone about this, but my life hasn't been all that great." As Cali sighed, Jasmine looked at her with both confusion and concern. "My family didn't have much money, we were struggling. They were always trying to find a way to get a stable job, but no one would hire them for long. I don't even know why they were; they were good people. They were always trying for me, trying to get me out of the terrible place we were in. They couldn't support me though, so they were forced to put me into an orphanage when I was 10. They gave me my vest and hat as a way to remember them by and as a sorry. I still remember crying as they left." Cali raised her head up to the sky as a tear fell, her mind remembering the event.

"D-did your life get better?" Jasmine asked in concern.

"Unfortunately, no it didn't. The orphanage wasn't doing very good." Cali sighed. "You know how I value action over words?" Jasmine nodded. "Well, I gained that mentality from how people treated me and my family. I still remember how many people said that they wanted to help me and my family, but never did. I also remember seeing them treating themselves nicely to things like nice clothes, food, and even shows in town. I began to resent them, always saying things they clearly didn't mean." Cali clenched onto her basket hard in anger. "I learned over time that their fake words were not as strong as action of actually helping, so I became colder." Before Cali could become angrier, she took a breath. "But when I met you, Xavier, and the ponies, I saw that you all were able to use your words to quell a civil war, so I thought maybe there are people out there that really do mean what they say." As Cali looked into the sky, Jasmine looked at her sympathetically. After a bit of time, Cali lowered her head to look at Jasmine. "Sorry for getting all emotional with ya, I never thought I would tell you this."

"I-it's okay Cali, I understand." She went in for a hug, only to have Cali put her hand onto her forhead.

"Don't. I don't need the hug, you listening is enough. Just please don't tell anyone else, even Xavier. I will tell them about it, but not now." Cali sighed.

"I won't tell anyone."

"Alright, but you promised. You break that promise-"

"I'll lose your trust." Cali looked surprised, even a bit irritated at the cut-off by Jasmine. "Believe me, I know the pains of secrets and promises. It's quite the story."

"Sounds like it." With that, Jasmine began to tell Cali the story of when her and Fluttershy were models all the way home, bonding more through their stories.

The Next Day

The day started like any other, with Cali cooking a breakfast of eggs and toast and Jasmine helping set the table. As the two were working, Rune entered and hopped onto the table.

"Oh, hello Rune." Jasmine greeted. When she saw her however, she saw that the fox had a paper in it's mouth, and looked like it wanted Jasmine to take it. Taking the note and reading a bit, she turned to Cali. "Hey, it looks like Xavier wrote us a note."

"Really? What does it say?" Cali asked as she was finishing the toast.

"Umm.."

Please don't disturb me today
I had a rough night with bad d failed tests
Don't worry about me, take care
Xavier

After Jasmine read the note out loud, the two looked at each other in concern.

"That guy is a mystery all right." Cali said.

"He'll open up, I-I'm sure." Jasmine tried to reason.

"Meh, let's just eat." The two began to help themselves to Cali's cooking. The two ate in relative silence, and even when they finished and were cleaning up. As they were cleaning however, they heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Jasmine said as she went to the door, and when she opened it, she saw Twilight. "Oh, hello Twilight. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to get everypony over to the library to show you something. Are you available?"

"W-well, me and Cali are. Xavier doesn't want to be disturbed." Jasmine admitted. "It's hard to tell why, but Rune delivered a note to us telling us he didn't want to be disturbed."

"Oh, well I can show him later then. You and Cali come over whenever, I'm going back to the library. See you." With that, Twilight left and Jasmine reentered to tell Cali the news.

"Hey Cali, do you want to go over to Twilight's place? She says she has something she wants to show us."

"Sure, let's go." After getting ready, the duo left the house, leaving Rune in charge since it was unlikely that Xavier was going to leave his room. After a bit of walking, Cali spoke up. "So what is it that Sparkle wanted to show us?"

"I never asked, but it seemed important."

"Okay then." The two continued to chat while walking, and soon they made it to their destination. When they got there, they saw the rest of the girls chatting.

"Hey girls, what's going on?" Jasmine asked.

“Oh, we were just talking about Twilight’s newest assistant.” Rarity answered.

“New assistant?” Cali asked.

“Yep, say hello to Owlicious!” Twilight said as she showed the two a brown owl that was resting on her back. The owl looked at the two with a blank stare, whether it was observing them due to them being different or simply staring was a mystery. The two didn't seem to mind however.

"Oh my goodness! Hello little guy." Jasmine went in happily and petted it's head, the bird taking the affection as it closed it's eyes.

"Huh, interesting." Cali noted. "When did you find him?"

"Last night when I put Spike to bed." Twilight explained. "He helped me by retrieving a report I was working on was blown away by the wind. It got cold last night so I let him stay inside, and during the night he was helping me out a lot, so I decided to take him in as my 'junior assistant'."

"Huh, neat." Cali walked over to it and patted Owlicious on the head lightly. "In that case, I hope you two a happy partnership."

"Thank you Cali."

“Yeah, Owlicious is a fantastical, fluffalicious feathery little friend!” Pinkie commented. “I’m...HOOKED!” The group chuckled at Pinkie's joke.

"He's just wonderful." Fluttershy commented.

"He's just wonderful." A mocking voice caught them off guard as they looked at where it was coming from, and they saw Spike sitting in one of the library's windows with a book in his grasp, and he didn't look too happy. He soon realized that all eyes were on him, and caught himself. “Uh...yeah. Cute. He’s quite...the charmer.” While most of the girls payed no mind to him, Cali kept his eyes on him.

"Well, Owlicious is just such a star that I just had to make this little bow for him." Rarity then levitated a bow onto Owlicious, one that was practically a carbon copy of the one she gave Spike. As she did that, Cali saw Spike watching in disbelief, before huffing with a face red with anger and re-entering the library, closing the window with a slam. The rest of the girls saw this and frowned.

"What's he all saddle sore about?" Applejack asked.

"I believe it's jealousy that's got him upset, Cowgirl." Cali said, confusing them. "I think he's worried that due to all the attention Owlicious is getting, he's worried that you'll replace him with the little guy."

"What? Pfft!” Twilight started laughing at that possibility. “That’s crazy! Spike knows he can’t be replaced.” Twilight assured, but Cali sighed.

"I wouldn't count on that, Sparkle. Trust me when I say that he might not realize it, and may grow more resentful of him." Cali said in a serious tone, one that made the others a bit uncomfortable. "I'm going to talk to him, don't wait up on me." Cali then left the group and entered the library, seeing Spike sitting on the steps of the library. "Hey kid." Spike looked up to see her greeting him.

"Oh, hey Cali." He greeted with an angry tone. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Cali said sitting next to him. "Now listen, because I'm not going to say this again and I'm going to make this brief, don't you dare let this jealousy grow. If you do, you'll do something stupid that will make things worse for you." Spike looked at her confused. "Just trust me, alright. I've made a mistake that I can't take back, and it's changed me for the worse. Just know that no matter what, Twilight will never leave you. Remember that, please." When Cali said the last part, it sounded a bit pained as she got up and left, leaving Spike to hopefully think about her advice. When she left the library, she didn't stop to talk to the girls as she walked past them with a scowl on her face. Seeing her pass by with her face, the ponies looked a bit worried and Jasmine looked panicked.

"Um, I think that's my cue to leave, see you later girls." Jasmine then ran after Cali, leaving the ponies confused on what happened inside.

Later; At Night

It was a quiet night in Ponyville, and everypony was asleep, all but one certain human. Cali was sitting on the same hill that the picnic was on during the meteor shower, looking up into the sky with a sad face in silence. The silence was cut short however as a voice called out to her.

"There you are Cali." Looking down the hill, she saw that Jasmine was walking up the hill. Cali simply nodded to greet her and turned back to the sky. "You took off right after you made dinner. You didn't even eat any yourself." Jasmine waited for a response, but Cali didn't give her one as she continued to look at the stars. "Hey you okay?" Jasmine sat down next to Cali.

"*Sigh* Yeah, I am." Cali finally answered. "I'm just thinking about my life." Jasmine looked at her curiously. "I know it sounds like my life was miserable, but it wasn't all bad. I know that my parents loved me, and they would do anything for me, which wasn't much. It was mostly something they said to me the last time I saw them." Cali closed her eyes and sighed. "We promise that we will come back for you once we have more money. Please stay here and wait for us, sweetheart" After saying the quote, Cali opened her eyes and looked at Jasmine. "After that, they gave me my vest and hat as a last reminder of them. I'm not really sure how to take it. On one hand it's the only thing I have left to remember them by. On the other hand, they left me there without ever fulfilling their promise. What do you think I should do, because I don't really know." After thinking for a bit, Jasmine gave her answer.

"Well, I think you shouldn't worry about it much. You're out of the orphanage and aren't struggling, so you don't have to think about it. As for your vest and hat, I say keep them close since they are the only things to remind you of your parents. I know they loved you." Jasmine's little answer gave Cali a bit of confidence, so she smiled.

"You really know what to say, don't ya?" the two had a brief laugh and looked at the stars again. After a bit of time, Jamine heard footsteps, and looking at where they were, she saw Spike walking into the forest.

"Hey, isn't that Spike?" Cali looked at where she was looking and was surprised.

"Yeah, I think it is. What is that little guy doing?" After a brief moment, the two looked at each other. "I think we should follow him."

"Yep." The two got up and ran after Spike who was already inside the forest. When they got to the forest, they spotted a bunch of red footprints. "*Gasp* Is that Blood!?" Jasmine asked in shock, but when Cali looked closer, she confirmed what it was.

"No, it's ketchup." Jasmine sighed. "I think the kid's leaving them behind."

"But why does he have ketchup?"

"Let's find out." Cali and Jasmine then entered the forest, following the footprints. As they were, something scared them.

ROOOOOAAAR

"AAAAAHHH!"

After the roar rang out in the forest, a scream could be heard after belonging to Spike. Recollecting themselves, the two humans ran to the source, a very large cave. When they entered, they were shocked to see Spike being cornered by a large dragon.

"What is that?!" Cali asked in shock.

"I think it's a dragon!?" Jasmine answered in similar shock. As they were processing the sight, they noticed Spike about to be attacked by it.

"Grr, no time to be scared, we need to help him." Taking out a bola, Cali threw the projectile at the dragon, but it didn't do much as it wrapped around one of its horns. The dragon took notice of this and turned to them, making Cali regret her action. The dragon began to advance rapidly to the two, scaring them as Jasmine threw a tornado at it, nailing its eye. The hit stunned the dragon as it reared in pain. Seeing it like that, the two girls ran over to Spike and grabbed him.

"Cali, Jasmine? What are-"

"No time kid, we are getting out of here!" As the two were about to move, a large cone of fire hit the floor. They saw that the dragon recovered from the hit and was even angrier as the three were now trapped. As the three shuddered in fear, a bright purple beam hit the dragon in the eye, causing it to real in pain again. Looking over, they saw that both Twilight and Owlicious at the entrance of the cave. They wasted no time in running to them. "Sparkle, what are you doing here!?"

"No time, let's get out of here!" Twilight began to run out of the cave, the others following. It wasn't long before they heard rumbling as the dragon began to chase them. As they were running however, the forest began to grow darker, dark enough to make it hard to see.

"I can't see a thing!" They then heard a hoot as Owlicious flew in front of the group, leading them with his great vision in the dark. Following him, they were able to lose the dragon in the thick forest and escape with no injuries. Once they were in the clear, they took a breath.

"Now that we are out of there, can you tell me why you were in there in the first place?!" Cali asked as she dropped Spike.

"I-I left because I'm not loved anymore..." The statement surprised the group, especially Twilight.

"Spike, sure I was disappointed, but you’re my number #1 Assistant, and friend! And you will always be."

"Um, what exactly happened?" Jasmine asked.

"Spike used a toy mouse and a bunch of ketchup to try and frame Owlicious of killing it." Hearing that, Cali became upset.

"Spike! I told you not to do anything stupid! Did you not listen." Cali scolded him, getting a guilty look from. "*Grr* I should have made you promise. At least the ketchup trail kept you from being skinned alive."

"But why would you think Owlicious would take your job?" Jasmine asked.

"Because he's better than me, he's even helped us now when I got us into this situation."

"Well, he can fly, so that's one perk. And he was able to help us here because he's nocturnal." Spike looked at Jasmine confused. "It means he sleeps more during the day and is awake at night."

"She's right, I can't ask you to stay awake all night." Twilight said as she rubbed Spike's head. "You are a baby dragon after all, you need your rest." After a moment, Spike went in and hugged Twilight.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I shouldn’t have been so jealous.”

“And I’m sorry too, Spike.” Twilight replied with a smile. “I should’ve been more sensitive.” After the hug, he turned to Owlicious, who was perched on a branch.

"And Owlowiscious... I know now that you weren't out to take my job. Forgive me?"

"Hoo" The little owl hooted at him.

"Me. Forgive me, Spike." He said, confused and oblivious to his response.

"Hoo" Owlicious hooted again, getting a confused look from Spike as he turned to the others, the three of them laughing a bit.

"I think he forgives you kid." Cali said.

"And I'm sorry for not taking your advice Cali." Spike said. "If I did, I wouldn't be in this situation."

"I'll forgive you kid, but don't do it again. Promise?"

"Promise." Spike said as he smiled. The group smiled happily, knowing that they all grew closer, and finally welcomed a feathered friend to their group.

Party of One

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Once Spike and Twilight made amends and accepted Owlicious into their family, something didn't exactly go back to normal. Not the fact that Twilight had an owl, but it was that Xavier never came out of his room the next day. Or the next, or the next two, he was still held up inside his room. The girls were worried about him, but they didn't know what to do to get him out and help him. After a few days, the human girls were setting up the table for breakfast when some footsteps were heard, and when they looked, they saw none other than Xavier walking in, though he didn't look too good with messy hair and his eyes had bags, they were even a bit red. When he came into the kitchen, Jasmine ran over to him and hugged him in worry.

"It's about time you came out of your room." Cali commented, rather annoyed. "What took you so long?"

"It's nothing." He said, rather tired as he pushed Jasmine off him. "I was just taking some time to myself."

"Well next time tell us that."

"I never thought of you to worry about something like this."

"I wasn't, the girls are." Cali crossed her arms. "They were worried sick."

"Oh, well sorry. I'll try to tell you next time." Xavier trailed off nearing the end of his sentence. The two girls looked at each other but knew otherwise.

"Well, as long as you promise next time. Now come over here, I'm 'bout done with breakfast." Xavier gave a small smile and joined them. As he was however, a knock at the door got their attention.

"I'll go get it." Jasmine said as she went to the door. As Cali was finishing up, Xavier decided to try and find out some things.

"So, anything happen recently?"

"Well, Twilight did get a pet owl named Owlicious while you were barricaded in your room."

"Really now? Huh, go figure." Jasmine then came back into the room. "Who was it Jasmine?"

"It was Pinkie. She came here to invite us to a birthday party for Gummy. Though she seemed exhausted."

"The gator she keeps as a pet?" Cali asked as she put their breakfast, pancakes, down. "She's throwing a party for it?"

"Yeah..."

"Sounds like Pinkie." Xavier said. "She will find practically any excuse to throw a party."

"Well, if it's one of her parties, I guess I'll go." Cali replied.

"Yeah, let's go!" Jasmine said, excited as well.

"Have fun then you two, I'll just-"

"No, you're coming with us!" Cali said as she grabbed his shirt. "You've been locked up in that room of yours for days. You are coming out and seeing the others for once."

"What? Since when did you care so much?!" Xavier asked as he wiggled out of her grasp. As he was turning to leave the kitchen, he was surprised to see Jasmine standing at the entryway with a sad face.

"Why not? It wasn't the same without you during the meteor shower. Please?" Looking at Jasmine, Xavier tensed up as his brain and heart went into overdrive.

"Y-You KnOW WhaT?! I reALLy haVe beEn INsidE tO much! I'LL gO!" Xavier spoke nervously and weirdly, voice going all over the place. Jasmine didn't notice however as she beamed at Xavier's decision and happily exited the kitchen, leaving a flustered Xavier and Cali who was putting the pieces together.

"Wait a sec. Jasmine, you forgot about breakfast!"

Later, Sunset

After breakfast and Xavier recovering from his shock (He would not elaborate on why it happened) the three of them began to get ready for the party. It was mostly getting Xavier ready however as the girls were focused on getting him presentable since he was a mess. After they finished that, it was close to the time for the party since Xavier was putting up a bit of a resistance to the two, so they left the house and headed for Sugar Cube Corner. Once they entered the bakery, they were greeted by a big hug from Pinkie Pie, but the only one that was hugged was Xavier.

"Xavier! You're here!" She shouted happily.

"Y-yep, I'm h-here." He strained from the force of the hug before wiggling his way out of the hug.

"What took you so long?" They looked over to see the rest of the girls walking over. "Seriously, do you know how worried we were?!" Rainbow said annoyed.

"Sorry girls, I was going through something..." Xavier replied quietly. After a swift bot onto Rainbow's head, Twilight stepped forward.

"Are you okay though? You've been-"

"Yes, I'm okay." Xavier cut her off agitated, catching everyone off guard, the ponies more so since they've never heard him this mad.

"It's just that-"

"Look, I'm okay. I don't need to tell you anything about why, so respect my privacy and leave me alone." Xavier then left the group and went upstairs to where the party was. The group were left confused and even more worried than before as Jasmine broke the silence.

"Um, does that happen often?"

"N-no, it doesn't." Twilight responded. "In fact, he's never gotten that angry before."

"Really? That's hard to believe." Cali brought up.

"It's true, he's never gotten to that point before." Applejack replied.

"Yeah, he has raised his voice and gotten serious at times, but never angry." Rainbow added.

"W-well maybe we should respect him and not bother him for now." Fluttershy suggested.

"YEAH, after all this is a party!" Pinkie said happily. "Come on everypony, let's go." She then went up the stairs to the party, the rest of them deciding that it was best to give Xavier space, he has done a lot for them after all. When they got upstairs, they were greeted by Pinkie's preparations to the party, with Pinkie hopping around, the birthday alligator Gummy in the center of the room and Xavier leaning on a wall, staying out of the way. Everyone began to enjoy themselves to the games, music, and refreshments the party had, all except Cali who joined Xavier. When she joined him and leaned against the wall, Xavier had a face of both curiosity and annoyance.

"I thought I said-"

"You wanted to be left alone." Cali interrupted by finishing his sentence. "I know, I know. I'm just not one for parties." Xavier's face softened slightly.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us." The two stayed silent for a bit, watching the rest of the girls have fun. It wasn't before long that Cali said something.

"So you and Jasmine, eh." Xavier's previous annoyed expression was replaced in an instant by a face of shock, nervousness, and fluster all in one.

"EH?!"

"Heh, it's been on my mind for a while. I didn't have much evidence until this morning. And now with that little reaction..." Cali turned to him with a smirk. "You have a crush on her, don't you?"

"AD- BA- GU- SR-" Xavier wasn't able to give a valid reason, instead he was fumbling with his words.

"Haha, don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." Xavier looked down with a face of shock and embarrassment. "But you should talk to her, I'm sure she will understand."

"I-it's not as s-simple as you think." Xavier said, his tone portraying not embarrassment, not annoyance, but instead one of sadness, even despair. Cali took note on this and began to feel unsure about bringing it up.

"Erm, okay. I won't force you to do anything, so think about it I guess." The two kept silent for a while as the party continued. Speaking of, Jasmine was more involved in the party as she was observing Rainbow and Applejack bob for apples, with Applejack currently doing it.

"Tada." Applejack pulled her head out of the water to reveal she had an apple.

"Nice one!" Rainbow commented as Jasmine clapped. "Now, let me show you how it's really done." As Rainbow was about to go in, Pinkie Pie trotted over.

"Hey, girls!"

"Hey, Pinkie Pie!"

"Howdy!"

"Hi."

"Just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you could make it to Gummy's party." Pinkie thanked.

"Are you kiddin'? I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Applejack commented.

"Me neither. When Pinkie Pie throws a party, I am there!" Rainbow then dunked her head into the barrel, pulling up to reveal she had an apple as well.

"Aw! It's just a boring old apple. Don't worry, there are plenty of other surprises in there." This got the two competitors' attention as Rainbow spat the apple out of her mouth.

"What kind of surprises?"

"I can't tell you that, silly. Then it wouldn't be a surprise." Pinkie then trotted away from them, leaving the three to wonder what was inside the barrel.

"You want to join in Jasmine?"

"No thank you. I'm don't like getting wet." The two ponies nodded and dunked their heads into the barrel. When they came up, Applejack had an "apple", but the apple had a spring attached to it and it pulled her back in, soaking her. While Applejack had a bad pull, Rainbow had it even worse as she resurfaced with Gummy latched onto her face, leaving her a bit scared and Jasmine a bit confused. As Applejack was chuckling at Rainbow's misfortune, Jasmine looked around for Pinkie to tell her about Gummy, only to see her giving Rarity a refill of punch.

"This punch is simply divine! Is this the same recipe you used for your ‘Spring Has Sprung' party?” Rarity asked.

“Nope! Something new.” Pinkie answered as Rarity took a sip out of the cup. Jasmine and Rarity looked at the punch bowl, only to be shocked to see Gummy inside of it in an awkward position. Rainbow must have tossed him accidentally, and he must have landed into the bowl since it was such a short time between him "biting" Rainbow and him in the bowl. Rarity didn't think of this however as she spat out the punch right into Pinkie's face.

“It’s Gummy favorite!” Pinkie replied with a smile, not minding the punch that was dripping from her face (Jasmine didn't even think she was registering it). Rarity realized that she could offend Pinkie and Gummy, so she began to drink from it again, but not swallowing. "Oh, this is my jam!" Pinkie got distracted by some music playing, giving Rarity the opportunity to spit the punch into a nearby flowerpot. Jasmine then watched Pinkie start dancing along to the music, rather recklessly as she managed to slam into both Twilight and Fluttershy, the two flying into different things in the room.

“Go Gummy! It’s your birthday! Go, Gummy! It’s your birthday!” Pinkie began chanting as she began to circle around Gummy. Jasmine watched in worry, seeing as she's never acted like this before, Xavier and Cali were as well.

After the Party, Night

As the night lights came on for the dark night, the party for Gummy came to a close. The guests were leaving Sugar Cube Corner to go to bed.

"See you later Pinkie." Jasmine waved goodbye as the other humans followed suit.

"Bye guys! It really means a lot to Gummy that you came!"

"It was our pleasure." The three then left the bakery, Pinkie closing the door when they left. Once the door closed, Jasmine wanted to know something. "So is she like that a lot in parties?"

"Honestly, no. Not really." Xavier answered. "She is hyper, but never like this."

"She was probably tired." The three looked over to see the rest of the girls. "She can get like this sometimes if she works too hard on something. "Rainbow answered.

"Huh, never heard of someone getting hyper when tired, but whatever." Cali commented.

"Well, outside of that, do you three think you can help us with something?" Applejack asked, gaining the curiosity of the humans. "We've been planning a surprise party for Pinkie's birthday."

"A surprise party!?" Jasmine asked happily, before being shushed by the ponies.

"Please, we've been planning this for a while darling."

"Sorry."

"So when is the party?" Xavier asked.

"Tomorrow." This got the three's attention. "Don't worry, we just need to set up the party, but do you three think you could help out?"

"Mmmm, you know what. Why not." Xavier said. "I'll help out.

"Me too." Jasmine agreed as well.

"I'll bake some of my buns for the party too." Cali added.

"Great, just make sure Pinkie doesn't know a thing about the party." Twilight reminded. The humans voiced their agreements.

"So where will the party be held?"

"At my barn. We'll need to set up decorations and get the cake."

"Hm, the cake will be the hardest thing since we had the Cakes bake it." Twilight noted.

"In that case, I'll get it when I finish my buns tomorrow." The group looked at her, some with doubt and some with confusion. "I can be pretty quiet and stealthy when I need to be."

"I guess me and Xavier can take the buns up when you're done. Leave it to us!" Jasmine said as she raised a fist into the sky. The group found her enthusiasm enjoyable and gave a laugh, all except Xavier who blushed lightly and looked away.

"If that's settled then, we'll see you all tomorrow." Twilight said as she walked to her home, along with the others. The humans took this as a sign and left as well to get some rest to get ready for the party.

Later that Night

The night was silent, and everyone was asleep in peace. Well, all except Cali. Cali at this moment was working on baking her hot cross buns in hopes to get the cake ASAP tomorrow. She just put the buns into the oven to bake, and as she was setting the timer...

"You're not asleep?" Cali turned to Xavier entering the kitchen.

"Well you should be more than me."

"Relax, I'm just getting a drink." Xavier said as he went and grabbed a cup and filled it with some water. "Shouldn't you be as well?"

"Well, I was making my buns so that when you and Jasmine are ready to go, you can take the buns up as to not wait for them to bake."

"Huh, never thought of you as a forward thinker."

"You should know that I let my actions speak for myself." She said with a smirk. "I was just thinking to make this as smooth as possible." She finished setting the timer and set it down, it ticking away.

"Fair enough, just promise me you won't stay up all night."

"I will." Xavier nodded and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Cali and the ticking timer. A timer that was hypnotic in a way, very...

Before Cali realized it, she was standing in front of a jagged, rock wall. Turning around, she realized that she was inside of a massive sinkhole, at least a mile in diameter. When she looked up, she saw that the sink hole was just as deep, if not deeper. As she was processing what was going on, she saw someone on an outcrop halfway down sitting over the edge. When she took a closer look, she saw it was a girl, though her age was indecipherable. She did see that the girl was in sneakers, shorts, a blue tee, and an aviator hat (of all things). As she was looking up and wondering who she was, she spoke.

'So are we going to be okay?" The voice was not obscured so it was easy to be read, but the voice's tone nor voice could be distinguished as the sinkhole's walls echoed the voice so much that it was hard to pick up on one place. As Cali was wondering who she was, another voice rang out.

"I wish I knew, kid. But we are here now if that's any consolation." As the voice spoke, it was impossible to tell where it was coming from, so Cali simple assumed that the other voice was on the same outcrop as the girl.

"What does that mean?" The girl asked.

"It means that we're lucky. Now come on, let's go. We'll get caught if we stand around for too long." The other voice spoke

"Can you promise me something?" The girl asked. After a pause, a faint rumbling could be heard, then felt by Cali. As Cali was looking around, the voice spoke again, speaking as if nothing was wrong and the ever-increasing rumbling wasn't there. "Can you promise that no matter what happens, we'll stay together until the end?" The rumbling became worse for Cali, as she saw that the entire sinkhole was close to caving in as rocks and boulders began to fall inside. As Cali was bracing for one of the boulders to hit her, the other voice spoke one last time.

"I promise."

Cali's ears were ringing. She was bracing for impact, but nothing came. It was only a few moments later that she realized the ringing was coming from the alarm she set. Opening her eyes, she saw she was back inside the kitchen, like nothing happened, other than the timer going off. Looking inside the oven, she saw that the buns were done. Turning off the timer, she put on some oven mitts and took the buns out of the oven. As she was doing this, one thought popped up in her head.

"Who was that girl..."

Morning

Once Cali made sure the buns were good, she went off to bed. That morning, the three were getting ready to leave for the party.

"So Cali, you know what you're doing?" Xavier asked as he adjusted his bandana.

"Yea, get the cake from Sugar Cube Corner and bring it to AJ's barn. All while making sure that Pinkie doesn't see me." Cali described.

"Good, meanwhile me and Jasmine will take your buns up to the barn."

"Wait." Xavier and Cali looked at Jasmine. "Does she know how to get there?" The two took a moment to stare blankly at her. Xavier then face palmed.

"Dang it, I completely forgot I never showed her where Sweet Apple Acres is." Xavier then looked at Jasmine. "For that matter, I never showed Jasmine either. This complicates things, great." As Xavier was trying to think of something, a knock at the door was heard. He want over to the door to answer, and when he did, he saw Twilight at the door looking rather nervous. "Twilight? Is something wrong?"

"Somewhat." Twilight admitted. "Pinkie is about and trying to invite us to an 'after-birthday party' for Gummy."

"Seriously. What even is that?" Xavier asked as Jasmine and Cali came over.

"Well, either way, she's going to be suspicious that everyone isn't going to be available." Cali said.

"Yeah, I had to come up with an excuse about not coming, but the others may run into issues. So I came to warn you."

"Well you came at a good time honestly." Xavier admitted, catching Twilight's attention. "It's come to our attention that neither Jasmine nor Cali know where Sweet Apple Acres is. If you can, could you take Jasmine there while I tag along with Cali so I can take her when we get the cake?"

"I can do that. Come on Jasmine, let's go." Jasmine nodded and retrieved the basket of buns before following Twilight.

"We should get going too." Cali nodded and the two left for Sugar Cube Corner. As the two were walking, Cali thought of something.

"Hey, so what is Pinks about anyway?" Xavier looked at her confused. "Well, she just planed that party yesterday, and now she wants to throw an 'after-birthday party'. What's the deal?"

"Well, if there is one thing I've learned about Pinkie, it's that she will find any excuse to throw a party, no matter the situation. Though her throwing a party after one just ended is beyond me." The two kept walking, waving to ponies that waved at them until they made it to Sugar Cube Corner. When they entered the bakery, they saw Mrs. Cake by the register, who took notice of them and knew what they were there for.

"Ooh! You must be here for..."

"Shh!" Cali and Xavier shushed her simultaneously. After looking around for a minute, the two went over to the register quickly and began to whisper. "Is Pinkie here?"

"Or nearby?"

"Oh, I don't think so." Mrs. Cake mentioned.

"Good, if she knew then everything would be ruined." Cali said. "Now, do you have it?"

"Why yes, I'll go get it." Mrs. Cake then went into the kitchen to grab the cake, coming back out with a box tied with a ribbon. "Here you are."

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake. And remember, Pinkie cannot know about this." Xavier said as he picked up the box, looking inside to confirm it was right. After he was satisfied with how it looked, him and Cali left the bakery and began to walk away stealthily, trying to look casual. After a bit however, the two picked up the pace to get to the farm ASAP, with Xaiver leading. After a while of jogging, the two finally made to the farm, heading over to the barn and entering. Them entering gave everyone inside a scare, but calmed down when they saw it was Xavier and Cali.

"Phew, you scared us." Applejack mentioned.

"Sorry girls, we didn't mean to." Xavier apologized. "We got the cake though." Xavier took it over to a table and put it down, opening it to reveal the nice cake with the words 'happy birthday Pinkie' written on it with frosting."

"Perfect. Now you can help us with decorating." Rarity said, getting nods from Xavier and Cali. As they were about to, Cali noticed something in the distance. When she looked outside of the barn doors, she saw two blurs.

"Erm, is something going on?" The rest of the group were confused and went over, curious to see what was going on. Xavier decided that the mystery was not what they needed so he pulled out his telescope and looked to the blurs, panicking at what he saw.

"Oh not good! It's Pinkie, and she's chasing Rainbow!" Everyone grew worried at that as they went inside to hide, Applejack staying out to let Rainbow in. After a bit, Rainbow and Pinkie closed in on the location, Rainbow just ahead of Pinkie. Fortunately, this lead was enough for Rainbow to fly into the barn and gave Applejack just enough time to close it before Pinkie got in. When she got there however, loud knocks could be heard.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!!" As Pinkie yelled inside, Xavier decided to answer and try and get her to leave.

"Oh! Hey Pinkie." He was nervous, but it was to be expected with the death glare Pinkie was giving her and how everything they were working on could be ruined in an instant, so he hid it in his signature solemn face.

"Mind if I...take a look inside of Applejack’s barn?" Pinkie said as she tied to lean her head around to look inside.

"No, sorry. You can't come in right now." Xavier spoke calmly, but in reality he was nervous as all get-out.

"But Rainbow just entered."

"Oh, um." Xavier thought for a second before coming up with something. "She was just bringing some supplies in for repairing the barn. There is a lot of CONSTRUCTION going on inside right now." Xavier said the last part with some emphasis in it, getting the girls to understand.

"You heard her! Construction!" Rainbow whispered. The group understood and began to make a bunch of random sounds, poorly portraying the sounds of what construction sounded like. Pinkie wasn't buying it however as she eyed Xavier suspiciously, who's facade was beginning to crack. Pinkie began to move her head around to try and get a peek inside, but Xavier moved his head around as well to block her. It wasn't until Pinie began to move in closer to him did his solemnness break as panic was taking over. This panic made Xavier not think much as she slammed the door right before she could get close. As Pinkie was processing what was happened...

"Sorry Pinkie, but like I said, there is a lot of construction going on right now. So if you could leave, we can talk later, 'kay?" Xavier spoke through a crack in the doorway. Pinkie eyed the cracked door suspiciously before...

"Okey... dokey... lokey." Pinkie responded suspiciously. She backed away slowly and finally turned around to walk away. As soon as she was out of sight and earshot, the group collectively sighed.

"That was close. Too close." Twilight sighed.

"Yeah. Not bad, Xavier." Cali complimented.

"We couldn't let her in after everything we've done right now." Xavier sighed, his brave face finally gone. "Though I need to ask you Rainbow, what happened."

"Well, I was walking through town to get decorations we missed, and as I was walking I wasn't paying attention. I ended up walking past Pinkie, and since I gave an excuse, she got mad at me and chased me." Rainbow explained, earning a groan from Xavier.

"Good job, now she really knows we didn't come to her party."

"At least she doesn't know the reason yet." Jasmine pointed out.

"Your right. Let's hurry up and complete the decorating before something else happens." Twilight said, the others agreeing and got to work.

A Little While Later

After the near discovery of their plans, the group began to work faster in their decorating. After a while, things were finally finished and looking over their work.

"Alright, let's see..." Twilight was looking over a list that she made. "Streamers, check. Music, check. Balloons, check. Refreshments, check. Cake, check. I think we're just about done here."

"That means we just need the birthday mare here." Rainbow said.

"I'll go get her then." Xavier offered, the ponies voicing their agreements.

"Actually, can I go get her?" Everyone looked at Cali. "The way that Pinks' been acting is worrying me a bit."

"Erm, I guess you can get her. But do you remember the way there?"

"Please, I'm pretty good at memorizing directions. I'll be fine." Cali said as she backed out of the barn confidently. She turned around once she left the barn and began to walk to Sugar Cube Corner. She wasn't lying as she had no trouble making her way to the bakery. When she entered the bakery for the second time today, she saw Mrs. Cake again.

"Oh hello dearie. Do you need something?" Mrs. Cake asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Pinks. You know where she is?" Cali asked.

"Oh, I believe she's upstairs. Though it's strange, I've been hearing voices up there recently, and the baby dragon she invited over left a while ago." This caught Cali's attention.

"Huh? Who is she talking to?" Cali asked out loud. "I-I'll talk to you later Mrs. Cake. I'm going to see what's going on." Mrs. Cake waved at her as she walked past her and up the stairs. As she was walking...

"This is one great party! You’ve really outdone yourself!" Cali heard a voice, but it was incredibly strange. It didn't sound like a natural voice, but more like someone pretending to have a masculine voice, a Brooklyne one at that. When she got up the stairs, she saw a very, very strange sight. What she saw was a "party", but the attendants were apparently only Pinkie and Gummy, but there were party hats on a bucket of turnips, a pile of rocks, a bag of flour, and literally just a ball of lint. Pinkie was also strange, seeing as her hair wasn't poofy and was practically flat. Cali usually was the only one who was okay with Pinkie's antics, but this was too much, even for her.

"Erm, Pinkie?" Cali snapped out of her trance and raised a finger, getting Pinkie's attention.

"Oh, hey Cali. I was just in the middle of my party." Pinkie greeted. She then dashed over to the bucket of turnips

"Welcome." Pinkie spoke in a deeper voice, speaking as the bucket.

"Erm..." Cali was officially weirded out, and she's not one to get weirded out.

"I'm having a delightful time." Pinkie spoke through the lint.

"I'm so glad, Sir Lintsalot." Pinkie then twitched, her eyes going crazy.

"I'm just glad none o' them ponies showed up. Or those other humans." The "Rocks" spoke.

"“Oh, they’re not so bad….” Pinkie replied, staring at the ceiling as her eyes rolled away from each other and grew smaller. Cali went from weirded out to creeped out.

“Not so bad? They’re a bunch of losers!” the pile of rocks "spoke".

“Oh don’t be like that Rocky, I’m sure they have their reasons!” Pinkie tried to reason, with the literal pile of rocks. “Besides, ‘losers’ might be a little strong ,don’t you think?”

“After the way they treated you? I say ‘losers’ isn’t strong enough.” the lint "said".

“Well...it was pretty rude…”

“Pretty rude? It was downright despicable!” The flour "added".

“It was, wasn’t it?” Pinkie assured, but the tone of her voice was beginning to become irate.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t speak to them ever again!” The bucket of turnips "proposed".

“You know what? I’m not gonna speak to them ever again. And I’m not gonna invite them to another party as long as I live! They don’t deserve to be invited to my parties!” Pinkie’s face began to twitch. She then began to run around and have the "guests" "cheer" her on. After a while of watching, Cali couldn't take it.

"Alright, I think we're done here." Before Pinkie could ask what she meant, Cali pulled out her whip and snapped it, the whip tying around Pinkie and binding her.

"Hey, what gives?!"

"Sorry Pinkie, but this is not healthy. Take it from me, sheltering yourself is not healthy for your head, especially like this." Cali picked up Gummy since she didn't want to leave it alone. "Besides, me and the others have something to show you, and I don't feel like dealing with your antics after seeing this." Cali then picked up Pinkie and proceeded to carry her out of the building.

"Hey, let me go! Rocky, help me!!"
Rocky didn't help.

After a bit of an awkward meeting and explanation with Mrs. Cake, Cali walked over to Sweet Apple Acres with Pinkie struggling and Gummy... being Gummy. As she was getting close to the barn, she saw Xavier walking her way. When Xavier saw Cali and her carrying Pinkie, he ran over in worry.

"Cali?! What's going on?!" Xavier asked frantically. "Why are you carrying Pinkie like that?! And... why does she look like that?"

"You do NOT want to know what happened." Cali said with a deadpanned expression. "Let's just say she was being stubborn and I had to if I was going to get her here." Xavier looked at her unsure, but decided that she was being serious.

"Erm, okay then. I was going to head over to Sugar Cube Corner to check up on you since you were taking a bit, but since you're here, let's go." Cali nodded and the two went to the barn, stopping outside of it to untie Pinkie. Once she was untied, Xavier opened the door to reveal the...

"Surprise." The group yelled out happily. Pinkie however didn't look impressed, and if it wasn't for Cali pushing her inside she may not have entered. As Pinkie eyed the party decor, the group became a bit nervous. (Except Cali who knew why)

“I really thought she’d be more excited…” Fluttershy whispered, her smile wavering.

“Excited? EXCITED?!" Pinkie's outburst caused some of the group to flinch, while the others were shocked "Why would I be excited be attend my own farewell party?!” Pinkie asked angrily, causing most of the group to stare confusedly at her, all except Cali who stood there flabbergasted.

"Farwell party?" Twilight asked.

“Yes! You don’t like me anymore, so you all decided to kick me out of the group and throw a great, big party to celebrate! A ‘Farewell to Pinkie Pie’ party!” Pinkie answered with an over-the-top display.

"Erm, why would we do that?" Xavier asked, starting to get why Cali had to tie up Pinkie.

“Yeah, why in the world would you think we didn’t like you anymore, sugarcube?” Applejack asked with a concern expression.

“Why? WHY? WHY?" She really began to get very angry at this point. "Because you've been lying to me and avoiding me all day, that's why!” Pinkie yelled out in rage. Once she went back down, the group all had different reactions and expressions. Some were sorry, some were understanding, and some were just a bit worried.

“Uh, yeah! Because we wanted your party to be a surprise.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“We've been planning this party for such a long time. We had to make excuses for why we couldn't attend Gummy's party, so that we could get everything ready for yours.” Rarity added as she played with a balloon. Pinkie's expression began to lighten, but not by much.

"You've done so much for us, so we wanted to do something for you." Jasmine joined in with a kind smile. Pinkie's expression lightened again.

"If this is a farewell party, why does the cake Xavier and Cali picked up from Sugar Cube Corner say, 'Happy Birthday, Pinkie Pie'?" Twilight noted.

Pinkie began to look around the room and everything that the group put together, every balloon, every streamer, even the cake that had the exact words Twilight said written in frosting. Something clicked in Pinkie, and she smiled wide as her hair puffed back up into her signature style. “Because it's my birthday! Ooh, how could I have forgotten my own birthday?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she pulled the group together into a big hug. The group didn't pay attention to the shock and sighed, happy to know that their friend wasn't angry anymore. Pinkie then released her grip to bounce around the barn happily. “And you like me so much, you decided to throw me a surprise party!”

"Well yeah, you've been a great friend to us. This is the least we can do for you." Xavier said with a calm smile.

"You all are the best friends ever!" Pinkie announced, before shrinking down in guilt. "How could I have ever doubted you?"

“It’s okay, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight assured. “It could have happened to any of us.” The rest voiced their agreements as they surrounded Pinkie in a happy circle.

"As long as you don't replace me with a bucket of turnips, I'm good." Cali mentioned, getting the group to look at her confused, other than Pinkie who was a bit nervous.

"Huh?"

"Y'all do not want to know." Cali said, getting a sigh of relief from Pinkie as she smiled a bit at her.

"All right, everyone! Enough of this gab." Everyone looked over at Applejack who was next to a record player. "Let's party!" As the music took the barn, everyone began to smile and laugh, all of them having a good time. Even Xavier who wasn't up for parties as much as the others. His mind was still thinking about what Cali said though. As he looked at Jasmine dancing, Xavier smile fell to a frown and he thought to himself.

"I can't, I can't get attached again..."

The "Best" Night Ever

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"I can't believe it's almost time!"

Tonight was the night everyone was waiting for, the Grand Galloping Gala. There has been a lot of things that have happened, but after months of waiting, the Gala would finally happen. At this moment, the three humans were walking over to Rarity's to get ready for the big night, with Jasmine leading the pack with bright eyes. Cali and Xavier were following behind, amused by her excitement.

"Yep, I really can't believe it either." Xavier said. "After all we've been through, I think we can finally have a night go right."

"I'll say." Cali agreed. "Things have been crazy, and I can only imagine what you and Jasmine have been through before me."

"Yeah, it's been pretty exciting. But I'm happy for a normal event tonight." Jasmine said as she began to walk backwards to talk to face them. "So any of you have plans tonight?"

"Well, not really. I think I'm just going to make sure the girls have their plans go smoothly." Xavier explained.

"What does that mean?" Cali asked.

"Well, the first week I was here, Twilight got two tickets and not eight for all of us. It turned into a big mess where the girls were trying to get the spare ticket. Each of them had their reason for going, and Twilight was getting stressed from them. After I talked to them all, Twilight sent the two tickets back and the Princess gave her six for her and the girls and later two more for me and Spike."

"Huh, that sounds like an interesting story." Jasmine said in reaction.

"Yeah, it was."

"So what were their reasons?" Cali asked.

"Well, Applejack wants to go to set up an apple stand to make money for the farm. Rainbow wants to go to see her idols, the Wonderbolts."

"Wonderbolts?" The girls asked.

"They're basically this aerial stunt team." The girls nodded in understanding. "Anyway, Rarity wants to go to meet a prince that lives there. Fluttershy wants to because of the royal gardens filled with flora and animals. And Pinkie-"

"Wants to go because it's a party?" Cali asked knowingly.

"Yep. As for Twilight, I guess she would either want to see her home or the princess." Hearing home caught the two girl's attention.

"Wait, home?"

"Yeah, believe it or not. She used to live in Canterlot, but she came down to Ponyville to check the preparations to a special event. Ironically, it was the same day that I woke up here. After... things happened, she and the Princess decided that she should live here with her friends."

"Wow, there is a lot of history with you all, isn't there?" Cali inquired.

"Yep, but I can tell you later, right now we're here." The group looked to see that they indeed made it. As they were approaching, they saw a very familiar pink pony bouncing high. Curious, they went to see what was going on, only to see that Pinkie was jumping on a trampoline and Twilight nearby reading a book. "Hey Twilight, Pinkie!" Looking up from her book, Twilight smiled.

"Oh good, you're here. Perfect." Twilight greeted. "Now we just need the others." As they were coming over, they heard the boutique's door open and saw that Rarity was in it.

"Pinkie Pie! Stop that right now." Instead of greeting them, Rarity immediately began to run over to them and scold Pinkie. "It's time to prepare for the Gala, and I refuse to let you put on your new dress when you're all sweaty." Pinkie listened and stopped hopping on the trampoline, but she somehow halted her movement midair and walked on invisible stairs upset, confusing the humans as to how she did that. "Where are the others? It's getting late." Rarity asked rhetorically, getting impatient.

"Hold your horses, girl. We're here." Everyone looked over to see Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy walking over. As they were saying hello to them, Twilight closed her book.

"Perfect. I'm ready!" She said, getting everyone's attention.

"For what?"

"Spike." Upon Twilight's call, Spike ran to a flat area and put an apple down.

"An apple? What's that for?" Cali asked.

"Is it for a pie?" Pinkie asked, getting a deadpan stare from Cali. before she could talk however, Twilight began to charge her magic and focus it onto the apple. The apple began to shake until a bright flash erupted from it. When everyone opened their eyes from the flash, they were all surprised to see that the apple turned into a large carriage.

"Whoa..." The entire group was impressed at the display, seeing how much power Twilight has.

"“Thanks, but that’s just the start.” Twilight then walked towards Fluttershy. “So did you bring what I asked?”

"Yes." As she said that, four white mice came out of her mane and scurried down to get into a formation. "Will they be safe, Twilight?"

"You have my word." Twilight promised as she began to use her magic again, this time on the mice. Once Twilight was finished with her magic, a flash occurred again. When the group looked at the mice, they saw that the mice were changed into horses, not like ponies since they actually looked like horses the humans knew. It was almost impressive, if it wasn't for the fact the heads still had aspects of the mice like whiskers, ears, and nose. "Ta-da!" The group had no idea how to react. "Neat, huh?"

"They're disturbing to look at." As the group were trying to think of a good way to tell her, Cali decided to not beat around the bush and just told Twilight her thoughts, getting the rest of them to look at her. "What, you were all thinking that."

"But Twilight was so proud." Jasmine told her.

"Hey, she wanted out opinions." The two began to argue to each other, the rest looking at them with sweat drops.

"Erm, while they are arguing, the spell is impressive." Xavier admitted. "It's just that..."

"*sigh* I know." Twilight sighed. "At least they look the part, right?"

"Right." As they were talking, a loud meow could be heard.

"Opalescence, no!” The group looked over and saw that Rarity's cat just landed onto one of the mouse horses, clinging onto it. They all began to panic and ran off, never to be seen again.

"Gah, rust-oil!" Xavier exclaimed as they ran out of sight. "Will they be okay?"

"Don't worry, they will turn back by midnight. But now what do we do, they were supposed to pull our carriage, how are we supposed to get to the Gala." As Twilight was worrying about how to get there, Rarity noticed something and smiled.

"Whatever shall we do?" She said dramatically before walking over to four stallions that were talking amongst themselves. "Uh... ahem. Excuse me. Uh, would you boys mind pulling our carriage to the Gala?" She asked sweetly. The four of them looked at each other and nodded, and in a few minutes the four were strapped and ready to pull the carriage.

"Oh. Yeah. Right."

After the group figured out transportation, they were now getting dressed and making themselves presentable. Xavier was finished first, and being the only guy there along with Spike, he was forced to wait outside. He was wearing a simple black tuxedo and bowtie. He was also wearing some black shoes along with a belt. As he was waiting for the girls to finish, he began a conversation with Spike.

"So Spike, what's it like up in Canterlot?"

"Well, it's a very rich and prestigious city. Many of the ponies that live there are quite wealthy. The other ponies that live there have connections there like Twilight."

"Sounds like a bunch of rich snobs." The two looked up to see Cali and Jasmine walking over, who got ready somewhere else. Jasmine was wearing the dress that she wore when she was a model that one time, And Cali was wearing a special outfit that was requested by Jasmine (Cali was happy to know Jasmine cared so much, though it was a bit overwhelming). She was still wearing her hat and vest, but now she was wearing a very nice blue dress shirt underneath. She was also wearing nice jeans and some white gloves. It wasn't as fancy as Rarity wanted, but it was like Applejack's who didn't want too much, just something to look nice.

"Well, kind of. There are those types of ponies there, but there are also a lot of kind ponies who live there."

"I'll take your word for it, kid." Cali said as she as she and Jasmine went over to sit with them. "So, anything we should know about before we get going?"

"Mmm, I don't think so."

"So I guess we just wait for the others then." Xavier suggested, the rest agreeing and began to talk between each other, waiting to leave and have a night to remember.

Later

After the ponies were done and ready to go, the group headed off in the carriage with Xavier and Spike driving the carriage. As they were driving, the girls were talking about things that they would be doing there, with Spike and Xavier staying mostly quiet. Xavier was thinking to himself however, thinking about some things. After a bit of thinking, he decided to have a chat with Spike. "Hey Spike?" He looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly are your plans for the gala?"

"Oh, I wanted to tell someone!" Spike announced. "I'm so glad someone asked! As someone who lived in Canterlot, I was planning on an insider's tour for everyone. I was going to show Rarity the crown jewels, and Applejack the princess's golden apple tree, and for Pinkie, there's this donut shop that is the best that we have to go." He was talking quite loudly about his ideas in hopes that the others inside would be interested, but it was hard to tell with all the chatter inside. As he was talking about his plan for a tour, Xavier noticed something.

"Erm, Spike. What about the Gala?" At Xavier's observation, Spike frowned.

"*sigh* It's just that I thought I would save the girls some trouble."

"How so?"

"Their plans aren't going to be like they wanted." Spike explained. "Everything that the girls thought would happen isn't going to be like they thought. The animals in the garden are shyer than Fluttershy, Applejack's stand won't draw in customers because of the buffet line of fancy food, the Wonderbolts are always busy with all their fans, so Rainbow will barely get an opportunity to talk to them, Twilight's idea of talking to the princess is going to be slow since she is going to be greeting all the delegates and such, and her nephew is a piece of work, so Rarity might not be attracted to him after a while of being with him, thankfully. As for Pinkie, well..."

"It's a calmer party, so her idea of a party will clash with their idea, right?" Spike nodded. "Hmm, that does sound pretty bad." Xavier said. "But you can't tell them what to do, can you?"

"I guess not."

"I say just let them spread their wings for a while. They can find their way around and learn things don't go the way they always want." Spike looked at him for a moment before sighing.

"I guess you're right."

"Plus, this place is full of high class, rich ponies, right." Spike nodded. "Well, they haven't interacted much with these types of ponies yet, so they'll learn about different ponies here. You just have to put faith in them to understand that, right." Spike sighed again.

"Yeah, I'll not worry too much about it." Spike then looked at him curiously. "How do you know what to say in these situations?" Xavier, for a split second, gave a shocked look before looking away with a sad face.

"I-I would rather not say." Spike took the que to not press further.

"Well, we're almost there, so let's get going. Hyah!" He snapped the leads of the ponies, getting them all to glare at him. Their glares were strong enough to get Xavier to look a bit scared.

"“Hey!” One of them exclaimed angrily.

“Um...sorry?” Spike smiled nervously at them.

“If you weren’t friends with our neighbor, Rarity…” The second stallion added, shaking his hoof. “Hmph!” They turned back around to continue to walk, getting sighs from the two as they continued forward. Unbeknownst to them, a certain human was listening to the two talk from the inside of the carriage. After a while of strolling, the two guys saw the lights of the city and were happy to finally be there. Once they parked, Xaveir and Spike got down and opened the door for them. After they all got out, they took a moment to look at them all in their dresses.

"Whoa! You all look... amazing!" Spike complimented. Xavier's eyes were on Jasmine however, as the lights of the city, in his eyes, made her look like a beauty.

"Y-yeah, you all look great."

"Aww, thank you. You look good too." Jasmine said, making Xavier red and a bit of smoke to puff out of his ears. As he was recovering, the rest looked at the city lights in dazzlement.

"I can't believe we're finally here. With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this... The Best Night Ever!"

At the Gala

At the Gala

At the Gala
In the garden
I'm going to see them all
All the creatures
I'll befriend them at the Gala

At the Gala

All the birdies
And the critters
They will love me big and small
We'll become good friends forever
Right here at the Gala!

All our dreams will come true
Right here at the Gala
At the Gala

At the Gala (It's amazing)
I will sell them (Better hurry)
All my appletastic treats (Yummy yummy)
Hungry ponies (They'll be snacking)
They will buy them (Bring your money)
Caramel apples, apple sweets (Gimme some)
And I'll earn a lot of money
for the Apple family!

All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter
All that we've been wishing for will happen at the Gala
At the Gala

At the Gala
All the royals
They will meet fair Rarity
They will see I'm just as regal at the Gala

At the Gala

I will find him
My Prince Charming
And how gallant he will be
He will treat me like a lady
Tonight at the Gala!

This is what we've waited for to have the best night ever
Each of us will live our dreams
Tonight at the Gala
At the Gala

Soon, a group of pegasi flew by with storm clouds behind them like a trail flew by. While the two girl humans didn't know them, Xavier did know them, the Wonderbolts. Rainbow saw them too and became excited.

Been dreamin'
I've been waitin'
To fly with those great ponies
The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks
Spinning round and having kicks
Perform for crowds of thousands
They'll shower us with diamonds
The Wonderbolts will see me right here at the Gala!

All we've longed for
All we've dreamed
Our happy ever after
Finally will all come true
Right here at the Grand Gala
At the Gala

I am here at the Grand Gala
For it is the best party
But the one thing it was missing was a pony named Pinkie
For I am the best at parties, all the ponies will agree
Ponies playing
Ponies dancing
With me at the Grand Gala!

Happiness and laughter at the Gala
At the Gala

Flying up at the top of the central spire, Princess Celestia flew over as sparkles were left behind as she made an arch above her castle. Everyone was at awe, but Twilight knew that she would be able to talk to her.

At the Gala (At the Gala)
With the Princess (With the Princess)
Is where I'm going to be (She will be)
We will talk all about magic and what I've learned and seen (She will see)
It is going to be so special
As she takes time just for me (This will be the best night ever!)

Into the Gala we must go
We're ready now, we're all aglow
Into the Gala, let's go in and have the best night ever
Into the Gala, now's the time
We're ready and we look divine!

Into the Gala

Meet new friends

Into the Gala

Sell some apples

Into the Gala

Find my Prince

Prove I'm great as a Wonderbolt

To meet!

To sell!

To find!

To prove!

To whoop!

To talk!

Into the Gala
Into the Gala
And we'll have the best night ever!
At the Gala!

Once the song finished, the three humans and dragon walked over to the ponies.

"Erm, so do random songs randomly break out like this?" Cali asked.

"Er, more or less." Xavier admitted. "I don't actually know why, but I sort of just accept it."

"How? It's like we're on a kids show with these random musical numbers."

"Eh, don't worry about it much. Right now, we have a Gala to look forward to."

“Yeah, exactly! This is gonna be the best night ever!” Spike exclaimed excitedly as he hopped over excitedly. “You know why? Cause we’re all gonna spend time at the Gala to-” He never got to finish his sentence, as all of his pony friends ran off, leaving him and the humans at the gate. "Or not." He said disappointed.

"Oh Spike, I'm sure it'll be fine." Xavier comforted.

"Yeah, right- wait. Where's Jasmine?" The group looked around to realize that Jasmine wasn't there. "Where'd that girl go this time?"

"She must have gone in with the girls." Xavier theorized. "Out of everyone, she was the most excited."

"Well, have fun you two." Spike said as he began to walk away.

"Huh, where are you going?"

"I'm going to Joe's. I was really looking forward to giving that tour, but no one wanted to I guess. So I'm just going to go, have fun." As Spike was walking away, Cali walked over to him.

"Huh, Cali?" Xavier questioned.

"Go have fun bud, I'll take care of him." Cali said with a small smile. "I doubt that the party will go as smoothly as they thought, so make sure they stay out of trouble?" Xavier realized that she must have been listening to him and Spike talk about plans, so he nodded with his own small smile.

"Give him a good night." Xavier turned to the gate and walked into the party. Cali sighed and jogged over to Spike. Once she reached him, she picked him up and put him onto her shoulder, startling and confusing him.

"Huh, what are you doing?"

"Asking you where this so-called golden apple tree is. And maybe those crown jewels?" Spike was surprised to see Cali interested, but that surprise turned into happiness quickly.

"Well, let me tell you about it!"

With Jasmine

Xavier's theory was correct, as right now Jasmine was skipping along a path in the gardens. She was very excited to be in such a grand place, in a prestigious party, invited by a princess, it was so great to her. It was so exciting to her that she didn't even notice any of the ponies staring at her.

"What in the world?"

"Is that an ape of some kind?"

"How did it get into such a party?"

"Is it an ambassador of some kind?"

To many, these words would be quite degrading to listen to. Jasmine however didn't pay any mind to them, mostly since she was in her own world again, not caring about anything. At least, not until she saw Rarity.

"Huh, oh hey Rarity!" Rarity turned to see Jasmine waving at her.

"Oh, hello there Jasmine. How are you?" Rarity asked as Jasmine walked over.

"Great." She responded happily. "So are you looking for the prince?"

"Oh of course, I just have to meet him." While Rarity's passion was admirable, Jasmine just had to ask.

"Um, but why do you want to meet him?"

"Because of true love." This caught Jasmine off guard. "Most would think that I would do this for money, or power, or even to join the royal family. But I want to meet him because of true love. I've always seen him in magazines, and every time he was always charming to me. I instantly fell in love with him, and I dream of the day that I'd meet him. I'd always imagine us seeing each other and immediately falling in love. And now that I'm here, that dream is close to coming true." Rarity's explanation put the signature sparkles into Jasmine's eyes again since it was so romantic. Before she could comment however, Rarity spotted something. "Oh, I think that's him!" Jasmine turned to see what she was looking at, and immediately she saw a white unicorn with what appeared to be a tuxedo collar on him. Once again, before Jasmine could comment, Rarity went off in his direction in hopes to meet him. Jasmine simply smiled as she watched her run off.

"I wonder if I can have that kind of affection to someone..." As she was wondering about how it would feel like to have a love, she began to hear whistling. Curious, she began to follow the sound. When she did find the source of the whistling, she saw that it was some sort of old custodian/gardener raking leaves. As she was approaching, she overheard a familiar voice.

“My little meadowlark is right around this bend!” A moment later, Fluttershy turned the corner of a hedge, seeing the same pony whistling. "Was that you?"

"Yup. I love whistling while I work!” He replied happily before he continued whistling and walked off to rake more. As Fluttershy was saddened by the dissapointment, Jasmine walked over to her.

"Um, Fluttershy? Are you okay?" Fluttershy jumped in surprise. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine."

"How are you doing tonight?"

"Well, I-" Fluttershy looked up to see a large group of animals a short distance away. “Oh! I see a Toco Toucan!” Fluttershy pointed over to the group. “And a spider monkey! And, oh! Is that a wallaroo?” Fluttershy immediately flew towards them with her happy smile, but the moment they took notice of her, they immediately ran away from her, causing her to be depressed again. “Oh, Fluttershy...You’re such a loudmouth…” Jasmine looked at her with concern, worried about what would happen if the animals didn't come to her

With Xavier

When Xavier entered the castle to find the girls, he was immediately greeted by the sight of the Princess and Twilight on top of a flight of stairs.

"Xavier. So glad to see you again." The Princess greeted him. Everypony looked at him, confused at what exactly he was and why he managed to get the princess' attention. Xavier, embarrassed and a bit worried, worked his way over to the two of them.

"H-hello your majesty." He greeted.

"How have you and the others been?" Princess Celestia asked.

"We've all been good, princess. Have you been doing well?"

"Yes, I have." She replied. "So are you enjoying the festivities right now?"

"Erm, I just got here." Xavier said, trying not to offend the princess. "But I can see that it's quite grand."

"That's good to know. I hope you enjoy yourself."

"Thank you, your majesty." Xavier bowed before leaving her and Twilight. Once he left, he began to think to think. "Okay, Twilight is probably going to stick with the princess for a while, so I won't need to worry about her. Let's see..." Xavier then began to run off multiple situations for each of the girls with what Spike told him. As he was doing that, he couldn't think of any way that their plans could go horribly wrong, just disappointment. As he was walking, he managed to find himself in the gardens, but he wasn't paying attention as he bumped into something. "Gah, oops." When he looked at what he bumped into, he saw that he bumped into an apple stands that Applejack was running. "Oh, sorry AJ."

"Don't worry about it." Applejack reassured.

"Okay, is everything going well?"

"Of course. I've made a sale to one of those Wonderbolt fellas as soon as I set up."

"Huh, not bad AJ."

"Yeah, but it has slowed down in all honesty. I haven't made a sale since then." When Applejack said that, Xavier took the time and saw that it hasn't been over ten minutes since she left.

"Well, try to keep your hopes up. I'm sure ponies will come once they learn how good your stuff is."

"Thanks Xavier."

"No problem. So do you know where that Wonderbolt went?" Applejack looked at him confused. "Well, I want to check on Rainbow, and if I had to guess, where that Wonderbolt went is where Rainbow is." After getting some directions from Applejack, Xavier went to find Rainbow, wishing luck to Applejack's endeavors. After asking a few more ponies for directions for where the Wonderbolts were, he finally made it over to where the Wonderbolts were, a big pavilion. Xavier was about to enter when a bouncer blocked him out. "Oh, um. Hello there." The bouncer, unlike the guard when the princess visited Ponyville, was not going to budge. He was a bit worried about Rainbow, at least until...

"Hey, aren't you that human?" Looking at the gate, he saw one of the Wonderbolts with a orange mane and yellow coat was standing there. After gesturing to the bouncer, the bouncer let him in to talk to her. "The one who was brave enough to try and save that flying unicorn at the best young flyer's competition?"

"Erm, yep. That's me." Xavier admitted.

"Well, you've got guts for doing that, I like that." The Wonderbolt said. "You can come in if you'd like. The name's Spitfire by the way."

"Xavier. And I guess I can join." Xavier walked into the venue. "So, do you know where Rainbow Dash is?"

"The pony that saved us and won the best young flyer's competition?" Spitfire asked. "She's here somewhere. I haven't seen her recently, but she's here."

"Thanks. I'll catch up later, I need to find her." Xavier then walked off to find his friend. After a bit of walking around, he found his friend standing around. "There you are Dash." Getting closer, she turned to him, looking kind of upset. "Erm, is everything alright?"

"Not really." Rainbow admitted. "I was trying to hang out with the Wonderbolts, but they are just busy with all of the other fans. *sigh* this isn't hanging out..."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Rainbow said. "I'm going to try and make this the best night ever, even if it's the last thing I do!" With that announcement, Rainbow entered the crowd to presumably look for the Wonderbolts, leaving Xavier alone.

"Erm, alright then."

A while later

After Rainbow went off to look for the Wonderbolts, Xavier decided to leave the venue due to the extra-large crowd that was inside. After a while of walking and exploring, he finally decided to sit down for a break.

"I would have thought that a pony gala would be different, but I guess not." Xavier began to think. "It's more or less the same as the ones from home. Home..." Xavier sighed and thought about life before. "I know that many would think that I would want to find a way home, but there isn't anything left for me. I guess I should- As he was thinking, he overheard music. This music was very out of place however since it was something you'd hear in a club. He got up and followed the music, right over to the main party hall. When he looked in the door to the place, his heart stopped as he saw something that should not be in a gala, a small DJ booth and Pinkie bouncing around.

"Come on, everypony! You wanted a partay? Now it's paaartaaay!" Pinkie announced as she hopped around the room. As she was, she was tormenting other ponies by bumping into them and generally making a racket. Xavier was watching with panic in his eyes as he ran in.

"PINKIE!! THIS ISN'T THAT KIND OF PARTY!!" As Xavier was trying to chase her down, a large double door slammed open. Looking over, Xavier's eyes grew wider as he saw an extra-large cake on a cart come into the room, piloted bu Applejack.

"Okay, all you high-class ponies. Here's a highfalutin apple cake for your hoity-toity taste buds." Applejack announced. As Xaveir was panicking, he heard something else that was the worst thing to hear.

"Stage dive!" Pinkie leapt from the stage, not caring about where she landed. Unfortunately, this ended badly as she landed onto the cart, sending the huge cake flying. Xavier's heart was about to stop when he saw where the cake would land, onto two ponies that just entered the room, one of them was Rarity. Xavier, wasting no time, dashed over with surprising speed due to the adrenaline in him and shoved the two out of the way as they just realized what was happening. The two were clean, but Xavier took the full blow of the cake. As he lay on the ground, Rarity ran over.

"Xavier! Are you okay?!" She asked as she used her magic and levitated him to his feet and started to remove cake bits off him.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure my heart can take much more." He said exhausted.

"Hmp, serves you right." The two looked over to the pony Rarity entered the room with. "Look what you did, you ruined my hair. you ape." He said as he motioned to a single hair out of place. Rarity was practically red with anger.

"You, sir, are the most uncharming prince I have ever met!" She yelled out in anger. "In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!"

"Well, you aren't as beautiful as I would like." This set Rarity off.

"Oh that's IT!!" Rarity then threw the cake that she took off of Xavier and launched them at the prince. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough to react and was bombarded by the chunks of baked good. As Blueblood was backing up trying to escape, he bumped into a large statue of an alicorn a bit too hard. Him bumping into the statue broke it, sending the entire statue to the floor. As the room was gasping and in shock, Rainbow smirked.

"Now's my chance!" She dashed to the statue, and just before it hit the ground, she caught it. "YES!" Unfortunately, the giant statue was too heavy for her, and soon she began to sway around. As she was stumbling, she accidentally bumped into a marble pillar, sending it down into another, and soon all the pillars went down like dominoes. Once the dust cleared, Xavier was pretty much in shock as he stared at the mess, only increasing when the statue cracked in half. As he stared, he only had one thing to say.

"Well, it can't get any worse from here."

Bad choice of words

After he said that, Jasmine ran into the room.

"XAVIER!!!" He turned to her along with the rest of the girls. "We have a problem!!"

"Please, we don't need one more!!" As Xavier grew more upset, a rumbling could be heard, and it only grew louder. It all came to a head when another pair of double doors slammed open, releasing dozens of animals and a practically feral Fluttershy.

"You’re...going to LOVE ME!" Chaos soon erupted as animals began chasing around other party members, leaving the entire place a mess. As Xavier and the others were panicking (Except Fluttershy who was still in the chaos), a whistle could be heard. Looking over, they saw Twilight next to the princess, the former waving over to get them to follow. The rest of the group complied, running out of the party room and out of the castle, all of them having a very bad night.

With Cali

Cali was having a very good night. Her and Spike went around the city to take in the sights, with Spike being the tour guide and Cali looking at everything. She may have found it all a bit too fancy, but it was calm and relaxing, something that Cali enjoyed. Now the two were sitting at a donut shop owned by sompony called Joe and clinked two mugs of milk together.

"To a great night." The two said together as they took drinks from their mugs. After they finished their drinks, Cali began to talk.

"Tonight was great, kid. Just the night I needed after all the craziness."

"It was great for me too." Spike said. "I really enjoyed it." Spike's smile faded a bit. "I just wish the others joined..." His sad tirade was interrupted by a noggie from Cali.

"Hey, their loss kid. Besides, I'm sure they had a good night too." As Cali said that, a bell rung. As the two looked to see who entered the shop, they were surprised to see the group, though they looked quite roughed up. "Ah, speak of the devil."

"Hey, how was the Gala? How was your best night ever?” Spike asked as he ran up to the group, Cali following behind. After sitting down at a table, the group began telling the tale, leaving the two who didn't join shocked. "That sounds like the worst night ever!"

"It was!" The group said sans for the two who weren't in the party, all of them laughing. Spike and Cali looked at them confused.

"Um, why are y'all laughing?"

"Because it's quite ridiculous when you think about it. After the fact at least." Xavier said.

“I just hope Princess Celestia isn’t upset with us for ruining the Gala…” Twilight muttered sadly. As most of the group were feeling a bit guilty...

“That was the best Grand Galloping Gala ever!” The group were surprised to see none other than Princess Celestia at the entrance of the donut shop.

"Princess Celestia?!” The group yelled out.

"Um, princess? No offence but that was a disaster." Xavier said.

"Oh, Xavier. The Grand Galloping Gala is always awful." This shocked the group.

"It is?"

“That is why I was thrilled you were all attending. I was hoping you could liven things up a bit." This surprised the group even more, seeing as how their invite was to make the Gal more entertaining to a certain degree. "And while the evening may not have gone as you planned, I’m sure you’ll agree that in the end it didn’t turn out so bad for this group of friends.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great.”

“Yeah! Hanging out with friends!” Rainbow added.

“Talking!” Fluttershy added as well.

“Laughing!” Pinkie held her hooves out in joy.

“You mean doing exactly what I wanted to do the whole time?” Spike and Cali smirked.

"Yes, Spike. You were right.” Twilight smiled back while she rolled her eyes.

"I guess this wasn't the worst night ever." Xavier admitted.

"Yeah, in fact..." Jasmine started. "I think this was-"

"THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!" Everyone joined into the announcement happily, all laughing at the end. As they all laughed, the humans each thought about life here in Equestria and how it was much better than where they were. They weren't concerned about going home that much, they were just happy to share moments with friends. Maybe they would return one day, but for now they were happy to be here.

The Return of Chaos

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"Another day, another project..."

After the Grand Galloping Gala disaster and the group went home, they all began to settle into regular life again. Now it's been two weeks since then and nothing has happened. Right now, Xavier was returning from the spa after doing a job over there.

"You know, it's been a while since something's came up. I know I shouldn't complain since I shouldn't worry or jinx anything, but I can't help but think about what's going to happen next." Xavier thought as he walked through town, waving to anypony who waved at him. Soon he arrived back at his home and entered.

"Welcome back Xavier!" He was greeted by Jasmine sweeping the floor. Smiling, Xavier returned the greeting with a wave. "Cali's making lunch, she should almost be done."

"Like now." The two looked at the kitchen entrance, seeing Cali standing in front of it. "Nice timing, Xavier."

"Thanks for cooking for us, Cali. You really don't have to."

"Well maybe it's to repay your kindness for letting me live here. Now come on, it'll get cold." The three entered the kitchen and sat down at the table to enjoy lunch, some simple spaghetti. "So, it's been a bit since anything happened."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that while walking." Xavier admitted. "I know I shouldn't think about it, but I just do."

"Well, with how often they seem to come up, I don't blame you." Jasmine said.

"Yeah, I guess it'll come eventually. For now, I guess I should just count my blessings." After a while of eating and small talk, the three began to clean the kitchen. As they were however, something strange caught their attention.

"You're seein' this right?"

"Yep. I think our problem revealed itself."

What they were looking at was the fridge open, and standing in front of it was what appeared to be a golem made of various fruits and veggies. After a bit of staring, the golem suddenly lunged at them, scaring the three. If it wasn't for Jasmine nailing it with a tornado, it would have landed on one of them as its pieces were scattered across the room, making a mess.

"What was that?!" Cali asked shocked.

"I don't know." Xavier replied. "Maybe we should ask Twilight." The three nodded at each other and, after Xavier and Cali grabbed their stuff, they went outside. When they did, they were shocked to see a bunch of pink clouds zooming all over the place. "Okay, this is not normal!" One of the clouds then went over them and poured rain on them, ruing their moods.

"SERIOUSLY?! WHY?!" Cali yelled at the cloud, getting a taste of the rain. "Wait. Is it raining... chocolate milk?" This caught the other's attention as they took a taste themselves.

"I-It is. Huh?" Xavier was confused at this point. "This has never happened before." Xavier looked around some more before seeing Rainbow fly by. "Rainbow? Hey Rainbow!" Xavier ran after her, prompting Jasmine and Cali to follow. After running after her for a while they found themselves at Sweet Apple Acres, only to see even more chaos. They were looking at the orchard full of oversized apples that pulled the trees down, spindly legged animals, constantly popping corncobs, and tons of pink clouds raining down chocolate milk. As they were looking at the chaos, they saw the rest of the girls and Spike. "Girls!" Xavier yelled out as they three went over to them, getting their attention. "What's happening?!"

"I-I don't know!" Twilight admitted. "Everything is making no sense and not even my failsafe spell works!" Twilight was panicking so much that she couldn't think straight. It wasn't until Xavier grabbed her face to hold her steady.

"Twilight, calm down. Panicking will get us nowhere. Now we need a plan." This managed to calm her down enough to start thinking.

"I got it! Rainbow, Jasmine, can you two corral all of the clouds into one corner of the sky." The two nodded and went into the sky to get to work. With both their efforts they created a large tornado to contain the clouds, but it looked like they were struggling to keep them from flying out. "Applejack, Xavier, I need you two to bring those high-strung clouds down to earth." The two knew what to do as they pulled out their rope and grappling hook respectively. The two took aim and launched their tools at the cloud, Applejack's wrapping around the cloud and Xavier's grappling hook managed to get a hold onto the cloud. The two began to pull the clouds downwards as Twilight began to whisper into Fluttershy's ear.

"Oh dear. I hope none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton candy clouds. I'd hate to have to share them." Fluttershy said out loud, alerting the animals nearby to the clouds that Applejack and Xavier were tying to a fence post. As they were doing that, Pinkie was eating the cloud.

"You and me both, sister!" Pinkie said, not getting the hint as all the animals nearby rushed the cloud, pushing Pinkie out of the way. "Hey!"

"And when y'all are done with that, feel free to have some popcorn for dessert." Applejack commented. As the animals were eating away at the cloud, the group were relieved that things didn't get out of hand.

"Phew, that was a close call." Cali said. "Good thinking Sparkle." As Cali was complimenting Twilight, Spike began to heave. After a few gags, he finally burped out a letter, Twilight taking it in her magic and reading it. After reading it for a bit, she gasped as she saw that the letter was urgent.

"Come on, everyone. Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!"

One Very Tense Train Later

Arriving at Canterlot castle, the group (save for Spike, he stayed behind) rushed in, seeing the princess on top of the stairs she was on at the Gala.

"Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could!" Twilight called out, getting the princess' attention.

"Thank you, Twilight. Thank you, all." Princess Celestia thanked.

"Is this about the weather? And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there–" Xavier grabbed her face again.

"Twilight, please. Let the princess explain before bombarding her with questions." Xavier managed to calm her down again. Once she did, the princess motioned to follow, so the group did.

"I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned." The princess led them through a hallway of stained-glass windows. As the group was walking, the humans and Fluttershy noticed something, a light refracting off of one of the windows. When they looked at it, they saw a creature, but it was incredibly bizarre. The creature was an amalgamation of different creatures, all put onto a tall body. "His name... is Discord." The four had different reactions to the image and title drop. Jamine was nervous, Xavier was worried, Cali was curious, and Fluttershy... well Fluttershy was scared like always. The four rejoined the rest of the group as the princess was continuing her story. "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone."

"Alright, Princess!" Rainbow congratulated.

"I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken."

"No longer connected?" Twilight questioned. After a bit more walking the group reached the end of the hall, where a double-door was.

"This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them." She made a determined and serious expression on her face. "I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos."

"First, a question." The group's attention was directed to Cali and Jasmine, the former with her hand up. "What exactly are the Elements of Harmony?"

"Their powerful relics." Xavier began to explain. "Each element represents an aspect of harmony, and together they can do amazing things. When I first woke up here, me and the girls went into the Everfree forest to find them."

"Really..." Cali had a face of curiosity on her, so did Jasmine.

"But why us?" Twilight asked, confused as to why they had to. "Why don't you-"

"Hey, look! We're famous!" Pinkie pointed towards one of the stain-glassed windows which displayed Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack aiming magic towards Nightmare Moon. In the window was also Xavier in his orange hoodie, his sword pointed upwards like he was leading.

"Whoa, you all are on there!" Jasmine commented excitedly, leaving Xavier to turn away and blush.

"You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe." Celestia explained. "Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!" The group looked at each other concerned, but it didn't take long before Twilight turned to the princess.

"Princess Celestia, you can count on–"

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie cut Twilight off. "Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate-!" Pinkie was then cut off by Cali grabbing her ear.

"I'm starting to understand why Xavier gets exhausted with you."

"Don't listen to her, Princess. We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again." Twilight agreed.

"I'll help too." Xavier said walking up, surprising them. "I may not have any magic, but I can't let my friends risk their necks without me." Celestia nodded and turned to the door. Lowering her head, she inserted her horn into a small hole in the door and channeled her magic into it. This caused the door to glow and open, releasing a bright light that caused the group to cover their eyes. When they opened their eyes they saw that inside of the door was a very nice chest on top of a pedestal.

"Ooh!" Rarity gazed in awe. "You can keep the Elements. I'll take that case!"

"Have no fear, ponies and humans." Celeste encouraged with a determined smile as she took the chest with her magic. "I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord with these!" She moved the chest towards the group and opened it, but to everyone's surprise, there was nothing inside. The entire group gasped in shock, even the princess was shocked as her magic cut off and dropped the chest, leaving only a hollow echo in the hall as the group stared at the empty chest with dropped jaws.

"Oh, well. If anyone needs me, I'll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw."

"Wait a minute- PINKIE!!!

After Xavier chased after Pinkie and brought her back, the group recovered enough to begin accessing the situation, that being...

"The Elements...they're gone!" Twilight exclaimed, staring at the empty chest.

"B-but I would've thought that this place is guarded!" Jasmine commented in a bit of a panic.

"It is." Celestia confirmed. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn't make sense!" That's when a sinister laughter could be heard, unable to be pinpointed due to it coming from all around.

"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" A voice spoke out, sinister as it was snarky.

"W-who was that." Cali asked, eying around with her hand on her whip at the ready, and Xavier pulled his sword out, but he didn't extend it yet.

"Discord...show yourself!" Celeste demanded seriously.

The voice started chuckling again before saying "Did you miss me Celestia?" As the group looked around the hall to try and spot the villain, their gazes stopped onto one of the stained-glass windows. When they did, they saw that the image of Discord was moving. "I missed you too!" The image soon began to move out of the window and into another, revealing that Discord was the image. "It's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you? Because I don't turn ponies into stone."

"Enough! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?!" The princess asked angrily.

"Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." He snapped his fingers, causing the elements in the window to disappear.

"You'll never get away with this, Discord!" Celestia exclaimed.

"Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia." Discord chuckled, laying on his back casually like it's not any problem. "It's really quite boring."

"Hey! Nopony insults the Princess and gets away with that!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily before she took off and flew towards where Discord was. Just before she reached the window however, Discord teleported away which led to Rainbow slamming into the window. When she pulled herself off, Discord reappeared, just as large as the window.

"Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent." He said, describing her to a T.

"That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Oh, we'll see about that..." He smirked evilly before disappearing.

"I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window." Rarity commented.

"The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity, if I am not mistaken?" Discord asked, reappearing on the window Rarity was in front of.

"So you know who we are, big deal." Applejack said in an irritated tone before she walked towards to Rarity.

Discord then enlarge himself on the window and said "Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack."

"You seem to know our strengths too." Twilight said, raising a brow.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, and yours is the most powerful and elusive element, Magic. Fluttershy's is Kindness and Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine...Laughter." Discord chuckled, and soon Pinkie began to laugh.

"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, annoyed that she was laughing at a time like this.

"He's standing on your head!" She said pointing at Discord, the thing in question dancing.

"I can't believe this is our enemy..." Cali groaned. When she said that, Discord took notice of her and the other two humans, making them nervous. He soon teleported into the window behind them.

"Although, I don't think I know these three." Discord admitted. The three of them looked at him hesitantly, not sure what to do. "You three are quite the display of chaos though..."

"Enough stalling Discord!" Celeste exclaimed angrily. "Now tell us, where are the Elements of Harmony?!"

"Oh, so boring, Celestia. Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way." Discord then began to slide around the room's windows as he began to speak a riddle. "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began." Once he finished the riddle, he stopped right where he started the interaction as the image froze, showing that he left them.

"C-can we all go home now?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"What do you reckon he meant? Twists and turns and endin' back where we started?" Applejack asked. Twilight then began to walk in thought.

"Twists and turns...twist and turns...twist and turns...." Twilight began rubbing her chin with her hoof until she looked out a window, her eyes widening. "That's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!"

"The labyrinth?" Xaiver asked. "Are we sure this isn't a trap?"

"We have no other lead right now, it's the best shot!" Twilight said.

"Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves." Celestia said as she bestowed luck to the group.

"You can count on us princess." Twilight replied as the group ran to the labyrinth, the humans following behind. While one of them was expected, the other two were unusual to see, and Xaiver knew it.

"Um, you two are coming too?"

"W-well, I feel safer with you all. A-and, I want to help too." Jasmine answered.

"Me too. Consider this payback for helping me." Cali commented. Xavier couldn't help but smile seeing as how he had the same thoughts when Nightmare Moon appeared and he went with the girls.

"Your help is appreciated. Thanks."

After some running, the group were standing in front of the labyrinth, the hedges at an intimidating size.

"W-we have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked in worried.

"Nope!" Rainbow said as she walked forward. "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She showed off her wings and took off. "I'll just do a quick flyover and we'll have the Elements in no time." As she was flying however, a flash appeared around her, and soon she plummeted to the ground. When she recovered, she saw that her wings were gone. "M-my wings!!" As she was panicking over her wing's disappearance, Fluttershy let out a scream. When the group looked at what happened, they saw that she lost her wings too. As they were panicking, another flash was seen by Twilight and Rarity. When they looked back, they saw that the two lost their horns.

"Your horn! My horn! AHHH!" They screamed at each other.

"What's going on?!" Cali asked. As they panicked, a crackling orb appeared in front of the labyrinth. The group backed away as the orb grew and burst, revealing the villain himself.

Discord

He began to laugh evilly at them all. Xavier and Cali got in front of them and reached for their weapons...
Only to find empty air where their stuff was. They soon realized that they didn't have their stuff anymore, not even Jasmine had her staff.

"Y-you all should see the looks on your faces! Priceless!" He laughed again, much to the group's annoyance.

"Give us back our wings and horns!" Twilight demanded.

"You'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: No flying, and no magic." He stated, confusing them.

"Game?" Xavier asked suspiciously.

"The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over, and I win! Good luck, everypony!" He laughed once more before vanishing.

"Well that's just great." Cali groaned.

"Never fear, everyone. We have each other!" Twilight said, raising the spirits of the group a bit.

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!" The group's spirits were raised again as they went to the entrance of the labyrinth.

"Alright, let's do this!" Twilight announced as they stood outside the gate as they took a step forward. "Together!" Suddenly, a hedge wall formed in between the group, and soon more appeared as they panicked. In mere moments, the entire group was cut off from each other. "Stay calm!" Twilight exclaimed. "Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!"

"Got it." Xavier said.

"Guess we have no choice..."

"Moving out!"

"See you in the center."

"Yee-haw!"

"See you guys there!"

"S-stay safe..."

"What's that? Who's there? Girls! AAAAAHHH"

A While Later, With Xavier

When Xavier separated from the group, he was having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, he was determined to move forward and find the girls to help protect them, but on the other hand he didn't have his sword and was alone, while Discord could do anything to the girls. Right now he was at a fast-walking pace to keep ready in case anything happened.

"Something's off about this whole thing." Xavier murmured. "Discord doesn't seem like someone who is one-hundred percent truthful. I wonder..." Xavier stopped walking and put his hand on his chin to think. "Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began. Is there another meaning to it? Let's see, twists and turns obviously means the labyrinth, but the second part is odd, back where you began. Would that mean that the elements were at the beginning?" As he was thinking, he didn't notice that he was moving. It wasn't until he felt a breeze that he noticed, and when he looked up he saw that he was standing on a rotating platform. When he stopped he was shocked to be face to face with Discord, sitting on a metal chair. "What the- Discord?"

"Why hello there buddy, it's about time you arrived." Discord said with a smile. Xavier felt uneasy standing in front of him since he didn't have anything to defend himself and Discord could do anything.

"What do you want?" Xavier asked tensely.

"I just wanted to ask you some questions, really. Nothing evil here." Discord said as a halo appeared over his head. Xavier was doubtful, but he didn't really have an option.

"*sigh* Alright, fine."

"Excellent!" Discord said happily. "Now first of all, who and what are you."

"Xavier, and I'm a human." Xavier answered, though he was on guard

"Human? Why I've never heard of you before." Discord said with genuine surprise, though it was slight.

"That's because I don't know how we got here. I only woke up here a few months ago. The other two arrived later."

"Hmm, curious." Discord pondered. "Well anyway, next question." He said with a clap. "Now, why are you so attached to these, ponies?"

"What?" Xavier was confused and concerned about what he meant.

"I mean, why are you helping them? You aren't exactly like them." Discord said as he floated over to him, leaning on his shoulder like he was an old pal.

"Because they are my friends, that's why."

"You sure, or do they just see you as a weapon?" Xavier raised his eyebrow at him. "I mean, this sword says it all..." Discord snapped his eagle claw, making Xavier's sword appear. Xavier's eyes widened as he backed away, baring a scowl. "This thing just says, 'I'm the pony princess' mercenary'. Is that really what you want to be known as?" Discord said tossing the sword away. "Besides, what are the chances that those ponies leave you like someone else." Xavier's expression immediately changed into shock and fear. "You really didn't think that I didn't notice that look in your eyes?" Discord had a smug look on him. "You've lost someone close to you, didn't you? I'll let you know right now though; I don't have to be your enemy. We can be allies even." Discord walked over to him until he was a foot away. "If you do, I can reunite you with those you love. What do you say?" Discord reached out with his lion paw, offering Xavier a partnership. Xavier looked at it conflicted, but a few moments later he began to reach for the paw. As he did, Discord began to grow a small but sinister smile...

At least before Xavier swiftly swiped at the paw, knocking it away.

Discord's smile faded and grew into a confused look as he looked at Xavier, who had a serious look. "Listen up Discord, I don't care what you say about me, I don't care what you say about my bond with my friends, or even anything about them. But there is one thing you don't do, and that is to say I have even a slight chance to see them again. I lost that chance long ago, and even if I could, I don't deserve it. Now please, don't get in my way again." Xavier put his hands into his pockets and began to walk away. Discord looked at him in shock, but his expression was soon replaced with anger.

"What, you dare to defy me? I-"

"Yes, I do." Xavier said coldly. "I do defy you. I don't care if you are a god of chaos or whatever you are, I just care about my friends right now. I know I've lost people, and I know I've lost my chance at seeing them again, but I won't lose them. I want to protect them from people like you, so I'll do what it takes to keep them safe. Now, I won't say it again, leave me alone." Discord growled at him, but Xavier was unphased.

"Grr, fine. My plan is still in motion though. You joining me was just going to make my life easier. But since we're enemies, you'll get no mercy." Discord snapped his lion paw and disappeared with a flash. Xavier didn't care however as he kept walking, not looking back with a dark expression on his face. As he was walking away however, he noticed his sword inside of next to a hedge. The position made it look like Discord forgot about it when he threw it away. Picking it up and pocketing it, Xavier continued forward in hopes of finding his friends.

With Jasmine

Jasmine was not having a good time. While most of the group was okay with going alone (Except for Fluttershy), Jasmine was hesitant to. Out of the entire group, she was the most vulnerable since she wasn't as strong, fast, or smart as any of the others. And since she didn't have her staff to use her magic, she was even more vulnerable and scared than she would be. As of right now, she was walking around the labyrinth aimlessly and fearfully.

"Mmm, why did I come here?" Jasmine asked worriedly. "I don't know what I'm doing, I don't even know what I'm looking for. Oooh, I don't like this..." As Jasmine was walking, she heard something to her left. Turning, she was surprised to see a bunch of clouds floating around a small opening. Curiosity getting the best of her, she walked into the area. Looking around for a bit, she didn't notice that a certain snake tail was slinking about. As she was walking, she managed to trip and fall on something. When she looked at what she tripped on, she became scared when she saw that it was Discord's tail, and it was hanging out of a cloud. The tail retracted into the cloud, and a moment later Discord emerged out of it. "D-Discord?!" Jasmine began to scoot away.

"Yes, that's me." Discord said as he sat onto the cloud, crossing his legs. "And how are you, miss..." Discord sat there waiting, prompting Jasmine to say her name, but she was hesitant.

"J-J-Jasmine." She replied shakily.

"Hmm, quite a scared one. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Discord said as he went to ground level. "Instead, I want to talk." Jasmine didn't move from her spot on the ground. "You see, you humans are fascinating to me. I've never seen something like you before. Your kind seems quite resilient, but are also weak, all in your own ways. Yet you seem... different from the other two." Discord began to tap his fingers together. "I mean no offence when I say this, but you seem quite weak compared to the other two. They look quite capable compared to you, and seem most confident in themselves, after all..." Discord snapped his paw, summoning Jasmine's staff. "They didn't look as scared as you did when they lost their little trinkets." Jasmine looked down, almost in shame. "But I can help you. If you join me, I can help you show them you are stronger than you look. C'mon, what do you say?" Discord held his paw out, waiting for Jasmine's answer. Jasmine looked away for a moment, thinking over what Discord said. After a bit though, Jasmine came to an answer and looked at him.

"I'll pass." Discord immediately looked confused and angry at her. "Sorry, but the others haven't said anything about me other than nice things." Jasmine got up off the ground and looked at him in the eyes. "Besides, all of them are amazing in their own ways, I don't mind that I'm weaker than them. That doesn't mean I can't help them though." Jasmine had a face she never had before on her, a determined smile was on her. "I'll continue to support them any way I can. I may not be able to do much for them, but I can still help. Right now, they need my help looking for the Elements to defeat you." Discord's eye twitched and he growled.

"Grr, you humans are starting to get on my nerves. It would be so much easier for you if you just joined me. No matter, my plan is still working, you'll fail eventually. For now, continue to struggle, I'll show you that joining me would've been easier for you." Discord then teleported away, the clouds disappearing as well in a flash of light. As soon as he left, Jasmine sighed in relief.

"*phew* That was scary." Jasmine said, her bravery finally wavering. "I thought I would die of a heart attack..." As she was recovering, she noticed that her staff was on the ground. "Hmm? He left it behind? I guess he was kind of angry when he left, he must have forgot to take it..." Jasmine didn't dwell on it for too long however since she finally felt safe as she picked it up and strapped it back onto her back. With renewed confidence and will, Jasmine continued into the maze, determined to find her friends and the elements.

With Cali

Out of the three humans, Cali was the most indifferent in being split up from the others. She was alone for some of her life and was taught to fend for herself for another part. The only thing that was bothering her was the fact she didn't have her whip, but she knew she didn't need it. Right now, she was only thinking about getting out with the Elements...

"Whatever those things are." Cali said out loud, her arms behind her head as she walked. "I never got a description on what they actually looked like, so I'm on a goose chase." Cali continued to walk, about as aimlessly as Jasmine. After a while however, she encountered a large stone statue of Princess Celestia in a clearing. Cali stared at it for a bit and thought out loud. "How did I get myself wrapped up in this? I mean, I was an orphaned girl that was given up. Now I'm on a hunt for some magical artifacts to stop this 'entity of chaos'." As Cali was pondering, she noticed that something moved behind the statue. She immediately went on guard when she saw this and went to look behind it. When she did, she saw what looked like a yellow ball. Reaching down, she looked at it for a bit, but immediately dropped it out of shock when she realized it was an eyeball. The eye rolled away and stopped right in front of a goat leg, this leg belonged to discord as he reached down to grab it and inserted the eye into his right.

"Hmm, interesting. So you're an orphan, eh?" Discord noted. Cali's shock immediately turned to annoyance when Discord commented on Cali.

"Wait, you were spying on me? With your literal eye?! What is wrong with you!?"

"Oh don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Discord said, raising his right arm and his left onto his chest. "But I am interested in the fact that you seem quite adamant in helping." Cali's expression didn't let up, but deep own she knew he was right. "I mean, the way you talk about goose chases and what not make me think that you aren't committed in helping." Discord then snapped his claw and summoned her whip. "I will say though, you do seem to have a very interesting connection with this... thing. I've never seen something like it before, yet you seem to know how to use it. You humans are quite fascinating." As discord was observing the whip, Cali began to get annoyed at Discord's antics.

"Just what do you want?" Cali asked angrily.

"An alliance." Discord admitted, wrapping her whip around the horn of Princess Celestia's statue. "I simply want to team up with you. Think about it..." Discord went over to her and wrapped his lion arm around her shoulder and reached his eagle claw forward, as if he was displaying a new opportunity. "We team up, and we can rule this world. And there are benefits for you if you do. Like having anything you want." Cali raised her eyebrow at Discord's offer. "So what do you say, partners?"

"Prove it." Discord immediately became confused and backed away from her.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, prove it." Cali said crossing her arms. "How do I know that you are promising me this and not just throwing words around? For all I know, you could just be saying this to lure me into a trap and use me to stop the others." Discord grew angry at Cali's accusations. "To me, your words mean nothing, but your actions do. And from how you are, I can tell you aren't telling the full idea. I'm going to refuse, and I'm going to help the others find these Elements to stop you." Discord finally snapped and grew a scowl on his face.

"GAH, you humans are insufferable!"

"I take it you went to the others before me, huh?" Cali assumed, a smirk growing on her this time. "Well I'll tell you right now, us humans are a lot more stubborn than ponies. It'll take a lot more than a few empty promises to persuade us to change. Now please leave, you really are getting on my nerves."

"GRR, FINE! There is only one more in the way of my victory anyway. Enjoy your day, for it'll be your last without chaos." Discord then teleported away, leaving Cali alone.

"Bah, I should be telling you that..." Cali muttered as she rolled her eyes. Looking at the statue, she noticed that her whip was still wrapped around the horn. "Huh, I guess Mr. Chaos left you behind." Cali unwrapped her whip and reattached it to her belt. With her whip back, she walked away from the statue, hoping to find her friends. "Besides, I made a promise to keep them safe, and I'll keep it.

With Xavier Again

"Finally at the center..."

"After Xavier's encounter with Discord, he continued into the maze. As he was going through, he had time to both cool down from his anger and think more about Discord's riddle. Right now, he was sat down on the ground and thinking about it more.

"Now that I think of it, Discord said something about his plan being in motion. What did he mean by that..." His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. Getting up, he drew his sword and braced himself as he turned to one of the entrances. His guard went down however when he saw that it was only Jasmine. "Jasmine?" The girl in question jumped in fright at the unexpected name call, but immediately calmed down seeing it was Xavier.

"Oh, Xavier!" Jasmine ran over to Xavier and hugged him, getting him to blush again. "You're okay."

"Y-Yep, I'm okay." Xavier said, lightly pushing Jasmine off of him. "Are you though?" Jasmine nodded. "That's good."

"Is that Xavier?" The two's conversation was interrupted by another voice, one that was familiar to them.

"Cali? Yes, it's Xavier. And Jasmine's here too."

"Right, one sec." After a bit of time, Cali managed to make her way over to them. "There you are. Y'all okay?"

"Dandy." Xavier said.

"Good." Cali then noticed something. "Jasmine? You got your staff thing back?"

"Huh, oh yeah. I did." Jasmine admitted. "I got it back when Discord forgot to bring it with him." This caught the other's attention.

"You saw Discord too?" Xaiver asked.

"Y-yeah. He tried to convince me to join him."

"I'm guessing that he tried it with you too, Xavier? He did with me, and he left my whip behind as well." Cali asked as she patted the spot her whip was attached to on her belt.

"Yeah. He did." Xavier said as he narrowed his eyes. "I really don't trust this whole thing."

"I don't either." Jasmine admitted. "But for now, we should wait for the others."

"Right, we should-"

"Xavier, Jasmine, Cali! There you are!" The trio of humans turned over to one of the entrances to see Twilight and the others, but something was off. For one, all except for Twilight looked grey, angry, and acted differently. Rainbow wasn't there as well.

"Twilight, girls. You're all okay." Xavier said.

"Yeah, and what about it?!" Xavier leaned back as Pinkie got into his face, a very grumpy look on her face.

"Erm, what? Because I was concerned about you?"

"Well, QUIT IT!!!" Pinkie then walked off, leaving the three humans in concerned shock.

"What just happened?" Jasmine asked. "And why is Rarity caring that big rock?" Indeed, Rarity was just carrying a huge rock that was bigger than her.

"You shut your muzzle, Jasmine! I think you mean my beloved gem!" Rarity exclaimed, hissing at her before rubbing her face on the rock. "Besides, somepony like you would never understand jewelry."

"...What?" Jasmine was simply confused at what happened.

"Yeah, Jasmine. Somepony as dumb as you wouldn't get it." Fluttershy said in a mocking tone. This tone and comment shocked the humans.

"What in the- what happened when we were separated?!" Cali shouted.

"Nothing happened. Everything is fine." Applejack said, but Cali knew better.

"AJ, did you just lie?"

"Nope, I didn't" Applejack lied, and the three humans knew, and were all concerned.

"Okay, seriously. What happened?!"

"We can worry later, right now we need to find Rainbow Dash and the Elements." When Twilight mentioned the Elements, Xavier looked a bit unsure.

"Hey Twilight, I honestly think that-"

"Well, looky there." Applejack managed to get the groups attention. "Rainbow Dash is flying away. She's abandonin' us."

"Now I know that's a lie." Twilight said, glaring at Applejack.

"Actually, she's not kidding! Look!" Jasmine said, pointing to the sky. In the sky, they saw that Rainbow was actually flying away. Her color was also duller, indicating that she was also hit with whatever happened to the group. As she was flying away, the group (At least the ones who were acting normal) looked at her devastated, but Xavier was more so.

"Rainbow?" He muttered, his voice breaking. It was hard to dwell on it though, as soon the ground began to rumble, and before long the entire maze dissolved into the ground, leaving nothing but a crater.

"Well, well, well..." Discord's voice rang out, and turning they saw him flying and smirking behind them. "Somepony broke the 'no wings, no magic' rule." He snapped his eagle claw, his magic returning Twilight and Rarity's horns and Fluttershy's wings. "Game's over, my little ponies and problematic humans. You didn't find your precious elements." Discord then summoned an umbrella, opening upside down. "Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos." As Discord laughed away at the group, Twilight, Xavier, Jasmine, and Cali all looked at him devastated, worried that things might be too late.

The Return of Harmony

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Twilight, Xavier, Jasmine, and Cali all looked worried. They all were tricked by Discord and failed to find the Elements of Harmony. Now they lost Rainbow, had four unbearable ponies, and a spirit of chaos laughing at them due to him winning.

"And what are you laughing at?!" Pinkie asked angrily.

"Ho, you ponies are just the most fun I've had in eons!" Discord responded, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Well, quit it!" Pinkie screamed at him. "You better think before you laugh at the Pink..." Pinkie looked back for a moment to think. "...Ie Pie!"

"Oh, yeah?" Fluttershy questioned, evilly smiling at Pinkie Pie. "Well, ha ha ha."

"Quit it!" Pinkie replied angrily.

"No. Ha ha ha." Fluttershy continued to laugh flakily, causing Pinkie to get angrier.

"QUIT IT!" Pinkie yelled. If it wasn't for Cali getting in their way, the two may have began to fight.

"Alright you two, calm it! Aren't we allies?!"

"Cali's right." Twilight agreed with a serious expression. "We're supposed to be a team! Not enemies!"

"Maybe we should." Applejack suggested, but the group knew she was lying. "I mean, she did suggest that we share the diamond nine ways." She said as she poked the boulder that Rarity was possessive over. At least, until Rarity delivered a powerful kick to Applejack.

"Try it, punk. He's mine. All mine!" Rarity yelled aggressively, and soon she was chasing Applejack, kicking wildly.

"Wait, no!" Jasmine called out worried. "We just said we're friends! Please Rarity!" Jasmine then began to chase Rarity in hopes to stop her.

"Girls, why are you all acting like this?" Twilight asked concernedly as she watched the chaos happen between her friends. "We need to stick together."

"It's just too entertaining." A voice caught the attention of Twilight and Xavier, and looking over the two saw him on a couch eating popcorn as if they were a show for him to watch.

"Stop it, Discord. You're not playing fair." Twilight glared at him.

"I'm not playing fair?" Discord asked sarcastically as he tossed the popcorn and got up. "Perhaps we haven't met. I'm Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Hello?"

"How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?" Twilight questioned. At this assumption, Xavier raised his hand and tried to get her attention, but Discord beat him to it.

"Oh, wait, did you?..." Discord soon began laughing again. "How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?" Twilight was immediately confused at what he said, so she thought he was lying. That's when Xavier managed to get her attention.

"Twilight, I think he's saying some truth." Twilight's confusion turned to him now.

"Well, at least somebody is paying attention." Discord smirked. "As much as I would like to stick around and watch you figure it all out, I have some chaos to wreak. Maybe the magic of friendship can help you." Discord chortled before snapping his fingers, teleporting away.

"Grr, Think, Twilight, think!" Twilight thought to herself, since she had no idea what Discord was going on about.

"Hey Twi?" Twilight looked over to Xavier. "I've been thinking about Discord's ever since we were separated, and I might have some thoughts." Twilight looked at him with interest. "For one, the first part 'Twists and turns are my master plan,' does mean the labyrinth, that much I can assure. But then the second part, 'Then find the Elements back where you began.', that part gets to me. If the Elements were here, would they be at the end or the beginning?"

"Mmm, you have a point there..." Twilight admitted.

"That got me thinking, maybe the Elements are somewhere else." The two looked at each other for a bit, the only noise being the constant argument coming from the rest of the group. After a bit however, the two had lightbulbs go off in their heads.

"Ponyville!" The two said out loud simultaneously.

"'Back where you began', of course. He meant where the elements were first learned about!" Twilight concluded.

"Yeah, but how will we get there?" Xavier questioned, concerned that it was too late. "For that matter-"

"Don't worry, I got this." Twilight then charged her magic for a bit before releasing it. When she did, the group was teleported to the outskirts of Ponyville. Seeing the scenery change, the group was taken for a loop.

"Huh, where are we?" Jasmine asked.

"Outside of Ponyville." Twilight responded. "If the Elements are here, we can't waste any time. Now come on, if we get to the library, I'm sure we can get a hint as to where they are-" She was interrupted when she was trampled by a bunch of the long-legged animals from before, leaving her dazed.

"Good boy, Angel! Mama's sou proud!" Fluttershy commented in a cruel way.

"Oh jeez, you okay Sparkle?" Cali asked as she went over to help her up, but when she did the light from the sun quickly disappeared as the darkness of night quickly took its place, leaving the group in practical darkness.

"Huh, what happened?" Jasmine asked, squinting. "It's so dark now..."

"Well, I can see just fine." Applejack lied, since no one could see. As she was trying to look around, she managed to slip on something and slide into the other ponies. "Erm, I meant to do that." At that moment, the sun came back out, revealing what happened.

"Huh, the roads are soap?" Xaiver questioned. "Did Discord do this?"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The group became alarmed when they heard the voice of Discord, the guy in question skating on the soap road like ice. "This is the new and improved Ponyville, and these are only my first of changes."

"First changes?" Xavier asked. Discord teleported over to him and picked him up.

"Picture it. The chaos capital of the world." He explained with pride, and raised him to look. Unfortunately, the sun went down again and made it too dark to see.

"Well I can't. It's too dark." Xavier deadpanned, to which Discord realized he was right.

"Well, wait a few minutes and you'll see it in the beautiful light of day." Discord said as he dropped Xavier onto the soap road, leaving him slimy from the soap. "Or not." He then hopped like a ballerina and teleported away, leaving the sane ones of the group to worry about the future.

"Ponyville, the chaos capital of the world?" Twilight questioned. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Don't worry, you won't." Fluttershy said as she skated by on the soapy road, ruining her mood. While Twilight was worried about the town and Discord, the humans were more concerned about how Twilight and the girls were acting towards each other.

Some Walking Later

After some tense walking through the town, the group finally managed to get to the library. The timing couldn't have been more perfect too, since it looked like Twilight was at her limit.

"Okay, we're here." Twilight said exasperated. "Everyone please, please, please just go inside, please?"

"I absolutely refuse." Applejack said as she entered the library. While Twilight was too annoyed to notice, the humans did notice something very off-putting. That was that Applejack's colors looked like they faded even more.

"With pleasure." Fluttershy said, but not before stomping the flowers that were growing in the garden. As she was, her color also drained further.

"I hate libraries!" Pinkie said as she entered, her color fading as well. As the three humans watched with worry and Twilight with annoyance, they realized that Rarity wasn't going in yet as she was preoccupied with her "gem".

"Pleeeease, we gotta hurry!" Twilight begged.

"Forget it, Twilight. I know what you're up to." Rarity said, subspinous of her. "The second I go in, you'll have your little minion Spike come and take Tom!"

"What? You named it?" Cali asked in disbelief, the other two just as confused and weirded out.

"Well, it's not going to work." Rarity then proceeded to pet the rock, her color draining as well. Twilight and the others stood for a bit before Twilight came to a conclusion.

"You're not going in without him, are you?" Rarity huffed and shook her head. Twilight growled and picked up the boulder. "Fine!" As Twilight struggled to get it in, the humans decided to go inside to wait for her. When they entered the library, they saw Spike inside, sleeping on the floor peacefully with a mop and bucket nearby.

"Huh, I guess he fell asleep when working." Xavier commented. As they were looking at him, they noticed Fluttershy flying close to him. When she reached for the bucket next to him, they immediately knew what she was doing. "GAH! FLUTTERSHY, NO!" The three ran over to her to try and stop her, but they were too late as Fluttershy poured the contents of the bucket onto him, waking him up and scaring him. When he looked up, he was confused.

"AH! Why did you do that, Fluttershy?!" Spike asked angrily.

"Cause you just looked so peaceful." Fluttershy returned, an evil smirk on her face.

"I...uh..." Spike looked at her with confusion while he squeezed his tail to get the water out of him. "...Huh?" Suddenly, a large crash could be heard by the entrance, and when Spike and the humans looked over, they saw that Twilight pretty much smashed the boulder inside, putting a large hole into the wall.

"Careful, Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed. "You'll ruin his beautiful finish."

"Oh, for the love of..." Twilight grunted. Spike looked at the girls and started to have questions.

"Hey, what's going on?" Spike asked the humans. "Why does everybody look so...gray?" The three of them looked uncertain, all three not knowing how to explain.

"Don't ask. I need you to help me find something." Twilight said. "I need to find the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she'll regret!" Twilight's anger, while justified, was very unsettling to the humans.

"The Elements of Harmony? Oh, I know exactly where that book is." Spike then went over to a ladder and looked for a bit before pulling out a book. "Found it!" As he was about to start climbing down, the bucket Fluttershy had hit the ladder, shaking it and making Spike lose balance enough for him to drop the book.

"Hah!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she grabbed the book out of the sky.

"F-Fluttershy. Please give us the book." Xavier asked worriedly.

"Keep away!" Fluttershy shouted in a sing-song voice as she threw the book over to Applejack, who caught the book on her nose and began balancing it with a mischievous expression.

"Applejack, give me that book!" Twilight demanded.

"I don't have any book." Applejack answered as she threw it. The tossed book flew over to Pinkie, who bounced the book off her flank without hesitation.

"Pinkie!" Twilight scolded. The bounced book was sent to Fluttershy, who tossed it back over to Applejack. It would have become a viscous cycle if it wasn't for Jasmine creating a tornado in her hand.

"Sorry Fluttershy." With a toss, she launched the whirlwind at Fluttershy, who managed to get dazed enough for the book to hit her head instead of landing in her hooves. As the book fell, Xavier ran over to catch it.

"I got it." As he was about to grab it however, a blue aura appeared around it and it floated away, right to Rarity.

"Mine!" She shouted in glee.

"Hey, we need that!" Twilight yelled as she gave chase. "Do you even know what you just stole?"

"No, but if you want it, I want it!" Rarity replied with an evil smile as she ran off. Rarity running away with the book was the last straw for Twilight as she gritted her teeth.

"Give me that book!" Twilight screamed as she began chasing after Rarity. As she was chasing her, Twilight didn't notice that Fluttershy was reaching to grab Rarity. What the two didn't notice however was a whip flying over and grabbing the book out of Rarity's grasp. The whip brought the book to Cali, who put it under her arm and held her whip like a lion tamer would.

"Alright, back it up!" She exclaimed. "Do anything else and I won't hold back!" The ponies were put off enough by Cali's display to not continue to advance, giving the others enough time to go over to her. When Twilight got there, Cali handed the book over to her carefully, just in case the others tried anything.

"A bit excessive there, Cali." Xavier commented.

"Hey, they weren't stopping, it had to be done." Cali replied as she looked at the book that was on the floor for Twilight to read. When Twilight opened it however, the four were shocked to see what was inside.

"The Elements!" Xavier exclaimed. Inside of the book was not paper pages, but instead a container that had all six of the elements inside of it, all as polished as the day they were found.

"They were here all along!" Twilight said in disbelief.

"So these are the Elements of Harmony, huh." Cali said, admiring the relics.

"They're so pretty." Jasmine commented. "And you can use them to defeat Discord, right?"

"They can, but-" Xavier began to say something, though his tone portrayed worry, Twilight took the book and wen to show the others.

""See everypony? We did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!" Twilight announced with a smile. Unfortunately, her excitement soon turned sour when she saw her friends not caring. "You don't even care, do you?"

"No!" They all exclaimed in unison.

Twilight sighed in frustration. "I never thought it would happen. My friends...have turned into complete jerks!"

"T-Twilight! You don't mean that, right?" Xavier asked in worry and shock.

"Whatever!" Twilight yelled as she took each element into her magic and sent them to their respective bearer. "Necklace! Necklace! Necklace! Necklace! And big crown thingy!" She placed the tiara on herself. "Come on everypony, let's go!" She began walking towards the door until Xavier stopped her.

"Wait, Twilight. We're missing somepony!"

"Nope." Twilight shook her head. "We've got the liar, the grump, the hoarder, the brute. That just about covers it."

"But what about Rainbow?" Xavier asked with a tense smile, as if to try and reduce the tension. And it looked like it did when Twilight hesitated. At least until the last element was slapped onto his neck.

"Congratulations, Xavier, you're the new Rainbow Dash. Now let's go!" Xavier's brain began to fumble for a bit before he responded.

"What?! But why!? I don't even have any magic!?"

"Too bad, you're Rainbow Dash." Twilight deadpanned. "Now let's go defeat Discord so we don't ever have to talk to each other again!" This declaration got the most excitement out of the ponies as they happily ran over to the entrance, three of them at least since Rarity was pushing her boulder. "MOVE!!" Twilight yelled as she took the boulder into her magic and tossed it out, putting another hole in the wall. As they were getting ready, the three humans were all worried about the outcome.

"I don't like this." Cali said in a serious manner. "If Sparke is serious, they won't talk anymore. But she can't be, right?"

"I don't know, Cali." Xavier admitted. "As much as I want to say she's just stressed, she's also just started learning about friendship. I don't know the outcome, but we should follow along for now." The three nodded hesitantly and went outside. When they did, they saw that Discord arrived.

"Well well well, I see you've finally found the Elements of Harmony." Discord smirked. "How terrifying!"

"Discord! We've figured out your lame riddle." Twilight responded aggressively. "You're in for it now!"

"I certainly am. You've clearly out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate." Discord said mockingly as he put on some sunglasses. "I'm prepared to be defeated now, ladies. Fire when ready." He said as he made a circle around his chest, making a target appear.

"Formation, now!" Twilight shouted angrily.

"Eh." The others replied, shrugging without a care.

"Twilight, I don't think-" Xavier was about to warn her, but Twilight interrupted.

"No time! Now get over here Rainbow Dash!" Xavier sighed and walked over to the others.

"Well, I might as well try. Here goes nothing..." Xavier thought to himself as the group began to activate their elements. After a moment, the ponies began to rise up and glow, all of them with a brilliant white aura. As Jasmine and Cali watched from a distance, the magic fizzled out and ended, dropping the girls to the ground.

"What's going on? Why didn't it work?" Twilight questioned.

"Mine's working." Applejack lied. "There must be something wrong with yours."

"I hate the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie exclaimed, throwing it into the ground.

"Hmph!" Fluttershy threw her necklace away as well. "Garbage."

Rarity immediately rushed over to Fluttershy's necklace when it landed on the floor. "MINE!"

"Sorry Twilight." Xavier said as he took the Element of Loyalty off his neck and began to walk over to her. "I tried to use it but I guess-" As he was walking, he was tripped by Fluttershy.

"Oops. Sorry...Rainbow Crash!" She said mockingly.

"Brave, everypony, bravo!" Discord clapped his hands as he walked towards them. "Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestria drools." He began to laugh maniacally as he took off on one of the soap roads, presumably to spread more chaos.

"Ugh! It's all your fault it didn't work!" Pinkie announced angrily.

"Who are you even talking to?" Cali asked.

"Any of you! All of you! I'm outta here!" Pinkie shouted before bouncing away.

"Huh? Hey wait!"

"I'm out of here!" Fluttershy added as she took her leave as well.

"I better go, too. I've got new better friends waiting for me at the farm." Applejack said as she walked out. Rarity was as well, pushing her boulder away from the group.

"Girls, wait!" Jasmine pleaded. "But-"

"F-F-FINE!" Twilight yelled. "Leave! See if I care! I don't need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs...enemies..." Twilight lowered her head, and to the three humans shock and fear, turned grey like the others.

"T-Twilight?" Xavier asked worriedly as he reached out to her.

"Leave me alone." She said upset. "I don't need friends, so leave me alone." She began to walk away, her head hung low, leaving the three humans.

"W-what happened." Jasmine questioned.

"Discord's plan." Xavier said with a dark expression. "Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began. He wanted us to go to the maze. There, he could mess with the others one at a time and destroy them from the inside. He planned this all out, and now his plan has finished. The elements are useless now."

"So... We lost?" Cali asked, her confidence wavering. Xavier clenched his fists at this question.

"No, not yet." The two girls looked at him confused. "I'm not giving up, not on the mission or my friends." Xavier answered with a serious look. "Friendship has been tough for me, I'll admit it. But ever since I've come to Equestria, everypony has been kind to me, a species not from this world. And those six ponies have been there the most for me, so I won't ever give up on them. I will find a way to bring them back to us, and I'll keep them safe." Xavier's will and determination was inspiring, enough to get the other two to feel a bit better.

"I want to help too." Jasmine said. "I'll do anything you say!"

"Me too." Cali said as she wrapped her arm around Jasmine's shoulders, a smirk on her. "I still need to pay you back after all." Xavier smiled softly at their willingness, and he began to lay out the information.

"Okay, so we have the elements with us at least. The only thing that's a problem is that the girls are all under Discord's influence."

"Well, can we even get them out of it?" Cali asked.

"I don't know. Hmm..."

"Maybe we can convince them?" Xavier and Cali looked over at Jasmine with curiosity. "Well, Discord might have convinced the others to act like this through tricks, and that convinced Twilight that friendship was worthless. He even tried to convince us to work with him. So maybe we can convince them to work with us?" The two looked at her with wide eyes. "I-it's not exactly the best plan, sorry."

"No no Jasmine, you're actually on to something here." Xavier commented. "If we can convince them that friendship is something they are willing to fight for and not fight over, we can get our friends back and the Elements to work again."

"Yeah, but how exactly do we do that?" Cali asked.

"Hmm..." Xavier began to think for a moment, not knowing how or where to start. The three paused however when they heard a burp from the direction of the library. When they looked over, they saw Spike in the hole that the boulder made, reading a scroll that was presumably sent by the princess. As they stared, Spike took notice at them, and it was just a staring match for a moment. After the moment passed, the three humans all lit up.

"That's it!" They all yelled out, lightbulbs going off.

"Twilight has been sending friendship lessons to the princess all this time." Xavier began.

"Yeah, and if we tell her to send a few over..." Jasmine continued.

"We can get Twilight to read them and convince her." Cali finished. The three nodded and went over to Spike, who was pretty confused at the current events.

"Kid, we need you to send a letter to the princess." Cali told him, the others getting a scroll and pen. "It's important."

"Um, sure." Spike agreed, though he was unsure of everything. As he was, Jasmine and Xavier came over with a scroll and pen. Opening it, Xavier began to write.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for the informality of this letter, but it is urgent. You see, Discord's riddle didn't mean what we thought, and now the girls are under his spell. They're acting like opposites of themselves, and it's causing the Elements not to work and they are now pretty much enemies. We have a plan however, if we can remind them about their friendship from before, we can disable the spells they're under. To do this, we need you to send over some of the lessons that Twilight's been writing to you. Please hurry, we need them soon.
Xavier.

Once he finished the letter with his signature, he rolled it up and passed it to Spike. "Alright Spike, your turn." Spike took the letter into his grasp and ignited it, sending it to the princess in a cloud of smoke. "Alright, now we just wait for the princess to get the message."

"How long will that take?" Jasime asked.

"I... I'm not sure." Xavier admitted with a shrug, getting a look of disbelief from Jasmine and a facepalm from Cali. As Xavier was looking sheepishly at them, Spike let out a burp, sending a scroll to the floor. Xavier reached for it and opened it up, revealing that it was the lesson that Twilight wrote when him and the girls got the tickets. "Hey, it's one of the lessons. That was fast."

"Good, I was worried that we would wait too long." Cali said with a glare, Xavier rubbing the back of his head. As he was, Spike burped again, releasing another scroll. As Xavier reached to look at the contents, Spike burped a third time, sending a third scroll to the floor. While Spike was releasing scrolls, Jasmine made a comment.

"I hope this is painless for Spike."

An Hour Later

"So how many lessons did Sparkle write before we came, Xavier?"

"I didn't realize this many."

For the entire hour, Spike has been doing nothing but burp out lesson after lesson, and it was taking a toll on him. It was so much that the three humans took him upstairs to rest him onto his bed and try to wait it out to no avail, because now there was just a pile of scrolls on the floor.

"Are you sure this is going to work, bud?" Cali asked, becoming doubtful.

"I'm not sure honestly..." Xavier admitted. "But it's our only shot at bringing the girls back, so let's keep our hopes up, alright?"

"*sigh* I trust you." At that moment, they heard the door to the library close, and after a bit, Twilight came upstairs, still just as grey as when she left.

"And what are you three still doing here?" Twilight asked, not very impressed or happy. The three humans looked a bit nervous.

"Erm, well-"

"I don't really care, just leave." Twilight demanded as she levitated a suitcase to her bed. "I'm not in the mood for you." Seeing the suitcase and Twilight levitating some things into it immediately got the humans to worry.

"Wait, what are you doing, Sparkle?" Cali asked.

"I'm moving back to Canterlot. There's nothing here for me." Worry was immediately replaced with panic as the three humans scrambled for a response.

"What!?" Jasmine exclaimed, the first one to recover enough to say something. "But we need you!"

"No you don't." Twilight said. "And I don't need you, so leave."

"No, we won't." Twilight looked up from her packing to Xavier, who was standing strong despite the circumstances. "I won't let you leave yet."

"Just stop, I have nothing here for me." Twilight said glaring. "My so-called friends abandoned me for stupid reasons and this place is practically psychotic. I'm moving back to Canterlot to stay with my books, like I should have from the start."

"Well, I still remember the times we had, and I don't want to lose my first friend." Twilight was about to say something, but stopped when he said, 'first friend'. "Before I met you and the others, I would have never made a friend. I would have just stayed cooped up in a room with some scrap metal and say that it was all I needed. But after staying here in Ponyville with you and the others, I feel better than I've ever felt in years. I don't want to lose it all over one single fight."

"It wasn't just a 'simple' fight." Twilight retorted.

"Yes, it was. None of you are in your right minds and have forgotten the friendships we had." Xavier took a second to reach into the pile of friendship lessons to pull one out. "But I haven't, and I'm not about to let them become sad memories. So please, just take a moment and read this over." Xavier handed the scroll to Twilight, who took it in her magic and opened it. When she did, she was surprised at what it was.

"This is one of the letters I've sent to the princess." Twilight said surprised as she looked at it, this scroll was from when the dragon created the giant smoke cloud.

"All of them are." Xavier said as he gestured to the pile. "Please, try and remember." Twilight's signature curiosity came in as she began to read the scroll. Once she finished, she began to rean the others. As she was, the three humans were in a happy shock to see Twilight's colors begin to come back. It all ended when she was finishing one of the scrolls.

"Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing
And like the path cut through the orchard, there will always be a way through.
The best thing to do is stay true to yourself.
Everypony has a special magical connection with her friends. Maybe even before she's met them."

Once she finished the scroll, the final piece of grey on her left her, leaving her the vibrant shade of lavender that she was before, and looking up she had a tear fall down her face.

"I get it now." Twilight said with a smile. Seeing it, the three humans were ecstatic to see.

"Twilight!" The three said out happily.

"Thank you guys for this. I'm sorry about how I've been acting." Twilight apologized.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault." Xavier said. "In fact, this was all planned." Twilight looked at him curiously. "Discord knew that the friendship between you and the others were too strong for him to deal with, so he kept you from seeing it."

"Hmm, that is a valid point..." Twilight thought out loud. "Well, now that we know Discord's game, let's turn the tables."

"How?" Cali asked. "No offence, but we kinda did the scroll thing on a hunch. You might have been freed, but the others may not be keen on reading those things."

"Don't worry about that." Twilight said confidently. "I have just the spell for that. Now come on." Twilight then ran to her door. "Let's go stop Discord." The three humans looked at each other and smiled, determined to finish the fight. So with Twilight back, the four left the library to save the others and stop Discord.

The group collectively decided to start with Applejack. Remembering what she said, the group decided that she would be at Sweet Apple Acers. Running to the farm, they all were in worried awe at seeing the state of it. Everything was in disarray, with things flying and floating about. They group didn't harp on it for too long, since they saw Applejack eating an apple.

"AJ, there you are." Cali yelled out as they walked over to her.

"Well I'm glad to see ya too." Applejack responded in full sarcasm. "Where you guys when I needed ya? Discord won because of ya!"

"I mean, she lost because of you too." Cali mentioned.

"Nope, I was the only one who was even fighting him." Applejack said as she stood up onto her back legs, swinging her front like she was punching. At least before she fell over onto her face, a bola wrapped around her legs. When she landed, the group turned to Cali.

"Was that necessary?!" Xavier asked in a shout.

"She was getting on my nerves with the lying, alright." Cali huffed as she crossed her arms. "Do what you were planning Sparkle." Twilight, after a second of hesitation, nodded and went over to Applejack who was struggling with the bola.

"Snap out of it. This isn't you! You're not a liar." Twilight said as she charged her horn and put it on Applejack's forehead. When she did, Applejack froze with wide eyes, even after Twilight backed up.

"What did you do?" Xavier asked. Before Twilight answered however, the group saw that Applejack's colors began to return to her.

"Memory spell." Twilight simply said as the last bit of color returned to Applejack. Once she was fully colored, Applejack stood up and realized who was in front of her.

"Twilight! Xavier! Jamine! Cali! It's great to see you!" Applejack exclaimed, looking a bit down. "I saw a vision of us feuding and fighting! I couldn't face the truth, so I started telling lies. Can you all ever forgive me?" She explained sadly, putting her hat to her chest.

"Don't worry about it, we'll forgive ya...." Cali said with a smirk. "As long as you help us finish the job." Applejack took a second to look at her before smiling, putting het hat back on.

"Can do, partner." She said confidently. With Applejack back with them, they set their sights on the one who would give the most trouble, Fluttershy. Running over to the cottage, the group took a second to go over something.

"I don't think Fluttershy is going to stay still, so we'll have to restrain her." Xavier explained. "Cali, Applejack, can you do that?" The two in question looked at each other and nodded.

"I think we can." The group didn't take long to reach the cottage, and after both Cali and Applejack got out their whip and lasso respectively, Jasmine opened the door carefully. When they did, they were relieved to see that Fluttershy had her back turned, but also shocked to see that she was tormenting some animals.

"I can't look." Jasmine said as she turned away. Cali and Applejack took initiative and ran in, aiming their tools at Fluttershy's wings and legs. Fluttershy didn't have any time to react to them as Applejack's lasso wrapped around her legs and Cali's whip tugged onto her wings. As the two pulled her over, Fluttershy became outraged.

"Why you! Let me go!" She began to struggle, but fortunately for the group and not so much for her she still had her lack of strength, no amount of meanness could give her strength to rip out of the ropes around her. Once Fluttershy was close enough to the group, Twilight quickly put her horn onto her forehead, activating the spell and having Fluttershy remember the good memories that they had. After a bit, her colors returned as well, and she looked around to see her friends.

"Twilight! Everyone!" Fluttershy said alarmed. "I just had the worst dream." It was then she realized that she was tied up. "Um, why am I tied up?"

"It wasn't exactly a dream." Jasmine mentioned as Applejack and Cali untied Fluttershy. "You we're under a spell that made you act mean, and it allowed Discord to break your connection with the Elements."

"Oh dear." Fluttershy worried.

"But don't worry, we broke you and Applejack and now we can get the others." Jasmine reassured. "So, are you okay with helping?"

"I-I am." Fluttershy said. With Fluttershy with them, they were one step closer to reassembling the elements. As they left the cottage, they head back to town to find Rarity, believing to be at the boutique. When they arrived and opened the door, they were creeped out when they saw that the pony they were looking for was practically worshiping the boulder that she had.

"Erm, Rarity? What are you doing?" Xavier asked uncomfortably.

"What does it look like I'm doing?! I'm giving Tom the attention he deserves. Now back off!!" Rarity exclaimed with aggression. The group looked at each other, trying to figure out how to get to her.

"Hey Cali, can you...?"

"Already on it." Cali said as she took her whip and snapped it, grabbing the back leg of Rarity and pulling, bringing Rarity over unexpectedly, leaving her dazed. "Sparkle?" Twilight took the message and went over to her, charging her magic.

"What do you think you're doing? Get away from my gem! Get away-!" She was cut off when Twilight touched her forehead, sending the memories into her head. Once it was done and Rarity got her colors back, she stood up and looked at the boulder. After a moment of staring, she went over to it and began to push it outside, where she gave one last shove to let it just roll away. "...Let us never speak of this again." Rarity spoke up, embarrassed and ashamed of her actions.

"Glad to see you too, Rarity." Xavier said, happy to know she was back and not obsessing over a rock.

"Yeah, sorry about how I was acting." Rarity apologized. "So...what did I missed?"

"We'll explain along the way." Xavier said. "We still need to find Pinkie and Rainbow. Let's go." Xavier said as he led the charge to find the others, Rarity trusting them and following. As they were traveling and explaining to Rarity the situation, they made it to their next destination, Sugar Cube Corner. When they got there however, they saw that Pinkie was talking to the bunch of things she made when she had her party very upset. While most of the group were confused at what she was doing, Cali knew exactly what was happening.

"Great, I've been replaced by the turnips again." Cali said facepalming. As the group was about to ask what she meant, Cali wasted no time in pulling her whip out and snaps it, snagging Pinkie and dragging her over. "Sparke, please hit her with that spell before I lose it." Cali lightly demanded as Pinkie struggled in the whip's tie. Twilight, not taking any chances with Cali's temper, put her horn onto Pinkie's head. Once the spell was over and Pinkie was pink again, she sat there for a bit before giggling uncontrollably.

"I can't believe it!" Pinkie said in between her giggles. "I turned grey! How funny!" As Pinkie was laughing, the group regrouped.

"Alright, now that we have Pinkie, all we need is Rainbow." Twilight said. "Where would she be?"

"Well, if the trend is continuing, I would say she's home." Xavier said. "Let's go." The group moved out (after calming Pinkie down) to Rainbow's home. Once they got there, they had Jasmine and Fluttershy go and look for her. After a bit of time went by however, the two came out looking worried.

"Uh? She's not here." Fluttershy said worried.

"*sigh* well that's a bust." Xavier said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Without Rainbow Dash, we can't use the Elements." Twilight said worried.

"She could be anywhere by now! We're never gonna find her." Applejack claimed.

"Yeah, we will, 'cause she's right there!" Pinkie said happily as she pointed to the sky. When they looked at what she was pointing at, they saw that it was Rainbow Dash lying on a cloud, not a care in the world.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled out.

"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" She asked in a not-so-caring tone.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Twilight yelled.

"That's nice." She replied bluntly.

"Discord's still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat him with your element, Loyalty!"

"Pfft! Loyalty, schmoyalty! Have you guys seen Ponyville? It's a disaster! I'm staying here in Cloudsdale where everything's awesome!" Rainbow said, not caring about the situation or them. When she finished and lied deeper into her cloud, Xavier had a sad face on him.

"How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?" Rarity wondered.

"The same way he got you to think that cheap rock was a bona fide diamond." Applejack said in a smug grin. Rarity looked at her, fuming with anger,

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that again!"

"Time for Plan B." Twilight said, getting the attention of the others, curious at what her plan was.

A Little While Later

Twilight's plan was simple, use a hot air balloon to get to her level to cast the spell on her. Now they were just above the sleeping Rainbow, with everyone except for Fluttershy and Jasmine in the basket, the outliers fly/floating outside of it.

"Okay, Fluttershy and Jasmine, you grab Rainbow Dash and hold her down. Applejack will lower me down from this rope so I can cast the memory spell on her." Twilight whispered her plan.

"Got it!" Fluttershy said with a salute from her and Jasmine as they went down to Rainbow. When Fluttershy and Jasmine were in position, the two were about to hold her down, at least until Fluttershy gently shook her awake.

"Um...I'm just wondering if it's okay if I hold you down against your will for a little bit?" Fluttershy asked, getting many groans from the others, even Jasmine.

"Nice try! Ponyville's your problem, not mine." Rainbow said as she latched onto the cloud she was on and flew away. When she did, a rope was extended to Fluttershy.

"Come on, Fluttershy, we've got to catch her." Twilight said as Fluttershy took the rope into her mouth "Hyah!" It was then a chase after Rainbow. "Applejack!" Twilight tossed a rope to Applejack who was on the top of the balloon. With a bit of spinning, Applejack tossed the rope at Rainbow, successfully latching onto her. It was then that Xavier noticed that the rope wasn't secure, and it was beginning to ravel out of the balloon. Taking no chances, he grabbed on the rope in hopes of stopping it. Unfortunately for him, the pull was too much for him and, while he held onto the rope, he was launched out of the balloon, now just hanging on as Rainbow struggled to keep going.

"Xavier!" Twilight panicked. "Can't you grab him Cali?!"

"He's too far!" Cali said, panic in her voice as well. "Besides, he's moving too much to get a good shot!" As they were panicking over the situation, Xavier decided to try and get through to Rainbow.

"Rainbow, please! Come back to us!" Xavier pleaded.

"NO, WHY SHOULD I!?"

"Because you're our friend, my friend!"

"Well I don't care for you or your problems! In fact, I don't care for you!" This is when Xavier's face darkened.

"And here I thought you and I were friends." Xavier said, his tone dark. "Two who would never leave each other. I never wanted to connect to anyone, but you were the first to break that idea. I was actually happy for once in my life, and you were one of the reasons. But if you mean those things, I don't want to have someone leave me again. So, you win, I'll leave you alone, see ya." Once he finished, he did the unthinkable.

He let go of the rope.

The group was in shock at what he did and were scared at the outcome. As Twilight was telling Fluttershy to let go and save him, Xavier was simply falling with no flailing, for he didn't care about landing. As he was rapidly approaching the ground, he was thinking about the times he had with the others, as if Twilight cast her spell on him. About a story above the ground however, he stopped suddenly. It took him a few moments to register he wasn't falling, but rather softly descending, but when he did, he looked up to see that Rainbow was holding onto the leg of his pants, her colors from her coat to her mane was restored.

"And here I thought I was reckless." Rainbow said, muffled through her clamped teeth. Xavier gave a small smile.

"Sorry about the dramatics, but I knew you wouldn't let your best friend die like that." Xavier said, happy to know that Rainbow was still in there. Rainbow rolled her eyes and let go of him, fortunately he was only a few inches from the ground, so all he got was a bump on the head. As Xavier was sitting up and recovering, Rainbow flew next to him.

"Yeah well, next time don't do something like that. I swear, you like to get into dangerous situations."

"I could say the same thing to you." Xavier smirked. As they were talking, they heard a light thud, and looking up they saw that the balloon landed, the girls looking at the two worried and confused. As they were looking, Xavier smiled and reached into his hoodie's pocket, pulling out the Element of Loyalty and putting it onto Rainbow's neck.

"I think it's time to end this."

Once Xavier calmed down the group's worry about him, he told them that it was time to end the fight once and for all. It didn't take long for them to start looking for Discord himself. Fortunately, it was easy since there was a large amount of chaos going on near him. When they found him, they saw that he was sitting on a throne he presumably created, sipping on a glass of chocolate milk. As the group approached him, Xavier held his arm out in front of Jasmine and Cali, stopping them from getting closer.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cali asked.

"We shouldn't get closer, this is not our territory." Xavier explained. "Last time I saw the Elements in action, I was almost blinded. Any closer I could have been hurt, so we should just watch from a distance." After a moment of staring, Cali sighed.

"Fine, but they'd better be okay."

"They will be, trust me." Xavier said with a calming smile as he looked back over to the scene.

"Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing." Discord said, oblivious to what was coming.

"Not as wonderful as friendship." Twilight said, getting his attention.

"Oh, this again?" He said amused. He then drake the last of the milk and tossed the glass away, the glass exploding.

"That's right. You couldn't break apart our friendship for long." Applejack yelled out.

"Oh, Applejack. Don't lie to me. I'm the one who made you a liar." Using his magic, he began to make the Elements float over to him, and in turn the girls. "Will you ever learn?" Twilight took an initiative and teleported over to them, crating a bubble around them that blocked Discord's magic and floated them down. When they landed, the ground around them was changed from the checkerboard floor to regular grass.
"I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord!" Twilight yelled out, confident and ready "We've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!" The girls around her gave their agreements, though Discord could think less.
"Ugh, gag. Fine, go ahead. Try and use your little Elements. Friend me. Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here." Discord said as he leaned further into his throne, confident and cocky that he already won. However, this little action had sealed his fate.
"All right, ladies, let's show him what friendship can do!" Twilight said as she and the girl got ready to take him-

"Wait-wait-wait!" A voice called out as Pinkie was taking one last drink of chocolate milk, the entire group looking at her with disapproval and annoyance. Once she was done and got back to the group, the group was finally ready to take Discord down. The girls tapped into their elements once again, this time something was different. When the Elements were activated, instead of a white light that surrounded them, many beams of light shaped like each element shot out from them like lasers. It didn't take long for Discord to notice too, and he was actually worried.

"Huh. What's this?" He questioned. When he finally realized what was happening, he got his bearings and realized what would happen. "Oh dear, stop that right now!" Discord then went on the offensive, taking one of the cotton candy clouds and began to "fluff" it like a pillow, creating a magical charge from it, and the humans saw it. When they looked in worry if they would finish in time, Xaiver saw a tipped over trash can, and getting another dumb idea, he ran to it.

"What the- Xaiver wait!" Cali yelled out as Jasmine panicked even more, but Xavier couldn't care less, he was focused on keeping his friends safe from harm like he said he would. Reaching it, he quickly grabbed the lid of the trach can and ran over to the middle of the two sides. Right as he got there, Discord clapped the cloud he was holding, sending a bolt of magical lightning forward. As the bolt flew, Xavier raised the lid up like a shield, ready to intercept it, and he did as the bolt slammed the lid. The blast was powerful, powerful enough to knock many off-balance, but Xavier held his ground well, and while the lid of the can was burnt and partially melted, both Xavier and the girls were okay. It was good timing too as the girls were in the air, this time a pink glow was surrounding them as their eyes all glowed white. After a small delay, a large rainbow beam shot into the sky, creating an arch before falling right onto Discord who was panicking.

The beam hit him hard, all the Discord could do was flinch and brace for impact. As the magical light surrounded him, his body began to turn to stone once again. He struggled hard as if to try and escape the powerful spell, but to no avail as he continued to turn to stone. And with one last "NOOOOOOO", his final part, the head, turned to stone, turning him back into the statue he was before. Once he was encased, the large rainbow beam separated, creating a dome around Ponyville before bursting, turning everything that was once impacted by Discord back to normal. As the girls landed onto the grassy ground, they all smiled to each other as Xavier smiled at them, happy to know that they were safe, and the human girls looked at Xavier and the others and sighed.

"Welp, I guess you can do both, huh."

The Next Day

Once again, the group was inside of the castle in Canterlot. This time however, instead of an urgent emergency, it was for a celebratory announcement as the nine, ponies and humans alike, stood in front of a double door that swung open, revealing the throne room with dozens of ponies and the Princess in front of her throne. The group walked forward, letting it all sink in before they stopped in front of the Princess.

"We are gathered here today to once again the heroism of these nine friends who put an end to the villain Discord and saved Equestria from Eternal Chaos!" The crowd cheered at Celestia's announcement, flooding the room with cheers of happiness and congratulations. After a few moments, Celestia used her magic to move away a cloth that was hiding a stain glass window, one that displayed the final confrontation of Discord. It was a top view of the scene, where the six ponies were in a position behind Xavier, the human in question holding up an object that would be interpreted as a shield (Even though it was the least optimal thing to use as one) and the human girls were behind them as if they were supporting. As they looked at it in awe, the crowed gave one last hurrah, giving the heroes time to soak it in as they looked at the crowd, proud of their achievement.

Later, In Xavier's Home

After the ceremony was done and the party finished, the heroes decided to go home to rest. When they did, the three humans remembered the mess that was made by the golem from before, much of the produce now slightly soft.

"Well, I guess I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow." Xavier sighed. "Assuming that there are shops with produce still around."

"You seriously are thinking about that when we just stopped a literal spirit of chaos?!" Cali asked.

"Yeah, I might have gotten used to it after all of the life-threatening events I've been through."

"Well I feel like I'm going to collapse, that was exhausting."

"Yeah, it was pretty tiring." Jasmine admitted.

"Yep, that was me after the first few, but I got used to it." Xavier shrugged as he grabbed a trash bag to collect the bad fruits and veggies. As he was however, Cali remembered something.

"Oh, hey I wanted to ask you something about the Elements."

"Shoot." Xavier said, okay with a question.

"So you and the princess said that those things represent an aspect of harmony, right?"

"Yep."

"And that the girls are connected to them, and no one else can use them, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, it just that when the girls were using the elements when they were that spell, there was one light that came from you guys that wasn't white." Cali admitted.

"Oh, I saw that too."

"Well, it was probably Twilight since she wasn't under the spell yet." Xavier reasoned, but Cali and Jasmine shook their heads.

"No actually, it didn't come form her." This got Xavier's attention as he stopped picking up produce and looked at them.

"Huh?"

"It looked like it came from you, and it was red." Cali said, confusing Xavier more than Pinkie did. "It was slight, but it was there."

"But, that's Rainbow's element. No one should be able to get a reaction out of it, much less a human." Xavier thought out loud.

"Well we saw it, and it did happen." The three humans looked at each other in confusion and wonder, confused at why there was a light around Xavier.

"What is happening here?"

Lesson Zero

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"I still can't believe you did that! It was sick"

"It's been a week, Dash. I would have thought you'd have gotten over it by now."

Like what Xavier said, it has been a week since Discord returned and sealed in stone. While Discord and his chaotic magic was removed from Equestria, there was still a mess that was caused by all the things flying around. Because of this, most of the week consisted of cleaning around town and making sure everything and everyone was okay. After a lot of work, the town was looking better, and things could go back to normal for a while. As of right now, Xavier and Rainbow were heading over to Applejack's place, Rainbow having a request from her and Xavier just tagging along.

"But why would I, what you did was awesome!" Rainbow said with excitement. "I mean, you took the blast of that guy's magic, didn't flinch, and took nothing! All with a trash can! The princess even thought it was cool enough to put in the window!" Xavier rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"Well, I just did what I could to protect you girls." Xavier admitted. "Besides, you all mean too much to me to let you fall there."

"Well thanks for that. But I'll top you in awesome feats, watch me!"

"Heh, we'll see." Xavier said as he brought his fist up, to which Rainbow bumped with her hoof. They walked silently for a bit longer before they reached Sweet Apple Acres, standing at the entrance was Applejack.

"Hey AJ." Rainbow said.

"Hey Rainbow. Glad you could make it." Applejack thanked before noticing Xaiver. "Oh, you're here to Xavier?"

"Yeah. I decided to tag with Dash." Xavier admitted. "I'll help if the task is something I can do though."

"Well, I doubt that you can, but thanks for coming. Now come with me." Applejack gestured to follow, so they did. After some time following her, they were standing a couple feet away from a large barn, but it looked like it's seen better days. "Ya see, me and the family wanted to rebuild this here barn. Unfortunately, it's beyond repair, so it's gotta go. This is where Rainbow comes in." Applejack said pointing to Rainbow. "I need you to tear this here building down."

"That's all? Psh, piece of cake." Rainbow said confidently. Applejack smiled as she walked over to the barn and grabbed a pair of safety goggles and a helmet, handing the goggles to Rainbow.

"I assume you want Dash to do it because she's at less risk of having all of the debris fall on you when it starts to lose its supports." Xavier reasoned.

"That's right partner." Applejack agreed. "Now, I would recommend you get back, things are about to get messy." Applejack began to walk over to a trench, putting her helmet on. Xavier nodded and turned to Rainbow who was flying up to begin.

"Better be quick Dash. Remember, we have a picnic to go to later."

"You know who you're talking to, right? I'll get this done in a minute, tops." Rainbow said as she cracked her neck, Xavier taking that as a sign to get out of the way as he dashed over to the trench Applejack was in. He made it in time, jumping in as Rainbow began to destroy the old building. While Xavier and Applejack couldn't exactly see what she was doing since they were taking cover from the massive amount of debris that were flying around, they could guess that Rainbow was putting in work. After some time however, things went quiet, the sounds of destruction silencing. The two stayed there for a bit before growing confused since Rainbow never came over.

"What's going on out there?" Xavier asked as he carefully looked over the trench. When he did, he saw that the barn was still standing, though it was greatly damaged, a few more hits would take it down. Oddly though, Rainbow wasn't around. "Huh, where'd se go?" After looking around for a bit, he saw why Rainbow stopped, as he saw her on a bench with Twilight sitting on the ground, looking like a phycology session. Seeing the scene, he got out from behind the trench and walked over. "Um, Dash? What are you doing?"

"Well I was doing my job, but Twilight stopped me-"

"Because you were destroying Applejack's property." Twilight finished as she scribbled something onto a notepad she had. "Now, please tell my why you have an issue with her."

"I don't"

"You don't? Then why are you destroying her property?" Twilight questioned.

"Because she was told to do that." Xavier explained for Rainbow. "By Applejack."

"Wait, what?" Twilight was thrown for a loop, dropping her notepad.

"Yeah, I was. Right AJ?" Rainbow got off of the bench as Applejack stuck her head out from the trench.

"Darn tootin'" Applejack nodded with a smile. "I wanted to put up a new barn, but this one's gotta come down first. Hehe...Now get back to it, R.D."

"You got it, boss!" Rainbow saluted as she flew high into the sky, ready to tear it down.

"We might want to get down." Xavier said as he jumped back into the trench and Applejack got down. Twilight looked up to see that Rainbow continued up, until stopping and looked ready to take all of it down with one go. Twilight panicked seeing Rainbow and dived into the trench as well, bracing for impact as Rainbow flew down with incredible speed. Once she hit the barn, her signature sonic rainboom was created, creating a rainbow-colored mushroom cloud. As debris was flying, many pieces landed into the trench, but fortunately it was small enough to not cause much damage. After the dust settled, Applejack looked out from outside the trench to see the barn was utterly destroyed. Applejack smiled and went over to Rainbow to tell her good work, meanwhile Xavier was honestly a bit worried about Twilight since she seemed... off today. "Hey Twilight, you okay?-" When he turned to look over at her, she was already gone. "Twilight?"

An Hour Later

While Xavier was still worried about Twilight, he decided that trying to track her down and ask her if anything was wrong wasn't the best course of action, so he decided to ask if he saw her later. After cleaning up some debris that was around the destroyed barn, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Xavier were on their way to the place the picnic was going to be held. While walking, the three were pretty much silent, but fortunately the place wasn't too far from Sweet Apple Acres, and after a bit of walking, they arrived at their destination. On the hill that they were going to set up, Cali was already there, setting up the blanket and some food she made.

"Well, look who showed up." Cali said, holding a container of salad. "You guys showed up right on time too."

"Nice to see you, Cali." Xavier greeted. "Nice set up by the way."

"Thank you, I take pride in my cooking." Cali had a hand on her chest, showing pride in her work. As the three went over to join Cail, the rest of their friends could be seen coming over.

"Hey everyone!" Jasmine called out as she waved at them, getting their attention.

"Hey ya'll. Nice to see ya." Applejack replied as they came over. When the others came over, they also began to unpack some things they brought. Jasmine decided to sit down, so she did next to Xavier, who began to grow nervous. As the group were unpacking, Rarity became worried, and Jasmine noticed.

"Rarity? Are you okay?"

"NO!" The group were a bit startled by Rarity's outburst. "I totally forgot the plates. Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" Using her magic while crying, she pulled over a fancy couch from somewhere and fell onto it dramatically. "Why, why, why... Uh... What?" She was only cut off from crying when she saw the rest of the group staring at her, some were confused while others weren't impressed. "You didn't expect me to lay on the grass, did you?" The group decided not to dwell on it as they continued to unpack. As they were, Cali noticed something missing, and it wasn't the plates.

"Hey, does anyone know where Sparkle is?" Cali asked. Hearing this, Xavier remembered his, Rainbow's, and Applejack's experience with her.

"Well, me, Dash and Applejack did see her at Sweet Apple Acres, but she was acting odd."

"How so?"

"Well, Applejack asked Rainbow to come over to help destroy a barn to make room for a new one, and part-way through the job Twilight showed up and stopped her. She thought that Rainbow was doing it because she had an issue with AJ."

"Well if I came over, I would think that." Cali admitted.

"Yeah, but something's been bothering me about it." Xavier mentioned. "She was acting very strange about it, trying to get Rainbow to tell her about what problem she had, almost like she was desperate." Xavier's words bothered the group a slight bit "Have any of you seen her act strange today?"

"Now that you mention it..." Rarity began to think. "I happen to lose my favorite diamond encrusted purple ribbon today."

"Wait, does that explain the dramatic scream from earlier in the day?" Cali asked. "You scream when you lose something?"

"Erm, I did scream, but I don't do it often!"

"More like fifty percent of the time." Rainbow whispered to Xavier, Rarity hearing her and huffing.

"As I was saying, when I CALMLY ANOUNNCED..." Rarity said through her teeth. "...that I lost my ribbon, Twilight burst through the door. After I told her what happened, she went into some short speech before I found it in a bin I had. Even when I found it, she was asking if there was anything she could do before disappearing."

"Are you sure you're not overexaggerating there?" Cali said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, Rainbow giggling behind her, annoying Rarity.

"I did NOT overexaggerate the story!" Rarity said angrily. Before anything could go farther, Xavier got in between the two groups.

"Now now, let's calm down. If what Rarity is saying is true, which I believe did happen, then there might be something wrong."

"Well I say we just wait for her." Rainbow said pulling out some sunglasses. "She'll tell us what's wrong eventually." Rainbow then lied down onto the ground with her front hooves behind her head. As Xavier was about to scold her about being shallow, a box was dropped at her head. When Rainbow looked up, she was the mare they were talking about, but it was a bit unnerving. For the most part, her mane was messy, she had madness in her eyes and her grin was incredibly unsettling, enough for Rainbow to jolt up and back up a few paces to look at her along with the rest of the group.

"Erm, you okay Twilight?" Xavier asked, both worried and a bit off-put at Twilight's... act.

"No! I am not alright!" Twilight exclaimed, almost like she was in agony. The group became worried at her exclamation.

"It's just terrible!"

"Yes?" The girls asked, getting closer save for Cali and Xavier who held back.

"Simply awful!"

"Yes?!"

"It's the most horrific trouble I've ever been in and I really really really need your help!"

"YES?!"

"My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven't learned anything about friendship!" Twilight exclaimed. The group gave their reactions in different ways, the girls sighed in relief, Cali face palmed, and Xavier tilted his head in confusion and concern.

"Oh thank goodness..." Fluttershy sighed in relief. "I thought something really awful had happened."

Twilight looked at her like she was crazy as she immediately teleported in front of Xavier and Cali, startling them. "Something awful has happened!" She teleported to Rarity who was back on her couch, who spit out her tea from the sudden act. "If I don't turn in the letter on time, I'll be tardy!" She reappeared in the center of the picnic, startling Rainbow as she dropped her sunglasses in the process. "TARDY!" After a bit of time the girls simple smiled and began to laugh, Xavier just pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but this doesn't sound like a problem." Jasmine noted, a bit nervous.

"Not a problem? NOT A PROBLEM?!" Twilight screamed, scaring Jasmine who backed away to Xavier, hiding behind him and getting a light blush out of him (He stood strong as to not make her more nervous).

"Now calm down, sugarcube." Applejack patted her on the back with a soft grin. "She didn't mean any offence when she said that. But it looks like somepony's getting themselves all worked up over nothing."

Twilight slapped Applejack's hooves away, done with everything that they were doing. "This is not nothing! This is everything! I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!"

"Oh Twilight, you're such a crack-up!" Pinkie giggled, falling over on her back while she laughed.

"Come on now." Cali said to her, trying to calm Twilight down. "Get over here and stop worrying so much over this."

"It's really not a big deal." Xavier said, Twilight's stink eye now focused on him. "I mean, one missed assignment isn't the end of the world. I mean, I've missed assignments here and there when I was in school, but it was because I got busy and forgot about them. Fortunately my teachers understood that and gave me some more time to get them done. I bet the princess is like that, so please, come and sit with us for a bit and calm down." Xavier said this with a calm smile, hopeful to try and get her to listen. She didn't however and growled, turning away and giving a loud huff before walking away, teleporting away after a bit.

"Wow...I've never seen Twilight so upset before." Fluttershy said, feeling bad for her.

"Oh, what a drama queen!" Rarity exclaimed with a smirk on her face, lying on her couch, at least before noticing the stares from the others. "Mm. Relatively speaking..." After Rarity admitted to being a bit dramatic, Cali turned to Xavier

"Is she gonna be okay?" She whispered. Xavier looked at her.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I normally wouldn't be one to question it, but after that whole 'Pinkie sense' incident, I'm worried about what she'll do." Xavier put his hand onto his chin.

"You do have a point there..."

"What should we do?" Cali asked.

"Not sure. I guess-"

"AAAAWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO"

"GGGGIIIIAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Suddenly, two very loud sounds rang out, one a ferocious howl and the other a terrified scream. The sudden outburst startled the entire group as their attention shifted.

"What in tarnation was that?!" Applejack asked.

"It sounded like it came from the Everfree forest." Xavier said as he rose.

"Do you think someone got lost and found one of those monsters inside?" Rarity questioned, worried about the safety of the screamer.

"That's what I'm about to find out." Xavier said as he pulled out his sword. "You all stay here, I'll find out what's going on."

"I'm coming too." Cali said as she got up as well. "There is no way in hell I'll let you go alone in there." Xavier looked at her for a moment before nodding.

"I guess I won't stop you." Cali smiled as she pulled her whip from her belt and began to run with Xavier to the Everfree forest.

"Stay safe!" Jasmine called out to them, the two not turning back as they focused on the safety of the one in the forest.

"Where even is this guy?"

The two humans were wandering for a while, looking for the source of the scream. Unfortunately, they had no luck, and stopped for a second in a clearing, somewhere where the sun was able to penetrate the thick canopy.

"I really can't tell. I thought it came from over here." Xavier admitted.

"Well with the amount of time it's taking, they might be dead by now."

"Hey, don't be like that!" Xavier scolded. "Until we find them, we aren't-" Before Xavier could finish, they heard a large amount of movement, created by a large amount of dry leaves and twigs crunching under the mass of footsteps. The two looked over to the sounds, holding their weapons in preparation to get jumped. A few tense moments later, a living mass came flying into the clearing, tumbling on the ground for a bit before coming to a stop. When it did, the humans were shocked to see what it was as it got to it's feet.

"What in the hell is a human doing here?!!" Cali's shouting got the attention of the being, now identified as human. This human was male, his green eyes looking at them confused. He was more toned than most, but was mostly lean as he was about the same age and height as Cali. His hair was black and, while a bit messy, was pretty well groomed. While his clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains, it was clear to see that his dark green dress shirt was on the more flexible side, along with his jeans and shoes. In his chest's pocket was a red, origami rose that by some miracle, was intact. He also had a light scarf on his neck and on his arms were some painted, leather bracers with some metal bosses dotted around in a very precise pattern. When the new human turned to see the two, his expression was surprised.

"Huh, who are you?" He spoke, his voice had a hint of British mixed into his slightly rough voice, but it was a voice a gentleman would have. Before one of the two could answer, the human shook his head. "Nevermind that, we need to go!" It was then that another creature entered the clearing, this creature Xavier knew about.

"Timberwolf!" Xavier yelled out as it crouched down, ready to pounce onto them.

"What are those things?!" Cali yelled out.

"I'll tell you later, for now break them apart." Xavier said as he pulled his sword out as he went up front, swinging his sword forward to slash the first, dealing some considerable damage to the wolf's jaw. Shaking it off, the timberwolf jumped at him, swiping both claws at him in a thin X. Xavier however was better with his sword since the last time he met one, blocking both swipes and retaliating with the blunt end. Shaking off the shock of the blow, the wolf didn't have much time to react to the log slammed into it, that log launched by Cali and her whip.

"Down you mutt!" The constant beatings it was taking left multiple holes in it and pieces falling off, but it was still willing to fight as it pounced at her. Before Cali did anything however, the new human ran up to the wolf and, with a jump and a forward flip, delivering a shockingly powerful downward kick with his heel onto the neck of the beast, the blow strong enough to break the head off as it and the body landed onto the ground and shattering. The two looked at the remains with awe as the human stomped the ground to get a few splinters off him.

"Now that that's done, what was that."

"We can talk later, we need to move farther before it reforms." Xavier said as he turned to leave the way him and Cali entered, the others confused.

"Um, what?"

"Just follow me." Xavier began to run off, prompting the other two to follow.

"Jeez, what is up today?"

After some time running, the three came to a stop to rest for a bit, the newest human sitting on a log.

"You're okay though, right?" Xavier asked. "It's not often someone meets a timberwolf and lives."

"I am, but what was it, a timberwolf?"

"They are ents that lives here in this forest. Their bodies are comprised of the loose pieces of wood scattered around the forest and only live to destroy. Even if you destroy the bodies of them, their spirits live on and rebuild, which is why I said we needed to leave fast."

"You know a lot about those things, huh?" The scarved human said.

"I had a run in with one a while ago, I would have died if a friend didn't save me." Xavier admitted.

"Beyond that though, that kick you delivered was impressive dude." Cali said, breaking the tenser air and replacing it with more of a light chat despite the area they were in. It didn't matter though as the guy chuckled as he rubbed the bottom of his nose with his finger.

"Heh, well that's all in a day of a martial artist."

"Hmm, you do martial arts?"

"I actually dabble in two ways of artistry." The human stood up as he rolled his head. "I guess that's my my cue to introduce myself. The name's Huston, martial artist who's passion is creating pieces of art dedicated to nature." The human now known as Huston took a bow. "it's an honor to meet you. After all, you two did save me."

"It's nothing. The name's Xavier by the way. My friend here is Cali."

"Howdy." Huston smiled and stood back up straight, but suddenly winced as he gripped his arm, revealing that he was bleeding a bit.

"Oh crap, you sure you're okay there?!"

"Mmm, it's not going to kill me, but I don't think I want to let this continue to bleed." Huston said lightheartedly.

"In that case, why don't you come with us." Xavier offered. "I'm sure we can get you patched up and cleaned after all you've been through."

"Thank you, that's very kind of you." With that, the three began to walk through the forest to the outskirts, with Xavier leading them. After some time walking, Huston decided to break the silence. "So, where exactly are we? I mean, I'm pretty sure there aren't any wolves made of wood around here. Or anywhere for that matter." At Huston's question, The other two tensed up a bit, a bit worried about how to tell him.

"Erm, well..." Before Xavier could begin to explain however, the trio heard a low rumbling in frount of them.

"What is that?" Cali asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Is it another one of those timberwolves?" Huston asked, raising his arms in preparation.

"I don't think so. It sounds more like a stampede." Xavier commented, knowing a bit about the forest's residents than the others.

"I say we check it out." Before any objections could be made, Cali ran over to the sound. Sighing, Xavier and Huston followed her. When they caught up to her, they were outside the forest, but something strange was happening. Running around was a large group of ponies from around Ponyville were running around, trying to grab what appeared to be a old stuffed toy. They were practically fighting over it, and this worried Xavier and Cali.

"What is going on here!?" Xavier yelled out, clearly confused and worried.

"Don't know, we should find the girls." Cali suggested, her and Xavier running off to find them. Huston followed after a bit of shocked confusion.

"Hold on a minute! Can you tell me what's happening!?" The two didn't pay much mind to him, either from urgency or from them forgetting her was here was undetermined. After a bit, they found the girls on the hill they were on for the picnic, Twilight included.

"Don't look at it!!" Twilight yelled out, covering Rainbow's eyes.

"Don't look at what?!" Xavier asked, alerting the rest to him and Cali's presence, but miraculously not registering Huston's (Most likely from the chaos happening)

"My Smarty Pants doll!" Twilight said, referencing the doll. "I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!"

"What?! Seriously!?" Cali said in disbelief.

"I had to do something!" Twilight yelled out, on the ground in a fettle position. "I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn't find a problem, I'd make a problem! The day is almost over!"

"Not almost!" Applejack mentioned, pointing to the setting sun. Once it went beneath the horizon, twilight lowered her head in defeat before...

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" A loud voice rang out as a bright light shined above them. Looking up, the group was in shock at seeing none other than the princess, and a bit worried (Huston was especially, but no one has payed attention to him yet) After looking around for a second, the princess used her magic and a flash was created. Once the light dimmed, the population that were once fighting stopped, leaving them confused at what they were doing. At least until the doll fell to the ground. The crowd looked at it for a moment before growing embarrassed, walking away, leaving nothing but the heroes and the princess (Even the doll was gone, strange)

"Whoa nelly..." Applejack gasped in shock, taking off her hat as the princess landed by them.

"Meet me in the library." Celestia demanded with a glare as she began walking away. Twilight sighed and got up, walking away before turning to them.

"Goodbye everypony. If you care to visit, I'll be in magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot." Twilight began walking away, following the princess with depression.

"Magic kindergarten?" Fluttershy questioned

"Canterlot?" Rainbow added.

"We're never gonna see Twilight again!" Pinkie cried.

"What are we gonna do, y'all?" Applejack asked, worried.

"Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" Rarity yelled out. No one was impressed though as they looked at her with deadpan stares. "What? I really mean it this time!"

"Gah, forget that! Come on!" Xavier said as he ran in the direction of Twilight and the princess. The group took the hint and ran after him, determined to help their friend.

"Is NO ONE going to explain what's happening?!"

They never even noticed Huston yelling

They were too focused on helping Twilight after the mess she made, hoping to keep her in Ponyville. After a bit, they managed to reach the library. Not even wasting time, Cali rammed the door, forcing the door open, surprising Twilight and Celestia who were talking.

"Wait!" Rainbow yelled out, getting in front of Twilight.

"You can't punish her!" Pinkie pleaded.

"It wasn't her fault!" Jasmine added.

"I'm listening." Celeste replied, waiting for an answer.

"Please, your highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset." Fluttershy explained.

"But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about." Cali added.

"So when she ran off all worked up, not any of us tried to stop her." Xavier said, felling guilty for not even trying.

"As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!" Rarity said, clearly upset for not thinking about her friend.

"Please, don't take her away from us just because we never tried to help her!" Fluttershy pleaded with a sad look. Celestia thought for a moment before softly smiling at them all.

"Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today." She said. The group took a moment to think about what she said, realizing she was right. "Very well, I'll forget Twilight's 'punishment' on one condition." The group was surprised to hear it, and began to ask what that condition was. "From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship when, and only when, you happen to discover them." The group was surprised at the condition, and all of them began to cheer. Celestia smiled as she went to a window, ready to leave.

"Princess Celestia, wait!" Twilight called, gaining her attention. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you." Celestia explained, pointing to Spike who was hiding. "I commend him for taking your feelings seriously. Now, if you will all excuse me, I must return to Canterlot. I'm expecting some mail." With that, she opened up her wings and flew out of the library threw the balcony as the group watched her leave for Canterlot. They relished in her kindness for a bit, at least before clapping could be heard behind them.

"Great, how touching. Now that that is all settled with, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Turning to look at the clapping, the group was shocked to see Huston, both from his condition and from him just being there (save for Cali and Xavier, who were embarrassed that they forgot about him)

"Oh, right. I forgot you were here, Huston." Xavier apologized, getting an unimpressed look from him.

"Is that another human!?" Rainbow yelled out.

"Yep, he managed to get chased by something called a timberwolf. And if we didn't get there he would have been dead meat." Cali explained, getting a huff from Huston.

"I really need some answers here."

"We'll tell you, but let's see about treating your injuries too."

Some Time Later

After the initial shock of Huston's reveal, Twilight went to grab a first-aid kit to allow Jasmine to treat his wounds. During that time, Xavier told Huston the story of him and the others leading up to that point. Huston also managed to calm down from the shock from it all as he listened to it all

"So that's the story, huh?" Huston said out loud, taking it all in as Jasmine finished bandaging him. "Thank you by the way, miss Jasmine. I appreciate you treating me."

"It's no problem, happy to know you're okay after what you went through."

"I know it's a lot to take in." Xavier said, a face of worry on his face. "I understand if it might take a bit to-"

"Eh, I'll be fine with this." Huston said casually, as if nothing was wrong, and this confused the group as they looked at him like he was crazy.

"Huh?" Applejack simply breathed out.

"Um, darling, are you really?" Rarity asked, clearly confused. "I mean, you are in a new world where you are the only human alongside the other three."

"Yes, I am." Huston said as he got up. He began to look around for a bit before noticing Twilight's chalkboard. "Miss Twilight, may I borrow this?" Huston asked as he looked the chalkboard over.

"Um, sure. I guess." Smiling, he took a piece of chalk and looked at the board.

"Now, I know you're confused at my reaction, but let me explain." Huston began to draw on the board, continuing his explanation. "You see, as an artist, I've learned a lot over my time."

"Oh, you're an artist?" Rarity asked, clearly interested.

"Yes, I am. I also am a martial artist." Huston said as he continued to draw.

"you should have seen him when we were fighting." Cali said, impressed. "I've never seen someone deliver a kick so strong as to break wood like it was cheap plastic." The little sentence impressed the group, especially since it was hard for Cali to grow this impressed.

"Hm, yes, but I won't brag about it." Huston chuckled. "Now continuing on, I've learned a great deal about life, and I like to think of it as a canvas for me." Huston said, his drawing showing a tree with a few clouds above it. "You can make it pretty much any way you want, but as we all know, there is always a wrench somewhere to be thrown." Huston said as he turned with a bit of dramatic flair. This flair didn't come free however, as when he turned, he managed to graze the drawing with the chalk, leaving a big line through the picture. As the group gasped at the error, Huston simple looked at and smiled. "The size may differ, from small splotches to massive spills, but how you deal with it is what defines who you are." Huston turned back to the drawing, reaching for the eraser. "You could just give up and toss it all away, maybe start anew. But I don't." Huston took hold of not the eraser, but a red piece of chalk, bringing it up to the picture. "I work with the mistakes, never turning away to give up until I can't do anything else. Who knows," Huston stepped away from the drawing, now where the like ended was appeared to be a red bird, giving the image of it flying past the tree. "You might find that it leads to something better than before." The group looked at the board and Huston, in awe and amazement at his little story.

"Woah." The only thing that broke the silence was Rarity simply sighing with respect. Huston smiled and went back to them, sitting down.

"The way I see it, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, having a brand new world to look at and create new pieces of art that humans nor ponies have seen before? That sounds like a fair enough positive to this whole ordeal."

"And you really are okay with this?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, I am." Huston smiled, happy to know that the ponies were kind. He felt safe and pleased to know that he wouldn't be treated badly here.

"Well, if you want somewhere to stay, you're always free to stay with me and the other humans at my house." Xavier offered. "I have plenty of space there, and you're free to have a room all to yourself."

"Hmm, I think I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you." Huston thanked. "For now though, I think there was something that you had to do for miss Twilight, right."

"Oh, right! Spike, take a letter." Applejack said, Spike taking the initiative and pulling out a scroll and quill, ready to take the letter. "We're writing to you because today, we all learned a little something about friendship."

"We learned that you should take your friends worries seriously." Fluttershy added.

"And also, never dismiss them." Cali said with a wink.

"No matter how much you think it's not a problem." Jasmine said bashfully.

"And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem..." Rarity put in as well.

"...into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem." Pinkie finished, acting all dramatic (Huston found it quite amusing)

"...In other words, don't turn a anthill into a mountain." Xavier simplified, sighing at Pinkie's antics.

"Signed, your loyal subjects." Applejack finished off the letter. After a second, Spike looked around as he began to write again, this time for him.

"P.S. - Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-" It didn't take long for Spike to notice that everyone in the room was looking at him, not exactly amused at his antics. "Eheh...uh...yeah...I'll just, um..." Spike then crossed out the piece he wrote into the letter, getting a laugh out of the bit of embarrassment Spike had. As Spike huffed at them all laughing at him, the group bonded closer than before. It also became bigger with the newest addition of the double-sided artist, Huston. Now with him with them, their friendship grew stronger as they looked forward to what's to come, even it was bad since they could always make it their own works of art.

Luna Eclipsed

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Believe it or not, Huston was an instant hit amongst the residents.

While the other three humans had some hurdles to get over when living in Ponyville, Huston seemed to have none. He loved to be outside and active unlike Xavier, wasn't awkward like Jasmine, and certainly more outgoing and friendly than Cali. All of this while having a calming and sweet aura around him. Combine all this with the ponies around town being comfortable with humans from their experiences with he others and he pretty much became a part of town already, and Huston was pretty happy to know this. Of course, he still spent his time getting to know the heroes since they were the first ones to accept him, plus he felt like they were special. This went on for two weeks, and now a special holiday has come up, Nightmare Night. Of course, when the ponies told them about the holiday, they immediately thought about how similar it was to a holiday they had back on earth, Halloween. Right now though, they were simply going to get ready for the night.

"Come on you guys! We're going to be late to the festival!" Xavier said, impatient to get started. He was dressed in a blue trench coat with chains, a sleeveless undershirt, red plaid jeans, and a blue cap.

"Jeez, what's up with you and trying to rush us?" Cali yelled frustrated as she left her room in her costume. Hers was a simple dark blue hoodie, along with sneakers. She also had a beat up cap on her and a cigarette in her mouth (It really wasn't, it was just a plastic straw she cut and painted one end to look like one) "I swear, you hate being late with a passion." Xavier, hearing her, rubbed his neck

"Erm, sorry." Xavier apologized. "It's just that Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I don't want to be late.

"Ah, I see." As Cali accepted that answer, Jasmine came downstairs. Her outfit was pretty simple all things considered. Hers was a grey button up shirt, blue tie, and a black skirt and boots. Her hair was also put up a bit, and two red hairbands were in them. "Hey, nice one Jas." Jasmine smiled innocently at them, Xavier immediately turning away, his face and even his skin red. Cali looked at him, smirking while Jasmine just looked clueless. "Hey Jas, you think you can see if Huston is ready?"

"Sure." Jasmine gave a thumbs-up and went to get him. His room as also on the second floor, marked with a picture of a flower he made. Knocking, she wanted to make sure it was okay to enter.

"You can come in." Jasmine opened the door to see what Huston did to his room. His room wasn't decorated as much as there were some things that made it harder, mainly the easel the was in the middle of the room. He also had a bed, one similar to Cali's but with a quilt as a blanket. On a nightstand he had was an alarm clock and a lamp. He also had a desk that had some sketchpads and pencils on it, some of them used. Standing next to the easel was Huston, finishing putting on his outfit. His was a karate Gi with the sleeves torn off, along with a red belt and bandana that he had on. "Miss Jasmine? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I just came to see if you were ready." Jasmine answered. "Xavier wants to know."

"Well, I just finished up, so I am." Huston said as he began to walk to the door, Jasmine getting out of the way and following him back downstairs, there they saw Cali seemingly snapping him out of his stupor.

"Ah, there you are." Cali said before turning to Xavier with an annoyed face. "See, I told you that we weren't going to be long."

"S-sorry." Xavier said, a bit flustered and embarrassed. He was saved from the gazing eyes of everyone be a ring of a doorbell. "Ah, I'll get it." Xavier hurried to the door to answer, and when he did, he was greeted by many young ponies, all of them in costumes ranging from classic spooky to cuter looks.

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" All the foals said in unison.

"Hey everypony! Great costumes!" Xavier said as he got down on his knee, smiling like a proud brother would to their young sibling as he handed out candy to them. "Hello Granny Smith. It's past your bedtime, isn't it?"

"Exactly! I should have been asleep five hours ago!" Granny said.

"Well, it's appreciated to take the young ones out." Xavier said with a nod. Suddenly, something began to push through the group of foals, and before long a smaller colt came out in a pirate outfit. The little colt was white with brown splotches on his coat, and while he was swinging around a toy sword, he lost his balance and as before he could hit the ground, Xavier caught him. Putting him upright, the colt saluted.

"Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service!" The colt announced. It was then that Pip realized who he was greeting. "Whoa, are you a human?"

"Yes, I am." Xavier chuckled as he took his cap off and bowed. "Xavier, at your service." Pip was in awe at how the human held himself.

"Wow." As Xavier was talking to the group of foals, the other humans watched him.

"Huh, he seems... different." Cali noted.

"Hm, what do you mean?" Huston asked, clearly curious since he didn't know them too well.

"Well, he seems a lot calm than he usually is. He also seems pretty happy too, like nothing wrong could happen."

"I would say that's just how he is." Jasmine mentioned, catching their attention. "The first day I was here, me and Xavier were helping Fluttershy take care of three fillies. During that time, he was pretty dedicated in keeping them safe and happy." Jasmine explained, remembering the time she met the Cutie Mark Crusaders and what trouble they got them in.

"Huh, go figure." The three turned back to Xavier and the group of foals.

"So this is your first Nightmare Night ever?" Xavier asked Pip, who nodded. "Well, I hope it goes well-" His little wish to him was cut off when a giant chicken pushed Pip out of the way. When looking closer however, it was only Pinkie in a chicken costume.

"Ba-caw! Enough chitchat! Time is candy!" She clucked (yes, clucked) as she began to woodpecker the ground, getting an exasperated look from Xavier and blank stares from the humans inside.

"Pinkie Pie, aren't you a little old for this?" Xavier asked, already done with her.

"Too old for free candy?" Pinkie squawked, shocked at the question. "Never." Xavier sighed, seeing as there wasn't any way out of it and tossed a piece of candy into Pinkie's bag. Pinkie gave a very bright smile before bolting off, the rest of the foals following her after waving goodbye to Xavier. Xavier stood back up as the other humans went over to him.

"Well, shall we head over to the festival?"

During their walk to the festival, the humans were all taking in the sights, but Jasmine was the most enamored by the decorations that were around town. She took the most time in looking at them, with Cali keeping her from getting too excited. As they were doing that, Huston and Xavier were watching them.

"Hmm..." Xavier sighed, happy to see the two happy after learning about their pasts (Cali told him about her life as an orphan within the week between Discord and Huston's arrivals)

"Heh, Your girlfriend is pretty energetic, isn't she?" Huston commented, Xavier jumping away in shock.

"W-what?! She isn't my girlfriend!!!" Xavier said frantically."

"Huh, she isn't?" Huston questioned. "I'm sorry to assume. It's just that you two seemed pretty close. Plus, you seem to blush a lot around her." Huston's tone was apologetic, confirming that he was just assuming things. Xavier dropped his guard and sighed.

"Haah, I'll forgive you, but please, don't assume."

"I'll try to." Huston agreed, and turned to look to see that the girls were talking to Twilight and Spike. "Oh, it looks like Miss Twilight is here too."

"Yeah, let's go say hi." Xavier suggested, getting a nod from Huston as they went over to them. "Hey Twilight."

"Hey Xavier. Hello Huston." Twilight greeted. "Great you could come."

"You kidding, wouldn't miss this for the world." Xavier said.

"I will say, your costume is quite nice." Huston complimented. Twilight was about to thank him but-

"Thanks! I'm a dragon." Spike said, happy about his "creative" costume.

"Erm, I was talking about mis Twilight's, but yours is good too." Huston corrected.

"Yeah, it's really good." Jasmine agreed. "You look like a great scholar."

"Scholar? I thought she was a wizard." Cali said, clearly thinking something else.

"Huh, I was thinking a researcher of some kind." Xavier admitted.

"Well, you all are closer than anyone else." Twilight sighed. "I'm dressed as Starswirl the Bearded, one of, if not the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era."

"Oh, got it." Xavier said.

"So what are you all dressed as?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, only some things from back home." Xavier said with a smirk as he did a pose, lowering his hat while pointing into the void. The humans gave chuckles at him, while Twilight and Spike just looking at him confused. "Heh, sorry. Something this character did a lot."

"Okay then."

"Twilight, Xavier!" The group turned over to who was calling them, and were surprised to see Pinkie and the group of foals that they saw with her. "Look at our haul! Ah! Can you believe it?" Pinkie raised her bag up to show how much she collected. Unbeknownst to them however, a dark cloud was approaching. "And then, we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith, and-"

KABOOM

Suddenly, the dark cloud released a bolt of lightning and thunder, creating a powerful blast that scared many of the group. The first thing that happened after the lightning was Pinkie yelping and dashing off, the kids following in suit, equally afraid. While Twilight and three humans were confused and afraid about what happened, Xavier knew exactly what happened.

"Rainbow!" He yelled at the cloud, the cloud producing a laughing Rainbow Dash who was wearing a shadowbolt uniform. "Seriously!?"

"Lighten up, engie. This is the best night of the year for pranks!" Rainbow said.

"Well, don't aim for the kids!" Xavier said, his face dark. "If you're going to do this, refrain from going for kids that young." Xavier's gaze was pretty scary, and that would have gotten to Rainbow if she wasn't already focused on-

"Oh! Oh! There's another group over there!" She said, taking the cloud and quickly flying away. Xavier sighed and looked at the others, them focused on a Spike that looked dead.

"I-is he okay?" Jasmine asked. Cali took her straw cigarette and poked Spike, who twitched a bit like a bug.

"Nah, he's alive."

"I take it that Miss Dash is like that?" Huston inquired.

"Yep. She'll find any chance she can get to pull a prank." Twilight said as she put Spike onto her back. The group decided not to dwell on it long as they went deeper into the festival. As they did, they spotted Applejack handling some activities, she was in a scarecrow costume.

"Howdy y'all!" Applejack greeted. "Nice costumes."

"Hey AJ." Cali said giving a wave. "And thanks." Applejack went over to Twilight and flapped her beard a bit.

"Hmm...with that beard, I reckon you're some sorta country music singer." She said, giving her opinion. Of course, Twilight didn't exactly like that another pony got her outfit wrong while the humans chuckled lightly at them. "While y'all are here, ya' feel like bobbin' for an apple?" She pointed to a barrel of apples floating in water. It was tempting, at least until a pony covered in paper bags came out and pulled what appeared to be a stopper for a drain, causing the water level to lower. They were about to ask about it until a large amount of cheering could be heard coming from the stage that was set up.

"Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!" Mayor Mare announced, causing everypony to clap their hooves on the ground and cheered for her, the humans, Twilight and Spike joining the crowd. "Now all the little ponies who have been collecting sweets should follow our friends, Zecora, to hear the legend of...Nightmare Moon!" She said in a creepy voice and began laughing maniacally.

"Spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that." Spike commented, getting a bunch of giggles from the group. The mayor stepped out of the way, and taking her place was a growing cloud of green mist. Coming out of the mist was the Zebra shaman from the Everfree, Zecora.

"Wait, is that a zebra?" Cali asked, her and two other humans under some curiosity.

"Yep, she's Zecora." Xavier said, a smile on his face. The other three humans looked at him, interested in his relationship with the shaman. "I'll tell you when we meet up with her." Xavier looked at the stage where Zecora was, her exposed enough to show her costume, a classic witch with toy spiders in her mane.

"Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon." She said, her classic rhyme scheme not leaving her as she twirled her cape, walking off the stage and prompting others to follow, Xavier included.

"Come on you guys. I'll introduce you." Xavier said, the others following him. After a bit of walking, Xavier managed to catch up to his zebra friend. "Hey Zecora! How've you been?" Zecora took notice of his voice, turning and becoming happy to see him again.

"No, do my eyes deceive me? Why, it's Xavier that I see." Zecora said, getting a chuckle from Xavier.

"Still at it, huh?" Xavier chuckled, referring to her rhyming. "It's good to see you."

"It is rather nice to see you well. My first friend saying hi makes me swell." Xavier nodded and turned to his new human friends.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Zecora. She's a very skilled potion maker who lives in the Everfree forest."

"Everfree?" Jasmine asked. "But why?"

"She has some good access to different herbs not found elsewhere." Xavier answered before turning to Zecora. "Zecora, these are some more humans that have arrived here to Equestria like me."

"Um, hi. I'm Jasmine, it's nice to meet you." Jasmine greeted with a small bow.

"Name's Cali. Nice to meet ya." Cali said with a flick to her hat.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Huston." Huston also gave a bow, though his went a bit deeper.

"It's nice to meet you, humans new. It seems your number only grew."

"So, how did you meet Xavier?" Cali asked.

"Well, there is quite a story to that." Xavier said. The group decided not to hold the activities any longer, so they began to walk to their destination, with Xavier telling them the story along the way. After a while though, they stopped in front of a statue of Nightmare Moon, and the humans were a bit creeped out.

"Woah, that's kind of creepy." Cali admitted, Jasmine hiding behind her a bit.

"Yeah, I don't know how to react." Huston added, not exactly finding the right words.

"Yeah, it can be scary." Xavier shrugged. "But it's only a statue."

"I don't see how even you can't be a bit creeped out."

"Well, when you've stared the real deal in the face with her horn inches from your face, you don't exactly see the scare in a statue." Xavier said, the three humans staring at him like he had said he murdered someone. "Now please quiet down, Zecora's about to start." Indeed, because Zecora took her place in front of the statue

"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary." Pulling a pile of green powder from her pocket, she blew it into the air, creating an-. "Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary." The illusion took a dive right to the group of foals, scaring them all as the illusion exploded, releasing a large cloud of green mist around them. "Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes." There was tension in the already polluted air that was filled with dust as Zecora lurked around, scaring foals that were around. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!" Zecora took another pile of dust our to create another illusion of Nightmare Moon, this one looing around. "Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!" The illusion rose to the sky, creating a scene akin to fireworks. As the crowd looked at the scene, a voice could be heard by Zecora.

" Uh, Miss Zecora..." Pip began to question. "...if we wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won't gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy? "

"A perfect question, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." Taking yet another pile of dust out, she blew it to create yet another illusion. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!" The illusion lunged at the foals (and Pinkie), scaring them all as they screamed.

"Quick everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here!" Pinkie exclaimed in fear as she and the foals began to dump their candy out onto the foot of the statue.

Suddenly, a powerful wind began to blow through the area. Everyone was concerned at the sudden wind since it didn't seem natural. It was also to be noted that the clouds were moving oddly as well, but soon something emerged from them. A chariot descended from the sky, the ones pulling looked like royal guard, but their wings were like a bat's and their eyes were a piercing red. As the chariot descended more, the rider was revealed to be a taller figure in a cloak.

"*gasp* It's Nightmare Moon! Run!" Pinkie squawked as she and the children ran to town screaming. The rest stood still, some in shock and others in interest. As Cali and Xavier were reaching for their weapons and Huston got into a stance, lightning flashed, giving a glimpse into the cloak, it was a face. A face that Xavier recognized as he stopped reaching for his sword.

"Wait, is that-" He didn't finish his sentence since the chariot flew past them, leaving them behind. "Hey, wait." Xavier began to chase the chariot, leaving the others behind.

"Aup- Hey!" It didn't take long for the others to follow, confused as to what Xavier saw.

A Little Bit of Running Later

It was fortunate that Ponyville was so close, since Xavier's costume wasn't exactly light. When he did arrive, he was standing in an alley as the other humans caught up to him, but Twilight and Spike were no where to be seen.

"Why'd you run off like that?!" Cali asked.

"Because I wanted to confirm something." Xavier said as he raised his head to the sky, to the point where the chariot was descending. Of course, the town did notice it and were pretty scared of it. Before the chariot hit the ground however, the cloaked figure jumped off, landing onto the ground. The landing was terrifying to the town as they all dropped onto the ground in a scared bow as the figure reached for her hood. Pulling it down, the pony inside was revealed to be...

"I thought so." Xavier whispered. "Princess Luna."

"Who?" Jasmine asked shaking (she was pretty scared)

"She's Princess Celestia's younger sister."

"Princess Celestia? You mean the large pony from the library?" Huston asked.

"The very one." Xavier confirmed. "I wonder what she's doing here?" The princess took a fey steps forward, her cloak blowing and falling apart, creating bats that flew a distance before disappearing. Once she took a look around, she smiled and took a breath before...

"Citizens of Ponyville!" She was not quiet, as she gave a very loud shout that practically was a wind in of itself. "We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold...the real Princess Of The Night!" The shouting was not helping her look with the town since it was scaring the town even more. "A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration!" Everypony who was bowing to her scooted away from her in fear and worry for their ears, but she never noticed as she continued her speech. "Together, we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!" As if the universe itself wanted Luna to fail, lightning cracked from the sky, making her look even scarier.

"Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!" Pinkie cawed, causing her and the foals around her to run away screaming. This screaming finally broke Luna's focus and got her to realize something.

"What?! No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight are what your princess desires, not screams of terror!" Luna stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration, the impact actually cracking the ground which caused some of the ponies to whimper in fear. Luna turned to Mayor Mare a bit annoyed, who was ducking in fear. "Madam Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived!" Luna raised her hoof at her for the mayor to take, but Mayor Mare only whimpered and looked away in fear. Luna noticed it and looked at her, feeling irritated. "What is the matter with you?!" She tried to raise her hoof to somepony else, but no matter, they would either turn away in fear or covered their eyes, too scared to even look at Luna. Luna finally got the message and huffed angrily. "Very well then, be that way! We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell!" She then walked off out of town, the townfolk still bowing as if to brace for her to punish them. The only ones standing were the four humans, who were conflicted on what happened.

"So... what's her story?" Xavier turned to Cali confused.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry to assume, but you seem to have history with her." Huston mentioned. "Out of everyone- or everypony as you say, you were the least affected by her appearance. You also know her from saying her name, so we just assume you know her."

"*sigh* You're right, I know her." Xavier admitted. "It happened the first day I was here in Equestria. While I was snooping around to find out more about this place, she came into town hall. But she wasn't Luna at that time, she was none other than Nightmare Moon."

"She was?" Jasmine asked, concerned about her.

"Yeah, and she managed to spot me and reveal me to town. Of course, if she didn't she would have never introduced me to the girls." Xavier thought back to the first time he met the girls in the library, smiling internally. "Anyways, when she came, she wanted to plunge Equestria in eternal night, so Twilight, the girls and I went into the Everfree forest to find the Elements of Harmony."

"Elements of Harmony?" Huston asked.

"I'll tell you about them later. Just know we found them cleansed the darkness from her heart and turned her back into Princess Luna."

"Why did she become Nightmare Moon though?" Jasmine asked.

"Jealousy." Xavier said, catching the three of guard. "She was jealous of her sister because ponies slept during her night but played in Celestia's day. It turned to darkness and transformed her into Nightmare Moon. When she did, Celestia was forced to use the Elements on her own sister."

"Sheesh, that's harsh." Cali commented.

"It is. When she used them, they banished Luna to the moon for one thousand years."

"One thousand?!" Huston was clearly shocked to hear that. "The two must be old."

"Yeah, but I think that Luna's having some troubles." Xavier looked out to the town, who were starting to get back up and back to the festivities, though they were a bit weary. "I guess that she still thinks things are the same as they were from one thousand years ago." Xavier looked into space for a bit before coming to a conclusion. "I'm going to go find her."

"What?!" The three humans asked in shock.

"You heard me. I'm going to find her and help her adjust." Xavier turned around to them. "Before you ask, I want to do it because she's going though something like us, trying to adjust to a world where things are different to what we know and remember." Xavier walked past them and further away. "You don't have to help me, you can go and have fun."

"No can do." Xavier received a slap on the shoulder from Cali. "I'm helping too."

"Why are you though?"

"Because her story hits me hard." Cali admitted, a soft face on her for the first time since meeting her. "I know what's it's like to be jealous, so I want to help her out."

"I want to as well." Jasmine said as she walked over. "She looked kind of lonely out there. I want to help her be liked too."

"I guess we're all helping." Huston said as he came besides them. "I'd love to help her in seeing a new light." Xavier looked at the three and smiled.

"Well then, let's go."

They ultimately decided to try and find Luna by going the direction she wandered off in. While they were walking, they noticed that they were going the same path that they followed Zecora. After some time, they found the statue from before, only this time Princess Luna was at the foot of it, poking at some candy that the kids put for the offer.

"There she is." Xavier said. "Now you three stay back for a bit. I don't want to overwhelm her after what she's been through." The others gave their approvals and Xavier went to Luna, taking his hat off. "Excuse me, your majesty?" Xavier said calmy, alerting Luna to his presence as she turned to look at him. "Hello. My name is Xavier. Do you remember me?"

"Yes, we do." The princess said after a bit of looking at him. "Thou were the one who we revealed."

"Oh, you remember that." Xavier murmured with a bit of a sweat-drop. "Well, it's nice to see you again. You look well."

"Thank thee." Xavier smiled and turned to the others, waving for them to come over.

"Now, I would like you to meet some other humans here in Equestria." Xavier said as he gestured to the three who were now next to him.

"Hello your majesty. My name is Jasmine and it is a pleasure to meet you." Jasmine greeted with a bow.

"Same. The name is Cali, princess." Cali said as she took off her hat to show her respect.

"Greetings princess. My name is Huston, and it's an honor to meet royalty such as yourself." Huston bowed. Luna looked between the group before speaking again.

"Hmm, we recall our sister speak of two other humans here, but we do not recall there being a third."

"Heh, well I kind of just arrived." Huston admitted.

"Hmm, very well." Xavier smiled, though Luna seemed to keep a serious face on her ever since they arrived.

"So, you know Xavier here, huh." Cali wondered.

"We do." Luna said as she began to rise into the air with her wings."It was thou who watched the unleashed powers of harmony upon us that took away our dark powers!" Luna bellowed, the power of her voice was strong enough to blow the group back a bit.

"Erm, and that was a good thing, right?" Xavier said, hoping it was as Luna descended.

"But of course, we could not be happier!" Luna nodded. "Is that not clear?"

"W-well, you sound angry at him with your l-loud voice..." Jasmine said nervously, somewhat afraid.

"But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak the royal 'we', and we to use... This much volume when addressing our subjects!" Luna explained, switching to the 'royal Canterlot voice' as she called it. Once she was finished, the humans' costumes were messed up from the force of the magical voice, so they took a second to readjust them.

"No offence, your highness. But I believe that is the reason why your appearance came with... mixed results." Huston explained as he fixed his hair.

"Yeah... Maybe if you change your approach, you can fit in better." Xavier suggested, confusing Luna.

"Change our approach?" Luna asked, reverting back to the loud voice.

"Gah, lower the volume for one." Cali exclaimed, sticking her finger into her ear to ease it a bit.

"Ohhh." Luna said with a bit of embarrassment. "We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are... not sure we can."

"Well, at least know some things about Equestria." Xavier began. "I didn't have that luxury. Trust me, if me and the others here can fit into a world as the only humans, you can too. And we'll help out."

"We thank you, humans." Luna said, lowering her head a bit for a bow. "Where do we start." Xavier brought a finger to his chin to think.

"Why not Fluttershy?" Jasmine suggested. "We first need to break her habit of using her Canterlot voice, so why not go to her first?" The other humans looked at each other for a second, processing the idea before nodding.

"That sounds like a good idea." Xavier agreed, getting a bright smile from Jasmine. Her smile was enough to get Xavier to blush and turn away quickly. "Welp, let's get going." He then began to walk away quickly, leaving a clueless Jasmine, a curious Luna, a smug Cali , and an interested Huston to follow.

The group lead Luna to Fluttershy's cottage, mostly Jasmine though since she knew that she was in there. When they got there, they took a second to appreciate the look of it at night.

"This place is quite beautiful." Huston compliments. "One day I'm going to have to make a painting of her home."

"It is pretty nice." Xavier admitted as they went to her door.

"Now don't worry princess." Jasmine started to say. "Fluttershy is sure to help you. She's the kindest pony you can meet." Just as Xavier knocked on the door though...

"GO AWAY! NO CANDY HERE! VISITORS ARE NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!" A voice yelled, presumably Fluttershy's. Once the shout was done, Jasmine could only laugh nervously while the others just looked at her.

"Um, let me talk to her." Jasmine said as she went to the door. "Fluttershy. It's okay. It's me, Jasmine. The others are here too." It took a second, but the door creaked open, revealing her head peeking through the crack.

"It is you." She said as she opened her door a bit more, seeing the other humans and Luna. "Oh, and Nightmare Moon." When she realized what she said, she panicked. "Nightmare Moon?! AAAH!" She immediately went back inside, slamming the door in their face. The only thing that Jasmine could do was give some more nervous laughter.

"Um, C-Cali? C-could you-?"

"*sigh* Yeah, I'll help."

"Thank you, be right back." Jasmine then opened the cottage door to enter with Cali. There were sounds of a bit of a scuffle inside, but after a bit the two girls came back out, with Cali pushing Fluttershy out forcefully.

"Erm, Fluttershy…" Xavier began, "You remember princess Luna, right?"

"Charmed." Luna said in her Canterlot voice. Upon hearing this, Fluttershy dashed back inside, but Cali's whip brought her right back out and right in front of the princess.

"Likewise." Fluttershy responded, but she was pretty scared.

"Lady Jasmine hath spoken of the sweetness of thy voice. We ask thou teachest to us to speak as thou speakest." Luna asked, still using that Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Okay." Fluttershy nodded, her voice squeaking out.

"Shall our lessons begin?" Luna asked.

"Okay."

"Shall we mimic thy voice?"

"Okay."

"How is this?"

"Perfect, lesson over!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she tried rushing back to the house, but was cut off by a door that Cali closed before she entered, slamming into it.

"Try a bit lower, your majesty." Huston suggested.

"How is...this?" Luna asked, her voice lowering a bit.

"That's sounding a bit better." Cali admitted.

"How...about...now?" Luna asked, her voice much quieter.

"Now you're getting it." Jasmine smiled.

"And...how about now?" Luna asked, speaking in a normal tone.

"Yes! Well done!" Xavier nodded, happy that she got over it. Luna smiled and reached for Fluttershy, who was trying to crawl to her door. When she was in Luna's grasp, she pulled her into a tight hug.

"I thank thee, dear Fluttershy! Our normal speaking voice shall surely win us the hearts of thy fellow villagers."

"Fluttershy! You've gotta hide us!" As Luna was thanking Fluttershy, a voice could be heard coming over. The humans looked over to the voice, but they all tensed up at the sight of Pinkie and the kids (Except Huston who didn't know the damage that could be done). "Nightmare Moon is here and..." Pinkie made a literal squawk like a bird as she saw a limp Fluttershy (She was still recovering) "She stole Fluttershy's voice so she can't scream when she gobbles her up!" She screamed out as she ran, the foals following followed suit with their own yells.

"Nay children, wait!" Luna called as she tried to chase them, but realized what she was doing soon after. "I mean... nay, children, wait." She said that in a very sad tone, her sadness coming through very well, and the humans knew it.

"Hmm..." Cali began to think for a bit before she got an idea. "Hey princess, we're still not done yet." The rest of the group looked at her curiously. "I have a plan."

The group went along with Cali's plan, which surprisingly it was going to be in the heart of the Nightmare Night festival. While the group weren't very confident in going in yet, they trusted her and followed. When they got there, the town panicked and bowed down at the sight of the group, but mainly the princess as they passed through.

"It is of no use, humans. They have never liked us and they never shall."

"Don't worry, I know what can help." Cali began. "I know that Applejack can help you, she's one very likable pony."

"Yeah, she really is very kind and dependable." Xavier mentioned. "If there is one pony who can help you fit in, it's her." The group looked forward to see the pony in question, attending to the games set up. As she was, she began to walk aimlessly over to them, but when she realized who was in front of her, she panicked and dropped down to a bow. The group looked a bit uncertain before Xavier went down to her level. "Uh... Applejack, the princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here. Think you can help." After Applejack processed what he said, she gave a confused stare to him.

"Fit in? Really?" She asked. Xavier simply gave a glare at her, who flinched in response and got up. "I-I mean...that's easy!" Applejack answered quickly. "All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun."

"Fun? What is this 'fun' thou speakest of?" Luna asked curiously. Most of the group simply pointed to their left, where a bowl of little toy spiders were. She looked at them in confusion. "Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?"

"Basically, you take one and toss it over at that web." Huston said as he pointed at a web made of cotton. "Here, watch." Huston took one of the spiders and, after a bit of aiming, tossed the spider at the web, hitting it perfectly. "See, easy."

"Y-yeah, easy." Xavier said, sweating a bit. "Don't worry about them, they are fake, they can't hurt you..." Xavier muttered, the group noticing him.

"Um, is he okay?" Huston asked.

"Yeah, the guy is just deathly afraid of bugs." Cali mentioned.

"Ah, okay." As they were talking, Luna decided to try it and picked up one of the spiders. After a bit of thinking, she tossed the spider, but it missed and landed in front of the web by a couple inches. She looked a bit unsure about it, but the humans and Applejack were there encouraging her.

"You can do it, princess!" Applejack encouraged.

"Yeah, give it another go!" Jasmine joined. Luna decided she would as she picked up another spider. Once again, she aimed a bit before tossing, this time however it managed to hit the web, exciting her.

"Hey, nice shot there." Cali said.

"Ha! Your princess enjoys this 'fun'!" She said in an excited tone before looking back at the group with a smile. "In what other ways may we experience it?"

"Well, there is the pumpkin launch." Applejack suggested. The group went over to a bunch of catapults, but they were actually trailed by some of the ponies that watched her play the spider game. Luna observed the device for a bit before Huston brought a big pumpkin over.

"Just take this big guy and aim for the targets over there." Huston said pointing to a bunch of ring targets in the distance. Luna took it in her magic before putting it into the catapult.

"Fire away, princess!" Jasmine yelled out to encourage her, which worked as Luna gained a bold face and released the pumpkin, sending it flying. When it landed, it exploded right onto a target, meaning a direct hit.

"Ha ha! The fun has been doubled!" Luna called out, gaining cheers, these cheers came from the town as they let their guards down, finally not afraid of her.

"Looks like the townsfolk are finally getting used to her." Huston said, the rest of the humans giving nods of approval.

"Hey, why don't you try bobbing for some apples?" Applejack suggested. "We got the best apples in Equestria, Princess?"

"I ask thou call us...I mean, me, Luna, fair Applejack." Luna requested with a soft smile. "Hear me, villagers! All of you! Call me Luna!" She called out, the villagers giving excited chatter as they were happy to get to know her. "Show me to these bobbing apples." The group were happy to lead her to the apple bobbing station. As they were walking however, Luna gained a scared face and dashed off, confusing them. As they were about to ask amongst themselves, their worst nightmare came.

"Hey everypony! Anyone seen Pip?" The group looked at Pinkie terrified, even Huston who realized the trend. "We lost him the last time we had to run-" She cut herself off when she saw that, at the apple bobbing station, was Luna holding Pipsqueak by his vest, but he looked pretty wet, so he probably fell in. "Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!" Pinkie screamed, along with the other foals as they immediately ran away in fear. Pipsqueak did so and struggled to get out of Luna's hold, screaming in terror as he ran.

"My backside has been gobbled!" Luna looked offended at his outburst though.

"Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!" Luna yelled in anger before stomping her hoof, thunder crackling as she did. The scene was pretty unnerving and the townsfolk began to back up. Luna noticed this and began to panic. "Fair villagers, please do not back away! Let us join together...uh...Fun!" She looked around a bit before spotting the spiders from before, taking one and tossing it at the townsfolk. They weren't all that convinced though as they took a step back. '"Not enough fun for you? What say you to this?" Luna asked before her horn glowed and shot a beam of magic straight at the toy spider, who started to transformed into a real one, scaring everypony as they immediately ran away in fear. She then shot the bowl, turning all of them into spiders as they began to crawl over to the web, staying on it. "Huzzah! How many points do I receive?" She said, happily. Unfortunately, she was cut of by a scream, but it wasn't a townsfolk that screamed however.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU DEMONS!!!!" The humans looked over at the scream, to which they saw Xavier running away in fear as a spider was following him. His panic and fear was enough to get the town to follow suite, running around in fear and creating chaos.

"Do not run away!" Luna tried to calm them down, but to no avail as they continued to run around. "As your princess we command you!" Luna's anger began to rise until it was too much, and she snapped. "Be still!" Her Royal Canterlot Voice echoed throughout the entire town, making everypony who was screaming stop and bow in fear except for the humans.

"Gah, oh no." Cali said in worry.

"Your majesty, please. You need to keep your voice down." Huston tried to reason.

"No sir Huston! We must use the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice for what we are about to say!" She exclaimed before turning to all and flew upwards. "Since you chosen to fear your princess rather than love her and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled...forever!"

An hour later

The entire town was not in high spirits any longer, the festivities crushed under Princess Luna's announcement. The humans were all together, not happy at all.

"This is awful." Huston began. "Everything was going well. The town was happy to know her, the princess was fitting in, but now everything's gone wrong." The group looked out to the destruction that happened, much of the town in a state of despair.

"I'm sorry, it's partially my fault." Xavier said with guilt. "If I kept my fears in check, the town wouldn't feel as scared."

"It's not your fault." Jasmine said sadly.

"Besides, what's done is done." Cali said. Xavier looked down and to the side, thinking over things before looking up.

"No, we need to find her."

"Huh, why?"

"So I can do what I do best." Xavier said before walking off.

"Um, what does he do best outside of his technology?" Huston asked.

"Give lectures." Cali said as she and Jasmine followed Xavier, Huston following suit. It took a bit, but the group finally found Luna as she was crossing a bridge, her head hung low.

"Princess Luna!" Xavier yelled out as he and the others ran up to her.

"Leave me be, my human friends." She said sadly.

"Princess, I'm sorry it hasn't worked out how we wanted." Xavier apologized. "But you have to believe me when I tell you that Nightmare Night is one of the most popular celebrations we have."

"Yes. I can tell. By all the adoring shrieks of the children as they run away." She said annoyed, walking away. The group watched her sadly.

"Oh princess." Xavier sighed.

"Wait a second." Cali thought out loud, catching the attention of the others. "I think I have an idea."

"So you think this will work?"

"You'll see."

The first step in Cali's plan was to convince Luna to follow them for a bit, which she did, though she was pretty hesitant to. When they stopped, Cali lead them to an alleyway. The next step was to lure a certain chicken over to them, which knew just how as he made a trail of bread leading over to them.

"Is she really that gullible?" Huston asked. "I kind of doubt it."

"Oh believe me, she is." Xavier said as he pointed out. "See." To prove the point, they saw Pinkie trot over, eating the candy as she walked. The humans went deeper into the alley as she entered. When she got in deep enough, Xavier tackled her to the ground, covering her mouth before she could make a sound. "No! No shrieking! No screaming or squealing either. Okay?" Xavier demanded, getting a nod from her as the other humans came out.

"There's something we want you to see. And we promise that it's safe, but you really, really, really can't shriek. Do you promise not to shriek?" Jasmine pleaded. Pinkie nodded in response, Xavier letting his grip go as she got up. When she did, she was shocked to see that princess Luna was inside the alley too, but she help back her screams.

"Now Pinkie, you remember the princess, right?" Xavier said hopeful as Luna approached.

"Ah, the ringleader of the frightened children." Luna said, glaring at her. "Hast thou come to make peace?" She made a soft smile and raised her hoof at Pinkie. Pinkie saw it and slowly tried to reach it, but unfortunately-

KRABOOM!

"AAAHH! Nightmare Moon!" Pinkie screamed, making more chicken sounds as she ran off.

"RAINBOW!!!!!" Xavier yelled out, the pegasus in question laughing on top of the cloud. At least before she was hit with a bola, a tornado, a rock, and a bolt all at once and fell to the ground dazed. It didn't take long before Cali took another bola out and tossed it, Huston chasing it and jumping, tackling Pinkie as the bola hit the mark of Pinkie's legs.

"She's changed, Pinkie!" " Xavier yelled out as Pinkie struggled against the bola and Huston. "She's not evil or scary anymore! And she definitely doesn't want to gobble you up!" Pinkie suddenly stopped struggling, pausing before speaking.

"...Well duh!"

"Huh?" The four humans were at a lose.

"I know that, you guys!" Pinkie giggled. "I'm almost as big as her, how's she gonna gobble me up?!" They were at a complete lose for words now, all of them staring at her like she just said she murdered someone.

"Then why in the world do you keep running away and screaming all the time and make the others scream as well?!" Xavier finally yelled out, incredibly irritated to the point his usually cool demeaner broke.

"Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared!" Pinkie smiled. Xavier's eye twitched for a second before he fell forward like a wood board.

"Xavier?"

"Fun, she thinks it's fun." Xavier said, muffled by the ground he was lying on. "All of this pain, all of this because she thought it was fun."

"Welp, it's official. Pink's finally broken him." As most of the group was looking at Xavier, Huston began to formulate something.

"Hey, wait. I think I have an idea." Huston announced, catching the attention of the others, Luna included. "Xavier, do you think you can get a favor from miss Zecora?"

"Um, I guess I could? Why?"

"Because I think I have a plan to get Luna to fit in finally."

"Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm." Luna said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah, no offence dude, but we tried everything." Cali admitted.

"Don't worry, leave it to me." Huston said with a wink. "Just follow my plan."

"I seriously doubt this is going to work dude."

"It will, don't worry."

The plan was in motion after Huston told them. Xavier did manage to get Zecora to follow along, and she got the children of the town to follow her to the statue of Nightmare Moon to give one last offering before the last Nightmare Night came to a close. This was part of the plan though, as the humans and Luna were there already hiding behind the statue, but Jasmine wasn't seen.

"I fail to understand this." Xavier said as he was adjusting his holo-scope (the title of his telescope that he gave it) "You never even told us how this will help."

"Just trust me." It was then that the sounds of hoof steps could be heard. Carefully looking out from behind the statue's base, they saw that the children made it, and were now piling candies in front of the base. Huston smiled and, taking out a bit, began using it to create a small reflection of light.

"Goodbye, Nightmare Night. Forever." A sad Pipsqueak said as he put the last pieces of candy onto the pile. It was then that a powerful wind began to pick up, concerning the foals. This was all according to Huston's plan however.

"Citizens of Ponyville!" Luna said from behind the statue using her Royal Canterlot Voice. "You were wise to bring this candy to me. I am pleased with your offering." Xavier adjusted his Holo-scope to point in front of the statue, and clicked a button on it. "So pleased that I may just eat it... instead of eating you!" The foals looked at the statue, and were all petrified to see Nightmare Moon in front of it, and with a powerful blast of lightning, they all screamed in terror and ran off in fear. Once they were gone however, Nightmare Moon began to flicker before disappearing. She wasn't actually here, but instead it was just a hologram made by Xavier.

"That worked flawlessly." Huston said as him and the others left the cover of the statue. "You can come down now, miss Jasmine." He shouted to the sky. Coming down was Jasmine herself, on a dark cloud. "Brilliant performance."

"Yeah, that lightning was pretty good." Cali praised.

"Hehe, thanks." Jasmine said rubbing the back of her head.

"I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, sir Huston." Luna admitted.

"Oh just wait." Huston said.

"For what? For... for them to scream some more?" Huston simply put his hand up, with three fingers raised. He then began to put them down one at a time like he was counting. When he got to one finger, he pointed it to where the foals ran off to to show that Pipsqueak was there, looking at them. Though he seamed to be more interested in Luna.

"Um... Princess Luna." He began to ask. "I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?" This question caught the group minus Huston off guard, the odd one out smirking.

"Child. Art thou saying that thou...likest me to scare you?" Luna asked, feeling surprise of this.

"It's really fun! Scary, but fun!" Pipsqueak replied with a smile, much to Luna's surprise.

"It...is?" Luna looked over to see every foal who was hiding were peeking out, awaiting for her answer.

"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year!" Pipsqueak exclaimed happily. The humans began to realize that this was Huston's plan. He got the plan from Pinkie, so she help them after all.

"Well then...We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!" Luna smiled and announced, using her Canterlot Voice to announce it, blowing Pip back a bit.

"Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!" Pipsqueak declared as he gave Luna's leg a hug before running back to his friends, who were still hiding. "She said yes, guys!"

"Yay!" All the kids cheered as Luna looks over in wonder and joy.

"Wow, that was brilliant." Cali admitted.

"Yeah, good one Huston." Xavier congratulated.

"I simply did it to help her highness to fit in." Huston explained. At the time, Luna was just standing in place, letting it all sink in. "You see, your majesty. You really are loved by your people."

"Really? C-can it be true?" Luna asked herself before throwing her head and arms up, "Oh most wonderful of-" Fortunately, she managed to catch herself from continuing. "I-I mean...oh most wonderful of nights!"

An Hour Later

Once Luna had finally fit into the town, there was a great deal of festivities that made the town even happier than before. After all the time together, the humans decided to break off and relax for a bit, sitting around the statue and eating some candies.

"Not what I had planned for tonight, but it works." Xavier said as he was chewing on a lemon candy.

"Yeah, but hey. We did manage to help somepony out tonight." Jasmine said happily as she was snacking on some gummy bears.

"Yeah. Hey! Would this be a good topic for a letter to the princess." Cali said as she finished off a chocolate bar.

"I think it would. Should we write it?" Huston asked, sucking on a sucker.

"Yeah, hold on." Xavier pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Dear Princess Celestia, When I first arrived here in Equestria, I didn't know much about friendship. I met somepony tonight who was having the same problem - your sister, Princess Luna. She taught me that one of the best things you can do with friendship is to give it to others and help them find it themselves. And I'm happy to report that all of Ponyville has learned that even if somepony seems a little intimidating, even scary, when you offer them your friendship, you'll discover a whole new pony underneath." As Xavier was writing, a cloud floated over to them, a decently annoyed Rainbow on top.

"Throw things at me will you? I'll show you." She murmured as she wound up to create a blast of lightning...

Until she was hit directly with a lightning bolt herself, scaring her as she flew off screaming. This caught the humans' attention as they looked over at where she was flying from, a pretty happy Luna floating down on a storm cloud of her own. She gave them a wink before laughing happily, that other humans joining in as they shared another moment as they they all made new friends tonight.

Love Like a Sister Would

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"Where is that girl?"

As Huston continued to settle down into his new life, things haven't exactly changed much. Xavier still works inside his room to work on his new project (To which he says that it will be better than the last) while also continuing to work at the spa alongside Jasmine, Cali has begun to job search (she believes that she may have a lead as a cook at a local restaurant) and Huston has started looking around to get inspiration for his art. All of this was happening throughout the week, but something was off, and three humans could feel it as Cali was finishing breakfast.

"She's probably still in her room." Xavier said worried. "She's been sitting in there a lot lately now that I think about it."

"Yeah, it's honestly worrying." Huston commented. Cali looked out to worry about Jasmine.

"I'm going to check on her. You can get started on breakfast." Cali put the last of the food onto the table as she went out of the kitchen, surprising the two guys. Once Cali got to Jasmine's room, she knocked on the door. "Hey Jas, you okay? Breakfast is ready you know." There was no answer to Cali's announcement, and that made her worry more. "Jas?" Still no response. "*sigh* I'm coming in." When she opened the door, she wasn't expecting to see Jasmine to be just lying in her bed, her position making her face away from her. "Um, hey Jas?" Finally, Jasmine reacted to Cali's calls and got up to look at her, but Cali was immediately taken aback at the face of depression that Jasmine was making. "Jas? You okay?"

"Not really." She responded sadly, her depressed state clearly coming through her voice.

"Um..." Cali began to sweat a slight bit. "Crap, what do I do? Um, what would Xavier do? Mmmm, oh! Um, do you want to talk about it?" She said with a smile, though it looked a bit awkward. Jasmine made eye contact with Cali, which surprisingly made her nervous (she wasn't sure how to comfort someone through her words without sounding harsh)

"Can you promise me you won't tell anyone? And to not laugh?"

"You know I never break a promise." Cali commented.

"Please, don't tell anyone. Pinkie especially." The last part caught Cali off guard, but she kept her cool.

"Since you're insisting so much, I will promise." Jasmine sighted as she prepped to tell Cali what was bothering her.

"My birthday is coming up tomorrow..." Cali simply stared at her blankly.

"Umm, what?"

"Yeah, I know that's a strange thing, but it's not something I like." Jasmine said sadly as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it. "My birthdays are never fun. You know how I told you that my parents weren't around much, right?" Cali simply nodded. "Well, they were also gone every birthday of mine. All they did was get me some presents they thought a girl would like and a cake, but all I wanted was to spend time with them for once."

"Mmm, That explains some of why you don't like your birthday, but not all of it." Cali stated calmy, not getting the full picture.

"Well, that's because of my class." Jasmine said looking to the side, hugging her pillow tighter. "For as long as I remember, they would always bully me and take advantage of me because of how I acted. But it only got worse on my birthday." Jasmine looked like she wanted to continue, but she began to clench her eyes closed as if to hold back tears.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me about what they did." Cali said, trying to calm her down. "I can get what's going on from here. So you don't want to celebrate your birthday because of others treating you badly then."

"It's not just others though. For some reason something always goes wrong. Like one time when my birthday was on a weekend, my favorite dress somehow managed to rip itself on a chair."

"Ouch." Cali cringed. "Now that's just terrible."

"Yeah, so I think I'll just stay in my room for a while. Sorry to worry you." Jasmine then laid back into bed, sighing. While Jasmine was fully expecting Cali to leave, the room's guest never left.

"Mmm, I hat seeing her like this. She usually so bubbly." Cali thought to herself as she crossed her arms. "Grr, there has to be a way to cheer her up..." Cali began to run a bunch of ideas through her head, all of them not exactly helpful in this situation. At least until one passed through and a lightbulb went off and she pounded her fist into her other hand. "Oh, I have an idea!" Cali's exclamation managed to spook Jasmine greatly as she rose swiftly. "Oops, sorry. Why don't we have a day out?"

"I'm not following?" Jasmine said, tilting her head.

"I mean the two of us go out and have a day for you. Just you and me, none of the others." Jasmine looked at her concerned.

"Are you sure you're up for it?"

"I am. Just trust me, I'll make sure you have a great birthday. Alright?" Jasmine stared at her for a while, long enough for Cali to start sweating nervously.

"Well, I guess we could..." Jasmine began. "But can you promise me-"

"Enough with that, I promise it will go great." Cali smiled, though Jasmine looked at her hesitantly. Finally, Jasmine sighed in defeat.

"If you think it will go fine, then sure. We can go out." Jasmine said with a sigh, prompting a smile from Cali.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure it goes well. Just stay here for now and rest up, I'm going to look around for things to do tomorrow. Oh, and breakfast is ready whenever you're up for it" Jasmine didn't hesitate to agree with her as she fell back into bed, still worried about how the day will go. Cali gave a sad sigh and smiled sadly as she closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Once she re-entered the kitchen, the two guys looked at her.

"So, is she okay?" Xavier asked.

"Calm down, lover boy, she's fine." Cali replied, getting a red face from Xavier. "She's just in a bad mood, so I'm going to take her out tomorrow for a girls day." She gave a half-truth, she wasn't going to say why she was upset.

"Hmm, alright. Sounds like fun." Huston agreed.

"Thank you Huston. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go around and scout for some things to do tomorrow." Cali said with a wave of her hand, leaving the kitchen to go out.

"Good luck." Huston waved before turning to Xavier. "Now, why'd she call you 'lover boy'?"

Xavier simply tensed up.

"Hmm, what would be good for her to do..."

Cali was now wandering around town, thinking about what Jasmine would like to do.

"Let's see... I could take her to Sugar Cube Corner for some treats, but then Pinkie would find out with her crazy Pinkie sense or whatever. Maybe I could treat her to dinner, but then I would have to use the small amount of money that I've collected from odd jobs around town. Maybe I could take her to Fluttershy's, she does like it there..." As she was thinking of things to do, she smelled something off. "Huh? *sniff* Do I smell, smoke?" When she looked up, she was shocked to see a large column of smoke rising into the air. "Ah crap! It is!" Running quickly over to the column, she was concerned when she saw that it was coming from Carousel Boutique. "Crap, Rarity!" She wasted no time to burst through the door, ready to help save-

"Rarity! Rrgh, you ruined the surprise! I was gonna serve you breakfast in bed!" When Cali opened the door, she was surprised to see Rarity on the floor by the stairs, and to her right was Sweetie Belle in the boutique's kitchen, where the entire room was practically covered in smoke.

"Um, is everything okay?" Cali asked, still worried that a fire would happen. She didn't get an answer though as Rarity got up and began to walk over to the young filly to scold her before-

"Well! G'mornin', Rarity!" A male voice yelled out, startling Rarity as she looked at the table to see two older ponies sitting at it.

"Father! Mother!"

"Huh, mother and father?" Cali asked as she came around the corner to investigate.

"AH, are you one of the humans that we've hear so much about?" The stallion asked.

"Um, yeah. Name's Cali sir." She introduced, tipping her hat.

"Well pleasure to meet cha'. Name's Hondo Flanks, and this is my wife Cookie Crumbles." The stallion now known as Hondo introduced, the mare waving to greet her.

"Nice to meet ya." Cali said before turning to the burnt food. "So, is that the cause of the smoke?"

"Yep, and I'll have you know that Sweetie Belle here cooked this yummy lookin' breakfast all on her own." Hondo said with pride, rubbing the filly in question's head.

"Erm, yeah. Sure." Cali said with hesitancy, seeing that everything on the table looked more like sculptures made of coal.

"I... figured." Rarity said as she sniffed a glass of black tar-like liquid. "I didn't know you could burn juice."

"I've been giving her lessons." Cookie Crumbs explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's got a cutie mark in fancy cooking by the time we get back from our vacation."

"I honestly doubt it..." Cali though as she stared at the table, smelling the smoke coming off of it, but Rarity reacted differently.

"V-vacation?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Is that this week? As in 'starting this very instant' this week?!"

"Yep!" Sweetie bell said as she put a bowl of... bubbling... burnt... liquid?.. on the table.

"Uhhh, is that applesauce?" Cali asked.

"Nope, toast." Sweetie said proudly, getting a dumbfounded look from Cali. "We're gonna have the bestest time two sisters could ever have!" She said as she hugged Rarity. "I'm gonna go grab my stuff from Dad's wagon." Once she left the boutique, Rarity began to question her parents.

"So, now, when you say 'a week'... is that, um, seven whole days?"

"And six nights, I know! Such a short time to spend with your little sis." Cookie Crumbles smiled.

"Huh, well hope y'all have a good time." Cali wished.

"Thank ya kindly."

"But I've got such a long to-do list." Rarity began to plead.

"Rarity! She's your sister, right?" Cali exclaimed. "You make room for family!" Rarity looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Yes, you are right. Oh well, I suppose 'spend time with your sister' will just have to be added to the list." She said before another crash was heard by the door. When they looked, they saw Sweetie Belle in front of a mountain of suitcases.

"Just a few necessities."

Cali decided that, since there wasn't any immediate danger, she would go about her original plan. Once she left, she took her time to look around for good ideas. Unfortunately, she was having some trouble, and was not sitting at a table thinking.

"Mmm, why is it so hard to think of things to do?" Cali thought to herself. "Why is it when I'm speaking my opinion, I have no problem on what to say, but when I'm thinking of something like this I can't think of one thing." After staring forward for a few seconds, her head fell onto the table face first. "*sigh* I suck at this..." As she was sitting there upset, a voice caught her attention.

"How's the sleepover at Rarity's goin'?" Raising her head up, she looked to her side to see that both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were near her, the latter with a flyer with her.

"Why, it's smashing!" Sweetie said, mimicking her sister, confusing Applebloom and Cali who began to get up.

"Okay kid, what's with the sarcasm?" She asked, surprising the two.

"Oh, howdy Cali. Didn't see ya there." Applebloom admitted.

"Don't worry about it, I did join in unannounced." Cali said with a wave. "I need to ask though, what's up Sweetie Belle? I thought you were excited to hang out with Rarity. What gives?"

"I just wish we could do something special together that didn't include me goofing anything up." Sweetie replied upset.

"Did something happen?" Cali asked.

"Well I tried to help her today but everything I did ended up being a nuisance to her."

"Hmm, sounds like something she'd reason with." Cali admitted.

"Well, why not try The Sisterhooves Social together!" Applebloom recommended as she showed the flyer she had to Sweetie Belle. "Applejack an' I do it every year! You an' Rarity can compete against other sister teams in all these neat events!"

"That sounds like the perfect way for us to hang out!" Sweetie Belle said as she took the flyer and began to run off back to the boutique. "Rarity will think it's an excellent idea." Once Sweetie Belle ran off, Cali began to get interested.

"Sisterhooves Social? What's that kid?"

"It's a competition where sisters compete in a race and whoever wins in it wins a trophy. Me and Applejack compete every year." Applebloom explained, catching Cali's attention.

"Really? Hmm. I wonder..." Cali thought for a bit before smiling at the small farmhand. "Hey kid? Do you think I could talk to your sister?"

A Bit of Time and Some Walking Later

Applebloom led Cali from town over to Sweet Apple Acres where Applejack was working. After a bit of time looking around, they managed to find the pony moving around some hay bales.

"Hey AJ." Cali said waving, catching the attention of Applejack.

"Howdy Cali. What brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you about something. I heard something from your sister about a 'Sisterhooves Social', and I wanted to know more." Cali's question managed to confuse Applejack.

"Why are you interested in it? You don't have a sister, right?"

"Well, yeah. But I wanted to see if I could enter with Jasmine." Cali admitted. "It's... *sigh*. I'm going to have to explain, aren't I?"

"Well, it would clear up some things." Applejack concluded, earning another sigh from Cali.

"Yeah, I figured. Well, long story short, Jasmine's kinda in a bad mood. She's going through something and isn't herself right now."

"Shoot, I'm sorry for her." Applejack sympathized. "Do you know what she's going through?"

"Erm, sorta. I'm not allowed to say though, I promised that I wouldn't say." Cali said.

"Oh, I'll respect that."

"Anyway, I said that I would help her by getting her mind off it and doing something with her. When I heard of the event from Applebloom here, I though maybe this would be something that she would like and help her get over what's got her down."

"And you think that this'll help her?"

"Well, I was thinking about the whole thing, and I think a part of what's got her down is her daily life. If she's not over at the spa, she's not really doing much outside of sitting up on a cloud and thinking or reading. And usually when something happens, it's not very calm like Nightmare Night." Cali explained, thinking about all that's happened. When she was thinking about what Applebloom told her before coming over, she realized that a lot of the time the group got caught up in something serious, so she thought a simple event like this would help her cheer up. Applejack put a hoof to her chin and thought for a bit. "And before you say anything about us not being sisters, I know we aren't. But ever since coming here and hanging out with you and the others, I feel like I've gotten closer to Jasmine than most of you. So much so that I'm starting to see her as my sister. No offence by the way."

"None taken. And if you think that this is something that will help her, then I'll talk to Granny. She's helping out this year, so I'm sure we can fit you in."

"Thanks AJ. You're too kind." As the two were talking, Applebloom noticed something coming their way.

"Huh, isn't that Sweetie Belle?" The two stopped their conversation to look at where Applebloom was, and sure enough Sweetie Belle was coming their way, but she seemed quite sad.

"Yeah, it is. But why's she coming here?" Cali asked as she went over to Sweetie Belle. "Hey kid, what's got you down?"

"Rarity." She answered bluntly, catching Cali off guard. Deciding that this was something that needed explaining, she brought her over to the others so that she could talk it out. After some time, Sweetie Belle explained what happened after Cali left Carousel Boutique, from multiple mishaps that Sweetie did to them severing their relationship after Rarity not wanting to do the Social. Once finished, the three had different reactions to Sweetie's story.

"'Uncouth'?" Applejack exclaimed, shocked at the description Rarity gave. "She said the Sisterhooves Social was 'uncouth'?"

"Yeah! Uncouth?" Applebloom continued, taking a bite out of an apple. "Wait. What's uncouth?"

"It's not just the Social. She thinks I'm uncouth." Sweetie said, offended at what Rarity thought.

"Honey, Rarity thinks everything's uncouth." Applejack comforted as Applebloom walked over to her sister.

"What's uncouth?" Applebloom asked with a mouth full of apple.

"It means uncivil. Y'know, bad mannered?" Applejack explained, getting a burp from her little sister in response. "Exactly."

"Lovely." Cali deadpanned. Her reaction to Sweetie's story was more mixed than the others. While she did feel sorry for Sweetie, she also thought that something was off.

"Sweetie Belle, just give Rarity some time. She'll come around. Sisters always do." Applejack consoled, putting a hoof over Applebloom. Sweetie Belle simple looked away in shame.

"Not sisters like Rarity." The three were worried about Sweetie Belle's situation. But while the Apples were thinking about her and trying to cheer her up, Cali was thinking something else.

"Come on, now." Applejack said with a grin. "Apple Bloom and I got some chores to finish up on. Maybe you can help out."

"You sure you want me to help? I just mess everything up!" Sweetie whined.

"Oh come on, that's just stinking thinking." Applejack waved it off before walking over to an open field with a bunch of rotten apples. "Watch." Applejack then picked up one of the rotters by the stem and tossed it into the air. The apple flew in the air for a bit before landing into a bucket that Applebloom was holding. This continued for a bit with Applejack tossing rotten apples into the air and Applebloom catching them in the bucket, laughing as they did it. Cali and Sweetie Belle watched them, getting confused looks from them.

"This is a chore?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

"Since we can't sell the bruised apples, we gotta collect them all for the pigs to eat." Applejack answered before tossing another apple.

"It's a lot of work, so we make a game out of it." Applebloom explained.

"Ah, making a chore more enjoyable. Makes sense." Cali commented.

"Wanna try?" Applebloom asked Sweetie Belle.

"Um, okay!" Sweetie Belle nodded with a small smile as Applejack kicked an apple towards her. However, the apple landed on Sweetie Belle's horn instead. "Ow!" She said, rubbing her head with her hoof.

"Ooh, you okay kid?" Cali asked, leaning down to help her.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Sweetie confirmed. "You're right, it is hard work."

"That's why we do it, together!" Apple Bloom spoke up as, finishing up with Applejack.

"Hmph, Rarity never wants to do chores together." Sweetie said with an irritated expression. Saying that, Cali looked at her with a mixed expression.

"I'm honestly starting to doubt her."

Later, at Sundown

As the day went on, both Cali and Sweetie Belle continued to follow the Apple sisters around the farm as the two did chores around the area. As they did, they watched how close the two were as they were not only able to get over small things each of them did but also how well they worked together. Sweetie Belle was felling quite jealous at them, but Cali was more focused on her. Once the two sisters were done with their chores it was sundown, so Applejack suggested that they camp out for a bit around a campfire, to which the others agreed to do so. Now they were sat around one roasting marshmallows, with Cali setting up a tent for them (she was going to head back home once she finished and had a marshmallow) It was pretty nice and quiet for them until...

"Sweetie Belle!" The group looked over to a hill leading to them, and on it was none other than Rarity who was running over to them. "Oh, I have been galloping all over looking for you. I-" Once Rarity made it to her sister however, Sweetie Belle only turned her head away.

"Hello un-sister." Sweetie Belle spoke in full sarcasm. "What are you doing here? Better be careful, you might get some dust on you." The other three looked at them in worry, wondering about how this will go and if this will only make things worse.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle! I want to apologize! We are not better off without each of our sisters!" Rarity pleaded.

"I'm not better off without a sister either." Sweetie Belle admitted. "Spending the day with Applejack and Apple Bloom made me realize that." Rarity smiled as she began to reach in for a hug

"Oh, Sweetie, you don't know how happy I am to hear-" She was cut off however as Sweetie Belle swatted her hoof away.

"And that's why I'm adopting Applejack as my big sister!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, hugging Applejack's leg, shocking all of them.

"WHAT!?" Rarity screamed.

"What?!" Both Applejack and Applebloom yelled out.

"...What?" Cali said confused, and a bit off-put.

"A sister is someone who loves and takes care of another sister. Applejack's a real sister." Sweetie Belle explained. Applejack however, wasn't thinking this was a good idea also.

"H-Hold on, Sweetie Belle. Don't get ahead of yourself here." Applejack started nervously.

"Besides, she's my big sister!" Applebloom said as she gripped Applejack's other leg, making her nervous again.

"Or maybe she should be your sister, so she could teach you what a good sister is supposed to be!" Sweetie said to Rarity, making the whole situation more uncomfortable.

"Heh, um, actually, I-"

"But I don't need lessons on being a good sister, I-I promise!" Rarity pleaded. " Listen! I'll show you how to cook my favorite quiche! Or, or, I'll show you the proper way to beautify your mane. Won't that be fun? Hm?" Sweetie Belle however didn't look as happy.

"Hm! You want me to go home with you, so we can do what you wanna do?" Sweetie asked angrily.

"Uh... yes?" Cali facepalmed at Rarity's answer.

"Just forget it!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she walked away, upset at the whole thing. Watching her leave, Cali began to think again about Sweetie's stance on the situation.

"I'm gonna go now, see ya." Cali said as she waved and left, leaving the others confused at what happened and why she left then. When Cali left however, she didn't aim for home, but instead for Sweetie Belle. She didn't have to look much however as as she found her sitting by a tree. "Hey kid, got a minute?" Sweetie Belle looked up at Cali, her eyes filled with mixed emotions.

"Sure." Cali went over and sat next to her. After a second of silence, Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Let me guess, you want me to forgive her so we can be sisters, right."

"Not exactly." Cali admitted, confusing Sweetie Belle. "I've been thinking about how you've been acting about this, and I think you need to apologize too." Cali's explanation shocked Sweetie Belle.

"What!? Why should I?!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "All I've done is try to help her!"

"Well, have you thought about what she's thinking?" Cali asked. Sweetie hesitated for a second, which gave Cali all the proof she needed. "Listen, I know all you wanted was to help your sister out today, but I think you never thought about what she's going through. She's a busy pony, so she may not have all the time in the world for you, but she still loves you. And besides, you haven't exactly been the best sister either." Sweetie looked at her with a face that portrayed confusion. "I mean, you did touch her stuff without asking, and I'm sure that no one likes it when someone else touches something important." Cali's words hit Sweetie Belle, thinking about the things that she did. "Take it from someone who's living in a house with three others, Not everyone's going to want to do something or even have the time. Just be considerate of them, that's just what family does." Cali then got up. "I'm going to head home, I'll see you tomorrow kid." As Cali was walking away from Sweetie, the small foal was thinking about her words, wondering if her sister really was that unkind to her.

Later at the Human Household

When Cali made it home the sun had set and night took place. Of course Cali didn't mind getting home late, but she was a tad bit worried about the others, mostly Jasmine. When she entered the house, she saw that the guys were simply sitting around a table in the living room, playing cards.

"Looks like you two keep busy." Cali said, getting their attention.

"Ah, welcome back Cali." Huston greeted.

"Did your search go well?" Xavier asked, putting his hand down.

"I think it did, but there was quite the ordeal that happened." Cali responded.

"Oh, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later. For now I'm going to check with Jasmine."

"She's been held up in her room all day, so good luck." Huston said, getting a thumbs-up from Cali as she went up the stairs to Jasmine's room before knocking.

"Hey Jas, it's me. You awake?"

"Mmm, yeah." A voice spoke from the other side, prompting Cali to open the door to see Jasmine still in bed moping.

"Hey there, how ya holding up?" Cali asked.

"Mmm, okay." Jasmine said, her tone a bit less depressed than this morning.

"That's good to hear." Cali said. "Now, I think I've found something that might be interesting." Cali then went over to Jasmine's bed and sat on it, telling her about what she found out, mostly about the Sisterhooves Social while keeping out everything about the situation with the Belle sisters. Once she was done, Cali looked at Jasmine and smiled. "So, sound interesting?"

"Well, kind of. But isn't that only for sisters?"

"Yeah, but I talked with Applejack and she said she'll see about getting us in despite that." Cali explained.

"Okay..." Jasmine thought for a bit about the situation, weighting the options. After a bit of that, Jasmine made up her mind. "Well, if you think it'll be fun, I guess we can go." Cali smiled at that.

"That's good. And don't worry, this will be fun, trust me." Cali said as she stood up and walked to the door. "Better get some rest, tomorrow's a big day after all." Jasmine nodded and wrapped her blanket over her, drifting to sleep and getting a smirk from Cali as she closed the door.

The Next Day

The day of the Sisterhooves social came, and many sisters across the town were excited. Of course, not all were actually sisters or ponies as two humans entered the area, one with a bit of a sad look on her.

"Well, here we are." Cali said, raising an arm to emphasize it. "How's it look?"

"It looks... nice." Jasmine admitted.

"That's good." Cali said as she reached for something inside of a satchel she had with her. "I got you something, sorry but I didn't have time to wrap it." What Cali pulled out was a pair of boots, nothing too fancy but they were nice. Although, Jasmine didn't exactly know what to think. "I know, not impressive to look at, but I asked Twilight if there was a spell out there to protect against things like mud and such, and turns out there was. So these boots are enchanted to keep you clean from today's activities."

"Oh wow, t-thank you." Jasmine said, her voice with genuine thankfulness in it as she took them and put them on. "I-I'll cherish them."

"Now there's no need to go that far, Jas. After all they aren't the main thing we're here for." Cali said, getting a nod from Jasmine. When Cali was looking around the place, Cali noticed something. "Hey Jas. Why don't you go look around? I'll catch up with you before the race." Jasmine was a bit hesitant to leave her, but she trusted her enough to not abandon her, so she did as she went over to look at some of the events. When she left, Cali's attention went to what took her's a moment ago, that being the Apple sisters and Sweetie Belle walking around. When Cali looked at them, she saw that Sweetie Belle didn't have the happiest expression on her, it was a mix between sadness, anger, and just a hint of guilt. She wanted to go over to see them, but she heard the horn that signaled the race was about to start. When Cali was going over to the meeting place, she took one last glance over to the three to see that Applejack's hat and a green bandana was on Sweetie Belle, giving the impression that she was going to team up with her for the race. Once Cali met up with Jasmine, they looked up on a stage to see Granny Smith on a rocking chair, messing around with a megaphone.

"Is this thing on?" Granny Smith wondered aloud through the megaphone, accidentally rotating the megaphone backwards. "Ehh...I don't think this thing is on. Hello?" It wasn't until Big Mac went up to her and whispered into her ear did she realize the problem. "What is the...oh. You have to say so. Confangled modern doohickeys." Granny Smith said, smacking the stand the megaphone was on so it spun back to face the right way. "Now, the event you've all been waiting for! The Sister Soci...The Socialhoof..." Granny fumbled with her words for a bit before giving up. "Oh dabnabbit, you know, the big race! We have five teams this year for the event! So you all head on up to the finish line, you hear?" Big Mac once again went up to her ear and whispered to her. "The start line!....That's what I said." With that, the teams went over to the starting line to get ready.

"Alright Jas, let's give it our all out there." Cali encouraged with a fist pump. Jasmine looked at her for a second before smiling.

"Okay, let's do it." She said as she looked forward with a determined look in her eyes.

"And may the best sisters win!" Granny Smith announced as she continued rocking her chair. "On your marks...get set..." As the teams of sisters readied themselves, Granny Smith moved too far on her rocking chair and accidentally poked her eye with the megaphone, but the teams weren't focused on that and were only ready to race. "GOOOO!"

The teams all shot off quickly, all of them aiming for first place. Their first obstacle was a simple mud pit, it wasn't the biggest thing to worry about, but it was enough to slow anyone down if they got caught in it. For the human pair, it wasn't difficult as they easily leapt over the pit. As they were running along however, Cali heard Applejack's name be shouted by Sweetie Belle, making her guess she fell in. She was a bit worried, but she didn't dwell on it since this was a race, no mercy.

The next two obstacles weren't too difficult either for the humans being a barrel step and a bunch of crates stacked up, but then again they were quite easy for humans to do, leaving them in first place. Their first actual obstacle was approaching however, as it was something that Jasmine wouldn't like, pie eating. It wasn't the pie that was the problem though, it was the way they ate them, no utensils or even slices, just faceplant into it, and it was obvious on Jasmine's face that she wasn't happy about it. At least, until she looked over to Cali, who was looking at her with concern, not because of the race, but of how Jasmine would feel about it. Her looking at Jasmine like that sparked something in her, so she decided to do one thing, and plunged into the pie to finish it. This action shocked Cali, since she thought that it would take longer to convince her, but she didn't dwell on it long as she dived into hers, since this was a race. When they each finished their pies, they were still in the lead as all the other contestants were still eating theirs, but it would change since while Jasmine was cleaning her face off from the pie, Sweetie Belle and Applejack, who was covered in an absurd amount of mud, came in and ate their pies in one bite, shocking the two and letting them know that the race was just getting started.

The two teams were always neck on neck with each other, each in hopes of shaving a second or two off their times as to win. At the grape stomping, both Applejack and Cali tossed all the grapes they had into their respective vats in one go, then giving a boost their younger teammates to land into the vats. When Sweetie Belle and Jasmine landed into their vats, they began to stomp their grapes, fast enough to finish at nearly the exact time. With their jars of grape juice on stools, the two teams ran to the next event. It was an event similar to what Applejack and Applebloom were doing yesterday, as there was a basket to catch apples that were laid out. The two teams didn't waste time however as while the younger members grabbed their baskets, the older ones leapt and slammed their tables that held the apples, sending them all flying like a catapult. Fortunately, the two baskets were held high, and in one swift act all the apples in the sky landed into the baskets, letting the two teams move forward.

After the two groups finished balancing eggs on their noses, it was a sprint to the finish. The two sister teams were neck and neck with each other, and neither of them wanted to lose. After a bit, they saw the finish line rapidly approaching them, so the picked it up. When they all got close enough to the finish line, they all jumped forward, leaving a cloud of dust upon impact. It was tense to wait for the dust clear and reveal the winners, and when it did there were only two arms across the line, and those arms belonged to two humans. When the two realized what happened, the got up shocked as a referee brought over a blue ribbon. Handing the ribbon over to Jasmine, the spectators that watched the race came from the stands and picked them up for a victory lap. While Cali was thrilled that they won, Jasmine's reaction was very different.

"Whoo, we won the race Jas!" Cali called to her friend. "How's that for a-" When Cali turned to Jasmine however, she was shocked and concerned to see that Jasmine had tears streaming down her face. "GAH! You okay?! Did you get hurt or did something get ripped, or-"

"N-no." Jasmine wiped the tears away. "I-I'm just so happy that we won! This has been the best birthday ever!" As Jasmine was expressing her joy, the crowd overheard what she said.

"Wait, it's your birthday?" Somepony in the crowd asked, to which Jasmine nodded without realizing what they said, going wide-eyed after what she did. "Well then happy birthday to you." The crowd soon put the two down and surrounded Jasmine, all of them giving her heartfelt wishes and congratulations for her birthday. All of them wishing her happy birthday was enough to move her to tears, and they flowed. Watching this scene was Cali, crossed armed and smirking.

"I say today has been successful." Cali said out loud. She then looked over at the finish line, curious on how her opponents were fairing. Surprising her though was Rarity at the finish line, hugging her little sister, said sister was hugging her back. "Huh, when'd she get here? And when did she make up with her?' Cali simply shrugged at the scene. "Eh, whatever. They made up with each other, so I can't complain."

"Cali!" Cali looked over to Jasmine to see here running over but wasn't prepared for her to jump onto her with a hug. "Thank you for this! I can't thank you enough!"

"Heh, no problem... sis." Cali responded, under her breath at the end as to not let Jasmine know. One thing was for sure though, the two's bond grew even closer and were ready to take the world together.

May the Best Pet Win

View Online

"Never thought I would see a leopard gecko get along with a fox so well."

"You and me both."

It was a day like any other, with all four humans inside the house. While Huston and Jasmine were out to enjoy the day, Xavier and Cali were in the living room, watching the two pets of the house Gex and Rune interact with each other. The way they were was that Gex was on Rune's head as she walked around the house, the two having the times of their lives.

"It's better than them fighting or trying to eat one another I guess." Cali shrugged, but Xavier shuttered.

"Please don't mention that. I don't even want to think about Rune like that." Xaiver mentioned as Rune walked over to them, giving them a smile. Xavier shook the thought out of his head and smiled at the fox and picked her up, along with carefully taking Gex off her head and handing him to Cali. "Isn't that right, my cute little fox." He began to nuzzle the artic fox who began to chitter with glee from the affection. Cali simply rolled her eyes at the two.

"You two are something else." Cali smirked. It wasn't until a knock at the door did Xavier stop his affection. The two went over to the door to answer, and when Xavier opened the door they were greeted by their pony friends.

"Oh, hello girls, what are you doing here?" Xavier asked, Rune managing to squirm her way out of his grasp and run to Applejack's side to a dog that was next to her, the two starting to play. "Who's that?"

"This here is Winnona." Applejack answered. "She's the family's pet."

"Ah, well nice to meet you." Xaiver greeted, the dog yapping in response. Xavier then noticed that the rest of the girls had their pets with them, and he also noticed that Rainbow wasn't with them. "So, what exactly is going on?"

"We wanted to invite you to our Pony Pet Playdate this week." Pinkie responded, hopping up and down with Gummy on her tail, either clinging on for dear life of just existing, they couldn't tell.

"Pony Pet Playdate?" Cali asked, Gex crawling around on her arm up to her shoulder.

"It's a little get-together we have with our pets." Fluttershy explained. "We thought you would want to join so..."

"Ah, gotcha. Well I'm free for today so I can." Xavier agreed as he scooped up Rune into his arms.

"I guess me and Gex can come too, if he wants to that is." Cali said, looking at her shoulder to see Gex's reaction, to which he smiled. "Looks like he wants to come too, so we're in."

"Great. Let's go then." The group then left the house and went for the park. During the walk, Xavier needed to ask something.

"So, is Rainbow going to join us at the park?" The ponies all looked amongst themselves nervously, concerning him. "Is everything okay?"

"It's nothing to be concerned about, but she actually doesn't have a pet." Twilight answered.

"She doesn't?"

"Nope."

"We were planning on inviting her anyway, but..." Fluttershy began, but she seemed nervous to finish.

“But she would probably rather take her afternoon beauty sleep than spending time for the Ponyville Pet Playdate.” Rarity finished for her.

“Yeah, besides, I think she wouldn’t be missing out on this.” Applejack added.

"Ah, that makes sense." Xavier agreed, knowing how much she liked to sleep in. After some walking, Rune began to get antsy, so she squirmed out of Xavier's grasp and leapt over to Rarity's back where her cat, Opal, was napping. This startled Opal enough to hop off of Rarity's back, hissing. Of course, Rune didn't see this as a threat but rather an invitation to play, so she began to chase the cat. "Hey, Rune! Don't do that!" Xavier than ran ahead of the group to try and catch her. When he managed to catch up, he was surprised to see not only Rainbow, but Jasmine and Huston at the park. And unfortunately, Opal and Rune managed to disturb them, with Huston holding a sketchpad under a tree that Rainbow seemed to be sleeping in, where the cat was next to Rainbow hissing as Rune simply yapped at her, Jasmine watching from above from a cloud. "Gah, sorry everyone." Xavier yelled out, getting the three's attention. "Rune thought Opal was playing with her."

"It's okay, Xavier. The two didn't do any harm." Huston explained as Xavier picked Rune back up.

"Still, I'm sorry. Say you're sorry too, Rune. To everyone, including Opal." Xavier scolded. While Rune was still happy, she seemed to get that what she did wasn't good, so she bowed her head to apologize.

"Hm, well apology accepted." Huston accepted as Rainbow and Jasmine descended to the two guys' level. It was then that the rest of the group caught up to Xavier and regrouped with him, Opal climbing down the tree to rest back on her owner's back.

"What are you all doing out here?" Rainbow asked.

"Why, we always round up our critters for a regular ol' Pony Pet Playdate in this park." Applejack explained. "Cali and Xavier are joining us today as well."

“Uh…you do?” Rainbow questioned.

“Same time every week.”

"Wait, you didn't know?" Fluttershy questioned, to which Rainbow shook her head. "I thought she knew."

"Well, we had initially planned on inviting Rainbow, of course, except–" Twilight began, trying to make it not sound insensitive, at least until a pink blur popped up in front of Twilight.

“We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow, then Twilight remembered that you don’t even have a pet, and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon, so Applejack figured you wouldn’t be missing out on anything away, and we told Renny and the others about you not owning a pet while Fluttershy and I nodded our heads like this.” Pinkie explained, finishing by taking Fluttershy's head into her hooves and making her nod to emphasize the point.

“Oh, please don’t be mad at us.” Fluttershy pleaded.

“Oh, I’m not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a Pony Pet Playdate for me if I’m a pony without a pet, right?” Rainbow asked.

"Okay, but what about you two?" Cali asked, turning to Jasmine and Huston.

"Well, Rainbow does have a point in not having a reason to be here without a pet." Jasmine began.

"I agree, we can't really participate without a pet." Huston added.

“Eeexactly. So, if now you’ll excuse us…” Applejack said, picking up and throwing a stick for Winona to fetch, the rest of the group joining in soon after. While they were having fun with their pets, Cali noticed that the three outliers were trying to get back to what they were doing, but were failing since they were distracted by the activities.

"Hey, Ya'll okay?" Cali asked.

"Well, it would be a lie to say I wasn't interested in having a pet of my own." Huston explained.

"Yeah, same." Jasmine admitted.

"It would be nice to have one too." Rainbow added. While the others were mostly distracted by their pets, one certain animal lover overheard them.

"Really? You really want a pet?" Fluttershy asked excited, somehow managing to push Cali out of the way despite her being stronger than her. "Really? 'Cause I've got so many wonderful choices at my house! Oh, and I know you'll just love them!" Fluttershy then grabbed Rainbow and began to fly away, but Rainbow's back legs were being dragged as Fluttershy didn't have the strength to go high with her. "And they'll love you! Oh, and you'll be best friends forever and ever! Oh!" Rainbow, seeing as how she wasn't going to get out of this, began to flap her wings to help Fluttershy fly. Huson and Jasmine looked at each other for a second before nodding and following along, wanting to have a pet for themselves as well.

Following the two pegasi, both Huston and Jasmine stopped when Fluttershy and Rainbow landed near the shy one's cottage. Waiting there was a large amount of animals, all of them curious on what they were doing there.

Now, Rainbow, my dear, I cannot express my delight
It's abundantly clear
That somewhere out here
Is the pet that will suit you just right

I can't wait to get started, but first let me set a few rules
It's of utmost importance
The pet that I get
Is something that's awesome and cool

Awesome, cool, got it!

I have so many wonderful choices, just wait, you will see

I need something real fast like a bullet to keep up with me

Sure! How 'bout a bunny?
They're cutesy and wootsie and quick as can be

Cutesy? Wootsie? Have you even met me?

Rainbow, have faith
You see, I will bet you
Somewhere in here is the pet that will get you

Come on, the sky's the limit!

Sky is good. I'd like it to fly.

As the two were looking over the options, a tortoise became interested in Rainbow, and began to waddle slowly to her.

Really? Because I think this widdle puddy tat has your name written all over it. Yes, he does. Aww, look, he likes you!

Pass.

I have so many wonderful choices for you to decide
There are otters and seals
With massive appeal

Otters and seals do not fly.

Maybe not, but I've seen this particular seal catch ten feet of air when he breaches the water!

That's it. I'm outta here.

As Rainbow was walking away, the tortoise from before managed to catch up to her and tried to tap her, but she walked away before it could.

Wait! There must be a pet here
That will fit the ticket
How 'bout a ladybug, or a cute cricket?

Bigger. And cooler.

Bigger, cooler. Right.

I've got just the thing in that tree, Dash
Meet your new fabulous pet, Squirrely!

Fluttershy then flew up to a tree and pulled a rope in it, making the leaves move like they were a curtain. Inside was a squirrel like Fluttershy said, though Rainbow wasn't impressed.

It's just a squirrel.

Not just any squirrel. A flying squirrel!

Fluttershy then picked it up and lifted it up, to which the squirrel hopped off her hooves and glided down, landing at Rainbow's feet.

...Yeah. So, like I was saying...

Fluttershy, pal, this won't cut it
I need a pet to keep up with me
Something awesome, something flying
With coolness that defies gravity!

I'm sensing you want an animal that can fly.

Ya think?

I have plenty of wonderful creatures who soar in the sky
Like a sweet hummingbird or a giant monarch butterfly

Better, but cooler.

I see. How 'bout an owl, or a wasp, or a toucan?
There's so many wonderful creatures the likes of that
There are falcons and eagles
They are both quite regal
Or perhaps what you need is a dark and mysterious bat?

Now you're talking! But instead of just one standout, now that's too many.

So many choices, and such riches aplenty

Not a bad problem to have, if you ask me.

The bat would be awesome, but the wasp I'm digging too
Do you have something in a yellow striped bat?

No. I've got a hot pink flamingo, just dying to meet you

What to do, what to do? *gasp*
A prize! That's it! There's really just one way
To find out which animal's best
Hold a contest of speed, agility, and guts
That will put each pet to the test

Don't forget style, that should be considered

Then we'll know for sure who's best of the litter

The one who is awesomest cool

Just like me
Can't settle for less, 'cause I'm the best

So a contest we will see

Who's the number one, greatest, perfectest pet

In the world for me!

May the games begin!

And may the best pet win!

With the song over, both Huston and Jasmine looked at the two, one more confused than the other.

"Sooo... do the ponies around here always randomly break into song?" Huston asked.

"Yep, they kind of do that." Jasmine admitted, scratching her cheek.

"I see. Well it looks like we have a constant to look forward to."

"Forward to. Rawk" A voice rang out, startling the two humans.

"Who said that." Huston asked, already a bit on guard.

"Said that. Rawk" Huston realized the voice was coming from above them. Looking up, he saw that a blue and green parrot was sitting above the two in a tree.

"Was it you, little one?" Huston asked, this time in a calmer tone than before. He was even getting a bit of enjoyment from it.

"Little one. Rawk." The parrot mimicked, confirming that it was indeed the parrot.

"Aww, how cute. Hi there." Jasmine cooed and greeted, thinking that it would copy her as well. Surprising her however, the parrot only tilted its head as if to show it didn't know what to do.

"Huh, maybe it's done for today." Huston guessed.

"For today. Rawk."

"Or not."

"What's going on over here you two?" The two humans looked over to see that Fluttershy was walking over to them.

"Just having a conversation with a new friend." Huston joked.

"New friend. Rawk"

"Oh, you actually managed to get him to talk!" Fluttershy exclaimed, gaining the attention of Huston.

"Has he never spoken before?" "Spoken for. Rawk"

"Yes, he's never spoken before. It's even stranger since his family is quite noisy." Fluttershy explained.

"Well, maybe he likes Huston. He didn't mimic me." Jasmine stated. Huston looked up at the parrot for a bit before smiling.

"Miss Fluttershy, is it possible to take this little guy?" Huston asked, surprising the group (Even the parrot was surprised since it didn't mimic him for once).

"You want to take him?"

"Well, sure. He seems to like him, and I think he's quite funny. I'll be happy to have him, as long as he's okay-" Huston didn't finish his sentence before the parrot flew down to him and perched himself onto Huston's shoulder.

"Rawk!" The parrot bobbed his head around as if to show that he wanted to stay with Huston, making him chuckle.

"Well, I think he wants to be with me too."

"Okay. I hope you'll take care of him." Fluttershy said, allowing the parrot to live with Huston.

"I will. Thank you." He thanked, giving the parrot a scratch under the chin, it taking the affection happily.

"Where's Rainbow?" Jasmine asked.

"She went to get ready for the contest." Fluttershy explained.

"Ah, she really is doing that, huh?" Huston sighed. "Doing that. Rawk"

"She is. She took most of the animals to get ready. Speaking of..." Fluttershy then turned to Jasmine. "Have you decided on who you want as a pet?"

"Umm, no..." Jasmine admitted. "There's so many options here, I couldn't decide."

"That's okay. No need to rush." Fluttershy comforted. "I can show you some options that I think would fit you well."

"No thanks." Jasmine sighed. "I think I'll watch Rainbow's contest. Maybe I'll find what pet will fit me there."

"Hmm, I'm also quite interested in the contest." Huston admitted. "I wonder how it will go." "Will go. Rawk."

Later

Everyone was now at town hall, with the group all standing on or below the stage of the building with their pets, and Rainbow Dash was in front of them with a hat and whistle that made her look like a sport's coach.

“So! You all think you’ve got what it takes to be my pet, do ya?" Rainbow announced to the group of animals who were all lined up. "Well, we’ll see about that!” She pressed her nose against a flamingo, who let out a long gulp. “If any of you don’t think you can handle it, bow out now before you humiliate yourself in front of your peers. This competition isn’t for the weak. You’d better be prepared to step up your game!” She looked at the competitors and at the monarch butterfly, glaring at it. “You call that flapping?” She asked, making the butterfly flapped its wings harder. “That’s better There’s only room on Team Dash for one of you, and my future pet needs to be able to take it to the extreme! Any questions?”

"Yeah, is this necessary Dash?" Xaiver asked, clearly not understanding the point of the contest.

"Does she even understand what a pet really needs?” Applejack asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, like care and attention, love and affection–" Twilight began to add, at least until she was licked by Winonna. "Ugh! And breath mints!"

"All true, but you also have to think about other things when it comes to a pet. Like the daily life of the owner." Huston added, remembering the song that she and Fluttershy sung before coming here.

"Owner. Rawk"

"So, you chose a parrot as your pet, huh?" Cali questioned lightheartedly, motioning to the parrot that has made itself at home on Huston's shoulder.

"Yeah, he bonded with me quite quickly. I liked him so we fit perfectly. Hmm." Huston brought a hand to his chin as he closed his eyes, thinking about something for a bit. After a bit, he reopened them and smiled. "I think I'll name you, Mohou. That sound good?"

"Mohou. Rawk" The parrot squawked, flapping his wings as if to show he was excited.

"I guess that's that. Welcome to the family Mohou." Huston said welcoming his new pet know named Mohou to the group.

"Rawk. Mohou. Rawk"

"Hey! Quiet over there!" Rainbow yelled out to the group, many of them with different reactions to her calling them out. When Rainbow looked back over to the animals, she noticed that Fluttershy was floating over, pushing the tortoise from before over.

“Now, you just pay attention, and try your best, and-”

"Seriously, Fluttershy! The turtle? What did you bring that thing here for?" Rainbow asked frustrated, clearly not happy that Fluttershy was pushing an animal she didn't want into her plans (Even though said pegasus was helping her)

"Technically he's a tortoise, and he's always dreamed of being somepony's pet. He just wants a chance to compete, he won't get in the way. You won't even know he's here." Fluttershy explained, giving his shell a bit of a polish. The two looked at her hopeful, but Rainbow wasn't convinced.

“No.”

“Oh, just let him try.” Fluttershy pleaded.

“Ugh, but there’s no way he can possibly keep up.” She exclaimed, pushing the turtle away before it accidentally rolled on his back and return to his original position. “Look at him!”

“It won’t hurt to let him try.” Fluttershy said, holding him towards her.

“But-”

"Just let him try?" Fluttershy then pushed the tortoise at Rainbow, practically begging her to let him join.

“Ugh, okay! Okay! Fine!” Fluttershy was pleased and put the tortoise down, but Rainbow immediately went up to it and pressed her nose to it. "But don't say I didn't warn you! This isn't a game, you know!" Rainbow then stood up again and looked amongst the animals. "Alright, now these games will determine which one of you has the most important qualities I'm looking for in a pet. Speed. Agility. Guts. Style. Coolness. Awesomeness. And radicalness." Rainbow explained while flying around showing off each of the categories, ending by standing on her hind legs, crossing her front and posing with sunglasses.

"Aren’t those all the same thing?” Twilight asked, at least before Xavier walked over.

"You would think that, Twilight. Remember that this is Rainbow we're talking about." Xavier explained.

"And that's why you would never be qualified to be my pet." Rainbow said before walking off, the animals following along.

"Speed"

The group was now standing around a track, all the animals lined up at the starting line ready to start, even the tortoise was there. After some moments, Rainbow blew the whistle she had, signaling the flock to start flying. All of them flew off and began to fly laps around the track, well most of them. The tortoise barely made it over the starting live as the rest were doing laps. As they were flying, Rainbow was watching them.

"Sorta speedy... not speedy... pretty speedy... could be more speedy..." She judged. It was then that the falcon let out a cry and bolted forward in a powerful burst of speed, landing right at the finish line. "Yeah, that’s speed!” Rainbow called out excited as the rest of the flock flew in. Once the last of the animals landed, the tortoise finally made it to the start line, but Rainbow simply looked at it with a disapproving look. “That’s just sad.”

"Agility"

The group was now standing around a large number of obstacles, all with the purpose of testing the animals in how agile they were.

“Sorta agile…” Rainbow judged as the monarch butterfly floated through some of the obstacles. Then she looked over to the flamingo, who fell over on a seesaw. “Not agile…” Looking up to the toucan, she saw that it managed to fly through a tube-like obstacle with no problems. “Pretty agile…” Flying up, she watched the bat fly through a hoop. “Could be more agile…” On the ground, the tortoise was watching the others and decided to try and jump. Unfortunately, it didn't make any air as it simply fell forward. "Wanna know the opposite of agility? That.” Rainbow commented before a small, green blur flew past her. That blur flew through each and every obstacle with ease, even doing some twice. Once it came to a stop, it was revealed that the blur was the hummingbird. “Yeah baby, now that’s what I call agility!” She raised her hoof in front of the hummingbird, much to its confusion. “Come on! Don’t leave me hanging!” The hummingbird slapped one of its wings on Rainbow’s hoof, but it made it fall on itself before re-flapping its wings and looked at Dash with a nervous look. “Yeah…I’m gonna have to shave a point off your score for that.”

“Okay! Which of you has the guts to try and get Opal’s favorite toy away from her.”

Now everyone was in a field, with Rainbow standing over a cat-carrier, who opened it to reveal that it was Opal who was very ornery. Seeing her, none of the animals were even willing to look at the cat in fear, all but the monarch who floated over to the cat. Of course, Opal didn't take something coming over to take her toy lightly no matter how small they were, so she bared her claws, ready to strike. The butterfly however stopped flapping its wings and showed the pattern of it, practically confusing and hypnotizing Opal as she simply began to dizzily look forward, allowing the monarch to simply pick up the toy.

“Now that takes guts!” Rainbow exclaimed, impressed by the butterfly’s strategy. Once Opal regained her senses, she looked around for a bit to see that her carrier was tipping over onto her, curtesy of the tortoise. Opal reacted fast enough though and moved from the impact zone to the tortoise, relentlessly scratching his shell as he hid inside. Rainbow simply looked at the display disappointed as she walked away.

“Style!”

Rainbow was now standing on a stage, with Rarity holding a camera. The contest now was more like a photo-opt as each animal took their turn to pose with Rainbow.

“Any pet of mine’s gotta look good, ‘cause you gotta make me look good!” Rainbow explained as Rarity got her ready for the next and last photo, this one was with the tortoise. Once the camera flashed however, the tortoise was startled and he hid in his shell, leaving a photo that had Rainbow giving him a disappointed look

“Coolness!”

Now the contest was about seeing which animal had the coolest sound, at least according to Rainbow. The first animal to go was the owl, who made a simple 'hoot'.

“Sorta cool.”

She then pointed at the duck, which quacked like ducks do.

“Not cool.”

She then pointed at the bat, which made an interesting screech.

“Pretty cool.”

She pointed at the toucan, it's cry sounded... strange to say the least.

“Could be cooler.”

She pointed at the ground, as she looked down to see the wasp as it just let out a buzzing sound.

“Not what I had in mind.”

Pointing to the monarch, the butterfly didn't make a sound since they couldn't make one.

“I can’t hear you!” Rainbow yelled out. She was interrupted by some coughing, and looking to her side she saw the tortoise coughing and hacking, earning a disgusted look from Rainbow. Another cry was heard, this one however was incredibly powerful as it came from the eagle. "Now that's a cool sound!"

The next event was awesomeness, and this event focused more on the things that the animal could do. They started out by watching the bat, who was using its echolocation.

"Sorta awesome.” Rainbow shrugged. She then looked at the toucan, who was... doing something with its tongue. Whatever it was doing, it wasn't impressing Rainbow in the slightest.

“Not awesome.” Looking over at the flamingo, it simply stood on one leg.

“Could be more awesome.” When Rainbow looked over at the owl, it showed its talent of rotating its head in a full 360 turn. This really impressed Rainbow. “Hohoho, yeah, that is awesome!” She was cut off when the tortoise walked up to her and stuck its head into its shell, though Rainbow was not impressed. “Uh, you did that already. That’s pretty much all you can do, huh?” The tortoise felt hurt by her words as it peeked out of its shell, and some of the spectators felt a bit bad for it.

The final event was radicalness, and this one was apparently a talent show. Oddly though, many of the animals were doing things that you'd expect from an actual talent show, from dancing to arts and crafts, much to the humans' confusion.

"Erm, Fluttershy? Did you teach the animals those tricks?" Cali asked.

"Maybe..." It was then the bat's turn, and on stage was a table of glasses. The bat skillfully tapped them, creating a pleasant tune on them before screeching towards them, shattering them.

"Whoa! That was truly awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed; the group also impressed. "But I'm afraid this is the radicalness competition, so I'm gonna have to take some points off." Rainbow earned a facepalm from most of the humans, Jasmine not as she was clearly in awe at what the bat could do. The last participant went last, the tortoise. The tortoise's talent was an obstacle course you would see a daredevil try and attempt, but his attempt was cut short as he couldn't even jump onto the first spring, landing upside down. As the curtains closed and the tortoise flailed about, Rainbow sighed and went up to the stage.

"Listen, turtle..."

"Tortoise."

"Whatever!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You've had your fun, but I think you and I both now who made the cut and who didn't." The tortoise only blinked in confusion before letting out a croak. "You didn't." Rainbow waved her hoof upwards to show the winners in her eyes, the bat, the falcon, the owl, and the eagle. While the ponies were cheering, the humans were focused on Rainbow and the tortoise, not exactly liking Rainbow's attitude. "I mean... 'A' for effort and everything, you gave it your best shot, maybe I've got a gold star sticker around here somewhere you can have, but, seriously, go home. You're starting to creep me out." The tortoise simply stared at her with pleading eyes, thought Rainbow wasn't phased. "So, anyway, you're all outstanding competitors, but there can only be one of you who's number one." She announced to the winners, all of which were curious as to what the final test was. "So the final, tie-breaking contest is going to be..." She turned away for a moment. "...Pause for dramatic effect...a race against...me! Through Ghastly Gorge! Dun dun dun!"

"Ghastly gorge? Sounds a bit extreme." Cali called out, clearly thinking that this wasn't the best plan.

"Nah, it's okay." Rainbow waved it off. "Ghastly Gorge isn't scary. It's fun. Heh. I've flown through it a million times myself." Rainbow bragged, getting mixed reactions. "So naturally, I'll be up front. Whichever one of you makes it across the finish line with me will be granted the title and honor of being my pet."

"Are you sure this is wise, Dash?" Xavier asked concerned. "This seems a bit much, even for you."

"Like I said, I've flown through a million times. It'll be okay." Rainbow said confidently as she took flight. "I'll lead these guys to the starting line, I'll see you guys at the finish." With that, Rainbow took off for the gorge, the four winners following along.

"*Sigh* She really doesn't get it, does she?" Huston asked. "Does she. Rawk"

"Not really." Xavier answered with a sigh.

"Well, we're going to the finish line. See ya there." Applejack said as she and the rest of the ponies left.

"I guess we should follow?" Cali suggested. When the humans were about to move out as well, they noticed that the tortoise was walking in the direction that Rainbow went. "Um, the tortoise seems quite determined."

"I can tell." Xavier confirmed. As they were watching the tortoise move slowly, Mohou flew from Huston's shoulder and landed on the tortoise's shell.

"Rawk!"

"Mohou? What's up buddy?" Huston asked. Surprisingly, Mohou didn't mimic Huston as he simply squawked continuously, flapping his wings as if to try and take flight with the tortoise. "Do you, want to help the tortoise become Rainbow's pet?" Mohou stopped for a moment and looked at his new owner and began to nod furiously. "You are? Hmm..."

"I mean, Rainbow wasn't exactly fair when it came to judging." Cali mentioned.

"I can agree on that. That pony." Xaiver added with a shake of his head. "Still, you have to admit the little guy has some guts, more so than that butterfly. And that's saying something."

"Do you think we should help him too?" Jasmine asked, the other three humans thinking for a bit.

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try." Huson shrugged.

"I'm down." Cali joined.

"I think you should take him to Rainbow, Jasmine. You're the only one who has the best chance of meeting up with her." Xavier suggested.

"U-um. Sure." Jasmine agreed hesitantly since she was a bit nervous about going to a place called Ghastly Gorge, but she was going to put on a brave face for her friends. So she took the tortoise in her arms and summoned her cloud, ready to take flight. Before she did however, Mohou flew next to her and began squawking.

"Mohou? Do you want to follow along?" Huston asked.

"Follow along. Rawk" Mohou mimicked as if to respond.

"You can I guess, as long as it's okay with miss Jasmine."

"Oh, it's fine. I don't mind the company." Jasmine agreed as she began to float upwards. "I'll meet you at the finish line with Rainbow. See you in a bit." Jasmine said, flying away with a tortoise in her arms and a parrot flying behind.

"Now that I'm looking at it, I'm starting to regret coming."

Jasmine was now a couple meters above Ghastly Gorge, a large canyon that had a very ominous look to it. There was a lot inside, from cactus-like bramble patches to rivers that seemed far too deep. The most unnerving thing though was the many large holes that littered the walls of the canyon. All and all, it was not a place that could be described as 'not scary'.

"Why does she think that this place is safe?" Jasmine thought out loud. "This place looks like a death trap." As she was floating along, she wasn't paying attention and lowered downwards, coming close to one of the holes. As she got closer, Mohou flew a bit past her. When he did, he passed the hole they were nearing, and shooting out was a giant, scarlet eel-like head, aiming to have a bite of parrot. Fortunately, Mohou saw it coming and flew upwards, just fast enough to avoid getting snacked on. Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the giant creature was enough to scare Jasmine greatly. "What in the world is that?!" Jasmine screamed as the eel creature reeled back into its hole. Looking around, she concluded that all the holes belonged to those beasts, so she and Mohou carefully descended to the ground, careful as to not pass over any more holes. "I guess we're walking from her. *Sigh*"

"HELP ME! HELP!" Jasmine jumped in fright at the sudden shout, but soon recognized the voice and tone.

"Oh no, Rainbow!" Jasmine ran past the eels to the voice, and when she made it she saw that Rainbow was next to a large pile of rocks and boulders, and one of her wings was lodged underneath one of them. "Rainbow! Are you okay?"

"Jasmine?! Wahoo! My prayers have been answered!" Rainbow cheered. "Yeah, I'm okay. But for some reason an avalanche started all of the sudden and my wing got caught."

"What about the other animals?" Jasmine asked as Mohou perched himself onto the boulder Rainbow's wing was trapped under.

"They're okay, but they all flew ahead without helping me." Rainbow sighed.

"Well that's... um..." Jasmine was struggling to find the right words to say to comfort Rainbow. As she was struggling, the tortoise managed to squirm his way out of Jasmine's grasp and began to walk towards Rainbow.

"You?! What's he doing here?!" Rainbow demanded.

"Well, I kinda came to try and get you to give the little guy another chance with you..." Jasmine admitted, prompting Mohou to begin squawking again.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "Great! Just great! Not only am I doomed! But stuck here with the annoying turtle in all of Equestria!"

"Tortoise. Rawk"

"WHATEVER!!!" Rainbow's emotions were pretty uncontrolled, which was understandable. As they were arguing, the tortoise was doing a bit of digging around the boulder before sticking his head inside of the hole.

"Um..." Jasmine took notice of the tortoise and grew curious. Before she could question it however, the boulder that Rainbow's wing was under began to shake, prompting Mohou to fly off squawking. The boulder began to rise and move, enough so that Rainbow could get her wing out from underneath it.

"Woah..." Rainbow murmured in awe as she removed her wing. "What did you do Jasmine?"

"I didn't do anything." She admitted. "I-I actually think the tortoise actually did that." To prove the point, she pointed to the tortoise, who's head was underneath the boulder before he moved out of the way, the boulder slamming back down onto the ground.

"Woah..." Rainbow stared. "U-Um, thanks for that." Rainbow thanked, her tone portraying some regret and guilt.

"Is your wing okay?" Jasmine asked. Rainbow looked at it for a second before twitching it, but immediately flinched.

"Gah, nope! No it not!" Rainbow cringed. Before Jasmine could do anything about it though, the tortoise was already at Rainbow's side, and with a mighty heave, he managed to get the pegasus onto his shell. "Woah, hey now!"

"Wow, he's really strong for being so small." Jasmine noted, to which Rainbow began to think to herself.

"Yeah.. I guess."

With Rainbow safe, the quartet began to walk their way out of the canyon. Jasmine was planning on using her cloud to fly their way out since Rainbow could stand on it, but then she remembered the holes with those beasts, so she decided to just walk along. It would take a while since they were going tortoise speed, but it gave Rainbow plenty of time to think. After some time walking, the four managed to find their way out of the canyon and even found the rest of the group.

"Rainbow!" Xavier yelled out, but before him and the rest of the group could run for them, Jasmine dashed over to them and stopped them.

"Wait, let them come to us!" Jasmine's actions confused them, at least until they saw that the tortoise was dead set on reaching the finish line. When they saw that, they allowed it since this would be the first victory for the little guy. At least, until they realized how slow he was going. "Um, I guess we can meet halfway..." At Jasmine's request, Twilight decided to use her magic to move the finish line and bring it over to the tortoise so it could cross it without spending an hour. Once the tortoise made it past, the whole group let out a cheer.

"Nice going, little guy." Huston congratulated, knelling down to pet the tortoise's head as Mohou perched himself back onto Huston. "Nice going. Rawk"

"Oh, thank goodness you're not hurt, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed in relief.

"Just my pride..." Rainbow muttered, dusting herself off.

"Um, your wing?" Jasmine reminded.

"Oh man, that looks bad." Xavier commented. "Jasmine, here. I have a first-aid kit. You think you can patch her up?" Jasmine nodded, taking the kit so she could fix up Rainbow's wing.

"I certainly hope all of this dreadful dust was worth it!" Rarity commented as Jasmine was starting her work, right before sneezing due to said dust.

"It sure was, if'n it means Rainbow gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on." Applejack smiled as she petted Winona on the head. Rainbow looked a bit hesitant and looked down, and when she did she saw the tortoise giving her a hopeful look.

"Uh...thanks." Rainbow thanked as she knelt down to his level. "What you did...I owe you one." She held her hoof out, the tortoise bumping it like he was giving her a hoof-bump.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy called. "Your new pet is over here waiting for you!" She presented the falcon that was sitting on her back, who spread his wings and flew over to Dash, landing above her newly bandaged wing. The tortoise looked up at her sadly before looking down, but this time Rainbow actually felt bad.

"Oh...right...yeah that." Rainbow said, her voice showing uncertainty.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked in concern.

"You got your perfect pet, right?" Pinkie added, patting the falcon's head.

"The best of the best like you wanted, remember? It can fly and it's not a squirrel!" Fluttershy agreed. "Should we sing about it again?"

"Um, now's not the time." Jasmine mentioned.

"A falcon sure looks good on ya, Rainbow." Applejack commented.

Rarity placed her camera in front of Dash and took a picture of her and the falcon, which caused the turtle to hide and cower in his shell the moment he saw the flash.

"Easy, fella. Nothing to be afraid of." Rainbow assured, patting on his shell with a soft smile. "The falcon sure does look cool..." The falcon puffed his chest proudly. "He's absolutely everything I wanted in a pet."

"...Yay?" Fluttershy cheered, but in a questionable matter. As Rainbow looked at the falcon for a bit before something popped into her head and she grinned.

"But I said whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet."

"You did! You did say that!" Pinkie exclaimed, remembering Rainbow's words. "She did say that, that was the rule!"

"And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help. The tortoise!" Rainbow announced, raising the shelled reptile up high. The falcon realized it's mistake and lowered its head as he got off Rainbow.

"But what about the–" Twilight began to ask, worried about how the falcon would react, but she was surprised to see what it was doing. On the tortoise's level, the falcon put its wing out as if to shake on a fair game, and the tortoise put its foot out to shake as well. Once they were done, the falcon simply began to walk away with its head down.

"Huh, I guess even animals have honor amongst themselves." Cali commented. Rainbow simply smiled as she put her hoof onto the tortoise, the little one looking up to her and smiling in a slow manner.

"Would you look at that? He even smiles slow." Applejack commented, the group laughing at the comment.

"Hey Dash, if you want to write a letter to the princess about what you've learned today, I can write it for you and hand it to Spike later." Xavier offered.

"You know what, I think I will." Rainbow agreed to his offer, the human nodding and pulled out a paper and pen.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I used to think that the most important traits to look for in a pet, or any best friend, were all physical competitive abilities. But now I can see how short-sighted and shallow that was. Today I learned what the most important quality really is. A certain kind of spirit. A stick-to-it-ive-ness. A never give up, can-do attitude that's the mark of a real winner. And this tortoise has it.

“Tenacity.” Twilight offered.

“Gesundheit.” Rainbow responded, causing Twilight to roll her eyes

"You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a... Tank!" Rainbow thought out loud, patting the tortoise's shell.

"But Rainbow! You didn't want a pet that couldn't fly because it would keep you grounded and hold you back, remember?" Fluttershy reminded Rainbow. Realizing this, Rainbow brought her hoof to her chin, thinking. As she was, her gaze fell onto Xaiver, and that's when she got an idea.

"Ah, Xavier!" Rainbow yelled, startling Xaiver as he was finishing Rainbow's letter. "I need your help!" Rainbow rushed over to him with the tortoise in her grasp, grabbing his arm and dragging him.

"Gah, what's up."

"I have an idea!" Rainbow said before turning to the others. "I'll see you next week at the next pony pet playdate!" With that, Rainbow left with the tortoise and Xaiver, leaving the others behind.

"Well, I guess she has it handled." Cali commented before turning to Jasmine. "So, did you choose who you want as your pet?"

"Oh, well..." Jasmine then turned to the four contestants that raced with Rainbow, looking at one that didn't exactly fit in with the others.

One Week Later

"Hm, I will say. The bat really fits with you."

"Thanks. Storm here is such a sweetheart."

Jasmine decided on the bat that participated in Rainbow's little contest. She was very impressed at what it could do and found it cute, so she decided that it was who she wanted. Now the group was at the park again, waiting for Rainbow and Xaiver.

"I wonder where those two are?" Applejack questioned.

"I mean, Rainbow seemed quite excited." Pinkie commented. It was then that they heard something... whirring.

"Huh, what's that?" Twilight asked.

"Sounds like a drone from home." Huston mentioned. When they looked at the sound, they saw something that they never would have thought to imagine. Flying towards them was Rainbow and none other than the tortoise, who was now decked out with goggles and some device that gave him a propeller, granting him flight. Xavier was following behind as well, smiling at the display.

"Woah, did you make that Xavier?" Jasmine asked, watching the tortoise fly around them.

"Yep, Tank is now completely airborne." Xavier said with pride.

"Tank?" Cali asked.

"That's what I named him." Rainbow said flying next to the tortoise. "Pretty cool, Huh?"

"I think it's lovely." Rarity agreed. Soon, the group began to play and interact with their pets, both new and old. It was like nothing was wrong. Unbeknownst to them however, within the tree line that was near the park, a pair of brown eyes watched them, their eyes focused on Rainbow and Xaiver.

Difference Between Luck and Skull

View Online

"You want me to do what?"

"Paint a portrait of me, duh."

With three new animals in the group, two of which now living in the human household, things have become livelier. Fortunately, the two pets were pretty calm, with Mohou being quite well-behaved and Storm being nocturnal and calm. The two have even been a help with the humans as Mohou was very friendly with everyone, other pets included, and Storm pretty much dubbed himself the night guard and helper similar to Owlicious. The two have settled down into the house within two weeks, but now a new guest has arrived to talk to Huston, but their conversation wasn't going far.

"Seriously?"

"I don't get why this is so hard." Rainbow claimed.

"Because this is something I don't get often." Huston admitted. "Sure, I've been asked to do portraits of people, but it was usually for groups or a friend, never for the same person who asked. Besides, what do you even need it for?"

"So I can give it to my fan club, duh." Rainbow said matter-of-factly, earning a facepalm from the artist.

"I'm sorry, your fan club?" He asked, peaking his eyes from behind his hand.

"Yep." As the two talked, the other humans watched from the sidelines.

"Have you noticed that Rainbow's been getting more... cocky, lately." Cali asked, eyebrow raised.

"I didn't want to say anything, but she has." Jasmine admitted, Storm hanging off her arm. The two then glanced over to Xavier, who sighed.

"She really has been getting cockier as of late." Xavier sighed. "She's never been like this."

"I guess the things she's been doing managed to do that." Cali mused, thinking back to the things that have been happening within the week.

Three days ago

The humans were all chilling around the park, mostly watching Huston work on his first piece of art.

"Wow, you really are good." Cali admitted.

"Hm, you flatter me, miss Cali." Huston smiled. "This is just a start to what I can do though. I'm just getting warmed up after such a long time"

"Hmm, makes sense." Cali admitted. After a bit longer of watching Huston, they all heard something.

"Help! Help!" Stopping, the group looked up to hear cries for help.

"Who was that?" Jasmine asked. The looked around for a bit to find the source when they spotted a well, another cry coming from it

"Over there." Xavier yelled while pointing. The humans then ran over to the well to see if they could try and help, but when they did, something colorful flew past them and into the well. "W-Was that Rainbow?" After a bit of waiting, others began to crowd around the well, curious as to what was going on. Once a decent crowd managed to form, the pony shot out from the well again, proving that it was Rainbow, but she was also carrying a small foal with her. When she landed and let the foal down, the crowd save for the humans began to cheer for Rainbow.

"Wow. What's with this crowd?" Rainbow admitted. "Uh, thanks, everypony. It was really no big deal."

"To me it was! You're my hero, Rainbow Dash!" The foal yelled out, happy to be saved. This prompted the crowd to cheer again, leaving Rainbow to blush before flying away, the humans watching.

The Next Day

Now the humans were walking through town, most notably the marketplace to go grocery shopping.

"You guys really didn't have to come along to help." Xaiver said with a hesitant smile. "I can do this myself."

"Well, I wanted to look around for some new ingredients." Cali said with crossed arms and a smirk. "I think y'all would like some new things."

"And I want to help since I'm not contributing much right now." Huston admitted.

"I just came for moral support." Jasmine giggled, getting a head shake from Xavier.

"Well, thanks guys." As the group was looking around the market, they heard a very loud scream. The group were shocked to hear it, but soon began to run to the source. When they got there, they saw that Rainbow was speeding down a steep hill after a baby carriage, this carriage was rolling towards a cliff at very high speed. Rainbow managed to catch up to the carriage and grip onto it before planting her back hooves onto the ground to slow them down. It was close as the carriage almost fell off the cliff, but it managed to stop right before that. Once it did stop, many ponies who were at the bottom of the cliff watching in stressed silence began to cheer out for her. Rainbow looked down to look at them and smiled before waving. She stopped however as she looked into the stroller, and gasped.

"Oh no! There's something wrong with the baby!" She cried, prompting gasps from the crowd. "She's not cheering for everypony's favorite hero, Rainbow Dash!" She then took the baby out to show that it was okay, prompting more cheering from the crowd, but the humans weren't too impressed at how she was acting as she flew back up the hill to give the baby back. When she did make it up, there were ponies with cameras already there, ready to take her photo. Rainbow took the opportunity as she tossed the baby haphazardly back to the mother who thankfully caught them and began to pose for the cameras.

"There just aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe Rainbow Dash's awesomeness." They heard Scootaloo say in admiration, but the humans had other ideas.

"I can think of a few." Xavier said deadpanned.

"And I bet 'modest' isn't one." Cali added before the humans turned to go back to shopping.

The next day

"You think something will happen today as well?" Cali asked.

"For once, yes." Xavier sighed. Once again, the humans were walking around town, this time just killing some time.

"Well, hopefully it isn't too dangerous." Huston mused. He was proven wrong though as they heard some cracking nearby and panicked voices. Looking over to where the noise was, they saw that it at the retirement home, the balcony of the home was breaking with multiple elderly on it, gripping onto the railing in panic. "Why did I have to speak!?"

"Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!" Rainbow Dash announced from above just as the balcony snapped off the building. The rainbow maned pegasus flew in, directly below the falling platform and catching it, allowing the ponies on it to fall safely and slowly to the ground before putting it down, saving the elderly. When she did however, a large majority of the crowd was cheering save for our heroes, all of their cheering making Rainbow grin wider. "I can't hear you!" She yelled out as she flew up to the sky, instigating more cheering. As she was being praised, out heroes all joined up.

"Call me silly, but this whole hero thing might be going to Rainbow Dash's head." Twilight commented.

"No need to beat around the bush, Sparkle." Cali added.

"You may be right, silly." Pinkie agreed, oblivious to the figure of speech as many of the group looked at her with deadpan looks.

Present Time

"I'll admit, that might be the reason." Xaiver said.

"You would think that after saving Equestria multiple times would be enough praise." Cali said pinching her nose.

"Well, I'll pay you when you finish it." Rainbow said before walking to the door. "I need to get to Sugar Cube Corner. My fans are there waiting for me." Before any of them could react, Rainbow flew out of the house.

"She really is into this." Jasmine said as she put Storm onto her staff to hang.

"Yeah, too into it." Xaiver added with a scowl. "I say we follow."

"Why would we do that?" Cali asked, crossing her arms.

"So we can get a better idea of how to 'knock her down a peg' I would assume?" Huston asked.

"Exactly, let's go." Xaiver led the charge, the others following along to Sugar Cube Corner. Once there, they entered to find that there was a crowd surrounding a stage, the pegasus in question on it, wearing sunglasses (Inside, how cliché)

"And then, I zoomed into the well! I knew it would be dark and dangerous, but I didn't let that stop me. Danger's my middle name. Rainbow 'Danger' Dash."

"Since when?" Cali asked, Xavier shrugged at her ridiculousness.

"Thinking back on it, I acted pretty awesomely heroic that day." Rainbow thought.

"Awesomely heroic that day and awesomely arrogant ever since." The humans heard Applejack say. Looking over, they saw her and the others, so they decided to join up with them.

"Agreed." Xavier agreed.

"She's going a bit far with this, huh?" Jasmine noted before being grabbed by Rainbow.

"Hey Jas. How'd you like to be immortalized as my friend?" Dash asked, much to her confusion.

"Immorta-what?" She asked, only to be bombarded by multiple flashed of cameras, scaring her as she struggled to get out. She would have stayed much longer if Cali didn't help. It was then that Huston noticed Spike dressed up like a reporter, writing things down on a notepad.

"Spike, why are you dressed as a reporter?" He asked. "Also, why are you taking notes?"

"I've been hoof-picked by Rainbow Dash herself, to write her autobiography!" He replied, earning some confused looks from the group and a facepalm from Xavier.

"Umm, autobiographies are supposed to be written by the pony they are about." Twilight mentioned, grabbing Rainbow's attention.

"Maybe for your normal, run-of-the-mill ponies. But I'm far too busy saving lives to stop and write." Rainbow explained. "That's why I hired Spike as my ghost writer."

"Spike's a ghost?! AHHHHH!" Pinkie screamed before running away, confusing the entire venue.

"...Anyway..." Rainbow turned back to them, a smug look on her face. "Spike here writes down everything I say. Don't you, Spike?"

"Don't...you...Spike. Got it!" Spike winked after writing down everything in his notepad.

"Oh brother..." Cali commented as she was comforting Jasmine.

"This way, I can stay focused on performing those acts of bravery that nopony else has the guys to perform." Rainbow said as she walked over to some foals. "Yep! It takes guts. But it also takes brains." Rainbow smirked before being surrounded by small fillies, eager to get a picture of her. "And sometimes a big lunch and a nap. Being a hero is surely not for everypony, but I'm up to the challenge."

"Has she forgotten that we help her save the day as well?" Xaiver asked, the rest of the group nodding to agree.

"Now if you excuse me, I have some more rescuing to do." Rainbow then flew out of the shop with many of her supporters following after her.

"She's going WAY to far with this." Xavier growled.

"Question." Huston began, his hand raised. "How easy is it for miss Rainbow to drop something like this?"

"Next to impossible." Xaiver answered. "Once she gets something into her head, she's impossible to reason with. Which is a reason as to why I want to make a plan to knock her down a bit."

"Even though she's your friend?" Jasmine asked with a concerned look, many of the girls copying her look.

"Especially because." Xavier finished.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Pinkie said getting in between the group, shocking them all.

"Pinkie! We don't need a party!" Xaiver yelled out, shocked at Pinkie's sudden appearance. "That will only encourage her!"

"No, it's even better than a party!" Pinkie denied, confusing the group. "Alright, here's the plan." As Pinkie was laying out the plan, they were being watched. Watched by the same figure from the park, and they were quite interested in what they were saying.

"This plan is stupid."

The group was now at Rarity's shop, looking at something that was involved in Pinkie's plan. This plan was to become the hero themselves to prove a point. Of course, they would have to hide their identities, so a costume was made. Two of them in fact. One of them was for a pony, but the other one was for a human. They both had dark violet and navy blue in their color pallet, and they both had masks that covered the entire face, large, brimmed hats, and capes. How Rarity managed to make them is such a short time baffled them, but that wasn't the point as of yet as they all looked at the costumes.

"But you agreed to it from the start!" Pinkie said, sounding upset.

"I know I did, but I never said any of us humans would become one." Xavier added. "Besides, why would you make one for us?"

"I just thought that we could share our jobs is all." Rarity mentioned.

"Yeah, no." Xavier immediately shot down. "It's too conspicuous for a human-shaped hero to be running around. Besides, I can't keep up with Dash."

"Same, no way can I keep up with her." Cali agreed, Jasmine nodding as well.

"Sorry, I can't as well." Huston finished. "Besides, it's like Xavier said. It's too conspicuous for us to go as well."

"That being said, if you girls want to run around with the costume, be my guest." Xavier shrugged, the girls nodding.

"We should see what Dash is doing right now though." Twilight suggested, the group nodding and starting to file out of the shop.

"You go ahead, I'll stay with the costumes so they're ready." Rarity said. When the group left however, none of them noticed that the figure from before was looking through the window as they were leaving, their eyes locked onto the costumes.

Later

The group was now watching Rainbow surrounded by a crowd, a single file line in front of her. She was now signing autographs for her fan club. As she was, the group was all looking at her with disapproving eyes.

"She just finished doing that questionnaire thing, right?" Cali asked, clearly annoyed at Rainbow's bloated ego.

"Yep." Xavier simply answered with a shake of his head.

"Guys! Problem!" The group looked over to the voice that was power whispering to them, and they saw Rarity in an alley gesturing them to come, and she seemed panicked. They all went over to her, confused.

"Miss Rarity? Is something wrong?" Huston asked.

"The costumes are gone!" She said panicked, shocking the group.

"What! How?!" Twilight asked in a shocked tone.

"Well, I was dusting off the costumes when I heard something from upstairs. When I went up, I saw that Opal was growling at the window. When I calmed her down and went back downstairs, they were gone!" Rarity explained.

"Great, now what." Xaiver asked, pinching his nose. The conversation would have continued if not for-

"HHEEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!!" The group was interrupted by a cry for help. As they left the alley, they saw that a hot air balloon was falling quickly to the earth, a pony inside.

"Ah crap!" Xavier cried out. She looked over to Rainbow to hope she would help, but she was still signing autographs. "RAINBOW!! COME ON!!!"

"Hey, I've got a good ten seconds to spare. Just a couple more." Rainbow defended as she finished signing the current copy. When she did, she put down the pen she was using and took flight towards the balloon, but she wasn't going her full speed and posing a bunch.

"The tension is unbearable." Spike narrated. "Will Rainbow Dash make it on time?"

"Are you kidding? No she isn't!" Huston cried, his usually calm demeanor falling as everyone watched tensely. It wasn't until Huston noticed something on the rooves of the houses. "Huh, wait? WHO IS THAT!?" The entire town heard his call, turning to where he was looking, and all looked in equal shock. Hopping from roof to roof was a figure, stopping for a brief moment to look at the balloon. When they stopped, it allowed the town to get a good look at them, shocking them all to see that it was a human-like figure. Looking at them, they were wearing the costume that Rarity made, hiding many of their aspects. What they could see was that this figure was quite toned, but still on the thinner side, and was about in the middle of heights with the humans. There were things that were different about the costume, and that was that there was a metal bat strapped onto the figure's back and the face mask was removed and replaced with what appeared to be a mask covering the top of their face, it looking like a skull. The figure didn't take long to look at the situation before jumping around again. After some jumps, the figure took one big jump to the balloon, flipping towards it. When the figure made it, they grabbed the pony inside with a graceful flip as Rainbow slammed into the popped balloon. The figure landed onto their legs, holding the pony in a bridal style as the balloon and Rainbow crashed into a tree.

"Ye okay there, lassie?" The figure spoke in a male voice. It was quite deep and was clearly Scottish.

"U-um, yes. I am. Thank you." The pony said as the hero put her down.

"Good, wouldn't want ye's ta be a pancake, now would we's?" The figure spoke, a lighthearted feeling to him despite his voice. "I'd love ta stick 'round, but I gotta bounce. See ya's." After speaking, the man ran off and hopped onto a building, taking one last moment to turn away and give a salute with a grin, hopping away after.

"Who the hell was that?" Cali asked.

"They came out of nowhere!" A pony added.

"Correct." They all heard Mayor Mare say. "A new hero has entered Ponyville. A mysterious figure with a mask of a skull. I dub this new masked hero, 'Skull Crush'." The town cheered at the hero's title, all but our heroes, Rainbow included.

"Skull Crush, huh. Well that guy would do well to stay outta my way! Ponyville's only got room for one hero, and that hero is me!" Rainbow growled as she walked away. As she was, the others were going over what they saw.

"You saw that, right?" Xaiver questioned, the group nodding. "Yep, they had the costume."

"Who are they though?" Jasmine asked.

The Next Day

It's been less than a day since Skull made his presence known, and he's already stirred up the town with ponies talking all about him, but a few weren't. Those who weren't were our heroes, all of them trying to figure out who he was, though for different reasons. Rainbow was trying to figure out who he was to stop him from taking her glory. The others were trying because they were confused at who he was. After all, he was no doubt a human. It was now morning, and once again something happened. This time, a large carriage was out of control, rolling down the hill the baby carriage did a few days ago. As the ponies inside were screaming, Rainbow flew up next to it, clearing her throat.

“Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow-”

“Excuse me, uh, do you think you could skip your catchphrase and just hurry up and save us!” One of the ponies in the cart shouted.

“Ugh, fine! Picky, picky.” Rainbow rolled her eyes before flying in front of the cart in attempt to stop it, but she wasn't strong enough as she was thrown off. As she was recovering, she looked up to see something she didn't expect. Once again, Skull Crush was on the case of taking her glory, but he was running up the hill, shoulder down like he was about to tackle the carriage. This look was exactly his plan as he rammed the carriage, barely flinching as he held his ground surprisingly well against the large weight as he grit his teeth. It was a close call, but he managed to stop the carriage before it rolled off the cliff, but a few inches but he stopped it as he stood up and rubbed his shoulder where he impacted the carriage. The ponies inside cheered as they got out of the carriage.

"Thank you, Skull Crush!" A pony said, happy to be saved.

"No problem, lad. Glad ay could help." Skull said. "Ay hate to leave, but duty calls. See ya." With that, he hopped off the cliff, scaring the watchers. But when they looked over the cliff, they saw that he was running off, safe and sound. As the ponies watched him in admiration, Rainbow growled at his display.

Afternoon

Later in the day, another incident occurred, this one even more dangerous. This one was at a construction site of a new structure in town. As the ponies were working, the crane that was moving materials somehow managed to malfunction, causing the machine to start smoking and spinning wildly. This of course notified Rainbow who was flying overhead, flying down as the cable of the crane began to tear. She of course stopped mid-air and began to speak instead of immediately starting the rescue.

"Never fear, your friendly neighbor– Whoa!" She began, only to be cut off by a flying log that was launched by the crane, the cable holding it snapping. This log's trajectory was pretty much perfect as it flew directly into the infrastructure of the building, causing it to shake and start falling apart. This of course sent many heavy building materials falling, and the workers were all in danger as they began to run around in panic from the impending doom. Most would help immediately, but Rainbow was trying to dodge the debris as well as she was trying to give her catchphrase. As she was struggling, everypony stopped when they heard something from the crane, worried that it was malfunctioning again. When they looked though, many were relieved (Rainbow was annoyed) that Skull Crush was there, standing on it as he leapt in to save them. Rainbow simply watched him though, thinking he wouldn't be able to dodge everything. Surprisingly though, he was, effortlessly as he dodged and weaved through the falling debris as if he knew where they were falling before they landed. She watched in annoyance as he picked up one worker after another and placed them in a safe place, at least before she noticed that there was one pony about to be crushed by a palette. She dove in and saved him, but she began to struggle at keeping up with all of the falling debris, placing him outside just as the building finally broke down. Looking over at Skull, she walked over to him smugly. "Well, Skull Crush or should I call you Slow Crush? You're gonna have to pick up the pace if you wanna compete with me, 'cause I move like lightning."

"Actually, he saved all of us! We own him our lives!" One of the workers exclaimed, which made Rainbow make an immediate frown and fell to the ground.

"Tah, was nothing." Skull spoke, a bit out of breath though. He then looked over at Rainbow, his eyes portraying annoyance. "Bu' tit would 'ave gone smoother though if someone din't waste time." Rainbow recovered from her shock as Skull began to run off, shocked that he would call her out like that. That shock however turned to anger as she growled at him.

Rainbow was now not taking any chances anymore.

She was now flying around town, trying to find a problem that even Skull couldn't fix. The fact that he was able to do things better than her and show her up really made her angry. As she was flying around the outskirts however, she flew past the dam and noticed that there was a small leak.

"If the dam breaks, the whole town will be flooded!" She exclaimed before smiling. "Looks like Ponyville needs a hero!" She then flew up to the crack in the dam and placed her hoof onto it, "stopping" the leak, though it was still leaking. "Easy peasy." She said, unaware to the fact that the crack was now growing under her press. "My game is officially back on. If only somepony were here to pat me on the back. Eh, guess I'll have to do it myself-" She then took her hoof off the dam and began to literally pat her back. Unfortunately, the crack she made managed to break enough of the dam to break a hole into it, blasting her with water and sending her into the river where she began to struggle from the rapid flow of water. She would have drown if it wasn't for her managing to grab something metal. When she recovered enough to see what she grabbed, she was shocked to see that Skull was there, reaching out with his metal bat to snag her. "YOU!?"

"Heh, that's a weird way ov sayin' 'thanks mate.'" Skull chuckled before swinging his bat back, flinging Rainbow backwards. Fortunately, she was able to start flying before she landed. "Jeez, yeez made a mess, huh?" Skull commented as he watched the flowing water, Rainbow looking offended at him.

"What!? You think I caused this?!" She exclaimed. "I'm the hero, not you!!"

"Please, ay saw what ye did." Skull said turning to her, his eyes giving a cold glare that actually scared Rainbow since it actually was even more scary than-

"What's going on!?" Xavier yelled as him, the other humans and the ponies ran over.

"No time ta talk. You, purple." Skull announced, pointing his bat to the group, more specifically at Twilight.

"Me?"

"Yes you. You think ye can patch that dam up?"

"What's this? The great Skull is asking for-"

"Help, yes." Skull cut Rainbow off, annoying her even more. "Ye think I's can patch that up myself?"

"Um, if I had enough stone I could."

"Good, ay'll go collect them." Skull said. "Ya'll better help if ye know what good." He said to the others, them looking at each other before nodding as they helped Skull collect rocks and stones to patch the dam. All but Rainbow who was still annoyed. It was some effort to do it, but the group managed to gather enough to patch the dam back up before any real damage could be done. The town was there watching as well, and once it was done they all cheered for Skull.

"Ay, thanks fer yer praise, but I didn't do it alone." He began as he swung his bat towards the group. "After all, ay could 'ave never done it myself if they didn't help. So give 'em some cheer too, ye here?" The crowd heard him loud and clear as they began to cheer for them, earning many different reactions from the group, mostly positivity and some embarrassment.

"HEY? WHERES MINE!?" Rainbow yelled out, clearly not part of the group as she was still up in the air. Her tantrum was cut short as Skull kicked up a pebble left behind like a ball and swung his bat to knock the pebble at her, hitting her with enough force to knock her off balance, but not hurt her.

"You should shut it if ay were you." Skull said in a dark tone. "You could have been the hero if ye just went and got someone who knew about dams, but instead ye went and made a bigger mess. Ye clearly have no idea what it takes ta be a hero, bub."

"What?! I do!"

"Oh really. Then tell me, what does it take?"

"Um... well..." Rainbow was caught in a bad spot, being called out for something in front of not only the town, but also in front of her closest friends.

"Tat's what ay thought." Skull said as he put his bat back onto his back. "Sorry lass, but yer not fit fer heroing. Ye'd better learn yer own place before you try to save someone else." With that, Skull walked off, leaving the town and our heroes to look at Rainbow. All the attention she had for once made her feel nervous, so she didn't waste time to fly off in shame.

The Next Day

Today was another day for new chances. Unfortunately, Rainbow for once wasn't feeling like herself today as she laid on a grey cloud in sadness. As she lied on the cloud, she watched all the townsfolk in merchandise focused on Skull Crush as he was the talk of the town. Normally she would be annoyed at them, but she wasn't feeling it after the man himself criticized her in front of the town.

"Hey Rainbow?" Rainbow heard the voice of her friend from below, calling to her.

"Not now, Xaiver..." Rainbow said in a melancholy voice. "I'm not in the mood for a lecture." There was a short silence between them, until Xaiver spoke again.

"Rarity made the costume Skull's wearing now."

"SHE WHAT!?" This caught Rainbow's attention as she flew in front of Xavier in a second. "SO YOU KNOW HIM!?"

"No, we don't." Xaiver said, a bit of guilt in his face. "But we did make it for a plan, so I feel like I should tell you." Rainbow, calmed down for a while, interested in what he had to say, so the two went over to a bench nearby. "You see, the costume was made by Rarity in hopes that we could teach you a lesson about your heroing. She even made one for ponies so the girls could join."

"Teach me a lesson?" Rainbow asked, clearly confused.

"Well, you're not exactly being the best hero."

"What?! Of course I am!" Rainbow defended.

"No, a real hero doesn't brag about saving lives." Xaiver gave a glare, but it wasn't as harsh as it normally was. "All this time you've been saving ponies, you've been taking in as much glory you could get without thinking about the true reason as to why saving lives is important. Tell me, what's more important? You getting your twelve minutes of fame or saving the lives of someone." Rainbow looked at him for a second, processing the information before looking down.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"Listen, all of us want you to be a hero, Dash. But bragging about every save and looking for attention from it isn't the way to go. That's why Rarity made the costume, to try and teach you a lesson." Rainbow looked down for a bit before looking at him again.

"I guess you're right. And I guess I shouldn't get jealous if someone else comes along and takes the spotlight as well." Rainbow said, starting to get the idea.

"There you go. Now, can you promise me that you won't brag and take saving lives more seriously?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Rainbow promised.

"Good, now you can help us figure out who Skull really is." Xavier said, confusing Rainbow.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, Skull's one hundred percent human, that's a fact. We need to figure out who he is though, he might have answers."

"You might be right, but how?"

"Well, I got word from Scootaloo that Skull's getting a parade for him and he'll be there to start it off."

"Seriously?! I thought-"

"Before you say anything, apparently it was all the mayor's idea. Skull didn't come up with the idea." Xaiver explained, putting his hand up. "But if he's going to be there, we can catch him there. With all of us there, we could see who he is."

"You sure this will work?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, no matter how strong he is, he can't outrun ten of us. Now come on, let's go unmask a hero." Xaiver got up, getting a smirk from Rainbow.

"Oh I've been waiting for this." As the two went to town to catch Skull, the never noticed something behind them near a tree, watching and listening to them.

At Town

When they made it to where the parade was being held, the rest of the group was already there waiting for them and the event. Now that they all were there, their plan could unfold. It would start soon since Mayor Mare went up to the stage.

"Welcome to Ponyville's first, but surely not last, thank you parade, in honor of our city's greatest hero, Skull Crush." She said, moving away from a paper banner posted up. Nothing happened though, confusing the crowd as they waited for something to happen. That was when something fell from the sky and landed onto the stage before standing up, revealing Skull Crush.

"Ahahaha! How's THAT fer an entrance?!" He called out, getting the crowd to cheer out as he gave a thumbs up to the sky, the balloon and pony he saved up there. Once he did that, he went up to the podium that Mayor Mare was at and took the stage. "Ai just want to say, yer all too kind. I mean, a parade?" Skull began, getting cheers from the crowd. "Which makes it hard to say that, Ay'm retiring from being the hero." The crowd's cheering stopped and was replaced with confused and shocked gasps. "Now don't get me wrong, yer all great people. But I'm not fit for heroing. Ay'm not really interested in this kind of fame. I'd rather be known as being the greatest athlete in the world." Skull explained, the crowd in silent bewilderment. "But don't worry, cause I think yer all in good hands. After all, ye all got some heroes already in town." He pointed to our heroes, all of them shocked at everything he was doing and saying. "So, I'll be retiring for now. Oh, and before ai forget." Skull reached up and took his hat off, pulling down his hood and mask to reveal jet black hair and brown eyes. "My name's not Skull Crush. It's just Alexzander, but most just call me Alex." Skull, or Alex now, said. "With that, ay'm out. Take care everyone." Alex then began to walk of stage, but as he reached the stairs, the crowd began to cheer for him again, getting a smile from him as he left. After a bit of time, both Xaiver and Rainbow managed to break from the crowd and catch up to the human.

"Hey, wait!" Xavier called out, catching Alex's attention as he smiled at them.

"Ah, if it isn't the heroes of town." He said cockily, a smirk on his face as the two caught up.

"Why did you do that?" Rainbow asked, getting another smirk from Alex.

"To teach ye a lesson." Alex said, shocking the two. "Ay've actually been tailing ye lot since that tortoise thing. Ye lot really are interesting."

"Y-you were teaching her a lesson?"

"Yep. I heard yer plan from that pink one, and I decided to do things my way to teach ye. When I learned that ye did from yer conversation at the park I knew I did my job."

"But how did you do all those things?!" Rainbow asked.

"Years of training in sprots can do that to ye." Alex said proudly. "For saving the balloon pony, triple jump training. For that carriage, football players hit just as hard. And for the construction, ye got to observe the entire court and make predictions to make a game winning play." He spoke with confidence that felt inspiring.

"Okay, but why did you go through all that?" Xaiver asked.

"Cause Rainbow here needed to be taught a lesson." Alex explained. "As much as ay also like to brag, ay also know not to go overboard. Ay also know that to succeed, ye need a team and teamwork to win." Alex spoke, his voice was one of a leader. As the two looked at him in awe, the rest of the group caught up.

"There you are." Twilight said.

"Ay, it be the rest of ye." Alex greeted. "How ye doin'?"

"Enough talk! Where's the costume!?" Rarity asked agitated, catching many off guard.

"Ah don't worry about that, it's safe." Alex confirmed. "I can give it back, don't worry." This calmed Rarity down as he continued. "Welp, now that my heroing gig is up, ay may stick around for a while."

"Hmm, you could always live at my place, if you want." Xaiver asked.

"Ay could live with that. Now how's about we celebrate a new friendship with some food, eh?" Alex asked, the rest looking at each other before smiling.

"I think we can do that."

"Sweet, I'm starved." Alex said as he walked up to the group. Now that Alex is joining the group, their team has grown. Who knows what the athlete will bring, but he will sure to be someone who helps brings them even closer.

Sweet and Elite

View Online

"So, THIS is the capital, ey?"

"It really does feel like that."

Today some of the group went on a trip to Canterlot city, those being Rarity and the three guys, Alex included. He's been with the group for a few days and he's fit in well, mostly because of his actions he performed for the town. Still, the town respected his wishes of being treated like anyone else so he's been focused on settling in and getting to know the others. As for clothing, he was wearing grey sweatpants and a tee-shirt, a black sports jacket with a small cartoon skeleton printed onto his right, and fingerless, black gloves. The reason they were there was that Twilight's birthday was coming up soon, so they all decided to go to Canterlot for a present.

"But of course! This is the most luxurious city out there." Rarity said with pride.

"You say that like you've lived here for your entire life." Xavier mentioned, but Rarity paid no mind to him.

"So, where's the first stop 'ere, ey?" Alex asked.

"I think we should go to our hotel we're staying at while we're here." Huston suggested.

"Good call." Xaiver agreed. "You got that taken care of Rarity?" When he looked over at her, she showed a nervous look. "You did get us a reservation, right?"

"It... might have slipped my mind." Rarity admitted, getting looks from the guys.

"What!? What do ye mean 'it slipped y'mind'?" Alex asked annoyed.

"I was working on a client's dress at the time, alright!" Rarity said defensively.

"Bloody hell. I thought ye remembered from all the bloody luggage ye brought." Alex said pointing to a pile of suitcases. "Ye even brought yer cat!!" The two soon began arguing, Huston and Xavier simply watching them with sweat drops. As the scene was playing out, they never noticed a guard walking up to them.

"Excuse me, you are Miss Rarity and the humans, correct." The guard asked, catching their attention.

"Yes, we are." Xavier responded. "Can we help you?"

"I was told to bring you to the castle to meet the princess." The guard explained, catching them off guard.

"The princess wants to see us?" Xavier questioned.

"Yes, though I don't have many other details."

"Hmm, well I can trust the princess, so we can come. Right everyone?"

"Of course we can." Rarity agreed.

"It would be nice to meet her majesty since we're living here." Huston thought out loud.

"Ay, let's go." With Alex giving one last agreement, Xavier smiled and turned to the guard.

"We'll come along."

Following the guard for a bit, the group took a moment to look up at the castle they were standing in front of before entering. Walking around the castle with the guard, they all were taking in the sights of the castle. After some time, they were outside the doors of the throne room where the princess was.

"Get ready you guys, she's right behind the door." Xavier warned the other two humans. "Since she's never met you before, please be on your best behavior."

"Don't worry, lad. I'll behave." Alex confirmed.

"Of course. I would never try to offend her." Huston also confirmed, Xavier nodding at them.

"Alright, we're ready." He told the guard. The guard nodded and opened the door, revealing the princess on her throne.

"Greetings princess." Xavier said as the group walked up, him bowing to show respect once he stopped. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"As with you, Xavier." Celestia greeted. "I assume you and the others are doing well?"

"We are." Xavier said before turning to the others. "I would like you to meet some more humans. These are-" Before Xavier could continue, he was surprised to see them both go down onto one knee and bow to the princess.

"It's an honor to meet you, your majesty." Huston spoke. "I am Huston, a martial artist and a painter."

"And my name's Alexander, an athlete from the human world." Alex greeted as well, his voice displaying a great deal of respect. "Tis' an honor to meet you."

"You two are quite respectful." The princess observed, pleased to know that the humans were kind and considered like the others. "But please, no need to be this formal. Please, act like you normally would."

"Otch, that's good." Alex said standing up, his demeanor slipping. "No offense lass, but ay'm not one for formalities."

"Not that informal!" Huston scolded as he also stood up. "You should at least say 'your majesty', not 'lass'!"

"Bah, its fine." The two began to argue, it was mostly Huston lecturing Alex who was acing more casual, perhaps even a bit mocking and teasing. It all came to a head however, and quite literally as Xavier knocked the two's head together. "Gah! What the hell, lad?!"

"Hey, you two were fighting in front of the princess when I said to be on your best behavior." Xavier said, a disapproving gaze aimed at the two. As he was talking, a chuckle could be heard from the princess.

"Your new friends are quite interesting." Celestia noted. "It's nice to know that they've fit into Equestria and your friends nicely." The three humans looked amongst themselves before smiling sheepishly, realizing how silly they looked.

"Heh, thanks yer majesty." Alex said, pleasing Huston.

"So... while I wouldn't be somepony to ask this, but why were we summoned here?" Rarity asked, bringing the topic back around.

"Well..." Celestia then used her magic to bring a scroll over to the group, Xavier taking it to read.

"Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends, Rarity, Xaiver, Huston, and a new human Alexzander, will be visiting Canterlot soon for a few days. It might be too much to ask, but could you help them find somewhere to stay for their time there? I would imagine that Rarity might forget to book a hotel for them since she's quite excited to go.

Please and thank you from your faithful student, Twilight Sparke"

As Xavier read, the three humans looked at Rarity as she did just what the letter from Twilight said she would, the unicorn in question grinning sheepishly. Once Xavier finished reading, he sighed. "Yeah, that pretty much happened." The princess chuckled at his response.

"Seems my preparations were well planned." She said, confusing the group. "Please, follow me." The princess said getting up and walking out the doors, the group following along (A pony went over to collect their things) After some walking, they were on the top of a tower, where Celestia opened the door to reveal a very nice room. The entire group looked at the room in amazement.

“Here? We get to stay here?” Rarity gasped, looking around the place in shock.

"Yeah, this is quite fancy." Alex added. "Yer sure this is fine?"

“Twilight Sparkle said you all were coming to Canterlot for a visit, and asked if I might accommodate you.” Celestia reminded.

"Ay know, but this is a bit much."

"It's the least I can do for you all after all you've done for Equestria." Celestia reasoned.

“Thank you so much, Princess.” Rarity thanked with a bright smile.

“You’re very welcome.” Princess Celestia nodded.

“No, really.” Rarity rushed over and bowed to her. “This is so nice of you.”

“It’s nothing, really.” Princess Celestia smiled.

“Oh, but it isn’t nothing, it’s everything! I, I just don’t know what to say but thank you, thank you!” She immediately bowed and started kissing the princess’s hoof while kept saying ‘Thank you’ to her. The three humans looked at her, confused at her actions. It wasn't until Huston went up and gently grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Sorry about her, your majesty. She gets excited a bit too easily." The princess simply chuckled once again.

"It's no problem." The princess reassured before turning. “I’ll leave you all to get settled. I’ll see you later. If you ever want to chat with me, just come by the throne room when you feel like it.”

"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you, princess." Xavier said as the group bowed. Celestia smiled and walked out of the room, leaving them to themselves.

"Welp, now's the time ta get settled." Alex said as he put the backpack he had on down gently before reaching inside. "The trip wasn't too bad, right buddy?"

"Huh, who are you talking to?" Huston asked as the others looked at Alex, who surprisingly pulled out a white and grey chinchilla out of his bag.

"What the- why do you have a chinchilla?" Xavier asked.

"AY, don't talk about Pepper like that!" Alex yelled as he brought the chinchilla up to the side of his head, the chinchilla nuzzling up to him. "She's sensitive."

"She's your pet?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah she is!" Alex said. "Ye got a problem with that?!"

"N-no! Not at all!" Xavier defended. "I was just wondering why you brought her. And how you exactly met."

"Well, I met her when ay woke up here, she was poking me and seemed to like me. As for why she's here now, ay couldn't leave her when there's a fox roaming about."

"Wait, you think Rune will eat her?" Xavier questioned. "She's a massive sweetheart. She ever made friends with Cali's gecko. Besides, she's fine with the kibble I give her."

"W-well I just wanted to make sure." Alex said hesitantly as he scratched under Pepper's chin. "Besides, she reminds me of a chinchilla ay had when ay was younger."

"Maybe we should calm down." Huston suggested. "Why don't we go out to see the city, do some sightseeing, and look for gifts for Twilight." The two looked at him and realized how silly they were acting, so they calmed down.

"Yeah, you're right." Xaiver agreed. "The other times I was here in Canterlot I missed out on looking around, so this will be nice."

"Ay, sounds like a plan." Alex joined in, Pepper now resting in one of his jacket's pockets.

"You three go ahead, I need to get ready." Rarity said as she walked to the bathroom.

"Eh? What do ye mean?"

"I can't go out looking like this. I need to be ready." Rarity said before walking into the bathroom, closing the door.

"We should go." Huston suggested before Alex could suggest anything else. "She's going to take a while." Alex was about to press on, but he saw Xavier nodding to confirm she was.

"Erm, alright. Lead the way." With that, the three humans left the room to explore the capital, hopeful for what was going to happen.

It took a while for the three humans to get out of the castle, one part was the size of the place and the other was managing to get lost, but once they managed to get out of the castle they took some time to look around. Despite the different feel of the city, all three of them were amazed.

"What a beautiful city. I may want to come back to make a painting." Huston commented.

"Aye, though I can't say I'd live here." Alex continued. "Too fancy fer me."

"I never said that I would live here. I just said that I'd come to make a painting about the place."

"Well, no matter the case let's enjoy our time here, alright?" Xavier suggested. As they were walking, Alex noticed something.

"So ay have ta ask, are all the ponies just goin' ta stare at us the whole time?" He asked, pointing to some ponies who were staring, but they turned around before they were spotted. They still were, so Alex's point still stood strong.

"*sigh* Don't worry about it. Neither me or the girls have been here much, so they'll be staring for a while." Xaiver answered, remembering his time at Cloudsdale. "Celestia did tell the population, but they haven't seen us before."

"Mmm, makes sense." Huston thought.

"Eh, let's forget them. Ye hungry?" Alex asked.

"Do you just always ask for lunch at any opportunity?" Xavier asked.

"No, I just saw that." Alex pointed to a shop's sign; the sign was for a pizza place.

"Pizza? That's the reason?" Upon Xavier's question, Alex looked offended.

"Are ye serious? Pizza is the greatest!" Alex called out, annoyed that Xavier was even questioning going in, catching the attention of others. Xavier noticed this and sighed.

"Alright, we can go. It's been a while since I had some anyway."

"Me too. I'll join." Huston agreed, making Alex smile as he entered the shop, the other two following along. When they entered, the ponies inside all turned to look at them. "I think I'll hang back and look for a table for us outside. You two can order me something simple like mushroom or something."

"Ay, we can do that." Alex confirmed with a thumbs up. The three then split up, Xavier and Alex ordering the pizza and Huston going outside to look for a table. Fortunately, he managed to find one easily and sat down at it.

"This world is quite nice." Huston thought as he leaned onto the table, his head on his arm. "Nature is much more respected here unlike earth, I wonder if I could live here forever." Huston's smile began to sink however as he closed his eyes. "How did we get here however? I wonder..."
...

...
"Huh?"

Huston opened his eyes again, he realized he was now sitting inside of a giant closed flower. Standing up, he began to look around confused, at least until he spotted a figure on the outside. The figure was only a black silhouette however, almost like a shadow on the flower's petals.

"Come on, we can't slow down." Huston heard a voice, but it was muffled to the point that he couldn't determine anything outside of the words, and even that was hard to tell. He still watched the figure, and it looked like they were motioning for someone to follow.

"I know! Hold on!" Huston then heard another voice, and turning he saw another figure running around the flower like a shadow puppet show. Observing the figure, he guessed they were female as they has some clothes one would wear. "Why did you even stop?! You should be running as well!"

"I didn't want to leave you behind. I can't be left alone again..." The male figure said, sparking a memory in Huston's mind. When he took a step towards the duo however, the flower's stamen began to shake, sending a large amount of pollen onto him, not only blinding him but also sending him into a coughing fit. As he was, he was only able to catch a few more moments before they were drowned out.

"I don't know what you've been through, but I'll stick with you. You're the only one who has for me after all..."

"Aye, Huston!" His eyes opened up again to see he was back in Canterlot, with Alex and Xavier standing by the table, a pizza box in Alex's hands. As the two were sitting down, Xavier noticed the look on Huston's face.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yeah, *cough* I'm fine." Huston answered, deciding that he should keep what he saw to himself. Xavier did wonder what actually happened, but he didn't press on as Alex got a slice of pizza and took a bite.

"Mmm, this is great." As Alex was eating, the others began to eat as well. "So, ye's been here fer a while, eh?"

"Yeah, though I was the first." Xavier answered. "Jasmine and Cali followed and Huston here was the most recent before you."

"Good t'know. So what do ye lot do fer work? Girls included." Alex questioned,

"Well, me and Jasmine work at the spa in Ponyville. I'm their repair crew and Jasmine is training to become a masseuse."

"As for me and miss Cali, she just got a job as a cook recently and I'm planning on doing freelance art. Though I think I'll keep things slow for now."

"Ah, gotcha."

"How have you been settling down in Equestria?" Xavier asked, biting into a slice of pizza topped with peppers and red pepper.

"Pretty nicely. Though ay can't tell if it's from 'Skull Crush', or just that they were used ta humans from you."

"Mmm... Probably a few reasons." Huston admitted.

"Don't worry though, everypony's very kind and accepting."

"Maybe in Ponyville. Here in Canterlot, not so much." Alex reminded as me gestured to ponies nearby who were still looking at them.

"Well, like I said before, just give it time and they'll be able to accept us."

"Ay hope so." The trio continued to eat in silence for a bit, at least until they heard something nearby.

"Please excuse our interruption." The three's attention turned over to the one who spoke, a well-dressed unicorn stallion and mare standing by the table that so happened to be seating Rarity who was wearing a very nice hat. "I'm Jet Set and this is my wife, Upper Crust. We saw you from across the cafe and just had to find out..."

"Where did you get that simply marvelous chapeau?" His wife finished, Rarity responding by putting her chin up and acting like somepony fancy.

"Oh, this old thing?" Rarity asked, looking over at her hat. "Oh, it's just something I-"

"Rarity!" Before she could answer, a call from above was heard, and looking up everyone saw that a pony who didn't look like he fit into Canterlot dangling from some rope, washing windows. "Hey Rarity!" He greeted, waving haphazardly. This recklessness caused the rope that he was attached to snap, causing him to lose balance and fall right next to Rarity, just hanging by a thread and upside down. "It's me, Hayseed Turnip Truck! We met at the big hoedown in Ponyville last fall?" The pony explained, getting looks from the crowd, but most were judgmental.

"O-oh yes, of course...how are you?" Rarity asked with a nervous grin.

"Good! Real good!" Hayseed replied with a grin before the rope snapped and he fell down, landing on his back.

"Hmm..." The two ponies turned to Rarity with a disgusted expression. "You're from...Ponyville?" Jet Set asked. This question brought plenty of nerves to Rarity, as she began to stammer.

"Well yeah, yes but-"

"She sure is!" Hayseed said, getting back up with a smile. "She's a real big-time fancy pants dressmaker there! Probably made that real purty thing she's got on her head!" With Hayseed's answer, the couple gave a disapproving look towards the two, mostly Rarity.

"Hmph! I thought it looked a little country." Upper Crust commented.

"I told you it wasn't something you could get here in Canterlot, dear." Jet Set agreed.

"And wha' tis that supposta mean?!" Alex called out, already walking towards the bunch without the other guys noticing.

"Huh?! Hey wait! Alex!" The two ran up to him to hold him back as he looked to get in between Rarity and the couple. "Alex! This is not the time!"

"Atch shad up! They need ta be taught somehow!"

"Yes, but violence is not necessary!" Xavier said as he struggled to hold him back (He was VERY strong)

"I-I'm sorry, who, or what, are you?" Jet Set asked, clearly confused at the three (and a bit concerned as one looked ready to pummel them).

"Humans, buddy. And who gave ye's the right ta diss our home, huh?!" Alex snarled. This tone was able to send shivers down passerby's spines, but two managed to keep their composure.

"Alex, calm down! Remember, we're new here, so you acting like this is NOT helping our image!" Xavier said, managing to get through to Alex, stopping his struggle and simply shrugging the two off of him.

"My point still stands. Yer bashing a town and it's residents because they can't live up ta ya standards! That's quite a shallow thing ta do ye know!"

"Hmph, isn't it obvious?" Jet Set shot back, recovering from the initial shock of the three and Alex's anger. "Ponies who live there aren't as sophisticated or classy as those who live here in Canterlot."

"And what makes ye say that?" Alex retorted. "Have ye even gotten yer head outta those tacky clothes and actually go down there t'experience what they can do?!" This clearly offended the couple as they huffed.

"Well, why should we since we could buy the town with what we earn." Jet Set simply said, thinking he won. Unfortunately, it seems to have made Alex even angrier than before, it even looked like his brown eyes had fire in them.

"Now you listen here ye little bitch!" Alex spat furiously, catching many off guard. "Y'have no right to even consider buying a town just because ye think it's 'low-class'! In fact, that idea that ye are above others is absurd! Who decided that anyone should be above anyone else!" Jet Set raised a hoof as if to answer, but- "I'M NOT DONE!!!" Alex then grabbed the collar of his dress shirt, bringing him up close. The glare on Alex's face was so intense that it made Xavier's glare look like a toddler's, and Jet Set actually began to break under the gaze. "Listen up laddie, cause I ain't repeating this! Puttin' yerself and others in classes is a shitty idea that should have never been brought inta the light of day! If I hear ye even whisper anything about that idea again, I will not promise ye'll get out with intact bones! Do I make myself clear?" Jet Set simply nodded, too scared to even speak. Alex simply dropped him as he scrambled back to his wife, who was also scared. "Now get outta my sight ye dirtbags!!" The couple took no time to run off quickly, clearly scared at Alex's temper. Once they left, Alex looked around to see the crowd staring at him. "What?!" Alex snarled, his anger still present. The crowd all jumped and quickly walked off, and Hayseed managed to disappear during Alex's rage. Once everypony left and the only ones left were the three humans and Rarity, Alex began to stomp away.

"Alex! Wait up!" Xavier yelled out as him and the others chased after him. Once they did, they all looked at him with concern. "Hey, you okay?"

"Grr, a'm fine." Alex growled, clearly still angry.

"Umm-"

"Don't even ask me!" Alex scolded, getting into Huston's face. After he did, he realized the tone he was using at his friend, so he backed up and turned away. "Look, ay ain't ready ta tell ye's about me yet. Jest, leave me alone for a while to cool off..." Before any of them could say anything, Alex simply walked away. The three wanted to follow, but they decided to respect Alex's wish, so they turned to walk away as well.

Later, at the Castle

When Alex parted ways with the others, they decided to head back to the castle to let the heat die down. While there, they were mulling over the recent events.

"What the heck could have gotten him so angry?" Huston thought out loud.

"Well it definitely wasn't normal anger." Xavier stated, his arms crossed as he thought. "His wasn't like anything I've seen."

"Well, let's agree not to dig too deep into him. He's probably going through something."

"Agreed."

"Looked a little country". The two heard Rarity say, quoting the couple that caused Alex to get so angry.

"Um, Rarity?"

"Not something you can get in Canterlot". Rarity then walked over to a desk that had a piece of paper and charcoal, a determined face on her. "I'll show you something worthy of Canterlot!" Taking the charcoal into her magic, she began to sketch onto the paper. When the two humans went over to look at the paper, Rarity finished a drawing of an elaborately designed dress.

"What's this Rarity?" Huston asked.

"A dress I will be creating for Twilight's birthday gift." Rarity replied. "I'm going to prove to them that I'm able to create dresses that are just as good, if not better than what Canterlot has ever seen."

"Well, at least one has bounced back from the recent events." Huston commented.

"I must be going." Rarity said as she went for the door. "I must buy supplies to create the dress, so don't hold up for me." With that, Rarity left the room, leaving Xavier and Huston behind.

"So now what?" Huston asked Xaiver, the latter putting a hand to his chin.

"Hmm, maybe we should find Alex." Xavier suggested. "It's been some time since we've seen him. I think he's had some time to cool off. I'm a bit worried he might have gotten into another problem too."

"You sure? It may be too early to find him."

"Well, worst case scenario is that we'll simply leave him to cool down a bit longer."

"Hmm, if you say so." Huston agreed, the two now heading for the door to find their fellow human and see if he was okay.

Some Time Later

Since the two had no idea as to where Alex went, they decided that they would need to ask around. Unfortunately, this was not Ponyville, and Alex's previous outburst spread far through the city. This made it hard for them to get answers, as anypony who they asked either turned their noses up in disgust or simply speed off in fear of their friend. The number of ponies not cooperating was annoying to the point that they decided to just give up and look for Alex on their own.

"*sigh* This isn't going well." Huston concluded.

"Yeah, I'm starting to regret going out to look for him." Xavier agreed. As they were walking through the town, they overheard something that caught their attention.

"I must say Alexander, you are quite a pleasant individual." Upon the two hearing this, the two looked at each other briefly before dashing over to the voices. When they stopped, they saw Alex speaking to two unicorns, both with white coats but one, a mare, had a pink mane and tail while the stallion had a blue mane and tail alongside a tux and a monocle. While Xavier and Huston were worried that Alex managed to get into another argument, their worries were quickly dismissed when they saw that he was simply petting Pepper who sat on his shoulder, his face holding a neutral expression. "We must be going now. It was a pleasure to meet you." With a wave of his hoof, the stallion and mare left Alex, who gave a light wave himself.

"Alex, there you are." Xavier called, catching the athlete's attention.

"Huh, oh. It's you lads." Alex said as his fellow humans joined him.

"Sorry, but we were looking for you." Huston admitted. "We were worried about-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine now." Alex reassured. "Sorry if ay worried ye."

"It's fine." Alex then looked around for a second.

"How's about we head somewhere, eh?" Alex suggested. "Not exactly comfortable here."

"Um, sure." At Alex's suggestion, the three then went over to a more secluded area of town where there weren't as many ponies around. As they sat at a table in the area, Xavier had a question that was simmering since they saw Alex. "So who were you talking to before?"

"Eh, ye mean Fancy Pants?" Alex asked, getting a concerned and confused look from Xavier.

"Um, the one you were just talking to just before we met up."

"That's what ay said. His name's actually Fanc Pants." Alex explained, getting a look of understanding from the two. "Yeah, as ay was walking 'round town, ay accidentally bumped inta him. I thought that he would be like all other ponies here and act all high and mighty, but he was actually very polite. Snapped me right outta my anger." Alex admitted, actually laughing a bit. "We struck up a conversation and turns out the guy's pretty cool."

"Well that's good." Huston sighed. "I shudder to think about what should have happened if you bumped into somepony else."

"Ay'll admit, me too." Alex said. "After what that jerk said, ay think ay'd probably show my old title ta the town if someone bumped me."

"Well good thing then." Xavier shuddered. He did not want to think about that. Alex then looked around to realize something.

"Ay, where's Rare's?"

"She left before us to buy some supplies." Alex explained. "She decided to make a dress for Twilight as both a birthday present and a way to show the townsfolk here she is fancy."

"Got it."

"Well, we do have a lot of time on our hands." Xavier began. "Why don't we take our time and look around the city, take in the sights, and find gifts for Twilight's birthday." Alex and Huston looked at each other for a second before smiling and nodding at Xaiver, agreeing with him. "Alright, were first?"

Once the trio decided on their plans in Canterlot, their time there was a very pleasant experience. Outside of a few strange and worried looks aimed their ways (mostly Alex), they had a very good time looking around the city and taking in the things they couldn't in Ponyville like interesting shops and restaurants. They also managed to find gifts for Twilight with relative ease (Mostly books, but Alex did find a limited-edition bookmark). The strange thing that worried them, however, was Rarity. More specifically, how little they saw her. Throughout their stay in Canterlot, they barely saw her around town or in the castle, they barely even saw her in the room they were staying in. Another worrying thing was how little progress that the dress she was making for Twilight, as there was only a single ribbon on the dress' base. It all came to a head however as the trio were heading back to the castle after another day of exploring.

"Ye think Rarity's okay?" Alex asked. "She's been quite... distant ta say the least."

"She has, hasn't she." Huston mused. "I wonder if what that couple said managed to get to her after all."

"Well, we kind of have to ask her if we want answers." Xavier mentioned as he put his hand to his chin thinking. "She didn't seem bothered when we left to find you after that incident, so maybe she ran into more trouble. Next time we see her, we can ask-

"WATCH OUT!!" "WATCH OUT!!!"

Both Alex and Huston called out to Xavier, but another group of voiced also called out. Xavier was about to question it, but before he could he ran right into something, falling backwards onto his back with the thing he bumped into somehow falling onto him. When he opened his eyes to see what fell onto him, he was practically paralyzed with shock to realize it was none other than Jasmine.

"GGHHEE?! JASMINE?!" Xavier stammered as he squirmed out from underneath her. As he was having a crisis, Alex and Huston noticed that the rest of the girls were walking up to the group.

"Jasmine, I told you to watch where you were going." Cali said as she reached down to help her up.

"Sorry, I was just excited." Jasmine admitted bashfully as she was helped up.

"Uh, hello girls." Huston greeted as Alex reached down to pick Xavier up. "When did you get here?"

"We just got here." Rainbow answered. "We came to find you three and Rarity."

"Ye did? Why?" Alex asked as he struggled to keep Xavier standing.

"Well, we got a letter recently from her." Twilight began. "She said that you were all stuck in Canterlot because Opal managed to get sick and couldn't make the trip back. So, we decided to come to have my birthday here in Canterlot." Twilight's explanation managed to raise some flags to the three guys, enough to even snap Xavier back into the real world.

"Huh, tha's the first time ay've heard of that." Alex stated, leaving the girls confused.

"Maybe she just forgot to mention it." Huston thought out loud. "We haven't seen her much recently, so maybe she just never had any time to mention it."

"Now that you mention it, we haven't seen Opal much either." Xavier mentioned. This still raised some questions for the group. "Why don't we go ask her? We can take you to our room for now." The girls looked at each other before nodding and voicing their agreements. "Alright, just follow us then." Soon enough, the group was heading to their room, all looking to find Rarity. It didn't take long for them to make it to the room's staircase, and after getting close to the room the girls decided to go ahead to surprise Rarity. Before the three guys could reach their door, it opened to reveal a nicely dressed Rarity. Rarity didn't have much time to react to the girls in front of her as they all said at once-

"SURPRISE!!" Rarity was so surprised at the group's entrance that she fainted, leaving the group somewhat concerned.

"Erm, does that happen alot?" Alex asked.

"It honestly does." Xaiver admitted as the three joined up with the others.

"Maybe we went a bit far?" Jasmine voiced concern for what happened.

"Bah, it's fine. You know her." Cali reassured.

"I know right?! The moment we shouted 'SURPRISE'!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "When we opened the doors! Swoosh! And right before she hit the ground, shoom, she...oh hi again!" The group was alerted to Rarity waking up again from Pinkie's greeting, watching Rarity get up, looking shocked.

"What are you... how did you... why are you...?" Rarity stuttered.

"Listen to her. She's so excited to see us, she can hardly talk." Applejack grinned.

"What I mean to say is...what are you all doing here?" Rarity asked nervously.

"When I got your letter saying you guys were stuck in Canterlot, I asked Pinkie Pie if it wouldn't be too much trouble to move my birthday party here, so you wouldn't have to miss it!" Twilight explained.

"Balloons are super easy to pack!" Pinkie grinned, pulling out a suitcase out of her mane and opened it, revealing tons of balloons bursting out of there.

"Is that common to?" Alex asked as he pointed to the balloons.

"Yes. It is." Xavier sighed. "Please don't question it. Just sum it up to 'Pinkie being Pinkie." As Xavier was "explaining" Pinkie, Rarity looked moved.

"Wow...first you get me a suite at Canterlot Castle and now this. I-I don't know what to say, Twilight."

"How about you start by saying what you're doing in that fancy getup?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously.

"This? O-oh...well..." Rarity stuttered while the others gave out confused expressions. "I-I always put on something a little fancy when Opal's feeling under the weather... Cheers her right up." She finished with a nervous laugh, and while most of the girls convinced, the three guys and Cali were growing suspicious.

"Oh, poor Opal." Fluttershy said, feeling bad for the white cat. "Where is the sick darling?"

"O-oh...she's...uhh...just hold on a minute." Rarity pleaded before shutting the doors closed.

"Huh?" There was a short time that the group stood outside, confused as to what happened. At least until Rarity opened the door again.

"She's resting in the bed." Fluttershy immediately took off and passed Rarity into the room, the rest of the group following. When they got inside, they saw Fluttershy hugging Opal who looked quite disheveled. Most of them, as Twilight noticed something else in the room.

"Is that my dress?" Twilight looked over at a mannequin with a dress on it, though calling it a dress was a bit of an exaggeration as it was basically a piece of butter yellow cloth with a ribbon on it. When Rarity looked at it, she had nervousness plastered onto her face.

"Yes?" Rarity gulped.

"It's so simple..." Twilight stated, causing Rarity to flinch and panic. "So practical...so...me!" She exclaimed, surprising Rarity as she went in for a hug. "It's the perfect dress for my birthday party! I love it!" Rarity stood in place for a second in shock, but she sighed and smiled.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that." As Rarity was speaking, she flicked her tail towards her desk. While most didn't think much of it, the guys knew what was on the desk, and became more suspicious about what was actually going on.

Later, In the Evening

After Twilight thanked Rarity for her dress, the group began to catch up on recent events like what's been going on in Ponyville and Canterlot. Nothing much has happened though, but the guys and Rarity decided not to mention Alex's outburst. Strangely though, that wasn't the only thing that Rarity was avoiding, as she was being pretty vague with what she was doing in Canterlot, which raised some flags to the guys as they were confused as to what kept Rarity away from them for such a long time. After a while, the group decided to head over to where Twilight's party was going to be held.

"When I told the Princess that I was moving the party to Canterlot, she was kind enough to offer us the Canterlot Castle ballroom!" Twilight explained as she led the group to a pair of doors, now dressed in the dress that Rarity made. She then opened the doors, revealing the room that the Grand Galloping Gala was held in, though it was repaired after the events. It was also decorated like a party that Pinkie would host.

"Isn't it fancy pants?" she asked.

"Fancy Pants?! Where?!" Rarity immediately cried in worry as she shielded herself by using Rainbow Dash's wings, until she realized that it was just an expression as everyone just looked at her oddly (or suspiciously in terms of the guys) as she came out of hiding. "Ahh, I mean, where did you find the time to put up all these decorations?" She chuckled nervously, hoping no one was suspicious of her.

"Oh, I never leave home without my party cannon!" Pinkie stated, taking out a small, blue cannon from somewhere and fired it, sending confetti, balloons, and even a cake out of it and onto a table, though some landed onto Rarity's outfit, much to her ire.

"I thought about having my party outside..." Twilight began to talk about as she walked over to the window. "But I was informed that another party's taking place on the castle grounds today." Pointing outside, the group saw that there were plenty of rich ponies that live in Canterlot, including Jet Set and Upper Crust. While most of the group looked out in curiosity, two had different reactions, but one was more noticeable as Alex glared out the window from the side, clearly annoyed, and everyone could feel it.

"uh, is he alright?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, he seems quite... angry." Rainbow added, ending with Huston and Xavier sighing.

"Don't ask. We really can't answer that. Just, leave him be." Both looked at each other for a moment before shrugging their shoulders. Huston then looked around for a second to see that Rarity was hiding somewhat from the window as if not to be spotted. He was about to go over to her but-

"Let's party!" She cried, grabbing him and Rarity and began to play a tune on a record player nearby. Soon enough the part was in full swing with dancing, eating cake, and throwing said cake from Rainbow. As the cake fight was going on, the humans were off to the side, with Jasmine just joining them.

"Ye ain't joining their fight?" Alex asked.

"N-no. I don't like getting dirty." Jasmine admitted, getting a look of understanding from him. "Aren't you going to join them?" She asked her fellow humans, confused as to why they were off to the side.

"You know I'm not good with parties." Xavier replied.

"Same." Cali agreed.

"I'm more of a calmer party guy. No offence to miss Pie." Huston explained.

"Meh." Alex just shrugged.

"Oh, okay. Well you don't mind if I join you?" Jasmine asked, the other humans nodding. "Thanks."

"No prob lassie." As the group were watching the girls party, something was itching at Cali's mind

"Hey Alex, why were you so angry?" Upon Cali's question, Xavier and Huston tensed up. Alex however just sighed.

"Listen, I'll admit it right now, an' ye can confirm with these two or Rares if ye want. I've got a temper, an' there were ponies out there tha' got on my nerves."

"Wow, he actually admitted it." Huston said with a smirk, prompting Alex to look at him with a face that, while there was irritation, there was a look of amusement there too.

"An' what's that supposta mean, mate?"

"He has a point." Xavier joined in, a smile also on his face. "You haven't been this open with US. What makes the girls so differe-" He was cut off by a light bonk to the head, curtesy of Alex.

"Shaddup. I'm open when ay feel like it." Alex defended as he put an arm around Xavier and Huston, the three of them laughing. As they were messing around, Jasmine and Cali watched with different reactions.

"Um, what's going on?" Jasmine asked, confused at the display.

"This is what they call a "Bromance" Jasmine." Cali explained. "Just roll with it."

"U-um, okay?" Jasmine then looked away to look at the party going on, that's when she noticed something. "Uh, hey. Where did Rarity go?" The group then began to look around for a second to realize that Rarity wasn't around.

"Erm, no clue." As the group looked around the venue, a thought popped into Huston's head, and it made his blood go cold. He then nudged Xavier and began to whisper to him.

"Xavier, you don't think that-"

"Uh, what's with the croquet mallet?" The humans all turned over to see that the girls were now all looking over at Rarity, who looked a bit disheveled and holding-

"What croquet mallet?"

"Duh, the one in your mouth." Rainbow pointed, which made her realize it as she widened her mouth and dropped it.

"O-oh...that croquet mallet! I...well I...the truth is..." Rarity began to fumble with her words, panicking at what to say. At least until Twilight spoke up.

"Were you at that other party in the garden?"

"I, I..."

"Rarity, I'm surprised at you." Twilight said, almost sounding disappointed.

"Twilight please! I can explain!" Rarity kneeled down and started pleading her.

"I had no idea you were such a savvy businesspony!" Twilight's reason had some mixed reactions, but mostly to the humans as the other ponies seemed mostly impartial as Rarity had a face of confusion. While Jasmine and Cali were curious, Xavier and Huston were sweating with nerves, as the last one's emotion was going to end up terribly for many nearby. "All of those ponies look so posh." Twilight commented, everyone looking out to see the wealthy ponies outside. "And with the Grand Galloping Gala coming up, I bet you could totally get some of them to buy your dresses, very smart!"

"W-why yes...I-I didn't want you to think I was being rude, so that's exactly the reason I didn't tell you." Rarity recovered, claiming that what Twilight said was truth, though the humans knew otherwise.

"Oh, well, you didn't have to do that. You should totally go over there and mingle!" Twilight allowed, Rarity giving her a look of disbelief.

"Twilight, you really are the best friend a pony could ever ask for." Rarity said as she went in for a hug with Twilight. "I don't know why I ever thought you wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Nothing." Rarity deflected as she turned around. "See you girls later!"

"Hey wait!" Rainbow stopped as she suggested "We're your friends! I'm sure they won't mind if we check out the party too! Come on everypony, let's show them to party Ponyville style!" At this announcement and to Rarity and most of the humans' distress, the five others went out to join the garden party.

"Oh no!"

"This is not going to end well." Xavier said with panic in his voice as he and most of the other humans left, leaving one behind as he had a sneer and glare on his face. When the humans and Rarity got outside, they saw a disaster happening. This time however, this disaster was caused by their friends causing mayhem that didn't belong to this type of party. From Rainbow putting too much force into croquet to Pinkie having too many sweets from the buffet. From Fluttershy feeding birds in the trees, causing twigs, leaves, and crumbs to fall down onto ponies below her to Applejack taking the term "Garden Party" too literally by plucking weeds. Twilight was even being a disturbance as she was dancing poorly in front of everypony.

"Can you believe what that pony is wearing?" They heard Jet Set say, clearly disgusted and annoyed.

"It's just so plain." Upper Crust scoffed.

"Y-yeah" Rarity "agreed" as she used her magic to take a cup of punch. As Twilight was dancing however, the pony that Xavier and Huston saw talking to Alex walked up to her and stopped her.

"Excuse me, might I ask where you got your ensemble?" He asked curiously.

"Why yes, yes you may." Twilight nodded with a smile. "A very, very close friend of mine from Ponyville made it for me." At this moment, Rarity panicked and spat out the punch she was drinking and began to trot over, ignoring the fact that the punch she spat out was all over the married couple.

"Ponyville? You don't say."

"I do say. Her name is–"

"Fancy Pants! Come with me!" Rarity interrupted, taking Fancy Pants' leg and tried to drag him away. "I'd like to show you this, er, thing that's over there. On the other side of the room."

"In a moment, my dear." Fancy Pants replied, unintentionally drawing a crowd. "I was just about to hear from where this lovely filly from Ponyville who made her charming dress."

"What, that dress?" Rarity asked nervously. "Oh come now. Who cares? It's just a plain old-"

"Oh don't be so modest, Rarity." Twilight said. "This dress you made is beautiful!" This sentence made the whole room shut up and look over at the commotion, this time in disbelief at what Twilight said. Rarity simply sweat as the others walked over, the ponies looking happy while the humans looked worried. "We all think so."

"You know these ponies and... humans?" Fancy Pants asked Rarity curiously. "Rarity began to look between the wealthy crowd and her friends, all of them looking a bit worried now. After a bit, Rarity lowered her head and turned to the nobles, leaving her friends in disbelief. At least, until she began to speak.

"Yes...yes I do know them." She admitted, a determined look on her face. "They may not be as sophisticated as all of you Canterlot ponies, but they are my best friends! And they are, without a doubt, the most important ponies I know." Rarity stated as she smiled at them, all of them smiling at her warmly-

"Important ponies?!" Until they heard Jet Set question Rarity's words. "These ruffians?"

"Don't make me laugh." Upper Crust sneered before she and her husband started laughing at them, offending them all.

"I, for one, find them charmingly rustic." They stopped however when Fancy Pants spoke, raising the groups spirits. "And I think the dress you made for your friend is lovely." He said as he walked over. "I daresay every mare in Canterlot will be wanting one."

"Oh, I'd like to place my order right now!" Upper Crust declared.

"I think you should get two-"

"Shaddup ye suck-ups!" The couple simply tensed up at the voice, recognizing it as everyone turned to see Alex standing underneath the flower archway. On his face was unsettlingly aggressive and annoyed "Ye just laughed at them like jokes an' now yer actin' like they are royalty. Just shut it!" Alex then began to walk towards the middle of the party, making many nervous as there have been rumors about him spreading around Canterlot. "Ye remember what ay said before, but my friends are here, so yer lucky." He then went right into the couple's faces with a glare that sent shivers down their spine. "But let me be clear. This is yer only mercy. Next time, ye will get what ay promised, with or without my friends as witnesses. Got that?" The two simply nodded like last time. "Now get out of my sight." As Alex rose and walked to his friends, the couple trotted away in fear.

"T-thank you Alex, I-" What came next shocked everyone, as Alex did something unpredictable and grabbed Rarity by her neckless and pulled her close.

"Don't think ay'm blind or passive ta you, lass." Alex growled, leaving Rarity fearful. "Ye were given an option to abandon us, an' ay ain't letting that go. Ye can tell them the truth, give i' t'all away, even plead ta the high heaven all ye want, ay ain't Ever forgettin' what ye did." Alex then looked over her shoulder to look at their friends, who all looked at the two of them with worry. "Yer lucky they're here, else this would go longer, but ay'm cutting this short." Alex then released Rarity, leaving her shocked on the floor as he put his hands into his pocket and began to walk away. The entire mood was pretty much ruined, but in a way that no one could predict, and as Alex was walking away, Huston and Xavier could only think about one thing.

"What happened to him?"

Of Apples and Elders

View Online

To say that things have been stressful and tense in Ponyville would be an understatement.

Once everyone got back from Canterlot, there was some serious tension between both Rarity and Alex. Well, more like tense for Rarity, as Alex always had a glare on him every time Rarity entered his field of view. While he was okay and acted okay for the most part, any time Rarity and him were in the same area, Alex would immediately grow irritated and walk somewhere else, no matter the current situation. Everyone noticed this right away and wanted to help the two get along, but whenever they even mention her name around him, his normally jolly attitude would leave, so they decided to leave the topic and let him cool off. While everyone thought he would be able to calm down or at least be able to talk to her after a week, they began to grow nervous as over a month past and he still wasn't able to forgive her. Even more worrying is that Alex hasn't been seen too much around the house as autumn started and continued. It was so uncomfortable that even Xavier wasn't able to enjoy his favorite season.

"This sucks." Xavier blurted out, sipping a cup of coffee as he sat on the couch with Rune on his lap.

"Yeah, you'd think that he'd at least be able to move on from what happened." Cali mentioned.

"He's more stubborn than Miss Applejack." Huston commented (Jasmine simply nodded along)

"You're telling me! At least she was willing to listen to reason within a week!" Xavier yelled out, his patience finally thinning for once.

"U-um, maybe we should ask him again?" Jasmine suggested, everyone simply sighing at her suggestion.

"Sorry, but I doubt that that would go anywhere." Cali said, gently shooting her down.

"W-well, it's worth a try, right?"

"It might, but we barely see him around." Huston added. "I doubt that we could even ask when we don't even know where he is-"

"AY'M BACK!!" Suddenly, Alex burst through the door, yelling out happily and scaring everyone and every pet inside. "Whoa, sounds like a party in 'ere."

"ALEX! What the heck man!?" Xavier called out, irritated at his entrance. "You should NOT yell when you enter, especially like that!"

"Ach, sorry 'bout that lads. Ay was just excited."

"About what?"

"This!" Alex then took the Herschel backpack off him and put it down onto the table. The group looked at it in confusion before Alex opened it, revealing that it was filled to the brim with rainbow-colored apples.

"Erm, what are they?"

"Zap Apples! An' these..." He then reached for a pocket on the front of the backpack and unzipped it, revealing jars of a similarly colored substance inside. "Are jars of jam made o' them." As the humans were looking at the mass of rainbow fruits and jars, they were all wondering one thing.

"Where did you get these?"

"As me first paycheck for working at AJ's farm." When Alex answered, everyone went wide-eyed and stared at him.

"Wait, you got a job?!"

"Yep! Ay'm on a roll 'ere!" As Alex was bragging about his achievement, everyone else looked at each other.

"How did you get one?" Xavier asked.

"Well..."

About a week ago

As of right now, Alex was now leaning on a tree somewhere, eating an apple alongside Pepper, and he wasn't too happy.

"Grr, they just can't leave me alone, can they?" Alex growled as he bit into the apple. "They expect me to get over myself after what that lass did!? She's the victim? We all were her's! Can ye believe that, Pepper?!" The chinchilla on his shoulder was simply nibbling on an apple slice he gave her, but took the time to nuzzle up to him. He calmed down a bit when she did. "Aw, yer the only one who gets me, buddy." As he was coddling his pet however.

"I thought I heard somethin' round here." Alex stood up shocked as he looked behind the tree he was leaning on to see Applejack walking up to him. "What are you doin' here on the farm."

"Erm, farm?"

"Yeah, this is the Apple family's farm. An' so is the apple you're eatin'" As Alex was rubbing the back of his head in guilt, Applejack noticed that all the apples that were in the tree Alex was leaning on were all on the ground. "Hey, how did all these apples get here?"

"Erm, well ay kinda bashed the tree in rage." Alex admitted.

"How exactly?"

"Er, like this." Alex then walked up to a neighboring tree with his bat out and swung. The force was enough for the tree to start shaking a bit as the apples in the tree fell. Applejack watched them fall and before long she had an idea.

"Alex, you mind comin' with me for a bit?" Applejack waved her hoof for him to follow, to which Alex thought he was about to get scolded. As they walked Alex's nerves were getting to him until they reached Applejack's home. There they saw that there were three other ponies there, one was a younger filly, one was a much larger stallion and one was a more elderly mare rocking on a rocking chair. When they were noticed Applejack spoke. "Howdy y'all." After the new ponies greeted them, Alex looked confused.

"Erm, lassie? Who are they?"

"They're my family. Alex, I'd like you to meet my younger sister, Applebloom." Applebloom waved happily. "My big brother, Big Mcintosh." The stallion gave a nod. "And Granny Smith our grandma." Granny Smith simply kept rocking.

"Okay... Nice ta meet ye." Alex waved with uncertainty. "So why did ye bring me 'ere, AJ?"

"Well, I wanted to discuss with them about the thought of getting your help for a while." At Applejack's idea, everyone perked up in interest, even Granny Smith. Though Alex looked in confusion.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Well, after I saw you knock those apples out of the tree, I remembered that zap apple seasons is almost here." Applejack began, her family becoming more interested. "With them comin' and your strength, I thought you could help out and make this year our best." While the family was contemplating, Alex was confused.

"Ay'm sorry, what's a 'zap apple'?"

"They're are a special crop we grow here on the farm that we grow." Applejack explained.

"How special are we talkin'?"

"Well for one, they're magic." This peaked Alex's interest. "You see, these fruits are special since they have a pattern in how they grow, and the season for them is almost here."

"Right, so why do ye need my help? Ye seem ta have the harvests 'ere under control." Alex questioned.

"Well, like I said, they are magical. Once they finally grow, any zap apples still on the trees will disappear once the day ends."

"Seriously?" Alex questioned, Applejack and her family nodding as a response. "So ye want me ta help ye's harvest these zap apples faster?" Applejack nodded again. "Hmm, Ay'm not exactly opposed ta the idea, but ay don't want'a impose onta yer family's business."

"Don't sweat it, we'll appreciate the help. Right everypony?"

"Darn tootin'" Applebloom cheered.

"Eeyup." Big Mac simply said.

"Sure, I can allow it." Granny Smith said, at least before going on a tangent. With all the good words from the Apple Family, Alex made up his mind.

"If that's the case, what do ay need ta do?"

"An' that's how ay got the job."

After the flashback Alex had, the other humans all looked between him, the backpack, and themselves before speaking.

"Well, you're explanation didn't exactly tell us what these things are." Xavier said as he was inspecting one of the zap apples.

"Didn't the whole 'magic crop' thing tell ye's?"

"Not really." Alex crossed his arms like he was in thought.

"Alright. So basically they're apples that grow differently than regular ones. Fer one, they only grow and bear fruit at a specific time o' year. At this time, there are signs fer stages in growth, and on the fifth one the zap apples are ripe an' ready. These things don't last long however on the trees, as after the day passes, any still on the trees zap away."

"Really?" Cali asked with interest.

"Yeah, it's crazy ta see." As Alex and everyone was talking about the harvest, Jasmine had a question.

"Um, how did the apple family learn about all this?"

"Ooh, that's a good point lass!" Alex then took one of the jars out of the bag and presented it. "This jam 'ere was invented and made by Granny Smith."

"Granny Smith?"

"She's basically an elder to the farm. But she made this, and, get this! This jam is what actually allowed Ponyville to be founded!" This announcement surprised everyone.

"Wait, really?!"

"Yeah! Now let's see, ay kinda got the story off handed so the details are fuzzy, but AJ herself said so, so it is true."

A Few Days Earlier

Now that Alex was helping the Apple family with the harvest, he was given a run-down on the ins and outs of the farm. He was also given the run-down on how the zap apples worked. As Alex was approaching the farm one day however, he saw a large amount of black clouds surrounding the farm. He hurried over only to see everything fine. Applejack explained everything and now they were hard at work.

"Ye know... Ay'll admit that sayin' there are 'magic apples' here was kinda odd. But seeing that lightnin' storm grow leaves was quite a spectical." He said as he was carrying a watering can

"An' you thought I was lying."

"Ach ay know ye never lie an' whatnot, ay'm jest sayin'." As the two were working, Alex continued the conversation. "So, these apples, how much they goin' fer?"

"Oh, we don't sell the apples themselves, we sell jam Granny makes."

"Jam?"

"Yep. She's been making it for as long as she remembers."

"Oh, ay wanna hear 'bout that lassie."

"You will, though right now her and Applebloom are singing to some more water." Alex's interest was immediately replaced with confusion.

"Singin'... ta the water? What?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." Cali cut the story off with hands waving. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Tit's apparently just as me an' Applejack said. She apparently puts on a bunny costume and hops 'round a circle o' waterin' cans singin'." Everyone simply looked at him like he, more specifically Granny Smith, was crazy. "Ay, not my words, AJ's."

"D'erm, sorry for interrupting. Continue."

"Well, ya cuttin' me off actually helps me out. I'll skip to the next day since that's where ay learned the story."

The next day arrived, and like last time Alex was walking to the farm, he saw another one of the signs. This time, there was a large murder of crows flying overhead the farm's fields. As he was approaching, he also saw that the entire Apple family was there as well. Soon, the zap apple trees began to hum with electricity, and suddenly large amounts of blue flowers sprouted. Everyone there couldn't help but look at it all and be amazed at the display.

"Alright, you lazy daisies, move yer caboose!" Granny Smith exclaimed before turning away along with Big Mac to do their jobs.

"I'm sorry, Apple Bloom, but don't you fret. Granny Smith's got no shortage of entertaining stories to tell." Applejack assured with a grin.

"I know. That's what I'm worried about..." Apple Bloom sighed before walking away. As she was, Alex finally reached Applejack, to which he looked at Applebloom curiously.

"What's wrong with the little lassie?"

"She's worried about Family Appreciation Day at school." Applejack explained. "She was just chosen this week and unfortunately for us, that's the day of the harvest. The only one who isn't busy is Granny Smith."

"An' she's worried 'bout that how?"

"Well, she thinks that Granny will embarrass her."

"That... doesn't make much sense." Alex commented. "Ay mean, all that day is is just someone goin' in and tellin' stories and whatnot 'bout their job or life, right? What's she got to lose?"

"Yeah." Applejack said before looking at the newly-bloomed trees. "You know, this talk of stories under these zap apple trees reminds me of the story of how Ponyville was founded." Applejack's reminiscence managed to catch Alex's attention.

"Huh, ye mean ta tell me these trees were what helped Ponyville grow?"

"Yep. All thanks to Granny Smith." This revelation really got Alex attached to the story.

"Granny founded the town? Oohoho, now ay need ta know the story."

"Well, as long as we work, I can tell you." With a thumbs up from Alex, the two got to work on watering and moving cans for the trees. "Now, to start off, back when Granny Smith was a filly, her and her family were pilgrim folk. They ventured far and wide, collectin' new seeds and sellin' old ones. Turns out, my great grandpa was renowned as the finest seed collector in all Equestria. One day, their travels brought them to Canterlot. While there, Princess Celestia rode by and stopped, interested in their seed collection. While she was looking, she noticed that everypony there were plumb-tuckered and hankerin' to find their forever home. Bein' royalty, she knew exactly the place to let them lay down our stakes. They quickly found that land near the Everfree Forest, and built their first home alongside planting their first crops. But an orchard don't grow overnight, and they were getting mighty short on food. Now mind you, they were cautioned about the forest, and they knew that it was not fit to enter. But Granny thought that, since there were critters livin' there, then there must be somethin' to eat. She entered the forest, scared about every noise. After some time however, she happened to stand right in front of a tree filled with zap apples. As she was picking them however, she heard howling behind her. When she turned, she was face to face with a pack of timberwolves."

"Ay'm guessin' that they aren't average wolves, right?"

"Yep, they are creatures that are made of fallen tree branches, twigs, and logs that only live to hunt. Once she saw them she ran as fast as she could back home. When she got there, she began to bang on a pot outside to get everypony outside. Fortunately though, this noise scared off the wolves, leaving Granny safe. The next day, the family began to plant the seeds of the zap apples, and since they were magic they grew 'lickety split'. Then each year, she paid close attention to the signs of the zap apples' special harvesting times. How the weather affects the Everfree Forest, how the timberwolves howl when the zap apples first start growing, and how they zapped away if you didn't pick 'em all in one day! And the fruits of the labor were the best fruit anypony ever tasted. Soon enough she was mixing up batches of zap apple jam. Just like harvestin' the zap apples had its special rules, so did makin' zap apple jam. She learned that you gotta be extra friendly with the bees, otherwise their honey won't taste rightly sweet to mix in with the zap apples. She also learned that glass jars needed talkin' to to be usable for the jam. She even learned that zap apples like pink polka dots. It's strange, yes, but magic is as magic does. Just funny that way. With jars of jam, ponies started comin' to the farm from far and wide just to get a taste of zap apple jam. Some even of them decided to stay, like Stinkin' Rich, Diamond Tiara's great grandfather. Matter of fact, the first thing he ever sold was her zap apple jam. And before they knew it, a nice little town was founded, bustling with all kinds of ponies." After Applejack finished, Alex stopped his actions and simply stared at her and the trees in awe.

Present Time

Right after Alex told them the story, they all looked at him in amazement.

"T-this isn't a joke, right?" Alex scoffed at Cali's question.

"An' what makes ye say that?"

"Sorry, it's just that it seems quite... Bizarre."

"Ay thought so too, but ay went 'round town, talking to many ponies who's families' have rich history in town, an' they all confirmed it." Alex explained.

"Wow, she sounds incredible." Jasmine commented. As everyone else were talking about the whole story, Xavier asked a question.

"Hey Alex, whatever happened to Applebloom?"

"The little lassie?" Alex thought as he put his chin onto his fist. "Well..."

The Evening after the Story

Turns out, Alex went to take a break a short while after the story to confirm the story. And as another part, it too quite a long time, so long that it was sundown. When he got back he felt guilty about leaving all the work, so the family gave him another task to make up for it, and that was to finish up all the watering and watch over the field for a while as to keep tabs on the fourth sign and make sure everything runs smoothly.

"Granted, ay don't know what the fourth sign is, but ay guess ay'll learn soon enough." As he was finishing up the jobs he was given, he saw it. A flash in the sky, and when he looked up he saw a shower of shooting stars cover the sky. As he was watching, he saw that the flowers in the trees were vibrating, and before long grew apples popped out of them. "Ah, that's the fourth sign. Huh." Alex walked over to a nearby tree to look at the apples. "Now, if ay remember correctly, they can't be harvested right now, or ay'll be 'in fer a shock.' Whatever that means." With a shrug Alex left to go to the barn to grab his things and leave. As he was about to get there however, he overheard a very loud splash nearby. When he looked at what made the splash, he saw that Applebloom and two other fillies were in the pig's stables, all covered in mud.

"Any other bright ideas?" Applebloom asked.

"Ay don't know, do ye?" The three froze up and looked over to the voice, seeing Alex leaning on the fence, a disapproving look on his face. "Inside. Now." The three had no choice but to since A. He was an authoritative figure to them and B. they heard about Alex's rage at Canterlot from their sisters, so they were quite afraid. "When they did get inside however and Alex closed the door, they only heard him sigh instead of growl. "Now, what are ye three doin' out there at this time 'o night? It's a school night fer ye." The three looked between each other nervously. "*sigh* Listen, ay ain't gettin' angry at ye's, just tell me what ye were doin'." After building up the courage, Applebloom began.

"Well, we were goin' to harvest the zap apples."

"ye were, huh. An' didn't ye sister say they were magic?"

"I know, but I wanted to speed up the harvest."

"So that yer siblings could go instead of yer granny?" Alex asked, shocking the three girls. "AJ already told me about yer dilemma, an' ay get it. But ye gotta give her a chance. She actually seems like she's got some nice stories."

"But-"

"An' before ye say anythin', not embarrassin' stories like ye think." Alex cut Applebloom off. "Ay know that she seems weird, but that's just elders fer ye. My grandpa was as well, but he deserved it after all he's been through."

"He did?"

"Well, he did fight in a war." Alex said as he began to reminisce, meanwhile the three fillies looked shocked. "Yeah, he was a veteran back home, so he had respect from many. 'Course, he did have his weird moments, but he had excellent stories from his time servin'." He then walked over to Applebloom and leaned down to put his hand onto her shoulder. "Yer granny's just the same. Ye just need ta get past her weirdness to find an excellent storyteller." A genuine smile was on Alex's face, one that made the crusaders a bit more relaxed, mostly Applebloom. "So, why don't ye stop tryin' ta stop Granny Smith from going to that Family Appreciation Day thing and simply be proud that she is yer family. Who knows, she may prove everyone that the Apples are more important than anyone else in town." At Alex's statement, Applebloom looked up to him with determined eyes and a nod, getting a pleased look from Alex.

"An' with that, she walked to the schoolhouse proudly with Granny Smith the next day." Alex Began to finish off his tale. "I've heard that Granny Smith told the kids there the story of Ponyville's foundin' and Granny ended up becomin' quite popular, but ay was out harvestin' the field, so I only heard from others."

"Good to know that she's okay." Xavier said, happy to know Applebloom learned a valuable lesson. When he did, he remembered the thing that everyone wanted to talk to him about. "Hey, Alex." Everyone looked at Xavier with curiosity, but upon seeing his expression, most of the humans realized what he was going to talk about and looked a bit nervous. "We kinda wanted to talk to you about something..."

"It's about Miss Priss, right?" Alex asked, catching Xavier a bit off guard. "*sigh* Don't worry about it." After some confused looks from the others, Alex began to explain. "Look, ay talked with AJ durin' sales time..."

The Day After Harvest

To say that Alex was impressed at the number of ponies that lined up for jars of zap apple jam would be accurate, since there was a line all the way to town leading to the stand. As Alex as carrying a crate of the jam, he struck up a conversation with Applejack running the stand.

"Wow, what a turnup, ey?"

"I'll say." Applejack agreed. "Seems like there are more here this year."

"Really, sounds like quite the profit." As the two looked out to the line and began to sell the jam, Applejack looked at Alex with a bit of concern.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh, what cha' mean?"

"I mean with Rarity." Upon Applejack saying her name, Alex's mood instantly fell.

"Hmph, there's nothin' ta talk about with her." He growled softly as he crossed his arms. Applejack however knew better.

"Don't give me that, I know you're still bitter about what she did-"

"And yer not?!" Alex asked, his tone growing, but he calmed down a bit when he saw that he was alerting the customers. "How could ye of all people forgive what she did?"

"'Cause I know her." Applejack shrugged, earning a raised eyebrow from Alex. "She just likes the finer things in life, so she jumped at the chance of living like those rich folk up in Canterlot. She just got caught up in the moment."

"B-but she-"

"Look, I ain't askin' you to forgive her, what I am askin' is that you stop treatin' her like she's got the plague." Applejack asked, getting a look of interested from Alex. "She's still everypony's friend, so you acting like you have tends to make all of us a mite uncomfortable, so maybe try to calm down if she's around." Alex crossed his arms in thought, deciding what to do.

"Grr, fine. Ay guess ay can tolerate her fer now." Alex finally conceded to Applejack's demands. "But if she does somethin' like this again, ay can't promise ay'll let it go a second time." Even though Alex was giving a glare to Applejack, she was smiling happily, knowing that their friend group was only going to get closer.

"So yeah, ay'll tolerate her fer now, but that doesn't mean ay'll forgive her just yet, ya hear!" Alex finished, crossing his arms to prove his point. The other humans however sighed in relief, happy to know that Alex was willing to let Rarity off the hook for now. Alex saw how they were acting, and his eye twitched. "Ay, what's with those looks! Grr, you know what!? Let's just try this jam out! Ay'll be back!" As Alex stormed off, the others looked amongst themselves and smiled. Even if Alex wasn't going to forgive Rarity just yet, they were okay with the conditions now.

Baby Cakes

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True to Alex's word, he was tolerating Rarity. He still seems grumpy when he was in the same room as Rarity, but it doesn't ted to overwrite his jolliness, at most he just gives a glance at Rarity. Though, he would still tend to give her the cold shoulder, as he wouldn't answer her her most of the time. Still, progress was being made between the two. As of right now though, something important was happening at the hospital, and fortunately it was actually happy there. This is because Pinkie recently ran around town to her friends and told them that her employers Mr. and Mrs. Cake were going to have their baby soon. Many of the group were told of the news prior as they were told back when they were expecting, though the two most recent members were surprised at the revelation. Right now though, they were all looking into a room full of newborns, trying to guess which one was the Cake's.

"Can you believe the new baby is finally here?" Applejack asked, still amazed at the prospect.

"Cup Cake and Carrot Cake must be so proud!" Twilight smiled with glee.

"I wonder if it's a filly or a colt?" Rarity thought aloud.

"Ooh, I hope it's a girl." Jasmine cooed.

"Either way, it's great to hear that everything went well." Cali said with confidence.

"Though, ye have ta admit, it's weird that this news has evaded me an' Huston fer so long." Alex admitted, looking inside with less curiosity, but still interested.

"I'll have to agree with Alex. How did we miss this?"

"Probably because the author either didn't know how to implement it like the slumber party or just straight up forgot." Pinkie answered, getting confused and concerned looks from her friends (and me. Pinkie, what the actual he-) "But forget that! I wanna see the new baby pony! I wanna see!" She immediately rubbed her face on the glass window while saying "Which one is it?" While everyone was looking into the glass, they saw Mr. Cake walk in and stand next to a crib he looked up to look at everyone and smiled.

"Meet our son, Pound Cake." Mr. Cake lowered the blanket, revealing a light brown pegasus colt with a brown mane, sleeping away like nothing was wrong in the world. Upon seeing him, everyone cooed at him with affection, even Alex and Huston. That's when Mr. Cake smirked in happy pride. "...And our daughter, Pumpkin Cake." He then turned to the other crib nest to him and lowered it's blanket, revealing a filly with the same coat as Pound Cake but with an orange mane and was a unicorn. Upon seeing the two, the group looked in with more confusion than happiness. Well, other than Pinkie

"Wait...two new foals for me to play with?" Pinkie wondered aloud before letting out a loud gasp. "That's two, two, two times the fun! This is the greatest day ever!" She then slipped downwards and disappeared. Right before reappearing in the nursery with a party hat on. "We need to celebrate your birthday!" She cried happily. "Cause you are just born today! Woo-hoo!" Before she could use the noisemaker in her mouth however, a nurse cut her off by shushing her.

"The babies are trying to sleep!" the nurse said.

"But I was just-"

"Shh!"

"But-"

"Shh!"

Pinkie had no choice but to remain silent as the nurse took her leave. At least, until she left and she went over to the cribs silently. "Happy happy birthday, to you and you today-" She was cut off again by the nurse, who went and kicked Pinkie out of the room back to her friends. With Pinkie out of the way, everyone was left to question Mr. Cake.

"How in thunderation is one of them twins a Pegasus and the other one a unicorn?" Applejack asked.

"Easy." Mr. Cake began to answer. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a unicorn, and Cup Cake's great-aunt's second cousin twice removed was a Pegasus. That makes sense, right?"

"Erm, sorta?" Alex shrugged, along with Jasmine and Cali.

"Ah, yeah! Heh, just you wait! Once little Pound Cake there gets his wings going, he'll be all over the place!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Talking from experience?" Alex smirked.

"Mm-hmm! You know it!" Rainbow nodded.

"And be careful around Pumpkin Cake." Twilight said.

"Baby unicorns get strange magic surges that come and go." Rarity added.

"Doesn't sound pleasant." Huston commented. He was about to continue, but-

"Quick! Make a wish and blow out your candles!" They all heard Pinkie whisper. Turns out, she managed to get back inside, this time with a cake. "Which is easy, 'cause there are zero candles! You are zero years old, after all!"

"Shh!" The nurse came back in, shushing her again. As everyone was fawning and questioning the newborn twins however, a certain human was in the back of the room, not looking in with as much excitement as everyone else. Oddly, he had a more pained expression, as he had a vision of a similar scene, but with humans instead.

A Month Later

As a month passed, nothing too interesting has happened since the Cake family grew by two. For some odd reason though, Xavier seemed to isolate himself a bit more than usual, which was odd to many. He was still going out and hanging with his friends, it was just strange. Everything changed however when one day, Xavier was home alone working on a new project though a welding mask. As he was working however, he heard a knock at the door, and it sounded quite frantic. Lifting his welding mask off him and hanging it, he answered the door to see the Cakes at the door, alongside their kids and an overly excited Pinkie. When Xavier got a better look at the Cakes however, he noticed how worried they looked.

"Erm, can I help you two?" Xavier asked both politely and confused.

"Xavier!" Mr. Cake said franticly, startling Xavier. "We need a favor!"

"Um, is everything okay?"

"I told you! Pick me!" Pinkie yelled out behind them, giving Xavier a few hints.

"Erm, do you want me to take care of Pinkie?"

"No. Listen, we have to deliver this enormously big catering order out of town! But we completely forgot about it and we don't have a foalsitter to babysit Pound and Pumpkin Cake!" Xavier looked at the two foals who were simply babbling. "So we came here to ask if you or one of the other humans could foalsit for us!"

"Erm, well there's a problem. Everyone here is busy." Xavier shrugged. "Everyone except for Huston is working. I would say look for him, but I don't know where he is and I think he's doing a painting, so I don't think disturbing him would be good. Did you already ask the girls?"

"Yes, and they are all busy." Mrs. Cake sighed.

"Which is why I can do it!" Pinkie offered, Xavier giving an unimpressed look. He then motioned to the two to get closer.

"Let me guess, you're trying to find anyone before you ask Pinkie."

"Well, yes." Mr. Cake admitted. "She's great with the kids, but that's when we're around. We're worried that-"

"She won't be able to handle the needs of a foal. Let alone two." Xavier finished, the Cakes looking away in both guilt and embarrassment. Xavier stood straight and rubbed the back of his head with uncertainty on his face and action. "Grrrmmm. I guess..." He paused for a time that was surprisingly long before finishing. "I can do it for you two. Just this once though." As the Cakes sighed in relief, but Pinkie seemed upset. Xavier noticed and after thinking for a bit, gave another sigh. "On one condition, Pinkie helps." The three looked at him confused. "I can't do this alone, so I'll need Pinkie's help." The parents looked at each other and sighed.

"If she's what you need, then she can help." Pinkie then smiled with glee and began to hop around excitedly. As The Cakes looked worried, Xavier's face held an emotionless face, as if he was steeling himself for something.

"Now, Xavier, are you sure you really understand the responsibility of watching over two babies?"

After hiring Xavier and to an extent Pinkie, the family brought them back to the shop to get ready for the delivery. As they were scrambling around, Xavier kept his emotionless face and Pinkie looked happy. Now Mr. Cake was questioning Xavier.

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I can take care of this." Xavier said with a calm tone. "I've taken care of my friends well, I can deal with this. Plus, I have Pinkie here as my assistant." Pinkie nodded happily, feeling good about being included.

"Sounds promising, so we'll take it." Mrs. Cake said as she reached for the counter and grabbed a list. She then unraveled it, revealing a list that was at least a few yards in length. "Here you are, dearie. All your responsibilities are on this list." When the two looked at it, they both had different reactions. As Xavier reached down to look at the list, Pinkie was shocked at the length.

"Whoa! That's a long list!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And this is for-"

"Your kids are well behaved for their age." She was cut off by Xavier, who was smiling softly as he read the list. "I was expecting this list to be three times the length."

"Wait, you were!?" Pinkie and the Cakes asked surprised, both from Xavier's statement and his relative calmness to the list.

"Well, I just assumed since you had twins, so... I kinda just did some math." Xavier shrugged. "In any case, don't worry about a thing you two. We've got this covered." Xavier's calm smile was enough to get through to the two as they relaxed, at least until they realized the situation again.

"Gah, no time! We'll frost it when we get there! C'mon, sugarplum, tick-tock!" Mr. Cake exclaimed, pushing a wrapped up cake through the door.

"Oh right! Take good care of our two precious little ginger snaps!" Mrs. Cake said. Xavier nodded in understanding as Pinkie walked them out.

"No problemo, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Everything is under control." She said as she closed the door after the couple gave one last wave before leaving. When she did, she looked directly at the twins smiling. Unfortunately (or predictably for that matter) the two began to cry loudly, startling Pinkie.

"Gah, author! Why must you plague my life with incidental quotes?!" (Consider it revenge for calling me out. Now then...) As Pinkie looked at the two in fear, she began to stammer out pleas.

"Oh, don't cry, little friends! Look, look!" She then dashed over to the kitchen. Whin in, she took the doors and began to open and close them. "Where's Pinkie Pie...? Where's Pinkie Pie?" The babies weren't impressed or entertained however and continued to cry. "Oh no... I'm right here, see?" She then ran up to the foals and began making funny faces at them to try and make them laugh. It didn't work. Pinkie began to panic and began to think. "Oh, think think think... Aha!" She then ran upstairs to find something in the twin's room. As she was searching however, something stopped her. And that was the sudden quiet and lack of crying. Confused and concerned, she began to go back downstairs. As she was, she was confused to hear the tune of a music box. When she made it downstairs, she saw Xavier holding and winding a music box with the twins watching and listening in fascination. Once the tune ended, Pinkie approached. "Hey, what did you do?"

"All kids have something in common." Xavier began to explain calmly with a small, warm smile. "They always react to many situations similarly to one another. A hectic, loud environment or being away from their parents can cause them to cry since they have no other way of communicating. Meanwhile, a calmer environment or sound can help soothe them." Xavier put the music box down nest to the foals, the two looking at it curiously. "I knew they would end up crying sooner or later, so I packed that with me so I could calm them down." As Xavier watched the two foals observe the box, Pinkie looked at him with mixed emotions. She was in awe at how calm he was, but also jealous and a bit angry at how well he handled it. It was no matter to her however, as she would prove to everyone that she could be a good foalsitter.

After Xavier calmed the foals down, he decided to let Pinkie watch them for a while while he looked over both the kitchen and the kids' room. As he was checking the kids' room, Pinkie decided to look over the list for the next thing to do with the kids.

"Meal time. That's easy enough." She took the two kids into the kitchen and sat them into two kiddie seats before heating up some bowls of baby food. Once they were done, she placed the bowls onto the seats for the two. The two simply looked at the food in confusion, leaving Pinkie a bit conflicted. At least until she picked up a bowl for herself. "Eat up! Like this! Num-num-num, num-num-num-num! Ahh!" She then pretended to eat from the bowl messily, but before she could put the bowl down-

"No, not like that." She heard Xavier say behind her. Looking over at him, he came over and took both bowls from her and the seats.

"Hey! Why not?"

"One, you're demonstration would make a huge mess. Two, they can't understand you. And three, they can't eat this in the first place." Xavier explained as he put the bowls down. The last point confused Pinkie.

"Huh? Why can't they?"

"Because baby food is for when they are a bit older than a few weeks old." Xavier continued as he looked around the cabinets before he found some baby formula. "At their age, they can't digest solids yet, so they can only drink baby formula now." As he was prepping the formula, he turned to Pinkie. "Even if they could eat baby food, they can't eat it by themselves. They need someone to feed them since they can't exactly handle eating in the same way." Pinkie was getting a bit annoyed at how Xavier was showing her up, but before she could get too angry, he asked Pinkie something. "I have feeding them handled. If you could start a warm bath, that would be great. Not too hot though, we don't want to burn them." Pinkie bounced up happily.

"I sure can." She then hopped out of the kitchen, leaving Xavier to feed the twins. When she did, Xavier sighed.

"She's got the spirit, but she lacks the understanding." He commented to no one as he fed the foals their meals. After he finished feeding them (and burping them), Pinkie returned to the kitchen.

"Bath's ready!" Pinkie called excitedly, earning a nod from Xavier.

"Thank you Pinkie." He followed Pinkie up to the bathroom carrying the twins. When they got there he gave the two to Pinkie to hold before walking over and dipping his hand into the tub full of water and bubbles. "Hmm, yep. This is perfect." He then motioned to Pinkie to bring the twins over to the tub, to which she complied. When she was walking over however, the twins managed to squirm their way out of her grip and began to run around the bathroom happily. Even though Xavier didn't look too phased at their antics, Pinkie started chasing them around the bathroom irritated. Xavier simply watched as Pinkie played a strange game of hide and seek before she managed to grab them. When she did and tossed them into the tub, the two began to cry again. Even though Pinkie was panicking, Xavier was calm.

"Hey now, don't cry." He said with a calm smile. "Look here, bubbles." He then lightly splashed some foamy bubbles towards them, sending many into the air where they floated like stars. The babies were quickly taken over by the pretty and sparkly bubbles in the air and stopped crying. Pinkie sighed in relief as they looked, but one floated a bit too close to Pumpkin Cake and landed onto her horn, popping. This popped bubble upset them, causing them to cry. Like always, Pinkie was panicking, but Xavier simply looked a bit confused. "Huh, normally that's enough..." He whispered, but Pinkie didn't here as she dashed off somewhere. When she returned, she was holding a rubber duck.

"Look, look, uh, floating thing!" She said as she showed the duck. She then put the duck into the water, the kids stopped crying and smiled.

"Ooh, nice call Pinkie." Xavier approved. Pinkie, taking the appreciation as encouragement, dashed off again. When she returned, she was carrying a large amount of toys and was aiming to dump them into the tub. At least, until Xavier stopped her. "Woah woah woah! What are you doing?"

"You said that toys were a good call."

"Well yes, but only two or three are needed." Xavier explained, taking two toys from her arms. "If you put all of those into the tub you'll overwhelm them. Best keep the number low." Taking the toys he took from Pinkie, he placed them into the bathtub, letting the two foals play for a while before starting to bathe them. As he was watching over the two, Pinkie looked at them in jealousy and annoyance, all over how Xavier was doing a better job than she was.

After Xavier gave the twins their baths, he decided to let them simply play in their room for a while while he and Pinkie watched. After a while of Xavier looking over a project he brought over and Pinkie was looking over the list to see if there was anything she could do, something happened that most would dread. A scent lingered over towards them, and it was not pleasant. The two looked over with covered noses at the twins, fearing the worst.

"Smells like somepony needs me to changy-wangy their diaper-wiper right now-a-wow!" Pinkie spoke, half to let Xavier know (like he didn't smell it) and half to try and distract herself from the scent. As she was reaching for the diapers though, Xavier stopped her.

"Pinkie, let me." He said as he took the diapers. Before Pinkie could retaliate though, there was a knock at the store's entrance. "Pinkie, could you take care of that while I change the twins? Thanks." Pinkie wasn't even given the option to opt out before Xavier walked over to the twins, her growling in response as she walked down to see who was at the door. When she opened it, she saw that it was Twilight and Huston.

"Hi! We finished up the work I had to do, so we thought we'd stop by and see if you needed any help." Twilight greeted and explained, Huston giving a wave.

"Um, well..." Pinkie stammered.

"Yes, we know that both you and Xavier are here, but we still wanted to lend a hand. Or hoof in Twilight's case." Huston explained as he and Twilight entered the bakery.

"Mmhmm. We thought you two might need some help." Twilight continued. This however irritated Pinkie.

"Ex-cuse me?!"

"Babies take a lot of work, and some ponies are just not cut out to handle the responsibility." Twilight said as she used her magic to organize some toys that were scattered about. As she was however, Pinkie got into her's and Huston's faces.

"Is that so?" She said irritated before she began to push the two out. "Well, thanks for stopping by, Twilight. Sorry, I don't have time to visit. I'm very very busy with my responsibilities here."

"We're happy to help!" Twilight assured. "It's no trouble-" She didn't finish her sentence however as the door closed on her.

"Wait, I also came to tell Xavier that there's a situation at the spa." Huston called out, hoping that Pinkie heard. "They need some emergency maintenance and need his help soon." Pinkie did hear that, and after thinking about it for a second, her eyes sparkled.

"Oh, I'll tell him. Thank you." Pinkie said as she smiled.

"Tell who what?" Pinkie looked over to the stairs to see Xavier walking down them. "I just changed their diapers, what's up?" As he went over to the the sink to wash up, Pinkie began to speak again.

"Well, it was Huston. He came over to tell you that the spa needs some maintenance soon. He also said it was urgent." Pinkie explained, leaving out Twilight and their offer to help. Upon hearing about the news, Xavier looked up in a bit of worry.

"Now? Ah, what am I going to do..."

"You should go! I can take care of things here.' Pinkie said confidently. Pinkie's suggestion made Xavier a bit nervous.

"Erm... I'm not sure you should be left with them..." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. When he saw Pinkie's face and how she looked offended, he waved his hands in front of him in defense. "I didn't mean you would cause problems! I-I just mean that I feel more comfortable knowing there were multiple people watching the kids. If I left, it would mean that there would be no way for you to get any help and-"

"Don't worry about it." Pinkie said as she put her hoof around Xavier's shoulder. "I've got this in the bag. I've been watching you all day, I can do this." Despite Pinkie's confidence, Xavier still looked a bit worried.

"Are you sure you do? It's still a big responsibility."

"I do." Xavier looked at her for a good minute, struggling to decide. After an unbearable minute, he sighed.

"Alright, I guess I can trust you." Pinkie smiled internally. "But I am going to try and finish this job quickly so I can get back soon. Also, if anything happens, promise me that you'll go to someone and get help?"

"I promise!" Pinkie saluted. Xavier nodded and began to rush to the door.

"I'm trusting you Pinkie." As he exited the bakery, Pinkie smiled confidently and determined, as she was going to prove that she-

Wasn't good at foalsitting

Two hours after Xavier left for the spa, he returned to the bakery with haste (Well, he did hurry, but he was more like power walking) When he opened the door however, he became worried as he heard quite the commotion from upstairs. He hurried upstairs, and when he got up there he saw something that he didn't expect, even though Pinkie was involved. For one, there was a foal flying about, as Pound Cake was actually flying around giggling. Pumpkin Cake was also doing something unexpected, as there were toys floating around her via magic, one of which was in her mouth as she teethed on it. And in the middle of the room was Pinkie overwhelmed by the two before she took notice of Xavier standing in the doorway. When she saw him, she broke down and suddenly she was the one crying. Hearing her, even the two foals stopped what they were doing and watched as Xavier walked over to her. When he reached her, he simply kneeled down and gave her a hug, waiting for her to calm down.

"Everypony was right! I am a terrible foalsitter! I'm not responsible!" Pinkie cried. All Xavier did was hug her as she cried. It took a bit, but she did start to calm down. As she was, Xavier spoke.

"I'm sorry Pinkie." He apologized. Pinkie looked at him teary-eyed and confused, not understanding. "I'm sorry that I placed the burden onto you. I know you just wanted to prove you could be a good foalsitter." Xavier then stood up with a sigh as he looked off into space. "I was once a babysitter back where I came from..." He said, surprising Pinkie. "When I started, I had had someone teach me what to do as well." Xavier put his hands into his hoodie's pocket, feeling the picture that he had and closed his eyes. "Those memories made it hard to accept this, and I doubt that I can do this again. So I wanted to show you what to do." Xavier then turned back to her and put his hand onto her shoulder. "Being someone responsible for another means that you can't be playing all the time. There comes a time where you have to get your act together and fly straight for once in your life." Xavier's look of serious was enough to make Pinkie recognize what he was doing, and she began to stand up. As she was, Xavier smiled softly. "Besides, if you cry then the kids will be sad as well." Him and Pinkie then looked over to the twins, who were crawling over to Pinkie with guilty faces and began to nuzzle up to her. "They seem to trust you more, so you can take care of them as long as you take responsibility." Pinkie looked between him and the foals, processing all that he said. When she did, she wiped her eyes and looked up to him hopeful. When she did, Xavier smiled, knowing that she managed to learn.

A Few Hours Later

After Pinkie calmed down, the two got to work. They started by putting the two foals to bed, which was easy as they burned all their energy playing before Xavier got back. When they did fall asleep, Xavier helped Pinkie learn and understand the responsibilities about taking care of a foal. He also helped her clean up the mess that the two made during their rampage. By the time they finished and checked up on Pound and Pumpkin Cake again, they heard the front door open alongside voices.

"Pinkie Pie! Xavier! We're back!" Mr. Cake shouted.

"How did everything go?" Mrs. Cake asked before the both of them let out a gasp, seeing how the place was spotless.

"Are we in the right place?" Mr. Cake asked, amazed that the place wasn't destroyed.

"Shh!" The two heard Pinkie shush them, seeing her and Xavier on the stairs, smiling down at them. Pinkie then motioned to follow them, to which the couple complied. When they stopped, they saw that their kids were sleeping away peacefully in their crib. Seeing both their kids asleep and the bakery clean, they were quite impressed.

"P-Pinkie, Xavier. This is just... just..."

"Amazing is what it is." Mr. Cake finished for his wife, turning to the duo. "We had no idea how responsible you really are."

"Ahh, it was nothing." Xavier said with a raised hand. "I was just happy me and Pinkie could help."

"Well you two helped a lot." Mr. and Mrs. Cake then looked at each other and smiled. "Would you be interested in becoming our go-to foalsitter on a permanent basis?" They asked Xavier, to which he simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't" He responded. "My work as the maintenance crew for the spa makes it difficult for me to fully predict my availability. Heck, something happened partway today, so I had to leave. It was fortunate that Pinkie was here though, she was able to take care of the kids while I was gone. I think she's more fit for the position." At Xavier's suggestion, Pinkie nodded with confidence. The Cakes looked slightly unsure, but seeing as how Xavier was so confident about it, they made up their minds.

"In that case, would you like to be our go-to foalsitter Pinkie?" Mr. Cake asked.

"Yes, I would love to." Pinkie responded calmly. The couple nodded and smiled.

"Well, thank you two again for foalsitting for us." Mrs. Cake said as she reached for her bag, pulling out a small bag. "Please take this as payment." Xavier took the bag to hear some jingling of bits, so he nodded.

"Thank you. I should get going now, so see you later."

"Oh, I'll walk you out!"

"No need Pinkie, I'll be fine. See you Pinkie." He said with a smile. While Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled back, Pinkie looked concerned. This was because she saw his smile and knew it. It wasn't a happy one, but it was a sad one. Seeing it concerned her, but she had no idea if she should ask, as she believed that it involved Xavier's story of from before. As of right now though, she would simply keep her question silent, after all he did help her out in the end, but maybe in the future she would ask.

A Human Kind of Christmas

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As fall faded away and lead into winter, something odd happened. It stared with Xavier seeming even more melancholy then before, isolating himself even more. This time, everyone tried to ask him what was wrong, but they never could get his attention. Pinkie did mention the things that happened when she and Xavier foalsat the Cake twins, leaving everyone conflicted. Things became worse however, as his dampened mood seemed to get to the other humans too, as they all seemed to grow sadder or irritable, making their ponies even more worried. Now as snow piled up outside their homes in the morning, each human was in their room, not exactly feeling like doing much-

CHRASH KTISH CLANG!

At least until multiple loud noises could be heard from the living room, alerting everyone. As they all grabbed their stuff and ran to see what the loud noises were, they were greeted by a sight that wasn't what they thought they would see, as the living room was decorated with many decorations for Christmas, even extending into the kitchen. And in the center of the room was Alex next to a large pine tree, looking down at a bunch of dropped ornaments, saying some very profound things.

"GAH DAMN IT! Those cost a lot, an' ay was borrowin' those!"

"Alex, what are you doing?" Xavier asked for everyone, Alex looking up at them.

"What!? Ah damn it, ye weren't suppost'a come down 'ere yet!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up and going into the kitchen, coming back out with a broom and dustpan. "Can't ye just go back ta ye rooms, ferget this happened, an' come back down in another hour?" Everyone simply looked at each other, thinking he was being ridiculous.

"Yeah, I don't think we can."

"Damn it." As Alex was groaning at his mishap while cleaning up the dropped ornaments, the others began to fan out and look around.

"So, what are you doing?" Huston asked, staring at a candy cane that was hung up on a coat rack.

"Well ay was decoratin' so that when ye all came outta yer rooms ye'd be surprised an' ferget that ye were sad in the first place." Everyone looked at him confused. "Well, everyone's been pretty down as of late, an' the holidays are coming up soon. Apparently 'ere in Equestria, they 'ave a holiday that's similar to Christmas called Hearths Warmin'. When ay 'eard about this, ay thought that ay could make the house festive an' get everyone inta the holiday spirit ta cheer ye guys up. So, what do ya think?" Alex looked at them after tossing the broken ornaments into the trash with a smile, hoping to see them react in a positive way. His hope and smile however dwindled as he saw that they all didn't show signs of cheer. "Erm..."

"Sorry Alex. It was nice to think of us like that, but I don't think I want to celebrate." Surprising Alex, it was Jasmine to say something first.

"W-what?!"

"I mean, you did a good job and all, but thinking about it I just think about Christmas back on earth." Jasmine said rubbing her arm. "Back then, the only thing I wanted was to celebrate the holidays with my parents, but they were always busy on Christmas, so I was alone..."

"I'll have to decline too." Cali said crossing her arms, worrying Alex even more. "You do remember that I never had much growin' up, right? Seein' all those other families splurge on their kids while not givin' a damn about anyone in poverty or orphanages is just... Grrr."

"Sorry, me too." Huston joined, making Alex think that no one was going to join. "I-it reminds me of a friend." Huston's reason wasn't as detailed, but seeing his face with an expression of pain was enough to say everything. Alex looked over at Xavier, only to see that he was already closing the door to his room, his expression even more depressed than before. It wasn't long before the others decided to follow suit, heading to their rooms too, leaving Alex alone in his failed attempt of getting his fellow humans to cheer up for holiday cheer.

An Hour Later

After the light rejection of Alex's plans, he found himself leaving the house in frustration. Now he was sitting at a table at a restaurant, not looking too happy with a glass bottle in his grasp. His state of irritation was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Yo Alex! Did you tell-"

"NO, AY DIDN'T TELL 'EM DASH!!" He yelled out, turning to Rainbow, the pegasus looking a bit defensive. Upon realizing that, he immediately looked guilty. "Gah! Sorry lass! I didn't mean it!"

"Erm, it's not a problem." As Rainbow lowered her guard, she noticed the bottle. "Hey wait, have you been drinking!?" Alex looked at his hand and the bottle, and realized what she was saying.

"Huh, oh no. This is ginger ale. Ay tend ta drink it when ay get stressed."

"So I take it the plan didn't go well."

"*sigh* No, it didn't." Alex sighed as he tuned back to the table, Rainbow sitting at the table as well. "Ay set up the decorations, but none of 'em wanted ta celebrate the holidays. Can ye believe that?!"

"Seriously?! This is one of the best times of the year!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Ay know! An' before ay could tell 'em about the Hearths Warmin' party, they up an' walked back to their rooms!" He yelled out as he took another swig from his ginger ale. "An' yet ay don't 'ave the heart ta go an' tell 'em now." This confused Rainbow.

"You don't? Why?"

"Well, they all gave me these sad looks an' reasons. Although Huston and Xavier didn't tell me much directly, ay can tell they don't wanna talk about it, so ay would feel guilty pressin' further, so ay just left." As Alex sighed and took another drink from his ginger ale, Rainbow sighed as well.

"Well, you guys always seem to have some kind of depressing thing going on, so I think it's reasonable." Rainbow commented, leaving Alex to glare at her with annoyance.

"Hmph, ye gonna be more blunt?" Alex grumbled as he took another swig. "Well, ay guess we should tell Pinkie to take four humans off the guest list or somethin'. Don't wanna force 'em ta do anythin' that would make 'em uncomfortable."

"Yeah, you're probably right." As the two sat in silence for a bit, Alex spoke up again.

"An' yet, ay still wanna get 'em presents fer the holidays." He sighed, catching Rainbow's attention.

"Wait, you do?"

"Yeah. Back home, many consider this holiday 'the season of givin'', so even if they don't wanna celebrate, ay still wanna give 'em somethin'." Alex explained after taking another swig of ginger ale.

"Are you sure?" Rainbow questioned, a bit worried about the idea. "They may get more upset."

"Bah, who get's upset at a present?" Alex reasoned. "No one can resist the urge ta open a present labeled fer them. Plus, if the gifts great, they just can't help but feel nice."

"Well, I'll help you if you want."

"Thank ye's, Dash. Yer a great friend." Alex sat up straight and crossed his arms, beginning to think. "Hmm, now what ta get..."

"Well, it seems like an easy thing to think about considering who we're talking about."

"Yeah, yer right. But ay just don't wanna get 'em somethin' ye can buy fer cheap, ay want ta get them somethin' with quality."

"Well, let's try and do one at a time."

"Yeah, hmm..." Alex closed his eyes to think, considering his options. "Well, ay do remember that Xavier was lookin' fer some special component thing fer his next project. Maybe ay could try and find it first."

"Well, what is it?"

"Ay'm pretty sure he's lookin' fer some mechanical joints. Not sure what it's gonna be used fer, but ay do remember the looks of 'em. And ay also remember seein' them bein' sold in Canterlot." Hearing Alex mention Canterlot made Rainbow nervous as she remembered what happened there last time.

"Um, are you sure you want to go up there?" Rainbow asked concerned.

"Ay know yer concerned, but don't worry. Ay'll keep me cool there." Alex said as he stood up and drained the last drops of ginger ale and tossed the bottle into a nearby trash can. "I've managed ta save up quite a bit from workin' with AJ before winter hit, so ay should be able to buy 'em along with some more presents fer the others." As Alex was stretching himself out, Rainbow got up as well.

"I'm coming to just to make sure."

"Alright, be nice ta have some company." With that, the duo began their journey for gifts to give.

Fortunately, their trip over to Canterlot was smooth as they went from Ponyville's train station to Canterlot's easily. As the two were strolling around the city however, Rainbow asked a question.

"So, where do we buy these things anyway?" Alex stopped and paused, thinking it over.

"Ah crap, ay don't think ay saw where they were bein' sold!" Alex shouted as he threw his head back, covering his face with his hands. Alex's outburst startled many in the area (as he was pretty well known in the city), and there was one in the crowd that recognized him in a different way.

"I dare say, is that Alexander I hear?" Alex uncovered his face as him and Rainbow looked at the voice, seeing that Fancy Pants was walking over to them.

"Hm? Oh, hey there Fancy Pants." Alex greeted.

"What are you doing out here?" Rainbow asked, continuing Alex's train of thought.

"Well, I'm out looking for a present for Fleur De Lis. I assume you're here to do the same?" Fancy Pants answered and assumed, earning a sigh from Alex.

"More like Alex." Rainbow answered for him. "We're looking for some mechanical joint thingies for his friend to give as a gift. He heard it was here in Canterlot, but he never learned exactly where." After Rainbow finished explaining, Fancy Pants put his hoof to his chin in thought.

"Hmm, well I may not know much about the topic, I do think I know what you're talking about." He said, getting the two's attention. "I can bring you over if you'd like."

"Ye sure? Ay don't wanna bother you."

"Don't worry, my boy. I would be happy to show you. Consider it compensation for what happened during your stay here in Canterlot last time." Fancy Pants' offer get the two to look at each other before nodding.

"Aight, if yer offerin' ay guess we can accept." Alex agreed, Fancy Pants smiling and waving for them to follow. After some time walking they found they were in front of a shop, a sign that called it "The Steel Eagle".

"Here we are. I hope you have luck in what you're looking for."

"An' you too, Fancy Pants. Ay hope ye find what yer lookin' fer as well." With a goodbye between unlikely friends, Alex and Rainbow entered the shop. When they entered and looked around for a bit, they saw that there were a lot of mechanical toys like trains, wind-up toys, and music boxes. And at the counter was a tough-looking stallion with a dull coat and grey mane and beard, wearing a bandana and a brown coat, working on a music box. Looking up, the stallion began to speak.

"Hey, what can I do for you?" He spoke with a gruff voice.

"Well, ay'm lookin' fer some joints fer a friend." Alex said, getting a raised eyebrow from the stallion.

"You wouldn't happen to be getting them for that other human who knows his way with gadgets like this, would you?" The stallion asked, raising the music box up to show the two.

"Erm, yeah actually." The stallion put the music box down and closed his eyes, nodding as he got up.

"Figured as much. Call me Gnome Hat." He then walked to the backroom, taking a bit before returning with a box full of parts. "Take your pick. I'll count the cost when you're finished."

"Thank ye, sir. Give me a moment." Alex began too look through the contents of the box, Gnome Hat going back to the counter and going back to work on the music box. As Alex was looking through the contents, Rainbow went over to Gnome Hat and struck up a conversation.

"So, what are you working on now?" Gnome hat looked up at her, unimpressed.

"A music box. What does it look like?" His blunt answer got Rainbow to back up nervously.

"So, nice shop here." She backed up, asking a different question.

"Hmph." Gnome Hat simply grunted before staying silent, not answering Rainbow's questions anymore. Taking the hint, she stayed quiet and waited for Alex to finish up. It wasn't before long that Alex walked over to the counter with some parts on his hands.

"'Ere we are." Alex said as he put the parts down, those being four small, slim leg-like joints. Giving a nod, Gnome Hat stopped working on the music box to turn to Alex.

"Right, that'll be twenty bits."

After Alex and Rainbow's stop at The Steel Eagle, Alex decided that he would like to walk around Canterlot for a while longer to see if he could find some more gifts. As they were walking around however, Alex didn't see anything that would work.

"Gah, nothin' here is goin' ta work." Alex groaned. Rainbow looked at him with worry and sympathy.

"Well, what if we go back to what we did before and take this one at a time?" Alex looked at her and thought for a second.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Alex then put a hand to his chin and began to think. "But who should we start with?" The two walked for a bit, but with Alex looking down thinking. It didn't take long for this to end badly.

"Huh, Alex? Hey Alex!" Alex looked up to Rainbow as he continued to walk.

"Huh, what's- oof." Before Alex could ask what Rainbow was doing, he accidentally bumped into something, that something also grunting from the impact as both him and the thing he bumped into fell into the snowy street. When Alex looked up after recovering, he saw that he managed to bump into none other than Twilight Sparkle. "Eh? Twilight?"

"Alex?" Twilight asked as she looked up to see him and Rainbow. Alex didn't waste too much time getting up and running over to Twilight, helping her up.

"What're ye doin' 'ere?"

"Well, I was visiting my family for the holidays before the Hearth Warming party in Ponyville." Twilight explained, getting nods from Alex and Rainbow. "What about you two?"

"We're here to buy gifts for the other humans." Rainbow answered, catching Twilight's attention.

"Wait, is there a gift-exchange at the party?"

"No, it's more like Alex doing this because they aren't coming." Rainbow explained, getting a confused and concerned look from Twilight. "Well Alex was going to tell them about the party, but before he could get to it the others gave some sad reasons or something and just left for their rooms. Bummer too, it would have been nice to spend a Hearths Warming together for once."

"Yeah. Now that you mention it, Xavier didn't join us when we took part in the Hearth Warming play here in Canterlot last year even though he was invited." Twilight mused, thinking back. "I wonder why."

"Well, at least we have one who's willing. Right Alex?" Rainbow and Twilight looked over at Alex, at least where he was before as he wasn't there anymore. "Alex?" The two began to look around, concerned he was in trouble. At least until they saw him looking into a window of a shop, letting out sighs of relief as they went over to him. "Hey man, what are you looking at?"

"Hm, oh I was lookin' at that." When Rainbow got Alex's attention, he pointed inside towards a pillow that was colored and shaped like a cloud. It even had a cut little face. "Ay was just thinkin' about how nice of a present it would be fer Jasmine. What do ye think?" Looking inside for a bit, the two thought the same thing.

"Yeah, Jas would love that."

"I think so too."

"Great." Alex went over to the door and entered. After a bit, he came out with a gift bag containing the pillow. "Aight, got that. Now ay just need presents fer Cali an' Huston." When Alex spoke, Twilight remembered something.

"Oh, I think I know what you can give Cali." Twilight said, catching Alex and Rainbow's attention. "When I was at my parents, they said that they were looking into getting rid of a few things to make room for some equipment they need, and I remember that some of the things they were thinking of were some cooking supplies. They're high quality so I think Cali would like them."

"Really now..."

"Yeah. If you want, I can take you over to meet them and talk." Thinking it over, Alex came to a decision.

"Yeah, ay think ay will." Smiling, Twilight begun to lead him and Rainbow to her home.

"And here we are."

After some time guiding Alex and Rainbow, the three of them made it to the house that Twilight's parent's lived in. All things considered, the house was a very nice one when compared to others, and seeing as how they were in Canterlot-

"So are ye and yer family rich or somethin'? 'Cause this is quite the place."

"Well no, but my parents are quite successful along with my brother, so that does contribute to things." Twiight said as they approached the door. "Mom, dad. Are you here?" Twilight called as she opened the door, leading her friends inside. As Alex and Rainbow were looking around Twilight's house, they heard hoof steps coming close.

"Twilight? You're back sooner than we expected." Looking over, they saw two ponies walking over, one a mare and the other a stallion. Seeing them, Alex and Rainbow assumed that they were Twilight's parents.

"Yeah, but I came because my friend wants to talk to you." Twilight said as she gestured to Alex, the human giving a wave to them.

"Hey, he wouldn't happen to be one of the humans you mentioned before, right?" The stallion asked, his and the mare's curiosity peaking.

"Yep. This is Alex, he recently came here to Equestria." Twilight then turned to Alex and gestured to the two. "Alex, Rainbow. Meet my parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light."

"Erm, 'tis a pleasure ta meet ye." Alex greeted awkwardly.

"Please, no formalities needed." Night Light stopped Alex. "You two are good friends to our daughter, and it's nice to see her smile." After Night Light spoke, Alex sighed and smiled.

"Of course sir. Ay can do that."

"That's more like it. Now, Twilight said you wanted to talk to us?"

"Oh yeah. She said that ye were lookin' inta gettin' rid of some cookin' supplies. If ye are, do ye think ay could have 'em? Ay'll pay ye too." Alex told the married couple, the two looking him over.

"Hmm, you don't seem like the type to cook that much." Twilight Velvet stated. "So does that mean that you want them as a gift."

"Well, yeah. Ye see, ay'm holiday shoppin' fer gifts fer the other humans. They've all been in a funk lately, so ay wanted ta invite 'em ta a holiday party that yer daughter is goin' ta. Unfortunatly, they all declined, so ay'm goin' around shoppin' ta give 'em gifts, and one of 'em loves cookin'. So ay was hopin' that ay could take yer cookin' supplies ta give as a gift ta her." Alex explained, getting nods from the couple.

"If that's your goal, we can give them to you. No payment needed." Night Light said, surprising Alex.

"Wait, really?"

"Of course. You seem like quite the gentlecolt, so we don't have much reason to not trust you. Besides, Twilight trusts you, so we do too." Alex smiled at Night Light, happy to know that he gained the trust of his friend's parents.

"Thanks. Ay'll be sure ta remember this." With a nod, Night Light went deeper into the house, presumably to collect the things.

"This is great, all you need is a present for Huston." Rainbow said happily, though Alex didn't seem to share the sentiments as he put a hand to his chin.

"Yeah, but he's may be a bit more trouble." Alex commented, clearly worried. "The things he would like are kinda expensive, an' ay'm runnin' a bit low on cash now." Alex looked at the coin pouch he brough with him, seeing there was only a few bits left. "Those joints were a lot more expensive than ay originally thought. An' paintin' stuff is a lot more expensive than a pillow."

"Painting?" As Alex sighed at his predicament, the group overheard Twilight Velvet question Alex, so he looked up to meet her gaze.

"Erm, yeah. He's an artist, so ay think he'd like some paint or somehtin'. The problem is that those things are kinda expensive if ye go quality."

"Hmm, funny. I just picked up a book about something interesting." Twilight Velvet mentioned, catching Alex's attention. "Hold on for a second." Twilight Velvet let the room as well, leaving the three friends alone again, at least until Night Light returned with the supplies they had.

"Here you are Alex. Hope these work for you." After Night Light handed the stuff to Alex, he looked through the things and saw that they were indeed quality.

"Aye, this'll do. Thanks fer helpin' out Mr. Light." As Alex was thanking Night Light, Twilight Velvet returned with a book.

"Here we are." Twilight Velvet said as she put down the book, revealing that it was one themed around ancient legends and civilizations. "I bought this recently, and you talking about painting reminded me of a legend in here." Twilight Velvet then turned the book's pages to one, one where there was a legend written in a poem form.

Within a forest of evernight
Lays a fruit everblooming by the bunch
To claim this fruit of dazzling light
One must spur bravery and take a plunge

Reading it over, the three friends were quite confused at the legend. "Erm, what does this have ta do with my predicament?"

"Well, apparently this fruit was used a great deal by ponies that lived by the Castle of the Two Sisters before it was destroyed. It was cultivated to make a paint that was illustrious." Upon hearing the term "paint", Alex perked up.

"Paint ye say?"

"Yes, but when the princesses fought over a thousand moons ago, many ponies fled. When they did, this special fruit was destroyed by both the ponies trampling the crops, but also from the magic that the sisters used. When the ponies returned to their homes, the crop was nothing more but ruined like their homes and the castle, so they left without any of the paint left. However..." Twilight Velvet walked away for a moment, letting the suspense kick in. "If that legend stays true, then perhaps there may be some left." Alex smiled and rolled his arm.

"Well if that's the case, ay'll have ta find this fruit now!" Alex's declaration shocked his friends.

"Wait, are you sure? Sounds dangerous." Twilight said worried.

"Yeah." Rainbow agreed. "Normally I wouldn't mind danger, but for a single fruit?"

"Ay'm serious. If this fruit makes one of the best paints in Equestria, then ay just have ta nab it fer Huston."

"Well, if you want to go, I can put it on a map for you." Twilight Velvet offered as she grabbed a map from nearby.

"Ay, thanks."

"Don't encourage him, mom!!" Twilight's shout didn't stop her mother as she circled an area in the Everfree forest.

"That's where the old town used to be, so all you need to do is head there and find the fruit."

"Thanks fer this. Ay'm off." Alex saluted as he took the map and ran for the door, leaving his pony friends to follow in worry.

"Alex, wait!"

"And if you do find the fruit, please tell me!"

Later, in the Everfree Forest

No matter what either Rainbow or Twilight said, Alex was not deterred from the mythical fruit, so the couldn't stop him even if they used magic (And Twilight did actually try to stop him with magic, but he was determined). In the end, they decided to follow along as to make sure he stayed safe.

"At least many creatures in the Everfree Forest this time of year." Twilight sighed as they followed Alex who was holding the map and looking up every once in a while to check his bearings.

"Yeah." As Twilight and Rainbow followed along, the pegasus had to ask. "So why was your mom so insistent on Alex finding this fruit anyway?"

"*sigh* that's just my mom." Twilight sighed. "She's always been a thrill-seeker, even after meeting my dad and having me and my brother. I think se wanted Alex to go since she saw how strong he was and wanted to know if this fruit was real."

"And what if it isn't?"

"Well she wouldn't put Alex through any risks that are unnecessary, so I think she's banking on it actually being real."

"I guess we'll have to see."

"Aye! Stop yer gosipin'! We're here." Looking over at Alex, they saw that they were standing in front of a ruined town. Looking around as they entered, they saw that they the Castle of the Two Sisters was nearby. "Aye, is that the castle?"

"Yeah. We went there the first day me and Xavier came to Ponyville." Twilight explained, her and Rainbow growing a bit nostalgic seeing it.

"Ay see, but no time ta reminisce. Now's the time ta find some fruit." Alex exclaimed, going deeper into the town and interrupting the warm feeling Twilight and Rainbow had.

"How do we even know if this fruit is even here?!" Rainbow asked a bit annoyed. "I mean it's the middle of winter in a town that has no ponies or even signs of life."

"Ye of little faith." Alex simply said. When they stopped, they were in a clearing, where there wasn't much except for a well and a few fallen trees. Looking around, both ponies were doubtful.

"Alex, why don't we go back?" Twilight suggested. "We can cover the costs of buying some paint."

"Aye, we've already came here, so why not have a look around." Alex fought back, leaning on the well. When he did, he noticed something.

"Well I say we follow Twilight's lead." Rainbow added. "I don't mind helping you buy some-"

"Aye, shut up fer a second." Alex interrupted, irritating Rainbow. "Ay think ay saw somethin' glint in here." Curious, Twilight and Rainbow went over to Alex who was looking into the well. Peering in as well, they didn't see anything.

"Are you sure."

"Yeah. Ay'm sure." Looking in, Alex had a thought remind him of something. Remembering this, Alex stopped peering into the well and backed up. "Hey, ay want to try somethin'."

"What do you want to do?"

"Somethin' someone back on earth said and did that reaped lots a' benefits." Alex took a stretch before-

FER THE MEEEEEEEMES!!!!

With a shouting cry, Alex dashed right for the well and jumped right in, leaving no opportunity for his friends to react. When they did, they panicked as Alex fell down the well.

"ALEX!!!"

"Ay'm fine! But ay think ay found it." Alex said after a few moments. Confused, they decided to grab a nearby vine and lower it into the well, thankful that they felt a tug on the vine. After some time, Alex climbed out of the well, holding something. Upon stepping onto the ground, it was revealed that he was holding a very sparkly fruit that looked like a blackberry the side of two fists.

"Wait, is that the fruit?!"

"Ay think so."

"Well, how did you know it was down there."

"Ay saw a glint an' remembered what yer mom said Twilight. Ye know, about takin' a plunge."

"SO YOU JUST JUMPED INTO A WELL!?"

"Hey, ye saw how good at jumpin' ay am." Alex said confidently as he began to walk back out to the entrance, holding the fruit up to the sky. "Who cares though, ay got what ay came fer, time ta finish this."

A Few Days Later

In the human household, it was very quiet as midday snow gently fell onto the town. The only thing active was a colorful pine tree filled with lights, as Alex never took down the tree, though the rest of the decorations were put away. This was about to change however as Cali exited her room, her expression showing both annoyance and regret.

"*sigh* Maybe we were a bit harsh on him." Cali mused. "I would apologize, but he hasn't been home for a while. Is he still upset- huh?" As Cali was thinking out loud, she noticed that there were four presents stacked underneath the tree. Looking at them closer, she saw that there was one for everyone. "Hey, everyone! Get out here!" Cali called out for everyone inside, and a few moments later they did come out.

"Cali? Is something wrong?" To answer Xavier's question, Cali showed the others the presents, a note falling out from in between them. Picking the note up, she brought the presents over and handed each of them to their respective persons listed on the presents.

"Um, which should we open first?" Jasmine asked as they all sat around the living room.

"I say we open the letter. Seems important." Xavier suggested.

"Alright." Cali then opened the note taking a second to glance it over. "Oh, it's from Alex."

"Really? well don't leave us hanging." Cali nodded and began to read out the note.

Hey there everyone, hope you're doing better than before. So first of all, sorry about trying to push the idea of the holidays onto you. I know you have your reason as to why you won't celebrate the holidays, so I'll let it slide. Second, you're probably wondering why there are presents. Well, there are two reasons. One is that they are an apology to what I did, and two is that it's for the holidays. I know I said I wouldn't push the idea, but it doesn't mean that I can't give a present to you guys. Open them up before continuing on.

Upon reaching this point, Cali looked up to meet the other's gazes. After looking at each other for a moment, they obliged to the note and opened their presents.

"Oh!" The group looked up to look at Jasmine, who was pulling the cloud pillow out of the present. She looked it over for a second before giving it a squeeze, feeling it's softness. "W-wow." Seeing as how Jasmine was happy about her present, Xavier looked into his present, becoming shocked at what was inside.

"Woah, he got these for me?" He said as he pulled one of the joints out of the present, looking it over.

"These are quite impressive." Cali commented as she looked over her present, impressed. It was then that Huston pulled out a tube of paint. He opened it, and was amazed to see that it shimmered slightly. Since they finished opening their presents they decided to continue Alex's note, so Cali continued reading.

Pretty good, right? You wouldn't believe the hoops I had to get some of those things. Especially yours Huston, there was a lot of complex things to get the materials and cost me the rest of my bits to make it made. Still, I hope you all will like them all. You don't have to get me or anypony else anything, just know we all are here for you. Speaking of, we'll all be over at AJ's place for a Hearth Warming party today, so if you need anything you can come over (And grab some snacks while you're here, Pinkie would be happy to know you came up to get some cake) Well, Merry Ch Happy Hearth Warming.
Alex

Finishing the note, everyone looked at their presents. As they were, they all began to feel guilt at what Alex went through. When they all looked up, they all looked at each other before nodding, knowing what they had to do.

Meanwhile, At Applejack's

In the Apple family's barn, the party was in full swing. Not only were the girls and Alex there, but also a good amount of townsfolk were there too. As much as everypony was having fun, Alex's mood wasn't as happy as everypony else. At the moment, he was sitting off to the side, a bottle of ginger ale in hand and sighing every once in a while.

"ALEX!!" Before Alex could react, Pinkie jumped onto him, almost making him drop his bottle. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, just thinking' about things." Alex said as he took a sip from his ginger ale and the other girls came over.

"Like what?"

"Well, fer one thing, my grandpa." Alex admitted with a sad look. He then looked up at his friends and gave an apologetic look. "Listen, if ye don't wanna have yer holiday spirit leave yer hearts this year, ay'd walk away." Taking a sip of his ginger ale, he waited to see if anypony walked away. When he saw that no one did, he sighed. "Ay've only celebrated the holidays with him, as both my mom an' dad are, well, dead." Alex's news shocked his friends, letting out gasps. "Yeah, my mom gave birth ta me a few days before they went off ta a deployment, leavin' me with my grandpa. Durin' that deployment, they were both killed in action, leavin' my grandpa ta raise me. Now don't get me wrong, ay love my grandpa an' wouldn't trade the time with him for anythin'." Alex defended, standing up to prove the point. "But, ay always wondered what it would be like ta have more family over durin' Christmas, which is our form of Hearth Warmin'."

"Sorry in advanced, but did you have any other family?" Rainbow asked.

"Not close by. So it was always me an' my grampa. Sure, ay could have invited my friends from the team ay was in, but they all have families too, so ay couldn't." Alex sighed.

"You really don't like pushing ponies, do you?"

"Well can you blame me?! Ay just... ay just want people ta stick with their families before..." Alex sighed before taking another sip from his bottle, earning sympathetic and sad looks from his friends.

"Alex..."

"It's nothin', don't worry about it." Alex said as he stood up. "Ay already warned ye that my story would bring yer holiday spirit down, so sorry." As he apologized, his friends gave shakes of their heads.

"No, we're sorry that we-"

"Ye don't have ta be sorry about a thing." Alex cut Twilight off. "After all, ay was the one ta tell ye's. How's about we forget this whole thing an' join back inta the party, ey?" Alex then walked into the center of the party, mingling in with the other attendants. Even if Alex was wearing a happy expression on him, his friends still worried about him. They decided to not ask further however, as Alex has done a lot for them, they could at least give him some privacy.

Later, at the Human Household

The party didn't run into a hitch after Alex's confession, and the party ran smoothly for the rest of the day. Granted, both Alex and his friends did have the slightest amount of worry for different reasons, but other than that nothing else. Of course, all parties come to an end, and Alex was now heading back to the house, his footprints leaving shimmering craters in the moonlit snow.

"*sigh* I wonder if the others opened their gifts?" Alex asked himself. "Sure would be awkward to see those presents still lyin' there. Ah well, if they don't open 'em, ay can just put them outside their doors." After a bit, Alex made it to the front door, reaching for the handle. "Still would be nice ta see them, but what can ay do? They won't celebrate-" As he opened the door however, he was greeted by a surprisingly bright sight. Looking around, he saw that the decorations that the put away were all back up, and some were still being put up by his roommates. When he did open the door, the others looked over at him, mixed expressions on their faces. "What in the- what's all this?"

"Oh, Alex. How was the party?" Xavier asked, leaving Alex confused.

"Um... fine- hey wait! Don't ye avoid my question! What are ye doin'?!" Alex's question got the others to look at each other, and once they were done they looked back at Alex with guilty faces.

"We're sorry." They all said, taking Alex by surprise. As Alex was processing their apology, Cali stepped up. "You know you didn't have to get us presents, right?" Alex recovered at that, and shook his head.

"Ay know, it's just that it felt like the only way ta get ye outta yer rooms fer some reason." Everyone looked guilty afterwards.

"Yeah, and we're sorry for doing that." Xavier said. "You took the effort to find presents for us, and all we did was give you a cold shoulder."

"So we decided to have our own Christmas party." Jasmine continued.

"Hearth Warmin'."

"Oh whatever..."

"Our point being..." Huston continued. "We wanted to make up what you did for us."

"Didn't ay write that ye don't have ta do anythin' fer me?" Alex questioned.

"You did, but we still decided to do this." Xavier said. "After all, you're doing a lot for us all. Let this be our gift to you this year." Alex stepped closer to the center of the room, looking over everything. After some time, he smiled.

"Heh, well ay guess don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Alex stated, earning happy looks from the others. "No point standin' around, let's enjoy this time together." With that, the night was filled with cheerful laughter from five humans, each of them happy to have met each other in this world. While they may have regrets, worries, or secrets, all of those were cast aside for the night as they all simply enjoyed their time together.

One Last Rodeo

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"Sheesh, I know that storm did some number on town hall, but jeez."

"Yep, it's quite a mess."

The little Hearth Warming party that they humans hosted, while small, was plenty fun for them. As the days passed afterwards, all the humans were much happier. With their improved moods, many close to the humans were much less worried about them, and they all could enjoy winter to the fullest. Of course, the seasons change, and after Winter Wrap-up, spring settled in yet again, and something new has made it's way to the ears of the town. After an accident during the first storm of the season, town hall was damaged. Fortunately, Applejack was going to a rodeo tournament and was willing to give what money she earns to help restore town hall. Because of this, the entire town decided that it would be fitting to throw a party as a sendoff for her.

"You have to ask how the weather team messed up so hard this time..." Cali wondered.

"I think our answer will reveal itself soon." Xavier casually said. The rest looked at him confused, at least until they heard thunder roar, startling them. When they looked up at the sound, they saw that a grey pegasus was bouncing on a grey storm cloud, Rainbow flying next to her.

"Now, careful, Derpy! Don't want to do any more damage than you've already done." She said, looking at the damages that were already there.

"I just don't know what went wrong." The pony said, at least before she was electrocuted herself, leaving herself covered in soot.

"Yeah. It's a mystery." Rainbow deadpanned as she hammered in a nail to finish hanging up a banner covered in pictures of apples.

"Nice work, Rainbow Dash." The grey pony said as she clumsily flew closer, bumping one of the building's pillars, sending it falling due to the fragile nature of the building. Rainbow quickly took action, trying to stop it from crashing into the ground. Unfortunately, she failed and both her and the pillar crashed into the building's floor, creating a big hole. "You okay, Rainbow Dash? Anything I can do to help?" The grey pony asked, looking into the hole. Before anyone could react, Rainbow flew back up, looking desperate.

"No! Nothing! In the name of Celestia, just sit there and do nothing!" She exclaimed. The grey pony did just that, but the impact caused more cracks to form under her, creating yet another hole. As she fell, she reached for Rainbow and grabbed her, sending Rainbow into the floor again.

"Oops! My bad!"

As the humans watched the little escapade with sweat drops, they failed to notice the crowd growing larger until they began to chant.

"Applejack! Applejack! Applejack!" The humans looked over to the crowd, seeing that Applejack was up on stage alongside Mayor Mare.

"Yes, we are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year's Equestria Rodeo competition in Canterlot." The mayor said, getting cheers from the crowd, the humans joining in as well. "And I want to thank Applejack in advance for generously offering up her prize money to fix town hall." Everyone continued to cheer, at least until they heard Pinkie.

"Speech! Speech!"

"Oh, shucks. I'm not much for speeches." Applejack said modestly.

"Alright then, no speech!" Pinkie then bolted off before anyone could react.

"Buuut!" As Applejack was about to continue, Pinkie zoomed back in, leaving some of the crowd confused before turning their attention back to Applejack. "This here is the nicest send off anypony could ask for. Y'all have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little little pony. So it seems only fittin' to use my winnings to fix up town hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud." After Applejack's little speech, the crowd erupted in more cheering, leaving Applejack feeling proud and happy knowing the town supported her.

Later at the Train Station

After the sendoff party was finished, Applejack, her family, friends and mayor all went to the train station to have one last goodbye to their favorite cowgirl.

“I want you to show all them highfalutin rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony’s like!” Granny Smith exclaimed, supporting her granddaughter.

“Heh heh…you betcha, Granny Smith.” Applejack replied.

“And bring back all that money!” Mayor Mare added, pushing Granny Smith aside as she gave the farm pony a smile on her face.

“You betcha, Mayor!”

“And have fun!” Pinkie said as she continued “And don’t be nervous. Or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better than you already would! And eat peanuts and popcorn and taffy gives lots of nervous energy!” As she spoke, she pulled out a bag of candy, diving her face into the bag to eat from it, leaving many looking at her confused.

“Just do your best, Applejack.” Twilight smiled at her friend, ignoring Pinkie.

“I’ll do better than my best!” She replied, confidence flowing through her.

"Don't forget to take care of yourself." Jasmine added.

"Yeah, make sure ye come back in one piece." Alex continued, giving her a light punch.

"Right." As everyone was giving their goodbyes, they all heard the train whistle.

"The train to Canterlot is about to leave! All aboard who's coming aboard!" The train condustor yelled, waking into the train.

"Guess that means me." Applejack said, walking over to the train.

"Seeya in a week!"

"With lots of new blue ribbons!"

"And lots of money!"

"Darn tootin'!" She said, entering the train. Soon, the train began to chug along, Applejack looking out a window for one last goodbye. "See y'all in a week, with a big bag full of blue ribbons!" As the train was moving, some of the group began to chase the train, giving some last minute farewells.

“And drink sarsaparilla!” Pinkie yelled out as the goodbyes died out, giving everyone plenty of time and quiet to hear Pinkie and look at her oddly. “What? It gives you extra sass.”

One Week Later

As the time for Applejack to return to Ponyville approached, many in town thought it would be a good idea to host a party to welcome her. Now within the Apple family's barn many townsfolk are working away inside, making sure that the party they're throwing is perfect for her return.

“Oh, I hope Applejack is surprised by this surprise party!” Fluttershy said with a soft but excited grin as she worked on the banner alongside Rainbow.

“Well, that is the point.” Rainbow pointed out, tossing a streamer to her.

“We know...” Fluttershy nodded before catching the the end of the streamer that Rainbow threw to her. “But we hope she isn’t so surprised she’s startled, because whole being surprised can be nice, being startled can be…very startling.”

"I get that, but I doubt Applejack is the type to get startled by something like this." Huston said, confident in Applejack's resolve.

“SURPRISE!” Suddenly, a loud shout rang out between him and Fluttershy, shocking them both and sending the pegasus to the floor. When they looked at the source, they saw that it was just Pinkie

"Oh, Pinkie, you startled me." She said.

"Yeah, what are you doing?"

“Sorry!” Pinkie apologized. “I was just practicing my ‘surprise!’ for when we surprise Applejack with this super cool party for becoming rodeo champion of Equestria! Surprise!” She yelled out again, sending Fluttershy to the floor yet again.

"Quiet, Pinkie, I think Applejack's coming!" Everyone heard Twilight said as she looked out the barn door. Hearing this, everyone began to move frantically to different hiding spots.

“Don’t worry Twilight. Got my lips all limbered up.” They heard Pinkie say in the chaos, and anyone who looked over would see her... doing something with her lips. They didn't care however as they continued to hide, waiting for Applejack to open the doors to the now-dark barn. They waited patiently until the door opened, the lights turning on and everyone popping out of their hiding spots.

“SURPRISE!” We all shouted in joy.

“SURPRISE!” Pinkie Pie, yelled, only to realize that she was a second too late. “Shoot.”

"Wait, hold up." Xavier said, realizing that Applejack wasn't at the door, but...

“Wow, this is the best surprise ever!” A mail pony exclaimed, being the one who opened the door. “How did you know it was my birthday?” When the room realized who they reacted to, they all simply looked a bit upset.

"Sorry man, we were expecting someone else..." Cali admitted, rubbing the back of her head as she walked up to the mail pony and ruining his happy mood.

"O-oh."

"But we do have plenty of cake." Jasmine yelled out to catch his attention, running over to the cake that Pinkie baked. "Do you want a slice to go?"

"Really?! Thank you!" The mail pony replied happily. "Oh, I almost forgot! I have a letter from miss Applejack." The mail pony then took out said letter, handing it to Cali before taking a slice of cake from Jasmine.

"Thanks, and happy birthday buddy." Cali thanked with a tip of her hat, getting a smile from the mail pony as he turned around and walked away.

"So, what does it say?" Apple Bloom asked as Cali unfolded the letter.

"Give me a second." Cali begun to read the letter. "Family and friends, not coming back to Ponyville. Wait what!?" Like Cali's shock, everyone in the room shared similar shock from what she read. "...Don't worry, will send money soon." Taking a second to look the note over closer, she saw that there was nothing else. "Seriously?! That's it?!"

“Applejack’s…not coming back?” Apple Bloom questioned, feeling sad after hearing that.

“What do you mean Applejack’s not coming back?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily and concerned. “She loves Ponyville!”

“And she loves Sweet Apple Acres!” Granny Smith added, looking close to tears.

“And she loves her family!” Apple Bloom finished with a look even more close to tears.

"B-but why?" Jasmine questioned, clearly concerned at Applejack's note.

"Something just dreadful must have happened to Applejack to make her not return!" Rarity said out loud with a gasp.

"You may be right, miss Rarity." Huston agreed. "She may have ran into trouble on her end."

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go find her!” Rainbow Dash yelled before flying out of the barn doors.

"Let's go gang." Xavier said, taking Rainbow's lead and following her, many of his friends also following along.

“Don’t worry!” Twilight assured the Apple Family with a determined and serious expression. “We’ll search all of Equestria if we have to. We’ll bring her back.”

“You all are the best!” Apple Bloom said with a sad smile, happy to know that she had ponies and people who care for her sister. With one last salute from Twilight, the group left for the train station, ready to find their friend.

“I hope this lead doesn't turn out to be a dead end. I don't wanna go home empty-hooved after promising we'd find her.”

"You an' me both, Dash."

After making it to Canterlot, the group of heroes wasted no time in getting information. Heading to the stadium that the rodeo competition was held at, each of the members split off and searched for answers. Unfortunately, many of the ponies that were there didn't have answers (or wanted to give them in Alex's case, which annoyed him) They didn't give up though and continued to question those around the stadium. Unfortunately, over the hours that they were questioning they got nothing, ending up sitting in the stands, each of them disappointed and upset in their own ways. At least until one of the contestants saw the picture of Applejack and knew where she went, exciting everyone. At least, until they watched the pony point outside of Canterlot and into badlands and mountains, leaving everyone even more concerned. Now they were sitting on a train, chugging along to the town that was in said badlands.

“I don’t know how we’ll break it to the Apple family.” Fluttershy said in concern, glancing away sadly.

"I don’t know how we’ll break it to Ponyville!” Twilight added.

“I don’t know how I’ll make it to the next stop!” Pinkie exclaimed, sweating nervously.

"Pinkie, I told you to go before we leave!" Xavier said exacerbated. "You drank like, five sarsaparillas while searching in Canterlot! Did you think it wouldn't-"

"Can you two shut up, we're here." Cali announced, getting everyone's attention as the looked out the window to see a rustic town similar to Appleloosa. "Dodge Junction, the place that Applejack is supposedly hold up." Once the train stopped and let passengers go, the heroes took their first steps off the train.

"Alright." Huston said while pounding a fist into his palm. "Let's start by fanning out and-"

"PICKLES!!" Before Huston could continue, he was trampled by Pinkie as she ran to find a bathroom.

"Ow..."

"Oh dear, are you okay darling?"

"Yes, but..." As Huston got up, he looked over himself to see that he was covered in dirt. "My clothes are a different story." As him and Rarity were dusting him off, The others began to step off of the train station's-

“I found her! I found her! I found her! I found her!" When Twilight did touch the ground however, Pinkie returned bouncing happily.

"Wait? Already?!” Xavier gasped. “How?!”

“Follow me!” Pinkie began bouncing off, causing everyone to chase her. When they stopped and saw where Pinkie was pointing, they indeed saw Applejack, and she saw them with a shocked expression.

“Oh, Applejack! Thank heavens!” Rarity gasped in delight as they dashed over to her.

"We're so glad you're safe!" Fluttershy added.

“You had us all worried! Thank goodness we found you!” Jasmine also commented.

"I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her!" Pinkie continued to cheer as she bounced up and down. At least until she stopped midair with a look of concern on her face. "Be right back." She then dashed off and a second later, a door could be heard slamming.

“Uh, hey, everypony.” Applejack greeted everyone with a somewhat nervous smile. “What’s up?”

“Why didn’t you come back to Ponyville?” Rainbow asked, looking at her with a serious expression.

“Yes, why are you here?” Rarity asked, pointing out the surrounding areas of the town.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Do you have any snacks?” Pinkie asked, Getting a facepalm from Xavier.

"Tell us what happened, Applejack!" Twilight questioned. As they all were questioning the farmhoof, she began to look nervous and sweaty. While some of the group noticed this, they weren't able to ask as another voice joined in.

“Applejack? Are these some of your Ponyville friends?” Looking at the voice, the heroes saw that a red maned mare with a cherry-patterned bandana was walking over to them.

"Uh... hi?" Cali waved awkwardly, saying hello for everyone.

"Ooh, Applejack. You never told me you had such exotic friends." The mare said, getting concerned looks from the humans. "Oh, before I forget, I'm Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry Hill Ranch. Hasn't Applejack told ya? I saw her compete at the Equestria Rodeo. Never saw anypony win so many ribbons in all my life."

“Aw shucks, Miss Jubilee. You don’t have to go into all that.” Applejack said, feeling a bit embarrassed about her compliments, though to a few, they heard some nervousness in her voice.

“Oh, she’s so modest!” Ms. Jubilee giggled. “Anyway, I can always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back. So, when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, I snapped her up as quick as I could and brought her to Dodge Junction.” As Cherry was talking, everyone sans the main topic looked at each other with mixed expressions from worry to suspicion. "Well, I’ll let you catch up with your friends. See you back at the ranch.” With that, Cherry turned and walked away, leaving Applejack in a nervous sweat and her suspicious friends.

“Change of scenery?” Rainbow asked, flying right up to Applejack's face. “What does that mean?”

"S'no big deal, guys." Applejack said as she turned in the direction Cherry went and began to walk. "I thought cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. That's it. End of story."

"That's it? Well, that's a terrible story!" Pinkie said, earning another facepalm from Xavier.

"Sorry, but that's all there is to tell. Thanks for checkin' on me, but y'all can go home now. Tell my family hi, and that I'm doing a-okay." Despite Applejack saying she was fine, everyone didn't believe her as they looked at her suspitiously.

“Excuse me, AJ, but we didn’t travel all over Equestria searching for you to come home without you!” Rainbow exclaimed flying in her face again.

“Well I didn’t ask you all to come looking for me in the first place! There is nothing to tell and I am not going back to Ponyville!” With a final shout from Applejack, she pushed past Rainbow and kept walking, leaving her friends yet again.

"Well, I think we can all say she's hiding something." Huston said to break the silence.

“Yeah! We gotta get her to spill the beans!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“What?!” Pinkie gasped. “She had beans! Ugh, I told her I was snacky!”

A third facepalm could be heard from a swordsman.

Later, at Cherry Hill Ranch

After some time passed between the meeting, Applejack and Cherry Jubilee enter a barn that belonged to the ranch, Applejack with some work clothes.

"You ready to put your back into it, Applejack?" Cherry asked Applejack.

"Sure am, Miss Jubilee." She replied, ready to work as she stepped into a wheel similar to a hamster's.

"Terr-ific. Come on in, everypony!" Cherry said in response, yelling outside the barn. A few moment's later, the girls, Jasmine, Alex and Huston entered the barn, wearing similar clothes to Applejack. Seeing them, Applejack flinched for a second before glaring at them.

“What are you all doing here?” Applejack asked in a irritated tone.

“We’re your cherry sorters.” Twilight answered as they all got into line near a conveyor belt. As they were, Alex noticed a lack of some humans.

"Hey, Xavier! Cali! Get in here!" A moment later, the two entered the barn. Well, more like shuffled in as they didn't look so excited.

"*sigh* Why did we get dragged into this?" Cali whispered as she and Xavier entered the line.

"Yeah, we could have sat out."

"Shuttap an' just roll with it." Alex whispered back before speaking up. "So, shall we start?"

"Fine.” Applejack said with a grunt.

"Red cherries go in one bin, and yellow cherries go in the other. Simple as cherry pie." Cherry explained, pointing to two crates that were next to the conveyor. "Just one teensy thing to remember, have fun!" With that, Cherry left the barn, leaving the group of friends in a tense moment.

“So what are you five doing here?” Applejack questioned, forming an angry expression towards her friends.

“Well uh, you made working on a cherry orchard sound…so delightful.” Rarity chuckled nervously.

“Uh-huh.” Applejack nodded, not fully believing her or anyone's story. “Well just remember: No talking about Ponyville.”

“Fine! Why don’t you quit talking and get walking?” Rainbow demanded.

“She’s right, will you please start walking so we can get to work?” Huston said in a kinder manner.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Applejack huffed before she began walking on the giant wheel she was in, moving the conveyor belt and sending red and yellow cherries along it. Wasting no time, everyone got to work sorting the cherries. It was quiet for some time before Rainbow winked at Twilight, the unicorn smiling back.

“So…AJ, how was Canterlot?” Twilight asked, earning a glare from Applejack. “Not talking about Ponyville, talking about Canterlot, totally different town.”

Applejack huffed before turning her head away and responded “Canterlot was fine.”

“Was the rodeo fun?” Alex asked, joining into the conversation.

“Yes.”

“Did you meet some nice ponies there?” When Twilight asked the question, Applejack realized that she and Alex were now standing next to the wheel, but Applejack didn't make a comment on it.

“Some.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash flew over to her, removing from her work past as well. “Did you see Wild Bull Hickok? What about Calamity Mane?”

"Yes, I saw 'em both."

"Ooh, they sound cool." Jasmine said as she also joined the conversation and walked over, looking at Applejack with interest like Rainbow. Applejack simply kept walking along, staying silent until the two took the hint and gave their won disappointed looks.

“And how did you meet Miss Jubilee?” Rarity asked, also walking out of the work alongside Huston.

"I am curious about that as well." Huston added.

"Um, well, Miss Jubilee had a cherry stand at the rodeo. Real good treats.” Applejack said, unconsciously picking up the pace on the wheel, speeding up the conveyor manned by only four. “Cherry winks, cherry cheesecake, cherry tarts. We struck up a conversation being orchard folk and all.”

"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy said, worried that her, Pinkie, Xavier, and Cali were having a hard time keeping up.

“So you told her about Sweet Apple Acres?” Twilight inquired.

“Yes.” Applejack answered.

“Did you tell her why you weren’t going back?” Alex asked irritated, clearly not caring to much about the deal they made with Applejack before starting work.

“No, cause it was none of her business!” Applejack replied with similar irritation, speeding up again.

"Uh, hey? Can you please slow down?" Cali asked, as she and her co-workers were now struggling to keep up.

“Is it because I made it rain on you that one time?” Rainbow questioned.

“No!” Applejack yelled, speeding up yet again.

“Help!” Fluttershy begged. At this point, the speed now impossible to keep up with, and for some reason the cherries were even starting to pile up on the conveyor. Pinkie also started to panic, and started to try and put the cherries in different areas like on top of Fluttershy's hat and in their sidebags to little success.

“Is it because you were insulted when I gave you that book on organized orchards the other day?” Twilight asked.

"NO!!!" Applejack was practically sprinting at this point, and everything was going wrong over at the work station, even the machinery wasn't keeping up as it began to smoke and cherries were just coming out by the basketful.

"Is it because you were insulted when I insulted your hair?"

"No, no, NO! I'm not telling you why, so just–"

"STOP!" It was then Xavier just yelled out in frustration, startling everyone and getting Applejack to realize how fast she was going, coming to a screeching halt. This however cause the conveyor to stop suddenly, sending all the cherries on the conveyor flying, splattering everywhere and hitting Applejack in the face, covering her in tons of cherry much. As everyone gasped (in Xavier and Cali's case, it was out of exhaustion) Applejack glared unimpressed and simply left the barn, leaving everyone without her secrets.

"Well, gang, we seem to be striking out."

After the disaster that resulted in coating the barn in cherries, the gang minus Applejack were working on cleaning up the mess, everyone with different emotions.

"Well don't go blamin' me, Xavier, Fluttershy, or Pinkie." Cali said with a bit of aggression in her voice. "At least we were doin' our jobs. If you continued to work while questionin', we could have avoided this mess! Seriously, think things through." As Cali was grumbling, the others continued their conversation.

"That's 'cause we're playing too nice." Rainbow said, clearly ready to do anything.

"Yes. Desperate times do call for desperate measures." Rarity nodded in agreement, though a few were a bit hesitant.

"Um, are we really sure we should continue?" Huston asked, getting getting some shocked and confused looks.

"What, why!?"

"Well, she clearly isn't ready to tell us, and I don't think we are giving her the benefit of the doubt." Huston explained. "Maybe she really does just need some time alone."

"Y-yeah. Everyone may need some time alone." Jasmine added.

"Grr, you two are too soft!" Rainbow yelled out, dropping her mop. "You can clearly see that she's hiding something, so why are you giving up!?"

"I already said, she doesn't want to tell us, and pressing the matter is only making things worse for her to the point I don't think she even will want to tell us." Huston explained, managing to get through to some of the group. "I say we simply finish up the work we got ourselves into and go home. Let her come back and tell us the issue."

"Erm, I mean-" As Rainbow was coming up with a reason to press Applejack further, Pinkie noticed something.

"Hey, where's Alex?" After Pinkie's discovery, the group looked around to realize that he wasn't anywhere in the barn.

With Applejack

To say Applejack was frustrated was an understatement. As she bucked the cherry trees that grew in Cherry Jubilee's ranch, she did so as to blow off steam from what occurred. As she was however, she was so occupied that she never noticed that Alex was leaning on one. When she did go to buck it, she stopped and jumped up.

"Gah, Alex!"

"Aye there." Alex nodded, giving an expressionless look. After Applejack recovered from the shock, she glared at him.

"What are you doin' here!?"

Ay'm here ta tell ye ay know the truth." Alex said knowingly, immediately breaking Applejack's rage and replacing it with sweat-dripping worry.

"W-what are you talkin' about." Applejack questioned, trying not to sound nervous.

"Don't give me that crap, lass. Ay know exactly why yer not comin' back ta Ponyville."

"Oh really?" With a sigh, Alex looked at her.

"Ye didn't win enough times in the tournament thin' an couldn't come back ta Ponyville with the news, so ye came here ta try an' make it up." Alex said with a matter-of-fact tone. "An' judgin' by that look on yer face ay've hit the nail on the head." Alex said, looking into Applejack's shocked eyes. "Listen, ay'm not sayin' a thing ta anyone else, an' ay know yer avoidin' the subject to hide the truth since it's not technically lyin' ta anyone, but it can cause the bandage ta be stickier. If ya get what ay mean." Thinking over his words, before looking back at him.

"Okay, fine... I didn't win a single blue ribbon." Applejack admitted.

"See, was that so hard?"

"Kinda!" Applejack said with a bit of annoyance. "You saw how much hope the town had in me with that sendoff. I couldn't just walk back into town with nothin'."

"Well not comin' back hurts more." Alex said with sympathy as he took a knee and put his hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, no one'll get angry at ye if ye tell the truth, just don't hold on fer too long or else things may get worse. An' ye can start with our friends." Applejack looked into Alex's eyes and saw that there wasn't a shred of anger, doubt, or disappointment, just comfort. Looking at him, she sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell them." Alex smiled calmly and stood up. "But can I do it tomorrow? I... may need to prepare myself."

"Well... ay could, but ay need ye ta promise me that ye will." Applejack looked at Alex after his proposal, but sighed.

"Okay, I promise that I will tell everyone the truth tomorrow at breakfast." With a nod, Alex turned away.

"Good. Now ay'll let ye be ta finish yer work or whatever. Ay'll see ye tomorrow." With that, Alex walked away, leaving Applejack to go back to bucking cherry trees.

Sundown

After Alex had the talk with Applejack, he decided to take a walk around town for a while. By the time he made it back, it was sundown. As he was walking inside the ranch house, he was confronted by his friends.

"Alex, there you are." Rainbow said as she flew up to him. "Where were you."

"Just walkin' 'round town." Alex said casually.

"And leaving us to clean up, thanks." Xavier deadpanned to his friend.

"Ach, ay did more than you honestly."

"Oh really? What did you do?" Rainbow questioned.

"Well, ay managed ta get AJ ta promise us that she'd tell all of us why she left Ponyville at breakfast tomorrow." Alex said matter-of-factly, shocking everyone and leaving them to look a him in disbelief.

"Wait, you did?!" Twilight asked.

"Yep, so don't worry 'bout 'tit." Alex simply commented before walking towards the stairs. "Oh, but before ay ferget, can ye promise me somethin'?" Everyone looked between each other before nodding at him. "Can ye promise ta not get angry at AJ, no matter what she says?"

"Um, sure?"

"Seriously, ay need ye ta promise me this." Alex said, dropping his more casual tone for some more seriousness. "Ay need ye ta practically swear on it."

"Right! We'll Pinkie promise on it!" Pinkie responded, getting a confused look from Alex, Huston, and Cali as they raised their pinkies and looked at them before everyone besides them began to do the actions. “Cross my eyes, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

"Erm, what was that?" Cali asked for herself and the two guys who were just as confused.

"Something called a Pinkie promise." Xavier explained. "It's something Pinkie created."

"And you never break it." Pinkie said, getting into Cali's face. "EVERRRRRRR!"

"Oookaaay." Cali said as she backed up.

"Well, anyway..." Alex said sending the conversation back on track. "Don't bother AJ fer the rest of the day an' things should be fine. Ay'm goin' ta bed, night." With that, Alex went upstairs.

"Hey wait! Get back here, you need to help with dinner!"

Night, Applejack's Room

As the sun set and night fell onto the world, everyone in Dodge Junction fell asleep, the heroes included. As they all slept, one was having a particular dream, as Applejack was standing in a void of nothingness.

"Huh, where am I?" She asked, her voice echoing.

Your mind, of course. Applejack suddenly grew tense at a female voice ringing out.

"W-who's there?!" As Applejack was looking around, a light, purple flickering started up behind her. When Applejack looked at the flashing, she saw a few purple lines flowing around like strings. After a bit, they began to move around and centralize around a point.

Well, you could call me your 'inner conscience' or something like that. After the voice finished, the lines finalized into two half circles, looking like eyes. I mean, I'm actually not. I'm technically 'alive' somewhere IRL, but that's not important. As the voice spoke, the shapes moved around as if they were expression emotions, giving a look of someone simply explaining something.

"W-well what do you want?!"

Oh don't worry about a thing, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just here to warn you about... Let's just say, 'the balance of things.' Suddenly, a few more lines floated over and formed themselves into a curved knife the size of the eyes, concerning Applejack. Listen, do you actually believe that your friends won't judge you for what you did? She said with doubt, pointing the knife at Applejack.

"W-what?"

I mean, let's face it. You practically ran off from home and your friends, picked up work at another orchard, and even denied answering a simple question all to protect your pride. The voice said, circling Applejack slowly while twirling the knife.

"What, no! I didn't do it like-"

You say that, but deep down you know that I'm right. The voice said, "raising an eyebrow." I mean, it makes sense since your the same type of pony to deny any help from anyone to harvest an entire orchard just to prove a point, or am I wrong? As the voice spoke, Applejack grew more and more concerned.

"H-how did you-"

I think we're getting off topic though. The voice cut Applejack off. The point is, I don't think your friends are actually going to completely understand your viewpoint. After all, you did leave them behind with only a short note saying nothing to them. Applejack looked down at the "floor", feeling guilty. Listen, I'm not stopping you from telling the truth, but are you willing to risk your friendship over this? As the voice spoke, one of the eyes formed a heart. Once she finished her sentence, the knife slashed the heart, slicing it up as if to represent Applejack's friendship with the others.

"I-I- Wait. Applejack looked up at the eyes, a new face of anger rising. "How do I know you're not just manipulatin' my like Discord did."

Oh, that guy. I guess he's not exactly someone you trust since he loves the chaos from any form of disharmony like manipulating the truth into a lie. The voice calmly said, spinning the knife around as the sliced heart reformed into an eye. But unlike him, I simply state facts. And what I said is simply a possibility. It's up to you to take the risk since I have no way to influence you outside this dream. Suddenly, the knife began to accelerate rapidly. But I think we all know the best option is, so I'll leave you be. See ya later. Once the voice finished, the knife suddenly flew directly at Applejack like a flying buzzsaw, causing Applejack to freeze up. When it hit however, Applejack was unharmed as she rose from her bed in a cold sweat. Looking around, Applejack got out of bead and began to think, thinking about what the voice said to her.

And don't worry, we'll meet again eventually, and I can't wait to meet your friends.

“I’m glad we’re finally gonna get some answers from Applejack.”

“Yeah, I’m just as relieved as you, Twilight."

As the sun rose above the mountains and light hit the ground, everyone was ready to get some answers. So once everyone woke up, they gathered together and began to walk to Applejack's room.

“Yeah, maybe.” Rainbow agreed, feeling a bit unsure about this.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow!” Pinkie assured, bouncing merrily with a cheery smile. “She’s gotta fess up after making a promise."

"Yeah, don't worry." Cali said as well, agreeing with Pinkie.

“Alright, alright, everyone. Let’s calm down and meet up with her.” Xavier said to settle everyone down as everyone reached Applejack's room. "Hey Apple-" As Xavier went in to knock on the door, he and many others were shocked that the door opened slowly, as if...

“Good morning, Applejack!” Pinkie greeted, peeking out of the door. “You ready for br-” She and everyone stopped when they saw that the room was empty, Applejack no where to be seen.

“S-she’s gone?!” Jasmine exclaimed, summing up everyone's reactions. Well, almost everyone as both Pinkie and Cali were becoming increasingly angry.

"Nopony/body breaks a promise!" The two growled loudly, scaring many of the group, even getting Jasmine and Fluttershy to jump, landing into Xavier and Huston's arms as they ran off.

"Reminder me to never get them angry." Huston said with fear as he put Fluttershy down. It didn't take long before Alex also ran off, just as angry as the others tailed them. After some running, they managed to spot the cowgirl at the train station, dancing about nervously with her saddlebags.

“Applejack!” Pinkie and Cali yelled, getting Applejack's attention and putting fear into her. "You promised us!" The two yelled, somehow there was distortion in their voices like they were demons. Either way, Applejack yelped and ran off. “Applejack! Come back here!” After a bit of running, Applejack managed to spot a carriage being pulled by four stallions, and wasting no time she jumped onto it.

“Giddy up fellas! I gotta get the heck out of Dodge!” Grabbing the ropes that held them together, she gave them a flick to send them running.

"She's gonna get away!" Rainbow yelled out.

"No, look!" Xavier said, pointing to a cart. "Let's go!" After a bit of fiddling, the group was racing after Applejack with Rainbow and Fluttershy pulling the cart and the others riding along.

"Follow that stagecoach!" Pinkie yelled out.

"As if they weren't?" Huston commented before getting a glare from Cali and Pinkie. "Sorry." It didn't take long before the group managed to get close to the carriage, and not waiting any chances Cali began to spin a bola to try and nail Applejack.

"Oh, we have you now!" But before anyone could react, the heroes' cart took a sharp turn, throwing everyone off balance and causing Cali to miss. When everyone recovered, they saw that they were stopped by Fluttershy who only stopped because of a bunny in their path. As it hopped away, many of the group gave her looks before her and Rainbow took back off. It took a bit and sent them into the badlands, but they managed to catch up to Applejack. Once they did catch up, Rainbow and Fluttershy (mostly Rainbow) began to bash into the carriage, catching the rider by surprise.

“Whoa! What the hay?!” Applejack said in surprise, both at the jostling and the fact her friends managed to catch up.

“Pull over!” Rainbow demanded, ramming the carriage again.

"Hey! Cut that out! Whoa!" Applejack's warnings didn't stop Rainbow however as she bashed it again, knocking Applejack off balance. When she got back up, she turned to the ponies carrying the carriage. “I’ll pay you double to outrun them.” With that, the ponies began to run faster, beginning to overtake the chasers.

"Well we'll pay triple if you slow down!" Xavier yelled out. The ponies got the message and did just that, making Applejack worry.

“I’ll pay you quadruple to leave them in the dust!” Applejack yelled, sending the ponies sprinting and quite literally leaving dust behind, leaving everyone coughing behind them.

“That was rude!” Rarity commented.

“Get them! GET THEM!” Pinkie and Cali demanded.

“Come on! Pick up the pace, Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled, Fluttershy nodding and they all moved faster. When the group managed to catch up to Applejack's carriage, she noticed and tried to get the stallions to move faster by whipping the reigns. It didn't help much however since the heroes managed to get next to the carriage, and before anyone could do anything, Pinkie and Cali leapt up to Applejack's level.

"Applejack, you broke your promise to Alex! Apologize!" Pinkie yelled out as Cali pulled her whip out in an attempt to tie Applejack up, but was stopped by Pinkie for some reason.

“Pinkie, I did not break his promise!” Applejack retorted, confusing the two confronting friends

“What?”

"What do you mean 'you didn't break his promise?!'" Cali questioned.

"If y'all reckon back, I told you that I would tell you everything at breakfast. But I didn't come for breakfast. I couldn't come to that breakfast, not if it meant telling y'all what happened." As Applejack explained her reasoning, everyone looked between each other with confusion and concern, not understanding why this truth was so hard to tell. Some however was showing anger, and he was gripping the cart's edge hard.

“W-well…I…I…” Pinkie stuttered, unable to retort something back at her.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you all the truth! I just can’t!”

“Well I heard a ‘sorry’ in there, so that’ll have to do for now.” Pinkie said, turning away from Applejack as she continued “I’ll get a real apology later."

"What!? No it won't! She still need to-"

"Rarity, catch us.”

"Wait what- gug-" Before Cali could react, Pinkie grabbed Cali by the neck and jumped off the carriage, barreling straights for Rarity.

“What? Pinkie-AHHH!” Rarity screamed as both of them slammed into her, managing to bash into Xavier who was behind her, sending him to follow along the other three in falling off the cart.

"GAH! WHY ME!?!?"

"Rainbow, go back!" Twilight yelled to the pegasi, though they didn't slow down.

"No time! They knew what they were getting into!" She said, leaving the four to their fates in the desert. Unfortunately, the shock of what happened put the group a good distance behind the carriage. What was worse was that a distance forward, there was the sound of train whistles. While most would be rational and turn around to avoid getting run over by the multi-ton vehicle, Applejack saw an opportunity and got the stallions pulling the carriage to run faster.

"She isn't." Huston said in worry.

"I think she is." Twilight said as they watched both her speed towards the train tracks and the train rapidly approaching. It was tense, but Applejack managed to just miss the train as it zoomed behind the carriage by an inch.

"Yee-haw!" She cheered as she hopped off the carriage. She then looked at the stallions who looked at her angrily.

"Lady, you're trouble." They all said before taking off, somewhere. Applejack didn't care however as she turned to the train and her friends behind it.

"Ha, try and catch me now." She taunted, thinking she got away. What she didn't expect however was the cart jumping over the train with the combined powers of the pegasi and Jasmine's magic. "Oh, nuts." Applejack simply said as the cart landed, right before bolting.

"Not so fast!" Rainbow yelled out as she got out of the reigns of the cart. Before she could give chase however, a rock flew past her and landed right onto Applejack's leg, tripping her up. As she was recovering from the trip, she saw death approaching her as Alex stomped over to her, anger in his eyes. She desperately tired to get up, but she was to late as Alex swung his fist down onto her head, sending it to the ground and scattering dozens of ribbons across the ground.

"Okay lass, what the actual hell is wrong with you!?" Alex growled, scaring his friends away from approaching, as they were all afraid of his anger. "Ay thought ay could trust ye not ta avoid the issue! Why did ye run off!?" He yelled out, grabbing her by her chest and shaking her.

"I-I couldn't-"

"Don't ye dare give me that excuse!!!" Alex cut Applejack off. "Ye could, and ye simple didn't have the guts ta say!!"

"Like you would know!!"

"Oh ay do, cause ay've been in this exact situation!" Alex blurted out, dropping Applejack to the ground. "Ay also had a party ta send me off ta a tournament, an' ay lost it all. Ay ran off ta another city and tried ta hide away, but my friends found me an' this exact scene played out!" Alex yelled, getting concern from his friends. Before any of them could think that he was going to get angrier, he surprised everyone by taking a deep breath before continuing. "Listen, ay know what yer thinkin' but yer overthinkin' it. Everyone just wants ye ta do yer best an' come back knowin' ye tried yer hardest. Besides..." Alex grabbed a ribbon off the ground. "The fact ye managed ta collect all these ribbons is impressive enough."

"But none of them are blue. Why is the number impressive?"

"I think he's saying that quantity beats quality here." Huston said, mustering the courage to join them alongside the others. "If you managed to earn so many, you must have landed high up in most of the competitions, right?"

"I mean, I guess. B-but what about the money. I came here to raise some so I didn't return empty-hooved."

"Applejack, we can always find a way to fix that hole in the roof." Fluttershy responded. "But if you don't come back, we'll never be able to fix the hole in our hearts." She said as she and Twilight nuzzled up to Applejack, comforting her.

"See, ye had nothin' ta worry 'bout." Alex said with a sigh. "Ye really need ta get over this pride an' stubbornness like Dash."

"Yeah- wait! HEY!!" Rainbow agreed before backtracking. "Why are you dragging me into this?!"

"How about we all go home, yer family is worried about ye." Alex suggested, ignoring Rainbow.

"Y-yeah. I should."

On the Train home

After one cart ride and waiting later, the friends were in a train heading back to Ponyville, fulfilling their mission. As they were riding along, Applejack was writing a letter to be sent to the princess once they saw Spike.

"Dear Princess Celestia,
It's a tad easier to be proud when you come in first than it is when you finish further back. But there's no reason to hide when you don't do as well as you'd hoped. You can't run away from your problems. Better to run to your friends and family."

"Ay say that's a good lesson." Alex said as he read over the letter.

"Thanks partner." Applejack thanked. "Sorry for runnin' off like that."

"Mmm, ay guess I should apologize fer hittin' ya like ay did." Alex apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "Ay did go a bit far."

"It's okay, let's just forgive an' forget."

"Ay like that plan." Alex said as he and Applejack bumped fist/hoofs. "But why did ye even take off? Ay thought ay was pretty convincin' back then."

"That's... a bit hard to explain." Applejack admitted. "Last night when I was asleep, I had this dream. I don't know if it can be called a dream though, as it felt pretty real."

"An' what happened in this dream?"

"Well, somepony was talkin' to me." Applejack said, confusing Alex. "I remember them tellin' me that you guy's wouldn't get me."

"Hmm..." Alex mused over this information, concerned at the event. "Are ye sure it wasn't anxiety or somethin'?"

"No, it definitely felt real." Applejack said.

"Grr." This mystery was eating away At Alex, but he knew he couldn't do much. After all, he was new and barely knew anything about things in Equestria. So he would think about telling the others.

Speaking of...

Several dozen miles behind the train, there was a small lever cart being piloted by Xavier and Cali, Rarity and Pinkie sitting on the sides.

"What do you think, you guys? Chimicherry or cherrychanga?" Pinkie asked, continuing to ask this question as everyone else grew angrier and angrier.

"Rainbow, I swear..."

"When I get back, you're gonna get it, Rainbow Dash!" As the group growled at their current situation, up on the too of the bordering mountains a cloaked figure stood up high, looking down at them with glowing eyes.

Everything is back on schedule. The voice said, a small chuckle resonating as she watched the four struggle. I want all of you to be at your peak before you meet the king, so continue to play your games, little ones. A few moments later, a small flash surrounded her as she disappeared into the unknown.

The Foreign Merchant

View Online

"Yo, Xavier! We brought in a new friend!"

"Grr, not now..."

"C'mon lad, get out here. Cali too."

"Alright fine! Who do you want me to... meet..."

"Erm... hello stranger?"

After the train ride to Ponyville, her friends watched as her family tackled her to the ground in joyful tears knowing she was home. As expected, everyone didn't care that she didn't win, all they wanted was for her to come home knowing she did her best. Once Applejack and her family rejoiced at her return, it was time to tackle the main issue, repairing town hall. Unfortunately, it was proving to be quite difficult as they were having trouble proclaiming the necessary supplies to repair the building like wood, workers, and some other odds and ends. Even after a week, the building's barely any work done, and Huston was looking at it with uncertainty.

"This is not ideal..." He thought out loud. "I can't do that commission if town hall is like this, but-"

"Ay Huston, over here!" Interrupting his train of thought, he looked over to see Alex and Jasmine walking over to him.

"Ah, Alex. Jasmine. Hello."

"Hey, ye got any free time now?" Alex asked. "Me an' Jas are headin' ta Canterlot."

"Canterlot?"

"I was confused too." Jasmine admitted.

"Ay just got a letter from Fancy Pants, an' he says that there's someone up there that we should meet." Alex explained, getting a raised eyebrow from the artist.

"Really, who?"

"Dunno, but apparently he asked fer us humans ta come. Ay would've told Cali an' Xavier, but..." All three of them sighed at the memory of when they got back.

"Yeah, that was something."

"I feel bad for Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah, but she was the one ta ditch 'em, so she did deserve it." Alex shook his head. "But enough about that, ye wanna come?"

"Sure. Looking at town hall isn't helping my mood." He said as he joined his friends, the three of them walking to the train station

"Is it because of that commission you got recently?" Jasmine asked.

"*sigh* Yep. I don't know why they asked for a painting of town hall, but I have to do it to keep my reputation."

"Sheesh, bein' an artist must be tough."

"It is sometimes, but it is rewarding."

"Ay can get behind that bro." Alex said with a punch to the shoulder. The three continued their conversation as they headed to the train station, ready to see what Fancy Pants wanted to show them.

A While Later, at Canterlot

Hopping of the train, the tree humans walked from the train station into Canterlot.

"Alright, now where ta find ol' Fancy Pants." Alex wondered.

"Why don't we ask around?" Jasmine suggested.

"Ay good idea." Alex was about to walk up to some ponies, but was stopped by Huston putting his hand onto his shoulder.

"I think you should leave this to me and Jasmine." Huston said in a kind tone.

"Huh? Why?" Alex asked, only to get two looks of deadpanned faces, looking at him like he should know. "Oh, right."

"Don't worry buddy, we'll take care of it." Huston said as he and Jasmine walked over to the ponies. "Hello there, is it okay if we ask about the whereabouts of somepony?"

"Oh, sure. We have time." One of the ponies said.

"Good. Do you happen to know where Fancy Pants is? We were asked to come meet him recently, and we would rather not waste his time too much."

"Oh, I think I saw him walking towards the market." Another pony said as they pointed to their side. "If you don't know where that is, it's that way."

"Thank you, have a good day." Huston thanked as he and Jasmine regrouped with Alex. Telling him about where Fancy Pants was, the three moved out to the market. As they were walking (and ignoring the looks from the ponies because Alex), they decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, what do you think Fancy Pants wants to show us?" Jasmine asked

"That's hard to say since he wanted all the humans to come." Huston mused. "If it was just Alex or Rarity, I would assume that he would want to catch up with you two. But as of right now we'll have to ask him."

"Ay really hope it's not too much trouble." Alex groaned. "Things have been crazy lately, an' ay need some time off."

"At least you haven't dealt with dragons yet..." Jasmine sighed, getting concerned looks from the guys.

"Wait, what?"

"Me and Cali came face to face with a dragon trying to save Spike. And apparently Xavier and the girls once had to deal with a sleeping one from covering Equestria in smoke." Jasmine said, getting even weirder looks from the guys. "Yeah things can get a bit scary."

"Well let's hope a dragon isn't what Fancy Pants wants to show us." Huston said, trying to cheer up Jasmine.

"Yeah, oh an' speak of the devil." Alex said as he looked in fount of him, seeing who they were meeting. "Aye, Fancy Pants. Over here." Turning, Fancy Pants smiled as he stopped for them to catch up.

"Ah Alex, you've arrived. And you've brought your friends." He greeted as the trio stopped in front of him.

"Well kinda. Two of 'em are... in a bad mood, so it was best ta leave 'em be."

"Oh don't worry about that, ol' chap. As long as some of you are here it works out." Fancy Pants said as he waved to tell them to follow him, to which the humans complied. "Now I know you're curious as to why I asked you to come here so suddenly."

"Well, yeah." Alex admitted. "Ye kinda called us out of the blue with an equally confusin' request ta bring us humans."

"Well that's because I met somepony that I think you'd want to meet." Fancy Pants said, leaving a vagueness that the humans took note of as they looked between each other.

"Uh, how, exactly?" Jasmine asked.

"I think you'll understand once you meet him."

"Okaaay... So where is this 'somepony'?" Huston asked.

"Well he likes to stick around the market. He likes to look around for deals."

"Is he some kinda shopping fanatic or somethin'?"

"No, you'll see." After some more confused walking, they made it to the market. looking around, they realized something.

"Wait, Mr. Fancy Pants? How will we find this pony?" Jasmine asked a bit quietly.

"Well, I wouldn't say he's a pony..." Fancy Pants admitted, getting even more confused looks from his companions.

"What, is he a dragon?" Alex's friends looked at him annoyed. "What?"

"No but he isn't from around-"

"Nyahaha. Thanks for doing business, buddy." Hearing a loud cackling nearby, the group stopped their conversation to see who was laughing. What they saw not only cleared up who Fancy Pants was talking about, but also answered why he wanted the humans to come up, as walking over was someone similar to them.

"Ah, speak of the devil. Zenix, over here ol' chap." Fancy Pants waved, catching the attention of the guest, a human holding a sack of jingling bits. The most notable feature of this human was his smile, as it was not only wide enough stretch from cheek to cheek like a cartoon, but also that his teeth were pointy like triangles. Besides that, he was a bit shorter than the other humans, wearing a white beanie and a blue, black, and white shawl that reached to his chest over a black shirt along with blue jeans and black boots. What was also notable about this human was that he was wearing a very large rucksack that looked like it had quite a lot of stuff in it. Looking over at them, the stranger smiled.

"Nyaha, Fancy! Pleasure to see you again friend." The human said with a short cackle. It was then he noticed the flabbergasted humans by him. "Nyeh, I also see that you brought some more foreigners around."

"Haha, looks like it. Zenix, meet Alexzander, Jasmine, and Huston." Fancy Pants introduced. "Everypony, meet-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down!" Alex called out waving his arms. "Can ye tell us why an' how ye met another human here?!"

"Now now, we can discuss this." Zenix said to calm the situation. "You don't want to cause a scene like last time, do you?"

"Last time- Hey how did you learn about that?!"

"You can never underestimate what you can buy with a bit of cash." The new guy said with a large smile and a shake of his bag of bits. "Let me take care of this, Fancy. My name is Zenix, friends. I'm a merchant who has just about everything you need. From goods to information, I can get you what you need. Well, as long as you have the coin, nyahaha."

"Erm..." The three humans looked amongst themselves, not knowing how to handle the information.

"How about we go and find somewhere to discuss this in more depth after we find a nice place to sit?" Fancy Pants offered. After a bit of discussion from the three residents, they nodded and agreed to his proposal and began to walk to a nearby café. Once they made it to one and ordered a few drinks, Fancy Pants began to talk. "Let's see, it all started a week ago..."

It was the middle of night in Canterlot, and Fancy Pants was walking home from a nice party he attended.

"Ah, what a lovely night. Perhaps I should extend my walk a bit." As Fancy Pants was walking however, he saw a humanoid figure standing in the middle of the street, looking around confused and scratching their head. Unfortunately, it was too dark for him to get a good look at them.

"Hmm? Who is this?" He wondered. "It couldn't be Alexzander or his friends, right? Well either way I should get their attention so they don't get reported for standing menacingly." Walking closer, he noticed that their figure wasn't similar to any of the humans he knew, but he pressed forward. "Excuse me, are you lost?" He asked, the question causing the figure to jump up in shock before turning to face him. When the figure did, both Fancy Pants and the stranger were shocked at what they were seeing. For Fancy Pants, he was looking at a human he never met, being Zenix. For Zenix, he was shocked to see a unicorn staring at him.

"What in the- this is an odd sight..." Zenix said breaking the silence.

"I can say the same thing, my friend." Fancy Pants responded. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Fancy Pants and it is a pleasure to meet another human."

"Another human?"

"Yes. I would assume you don't know where you are?"

"Erm, yeah. I don't recognize this place. But then again I don't think there is anywhere in the world where unicorns exist. Nyehehe..."

"Well if I'm getting my facts straight, you're actually in another world where us ponies live."

"Wait, really." Zenix put his hand to his chin, thinking about something.

"Yes, I heard about it from another human that visited Canterlot recently, which is where we are right now."

"I see... Oh where are my manners. Name's Zenix, I'm a merchant, nyahaha." Zenix introduced, giving his bag a shake.

"A merchant you say?"

"Yep. Whatever you need, from information to goods, I'll have what you need as long as you got the coin." Zenix said with pride, at least deflating a bit. "Well, I'm a bit lacking in the information department since I'm apparently in another world, nyee..."

"Yes, that would complicate things." Fancy Pants agreed. "Well, I would be happy to give you a room for the night."

"Really? Thanks for the offer." Zenix said walking closer to Fancy Pants. "I didn't even have to try and bargain with you for it, Nyahaha!!!"

"That's how we met, and the next day Zenix already began to make a name for himself by doing trade around the market and gathering information using the bits he collected." After Fancy Pants' story, the three guests looked between each other.

"You... managed all that in a week?"

"Well you gotta know how merchants work, nyehehe. We only want something if it can be used to our benefit. Whether it's for a better return, or if it has some personal use. If it doesn't have a use, we don't take it, nyahaha." After the explanation, the three seemed convinced.

"Can't see a fault in that logic." Alex admitted. As Zenix took a sip from his tea, he looked over at Huston and there was a glint in his eye.

"Good, now down to business." Zenix said, smiling at Huston. "Is there something troubling you, friend?"

"Huh? W-what makes you say that?"

"Oh don't be like that, it's written all over your face." Zenix said with a smirk. "There's something troubling you. And don't try to deny it, I've worked with plenty of people and learned how to read faces, and yours is quite displeased." Huston looked around hesitantly before sighing and looking down.

"Well, it involves a commission I took on recently." Huston began. "I was told to do a painting of the town hall in the place we live at, but it was damaged recently in a storm and the town hasn't been able to get what they need to repair it."

"I see." Zenix mused. "Hmm, well what would you need to repair the building?" He asked, getting confused looks from everyone. "Like, do you just need wood and supplies like nails, or would you need some workers to help as well?"

"W-why are you asking?"

"Well I just need to understand what you need so I can figure out the best course of action to help speed things along."

"Wait, ye want ta help repair town hall?!" Alex asked in a state of disbelief, his friends in similar shock.

"Is that not what I was implying?" Zenix asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But why?!"

"Well, let's call it... 'making connections.'" Zenix simply said with a smile that actually seemed a bit sinister. "I don't mean to use this as a way to blackmail you all, rather making opportunities for myself to profit. Nyahahaha." As Zenix cackled, everyone at the table looked amongst themselves, felling nervous for once about a newcomer.

"Yer... quite greedy, aren't cha?"

"Hey, that's just business, bud." Zenix said, leaning back into his chair. "Like it or not, money's what holds the most power over people wherever and whenever it rears itself. You can argue that there are other things that influences how people act day to day, but at the end of each money is what makes them chose their paths."

"That's... quite a perspective in life..." Huston mentioned.

"Hey, don't try and persuade me in thinkin' otherwise."

"I'm not." Huston disagreed, getting an interested look from Zenix. "We all have our own perspectives in life from different events, so I will not criticize you. Instead, I will simply let you understand for yourself what path to take."

"Ha... haha... NYAHAHAHA!!!" Once Huston finished, Zenix's laughter began to amplify before going into a full-blown laughing fit, leaving the others confused, even a few passerby's. "You know what, I like you, Huston. You've got some nice perspectives."

"Hm. Comes with being an artist."

"Well you've got my respect, so maybe I can help out of kindness for once." Zenix said with a smile as he got up. "Hey Fancy Pants, I think this is where we split for a while."

"It was a pleasure to know you Zenix. May we meet again." With a goodbye from the humans, the four headed to the train station to Ponyville, with the three residents wondering about how Zenix plans to help them.

On the Train

"So, the plan is to find this, 'Mayor Mare' pony and see if we can't convince her to give the details of renovating town hall."

"Yeah, but don't worry. I believe one of our friends has enough favors to her and the town that we can probably convince her easily." Huston mentioned, confident that his friend's connections could help.

"Yeah, he's been saving the world before all of us, so I'm sure that she'll tell us."

"Really now? HA, we've got a hero with us, huh?"

"Multiple actually. Him an' some other pony friends of ours have apparently saved Equestria a couple o' times."

"Nyahaha, well I can't wait to meet him." As Zenix was laughing, Jasmine looked him over.

"Hey Zenix, how do you plan on getting what we need anyway?" She asked, getting a look from Zenix. "N-no offence, I was just wondering what your plan was?"

"Ay was kinda wonderin' that too, lad. Ye never really said anythin' other than just sayin' ye'd do it."

"How else do you think?" Zenix said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to talk to the suppliers for some discounts." Despite Zenix's confident smile, the others suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

"Erm, as in simply talk to them?"

"Yep."

"That's... quite straightforward..."

"I mean, sometimes being straightforward gets the best sales." Zenix admitted. "Just trust me on this you guys, I'll get what you need for town hall, nyahaha." As the four humans conversed, they looked out the window to see their destination.

"Ah, we've arrived." Huston said. "Zenix, welcome to Ponyville."

"Nya, interesting little town." After the train stopped and everyone got off, Zenix let the others lead him to their destination. As they were walking, the resident's of course noticed that there was a new human walking amongst them and looked at him curiously. "Hmm, you would think that these ponies wouldn't look at us since they're living with you."

"Well, I think they're looking at you more than us." Huston said.

"Yeah, they're probably wondering about what you're like." Jasmine added. "They did that for most of us."

"Ay'm the exception since ay was the town hero fer a time." Alex boasted.

"Nyahaha, well they look much friendlier than the ponies up in Canterlot." Zenix laughed, his laughter getting more stares from the town. "Plus, I bet they're more negotiable than those rich folk."

"Yeah, they are." Jasmine said with a smile. "Oh, we're here." Looking up, everyone looked at the state of the town hall, and Zenix sneered at it.

"Nyegh, yeah I can see why getting supplies would be hard."

"Ye regrettin' tryin' ta help?"

"You kidding?! I love a challenging task." Zenix said with a sinister smile. "Those jobs pay the best, after all." As everyone was feeling a bit uncomfortable from the merchant's smile, Huston noticed that the Mayor was walking around the building, looking a bit uncertain herself.

"Ah, there's the mayor." Huston said, pointing to her. When he did, Mayor Mare noticed and saw that some of the humans were walking over, and then she noticed that one wasn't one she knew.

"Oh, why hello there everypony. Who is this?" She asked, looking over the new individual.

"Pleasure to meet you, mayor. I am Zenix, and I believe that I can be of service." The merchant introduced himself, getting a raised eyebrow from her.

"How?"

"Well, you need this building repaired, right?" He motioned to the building. "I've heard that you've been having trouble securing the necessary materials and help to repair it, and I happen to be skilled in this kind of market." Walking over to her, he looked up at the building and smiled. "You see, us merchants are skilled in negotiations and deal-making, and I believe that what you need is someone who can help you collect supplies for your projects. I mean, it's taken you at least two weeks to proclaim the necessary materials and workforce, but all I see is a building that looks more like it's ready for demolition than restoration." Everyone took a moment to look at the building, knowing he was right. "But I'll cut you a deal, Mayor Mare. Let me take over the process of securing both the necessary materials and workers, and I can promise you that I can get what you need within the week, all for the low price of simply owing me a favor in the future." Looking over Zenix, Mayor Mare looked like she was considering the option.

"Are you sure you can? We've been having trouble with both the lumbermill and the construction workers, so-"

"Ah, that's no problem." Zenix said with confidence. "In fact, I think that I can cut that time to about two or three days. Maybe even tomorrow." Zenix then offered a hand to the mayor, ready to make the deal. "Just trust me, all you have to do is direct me to the lumbermill you're using and recommend me a workforce and I'll take care of everything. So what do you say?" After Zenix finished, everyone looked at him with many emotions in their eyes. The biggest one however was awe, as the way he spoke and gave offers was confident and intelligent, enough so to melt away the doubt and worry that the humans had before and the mayor to feel like she could trust him and reached out, allowing Zenix to take it.

"I think we have a deal, Mr. Zenix." She agreed, giving a nod as Zenix smiled with confidence.

With the agreement between the mayor and Zenix agreed on, Zenix was given many details about the project at the moment. This included details about how the lumbermill has been giving them a hard time with prices and how the workers they wanted to hire were having issues getting supplies. Zenix simply said that he could get them to help and left for the lumbermill. Although he stopped outside the building and went back inside, asking if he could get someone to guide him to the lumbermill. So the other humans decided to do that, and now were in the forest that the lumbermill was in, making headway to it.

"So what's yer plan, lad?" Alex asked. "We don't know much about why the lumbermill is givin' high prices, so any ideas?"

"Well, we'll just have to see." Zenix responded, leaving the three confused.

"What?"

"Just wait, there are some trends with this sort of thing, and I can solve it." As they walked and wondered Zenix's plan, they saw a building come into view. "Well that's the lumbermill. Thanks for leading me here. You can go home now, I got this."

"Well, do you know where the workers are?" Huston asked, leaving Zenix to look around nervously. "Yeah, no offence, but you kind of need us to follow you."

"We also want to see what you're going to do." Jasmine admitted, leaving Zenix to smile.

"Well, just watch." Walking up to the lumbermill they saw ponies hard at work. There also was another pony overseeing everything, a stallion with a brown mane and an orange coat with a cutie mark of two wood planks in a cross. "Hello there, my friend. Is everything going well?" Turning around, the stallion looked at the group.

"Hmm, you must be those humans..." The stallion said with a slightly aggressive voice. "What do you want?"

"Well, we, or more like I, was sent here by the mayor to discuss the price of your lumber." Zenix said with a smile, although the forepony didn't like this and scowled.

"Grr, and I'll tell you exactly what I told the mayor! We ain't givin' you or anypony a lower deal!" The stallion yelled out, causing the humans to flinch. Well, not Zenix as he simply kept smiling.

"Well, why won't you?" He asked, not intimidated by the large stallion's yelling.

"And why should I tell you?!"

"Well, it's not exactly good for business." Zenix said, gesturing to the mill. "I can tell you right now that upping prices without telling why isn't good for business. You'll lose your business, and soon enough you'll be out of business. "I'm just saying, but if you want to do you, I won't stop you." Zenix then turned around and began to walk away, joining up with his fellow humans, where they all looked at him confused and like he was crazy.

"Wait, are ye just givin' up!?" Alex asked. He was about to continue, but Zenix put a finger to his mouth to shut him up.

"Three." He said, confusing the humans. "Two." He put his hand down. "One."

"Well we didn't want to you know!" The heard the stallion yell out, Zenix gave his fellow humans a smirk before turning around.

"And why's that?"

"We've been gettin' hit with some bad luck recently. First we managed to damage some of our saw that we refine the trees we cut, then some of our best workers retired, and the worst part is that some beavers came 'round and cut off the part of the woods that have the best trees 'round."

"Ah, now I see." Zenix said as he put a hand to his chin. "Your raised prices are because of your supply, that makes sense."

"See, what can we do?"

"Well, I can help solve two problems." Zenix said as he walked up to the stallion. "For the saw, I can sell you one. I have quite a few. For workers, I do know advertising methods that can help you get ponies involved in even temp work. I... Can't exactly do anything about the beavers though. I'm not the best with animals." Zenix shrugged.

"Wait, you're carrying saws on you?"

"Yeah. What's the problem?"

"Erm... nothing."

"Hey, why don't we ask Fluttershy to help with the beavers?" Jasmine suggested, getting the two's attention.

"Nyeh, who's that?"

"She's a friend of ours. She's an expert with animals, so I think she can help out."

"Well if she can why don't you bring her over. I'd love her help and meet with her."

"Sure." Jasmine said as she conjured a cloud, startling Zenix. "I'll be back with her soon." Floating off, Zenix didn't question the cloud much as he turned to the remaining humans.

"You two, can you guys help out as well? I need you to advertise the lumbermill like I say so I can focus on getting this fine gent fitted with a saw."

"Oh, uh, sure." With the two guys joining into the plot, Zenix began to explain the plan.

Later

Once Alex discussed the plan to his human allies and the forepony, they split up with Alex and Huston going into town to find help and Zenix to talk to the forepony about what size saws they needed inside. As the two were finalizing the transaction, they heard a voice call out.

"Zenix! I got Fluttershy." Looking outside, he saw that Jasmine was floating back over, this time with Fluttershy in tow, the pegasus looking surprised at the sight of the human.

"Ah, Jasmine. Perfect timing." Zenix said as he let the forepony leave with the circular saws to install. "This must be Miss Fluttershy. Hello, I am Zenix."

"U-um, i-it's nice to meet you." Fluttershy greeted in both curiosity and shyness.

"Hmm, the shy type huh? Well no matter, I just need some help." Zenix said as he walked over. "Did Jasmine fill you in on the situation?"

"U-uh, yes. She did." Fluttershy nodded. "I think I can get them to leave, though it might take a while. Beavers are a little stubborn."

"Well if you can get them to let us do business in that section it would help a lot." The forepony yelled out as he was working on the saws. "I don't mind them bein' there, but they are quite territorial. Won't let us two steps into that part of the forest without them tryin' to attack us. An' you helpin' us find new workers is great too."

"Oh... I think I know that family." Fluttershy mentioned. "I think I can convince them."

"Good. Hey, you there!" The forepony yelled out, catching the attention of a worker nearby, a smaller stallion with a purple mane and tail and grey coat. "I need you to guide the pegasus to those beavers." With a nod from the pony, he began to walk over to Fluttershy. "You get them to back off for a while, I can lower the prices for the town."

"Great, thanks for doing business sir." Zenix said with a bow, finishing his transaction. Once he stood up straight, he noticed that Fluttershy was staring at him. "Is... there a problem, Miss Fluttershy?"

"Oh, no. Sorry, but I was just curious." Fluttershy admitted with an apology. "It's just that, when Jasmine said that a new human was here in Ponyville helping with repairing town hall, I was-"

"Taken aback?" Zenix finished, leaving the pegasus to simply nod. "Well it was quite a surprise to find myself in a world similar to feudal Europe's government but with ponies and some technologies that you find in our world."

"What's Europe?"

"Don't worry about it." Zenix said avoiding the topic. "For now, I have a job to do from the mayor so we can talk later. Next time you can bring your other friends." He said as he turned to the exit, walking out. "I'll see you later."

"W-wait for me!" Jasmine called out as she ran after him, before pausing to bow to Fluttershy. "I'll see you later, Fluttershy." With that, she went to follow Zenix, leaving Fluttershy to wonder more about the new human.

"So, now what's you're plan?"

"For dealing with the workers?" Zenix asked, leaving Jasmine to nod. "Well, the mayor said they need supplies, and I am a merchant. I'll leave you to figure out the rest."

"B-but do you know what they need?"

"No, but I'm sure I can give them what they need."

"B-but-"

"Hey, don't ask." Zenix said, stopping her by putting a finger to her lips. "Know this, a merchant should always have a variety of products, else they risk losing costumers. Besides, I'm helping you out, so who are you to look a gift horse in the mouth." Zenix then turned and walked away, leaving Jasmine to look in confusion.

"W-was that a pun?" All she heard as she restarted her following was cackling from the merchant. They walked in silence for a while before they reached where the construction worker were stationed, not doing much with their time.

"Hello there everypony, is there a possibility to talk to your boss?" Zenix asked to the workers, getting their attention.

"What is it?" A mare called out, walking over to them. This mare was taller than most others, with a red and blue mane and a white coat.

"Ah, are you the boss around here?"

"Yep, name's Ground Trotter. How can I help you?"

"Well, I was sent by the mayor to help you deal with you're supply troubles."

"*sigh* Right, that..." Ground Trotter sighed, turning away and taking a few steps. "We were all set to help out in the repairs to town hall, but the stuff we needed got lost in the mail, so we're at a loss until we get new supplies."

"Hmm, I see. And what are those things you needed?"

"Things like screws, nails, rope, that sort of stuff."

"Well, I would be happy to supply those things for you." Zenix said with a smile, getting Ground Trotter to turn around with a confused face.

"H-huh?"

"I'm a merchant, so I take pride in knowing that I can handle any needs my customers need. If you need it, I'll supply it." As Zenix spoke, he reached behind him and into his bag, pulling out a box of nails. "If you need this sort of stuff, then I'll sell it to you. I can even send the bill over to the mayor to have her pay. So what do you say? I'll even cut the price a bit below market value for good measure." Looking at his smile, Ground Trotter took a moment to think about his offer. She made a decision though and turned to her subordinates.

"HEY YOU LAZY LUMPS! GET UP 'CAUSE WE'RE GETTING TO WORK ON TOWN HALL!"

"Nyahaha, I take it you're going to take me up on your offer?"

"Yep. Come over with me and I can tell you what we should need for right now." Ground Trotter said, waving for him to follow.

"Alright. Jasmine, would you tell the mayor that everything should be settled?" Zenix asked.

"S-sure. I can do that."

"Great. I'll be over to report as well, so I'll see you in a bit." With that, Zenix followed Ground Trotter to settle the deal, leaving Jasmine to report his progress.

At Town Hall

Once Jasmine make it to Town hall, she saw that not only was Alex and Huston there talking to the mayor, but the forepony was also there in the discussion.

"Hey guys, over here." Jasmine called out, catching their attention.

"Ay, Jasmine!" As she joined them, they noticed that Zenix was missing. "Hey, where's the merchant?"

"He's settling things over with the construction workers, he'll be over soon."

"Ah, gottcha."

"So he managed to solve all our problems, huh?" Mayor Mare said, thinking about his skill. "I guess he really could help us."

"He must really know his stuff." Huston commented, clearly impressed.

"Yeah, I mean you should have-"

"Guys!" The group's conversation was cut short by a call, and turning to look they saw that it was the girls running over to them.

"Oh, hey girls." Alex greeted. "What's the hurry for?"

"Don't give us that!" Rainbow said. "Where's the new human?"

"You mean Zenix?" Huston asked.

"Yeah, when we heard from Fluttershy that there was a new human, we wanted to see him." Twilight explained.

"Well he's with the construction workers right now, so..."

"No, he's right there!" Pinkie yelled out as she pointed in the direction Jasmine came from, pointing at Zenix.

"Well well well, looks like I have a welcoming ceremony here." Zenix said with a cackle. "Hello there, the name's Zenix."

"Hmm, what a particular look you have." Rarity commented as she and her friends looked him over.

"Well one mans trash as they say." Zenix shrugged, not letting Rarity's comment get him down. "I take it you're the famous 'Elements of Harmony' I've heard about?"

"How did you know that?!" Twilight asked, clearly concerned.

"Hey, word travels fast. And in a place like Canterlot it's easy to buy information."

"Wow, you're pretty interesting." Pinkie said, popping out of Zenix's bag, holding a whirligig and spinning it. "We have to throw you a party."

"Nyahaha, sounds like a plan pink." Zenix laughed, not phased by the fact Pinkie popped out of his bag and acting like he's known her for years.

"Woo hoo!"

"Let's just leave them for now." Twilight suggested, everyone nodding in agreement. "How did you meet him?"

"Well Fancy Pants invited us humans ta Canterlot ta surprise us with him. An' we ended up spillin' the truth about town hall ta him. What surprised us though was that he decided ta help us in repairs, an' he pulled through."

"Why did he want to?" Applejack asked.

"...Let's just say he wanted to make some connections." Huston said, leaving his real reasons in relative obscurity.

"Well, what's the plan now?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, maybe we can talk ta Xavier ta let him stay with us." Alex suggested.

"Are you sure he'll allow that?"

"Well, he's been offering the option ta all of us, so ay don't think he'll worry much." Everyone looked at each other, knowing his reasoning was pretty reasonable.

"Yeah, let's follow that plan."

"Right, hey Zenix!" Huston called out, getting his and Pinkie's attention. "We're about to go home. Why don't you join us so we can convince the owner to let you stay."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Zenix said as he joined up with the others, Pinkie jumping out of his bag.

"We'll see you later girls."

"Yeah, we can talk more later." Zenix said with a smile and a wave, prompting the others to follow suit as they parted ways.

In front of the Human Household

After everything was settled and Zenix was introduced to the girls, the other humans took him to their home to introduce him to the others and maybe ask if he could stay.

"So who are these two others, anyway?"

"Well one is another girl, she's Cali." Alex explained. "She can be a bit skeptical around new people, but she's a good person. Then there's Xavier. He's the owner, so we'll be askin' him fer permission." As they approached the door, Zenix for once hesitated at the last name.

"Wait, Xavier? I-it couldn't be him, right? I mean, there are dozens of people with that name..." Zenix kept thinking about this as they entered the house.

"Yo, Xavier! We brought in a new friend!" Alex called.

"Grr, not now..." They all heard the inventor say from his room. When he did, no one noticed that Zenix's eyes shrank a bit.

"C'mon lad, get out here. Cali too."

"Alright fine! Who do you want me to... meet..." Xavier exited his room irritated. When he set eyes on Zenix however, that anger was removed and instead was a face that had panic, fear, and confusion all at once.

"Erm... hello stranger?" The merchant said awkwardly, clearly nervous as well. After a few tense moments between them staring at each other, Xavier moved at a speed similar to Pinkie and grabbed the merchant by the shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm going to borrow your new friend for a second." Before anyone could react or ask, Xavier dragged Zenix into his room, slamming the door to leave the three confused. In his room, Xavier leaned on the door with Zenix standing nervously.

"So, this is awkward, ey?"

"You didn't say anything, right?" Xavier asked, worry and pain in his voice.

"I didn't even know you were here, old friend." Zenix admitted after a brief pause and sigh, his smile reduced to a small, sad frown. "Even if I did, you know I couldn't due to our contract."

"Yeah, I know..." Xavier stopped leaning on the door and looked Zenix in the eye.

"And even if there was no contract, I would never say until you were ready." Zenix said, walking up to Xavier and putting a hand onto his shoulder. "You and your family were my family's best customers, you know I wouldn't break that trust."

"Y-yeah..." Xavier took Zenix's hand off his shoulder and turned to the door. "I guess you'll need a place to stay? You can crash here for as long as you need. Just-"

"Yeah, I won't. Don't worry." Looking behind him, Xavier gave one last look of sadness before motioning for Zenix to follow, leading him out of his room to talk to the others, prepared to get questioned. The merchant knew however that no matter what, he would keep his contract intact, for them.

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

View Online

After Zenix's introduction to the group, there were a few things that changed. For one, Zenix could be seen all around town, from the market to the residential areas, selling his goods and buying more wares and information that spanned from basic information about the world around the humans to learning about some more rare merchandise, to some more unnerving things like information about big companies. The second thing that changed however was more personal, and that was with Xavier. Alex, Huston, and Jasmine saw how he reacted to Zenix, and what they saw wasn't one they would see with him meeting a stranger. One way or another, they knew that they knew each other one way or another, and they decided to tell the others. Unfortunately, none of them could act on this information since they saw that the both of them were on guard and unwilling to answer their questions, so they would let the situation go for now. After a few weeks pass, Huston, Jasmine, and Cali were sitting in the living room, playing a card game.

"So, are we really going to give up on gettin' those two to talk?" Cali asked as she put a card down.

"It's not that we are giving up, it's that asking would do more harm than good." Huston explained as he drew a card from the deck.

"Maybe, but still."

"Maybe we should let them tell us when they're ready?" Jasmine suggested, placing a card down. "I don't want to go too deep if it's something that's painful to either."

"And what if keeping it a secret makes things worse?" Cali asked.

"It might, but we can't do much." Huston said. "We just have to accept that those two have a secret and let them tell us when the time's right"

"Bah, you two are too passive." Cali said, leaning over and pointing at them. "You guys seem to never act on anything."

"Well, sometimes it's best to step back and wait." Huston said as he put down another card. "You can't do everything, so trying to force something can cause problems. In this case, we could lose the trust and respect from either Zenix, Xavier, or both, so we shouldn't pry." Cali was about to retort against Huston's words, but she couldn't think of anything and lowered her finger.

"I... Erm... Can't... argue with that." Cali stammered before leaning back into her chair. "Y-you know what, I'll follow along with your plan for now. But if they get worse, I'm going to get them to talk, one way or another."

"I can allow that."

"Still, that new guy is interesting." Cali pondered out loud. "He's smart, I'll give him that. But there's something unnerving about him, and it's not the secret he's hiding."

"I won't deny that." Huston agreed with a sigh. "He's quite unique."

"Y-yeah." Jasmine joined in.

"And in what way?" A voice behind them say. All of them jumped up in surprise to see that it was Zenix, smiling and cackling at them. "Awh, you guys were so focused. I thought I could squeeze a bit of info outta you."

"Zenix! What is wrong with you!?" Cali asked loudly, an irritated look on her face.

"Aww, it's all in good fun, girlie." As Zenix cackled at her, Xavier entered the scene via his room.

"And why is everyone so loud today?" He asked as he looked at the scene.

"Aw, nothing to bad. Just some light fun."

"Light fun!? Why I'll show you-"

"Cali please!" Jasmine cried as she grabbed Cali's arm. "We just talked about this!"

"Oohh, but this is different!"

"Nah, not the face!" Surprisingly, Zenix went into a defensive stance with his hands in front of his face when Cali stood up looking for a fight. As most of the group was looking at him confused, the front door opened to reveal Alex.

"Ay, y'guy's got any- what the hell did I miss?" Alex asked, his joy turning to confusion upon seeing the scene in front of him.

"It's nothing, right Cali?" Huston said, giving a look at the cook to get her to stop, to which she did.

"Yeah, nothing."

"Well anyway, ye lot got some time tomorrow?"

"It depends." Xavier said with a questioning tone. "What's going on tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's the start ta cider season over at Sweet Apple Acres, so ay wanted ta tell ya ta come over ta get some." Alex explained.

"Cider season?"

"Yep, it's a big day fer the town where the Apple family makes cider fer sellin'. An' don't worry, the stuff isn't alcoholic, so it's safe ta drink. Ay can vouch since ay helped make it."

"Sounds quite interesting."

"Yeah, but we got a limited supply, so yer gonna have ta get ta Sweet Apple Acres early since so many ponies love their cider. So much so that every year the Apple family runs out."

"Wow, and I thought the zap apple jam was good." Cali commented.

"Yeah, though it's apparently somethin' that the townsfolk complain 'bout every year." Alex shrugged.

"Hmm, well we'll try to make it there before they run out." Xavier promised.

"Good. Now if ye'll excuse me, ay need ta hit the sack early today. Need ta wake up early fer tomorrow's busy day." Alex said as he stretched his arms upwards and went to his room upstairs.

"Seems like that guy's the busybody, ey?" Zenix commented.

"Well it's more like he hates to be idle." Huston said, focusing back onto the card game him and the girls were playing.

"Yeah, he's never in one spot." Xavier agreed. "If he's not doing something he's looking for someone to hang out with."

"Seems like an upstanding guy." Zenix said with a cackle.

"Yeah, but he's got a temper." Cali mentioned, looking over her cards.

"Like you don't?" Huston reminded her.

"Shut up."

"But it's true. You weren't there to see them, but Alex can get angry." Jasmine said, shuddering at the thought.

"How angry are we talking?"

"Well you've met Rarity enough, right?" Huston asked, getting a nod from Zenix. "Well within the first few weeks we've known him Rarity did something and Alex ended up snapping at her. He's still hasn't forgiven her entirely."

"Yikes. remind me to never get on his bad side."

"We will if you remind us as well..." Everyone shuddered a bit.

"Yeah, I will." Shaking his head, Zenix gave a smile to everyone. "So I have an idea. Why don't we camp out by the stall tomorrow?" Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

"What? You want to camp out front of a cider stall?" Cali asked, putting her hand down. "What is this, a convention?!"

"Well just hear me out my friends." Zenix began as he waved his hands in front of him. "I'm simply looking over the facts. I've heard that a... certain colorful pony has been unable to get a single mug ever since she moved into Ponyville. And I also learned that there is a bit of a one-sided rivalry between her against a pink pony since said pony manages to get multiple mugs every time. In fact, it's common that over half the town leaves thirsty despite there being plenty of barrels." Zenix then began to walk away and towards the basement where he decided to live. "If you don't want to guarantee a mug, then more power to you. I'll be setting up camp later this evening to get a mug, so see you later." With that he entered the basement, leaving the other humans to look at each other, blinking.

Later

"How are you so persuasive?"

"What can I say? I'm just a charmer."

As per Zenix's suggestion, the humans all decided to follow his lead. Now as the sun set the humans all were walking over to Sweet Apple Acres with a few tents and stuff to stay comfortable.

"It's kinda exciting though!" Jasmine said happily. "I've never been camping before."

"That's the spirit!" Zenix cackled. "This'll be a fun way to bond."

"Well that's one way to put it..." Xavier mumbled, side-eyeing him.

"Well let's just hope that Applejack and her family is fine with the idea." Cali mentioned. "It's mostly up to her to decide whether or not we can stay for the night."

"I don't think it'll be a problem." Huston said, gaining the other's attention and curiosity. To answer he pointed forward, putting the spotlight to the certain pink pony mentioned before pitching a tent with said cowgirl watching and talking with them.

"... Maybe I underestimated you..." Cali murmured.

"Nyeh, you doubt the information network of a merchant?" Zenix smirked with sarcasm as he began to walk with the others to their friends. "I'll forgive you for now."

"Well for now, hey Pinkie, Applejack." Xavier called out with a wave, catching their attention.

"OH, hey guys!" Pinkie greeted with an enthusiastic wave. "Are you also here to camp out?"

"Mostly by this guy's suggestion." Cali mentioned as she pointed to Zenix.

"Well it's no problem to the Apple family." Applejack said with a nod. "Pinkie did say that there were more ponies coming over."

"Really?" Xavier questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! I couldn't sit still 'cause I was so excited about cider season, and I had this brilliant idea to come down here and camp out, so I told a few others about it, and they all thought it was a great idea too, and now it's going to be one big old cider party!" Pinkie cheered, hopping up into the sky, landing back down happily.

"And you thought I was being ridiculous." Zenix smiled at Cali, the vested cook scowling to the side.

"In that case is it okay if we join you Miss Pinkie?" Huston asked.

"Of course! Get over here, I brought marshmallows!"

"Oh!" This was enough to convince Jasmine as she hustled over to the party pony, the others laughing as they joined in for some camping fun.

Early Sunrise

Sure enough, more ponies showed up to camp out for cider season, even Twilight, Spike and Rarity decided to join in (to much surprise to the humans) It was pretty fun for the campers as they all drifted to sleep for the night, and as the sun rose and they woke up they were greeted by three more guests as Alex, Rainbow, and Fluttershy approached the tents of the humans and Pinkie.

"This is where y'all went?" Alex asked as he and his pegasi friends came closer.

"Yep."

"Ye do know this is cider, right? It's not a convention."

"*sigh* Zenix is very persuasive." A cackle could be heard from said merchant as Cali pinched the bridge of her nose.

"W-who are all these ponies?!" Rainbow asked in both rage and confusion.

"Well we all thought Zenix was crazy at first, but it turns out that Pinkie had that idea before us..." Xavier explained. "As it also turns out, she decided to tell a good chunk of the town and, well you can see the results."

"Yeah, and now it's going to be one big cider party!" Pinkie exclaimed jumping high into the sky, landing without a scratch. "Oh, gosh, that's a lot of ponies. Hope they don't run out before you get any." She then commented, angering Rainbow even more before flying to the back of the line, Fluttershy joining them.

"Ye really do feel bad fer her." Alex said, watching her go.

"I was about to offer her a spot with us too." Xavier sighed.

"Well what can ye do? Ay have ta go and check in with the Apples so ay'll talk ta ye later." Alex then waved them off, walking up the road.

"So what are we going to do with Rainbow?" Jasmine asked, clearly concerned and feeling bad for her.

"Well it's first come first serve." Zenix shrugged, an unforgiving smirk on his face. "She thought that waking up early would be enough and didn't even think that anyone would come earlier." Zenix's reasoning left a very concerned feeling in them all.

"You are ruthless dude..." Cali commented, now just seeing how he operates.

"And so is the market girlie." Zenix responded. "If you want to walk to where she ended up and risk both of you not getting any cider when the rest of us get our mugs and leave the line, then more power to you." Zenix's words left uncertainty in each of them, but they all sighed as they knew he was right. In the end, they decided to go with his idea as none of them actually wanted to risk it. Their call was right too, as a short while later, Applejack, Alex, and the rest of the Apple family walked out with a large number of barrels.

"Attention, everypony! Cider season is now officially open!" She said through a megaphone, the ponies in line all chattering away excitedly. The Apples and Alex were ready as well, each of them taking their stations around a stand as their first customer came up, Pinkie. They all watched her pull up with a pouch of bits too, much to the humans' surprise as she dumped the bag into the chest that was on the stand. The Apples saw this coming however and began to pour mug after mug for her, leaving Pinkie to walk away with multiple mugs balanced on each other.

"Y'know, I wonder how she manages to fit everything she eats into her..." Xavier commented in a murmur, the humans walking up to the the stand. "Hey Applebloom."

"Howdy y'all!" The filly smiled. "Glad you could make it!"

"The pleasure's all ours." Xavier said. "So how much for a mug?"

"Three bits per." Nodding, each of the humans pulled out the needed money and tossed them into the chest, Granny Smith nodding to the filly. Seeing her grandmother nod gave her the signal to start pouring their mugs, and before long there were five mugs filled up and ready for drinking.

"Thanks Applebloom." Xavier said as he took a mug alongside his friends before walking off to the side. "Hmm, well I will say it's got a nice scent."

"Well scent's not what you do with drinks, now is it?" Zenix said with a grin. "Down the hatch." Taking a decent swig from the mug, he closed his eyes as he tasted it, leaving the others nervous.

"S-so?" Jasmine asked, the tension getting to her, only to see Zenix smile wide.

"Mmm, this is quite delicious." Zenix commented happily. "Some of the best I've tasted in fact." As Zenix went in for another sip, the other humans all nodded with smiles and tipped their mugs as well, getting the taste of the cider.

"Ahh, yep. This is definitely tasty." Huston said with a nod.

"Makes campin' here all night worth it." Cali said. As the humans were enjoying their cider, Xavier noticed the stack of a dozen or so barrels by the Apple family as Big Mac took one of the barrels to replace the first.

"Looks like you were right, Zenix. There isn't enough for everypony." Xavier said, looking at the size of the line and doing some mental math, the others nodding as well.

"Even with Alex's help too." Jasmine added, feeling bad for the ponies in the back.

"Well what can you do?" Zenix shrugged, not a hint of guilt or sympathy in his voice. "That's just the market. Either you jump on the sales first or you go home empty-handed."

"You're evil, you know that?" Xavier said, sarcasm in his voice and a cackle as a response. The group continued to converse amongst themselves, watching the line move forward and the stack of barrels grow smaller. After a while, the last barrel was in play, and Fluttershy and Rainbow made it to the stand. After paying, Rainbow began to float in excitement, watching the tap... fizzle as the last of the cider was gone, leaving the pegasi with multiple emotions ranging from anger to sadness.

"Heh. Sorry, everypony! That's it for today!" Applejack said as she and Alex walked up to the stand, the crowd crying out in sadness and disappointment before Rainbow flew up into the sky.

"Surprise, surprise. You ran out again!" She called out in anger, rallying the crowd.

"Yeah, you always run out!"

"Why can't you make enough cider for all of us? Or at least for me!" This comment led to the entire crowd complaining and agreeing with Rainbow. This continued for a bit before Alex jumped up onto the stand.

"Well ye try makin' cider of this quality!" Alex yelled out, getting the crowd's attention. "Ay can say as a newbie that the quality in each mug isn't somethin' ye can make by tossin' a few apples into a barrel an' callin' it a day. All of them take careful integrity an' the highest quality apples here, so it takes time ta make. They've tried ta increase supply each year but they can't without sacrificin' time. Sorry ta say, but this is as much as they can go fer now." Alex's speech didn't do much to settle the crowd however, as they all simply tuned away grumbling.

"If y'all just be patient, we'll have plenty more tomorrow." As Applejack was trying to settle the crowd, both Huston and Cali heard some strange noises coming from down the road.

"Hmm?" As they looked at the source, they saw that there was a strange vehicle driving up to them, and it didn't take long for the crowd to hear the honks and bangs it made as it approached. They all crowded around save for the humans and the Apples crowded around the vehicle as it stopped right in front of the stand, putting worry into them all. A few moments after it stopped two tall unicorns hopped out of the vehicle, both of them looking alike. Besides one of them having a mustache, they both had yellow coats, red and white manes, blue and white striped tuxes with black bow ties, and straw hats. Looking around, the clean-faced unicorn began to sing.

Well, lookie what we got here, brother of mine, it's the same in every town
Ponies with thirsty throats, dry tongues, and not a drop of cider to be found
Maybe they're not aware that there's really no need for this teary despair

That the key that they need to solve this sad cider shortage you and I will share

This riled up the crowd in excitement, ready to get some cider. Though the ones close to the vehicle weren't having the same sentiments.

Well you've got opportunity
In this very community

He's Flim

He's Flam

We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers
Traveling salesponies nonpareil

"Nonpa-what?" Jasmine questioned as Alex hopped the fence to join up with his fellow humans.

"So is this common?"

"The vehicle, no. The song, yes." Xavier answered, all of them with mixed emotions. Well most, as Huston had one of fearful worry and Zenix seemed ire.

Nonpareil, and that’s exactly the reason why, you see.
No pony else in this whole place will you such a chance to be where you need to be.
And that’s a new world, with tons of cider.
Fresh squeezed and ready for drinking.

More cider than you could drink in all your days of thinking

“I doubt that.” Rainbow said bluntly.

So take this opportunity
In this very community

He's Flim

He's Flam

We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers
Traveling salesponies
Nonpareil

At this point, much of the crowd was beginning to join into the song, their excitement growing.

I suppose by now you're wondering 'bout our peculiar mode of transport

I say, our mode of locomotion

And I suppose by now you're wondering, where is this promised cider?

Any horse can make a claim and any pony can do the same

But my brother and I have something most unique and superb
Unseen at any time in this big new world

And that's opportunity

Folks, it's the one and only, the biggest and the best

The unbelievable

Unimpeachable

Indispensable

I-can't-believe-able

Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

Oh, we got opportunity
In this very community
Please, Flim, please, Flam, help us out of this jam
With your Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

Looking over the machine again, the masses all had excited gleams in their eyes and began to sing along as well. The Apples and humans however didn't share these sentiments, as they all felt uneasy about both the machine and the brothers.

“Pardon me, miss.” Flim turned over to Applejack with a grin. “It would be a great honor if my brother and I could borrow some of your delicious, and sellbindingly fragrant apples to demonstrate what our beautiful machine can do?”

“Uhh, sure, I guess…” Applejack replied with an uneasy tone.

Opportunity, in our community

Ready, Flim?

Ready, Flam?

Let's bing bang zam!

And show these thirsty ponies a world of delectable cider!

Charging the machine with their magic, the machine began to whir with life. As the machine charges, the crowd began to chant "Cider, cider, cider." Over and over again, excited for the outcome.

“Now, this is where all the magic happens, folks!” Flim called, explaining how the machine worked to the masses. “Inside of the heaving, rolling, cider-press-boiling-guts of our machine, the apples that have been plucked fresh from the trees, as we speak, are being turned into Grade-A, top-notch, five-star, blow-your-horseshoes-off, one-of-a-kind cider!”

"Feel free to take a sneak peak!"

Now wait a second, hold it!

Suddenly, Granny Smith yelled out, having enough of the two.

You two just over-sold it!
I guarantee that what you have just won't compare
Cause the very most important ingredient
Can't be added or done expedient
And that's quality, friends, Apple-Acres quality and care!

Well, ma’am, I’m glad you brought that up, my friend, I say I’m glad you brought that up!
You see that we are very picky when it comes to cider if you’ll kindly try a cup!

Flim sang as he handed a mug of cider to Granny Smith, giving her a taste test. When she did, her face showed fear, learning that the taste was great. Seeing her face, the Apples and humans looked a bit worried (Other than Applebloom who actually seemed interested)

Yes, sir, yes, ma'am, this great machine lets just the very best
So whaddaya say then, Apples?
Care to step into the modern world
And put the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to the test?

We're saying you've got

Opportunity
In this very community
He's Flim, he's Flam
We're the world famous Flim Flam Brothers
Traveling salesponies nonpareil

Yeah!

"You got a deal!" Apple Bloom exclaimed with a happy smirk, oblivious to any other intentions the two had.

"Not so fast!" Granny Smith exclaimed, pulling Apple Bloom away from them and pulling her an the other Apples into a huddle, dragging in Alex a moment later by his shirt collar. "No way no how that machine matches up with the care we put in our cider!"

"But if it really does work, we could make everypony in town happy!" Applebloom reasoned

"I just don't know, y'all. We've always made cider the same way." Applejack commented, a bit hesitant.

"An' besides, somethin' 'bout these guys itches me the wrong way." Alex added, a growl in his voice.

"Eeyup." Big Mac simply said, at least until he noticed that the brothers managed to slip their way into the huddle.

"We'll sweeten the deal." Flim assured. "You supply the apples..."

"And we'll supply the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000." Flam finished.

"Then we split those sweet sweet profits..." Flim and Flam said in unison.

"...Seventy-five..."

"...Twenty-five."

"Deal-"

"Hold on!" Applejack stopped her sister from saying anything before looking at them with a suspicious gaze. "Who gets the seventy five?"

"Why us, naturally." Flim stated.

"And we'll throw in the magic to power the machine for free." Flam added.

"Ye both are crossin' the line!" Alex growled.

"Right..." Applejack nodded. "Cider sales keep our business afloat through the winter. We'd lost Sweet Apple Acres if we agreed to this."

"So? What'll it be?" Flim and Flam asked in unison.

"No deal." Big Mac said for the family, all of them with serious looks on them.

"Hmph." Flim scoffed. "Very well. If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we'll just have to be competitors."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh no?"

"Don't you worry, everypony! There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!" Flam called out to the crowd, all of them excitedly chattering away. As they were, Flim leaned close to the Apples

"Once we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business." He said quietly and sinisterly, causing the Apples and Alex to gasp in fear. While mostly everyone was focused on Flam, two humans managed to overhear what Flim said, and each had a look of terror and scorn respectively.

The Next Day

After the scare to the Apple family, both the Flim Flam brothers and the crowd left. The humans save Alex left a bit later after checking up on the Apples, but they went to work on making cider for tomorrow. And soon enough, tomorrow came with another line ready for cider. Of course, not everyone was happy today, as the Apples and Alex all felt the pressure, and Applejack and Alex was confronted by their human friends minus one merchant and mechanic, most of them concerned.

"Hey you two, you still worried about those two salesponies?" Cali asked.

"I mean, kinda." Alex shrugged, feeling both concern and a lack of.

"W-what do you mean 'kinda'?" Huston asked with a surprisingly uncharacteristic amount of panic in his voice, though the group moved on from that after a moment.

"Well, it's just that they may just be exaggeratin' an' all."

"I'm not so sure. They sounded mighty serious when they threatened to run us out of business." Applejack disagreed, a glance to the side to sell it.

"That's it! Last cup!"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" At Applebloom's announcement, the crowd erupted in more groaning and complaints.

"I'm not sure that it's going to be such an easy task..." Jasmine commented, watching the crowd complain. As they were, they all heard the familiar sound of bangs and horns coming closer as the Flim Flam brothers drove up in their cider machine.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Flim "asked" as him and Flam dismounted the vehicle.

"Oh my, oh my, out of cider again?" Suddenly, a barrel of cider popped out of a chute in the back, launching up and right next to them.

"What have we here? Who'd like a cup?" Suddenly, the line of ponies crowded around the machine, ready for their fill of cider.

"Don't worry, everypony, we've got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to make more in an instant!" Flim declared, passing a mug of cider to Rainbow, who excitedly took it and was ready to finally have a mug. At least, before a lasso grabbed of the barrel the two were standing next to and was sent flying into her hoof, sending the mug and the contents into the dirt as the barrel landed next to Applejack, with her and the family looking angrily at them.

"You can't sell that cider! That's made from Apple family apples!" She yelled out. The brothers didn't look phased however.

"Don't worry, everypony, there are plenty of apples in Equestria. We'll find some others and make more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!" Flam said confidently, getting the crowd to hype up.

"We'll make more cider than you could ever imagine!" Applebloom suddenly yelled at them, getting the crowd even more hyped until Big Mac grabbed her by the tail.

"Now, it ain't about the speed, young'un, it's about quality." Granny Smith explained, immediately killing the hype.

"Who cares how good the cider is if I never get to drink any?" Rainbow groaned and Flim grabbed her by the face.

"Oh, look at these poor, dissatisfied ponies."

"Ponyville is Sweet Apple Cider country!" Applebloom announced as Big Mac dropped her.

"That ay'll have ta agree with!"

"Our cider speaks for itself!"

"Let's put it to the test!" Flim said cockily.

"Anywhere, anytime!" Applebloom challenged, bringing the hype back up from the crowd.

"Well, that's enough now."

"With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!" Flam declared.

"We'll do it in 45 minutes!" At Applebloom's statement, the crowd's excitement grew to an all-time high, but her family was attempting to calm her down.

"Easy, Apple Bloom, easy."

"What's the matter, Granny Smith? Chicken?" Granny's eye twitched at Flim's question, a glare growing on her.

"What did you call me, sonny?"

"If you're so confident in your cider, then what's the problem?"

"Tomorrow mornin', right here!" She screamed into his face, causing both the Apples and the human's faces to drop.

"But I'm afraid we haven't any... apples." Flam said, polishing an apple.

"You can use our south field! It'll be worth it to teach y'all a thing or two about cider making!" She threatened, but the two didn't budge.

"Excellent; we have a bet. Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville." Flim said, putting his hood out to shake. And even though Applejack began to sweat bullets, Granny reached out and shook.

"And after we beat ya, I don't never want to see you bambahoozlers around here again!" The crowd's excitement turned to nervous energy, not sure who to root for.

"Until tomorrow." The brothers bowed, driving off to leave the Apples worried.

"D-don't worry, Applejack, I know you'll win tomorrow!" Jasmine said, hoping to lift her and her family's sprits to little avail.

"We'd better, 'cause if we don't, we're gonna lose our farm."

The Next Day

The day for the big competition came, and now each side was getting ready for it as the town looked from behind the fence. Well, one side was since the brothers were simply relaxing on the couch that was installed on their machine. As for the Apples, all of them were warming up for what was for stake, even Alex as he was practicing his bat swings. As they were, Twilight and Cali walked up to them.

"Applejack? Are you sure this is such a good idea?"

"Me 'n' the family are... one hundred percent confident... in our cider making capabilities." Applejack growled as she kicked a punching (Bucking?) bag while Applebloom clung onto it.

"And besides, nopony calls Granny a chicken." The filly said just as a powerful kick launched her off.

"Okay, but is it okay for Alex to join in?" Cali asked, Alex pausing for a second.

"Don't ye worry lass, we got permission from both the mayor an' those sleezy brothers since ay've been employed here. Ay'm practically family here." Alex said. "Besides, ay can't just sit back an' watch!"

"Well, more power to you." Cali said as she looked behind her at their friends who were still missing two humans. "It's strange though, both Xavier and Zenix didn't come. And we couldn't find either of them to tell them about this whole thing."

"Well, what can ye do?"

"Attention, everypony!" Mayor Mare's voice rang out, ready to start.

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks, you two. We'll need it."

"The teams have one hour to produce as much cider as they can, after which the barrels will be counted and the winner will be named the sole cider provider for all of Ponyville!" She explained, the crowd chattering nervously at the thought. "Now... are both teams ready?" Mayor Mare asked. The Apples team all gave their own signals to tell Applejack they were.

"We're ready!" Applejack called out.

"We've been born ready." The brothers said nonchalantly.

"Then let the cider making..." Mayor Mare brought out a hourglass and turned it upside down. "Begin!" The Apples didn't waste any time to sprint off to their jobs (Well Granny tried to, but her bones weren't really built for that) As both Applejack and Alex slammed into two different trees with hooves and bat respectively, knocking apples to the ground. Applebloom was already underneath the tree that Applejack was bucking with a wooden basket on her head, letting all the apples fall into the basket. Once all the apples fell in, she dashed over to Granny and placed the basket before taking another and rushing back over to the trees. Granny's job was arguably the most important, quality control as she took a sniff of each apple before tossing them either into a pile of low-quality apples or into a press operated by Big Mac via treadmill. Each apple pressed filled up a barrel by a tap, and once full Big Mac replaced it and put their first barrel up.

"Great job, y'all! We've already filled an entire barrel!" Applejack congratulated as she bucked a tree.

"Hell yeah! At this rate we'll-" Alex's confidence was shut up along side him when he and the family looked over to see that the brothers already had five barrels by them, with a sixth being tossed over to the stack. With a smug wave from the brothers, the Apples all felt their blood run cold as they realized they were in an uphill fight.

A half Hour Later

To say that things were grim for the home team would be an understatement. By simply looking at each team you could see that even though the Apple family was giving it their all, they were falling behind fast while the brothers were drinking some cider for themselves.

"This is just dreadful. Even at top speed the Apples are only making one barrel to the twins' three!" Rarity cried, her friends all sharing her concerned face (Even Rainbow as she didn't want to lose a friend over cider) Out of everyone though, Huston's looked like an army soldier going through ptsd, fear and terror in his face like it was life or death.

"No, no no no no NO!" He cried as he jumped the fence, shocking his friends.

"Huston!" Twilight yelled as she used her magic to grab him. "What are you doing?!"

"I need to help them!!" He screamed, desperation in his voice and putting serious concern into his friends.

"But this is a family matter, you know that right?" Cali asked seriously.

"And you can't say the same?!" He yelled back, causing Cali to take a step back. "You don't want to help them?! Alex is already doing all he can and he's not family!!" This snapped something into everyone, realizing he was right. With this revelation, Twilight went over to the mayor to talk.

"Um, Miss Mayor!" Twilight called, getting her attention. "Is it okay if the rest of the Apple's honorary family join in to help?"

"Well, I'm not sure..." The mayor mused, turning to the brothers. "Flim, Flam, would you object to honorary family members helping?"

"Are you kidding?"

"We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helps. It's a lost cause."

"Hm, I guess it's okay. Applejack? What do you think?" Looking at them all, Applejack smiled with hope and determination.

"I think I'd love to have the rest of my family helpin' out." She said with exhausted happiness, her friends cheering with determination.

"Okay, everypony, we're not gonna let those smooth talkers take our friend's farm." Twilight said to begin giving jobs.

"Yeah!"

"Fluttershy, help Applejack with the trees."

"Got it."

"Pinkie Pie, Jasmine, you're on apple catching detail."

"Yessir, ma'am, sir!"

"Okay."

"Rarity, Huston, you've got discerning eyes. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station."

"Of course."

"Say no more!!"

"Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Big McIntosh press?"

"In my sleep!"

"Right. Cali, you're with me. We'll be on barrel duty."

"Got it."

"Alright, everypony, let's save Sweet Apple Acres!" With that, everyone dashed to their jobs, and thanks to the new help, the Apples found a second wind to ramp up their production again. Both Alex and Applejack raced to trees with Fluttershy shaking them from the top, leaving Applebloom and Pinkie's speed and Jasmine's magic to collect them. And thanks to the increase in apples into the press by Huston and Rarity, the press had plenty of apples to make cider, and with Rainbow to reduce the power needed, the cider was coming out fast. And with Twilight and Cali working to replace the barrels, production never stopped for a second, equating to tons of barrels joining the family's stack, faster than the brothers in fact.

"Based on these figures, we're making five barrels for every three of theirs!" Twilight said doing some mental math.

"Keep it up, everypony! We're back in this!" Applejack yelled, confident. Despite the sudden increase to production however, the brothers didn't seem too phased.

"Hmm, this is a predicament brother." Flim said casually.

"Yes, how about we double the power." Flam replied, the two nodding and doing just that. The machine's whirs became violent fast, the vacuum sucking way harder, enough to uproot the trees on the farm. Even with the added debris however, the machine never gave so much as a red beep for quality. Team Apple didn't slow down or let it get to them however, as they pressed forward, ready to show them up. So as each grain of sand fell in the hourglass, team Apple didn't let that get to them, in fact they didn't even seem to notice as they worked harder to close the gap that was already there. They all kept up their assault for the half hour that remained, right up to the very last grain of sand fell.

"Time is up!" The mayor called, the field going quiet for a few moments. Until team Apple all fell in exhaustion, leaving the mayor to count the barrels.

"I'm proud of you, Applejack." Twilight panted to Applejack who smiled back.

"Thanks."

"Y-yeah, work like that, haahh, is sure to win." Alex panted, giving a grin-

"Flim and Flam wins!"

"Wait what?!" Everyone asked in confusion as they all looked, only to see that it was true, with the brother's stack of barrels being much higher, though some of the ones up top seemed to have... something leaking out. No one noticed however as the brothers all walked to to them laughing.

"Daww, too bad, Apples." Flim chucked with a mischievous smirk.

"Guess you'll just have to find a new line of work that doesn't match your names quite so...perfectly." Flam smirked slyly before returning to laughing.

"Now should we tear down all these tacky old buildings and put up new ones, brother?"

"I don't see why not, brother. After all, this isn't Sweet Apple Acres anymore. How about 'Flim Flam Fields'?" Flam said, using his magi to put up a banner with their faces and cider mugs on it. Everyone's faces were all mixed, but Huston's face was the most intense, it was one of defeat and terror.

"N-no." He simply muttered before running off, the exhaustion from before being replaced by adrenaline. No one noticed that he ran off though, as Rainbow took center stage.

"I ought to press you into jerk cider!" Before she could fly off however, Applejack stopped her.

"No, Rainbow Dash. A deal's a deal." She said before walking up with her family, Alex looking concerned.

"A-AJ?"

"Congratulations to y'all. The cider business in Ponyville... is yours. C'mon, Apples. Let's go pack up our things." Applejack said, turning with her family to the farm house. The brothers didn't care though as they turned to the sad crowd.

"Fear not, everypony, there's more than enough cider to go around." The crowd was hesitant to try the drinks, but Applejack noticed and turned to them.

"Go ahead, everypony. Go on, y'all. It's okay." Despite their better interests, they all started to line up to the stand.

"Hold it!" Flim yelled out, confusing everyone, Apples included.

"Before any of you get any, we must do our part of our contract with our sponsor, two mugs of our top-quality cider." Once Flam stopped talking, they all heard footsteps, and when they looked at who was walking down the road everyone gasped.

"An, and speak of the devil. Come right up Zenix." Flim said, waving in the human, who's face was emotionless.

"What. The. HELL!?" Alex growled, his face having similar rage to the one he gave the noble couple in Canterlot.

"Zenix! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'!?" Cali yelled with similar anger as she and Alex started to walk up to him, only to be stopped by Twilight's magic taking hold of Alex and Jasmine grabbing Cali's arm.

"Sorry, but I simply saw an opportunity." Zenix shrugged.

"And a good one at that." Flim said. "We must thank you for suggesting the idea of a contest."

"And of course telling us that they would get some help somewhere." Flam added as he poured two mugs of cider, though it looked a bit suspicious.

"Of course, anything for my favorite customers." Zenix said as he took the two mugs, sniffing them.

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL-" Alex's threats were cut off however as what Zenix did stunned everyone watching as he tipped the mugs. The thing is, the direction wasn't towards his mouth, rather the dirt floor. He didn't pour everything however, there was a very small amount of cider left as he turned them mugs up and walked over to the stunned Alex and Cali.

"Do either of you want a drink?" Zenix asked, the two looking at the mugs' contents. When they did however, their stunned faces suddenly turned into disgust and shock.

"OH WHAT THE HELL!?" Their shouts confused the crowd as they all looked in suspense.

"AH WHY IS THERE A BLOODY WORM IN THERE!?"

"ARE THOSE ROCKS AND STICKS!?"

Upon the two's shouts, the crowd gasped in shock, horror and disgust as the Flim Flam Brothers began to sweat.

"Hmm, OH! Oh they're right, oh my." Jasmine uttered as she too looked into the mug, looking a bit sick when she went back. The brothers saw this as bad news, so they turned to their machine...

But to their horror, they saw Xavier sitting on their couch, twirling a gear around his finger with an unamused face.

"Thanks for your help Xavier." Zenix said as he walked up to the base of the machine, tossing a fairly large pouch of bits up.

"Whatever." The engineer said with an aloof look, taking the bag of bits. "Just tell me when to reinstall their engine."

"W-wait!? Y-you took our engine out!?" Flim asked with panic.

"When did you do that?!"

"Not your biggest concern right now." Zenix said walking up to them.

"Y-you! I thought that you were on our side!"

"I already told you, I'd do anything for my favorite customers." Zenix replied. "I never said that they were you."

"W-wha-"

"Let me explain, I did tell you to hold a contest, but I never said that you could win." Zenix explained, walking closer to them. "And I did tell you that their friends would help them, it was simply up to you to play fair. If you simply continued to produce your cider at base rate, you would lose dignified, and if you didn't and up production, well let's just say that I had the human up there mod your vehicle to stop sorting apples from good and bad if speed increased." He pointed to Xavier who simply waved. The brothers' panic turned to anger.

"Wha- you tricked us!"

"What kind of businesspony are you!?"

"Don't act like you have a moral high-ground!" Zenix shouted, grabbing them by their bow ties, panic returning to them. "You sealed your fates when you wanted to run the Apples out of business. I may be a merchant, but I put livelihoods over money, morals me and my family put over our company!"

"R-really? And why should we believe you?" Flim's question simply got a sneer from Zenix, putting him into the hand that his brother was in to reach into his backpack.

"You wouldn't recognize this, but the humans would." Zenix said as he raised a silver medal up, on it was an engraving of a fox with demon wings. The humans save for Xavier looked at it, but once they got a good look at it they recognized the engraving, and they all recoiled back in shock and fear.

"W-wait, yer a Mirmadon!?" Alex yelled, fear in his voice.

"Uh, who are they?" Rainbow asked.

"They're one of the biggest trading companies back where we come from!" Jasmine explained, a bit of worry and fear in her voice. "Over thirty percent of transactions in the world was processed through them!" Hearing this, everyone's eyes went wide.

"Yeah, it's also a wall known fact that they've toppled multiple businesses as well-"

"And I've toppled one by myself." Zenix cut Cali off, his voice cold as he stared daggers into the brothers, the two sweating bullets. "You may think that we're greedy, but we simply did what's right."

"How is taking-"

"They weren't honest businessmen, that's why." He cut them off, knowing what they would say. "The businesses we fell were tyrannical and greedy, all of them willing to sacrifice livelihoods for their own gain. And let me tell you, nothing pisses us off more than learning that a monopoly was sprouting."

"W-well you sound-"

"We aren't a monopoly. The key word here is 'thirty'. We kept it that way as to ensure we never grew too big, as having a single company, person, or anything controlling the market in any product is unhealthy to everyone. We built ourselves through generations of blood, sweat, and tears, and we like it this way. From my Greatest Grandfather that founded to the company, to the current head of the company, my father, to me who is more than happy to keep our legacy alive." Zenix then dropped the two, stomping his foot right in front of them, scaring them enough to cling to each other. "And you've made an enemy out of the Mirmadon family, so you're going to have to pay."

"P-pay?"

"Not me specifically, the Apples for the damages you've done to them." Zenix said pointing to the family, all of them in shock. "You're going to be paying back every last bit for what you've done."

"What-"

"Damages to the uprooted trees, costs for emotional trauma, and tainting hundreds of gallons of apple cider with dirt, twigs, rocks, and the occasional worm." Zenix said. "I'll let the Apples sort out the costs, but you'll be lucky if you don't go bankrupt."

"Wha-"

"Worst case scenario, you're going to have to work here for a while to pay them back."

"T-this is unfair!"

"Is it?" Zenix asked sneering. "Well you should know that this is how business goes back home. I'll let you know the thing us merchants say in the business, 'we don't do favors, we get even'. And you are going to pay the Apples what they owe to get even, else you're going to regret it. Also, if I hear a single word about you making any of my friends lives harder, you're going to rue the day you set foot in this town. Do I make myself clear?" Getting the point, the brothers simply nodded. "Good, I'll leave them to you farmhand." Zenix said placing his hands into his pockets and walking away.

"H-huh, y-you're not staying?" Applejack asked.

"Well if you haven't noticed, we're missing someone." Looking around, everyone finally noticed Huston's absence. "You really need to learn to observe your surrounding." With that last sentence, he walked into the forest of apple trees in the direction of the artist.

Meanwhile

"WHY!?"

While the events of Zenix's identity were going down, Huston could be found punching one of the trees with tears of anger and sadness streaming from his eyes. The apples on it were all on the ground, but he never stopped punching.

"WHY CAN'T I KEEP ANY OF MY FRIENDS FROM TRAGITY!?!?" With a might cry, he slammed the bottoms of both fists into the tree. Paused, one could see that blood was dripping from his knuckles, and now the bottoms of his fists after slamming them. His silent sobbing managed to mask the sound of footsteps, but not the voice that called to him.

"There you are." Turning, he saw Zenix approaching him with the emotionless face he had from before. Huston however turned back to the tree.

"Leave me be."

"Well, you should at least stop punching that tree. I think both the tree and your hands would appreciate it."

"Why should I? I'm losing another friend and her family, so what's the poin-"

"I'm going to cut you off there because you're wrong." Huston looked up at the merchant with confusion. "If you didn't run off, you'd know that those two merchants are not only being forced out of town, but also paying restitutions to the damages they've caused."

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Huston asked after a moment, voice simply in disbelief.

"Listen, I've already said my piece, you can ask the others about it. For now though, you can get over here so I can treat your wounds."

"O-okay." He simply responded, walking over to Zenix who was pulling out a first aid kit and tweezers.

"And while I do this, you're gonna tell me what you meant earlier." Zenix said, grabbing one of Huston's wrists and pulling a few splinters out of him.

"W-what do you mean?"

"'I'm losing another friend and her family,' That ring a bell?" Huston tensed up when he was reminded of what he said. "Hey! Don't tense up like that! You're making things harder for treating you."

"O-oh! Sorry..."

"Listen, I know I shouldn't ask and all, but you've been acting strange ever since those con artists showed their ugly mugs." Zenix explained as he pulled out some water. "This is going to sting, so bear with me."

"Well, I-I mean- U-Um... Oh what's the point..." Huston fumbled before giving up. "I'll tell you the story..."

Back in my childhood, I lived with my parents in the countryside with another family. We lived on a farm owned by the other family, and both of our families were close. They had a daughter who was the same age as me. The two of us were about as close as you could get.

"Did you develop a crush later on?"

NO! Please don't interrupt me!

"Sorry."

Anyway, the two of us did everything together. We helped our parents tend the fields, play games together, go to school together, everything. We also taught each other different things. I learned my martial arts from her, and in "return" I taught her about art. I still remember her saying it was funny to think about the both of us being artist is two ways. I guess it stuck since I still quote that thought all the time.

"You seem close, so what happened?"

*sigh* You know the saying, "nothing good lasts". One day, a large company's CEO came to our farm and told my family that they would be buying it from both our families. Both of them refused of course, it was the place that they were raised at along with many generations. We thought that that was the end of it, but we didn't know what that company would do. They used so many underhanded tactics, from cutting off our water supply, somehow scaring off our animals, they even decided to damage our crops with chemicals they produced. It didn't take long before the land that we raised became somewhere no one could grow crops in, and we were forced to sell the land for a fraction of what they offered the first time. I never saw her again, we moved to different cities after that...

"When I saw those two, I just... felt the memories flood back again. I couldn't help but try and do something when I saw they were losing the contest. But even with my help I couldn't save them, just like my friend."

"And did you fight to stay friends?" Zenix asked as he was finishing the bandaging, getting a curious look from Huston. "Did you ever ask about this friend of yours?"

"I-I-"

"You've said enough." Zenix cut him off, releasing him. "You didn't even ask once, so you gave up so easily. I will commend you for trying today, but what would happen if I didn't plan this and they won? Give up on seeing them again if they traveled to somewhere like Appleloosa? Some friend." Zenix turned away from him. "Look, I know I'm being harsh, but you deserve it for giving up when the news dropped. You got lucky this time, but next time it's up to you. I'll leave it at that." As Zenix walked away, Huston looked troubled, yet he also felt like something was lifted.

"This farm, was it that one with that new hire? If it is, then I guess it's poetic that they fell to us as well."

A Hearts and Hooves Confession

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Ever since the Flim Flam brothers paid up and left, things didn't go back to their normal state. In fact, most of the town became a bit more tense, and it was all thanks to the new merchant. It was hard to forget what he did, deceive everyone in town to pull a double agent on the brothers by sabotaging them and making them pay up through some intimidating methods. Those methods being his family name, and seeing as how three of the humans, two of which were hard to scare, were all terrified of his family name and status, everyone was a bit worried about him even if he went back to his happy self afterwards. Even after weeks and most of the town moving on from the incident, they still were a bit on edge when doing business with him.

The heroes however saw another angle to the event, and that was the bigger mystery between him and Xavier. To them, normally Xavier's the first to not only question the logic and safety of reckless plans but also jump in whenever something bad is happening. But here, he was following Zenix like he was the boss, doing reckless things and staying back. The strangest part was that Xavier looked like he was used to these things, he didn't even react to Zenix's name. The questions only piled up with the two, but when approached by the topic, they shrugged it off by saying it was a hired gig. They didn't exactly know how to think about their avoidance, but what could they do? So they simply tried to wait for an opportunity while also keeping their friendship.

As of right now however, all those thought were pushed to the side as a very important data came up for couples and crushers out there as Hearts and Hooves was coming up, but to the humans it was commonly known as Valentines. And when that comparison came up, a certain human's aloof mood suddenly came to a stop to make way for red-faced shock and nervousness. And with the day tomorrow, he was simply sitting on a park bench thinking.

"...This sucks." He thought out loud, not aware or caring of who was around. "Why out of all holidays did this one have to be one as well?"

"Are you talking about Hearts and Hooves?"

"GIYAH!!!" Jumping in shock, Xavier managed to catch himself before he fell. When he turned next to him, he saw that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking at him.

"G-Girls!? Don't scare people like that."

"So, are you thinking of ways to ask Jasmine out?" Sweetie Belle asked, Xavier growing red again.

"W-What!? W-W-What are you-"

"Aw don't be like that." Scootaloo said with a smirk. "The entire town practically knows that you have a crush on her."

"Other than Jasmine herself." Applebloom commented, though that didn't stop Xavier from groaning.

"Well you're wrong, I'm not." The trio didn't believe him however as they all looked at him funny. "W-what?!"

"you're not convincing, you know that?"

"Y-You have no proof!!"

"Why don't you confess tomorrow?" Applebloom suggested. "I'm sure she'd say yes."

"Yeah, she's sure to say yes." The three looked at him hopeful, but all Xavier did was give an upset look.

"It's more complicated than you think..."

"Aw c'mon! Don't be like that-"

"Please stop." Xavier said firmly. "I'm not going to ask her, so drop it." Xavier walked away, not giving them a chance to continue. What he didn't know however was that the crusaders were already plotting ways to get the two together.

Later, Sunset

As the sun set on the horizon, many ponies began to walk home, ready for their dates tomorrow. Jasmine was walking home as well, though she didn't have anyone ask her for a date.

"I wonder what it's like to fall in love?" Jasmine wondered. "Although, I wonder if any of the others are interested in anyone..."

"Miss Jasmine!" The call caused Jasmine to jump in shock, unprepared for the the crusaders as they ran up to her.

"Oh, its only you three." Jasmine said as she took a deep breath. "What's up?"

"We wanted to give you this!" Scootaloo said as she raised a glass bottle up to Jasmine who took it and looked it over. "We wanted to give you something to say thank you for all you've done for us."

"Aww, thank you."

"Why don't you ask someone to share tomorrow?" Sweetie Belle suggested, getting Jasmine thinking.

"Hmm, well that is a nice idea, but who?"

"How about Xavier?" Applebloom suggested. "Isn't he free tomorrow?"

"He is, but are you sure he would say yes?"

"Well he will if we ask as well." Scootaloo exclaimed with a hop. Hearing how sure the girls were, Jasmine gave a nod.

"Alright, let's do it." Jasmine agreed with a fist pump. "It may be fun."

"Yeah!"

The Next Morning

"So where are going girls?"

"You'll see."

As the morning sun rose above the horizon, the town began their days with their dates. Xavier was about to spend the day by himself, but before he could he was being dragged along by the crusaders after they knocked on his door. Now he was walking up a hill, clueless and a bit annoyed.

"I sewar girls, if this is one of your elaborate plans-"

"I promise, you'll like it." Before long, the four of them were looking at a picnic blanket with a basket and two glasses all ready.

"Girls, what is this-"

"Hey Xavier." Tensing up a bit, Xavier looked up to see that Jasmine was walking up the other side of the hill. Seeing her, Xavier took the three girls and turned away in a huddle.

"Girls, what is this?!" He asked in a irate whisper

"Well Jasmine wanted to do something today when we gave her a present, so we suggested a picnic with you." Applebloom explained.

"But WHY!? Are you planning something?" Xavier asked annoyed.

"We just want you and Jasmine to have a happy day today, that's all." Scootaloo reasoned.

"Why me though? Couldn't you have asked Cali since she's closer to her?"

"Aw come on, where's the harm in having a nice picnic with a friend?" Sweetie Bell asked.

"I- Well I- Gah!"

"It would be nice to have a nice day together." Jasmine said as she walked up to them, all of them looking up at her. "It's not like we would be in a love-type date, it's would just be a day together." Jasmine's smiling face was ignorant to the looks on the other's faces, three were knowing and one was blushing.

"Yeah, it would just be a day for two friends." The three girls and Jasmine's eyes all got to Xavier, as he sighed.

"Fine, you win."

"Yay!" The girls cheered as Xavier went over to the blanket, Jasmine joining as well.

"We'll leave you two alone, Happy Hearts and Hooves day!" Applebloom explained before her and the other crusaders waved goodbye, walking down the hill out of sight. Once they did, Xavier sighed again as Jasmine took out the bottle and began to pour the contents out, letting the pinkish purple liquid fill each cup.

"Erm, that's quite an interesting drink." Xavier commented with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of drink is that?"

"Don't know, but the girls seem to think it's perfect to share." Jasmine admitted as she passed Xavier a cup, taking one for herself.

"Oookay, I'll trust it then. It can't be as bad as Flim and Flam's 'drink'." Xavier sighed as he took his glass. "To be clear, this isn't a date between two lovers, it's just a get-together between friends, right."

"Of course." Jasmine smiled, raising her glass. "Want to toast on that?"

"You know what, sure." Xavier said as he raised his. Once they did, they both took a sip from the drink. When they did however, their entire world went numb.

Afternoon, With the Other Humans

As the day went on, the other humans decided to look around the town to see how different the day is celebrated compared to earth. As they did, they saw how lovey-dovey everypony was.

"They really do show it much more." Cali commented as she looked at two ponies doing the classic 'drinking out of a milkshake' together.

"Yeah, it's almost like we're in a TV show." Alex added.

"The cheesy love episode, right?" Huston asked, getting a nod from the athlete.

"Really makes you wish you stocked a few things to sell as gifts." Zenix pondered, getting looks from his friends.

"By the way, do any of ye have a crush or somethin'?" Alex asked. "Or maybe even wantin' ta get a date?"

"Nope. But I'm not opposed to the idea." Cali answered.

"Maybe if I find the right person." Huston said as well, Cali nodding in agreement.

"Well we can say that 'ye-know-who' has one." Alex mentioned, the two sighing.

"That guy needs some guts."

"I know that I made the mistake of thinking she was his girlfriend, but now I know better."

"Well have any of you though of a reason why he hasn't?" Zenix asked, the three looking at him.

"Well the only one I can is that he's much shyer than we think." Huston thought.

"Maybe, but there is something." Cali thought. "A while ago before you three, I talked to him about this crush. When I did though, he seemed... hurt about the idea." Hearing it, Huston and Alex seemed concerned at the idea.

"Well, let's not push him too hard. Maybe small taps." Alex suggested. As Huston and Cali agreed, Zenix noticed a small crowd surrounding a table.

"Hm? What's going on over there?" Hearing him, the others also noticed the crowd and collectively agreed to investigate. When they did, what they saw as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo with a saddlebag. And what they were looking at threw the humans for a loop as they saw Jasmine and Xavier sitting at a table, also doing the classic milkshake troupe with hearts in their longing eyes.

"What the hell is this?!" Alex asked with a swing of his arms.

"Oh my pretty little Jasy."

"My lovely Xavi." The two flirted, leaving the humans uncomfortable.

"I know we were just talking about this, but this is just uncomfortable." Cali commented.

"Yeah..." Huston added as he looked at the crusaders. "Do you three know what's going on here?"

"What!? N-no, we have no idea." Sweetie Belle answered with worry, though Huston didn't noticed. Zenix however managed to catch his eye on something as Cali and Alex walked up to the lovebirds.

"Ay, Xavier?" Alex called once they got up to them. His friend didn't seem to notice or acknowledge him however which irritated him a bit. "Hello, earth ta Xavier? Ye in there?"

"You too, Jas. Are you okay?"

"I have a boyfriend." Jasmine said dreamily, not even taking her eyes off of Xavier.

"I have a girlfriend." Xavier parroted, his voice also dreamy and never taking his eyes off of Jasmine.

"That's great, but how did this happen?" Alex asked irritated, getting sick of the two's lovey-dovey act.

"Yeah, yesterday you two were only friends yesterday and now y'all are actin' like you've been datin' for years." Even after Cali's question, neither Jasmine or Xavier answered again, leaving the two to walk away.

"Those two aren't cooperatin'. It's like they're hypnotized by each other." Alex groaned.

"Y-yeah. They've been like this all day." Applebloom said, though she seemed nervous. They all looked at the two continuing to sip their shake, concerned and confused.

"Well what do we do? They're practically dreaming." Huston wondered.

"I don't know, maybe-"

"Yoink."

Turning at the sudden declaration, everyone saw that Zenix was holding a book. The humans were confused, but the Crusaders began to panic as they looked to see that Scoot's bag was empty.

"Hey! Give that back!" Scootaloo yelled as she hopped to try and grab it to little success.

"Hmm, a book about Hearts and Hooves day." Zenix read the cover while dodging the fillies, opening it to skim through.

"C'mon Zenix, really?"

"Aw come on, you can't blame me for my susp-" Zenix was speaking when he came across something inside and paused. "A love potion?" Hearing that, the group froze. At least until the other humans all looked at the crusaders with annoyance and disappointment.

"You three didn't."

"W-we wanted to help Xavier get together with Jasmine, that's all." Scootaloo explained.

"That doesn't excuse what you did. You should let others work out their feelings while giving little pushes at most." Huston scolded.

"I think they gave more than a push." Zenix commented with a concerned look on his face as he read the book, everyone looking at him confused. "You three, did you read anything more than the recipe?"

"No, why?"

"Well if you did you would see that the thing is more akin to a 'love poison'." Zenix explained, concerning everyone.

"A poison!?"

"Not in the traditional sense." Zenix reassured waving his hand. "It's not something that'll kill them, but it looks like when it was given to a princess from the brewer, a prince, they couldn't stop looking into each other's eyes. Nothing was able to get them to separate themselves from getting lost in each other's eyes which lead to both the princess and the prince's kingdoms to fall due to them being unable to do their royal duties." Hearing this, everyone's concern grew considerable.

"This is bad, really bad." Huston mentioned, worried for his friends.

"You three've really done it now!" Cali scolded.

"A-at least those two don't have a big responsibilities, right?" Scootaloo reasoned, though it didn't help them much.

"Well not now but you do realize that Xavier is important if Equestria is in trouble, right?" Cali asked, knowing how much of a difference he made with Discord and hearing stories about him when he first arrived.

"Grr, well what's the plan then?" Alex questioned, wanting his friend back and to get the two to stop acting so weird.

"W-well maybe there's a antidote?" Applebloom asked, everyone turning to Zenix.

"Oh, right! Umm... Ah ha!" Zenix skimmed through the book for a bit before stopping. "The cure is... Ooh."

"What?!"

"It says here that to stop the effects of the potion-poison stuff, those who've drank it must not look into the eyes of their 'lover' for one hour."

"Seriously? That's it?" Cali asked.

"That sounds pretty easy." Alex added.

"Uhh..." Huston simply pointed to the problem, and everyone realized the issue.

"Oh, right."

"So how do we go about this, ey?" Alex asked. "Ay would suggest holdin' them down, buuut..." Looking at Jasmine, his gaze landed onto her staff, knowing that trying anything too reckless would be harmful to their health.

"What if we try and convince them to separate for a while?" Scootaloo suggested.

"How? They're practically glued to each other." Applebloom reminded. This however sparked an idea in Zenix's head, though it wasn't something he was confident with.

"So... I may have had a stupid idea." Zenix said, getting everyone's attention.

"Well what is it?"

"So, going off of orange's idea..." Zenix began, shrugging over to Scootaloo and beginning to lower his voice. "Well, what if we were to suggest that the two got married?" Predictable, everyone went wide-eyed, but before they could yell out in questioning, Zenix shut them up. "Hey, Shuhuhu! Do you want them to hear you?"

"Well why would you even suggest that?!" Alex asked.

"Well think about it, both sides would need to get ready, and you know how there is a saying for the groom to not see the bride's dress before the wedding." After hearing Zenix's idea, the humans had a realization.

"Wait, you want them to prepare today?"

"Yep, but if we do we'll need help from the others. And we only have one shot at this, if they meet back up there is no chance." The group thought it over, as the risks were very big. At the end though, Alex sighed and glared.

"Alright, we have no other ideas so let's go with it." Alex said, taking the role of leader. "Scootaloo, I need ya an' Huston ta spread the word 'round ta the others, most notably Rarity. Tell them ta split up an' help buy time between the jewelry an' Rarity's place. That's where the two of them'll be." Huston and Scootaloo nodded, running off to do their jobs. "Cali, ye an' Belle'll take Jasmine ta Rarity's. Make sure that ye tell her the situation. Zenix, ye and Bloom are with me an' Xavier. You're crucial Zenix, as ye'll be the one ta shoot down any rings Xavier or the jeweler suggests. Me an' Applebloom are the backup as we've got the brawn ta hold 'em." Everyone nodded at their jobs. "Alright, let's do this." Alex broke up the huddle and went over to Jasmine and Xavier who were still staring at each other lovingly. "Hey there ye two, are ye doin' well?"

"I have a boyfriend."

"I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, that's great." Alex side-eyed, though he stopped when he saw his friends. "Y'know, at this rate ye'll be so in love that ye'll get married."

"Married?!" This actually managed to get a reaction out of them, but before a moment passed for everyone to think they broke the spell already- "Married..." The two went right back to lovingly staring, this time dreaming about marriage.

"Eugh." Many of their spectating friends gagged, but Alex kept a straight face.

"'Course, if yer gonna be gettin' married, you'll need the best ring out there ta propose ta... Yer lovey-puppy." Alex couldn't help but gag at the nickname.

"Ring? OH, Diamonds!" Xavier beamed, hopping out of his chair shocking Alex and Jasmine.

"Yep, why don't ye follow Zenix, I'm sure that he'll be able ta get the best deal on the best ring. And as fer you..." Alex then turned to Jasmine, who was looking at them blankly. "Ye should follow Cali an' Sweetie Belle ta Rarity's ta get a dress. Ye'll want ta look yer best fer yer... Smoopy-pie."

"Dress? Dress!" Jasmine followed Xavier's suite and shot up, ready to find a dress. At least before Cali grabbed her and Alex grabbed Xavier, in which case they began to struggle a bit.

"Now don't worry, once y'all are done, you can see each other again." Cali said as she struggled to hold her friend. Hearing this, the two lovebirds recognized this and suddenly breaking free of their captors... Only to run of in different direction. Xavier even managed to grab Zenix before anyone realized it.

"Crap, get moving!"

Rarity's

Thankfully, both sides had people who had the skills to grab the runaway lovers, allowing for time to be bought by power walking instead of a full sprint. On Cali's side, her, Sweetie and Jasmine were moving to Carousel Boutique.

"I hope that Rarity's got enough dresses." Cali hoped as she carried Jasmine on her shoulder, the mage tied up in her whip.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that Rarity was working on a lot of dresses for today as a clothing line."

"For ponies. If you don't remember, Jasmine isn't a pony." A little bit later, the three saw the boutique, and Rarity was outside.

"Good, you've arrived." Rarity said with relief and a smile. "I have a wide selection of dresses for you to try on, Jasmine." Walking inside, Cali took no time to untie her and toss her into the changing room. "Why don't you take a look at all of them, pick the right one for you?" Rarity said with customer service as her sister pushed multiple racks of dresses into the room. "Please, take your time." Once all the racks were inside, Rarity used her magic to push multiple heavy objects in front of the room, blocking her inside. Once she did, she dropped her smile and turned to her sister. "Sweetie, can you please explain to me why you thought that giving miss Jasmine and Xavier a love potion?"

"W-well, I just wanted to help them get to gather, you know?" Sweetie admitted. "You can see that Xavier has feelings for Jasmine, right?"

"*sigh* Yes, we all can..." Rarity admitted with a face hoof. "But that doesn't mean you can play cupid. Especially with potions. It takes time for one side to admit their feelings, and what happens if you tried only for the other side to reject them?"

"I- we never thought about that..."

"Plus, there's the possibility that one side has a reason not to confess." Cali joined. "They may think that asking would ruin their friendship or something like in books."

"Yep. Please promise me to not try and get anyone else together again, alright?"

"O-okay."

"Now that we've got that out of the way, now all we do is keep her inside and hope everything goes to plan."

Meanwhile, at the Jewelry Shop

"Too big."

"Too small."

"Too fancy."

"Not fancy enough."

Like Alex planned, Zenix was shooting down every ring that was shown by the jeweler despite Xavier's excited nods. Although, Zenix seemed a bit worried as time went on.

"You guys know how long- Too shiny- we have left? I'm not only- not shiny enough- running out of critics, but we're running out of rings."

"Erm, twenty five." Alex responded, looking at a stopwatch Zenix gave him.

"C'mon, you can do it, Zenix." Applebloom cheered.

"I hope."

"Guys!" Suddenly, the door to the jewelry shop opened, revealing Scootaloo, Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight at the door.

"Oh thank god, yer here!" Alex thanked as him and the others went over to them.

"How much time do we have?" Rainbow asked, clearly concerned.

"We've got twenty five minutes left 'til the two are free from this curse." Alex explained.

"All we have to do is stall, but I'm running out of ways to deny rings." Zenix explained.

"Well we'll just have to think of another way." Twilight delcaired, confident that they could-

"Wait, where did Xavier go?" Applejack's observation stopped them all as they looked at the counter to see that the only one there was the jeweler.

"Oi! Where'd Xavier go?!"

"Oh yes, he just purchased the ring and said something about meeting with his..." The Jeweler cleared his throat before saying "His smoochy pie..."

"Damn it!" Everyone ran out of the store in search of Xavier. "Rainbow! Get ta Rarity's! If he makes inside it's over!"

"On it!" Rainbow yelled as she zoomed off. Fortunately, everyone found Xavier skipping with a ring box in his hand.

"AJ!"

"Already on it." Applejack said as she took a rope out of Zenix's hands, tying a lasso out of it. And with a mighty throw, Applejack managed to catch...

A wrench as it fell to the ground, leaving Xavier to continue on.

"Wh-what happened?!" Scootaloo questioned as Zenix handed Applejack another rope to throw. When she did, they caught that Xavier pulled out a metal pipe from... somewhere and tossed it perfectly into the lasso, keeping him safe.

"Oh what the hell?!"

"I got this!" Twilight said as she charged her magic, letting it envelope him in the attempt to pick him up. The key word is attempt though as for some reason Xavier was not only able to continue, but he was somehow able to drag Twilight along at the same pace as before.

"Twilight!?"

"How... Is he... this strong?!" Twilight questioned as she strained to hold him. The others grabbed Twilight and began to pull in hopes to slow him down, but he didn't even slow.

"W-what the hell is this guy's strength!? He was never this strong!"

"I think his 'love' for Jasmine is doing this!" Zenix tried to reason.

"Twilight, don't you have a paralysis spell or somethin'?" Applejack asked.

"Good idea." Twilight then shot a blast of magic forward, aiming for Xavier. Unfortunately, he managed to pull a screwdriver and lobbed it behind him, intercepting the blast and leaving a screwdriver in the ground upright like a stick.

"Oh come on!"

Meanwhile at Rarity's

Back at Rarity's, everyone was still biding their time, this time Huston, Pinkie and Fluttershy joined them with worry.

"S-so how long do we have left to wait?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the changing room as Cali took out a stopwatch.

"Erm... only five left."

"It's actually going to happen!" Pinkie cheered as she hopped around a bit.

"Girls!" Suddenly, Rainbow burst through the doors, startling everyone. "He's on his way here!"

"What?!"

"You heard me!"

"Well what do we do!?" Huston questioned. Everyone began to hastily look around for an idea. When they saw nothing good, they ran outside. When they did, Sweetie Belle noticed a bunch of shovels leaning on the side of the boutique.

"There!" She pointed out, everyone looking at them and know where she was going. As they worked, the others weren't having any luck slowing Xavier down as he dragged them along. They got desperate and even grabbed him to little effect.

"This guy is impossible!" Applejack yelled.

"Come on! We have to hold him off!" As they kept trying to slow him down, their blood went cold when they saw that the boutique was in view, so they began to try harder. At least before Rainbow and Huston ran closer to them.

"Let him go!" Huston called, confusing everyone.

"Why!? He's too close!" Alex yelled out.

"Just do it!" At Rainbow's command, everyone released Xavier, letting him free to skip forward...

"Shmoopy-doo— Whoa!" Right onto a piece of green fabric that was covering a hole, sending him crashing into a deep pit.

"It's a good thing you found those shovels Sweetie." Cali commented as they rejoined the others.

"Yep." Alex then looked at the stopwatch, sighing in relief.

"We've got one minute ta go-"

"Shmoopy-doo!" Suddenly Xavier leapt up, his head barely clearing the hole while screaming out. Everyone looked at the hole's contents, but their eyes went wide soon.

"Sweetums?!" They all heard Jasmine call from the boutique, and as they all looked back, they saw what looked like a storm being formed inside before a massive blast of black cloud burst out. Once the dust settled they all looked in panic at Jasmine standing outside with a wedding veil on her head, her eyes practically thirty for Xavier's.

"SHITE! Stop her!" Everyone then got in her way, hopping to block her off. Unfortunately, most of the group were either hit by a tornado or a blast of wind. Soon no one was stopping Jasmine as she leapt forward into the hole, Xavier jumping up just in time to meet her before she slammed right into his face. Everyone ran over to the hole, hoping that Jasmine was late as she lay on Xavier's legs. Once Xavier got over the daze of being hit in the face and looked down, everyone began to sweat bullets as...

"G-GIAH!?" Xavier squirmed out from underneath her. "J-Jasmine!?"

"We did it!" Everyone cheered, startling Xavier and Jasmine enough to realize the situation they were in.

"What in the- Guys? Why is Jasmine and I in the bottom of a hole?"

"A-and why does it look like I'm going to get married in said hole?" Jasmine asked as she pulled the veil off her head and looked at it.

"You three tell them what you did." Cali glared at the crusaders, who all looked at her with betrayal.

"What?!"

"Hey, we were just helpin' ye ta get our friends back. It all boils down ta your faults."

"What happened?" The crusaders all fidgeted nervously.

"We may have given you the teeny-tiniest bit of love potion... that may have turned out to actually be a love poison, and you may have gone just a teeny-tiniest bit nutty." Sweetie Belle started.

"But we only did it because we thought you and Jasmine would be really happy if you could be each others very special someponies on Hearts and Hooves Day." Applebloom continued.

"Our hearts and hooves were in the right place." And as Scootaloo finished, everyone looked at the two in anticipation, the two stood there motionless. At least until Xavier's eye twitched, at which case Zenix panicked and ran back a bit.

"Oh crap-"

"GIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLLLLLSSSSS!!!!!!" Everyone backed up in shock as Xavier jumped out of the hole with rage in his eyes, looking at the crusaders. "I can't believe you! I thought it was clear that I didn't want any help!"

"B-but-"

"No buts! My feelings are my feelings! You don't go around giving love potions to people just because they have a crush on someone!"

"U-um-"

"It's my decision not to tell Jasmine about my feelings, so stay out of my personal-"

"Y-you have feelings for me?" Xavier stopped. His blood went cold and his eyes widened as he slowly turned around to see Jasmine crawling out of the hole, confusion and bewilderment on her face. Xavier backed away slowly, his eyes portraying multiple emotions, but suddenly he turned and ran off. "Xavier!" Jasmine then squirmed the rest of the way out of the hole and ran off to chase him.

"Jasmine!" Before anyone else could pursue, the arm of Zenix stopped them.

"Don't." Zenix said, his face serious. "Leave her to talk it over with him."

"B-but-"

"This problem is between those two, and you getting in the way would only complicate things for him. So leave it."

"You talk about this like ye've known him fer years!" Zenix paused to look at everyone, before turning in the direction the two ran off in.

"I can't say..."

Jasmine kept running in the direction that Xavier went, hopeful to find him for answers. She didn’t want to pressure him though as he was going through a lot. She kept looking when she lost track, asking the ponies around town if they saw him. After some time, she did track him down, him sitting by a lake under a tree. As she walked up, she saw that he was twirling something in his hand, but it was so fast that she couldn’t get a good look at what it was.

“U-um?” Jasmine sounded to get his attention. She was surprised to see that she did, but was more surprised when he turned to her. Two things stood out to her, one was the look of broken sadness on Xavier’s face, and the other was the shiny steel balisong that he was holding. “H-hey.”

“You want to know why I ran, right?” Xavier simply asked, his voice devoid of emotion as he turned back to his balisong, flipping it closed.

“I-I mean-”

“That’s the reason, right.”

“*sigh* Yeah, but y-you don’t have to if-”

“I at least owe it to you…” Xavier said as he patted next to him, Jasmine coming closer and sitting down next to him. When she did, Xavier used his off-hand to reach into his hoodie, pulling out the photo he kept for so long and passed it to Jasmine. Upholding it, Jasmine saw that Xavier was in it along with what appeared to be a married middle-aged couple and two girls, one older and one younger than her.

“W-who are they?”

“They were my family.”

My family was a simple one. Not much going on behind the scenes of the simple metal shop we ran. My father dealt with the majority of the work, and he was quite skilled at his craft. My mother handled the sales and stuff like that up front. My older sister was my father’s assistant, helping out around the shop and even making some things. My younger sister also helped, though she was mostly helping my mom.

Then there was me. I wasn’t able to help out much in the shop because I wasn’t as strong as my father or older sister nor was I as social as my mom and younger sister. Sure, I did help out where I could, but it wasn’t as much as I would like, fiddling with random scrap that was lying around the shop. My family wasn’t upset at me though, they loved me all the same.

“I can’t say that my life was perfect…” As Xavier took a breath to pause, Jasmine tilted her head.

“So, what happened between you all?”

“It’s complicated…” Xavier sighed, memories flooding back to him. “I couldn’t tell you why, but one day I became sick of the life I had. I don’t know if it was my life up to then, my family in general, or something else, but I just… snapped. It was almost like… a voice told me to. But that’s what I did, I yelled at them like they were the problem before running out of the shop, not caring about what I knocked over. After a while of walking, I finally felt guilty about what I said, so I decided to try and make things up. I went out to buy some food for dinner and I got a gift for my youngest. I know how sensitive she was, so I got her this bandana that she always wanted.” Xavier said clutching said bandana that was always on him. “Once I had everything, I began my walk back, but…” Xavier paused in sorrow, remembering what happened.

“W-what happened?”

“W-when I did, something caught my eye in the night sky near the shop. It was a bit difficult to tell what it was, but once I did see it my blood went cold, as I saw a pillar of black smoke rising up. When I saw it and where it was originating, I dropped the bag of food and ran to the shop. When I made it… the shop was on fire.” Xavier stopped for a moment, letting the information sink in.

“O-oh my.”

“The firefighters were doing their best, but the fire was intense. A-and, even they couldn’t get in with the intensity. T-the worst part, m-my family didn’t…” Xavier stopped talking, not able to continue as tears clouded his vision. Jasmine saw this and simply leaned in close, giving him a hug to allow him to cry. After some time, Xavier pushed her off gently. “T-thank you, Jasmine.”

“Are you able to continue?”

“Y-yes.” Xavier said with a sigh. “A-after the accident, it was confirmed that the source of the fire was an oil container that I tipped over, the only thing that survived was this balisong that my older sister made in her free time. After the hearing, I-I was then taken in by Zenix’s family as his and my fathers were childhood friends, but I wasn't able recover no. H-hell, I'm still not over it even though I've tried to let it go here in Equestria. But I can't get over the feeling that this whole thing was my fault.” Jasmine looked at him, seeing how much this affected him. And yet, she somehow knew the words to say.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” She began. “I can only imagine the pain you feel. But you don’t have to be alone in your pain.” Releasing him, she held his shoulders with a serious expression on her. “You’re one of the first to show me kindness, and was always there when I or anyone needed your help. I thought that this was just you, but please, you can’t just bottle up your problems and hide away! If you do, you’ll never be happy!”

“B-but-”

“No buts! Everyone is worried about you!” Jasmine released him and stood up. “Do you remember the meteor shower that happened a while ago? Well we all wanted to help you, but since we barely know you we couldn’t! It hurts to know that you can’t help the person who helped you so much!” Xavier looked up at Jasmine, seeing how sad she was.

“I-I’m sorry.” Realizing how angry she was, Jasmine took a deep breath to calm herself.

“It’s okay. But please, you need to talk to us. We want to share your burden, that’s what friends are for.”

“Y-yeah.” Xavier and Jasmine sat in silence for a moment. After some time passed, Xavier looked up to her. “Hey Jasmine?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m ready to tell everyone. I’ll tell them eventually, but I’m not ready yet.”

“That’s fine, just promise me that when the time comes, you’ll ask me to help you tell them.”

“I will.”

“That’s good.” Jasmine then sat back down, her face holding a caring expression on her. "But do you just want to sit here for a while?"

"...Yeah."

Sundown, With the Others

After Xavier and Jasmine ran off, the others were left in a predicament as Zenix was stopping all of them. In the end, they decided to wait around Rarity's for a while until they got back by Zenix's suggestion. The wait however was unsettling, as they were all worried and curious about the two. Nothing was said, nothing was done, just waiting until the door opened to the two.

"Xavier!" Huston, Alex and Rainbow called as they jumped up and ran to him, the others running over as well.

"Hey everyone." Xavier greeted, his voice a bit down.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I-I'll be fine." Everyone nodded, not willing to talk more. "However, there is something I need to address. Girls." Xavier then looked at the crusaders, all three of them tensing up and sweating bullets as he walked over. "You three really did it now."

"We know."

"Look, I get it." Xavier said as he leaned down towards them. "You just wanted me to be happy, but-"

"But no matter how good our intentions might have been, we shoulda never meddled in your relationship." Applebloom began again.

"Nopony can force two ponies to be together." Scootaloo added.

"It's up to everypony to choose that very special somepony for themselves." Sweetie Belle concluded.

"We're sorry." Xavier looked at the trio for a bit, at least before sighing.

"Well I'll leave your punishments up to your guardians. Today had been exhausting."

"You said it." Jasmine said as she gave a weak smile. "But I think there is one more thing to talk about." Everyone looked at her curiously."

"And what is that?-" Xavier asked as he looked over to her, only to realize she was face to face with him.

"About the 'crush' you have." Jasmine smiled innocently, but the aura surrounding her... it didn't feel innocent as everyone looked at each other with nervous looks. Xavier didn't look nervous, however, he didn't even look flustered. Instead, he had a look that was both disappointed and calm at the same time.

"I get it. If you don't reciprocate those emotions, I'll accept it. Even after-"

He was cut off. In a way that get the entire room to look with wide eyes and dropped jaws. For Jasmine leaned in and gave a peck onto his forehead.

"Let's give it a try, alright?" Jasmine smiled. Xavier sat there frozen, as he was processing what happened. When he did, his face lit up bright red and puffs of steam blasted out his ears. Right before his eyes went white and he collapsed, unconscienced. "Oh no!"

"It's like you didn't see the signs." Cali sighed.

"We all did." Everyone began to give a light chuckle as Jasmine tried to wake Xavier up. Even though things got stressful, at least things were looking up for the future.

Later, At Night

After dragging Xavier back home, everyone decided to turn in for the night. And after dinner everyone decided to go to bed. Everyone but Jasmine, as she was thinking about the events of the day while rubbing Storm’s head on the couch.

“You know, Storm? I’m not against dating Xavier, but I still have questions about him.” Jasmine thought, the bat looking up at her. “Mostly about why he never wanted to tell me about these feelings. And why he thought anyone would understand where he was coming from…”

“Well maybe I can answer those questions.” Jasmine and Storm jumped in surprise, only to see that it was Zenix standing in low light.

“Oh, it’s only you, Zenix.” Jasmine sighed, but she looked up at him in concern. “But what are you talking about?”

“He told you about his past, right?” Zenix asked, getting a nod from her. “Well you also heard that he lived with me and my family after the accident, right?”

“W-where are you going with this?”

“Well there is another side to the problem.” Zenix said as he sat in a chair. “You see, he’s felt that this whole thing is his fault.” Zenix began, getting a worried expression from Jasmine. “When he moved into my family’s estate, we could tell he was broken. We tried to help him at least mourn for them, but… he couldn't even think about them without breaking into tears. That wasn’t the only thing, however, he was unable to make any more connections.”

“Connections?”

“As in, he wasn’t able to make any more friends.” Zenix said with a sigh. “Not from a lack of trying, but from fear about the same thing happening again. He knows that bonds as close as family are the most painful when they are severed, so he refrained from getting close to anyone.”

“B-but he’s been so k-kind to us?”

“Kind, yes. But notice that this is the first time he’s actually opened up to anyone.” Zenix explained. “He just wants to keep anyone from feeling the pain he felt as well, but he keeps himself from that situation as well. But…” Looking at a photo with Xavier and his friends on the coffee table, he sighed. “This is the first time in a long time that I’ve seen him actually have a connection. The only other time was back on earth, and that was… well let’s say she was a piece of work.” Zenix paused to stand up and walk towards the basement. “My point is, make sure you don’t leave him like his family, okay. Not just for his sake, but mine. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him smile.”

“...I will.”

Meanwhile

Up on the rooftops of the town, moonlight hit each and every one of them kindly. Something else was hit however, a figure on the rooftops looking down on the human household with glowing eyes.

Hmhmhm. Destiny is a strange thing. As they was looking down, noises could be heard by the figure. Suddenly, another cloaked being rose and floated onto to the roof softly and landed, a mechanical whir and a trail of smoke following them. I will say, you do a very good job at setting fires off. I just didn't know you could make it look like an accident.

Y0u s4y th4t l1ke we h4vn't be3n fr1ends 5ince f0r3ver a60. The newbie said, their voice sounding crushed and robotic, small creaks being heard as they moved closer, the only thing seen was a bright yellow rectangle in their hood that glowed like a flashlight. Fir3s are my s9ecial7y, ou7sid3 wh4t I've 8een b0rn with.

Oh I know. I just though you would get rusty after a while.

Th4t's no7 a go0d jok3, 'caus3 if 1 did I w0uld be d3-

Yeah yeah yeah. For now though, we've planted the seed into them. All we have to do is wait.

It'5 alre4dy 5prou7ed, y0u can tell.

I know, but we have to see if it'll flourish or if it will wither like all the others.

I 6et i7. Le7's ho9e it 6rows 8ig enou6h befor3 th3y f4ce the king. The sentence was the last as the new one flew upwards like a rocket and the first blinked away, like they were never there.

Resolve of the Past

View Online

"What am I going to do..."

After Jasmine accepted Xavier's feelings, everyone thought that the two would grow closer. The thing is, they didn't. Instead, it seemed like Xavier was straying away from Jasmine unlike before. Everyone did understand some parts however, as he was probably confused as what to do now. They were partially right, as he was embarrassed to see her. The other half of him however was questioning what to do, as this would be the first time that he would be growing close to someone in a long time. He was thinking of this multiple times a day, and as he worked at the spa today.

"What am I supposed to say to her? Everything I can think of just doesn't seem right..." He muttered as he worked. He was so concentrated that he didn't notice his coworkers staring at him gossiping.

"So what's going on with him?"

"Apparently his feelings managed to get to Jasmine and she accepted."

"Okay? But why does he seem so... stressed?"

"I'm not exactly sure. The only thing I can think of is that he wants the best for her."

"That would make sense." As they were gossiping, Xavier began to think of the past.

You reeaally need to get over this thing."

Right now Xavier was thinking about a time he was inside the room that was given to him by the Mirmadons. The room was barren in his mind, all except the figure of someone, speaking in an uncaring and melancholy tone.

"Oh shut up! What would you be doing in my situation?!" Xavier shouted at them, his voice portraying annoyance and irritation at them. "I Just lost my family and you act like nothing's changed!"

"You ask me like I would be in that situation in the first place." The figure responded as they walked over somewhere and began to lie down in the air, presumably in or on something. "Growing close to someone isn't in the job description."

"Yeah yeah yeah, and you'd be the one to put someone into that situation as well."

"Pretty much. Besides, there's too much effort in that sort of thing."

"The only thing you don't find a hassle is sneaking off to find somewhere to laze about and chocolate."

"Well you should know that even if you promise yourself that you will never grow close to someone, you're setting yourself up for disaster. My father said the same thing, and you can guess how that went. Some promises aren't meant to keep..."

"Grr, I hate the fact I have to agree with her for once." Xavier said, his face showing irritation. "*sigh* That doesn't exactly help in what I want to say though..." Xavier worked in silence for a while until he finished. After packing up and earning his pay, he began the walk home. As he was, his mind went back to his past.

"I can't even tell if was being genuine or not. She could show at least some emotion."

"Who could?"

"Bah! Pinkie!?" Xavier jumped when Pinkie appeared out of nowhere again, smiling at him. "When did you get there?"

"Just now. But who are you talking about? A new friend?"

"Didn't you just befriend that donkey?"

"Doesn't mean I can't make any more." Pinkie's explanation and smile earned a sigh from Xavier as he held his hand on his forehead.

"Well I hope you'll never meet them to be honest. But I get the feeling that she'd end up avoiding you like the plague... Not like she could hide from you..."

"Aww..." Pinkie continued to follow Xavier for a while before speaking again. "So how are you and Jasmine doing?" That question got a conflicted look from Xavier as he looked to the side.

"I honestly don't know. I... really don't know how to approach this."

"Hmm, well why don't we-"

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a party is not a 'solve-all' solution." Xavier cut Pinkie off to her dismay. "And no offense, but I doubt you have any good relationship advice."

"Hmph. Well I'll make sure you'll eat your words when I find a special somepony before anypony else."

"Sure."

"But why don't you ask our other friends for advice? I'm sure they have good ideas."

"I doubt it to be honest. Honestly the only ones that would give good advice would be Fluttershy and Huston. Everyone else would probably either have no clue, crack a joke, or read something off of a book."

"Well is there anyone who you can talk to?" Pinkie's question reminded Xavier of someone, but he knew he couldn't talk to them right now.

"...Not really."

"Oh well. I need to meet up with Rarity, we're going to look around the market today!" Pinkie said as she hopped off.

"Have fun." Xavier waved. As Pinkie left, Xavier's mind wandered again.

This time Xavier's mind went to a time where he was outside, sitting in the sun and thinking without a destination. As he was, his attention turned to inside the estate. Inside was Zenix and another figure similar in height, but this one's bottom half was more bell-shaped, as this person was a maid who worked in the estate.

"How is Xavier, Ash?" Zenix asked, his face portraying worry.

"I'm sorry young master, but he still hasn't opened up to me." The maid said, her voice sad and disappointed.

"*sigh* well don't beat yourself up, Ash. It's not your fault."

"Please don't beat yourself up either. I'm sure it's hard for you too."

"It is. He hasn't been the happiest person in the world, but seeing him like this is... grah."

"Is there anyone who you can ask?" Zenix crossed his arms in thought.

"I can't think of anyone. I wish I was useful." Zenix turned his back to the maid, frustration on his face as the maid raised their arms in worry.

"Don't worry, young master. You and your family are doing so much for him."

"Not enough..."

"...I hope your okay out there, Ashley."

Xavier's thinking rose even more uncertainties as he walked, not realizing where he was. When he stopped, he noticed that he was outside Twilight's library.

"...Maybe talking to someone would help me." He thought out loud as he knocked on the door of the library. "Hey Twilight, you there?" A shuffling could be heard inside when he spoke, and a few moments later the door opened to Spike.

"Hey Xavier. What's up?"

"Oh, hello Spike. Is Twilight home?"

"Nope. She's up in Canterlot today. Her parents needed her for something."

"Well that's a shame..." Xavier looked at Spike for a second, an idea coming to mind. "Well maybe you can help me more."

"Huh? I can?"

"Yeah, you mind if I come in?" Spike allowed him inside, where the two pulled up chairs to sit on. "You see, I need some advice. Or at least someone to talk to."

"Well, I'm not sure how much help I can be..."

"It's about love." Xavier's statement got wide eyes from Spike, as he understood the situation.

"R-really?! B-but wouldn't-"

"I already told Pinkie this, the only ones that would give good advice would be Fluttershy and Huston. Everyone else would probably either have no clue, crack a joke, or read something off of a book." Leaning in, Xavier pointed to Spike with a calm look. "You however understand what I'm going through for the most part with yours with Rarity."

"W-well I mean I did tell you, but-"

"Please Spike." Xavier looked into the dragon's eyes with a pleading look. "I know I'm asking a lot, but I really need someone to talk to that knows what I'm going through." Spike looked at Xavier for a bit, considering his option. On one claw, he was being asked for advice which wasn't something that happened often, and it made him feel good. On the other however, it was over a topic he wasn't sure he could help in, and it was even part of a secret of his. In the end however, he decided to help.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Well, facing Jasmine right now is... difficult. I don't even know if things can go back to the way they used to be." Xavier explained, his face conflicted. Spike took his words to heart, and began to speak.

"Well, maybe you two should start simply as friends."

"...Aren't we already friends?"

"Yeah, but try not to think too deeply about 'love'." Spike corrected. "Start by acting like you always have and work your way up to love. Don't rush things y'know?" Spike's words resonated with Xavier, but for two different reasons. Obviously Spike's message was one, but the other was one of Xavier's memories yet again.

"...Thanks for the advice, Spike. That's honestly pretty helpful." Xavier said as he stood up. "I need to go find someone, but you helped a lot, really."

"You're welcome. Good luck with Jasmine!" Spike wished as he got up as well. "I need to get clean a few things, so I'll catch you later." Waving to each other, Xavier left the library and looked forward.

"I need to find him. I need to settle things with him first."

"Pleasure doin' business with you."

With a wide grin and a pouch full of bits, Zenix was wrapping up one last transaction with a pony. As the pony put a few bits into the pouch and Zenix handed them a box, Zenix waved them and shook the bag a bit.

"Yep, definitely made a profit here, Nyahaha! Although..." Zenix paused and put a hand to his chin in thought. "These are just individual bottles of water. When will I have the opportunity to make some big-" Zenix was cut off by someone grabbing his shawl, causing him to jump in shock. When he looked behind him however, he saw Xavier with a serious face on him. "X-Xavier?"

"We need to talk." Zenix heard the tone of his voice, and his expression calmed down.

"Right, what do you want to talk about?" Xavier led Zenix away to a more secluded spot in town.

"I wanted to talk about something you said before."

"You're gonna have to be more specific about that."

"Back at our world." Zenix's eyes widened a bit.

"You mean..." A nod from Xavier confirmed his thoughts.

A knocking at a door was the start of the memory, as Xavier went to a door and opened it for Zenix.

"Hey boss, you got a minute?" Zenix asked, a tilt of his head and a calm expression on his usually smiling face.

"...Sure." Letting Zenix into his room, Xavier looked at him with caution. "Please, don't-"

"I'm not going to talk about the incident, I promise." Zenix said, letting Xavier lower his guard. "What I am here to tell you however is that you've been alone for a while."

"...That doesn't sound like you're promise."

"You never let me finish." Zenix said, putting fingers up. "You've been alone for a while, and it's not healthy. Remember, you've got me, my family, Ashley, and-"

"Don't you even suggest her." Xavier growled.

"...Anyway... What I'm trying to say, is that we're all here for you. But don't rush things. Take all the time you need." Looking Zenix up and down, Xavier sighed.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"...So why are you bring this up?" Zenix asked, the memory fading.

"I want to start anew." Xavier admitted, Zenix tilting his head in response. "When I first came here to Equestria, I decided to try and restart. After all, I was in a place where no one knew me. They didn't even know what the human race was capable of and were willing to put their full trust in me. But, I kept thinking back to the past. Even as I met more and more ponies and humans, I still couldn't stop. Not to say it's your fault, but with you coming here it just cements the idea. So... I want to say that I want to move on. But I can't do this alone."

"Does this mean that you want to tell-"

"Not yet." Xavier stopped Zenix. "I will eventually, but not now. For now though, I want to work on getting closer to everyone. Most importantly though, I want to work on getting closer to Jasmine." Zenix looked at him with amazement.

"A-are you really going to-" Xavier stood up, stopping Zenix.

"Yes. I'm going to find her. I'll see you later, Zen." As Xavier walked away, Zenix realized something.

"Zen?"

"You don't like it?"

"No, it's just a surprise... Ver." Both smiled at each other, nodding as they separated. This time however, it won't be for long.

Meanwhile

Jasmine was conflicted on the current events. She knew that Xavier needed time to process the idea, and yet she felt that she was too forward when she acted. Now, as the sun set, she was sat at the same spot where Xavier let out his troubles, staring at her reflection in silence. Her silence was broken however.

"Jasmine." Jumping in shock, Jasmine was standing when she saw Xavier looking at her with confusion.

"Oh, hey."

"Did I interrupt something?"

"N-no. I was just thinking."

"Oh, okay." The two stood in awkward silence for a few moments before speaking again. "So I wanted to-"

"I wanted to ap-" Hearing each other speak, they stopped again. "Y-you can go ahead first."

"R-right." Xavier rubbed his arm and looked to the side. "So, I want to work on getting closer to everyone."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I want to get to a point where I am willing to share my secret with them." Xavier admitted. "It's been difficult to grow close with anyone since the accident, so I want to work on that. Right now though, I hope we can start fresh."

"Start fresh."

"As in working up to the point where we can... you know..." Xavier hesitated at the last part. Not out of uncertainty however, more so out of nervousness. Seeing it, Jasmine smiled and walked close, taking his hands.

"That sounds like a good idea." Jasmine smiled. "To be honest, I was thinking about how I acted and I was a bit too forward."

"It's okay, I get it." Xavier sighed. "For now though, let's just slow it down for now."

"Sure." Letting go, Jasmine went back to sit down and patted next to her. "If you're okay with it, we can start with this?"

"Sure." Xavier want to sit next to her. The two didn't do much after that however, just enjoyed each other's company in silence. The two also had the same thoughts as they sat.

I promise, you will never be alone again.

Cookin' up a Storm

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"So you woke up around this desert?"

"Yep. And I owe the buffalo quite a bit for helping me."

It took a while, but things in Ponyville finally settled and things were peaceful. The difference this time was that Xavier was... different. It wasn't a bad change however as he seemed a bit more open with the others and that him and Jasmine were closer than before. It was pretty heartwarming to see in the eyes of their friends, but right now three of them were on a trip, those being Cali, Huston, and Applejack as they rode the train to Appleloosa.

"It will be nice to see how they're doin', I just hope they're gettin' along." Cali mused.

"Me too." Applejack agreed.

"It's quite the story everyone told me." Huston admitted, remembering the story that his friends told to anyone who wasn't there, getting sweat drops from the country girls.

"Yeah, I may have acted a bit too rash..."

"'A bit'? I'm pretty sure you left more than a mark on the ponies you snapped at." Applejack said with raised eyebrows.

"And what about you? You practically did all the arguing when me and Xavier brought Little Strongheart over." Cali shot back. The two glared at each other for a bit before smiling and chuckling it off.

"You two are quite close." Huston observed with a chuckle. "To think you two were once on different sides of a civil war."

"Well that's love and war for ya." Cali waved off. As she was everyone saw that a town was coming close. "Look over there, Huston. That there's Appleloosa."

"Quite a nice town." Huston admired. "I imagine there are plenty of places that would be wonderful vantage points."

"You go ahead and look around. Me and Cali are goin' to meet up with the sheriff and Chief Thunderhoof." Applejack said as the train pulled to a stop. As everyone got off of the train, they were called to by a familiar voice.

"Applejack!" Turning, everyone saw none other than Braeburn walking up to them. "It's been too long!"

"It sure has cuz." Applejack replied.

"And it's good to see that you're doin' well, Cali."

"Same to you, bud." After the short reunion, Braeburn's attention turned to Huston.

"Oh, sorry I didn't see you there."

"No worries. I was just having fun listening to you and my friends have a reunion." Huston reassured. Though he didn't notice the glint in the local's eyes.

"So you're friends with my cuz, ey?" Braeburn said as he took Huston's arm and began to drag him away. "In that case I should give you a grand tour of Appleloosa."

"Whoa! That's a nice offer, but you don't have to drag me." With Braeburn taking Huston away, it only left the country girls to leave.

"I guess they'll be busy?" Cali said, somewhat confused on what happened.

"That happened when you weren't in Appleoosa last time." Applejack said as she led Cali out of the train station. "He took us around town before we had the chance to tell him that the buffalo dragon-napped Spike. Hopefully he doesn't push him around like he did with us."

"And I'm guessin' that he told you their side of the conflict?"

"Yep. But let's not dig up old grudges, alright? We're here to see how the town's doin' with the buffalo." The two walked for a while, looking around to see that there were plenty of buffalo mingling with the ponies. They all were having no trouble, but the duo did notice that the town seemed restlessly happy. "I wonder if somethin' is goin' on soon?"

"Maybe a festival?" Cali mused. "You did say it was gettin' close to the time the town was founded."

"Oh, that might be it." After a bit of walking around town, the duo made it to their destination of the sheriff's office, where the pony in question was talking to the chief of the buffalo. "Sheriff, Chief Thunderhoof! We're here."

"Ah, perfect timin'!" Silverstar waved. "How have you two been?"

"We've been doin' good, sheriff." Applejack said as she and Cali walked over.

"And I hope the others are as well." Thunderhoof wondered.

"Don't worry, they're doin' fine as well." Cali reassured. "But there have been some big changes since the last time we met."

"What do you mean?"

"Well-"

"And this is the sheriff's office." Before Cali could start, Braeburn and Huston sped into sight, the latter in a bit of a daze. "Oh, hey cuz."

"Braeburn." Applejack glared. "Didn't I tell ya to not drag ponies around town with little warning?"

"Oh... Sorry cuz, I got a bit excited." Braeburn said embarrassed, earning a face-hoof from Applejack.

"*Sigh* Sorry, Huston. Braeburn is quite eccentric, so he gets excited to show anypony around town."

"It's no big deal." Huston waved off. "Besides, he did help me find some places that would be great settings, so it's all good." As Huston was talking, both the sheriff and the chief looked him over.

"I'm guessin' this is the 'big change'?" Silverstar asked.

"Yep. This is Huston." Cali said as she draped her arm around him. "He's an artist who we met a while after I left Appleoosa. There are more too." Tilting her head to Huston, she smirked. "Huston, these here are Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Huston said, stepping out of Cali's grip and bowed.

"Well if Cali thinks you're a good guy, I'll believe it too." Silverstar nodded. "The pleasure is all mine."

"As with me." Thunderhooves agreed. With introductions out of the way, Applejack looked around town to observe everypony and buffalo working.

"So what's goin' on 'round here? Some kind of festival."

"You got that right." Braeburn declared. "In a few days we'll not only be celebrating the founding of Appleoosa, but our alliance with the buffalo."

"Sounds like you've really integrated with the town, chief." Cali noted.

"Yes. We've been working on working with Appleoosa more."

"And they've been doin' a lot for us." Silverstar said as he pointed to the clock tower. "That clock tower was destroyed durin' the fight, but with the buffalo's help it was rebuilt in no time."

"Interesting."

"But we're gettin' off topic." Braeburn said, redirecting the conversation. "It's going to be a big event. We'll have games, music, and food. And at the last day we'll be having a contest."

"And what is it?"

"A cooking contest." The sheriff answered. "The winner will have the chance to sell their food to the town as well." Hearing what the contest was going to be, the visitors had different thoughts.

"Really..." Huston thought. "Why don't you join in, Cali?"

"Yeah, this sounds like somethin' you'd do great in."

"I-I don't know." Cali responded, hesitancy in her voice as she rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know if I can compete with everyone. I don't even know if I can join."

"I'll allow it." Silverstar said. "You're an honorary member of the buffalo tribe, after all."

"For that matter, why're you actin' like Xavier?" Applejack asked. "You're a great cook."

"I have my reasons." Cali said crossing her arms. There was a pause , but she sighed. "But I guess I can join."

"That's the spirit." Braeburn cheered. "I think I'm goin' to head out. My break's almost up."

"You need any help, cuz?" Applejack asked.

"We could use all the help we can get." Braeburn motioned, letting Applejack follow.

"I think I'm going to look around town some more." Huston said with a wave. "I want to look around some more so I can find a good reference. See you later." As he walked away, Cali was left by herself. And as she was left in the hype of the festival, she began to think about the events leading her to stand there.

A bit of time passed before Cali herself left the sheriff's office to take a look around town. As she was, she was lost in thought. So much so that she wasn't focused on the atmosphere, or what was in front of her as she bumped into somepony.

"Oof. Oh, sorry about-"

"Cali?" Looking up, Cali saw that she bumped into none other than Little Strongheart. "It is you! I didn't think you were coming to visit!"

"Strongheart!" Cali smiled as she shook the small buffalo's hoof. "Sorry I didn't tell you. A few things came up recently."

"Hmm... Well no matter. It's just great to know you're here."

"Thanks." Cali took the moment to look around, seeing how much the town has come in multiple ways. Most notably the harmony between the two species and the festival. "You've really gotten comfy with the ponies here."

"Yep." Strongheart agreed. "We wanted to make up for what we did before, and as we helped we started to just help out and mingle with the town. Now the buffalos and Appleoosa are practically inseparable."

"Good for you guys." Cali nodded with a smile. When she did, Strongheart noticed this.

"You're smiling a lot more than before." She mentioned, Cali looking at her interested. "I'm guessing you learned more about friendship."

"You could say that." Cali shrugged. "The others really helped me open up. I've even made some new friends, one off them's even here."

"That's great." Strongheart congratulated. When she did however, she noticed that Cali was spacing out. "You okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing..." Cali said crossing her arms. "Well... maybe I'm just thinking about things."

"You want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing you should concern yourself about." Cali waved off. "Besides, there are so many things that I can't pin down."

"Hmm... Okay." Before any of them could continue, a group of ponies and buffalo waved to her, wanting her to come over. "Oh, looks like others need me. I'll see you later Cali."

"See ya." As they waved each other off, Cali just couldn't shake the thoughts swirling in her head, all of them unsure of what to do.

Later, Salt Block

The local watering hole was quite active tonight, as the festive vibes managed to get every buffalo and pony inside into jovial states. The only one who wasn't was Cali, sitting to the side sipping a glass of apple juice with a blank expression.

"I was wondering where you went." Cali perked up hearing Huston's voice as he walked over. "You've been quiet for a while. It's not like you." Huston sat down at the table. "Is anything wrong?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that there is anything 'wrong' per say." Cali said, an air of uncertainty around her. "...But, I'm kinda curious. Why did you decide to become an artist?"

"Why do you want to know that-?" Huston was about to continue, but he looked closer at Cali's expression and body language and understood. "I see. If you want to know, I'll tell you. Now I told you about my... *ahem*... story, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, one of those reasons was part of it. I wanted to continue to pursue art for her. It was a way to help me think about her. Another reason was to raise awareness."

"For what?"

"Nature." Huston said looking out the window. "Corporations are willing to do anything for money, even if it means that the land they use is destroyed to the point of no return. Many people who spend their lives in cities and towns may never even step foot into nature to see the rawest form of it before it's polluted and exploited to no end. I hoped my paintings would show the world what mother nature was giving us outside their windows before it was too late."

"So you're doing it because you care."

"Partially." Huston said, earning a raised eyebrow. "There is a third reason."

"And that is...?"

"I enjoy it." He said, smiling. "It may sound selfish to say that, but I really just enjoy the art of it, pun intended. I couldn't tell you which part I enjoy however. The traveling, the people I meet, the art itself, the fact I can express myself and my imagination in any way I want, or a combination of them all or none of them. Either way, I enjoy it."

"Okay..."

"The main point is, there can be any number of reasons to chose a path. It might be to honor someone, it may be something you do to spread a message, or you simply enjoy it. No matter what, it's up to you to chose." Cali starred at the artist for a while, but she smiled at him.

"Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll decide after the contest." Cali said as she stood up and put some bits onto the table. "I need to confirm somethin' first."

A Few Days Later

The day of the festival arrived and everyone was excited. Like Braeburn said, there was games, food, and music all across town. Everyone was focused on the center however, as there was the highlight of the event, the cooking contest.

"Hello everypony!" Braeburn said into a microphone. "I hope you're all having a great time! We've got a special event for our first foundin' festival! Behind me are four contestants ready to cook up some delicious grub in a cooking contest." True to his word, there were four behind him. Two ponies, a buffalo, and Cali, all of which were looking quite confident. "The idea is simple, use whatever you can to make a dish that really makes the three judges howler in joy." To the side were said judges, who were the chief, sheriff and Strongheart. "You only have an hour, so make it count. On yer marks..." All four contestants readied themselves for the competition. "Get set..." Among them, Cali had a spark in her eye, ready to make it count. "GOOOOOO!!!!" The four sprinted towards the ingredients, searching for different things. Cali's eyes however locked onto certain ingredients, and she smiled.

"Oh yeah, I got this."

One Hour Later

Watching the contestants go was a spectacle. Each one quickly got to work on frying, boiling, and roasting their ingredients to perfection to please the judges. Their time however grew shorter, but none of them slowed down. Most however looked a bit nervous, all except Cali who kept going with confidence. All up to the final bell.

"Time's up everypony!" Braeburn called, the four contestants backing away from their stations. "Hope everything went well, 'cause now's the time to present your dishes!" As the four contestants put their food onto plates, the crowd looked at their dishes in curiosity. The first, the buffalo, brought out veggie dumplings. The second brought out a pasta salad, and the third brought out a pizza. Finally, it was Cali's turn.

"So, what do you got for us?" Silverstar asked.

"Know that we won't go easy on you because you're our friend." Strongheart said.

"I would hope so." Cali said as she brought her dish out. "It's a contest after all." Putting her dish onto the table, the three looked it over. It was strange to them however, as it looked like apples drenched in a strange brown sauce with some chopped vegetables mixed in and rive on the side. "This is a dish that's quite popular where I come from. It's called apple curry. Try to eat both the rice and the curry in one spoonful." The three judges did just that, taking their spoons and eating them. Once they did, their eyes lit up in wonder.

"Wow." Thunderhooves gasped as he took another bite. As the three ate, Cali watched their faces, most notably their smiles as she gave one herself.

Once the three judges finished, they all went to a private area to discuss their thoughts. As they were, the contestants all took seats nearby to wait for the final result. Most of them were nervous, but Cali managed to keep her calm expression throughout.

"You okay, Cali?" The countrygirl looked next to her to see Applejack and Huston walking over.

"You haven't said much."

"I'm just fine." Cali said. "I'm just waiting for the results."

"So you said that you-"

"Not now, the judges are coming up." True to her word, the three walked up onto the stage ready to give their judgment.

"Thank ya for waiting." Sheriff Silverstar began. "We are happy to announce that the winner of the first annual cooking contest is..." Everyone held their breath in anticipation. "Cali!" A round of applause rose up as the human stood up with a calm face and walked up to the stage to take hold of the ribbon. "Congratulations Cali. Does the winner have anything to say?"

"Well, I guess all I can say is that I'm honored to even join in." Cali admitted. "I still remember the day I found myself here in Equestria. And I still remember that I believed that actions were always stronger than words as I lived with the buffalo for a while. But as I lived in Ponyville with my friends, I started to realize that wasn't the case." Cali looked into the desert for a brief moment before continuing. "I still have a lot to learn though. But for now, I think you've all waited long enough to try some good grub." Cali hopped off the stage and began to walk over to the stoves that were used for the contest. "Who want's some food?"

Later

To say that Cali's curry was popular would be an understatement. Practically everyone in town loved it. So much so that Cali asked both the other contestants and her friends to help her out, all of which agreeing to help. Now as things slowed down a bit, Cali took a moment to let the most recent batch simmer and look out to watch the town, all of them wearing bright smiles as they ate.

"So what is it you wanted to confirm?" Cali's attention turned to Huston who was walking up to her. Cali smiled and looked out again.

"See for yourself." Cali said, Huston doing just that. "I wanted to see if my cooking could put smiles onto their faces."

"Looks like it."

"Well now that I confirmed that, I've decided." Cali said as she lifted the lid on the curry, letting the smell permeate the air as she took a ladle of it and poured it onto a plate with some rice. "I want to keep cooking and get better at it. Maybe some day I'll open a restaurant for everypony to have a taste. For now though..." Cali handed the plate to Huston. "I'll just start small with you guys." Looking between the plate and Cali, Huston smiled at her before taking the plate.

"Well I hope everything goes well."

"I'll make sure of that." Cali's determined face was something that could be seen within the crowd of happy faces. Even as the day came to an end, no pony went to bed without a smile.

Dragon Quest

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"C'mon, Fluttershy, it'll be fun!

"There's nothing fun about dragons! Scary, yes! Fun, no!"

After Cali and the others came back from Appleoosa, things were calm for a while. There was an incident while they were gone involving a donkey and Pinkie apparently and Twilight being paranoid a few days after they returned, but neither really got too scary or serious (in the humans eyes at least). Most of them were more busy with their own jobs anyway to do much. Cali especially since she started to dig deeper into cooking. Today however everyone took off as Twilight told them about a special event known as the dragon migration. Now as some of the group was digging out a trench for safety, Twilight, Rainbow, Xavier, and Jasmine were trying to convince Fluttershy to join. Well, three of them were, Rainbow was trying to drag her out.

"But Fluttershy, the great dragon migration happens only once in a generation!" Twilight mentioned. "Do you really wanna pass up a chance like that?"

"Now that you put it that way, yes!" Fluttershy replied as she was wedging herself in the door as Rainbow pushed with all her might.

"M-maybe we shouldn't force her to join us?" Jasmine suggested.

"Yeah. She really doesn't seem like she wants to join us." Xavier added.

"We just don't want her to miss out." Twilight explained.

"Miss out on what? Dragons? Big, scaly, fire-breathing dragons?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Well... yeah!"

"Thanks, but... no thanks!" Rainbow finally let up and looked her in the eye.

"Look, Fluttershy, I watched that boring butterfly migration with you, so now it's your turn to watch the dragon migration with me! You owe me!"

"I... said... no!" In a desperate attempt, Fluttershy vaulted off the door frame and into Rainbow, knocking the wind out of her. Before long she was out of sight leaving a dazed Rainbow to recover.

"Okay, I guess I'll let you off the hook this time."

"I told you guys she wouldn't want to join." Xavier said as he helped Rainbow up. "You should just give up on inviting her along when dragons are involved."

"I get it, I get it."

"Well at least everyone else is ready to watch." Jasmine said with a smile. "Speaking of, I think the others should be finished with the trench."

"You're right. Let's go."

Later

Within the trench dug out by their friends, the group donned some tactical camouflage outfits and sat waiting with binoculars (Except Xavier with his telescope) It was both exciting and tense as they waited.

"I don't see any dragons." Twilight said, not noticing one in the sky with her binoculars.

"Me neither." Applejack nodded.

"Me neither neither." Pinkie added, though her binoculars were backwards.

"Shoot!" Rainbow cursed, feeling extremely angry and worried at the same time. "You don't think we missed them, do you?"

"No, I don't think so. We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are." Twilight said shaking her head. "This way, we can watch every moment of the migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves!"

"That's good." Huston said.

"Yep, I've had enough close calls with dragons in a lifetime." Cali said, waiving her hand.

"Well try not to attract attention if you want to keep it that way." Zenix said with a grin and a chuckle.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cali said as she closed in on the merchant.

"Close calls, huh?" Alex pondered as he looked up to the sky. He was no stranger to those, but for some reason this one left something in his mind...

It wasn't long however as the sky darkened. At first Alex thought that the dragon migration was starting, so he turned to face his friends.

"Ay lads-" To his surprise however, not only was his friends no where to be seen, but he wasn't in the trench anymore. Instead he was standing in a city, but it was much more run down with broken windows, falling debris and overgrowth on some buildings. As Alex looked around the ruins, his eyes locked onto some glowing lights around the corner. He ran over to take a look, but when he did he was shocked to see a humanoid figure running at him. The thing about it though was that it was glowing and see-through, almost like a ghost. Alex went on guard seeing it run at him, but that changed to confusion as it ran right through him, literally. Alex watched it turn the corner, wondering why it was running. At least until he heard a loud, wed thump from the direction the figure came from.

He was unable to get a good reading on it due to it being so dark, but when it entered the light of a broken street lamp his heart practically stopped. What was coming closer was some... thing crawling with a large, grotesque arm that had chunks decaying enough to see the bone and a black substance dripping from it. As it dragged itself into the light, Alex could see that it's body wasn't doing as well either, as it looked like a grey rock with some grey muscles and bone exposed. It's face was a disturbing mix of a dangling eye and a mouth that was about as wide as it's own body. It also had bones sticking out of where it's right arm and left leg were. It's entire being was enough to send shivers and chills down his spine. But before he could react any further-

"Yoo-Hoo!" Alex snapped back to reality when he heard a loud bang, and looking up he saw confetti flying as Rarity showed up wearing a flamboyant outfit and walking down a red carpet. "Well, what do you think?" Rarity asked as she posed smoothly in her outfit. "Aren't I the toast of the trench or what?"

"You'll be toast alright, when the dragons see you parading around in that getup." Applejack said as she and the others looked at her with different expressions.

"You look very nice, Rarity, but could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?" Twilight suggested as she used her magic to clean up her entrance.

"Nice is an understatement. I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?" Rarity declared. As the group was distracted by Rarity, Cali and Xavier noticed Alex in the background, and they were a bit concerned as he looked pale.

"Hey Alex, you okay?" Cali started, getting Alex's attention.

"Yeah. You look like you saw a ghost."

"I-it's nothing." Alex answered, though he didn't exude confidence like he normally did. The two wanted to ask more, but-

"Ahoy, maties! Dragons ho!" They heard Pinkie say in a hushed tone. True to her word, the sky was filled with hundreds of dragons, all of them different sizes and shapes. And with the perfect vantage point, everyone took their binoculars and looked up into the sky in awe. One of the dragons even did a loop.

"Wow, amazing!" Twilight said in awe. Rainbow however looked a bit unimpressed at the trick.

"Pfft, pretty lame move. Is that all they've got?" As she bragged however she never noticed that the same dragon got bumped into by another dragon. Most would give an annoyed look, maybe even shout profanities. The dragon however took it another step and spewed fire in the culprit's direction. The same way the trench was as everyone save Rainbow ducked.

"Well how 'bout that move? Lame enough fer you?" Cali asked smugly as he looked at Rainbow who was a bit charred.

"Uh, not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind." She said with a bit of fear in her voice.

"And formidable." Rarity added.

"And super-duper scary!" Pinkie also added, though she was cowering inside the trench after the recent blast alongside Jasmine and Zenix.

"Very much so..." Jasmine agreed, Cali crouching down to comfort her. At least before a cupcake was offered to her via the town's resident dragon, wearing an apron and pulling around a cart of baked goods and tea.

"Yeah. Us dragons are definitely a force to be reckoned with." Spike said with pride, at least until he heard snickering from Rainbow.

"Yeah, right, Spike. That's one of the scariest aprons I've ever seen!" Rainbow snickered upon seeing him before going into full-blown laughter with Pinkie, Applejack and Alex joining in.

“What’s wrong with wearing an apron?!” Spike demanded, feeling upset about it. “You won’t be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales- erm... Feathers… that’s one tough stain!”

"One tough stain against one lame dragon." Her laughter was cut short alongside the others via the other humans giving them hard bonks to the head.

"Alright, that's enough out of you." Xavier said with a glare. "There's no need to insult him like that. Didn't we talk about that?"

“Indeed!" Rarity agreed. "Spike’s style is unique! He doesn’t have to look like other dragons!”

“Or act like them.” Twilight stated. This however started to make the dragon feel a bit bad about himself.

“My little Spike-wikey is perfect the way he is.” Rarity said, ruffling his spines while Spike started to get upset.

“I don’t…act like other dragons?” He asked, confused and hurt.

“Oh no even close!” Pinkie answered with a bright grin.

"But why would you want to, Spike?" Applejack asked.

"Yes. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of." Rarity declaired, getting some hope out of Spike.

"What's that?"

"The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!" She answered, smushing his face between her hooves. This however added embarrassment to his current emotions.

"Uh, I think you're going a bit far." Huston tried to say with worry. The other humans save for Alex were sharing these thoughts, though none of the ponies noticed.

"Cute?! Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?"

"Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red. It is most becoming." As all the ponies looked at him in glee, Spike finally became fed up with it and growled.

"Rrrgh!" Hopping out of the trench, Spike stormed off in rage as his friends watched him. Half were worried about him, though the other half were watching him like he was a puppy.

"Oh, isn't he adorable when he waddles off in anger?"

"Waddle?! Rrrrrggggh!" Once Spike was out of earshot, the humans looked at their pony friends with confused offense

"You guys think you went a bit too far with the teasing?" Cali asked.

"Oh we weren't teasing him, darling. We were merely complimenting him."

"Well you guys didn't seem to see that he hated your 'compliments'." Zenix said, putting air quotes around compliments.

"Oh he's fine." Twilight said. As they were talking, Xavier noticed Alex leaning at the edge of the trench, watching the dragons with an empty gaze on him.

"Hey, you okay?" Xavier asked as he walked over.

"Hmm? Oh, 'tis nothin'." Alex answered, though he seemed distant.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Ay just... zoned out fer a while."

"That's not like you, Alex." Xavier mentioned, though he sighed and turned. "Well if you need to talk to anyone, you can come to me."

"...Ye've changed quite a bit, ye know?"

"Eh, I guess Jasmine's rubbing off on me."

"In more ways than one?" Alex asked with a smirk, Xavier's face growing red.

"Shut up."

Night, Alex's Room

After watching the dragon migration come and go, the sun was setting in the horizon, so everyone went home. After a nice dinner cooked up by Cali, the humans all went to bed. The thing is though that one didn't get a good night, and the unfortunate one was Alex. His room was on the second floor next to Huston's. In the room was a dresser with a sizable hamster cage for Pepper, a stack of comic books, a few toy models of things like robots and monsters from said comics, and a bed with a metal frame. On it was Alex, though he wasn't having a peaceful slumber as he tossed and turned with a uncomfortable look on his sweating face.

"Mmnn... Noo..." He muttered in his sleep, his tone one of discomfort. "Staayyy... Baccck..." His tossing and turning only amplified as he slept until he hit a breaking point. "Noo... NO!" Sitting up in a panic, Alex woke up gasping and sweating. His eyes were wide with fear as he looked around his darkened room.

"W-what even was that thing?"

Morning

Like every day it was a bright and shiny morning, and as everyone was waking up they began their daily schedule. Even the humans as Cali cooked up some breakfast, though they were missing a certain athlete.

"Anyone getting an odd case of deja vu?" Xavier asked.

"Oh yeah." Cali said with Huston and Jasmine nodding, leaving Zenix in the dark.

"I'm sorry, what's happening?"

"Well before you and Alex got here, Jasmine once hid in her room due to sad memories." Xavier explained. "I wonder if he's-"

"Mmorn..." Turning to the kitchen's entrance, they all became concerned when they saw that Alex joined them, though he was definetly not okay as he has some serious bed head and a look of tiredness.

"Whoa, you okay man?"

"Nngh, not really..." Alex admitted as he walked over to the coffee machine and began to make some. "Let's just say last night was pretty horrible."

"Did you get some nightmares?"

"Ye don't know the extent, lassie." Alex said as he finished pouring the water. As he was about to hit the power button however, Cali stopped him.

"No you don't. What you need is sleep, not coffee."

"Aw c'mon lassie." Alex complained. "Ye really think ay can sleep now?"

"Well I'll help you. I have a day off today, so I can do that." Cali said as she grabbed Alex's wrist. "You guys have a good day."

"It's unlike you to play the caretaker, Cali." Huston said."

"Well I know it's better than coffee." Once Cali left the kitchen, the others resumed their breakfast.

"So... Did anything happen yesterday?" Zenix asked.

"Well me and Cali did notice that Alex looked pale a few moments before the dragons arrived. But when I asked, his answer avoided the topic, so I gave up."

"That's... unsettling." Zenix said.

"Well it's Alex, so it should be fine." Xavier said.

"You're avoiding the topic quite a bit..."

"Well knowing Alex he would rather not have us worry about him. He'll tell us his problems when he feels like it."

"I'll have to agree." Huston added. "He's like Applejack in a sense. They both are proud and stubborn to the pointo f trying to handle problems themselves."

"Eh, whatever you say." Zenix shrugged. "So, anyone got any plans?"

"Well I was planning on going over to Twilight's place." Huston admitted. "I wanted to ask her about any books that involve the arts here in Equestria."

"I was actually planning on heading over soon as well." Zenix said. "I wanted to pick up a good book to read."

"Well don't think about any 'Daring Do' books." Xavier said. "I'm pretty sure Rainbow checked all of them out after that crazy chase."

"Well I was never a fan of that genre."

"Well I want to go over as well." Xavier said after a pause. "I wanted to check up on Spike after yesterday."

"Sounds like we're all going." Jasmine smiled. "I also wanted to check on him."

"Right then. Let's clean up and head out."

After cleaning up and telling Cali where they were going, they set out for the library for their own reasons. They didn't know however the extent of the things around them, as in the library some drama was going on. And they heard it when they got close with a loud "WHAT!?" that caused them all to pause.

"W-what was that!?" Huston questioned.

"It came from the library." Xavier said as he took his sword and ran to it along with the others. Once they got there they burst through the door ready for a fight. "What happened!?" What they saw was no fight but instead a mess of books and Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow looking at Spike in disbelief.

"Spike want's to join the dragon migration!" Rainbow yelled.

"He want's to what!?" Jasmine questioned as Spike began to pack for the trip.

"Spike, that's nonsense talk!" Rainbow said turning back to Spike as he was placing a sandwich onto a cloth alongside a stick. "I know that you're a dragon, but those dragons mean business! They're big, and tough, and scary-"

"And I'm small, and meek... and I like to wear aprons." Spike countered as he tossed his apron to the floor. "See? This is exactly why I need to spend time with them."

"All I'm saying is that you could get hurt."

"Darling, this time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash." Rarity added as she began to rub his head. "I don't want those big, ugly, nasty dragons to hurt one little scale on your cutesy-wutesy head!" Spike wasn't having any of it however as he slapped her hoof off of his head and finished tying the cloth to the stick.

"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind." Spike said as he began to walk to the door.

"Oh, uh, quick, do something! Stop him before it's too late!" Rarity cried to her friends. Rainbow took the initiative and flew over to Spike, grabbing his sack and tried to pull him back.

"Ngh! Hey! Give it back!" As this was happening, Twilight and the humans all watched from the sidelines. Now though Xavier and Huston reacted.

"That's enough!" Xavier yelled as he pushed Rainbow off of Spike and Huston pulled on the sack to help Spike. Unfortunately their grips slipped and the sack flew over to Twilight. As she took the sack into her magic, she closed her eyes and sent it over to Spike.

"Don't tell me you think he should go?" Rainbow questioned.

"Yes, Spike." Twilight encouraged. "I couldn't answer your questions. My books couldn't either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you." She finished her sentence with a bit of aggression to prove a point as she turned to her friends.

"I suppose not." Rarity admitted.

"I still say you're nutty, but hey, I've done lots of nutty things." Rainbow said.

"We know." Everyone said, getting a glare from the pegasus.

"I still don't know what's happening." Zenix wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Same. Can we get some context?"

"Last night, Spike and I went through the library to find some information on dragons and where Spike might have come from. Unfortunately there was no information because-"

"Dragons are not only hard to find but are also hard to talk to since they scare ponies." Everyone looked at Zenix strangely. "I wanted to get some information on the different species here in Equestria. The only thing I learned is that other races are incredibly hard to get along with without a motivator."

"Anyway, because there is no information on dragons, Spike want's to join the migration to learn more about being a dragon."

"That makes sense." Huston said with understanding. "I get where he's getting at."

"You do?" Spike wondered.

"Everyone has thoughts of leaving the nest once in their life." Huston mentioned.

"He's right." Zenix agreed. "Let him go for a while. He'll find his way sooner or later."

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye, Spike." Twilight said as she hugged Spike. "We can't wait to hear about it when you return."

"Yeah, we hope your trip–"

"Quest."

"–your quest answers some of your pesky 'Who am I?' questions." Rainbow farewelled as well.

"Thanks, everypony. I know it will." Spike thanked as he turned and left the library, with everyone waving goodbye.

"Goodbye, Spikey-wikey!"

"Good luck out there!"

"Go get 'em, big guy!"

"Stay safe buddy!"

"We have faith in you!" After Spike got a good distance away from them however, Rarity spoke in a more hushed tone through her smile.

"We're following him, right?"

"Of course."

"Wait, you were planning on following him!?" Xavier asked with concern.

"Well, yeah." Twilight admitted. "I want him to learn more about himself, but he's still a baby."

"Plus these are dragons we're talking about."

"Dash, he's also a-" Xavier stopped himself after realizing something. "Oh now I get it."

"What do you get?" Jasmine asked.

"Well he's a dragon that was raised by ponies in comfort. Dragons in this world live like the ones in stories in our world." The other three humans thought about it for a moment, but they also got the idea with some "Ooohhh..." "Alright, we'll follow him. Just let me get some things."

"What are you getting?"

"Something that will be useful in staying hidden."

"Okay, I didn't mean like that..."

After Xavier grabbed the things he needed and told Cali their plans, the group all headed out to follow Spike. What confused Xavier however was that Huston had a backpack that was quite large, though he didn't dwell on it. It was tough for the group to keep out of sight of both Spike and the dragons overhead, but they managed to stay hidden. As they got close to the dragon lands as they were called, the group took a detour in the forest to reveal what was in the backpack. It was a costume made by Rarity, though it was nothing like the dragons of this world as it was covered in gems and the eyes weren't straight. The ponies were getting into it, though many were unsure. and Rainbow was the first to speak up.

"I'm telling you, we'll never pass for a real dragon!"

"Oh, pish-posh! This costume is fabulous, one of my finer creations." Rarity retorted.

"No offence miss Rarity, but it might be 'too' fabulous." Huston mentioned.

"Looks more like a cheap Halloween costume made for some kids." Zenix mentioned.

"Well whatever works." Xavier said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out three earpieces. "Here, put these on.'

"What are they?" Twilight asked as she complied. It was then that Xavier pulled out his holo-scope and turned it on.

"They'll allow us to stay in touch." Xavier said into the device, his voice coming out of the earpieces.

"Whoa, that's cool." Rainbow admitted. "But wait, how are you going to see things?"

"With... this." Xavier said as he pulled out another device. Looking at it, everyone was surprised to see that in his palm was a metal orb the size of tennis ball with a large, green lens and the four joints that he got from Hearth Warming. The "spider" blinked once it saw the light of day, it even gave a wave. "This here is the 'Spy-1-drone'. Or, 'S.P.1.Dro' for short."

"...It's a spider robot..."

"No, a spider is hairy, makes webs, and has many more legs and eyes!" Xavier shouted, one part defensive and another part scared. "This is even better."

"How so?" Upon Rainbow's question, Xavier turned the holo-scope's screen on. Once it was on, Sp1Dro began to crawl up Xavier's arm, and as it did the screen showed footage of what it was seeing.

"I linked it up to my scope so that anything it see I can as well." He explained as it finished on his shoulder. Once it stopped, everyone looked impressed.

"Okay, that's actually awesome."

"Yeah, it's quite the feat." Xavier said with a bit of pride. Even the drone looked pleased when Xavier picked it up and put it onto the costume. "Just let it sit on you in a hidden spot and we'll be able to see everything. And if the costume doesn't work, just put the little guy into a place that won't be found and we'll know what's happening."

"Right." The ponies said as the finished putting the costume on. Once they did they walked towards the heart of the dragon lands, the humans gathering around Xavier and his holo-scope. True to his word, they were able to see the ponies moving closer to the large crater where the dragons were resting in.

"Wow, you've really outdone yourself this time." Zenix complimented.

"Thanks. Now let's see what's happening." Up at the top of the crater, everyone saw how vast yet barren the dragon lands truly were. There wasn't much around outside of the red rocks and lava pits other than the dragons that littered the land. Although seeing the amount dragons alone was both impressive and scary, they had a mission and looked around to find Spike. "There, I see him." Sp1Dro pointed into the crater where Spike could be seen alongside some dragons around the size of a human adult.

"Good eye. Let's go." Clumsily sliding into the crater, the ponies got a better look at what was happening. When they did, everyone saw that the dragons were teenagers as they watched two wrestle. At least until Spike interrupted.

"Um, excuse me? Uh, hi. I'm Spike." He greeted, the teenage dragons all staring at him confused.

"You sure your name is Spike and not Shrimp?!" At least until a purple and yellow dragon stepped up with a rude comment, leaving all the other teenagers to laugh at him.

"No, it's Spike!" He defended, though he wasn't looking so confident. "I'm not, I mean, I'm sure about that..."

"You look more like a Peewee to me." A brown dragon added, rousing even more laughter.

"Hey guys, c'mon, seriously." A red dragon said calmly as he walked over. "Leave him alone or he might fly away." It was then he grabbed Spike by the tail, lifting him up as he smiled. "That is, uh, if he had any." As he dropped Spike and laughed alongside his fellow teens, both the humans and the ponies were already upset.

"Grr, these guys are really getting on my nerves." Rainbow growled.

"Well hold it together. If you defend him you'll only draw attention." Zenix said.

"What? You don't want to help!?"

"He's got a point." Xavier said. "Remember that these are dragons you're facing with. And you're in the heart of their home. Unless you want a repeat of the first one I would cool it." Despite being hesitant, Rainbow held back.

"You fly in on your mommy's back during the migration?" The brown dragon mocked.

"Not exactly..."

"No, no, can't you see baby Spike just hatched? I bet he still sucks his claw at night!" This roused even more laughter form the dragons.

"No, I haven't sucked my claw in months!" And Spike only made it worse as he admitted he did once, the dragons laughing even harder.

"Well, if you weren't just hatched, how come we haven't seen you around before?" The red dragon questioned, confused and suspisious of where Spike came from.

"Oh, well, y'see, I live in Ponyville and–"

"Hahaha! Ponyville? That explains it!" The red dragon exclaimed, going down to Spike's level and crawling up to him intimidating. "I knew there was something vaguely pony-ish about you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were part pony!"

"Who, me? I'm not part pony! I'm all dragon, see? Raar!" Spike's small roar caused a pause amongst the dragons.

"Or maybe you're a pony in a dragon costume." The red dragon taunted, the crowd laughing at the idea.

"A pony in a dragon costume...!" The purple dragon laughed, ironically leaning against the dragon that was actually ponies in one.

"Aheh... yeah... hilarious."

"At least we know the consume is enough to fool them..." Jasmine noted, though she felt bad about the whole thing.

"Nnh, I am a real dragon!" Spike defended, though his confidence continued to betray him.

"Oh, yeah? Prove it."

"Well... how?"

"By acting like one!" The red dragon exclaimed, turning to his fellow dragons. "Who's up for a little belching contest?" The teenage dragons began to cheer. Soon some of them lined up like an army, only they were about to do something vulgar. Each dragon stepped up, giving a loud belch that lest fire forward, each one going different distances. At least until the brown stepped up, releasing a belch that went far and hot enough to burn the eyebrows of the pony's costume. The dragons cheered, though the non-dragons weren't impressed.

"This is entertaining?" Zenix questioned. "What is this, the dragon lands or a frat house?"

"I wish I could tell you..." Xavier muttered as the red dragon leaned down.

"You think you can beat that, Peewee?" The red dragon asked smugly, letting Spike walk up to the line to try. When he did however a familiar sensation overwhelmed him as his cheeks bulged and he clutched his stomach. A moment later he burped out a scroll, confusing the dragons as the red dragon took hold of it.

"From the desk of Princess Celestia. Dear Spike, please te– Ha! Get this, guys! Spike's pen-pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!" He read out loud, stopping to make fun of Spike as he crumpled the scroll and tossed it. Right into a pool of lava that the ponies were standing next to.

"How can he just throw that away?! That letter could be something important!" Twilight said with annoyance and anger.

"We can't worry about that now, Twilight. We're here to help Spike!" Rainbow mentioned.

"She's right. Don't do anything rash." Xavier added.

"I know, I know!" Twilight commented leaning down. "There's no reason to disrespect Princess Celestia that way!"

"Maybe tail wrestling is more your speed." The red dragon wondered, though Spike didn't exactly know what to say. The other dragons however loved that idea as they cheered again. Two dragons, a skinnier grey dragon and a larger purple dragon, stepped up and grabbed each other's tails with their own. The red dragon stepped up and put his claw onto the point the two tails met, making the ordeal look like arm wrestling. "Ready... GO!" The two dragons began to tug one each other's tails, hoping to pull their opponent down. After a bit of struggling, the purple dragon gave a mighty pull, sending the grey dragon to the floor. "The winner!" As the red dragon raised the purple one's tail high and the grey one cradled his sore tail, Spike held his own in concern.

"Good old tail wrestling..."

"We can't let little Spikey-wikey wrestle one of them! He'll get clobbered!" Rarity said with concern.

"Let's go!" Twilight declared, confusing everyone as the ponies walked over. "I challenge Spike to a tail wrestle!" She said with a deeper voice, trying to sound intimidating and manly, though their presence confused the dragons.

"Who's this weirdo?"

"I think he's Crackle's cousin." Looking over, everyone saw a dragon that strangely looked exactly like the costume.

"Oh, that would explain it."

"And yet it raised even more questions..." Xavier sighed, knowing he would never get his answers. With the ponies walking up to challenge Spike (And a bit of struggle getting the costume's tail into Spike's grasp) the two were ready to start.

"Ready? Go!" Predicably, the only one fighting was Spike. What wasn't was that Spike was struggling to pull on the costume's tail, leaving his friends in confusion and disbelief. So much so that Rarity and Rainbow silently and collectively decided to just flop over and let Spike win to keep his pride. "The winner!" The red dragon announced, lifting Spike by his tail for a moment before dropping him. This time however the teenage dragons cheered for him rather laughing at him. "Nice going, little Spike! Maybe you are a dragon after all!"

"Yeah! Maybe I am!" Spike said, his confidence returning to him as the girls walked off to the side.

"Rainbow Dash, I can't believe your silly plan actually worked." Rarity said, one part complimenting and one part insulting. The insult earned a kick to her side. "Ow."

"I wish you didn't though..." Xavier groaned, his hand on his face.

"What? Why is-"

"Alright, who's next?" Spike asked confidently."

"Getting a little cocky, huh? I like that. So how about you wrestle... him!" Pointing to the other dragons, everyone looked at a small green dragon, Spike feeling confident that he could win. At least before the others moved, revealing that their bottom half was basically the size of a small table and a tail about as long as some of the teenage dragons. It didn't help that it could retract and extend plenty of spikes around said tail. "Go!" The outcome was predictable as Spike flew through the air.

"Give Spike a inch he'll take a mile. And give frat boys an opportunity, they'll take it as a challenge..."

"So, Spike, you haven't exactly proven yourself as a dragon yet, have you?"

After the red dragon grabbed Spike from the distance, his friends saw that his mood fell once again, still unsure about what it meant to be a dragon. Right now though he was being carried up a mountain of gems, putting him down when they reached the top.

"But... I get an A for effort?"

"Huh, maybe. Let's see how you do in this next contest." The dragon said with uncertainty. Right before pushing the baby dragon down the pile, sending him straight to the bottom. "King of the hoard!" Suddenly the other teenage dragons rushed the pile, climbing up and wrestling with the red dragon on the top, many being tossed off. As those dragons recovered and tried again, Spike began to slowly clamber up the pile, some determination in him.

"This is my chance." He told himself, focusing on proving himself as he closed his eyes. He was so focused that he didn't the dragon that was rapidly crawling at him.

"Not so fast!" At least before they were rammed by a certain "dragon".

"I really don't know what to say about this..." Huston said under his breath.

"I know what you mean." Zenix said. "These guy's make Rainbow look peaceful."

"I heard that!" As everyone was talking, they watched as Spike managed to reach the top where the red dragon was wrestling against the brown. They never noticed that Spike was there, and Spike didn't notice that his spines were aimed right for the red's bottom, pricking him enough to knock him off balance and send him and the one he was fighting down the pile. Once he opened his eyes he saw that he was the only one who wasn't on the ground dazed, giving him a sense of pride as he stood proud.

"King of the Hoa- Woah!" Suddenly his foot slipped, sending him tumbling down the pile again, landing right in front of the feet of the red dragon.

"And he was so close too." Jasmine noted sadly.

"Looks like this is another fail for you, little Spike. Can't wait to watch you fail at lava cannonball, too."

Perched up on a tall rock pillar, the teenage dragons, Spike, and the ponies were looking down at a pool of lava.

"Whoever makes the biggest lava splash is the ultimate dragon! Geronimo!" The red dragon announced, jumping into the pool below. All the other dragons followed suit, each one hitting the lava with a tall splash.

"CANNONBALL!" The last one was the brown one, and he landed with a splash that rose even higher, some of the lava hitting the rock Spike and the ponies were standing on. Each of them cringed, but the girls were the most worried.

"I think Spike's on his own here." Xavier sighed.

"Unless you three want to try your luck getting boiled." Zenix mentioned, everyone shivering at the thought.

"Sorry Spike..." Twilight muttered as she and her friends snuck off, leaving a worried Spike looking over the edge. His vision blurred as he peered over, and his bravery shattered, dashing backwards and shaking.

"What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?" The red dragon taunted, the dragon-filled pool erupting in laughter. This laughter sparked something in Spike however, and his eyes narrowed as he stepped back to the edge. Taking one last moment to gulp his nerves down, he took the leap off the edge.

And did one hell of a bellyflop onto the lava's surface. As he sank in even the teenage dragons cringed at the impact. At least he rose to the surface to face the awestruck teenagers. "Ugh... was I... that bad?"

"No, dude, that was awesome!" The red dragon praised with awe, surprising Spike. "No pony could live through a belly flop like that! You're one tough little dragon." The other dragons gave their own agreements, Spike finally feeling like he made it.

Later

Leaving the lava pool, the teenage dragons all prepared for "initiation". Soon enough, Spike was at the end of a "hallway" of teenage dragons holding their tails up like soldiers, letting Spike walk through to the red dragon.

"Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy." He declared, raising his tail to pat Spike on his shoulders. "I hereby dub you 'rookie dragon', and will now perform the initiation ritual." Picking Spike up, he gave the baby dragon a noogie, leaving him dazed. "Now let's party dragon style!" The dragons cheered as they began to dance around and eat the gems around the crater. They kept this up until the teenagers were all on the ground tired.

"Man, was that a great party." Spike sighed.

"Great? Huh, maybe by Ponyville standards." The red dragon said, not impressed as he punched Spike's shoulder. "Stick with us, Spike. We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon."

"I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever." Overhearing the conversation, his friends were all shocked to hear.

"Forever?!" They uttered in shock.

"Spikey-wikey is going to stay with these awful dragons? Forever?" Rarity wondered with horror.

"This is terrible!" Jasmine panicked.

"I should've stopped him back at the library when I had the chance!" Rainbow said with regret.

"No, Rainbow Dash, this is all my fault! I encouraged him to go!" Twilight said.

"Are we sure this is bad?" Xavier asked, the humans staring at him and the ponies looking at Sp1Dro (The robot looked a bit nervous)

"What do you mean?!" Rainbow asked.

"Well, we decided to let him go so he could learn about being a dragon. If this is what he wants, who are we to say he shouldn't."

"But-"

"I'm just saying that he'll return if he wants. If not, we'll just have to say goodbye. Not every friendship lasts forever..." As Xavier's sentence trailed off, the group noticed that the dragons were getting up.

"Y'know, Spike, I think you just might be ready for a real dragon raid." The red dragon mentioned, the other dragons cheering, hyping Spike up. "There's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we're gonna swipe 'em!" But once he heard the objective, his smile faded into a frown.

"Aren't you totally psyched to go on this raid?" The brown dragon asked, giving Spike a flick.

"Oh yeah, I'm excited. I mean, I'm psyched."

"Alright then. Let's fly!" The red dragon announced, spreading his wings alongside the brown and yellow-purple dragons, flying off. Spike looked behind him and smiled, knowing he couldn't fly himself.

"Uh, sorry, guys! I guess I'll meet you back here at the crater! After the whole raid thing's over? We'll totally hang then!" He called, trying to feign sadness. At least before the brown dragon swooped down and grabbed him.

"Oh no, they took Spike! We've gotta go after them!" Rainbow yelled, running forward and trying to fly. Unfortunately she couldn't and ended up only dragging the girls along in panic. It was then Twilight and the humans noticed that Rainbow was dragging them straight to a lava pool.

"Rainbow, stop! You can't fly!" Xavier shouted.

"And you're ruining my fabulous costume!" With everyone telling her to stop, she complied to see that she was just about to fall straight into said pool.

"I'm sorry, but we gotta help Spike!" Rainbow yelled.

"Don't worry!" Xavier said, pushing a few buttons on his holo-scope. "I'll follow with Sp1Dro so we know his location."

"You're doing quite a lot for someone who didn't want to help."

"I never said I didn't." Xavier retorted, piloting Sp1Dro to follow the dragons. "I just know that there is potential danger when dealing with phoenixes." He stood up alongside his fellow humans. "You guys should head to the edge of the forest. We'll meet you when we confirm Spike's safety." He said as him and the humans ran to intercept the dragons. What they didn't notice however that they were missing a certain backpacker.

Later

"Alright, the nest should be around here." Xavier mentioned, looking at his holo-scope. "Stay quiet so we don't alert anyone."

"I hope's alright..."

"I hope so too. I lost him a while ago, but the nest is their target, so we can find him." As they were walking, they overheard cheering. The began to run closer, slowing down and crouching as they got close to see the dragons. The teens were cheering at Spike who was holding a bright colored egg, and they all wanted him to smash the egg. Spike looked at the egg, thinking about his options. But he made up his mind as he rose it up.

"No!" Right before tucking it away to protect it. "It's just a defenseless egg, like I was! And I'm not gonna let you hurt it!"

"What did you say?" The red dragon question irritated.

"I said no."

"No one says no to me." The red dragon began to close in on Spike, the baby looking worried. But before he could lay a claw on him, a tornado nailed his head. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to daze him as him and the other dragons looked at the humans all of them looking ready for a fight.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Xavier growled, holding his sword close.

"Guys?!" Spike spoke with confusion. Unlike many who saw them for the first time however, the dragons didn't look confused at meeting a human.

"Really? And you're going to stop us?" The red dragon questioned.

"If you even attempt it." Huston said in a low tone. "It would be best for you to walk away.

"Yeah right!" The red dragon yelled, rushing the artist as his flunkies aimed for the others. Even though the dragon was aggressive in his attacks, Huston kept his guard up, blocking and dodging his swipes. The red dragon got fed up and aimed his fire breath at Huston, but he weaved by it and closed in. With amazing agility, Huston used his ankles to grab the dragon by the neck and with a powerful twirl he send their head into the ground, knocking him out.

Jasmine was dodging around the brown dragon's attacks. It was fortunate that he was slower than her, but she wasn't exactly attacking rather than panicking as she dodged. The dragon got fed up at her and used his wings to ram her. She reacted by creating a cloud wall in fount of her. This didn't slow the dragon down as he flew right through it. Straight into a large tree. Head first. As the dragon slid down the tree dazed, Jasmine peeked out from behind it, a sweat drop falling down.

Unlike the others, Xavier was delivering quite the offense to the yellow and purple dragon, delivering light blows with the blunt side of the blade as he blocked. While these strike would be nothing more than slaps to most, the dragon was lanky enough that it did sting quite a lot. It slowed him down enough to allow Xavier to get behind the dragon and strike him with the hilt, knocking the dragon out. With all three dragons unconscious, they all went over to Spike.

"Are you okay Spike?" Xavier asked as he patted the baby dragon to make sure he was fine.

"Y-yeah. But what are-"

"We can talk about that later. Let's get out of here before more come or they wake up." Xavier said, Spike complying and following the humans to the edge of the forest. After a bit of walking, Spike resumed the questioning.

"So why are you guys out here."

"We... kinda followed you to make suer you were safe?" Jasmine said hesitantly, upsetting Spike.

"What?! Why would you do that?"

"Well... no offence but you're not exactly like the other dragons." Xavier said bluntly. "I'm not saying that as an insult. It's just that you were raised like a pony rather than a dragon, and we all saw firsthand how aggressive they can be." Spike's attitude lightened up as he thought about it. Looking at the egg in his arms, he smiled.

"Yeah, you're right." Spike said. "I may have been born a dragon, but I was raised as a pony. I'm proud to be raised as one, and to call Ponyville my home."

"Looks like you found your answer. I'm glad." Huston smiled. After a bit more walking, they made it to the edge where the ponies were waiting with a discarded costume.

"You came too?" Spike asked.

"We're sorry, Spike." Twilight apologized. "We-"

"I get it." Spike said, cutting his friend off. "And don't worry about it. You're my family, I can't get mad at you." Hearing him call them his family, the girls all went over to him and gave him a group hug, the guys smiling at the display.

"Shall we go home?" Xavier asked, everyone nodding. When everyone was about to leave, Huston noticed something that caused his blood to run cold despite the dragons nearby.

"Hey? Where's Zenix?" His question caused everyone's eyes to widen as they looked around.

"Where'd he go!?"

"He came too?!" Spike asked concerned.

"Yeah! But where could he have-"

"There you guys are!" Looking into the forest, they saw the familiar silhouette of Zenix and his massive backpack waving at them.

"Zenix! Why'd you run off like that!?"

"Sorry, but I had to see something."

"What could you have possibly had... to... find..." As Zenix left the forest and entered the open, the group all looked up to see another silhouette behind him, and everyone just looked at it with many mixed emotions. "Okay Zenix what in the actual fu-"

A Hot Shot's Hurricane

View Online

Earlier, Around The Party's End

Watching through the screen of Xavier's holo-scope, Zenix wondering how things were going to go. It wasn't until Zenix heard something in the distance that alerted him. Most wouldn't think much, but what he heard sounded like gun shots, so his eyebrow raised as he stood up.

"What in the world-" He thought. Looking at his friends, he decided to go on his own. A bit of walking later he stopped to get his bearings. "It came from around here. I wonder if I was-"

"Well look at what we got here." Zenix's eyes widened as he went stiff. Turning he saw a blue teenage dragon flying in. "Where did you come from?" The dragon asked in a snarky tone.

"U-uh well I-I got lost." Zenix lied, wearing a nervous smile and sweating bullets. "I-I was just t-trying to meet up w-with my friends so I'll get out of y-your scales-" He tried to get away but the dragon blocked his path.

"Ah ah. No can do. This is dragon territory, so you and your friends are going to have to pay."

I-Is that it?" Zenix asked. "W-well what do you need? I can give you anything you w-want-"

"Well how about you come to the dragon lands?" The dragon asked, walking up to him. Zenix backed away, but he fiddled his hands behind his back.

"C-can't we t-talk here?"

"Aw come on. It'll be-" The dragon was cut off by an open glue bottle hitting his face, splattering the sticky substance around him and disorienting him. Zenix took the opportunity to run as fast as he could. He didn't get far though as a dozen more teenage dragons flew down and surrounded him in an opening in the forest. "That was a stupid stunt you did!" The blue dragon growled as he walked up, some glue still scattered on his body. "Now you'll pay." The dragons began to walk closer, Zenix panicking as he didn't have anything to stop them. One dragon moved faster than the others and reached to grab the merchant, but was stopped. How he was stopped was strange as no one could react to a speeding projectile aimed right for the dragon's head, landing a direct hit and a burst of sparkling, red dust exploded out. The impact knocked the dragon down to the ground, confusing everyone. When they looked at where the projectile flew from, the dragons grew angry, but Zenix was shocked to see why he heard gunshots.

Standing at the edge was a human like him, but unlike all the others he was built like a football player. About as tall as the dragons nearby, he was muscular with a tough look on him. He was wearing a military jacket opened to reveal his black tee and jeans. His brown boots stood strong like his stance, and his head was covered by a military cap and sunglasses on the brim. His piercing, blue eyes were determined, and were locked onto the dragons alongside the pistol he held in his fingerless-gloved hands.

"Stay away from him." He growled, his voice deep and gritty.

"You!?" The blue dragon growled. "Well more fun for us! Get him!" The dragons rushed the new human, but he didn't flinch. The only thing that did was his arms as he pulled the trigger, each bullet landing dead center on each dragon, sending them down one by one with a cloud of dust flying out. A few dragons managed to get in close enough to attack, but the human reloaded the pistol pulled out a combat knife, using it to block the claw swipes and retaliating with punches and kicks to their heads and chests that, while not as graceful as Huston's, were similar in power. The hits however seemed more intentional to knock the dragon assailants to the ground, letting a bullet fly into each to knock them unconscious. Finally the last one to attack was the blue dragon, grappling with the human. "You're not bad, I'll give you that. But you're dumb to think you're stronger than-" Before the dragon could finish, he was overtaken as the human turned the dragon sideways, sending his head to the ground as the human dusted his hands off as he turned to Zenix, the merchant hiding behind his backpack for cover in a fetal position.

"Are you hurt?" The human asked, his voice lightening up from the growl from before. Zenix responded by lifting his head up so his eyes poked over.

"U-Um... N-No." He stuttered, still shaken up.

"Good. Now follow me." The human commanded, motioning out of the forest. "It's dangerous to stay here, they'll be more. There always is." Wasting no time, Zenix put his backpack back on and ran over to the human, leaving the clearing and into the forest. "We can head to the forest's edge for now."

"You can tell where the edge is?"

"Of course." The human replied. "Basic navigation is needed to survive out in the wild."

"Right..." Zenix stared at the human for a second before continuing. "So... Who are you?" The human's look of seriousness faded slightly as he looked at Zenix.

"Oh, my bad. You can call me Flint." The human introduced.

"That's a... unique name."

"Well it's what my squad called me, so it kinda stuck." Flint shrugged.

"Squad?" Zenix looked over Flint, realizing something. "Are you a part of the military?"

"Correct." Flint said, flashing a badge. "Corporal in fact."

"Interesting." Zenix smirked, rubbing his chin. "Oh, where are mine. Name's Zenix, I'm a merchant." With Zenix's name, Flint took his turn to rub his chin, but this time he was thinking.

"Zenix... Isn't that the name of the Mirmadon's son?"

"Wow, you actually got that right quickly." Zenix smirked. "The others didn't get that until I pulled out the family's emblem." Zenix dropped the smirk however, turning to Flint. "So what is someone like you doing out here anyway?"

"Wish I could tell you." Flint admitted, crossing his arms. "One moment I'm in the dorms of the base. The next I wake up to find giant flying reptiles flying over me and trying to fight me. I've been here for a few weeks before I saved you."

"Thanks by the way." Zenix said, grateful for the save. "What exactly did you shoot them with anyway? Haven't seen those before." In response, Flint took out his gun and unloaded the magazine, taking one of the bullets out and showing it to him. The bullet had a red material inside instead of the typical lead. "Experimental non-lethal rounds. Made to shatter upon impact. It's effective as it stings just as much as regular ammo while not killing even on headshots, but they can be a bit inaccurate."

"Ooh, nifty."

"Though you wouldn't mind me asking about where we are?" Flint asked.

"Tsh, well that's a tricky subject." Zenix admitted, his hands together and looking to the side. "We're not exactly on earth anymore. We're in another world known as Equestia." Flint looked at him curiously. "I know you don't believe me, but you said yourself. Those flying reptiles are dragons and they live here alongside many other creatures. Right now me and some other humans live in a town with one of the species, ponies." Zenix watched Flint for a reaction, though he stayed quiet. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth-"

"Alright." Flint said. "I'll believe it."

"Wait, really!?"

"Normally I wouldn't but seeing is believing as they say."

"...Well that makes things easier." Zenix shrugged. "So what's your plan after this?"

"Not sure..." Flint admitted. "It's not like I can't survive on my own, but I'm low on the non-lethal ammo, and even then I only have a few mags worth of ammo, and I doubt that going for leg shots will slow down a dragon for long."

"Well, maybe I can convince my friend to let you stay at his house." Zenix offered. "He's letting the other humans live there, so I'm sure he'll let you too."

"I wouldn't want to impose. Are you certain that-"

"Where'd he go!?" Suddenly, Xavier's voice rang out. Flint started to reach for his gun, but Zenix stopped him.

"Wait, that was my friend. Sounds like you can ask him yourself." Zenix said as he walked over, Flint following. It didn't take long to see the forest's edge with everyone panicking. "There you guys are!" He shouted, getting there attention.

"Zenix! Why'd you run off like that!?"

"Sorry, but I had to see something."

"What could you have possibly had... to... find..." That's when everyone spotted Flint, and their gazes all looked up at the massive human. "Okay Zenix what in the actual fu-"

"A-bu-bu! That's a bad word, no need to shout it out here." Zenix said, raising his fingers.

"Well how else do we react to you finding another human, huh?!" Xavier questioned irritated.

"A, very large one at that..." Twilight mentioned, her and the other ponies looking over Flint. Taking note of their uncertainty, Flint bowed.

"Greetings everyone. You may call me Flint, and I hope we can get along." Looking at him, everyone had different ideas. Xavier however looked ticked.

"Alright Zenix, explain."

"Well some time ago I heard gunshots in the forest, so I went to investigate."

"And you didn't think to tell somepony?" Rainbow asked.

"Well I didn't want any of you to tear away from Spike, so I went off alone. I... Regret it though since I managed to get surrounded by dragons."

"Of course you did." Shooting Xavier a glare, Zenix continued.

"Well just as a dragon was about to grab me, Flint showed up and shot him with these special bullets." Zenix explained, using finger guns to visualize. "The dragons attacked, but Flint took them down with ease with nothing more than his pistol, a knife, and his fists. All while keeping it non-lethal." Everyone looked amongst themselves, not sure how to think.

"Is that what really happened?" Rarity asked.

"You doubt me?" Zenix asked offended. "I'll put my honor as a merchant-"

"Please don't make a spectacle out of it." Flint interrupted. "It's only my job in the military to save a civilian in danger."

"You're military?" Huston asked, raising interest amongst the humans.

"A corporal." Flint admitted. "Nothing special."

"Still, that's impressive." Huston complimented as Xavier turned to Zenix once again.

"So I'm guessing that you brought him over to ask if he could say in the house?" Xavier asked with deadpan.

"You got me." He answered with a cackle and a shrug.

"*sigh* Alright, fine. I can allow it." Xavier said, giving into his friend. "He's human after all, I can't exactly ignore that fact and him being out here." Xavier then walked over to Flint who was trying to change the topic of him being in the military. "Alright Flint, as long as you're okay with it, you can come along with and live in my house. Just know you're going to be living in a town where the only humans around are the five of us and two others."

"I'm okay with that." Flint agreed. "As long as I don't have to forage for food for much longer."

"Alright, welcome to this crazy family I guess." Xavier sighed, turning to his friends. "Well as long as we don't have any more business here I recommend leaving less we risk more dragons attacking." Everyone gave their agreements to the idea, and without further delay, they left the dragon lands for greener pastures.

"I need to ask though, what's a pistol?" Twilight asked, the humans knowing they had a long discussion ahead of them.

Days Later

The journey back to Ponyville was a productive one to say the least as most of the group was engaged in lots of conversation, mostly between the topics of Equestria itself, Flint's gun and how it worked, and some stories about their time there. All the while they got to learn more about Flint and his personality, and they learned he was actually quite a stand up and humble guy. He was also quite responsible, setting up the camps as night fell and helping cook. As they closed in on Ponyville however, Rainbow flew in front of them to get their attention.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to fly." She announced. "I need to gather up the town's pegasi quickly."

"Why's that?" Xavier asked.

"Well I kinda just remembered that Cloudsdale chose our reservoir to refill. They even have Spitfire overseeing the water transfer, so I need to get the pegasi training to break the current record! See ya!"

"Wait-" Before he could stop her, Rainbow flew off. "So what was she talking about?"

"Well you know how pegasi are in charge of the weather, right?" Twilight asked, getting nods from the humans save for Flint. "Well Cloudsdale is in charge of making the weather, and of course they need water to make rain. So pegasi of different towns across Equestria band together to send water stored in their reservoirs to Cloudsdale."

"Interesting." Huston admitted.

"So weather is controlled by pegasi?" Flint wondered as he crossed his arms and looked up at the clouds. "This world is quite different."

"Hopefully you'll get used to it." Jasmine dais with a nervous smile.

"I should." Flint reassured. "If I can survive military training, then I can survive new logic."

"Good for you."

"Well it's getting late, we should be heading home." Xavier said, waving towards his fellow humans. "We kinda need to help Flint settle in while explaining the situation to Cali and Alex."

"Oh right..." Huston remembered, looking a bit nervous. "They're still at home..."

"I hope they'll be fine with it..." Jasmine worried, knowing that those two were the least open.

"Don't worry about it!" Zenix reassured. "As long as he stays like he's been these last few days they're sure to warm up to the big guy." Looking at Flint, he sighed and nodded.

"I'm guessing these two aren't as friendly."

"Is 'angry enough to hold a grudge for months with the pony next to you' enough to say it?" Huston asked, pointing to Rarity who was looking a bit guilty and nervous, looking to the side.

"A lot actually." Flint replied nodding. "I knew someone on the base who was like that. Don't worry, I'll tread lightly until we get to know each other better." While everyone seemed fine with that answer, Xavier noticed something about the way he acted.

"Well good luck." Twilight said as she and Spike began to walk off. "Me and Spike are going to the library."

"I need to go as well." Rarity said. "This entire ordeal has put me quite behind."

"Alright, good luck." Huston said with a wave, everyone heading back to their homes. As predicted, the few townsfolk that were out and about noticed the humans, and of course they noticed that they had a new, very large human amongst them. Flint did notice that they were looking at him in particular, so he simply gave a small buy friendly smile and wave, the ponies waving as well seeing as he was friendly. Soon enough they made it back to the house, entering it with Flint lagging behind slightly. When they entered they saw that Alex and Cali were in the living room, doing nothing in particular.

"Oh good, you're here." Xavier said, getting the two's attention.

"Ay, yer back!" Alex called out, his usual spirited energy back.

"Took you long enough." Cali spoke as she stood up. "So how'd it go with..." It was then Flint entered the house, the two stopping to look at the large man (The doorframe made for ponies was just short enough that he bumped his head on the top, so he had to duck). Similarly, Flint looked at the two with curiosity.

"I don't' think we should beat the bush here." Zenix said. "Alex. Cali. Meet Flint. Flint, these are our friends we talked about."

"I see..." Flint muttered, his hand rubbing his chin. He then stepped in front, giving a bow. "Greeting. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we can get along." Confused at the fact this new giant of a human was so polite, the two walked over to their friends.

"Sooo... Where'd ye find this guy?" Upon Alex's question, those who knew the story turned to Zenix.

"I met him in the dragon lands when I got ganged up on by a bunch of teenage dragons." He explained. "I honestly owe him since he saved me from them."

"How did he?" Cali asked, eyebrow raised. "Did you two end up running?"

"He actually took all of them on and won. And trust me, there were just over a dozen dragons." Hearing the merchant's retelling, the two looked at Flint with wide eyes. It was then Alex laid his eyes on Flint's jacket, most notably the badge on him.

"Wait, yer a corporal?"

"You can tell?" Flint asked, slightly surprised that Alex could tell.

"My grandpa was a veteran of war, course' I can!" Alex exclaimed, lowering his guard and walking over and reaching out. "Tell ye what, lad. I can trust ye fer now. Alexzander's my full name, but as ye can guess, everyone just calls me Alex." Looking at his hand, Fling gave a small smile and took Alex's hand to shake.

"Alright Alex. It's nice to meet you."

"*sigh* I guess this means I have another mouth to feed." Cali sighed, everyone looking at her before she smiled. "I'll be fine with it. Besides, I have another taste tester." Cali walked over to Flint and looked him in the eyes with a serious expression. "Just promise me you won't cause much trouble while you're here in Ponyville, will ya?"

"I give you my solemn vow." Flint said, putting a fist to his chest. Cali kept looking into his eyes, so much so that everyone began to get nervous, even Alex. Fortunately, Cali stopped and backed down.

"Alright, I'll trust you as well." Cali said, walking off. "Now if you'd wait for a bit, I'm about to get started on dinner."

"I can help you, if you want." Flint volunteered.

"I got this, but thanks." While it was a bit tense at the beginning, it looked like everything was going fine.

Nightfall

At least on the surface. But some were cautious about sides hidden behind closed doors. Most notably Xavier as he looked at Flint from the basement stairs. He didn't look for long however as he walked down them to head into the place Zenix stayed in. Unlike everyone else's rooms, Zenix's wasn't as organized. In fact, it was a mess of random odds and ends, trash, and clothing. The only place that wasn't in total chaos was the corner where he kept his backpack and his bed, on it was the owner of the room, simply chilling like he could see his floor.

"Even to this day, you still don't take the time to clean your room by yourself." Xavier deadpanned, kicking a can over to the bed.

"Eh, I blame-"

"Don't even blame the fact you don't have any maids." Xavier countered. "You don't even have the guts to blame Ashley, and you know that."

"...Nyarg fine. What do you want?"

"It's about Flint." Xavier said, Zenix sitting up to give him a good look. "I know you were judging him as soon as you met him, right?"

"Yeah, you got me..." Zenix shrugged. "He's a good guy, I won't lie about that. But I can tell he's not all gumdrops and rainbows. I'm guessing you found something?"

"Well not 'found', but more 'observed'." Xavier mentioned. "I noticed that he seems to have an air of guilt to him. Something that says that, while he isn't exactly untrustworthy, he's hiding something about him."

"I know what you mean." Zenix said. "He's kinda reminding of you since you both have that air of 'I'm hiding my past to keep everyone away.' You get me?" Xavier did not look impressed.

"*sigh* Outside of your... crude... description, yes. He does seem like that." Xavier put a hand to his chin. "The question is, in what way."

"Well I can tell he has no ill intentions like you think." Zenix said as he laid back down. "In fact, he looks like he just wants to befriend us with the sole motivation of not being alone." Xavier looked at him, though he sighed and turned to exit.

"Well I'll trust your judgment. You do have an eye for these kinds of things." As Xavier walked out however, he gave one last turn. "But I still want to keep an eye on him. Out of all of us, he's the most capable of taking a life here."

"Makes sense. I'll make sure to keep a close eye on him." Zenix said with a yawn and a wave of his hand, signaling he was done with the conversation. Xavier didn't say anymore as he walked back up to his room, knowing things would get exciting with Flint along for the ride.

As the sun rose into the sky and the townsfolk began their daily routines, the humans joined in as they all began to enter the kitchen to eat breakfast. To their surprise however they all saw that Flint was helping out Cali in the kitchen.

"Cali, what's happenin'?" Alex asked, looking at Flint.

"Well apparently this guy wakes up way earlier than most of us." Cali began to explain as she kept working. "I was surprised too when I saw him starting up breakfast. I tried to get him to stop and let me handle it, but he insisted that he made breakfast. In the end we decided to work together." She and Flint then began to set the table, some of the others helping out. "Turns out though he's actually got some talent cooking since his had a tendency to help out in the kitchen back on his base. Not much though, he really only knows the basics."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Flint returned as they finished setting the table. As everyone began breakfast, Flint decided to spark up a conversation "So, what is that you do for work. I imagine a house like this is quite expensive."

"Funny story actually." Xavier started. "I never told you the story, but after a... big problem the mayor ended up giving me this house to live in. And at first I thought it was too much even when I got Rune, but as everyone found their ways here I started being thankful."

"I see. I still would like to know what you all do for a living."

"Well me and Jasmine work over at the spa. I'm their maintenance crew while Jasmine is a masseuse."

"I'm one of the chefs at a restaurant here in Ponyville."

"It's not a 'job' per say, but I do take commissions for paintings."

"Ay'm workin' over at the apple orchard that's owned by our friend's family."

"Do I even need to say?"

"No, I think I know what you do." Flint complied. "I will say, you're quite the diverse group."

"And is that a bad thing?" Huston asked.

"No, it's just an observation." It didn't take much longer for breakfast to finish up, everyone pitching in to help clean up. Once they finished up and everyone began to plan for their day, there was a knock at the door. Walking over, Xavier opened it to see Twilight and Spike at the door, the dragon wearing a backpack.

"Hey Twilight. Hey Spike." Xavier greeted. "Everything going well?"

"Yep. We were just about to go and help Rainbow out with training the pegasi of town for the water transfer, so I wanted to ask if you wanted to come along to watch."

"'Water transfer'? What's that?" Cali asked, she and Alex sharing the same curious face.

"It's apparently how Cloudsdale gets their water to make clouds." Huston said, recalling the conversation from yesterday. "We got an idea of why and what they do, but now that I think of it we never got an explanation on how they send the water up."

"He's got a point." Zenix joined in. "If I recall from my research, Cloudsdale is in the sky. It's not like there's a train that flies up there. Plus you said 'training the pegasi' as if this is some kind of sports event."

"Let's not bombard her." Flint said, putting his hand onto the merchant. "I think she's willing to explain it to us, but she's only here to invite us to learn."

"I agree with Flint." Xavier said. "Why don't we follow her to where Rainbow is and we can get an explanation." With Xavier's suggestion, everyone decided to follow along after getting a few things. Once they got them they all departed. "Right then. Twilight, when you please."

"Right. Well Huston and Zenix's questions are warranted. To put it simply, the pegasi of the town create a tornado to to send the water up to Cloudsdale."

"A tornado?" Jasmine asked, sharing the same shocked face as some of the other humans. "That sounds dangerous."

"It can be, but it doesn't happen as often as you'd think." Twilight mentioned. "Anyway, using the power of a pegasi created tornado, the water that is held within our town's reserves is sent straight to Cloudsdale." Once Twilight's explanation was over, Flint began to raise his hand. Right before Xavier stopped him.

"If you're planning to ask how that works, don't." He said gently. "Trust me, it's better to just give up asking questions. Mostly about how magic, physics, and Pinkie Pie works."

"Pinkie Pie-?"

"One of our friends." Cali mentioned. "Trust me, you'll understand what he means when you meet her."

"Right..."

"Though what ye said doesn't explain why Dash want's ta train the pegasi." Alex mentioned. "But knowin' her, she wants ta do the trainin' ta make her look good."

"Now that you mention it, Rainbow did mention that Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, is going to be overseeing the transfer. I bet that has to do with it." Xavier replied.

"Partially." Twilight said. "She also wants to train the town to beat the previous record of nine hundred wing power by getting one thousand."

"Yep. That explains it." After a bit more walking, everyone made it to the track that Rainbow was training the pegasi. They saw how many of the pegasi were warming up, and after looking for a bit, they saw the leader of this ordeal wearing a coach's hat and a whistle.

"Hey Dash! We're here!" Getting her attention, Rainbow flew over to the group with a smile.

"Hey guys. Didn't know you were coming." She greeted, flying down to give a few of them hoof-to-fist bumps. "But I'm guessing you came to watch history in the making."

"Something like that." Xavier said. "At most we're curious about the water transfer."

"Well you came to the right place." As they talked, Flint noticed that pretty much the entire track was looking at them, most specifically at him. To respond, he stepped forward, getting his newfound friends to notice.

"Hello everyone. My name is Flint, and as you can probably tell, I'm new around here. But please, treat me like you would any of the humans you've met." He greeted. While a few of the pegasi seemed a bit hesitant about the large human, most of them seemed open to him seeing how polite he was. Seeing as how the pegasi seemed peaceful for now, he turned back to Rainbow. "Sorry about that Ma'am. Please continue."

"Sure. But please don't call me 'Ma'am'." Rainbow said. "That's something Rarity wouldn't mind, not me. It's hard enough to get Huston to stop calling me 'Miss'."

"Noted."

"Speak of, Hey! Why'd you stop!" Rainbow yelled to the pegasi. "You need to stretch those wings out if we're going to break a thousand wing power." At Rainbow's comment, everypony resumed their warmups. "That's more like it. Good work, everypony." Rainbow's face dropped a bit however and grew irritated. "Everypony except Fluttershy."

"Wait, you want Fluttershy to join?" Cali asked. "What is wrong with you?" Rainbow didn't answer however as she flew off in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Cali yelled out as she followed, the other humans tailing them. "Rainbow, are you really that determined to try and get Fluttershy to join in to gloat!"

"I have to agree with Cali." Xavier yelled to Rainbow who didn't slow down. "Not trying to be rude to Fluttershy, but she's is not going to make a difference in your-"

"Why are you even telling me this!?" Rainbow cut off. "You were the one to say to take the chance to show off!"

"Not at the expense of bringing the weakest flyer in the history of Equestria!" As they were following the pegasi, Flint looked at the other's.

"With the way those three are acting I'm guessing this 'Fluttershy' is the quiet one?" He asked.

"You have no idea." Zenix sighed.

"Yeah... I've been told that she's more afraid of her shadow." Jasmine noted. "And I'm worried that those stories are true."

"An' yet she's able ta wrestle a bear, stare a manticore, a cockatrice, an' a giant dragon in the face, an' pet-nap the princess' pet phoenix all to protect animals an' her friends from what we've been told." Alex mentioned. "Yeah you'll understand when ye meet her."

"Alright..." It wasn't long before they made it to Fluttershy's cottage and to her door. Once there, Rainbow began knocking on the door irritated.

"Fluttershy? I know you're in there!" Rainbow shouted. "You're avoiding tornado duty and I want to know why!"

"Rainbow, please!" Cali growled, trying to pull her away. "Just leave her alone! She shouldn't get involved in-" As the two were struggling, the door creaked open to reveal the pegasi of the hour. What they didn't expect was to see Fluttershy in a bed robe covered in red spots.

"Achoo." The pegasi sneezed, though it seemed forced. "Hi, Rainbow Dash. Hi everypony."

"Miss Flutteshy? You okay?" Huston asked concerned.

"Oh, I think I have the pony pox." She answered, sniffing in the process.

"Is that like chicken pox?" Flint asked, getting a shrug from Zenix and Jasmine. It was that question that got Fluttershy to notice Flint.

"W-wait!? Another-" She began to question with wide eyes and surprise in her tone before cutting herself off, her eyes drooping and continuing with less energy. "A-another human?"

"Greetings. My name's Flint and it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, there's only one cure for pony pox." Rainbow said with sympathy.

"I know, plenty of bed–" Suddenly, Fluttershy was hit by a splash of water. Looking up, all the humans could see that Rainbow was holding a bucket that was dripping a bit of water.

"Cold water!" She announced. The humans turned to Fluttershy to see if she was okay, but to their surprise the spots covering her were dripping off. Reaching down, Huston noticed what was happening.

"This- this is paint."

"Look at that! Those pony pox are clearing right up." While Rainbow looked equally irritated and proud, Fluttershy began to look even more nervous.

"Oh, y'know, all of a sudden, I'm, I'm starting to feel better." She said nervously, treading backwards. "I'll just get out of these robes and–" Suddenly Fluttershy fell over, though it looked forced as well. "ow! Oh, my wing, oh, ow, it's hurt. I guess I can't fly after all–"

"Uh, Miss Fluttershy? I don't think we're falling for that anymore." Flint mentioned, saving her the embarrassment. "And no offence, but the things you're doing are common excuses the younger men did when they wanted to get out of training." Seeing as how everyone was aware of her antics, she stood up to find Rainbow in her face.

"Stop horsing around, Fluttershy." She growled. "We've got a lot of training to do. Come on now, what's going on?"

"Well, y'see, uh, well..." Fluttershy began nervously before falling and grabbing Rainbow's legs. "oh, Rainbow Dash, I just can't do it! I can't fly!"

"What are you talking about? Just a few weeks ago you went into that wicked nose dive to save that falling baby bird right before it hit the ground!"

"Um, Dash? Do you want a repeat of the dragon incident?" Xavier glared, Rainbow tensing up. "I think you're putting words and actions into her mouth."

"He's right." Jasmine said stepping in. "The incident described was an emergency situations. She was only able to do that because it would have put the baby bird in danger."

"Plus, ay get the feelin' that there's more ta the story." Alex added. "Ay'm guessin' she's nervous about the fact ye ponies are treatin' this like some competition. And we all know the lassie has stage fright when there are dozens of eyes on her."

"That... Well... Yeah you got a point." Rainbow backed down. "I'm guessing this also involves flight camp?"

"Flight camp? What's that?"

"Something that me and Fluttershy were a part of back when we were foals." She explained.

"W-was it really that bad?" Cali asked hesitantly, worried about the memories it could bring up.

"It wasn't bad. It was terrible!" Fluttershy yelled out. "All of those foals...teasing me, a lot! They always kept telling me 'Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!'"

"Yeesh, I'm sorry I asked." While the humans were feeling sorry for Fluttershy, one saw something else in her eyes. One that was familiar to him.

"Even still, I need all the help I can get." Rainbow began, this time more sympathetic. "Confidence or no confidence, I'm gonna need every Pegasus to break the record, including you. I need every ounce of wing power I can get."

"Oh, I-I don't think so, Rainbow Dash..." She said, turning down the idea.

"Thanks anyway." The blue pegasus sighed, pulling her cap down as she walked for the door. As the shy pegasus was watching her friend leave, guilt hit her hard.

"Wait." Fluttershy interrupted, everyone looking at her. "I'll do it."

"You will?" Rainbow asked excitedly, flying up to her friend.

"I will."

"You're game?"

"I'm game."

"Alright!" As Rainbow picked Fluttershy up and flew upwards, the humans looked a bit nervous.

"Are you sure about this Fluttershy?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, you don't have to do this." Cali added, worried for the pegasi.

"It's fine." Fluttershy reassured. "I can try my best." While Fluttershy wanted everyone to not worry, they couldn't help but to.

Back at the track, everyone began their preparations to gauge each pegasi's individual wing power. At the center of this test was Twilight who was fiddling with a small windmill-like contraption.

What exactly does this machine do?" A pegasi asked next to her twin sister.

"This is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wing power, thus gauging your cumulative H2O anti-gravitational potential." Twilight explained, earning confused looks from just about everyone there. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah." The second twin replied, before turning to Spike. "What exactly does this machine do?"

"It tells you how fast you're flying and how strong your wings are." He explained, this time everyone understood what he was saying. Twilight was not amused at the short and crude explanation, but a cough caught her attention.

"Is that you again, Thunderlane?" Twilight asked annoyed, using her magic to send a spray can of disinfectant over to the pegasi in question and spraying. "Please, we need to have a germ-free environment."

"It wasn't me, it was Blossomforth." He blamed, pointing to the pegasi nest to him.

"Don't worry, Twilight. Thunderlane's just cooking up an excuse to spend tornado day in bed." Rainbow accused. "Why don't you get over here and be our first test flyer, Thunderlane?" Annoyed and with a glance to Blossomforth, the grey pegasus flew up to the starting block. Once he left however, a small cough came out of his friend, and the humans noticed that.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Xavier commented, getting similar reactions from the others.

"It... Can't really be that bad, right?" Flint asked.

"Trust me big guy, I'm the one who came before you. A problem comes along sometime." Zenix mentioned.

"In that case let's just pray nothing bad happens." As the humans talked, Thunderlane made it to the start. He stood ready to take off, and once the whistle blew he did just that. Speeding towards Twilight's gadget, he passed it causing the sails to spin. Once the spinning slowed, Twilight looked at the meter on the side of the device.

"We have 9.3 wing power." She announced, the pegasi voicing their amazment.

"Wow! That's fast!" One of the pegasi voiced.

"YEAH!" Another pegasi chimed, though not only was he loud enough to ring out over everypony with ease, he made Flint look small compared to him.

"Who the bloody-"

"That's Bulk Biceps." Xavier simply answered.

"Hi Bulk." Jasmine waved, catching the large pegasi's attention, waving in response.

"An' ye know him how?"

"He works at the spa as a masseuse." Jasmine answered with an innocent smile. Though the other humans just looked at her concerned.

"Remind me ta never ask fer him." Alex whispered leaning to Huston.

"Not bad, not bad." Rainbow admitted, flying towards the start. Doing a few stretches, she prepared herself to showoff. Once she took off, everyone in her path felt the power as wind followed her all the way to the anemometer.

"16.5 wing power!" Twilight announced, the entire crowd practically cheering at her speed.

"Hell yeah! That's the Dash ay know!" Alex cheered, nudging Flint. "Ye see that!? That there's Rainbow's talent!"

"That's not even her fastest speed." Xavier mentioned. "She's actually fast enough to break the sound barrier. It's made her quite the cocky pony if you couldn't tell though."

"Impressive." Flint said. "I'd imagine she'd be quite popular with the guys at base."

"Now listen up! If each of you can get your numbers up to at least 10.0 wing power by the end of the week, we'll no doubt set a new tornado speed record. We'll be number one!" At Rainbow's empowering speech, the crowd of pegasi all began to cheer and fly into the sky, ready to make history. All but one, laying on the ground nervous.

Soon, every pegasi lined up to test themselves and their speeds. All the while Twilight and Spike recorded their speeds and the humans helping out wherever. Finally however the last pegasi was to step up, and she wasn't feeling ready.

"Fluttershy, your up!" Rainbow announced, blowing her whistle. At said whistle and a bit of hesitancy, she took of slowly. As she flew she noticed that no pony was commenting on her flying, raising her confidence and allowing her to fly faster. It wasn't until she noticed two pegasi gossiping nearby that her confidence shattered, practically stopping as she passed the anemometer, the sails barely turning. The heroes save for Spike all looked at the meter, concerned at how small the needle moved. Fluttershy looked at them nervously, and none of them could muster the courage to tell her.

"You tell her!"

"No you tell her! She's your friend."

"We're all her friends. That argument doesn't work on us." The group huddle up, trying to get someone to tell her. At the end, Rainbow turned to Fluttershy.

"Um... great job, Fluttershy! You measured, uh, uh, .5." She said, trying to sound happy for her as she and her friends all wore smiles to get the point across. It did work though as Fluttershy gave a smile.

".5? Isn't that like...less than one?" Spike questioned, shattering their hopes of letting her down easy. Twilight did whack him over the head, but that didn't stop Fluttershy's mind from running into fear. She began to look around in a panic at everyone looking at her with fear, her mind going back to flight camp.

"Wait, Fluttershy!" Jasmine called out as she ran to the pegasi in hopes to snap her out of it. Just as she reached her however, Fluttershy took off running.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow called, flying to catch up to her. "So some punks poked a little fun at you and you got stage fright, big deal. You aren't gonna go quit just because of that, are you?"

"Yes!" She screamed, tears flowing like waterfalls. Seeing this, Rainbow dropped her irritation and adopted a sad look.

"But I need you!" She pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just don't have the courage right now..." Fluttershy sobbed as she ran off, leaving her friends upset at her suffering.

"Well that could've gone better..." Alex commented, worried about Fluttershy. As Xavier looked at the direction Fluttershy ran off, he walked up to Jasmine.

"Jas, I think you should go help her." He said, Jasmine turning to him.

"Me?"

"Out of everyone here, you're the closest to her. You can probably help her feel better. Don't worry," Xavier turned to Rainbow, who was flying back to the track. "We'll be able to handle things from here."

"...Okay."

"If you wouldn't mind, would it be okay if I followed?" Flint asked walking up to the couple.

"Erm, are you sure?" Jasmine asked. "She's not really good with new people."

"I'm sure." He said, not elaborating further. While the two didn't know what to say, Flint's calm personality seemed to loosen their edge.

"*sigh* If you're okay with it, Jas."

"Yeah. C'mon Flint." Getting approval, Flint began to follow Jasmine in the direction of where Fluttershy ran off, ready to help her.

By the time the two managed to catch up to Fluttershy who ran to her cottage, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. But as they were walking up to the cottage, a squirrel stopped them, it's cheeks bulging.

"Huh? Is something wrong little guy?" Jasmine asked, crouching down. The squirrel chittered a bit, then ran off. "Come on, let's follow."

"Why?" Flint asked as Jasmine stood up.

"Because I think it want's us to follow." She said, following the squirrel behind the cottage. After tailing the rodent for a moment, they saw Fluttershy under a tree, crying with multiple small animals around her, also trying to comfort her.

"How'd you know to follow the squirrel?" Flint asked as the two walked up.

"I... learned a bit from Fluttershy on how to understand animals." Jasmine admitted.

"Interesting." Flint didn't press further, mostly because Fluttershy was a few steps away now. "Miss Fluttershy?" Looking up, the two saw two small streams of tears and a face covered in grass. As they were coming down to her level, the squirrel from before hopped up to her and pulled out a handful of nuts from it's mouth, offering them to Fluttershy. Seeing it's kind gesture, Fluttershy couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Oh, thank you, but I'm afraid a couple of little acorns won't solve my big flying problem." She said, petting the rodent.

"Are you doing better Fluttershy?" Jasmine asked, concern on her face. The pegasus looked at her into the girl's eyes for a moment, before she threw herself into Jasmine's lap, surprising her.

"I can't do it!" She cried, Jasmine putting her hand onto the crying pony's head. "I can't even get to a wing power of one with everypony looking at me and laughing! How am I even going to reach ten!?" Listening to her cries, Jasmine's mind wandered back to her old life at school, so she patted Fluttershy's head in comfort.

"I've told you that I've also had bullying problems because of my day dreaming, right?" Jasmine asked, Fluttershy giving a motion similar to a nod since her face was down on Jasmine's lap. "Well, something's changed, hasn't it? We have friends to turn to now. We don't have to face this alone anymore, we can turn to our friends if somepony bullies us." Even if Jasmine's words were comforting, Fluttershy didn't feel it, looking down. At least before a badger standing on one of the tree's roots began to chatter rather irritated, gesturing with it's forearms to emphasize it's point.

"I know it's important to have confidence in myself..." Fluttershy said, responding to the badger. It began to chatter again, this time even more irritated. "Yes, yes, I do remember. The river was swelling..." Continuing, the badger gave a chitter before falling dramatically onto it's back, holding a flower. "...and you were scared..." And stood up, it's irritation back as it chittered again. "...yes, I did tell you to never give up... and to believe in yourself." Saying that, Fluttershy realized something, and her face grew determined. "You're right, my friends. I shouldn't give up." She said standing up, her animals and Jasmine growing excited. "I will get my confidence up and show everypony that I am a good flyer!" Unfurling her wings, she flew up into the tree, resurfacing a the top a moment later. "A great flyer!" While her close friends were excited to see Fluttershy so excited again, the friend that wasn't as close stayed silent, his face lacking much expression.

The Next Day

With Fluttershy's spirits high, she decided that she would focus on training herself not to crack under the pressure of everypony watching her the next morning, Jasmine and Flint agreeing to help her. Once the sun began to rise, the two of them didn't waste any time, leaving right after breakfast to Fluttershy's (Much to the confusion to the other humans) Once they made it to her cottage, they found the pegasus by a small stream by her home decked in sweatbands and surrounded by some animals.

"Fluttershy, we're here!" Jasmine called with a wave.

"You're here!" Fluttershy said, walking over. "Thank you for helping me."

"No problem. Although..." Jasmine trailed off, looking around to see... nothing that would help her grow. "...How exactly are we going to help train you?" At that moment, Jasmine felt a tug on her skirt. Who tugged on her skirt was Angel wearing a cap and whistle similar to Rainbow, who somehow managed to sneak up behind them. The rabbit then reached behind him, pulling out two masks of ponies from... somewhere and handing them to the humans. "...What's this?" She never got an answer as Angel blew on his whistle, signaling Fluttershy to take off into the sky, flying around a bit. After said bit, The animals watching her pulled out similar masks to what Angel gave the two, putting them over their faces and watching Fluttershy. Once they did, Fluttershy panicked and covered her eyes and tucked her wings in. Sending her careening into a tree hard enough for her head to come out the other side, still hiding her face under her hooves. "Oh, that's how."

It was soon a routine of Fluttershy doing different activities meant for warming up her wings, but with her animal friends (and sometimes Jasmine and Flint) holding the pony masks to their faces, making it seem like she was being watched by strangers. What started out as Fluttershy struggling to even fly while the masks were up, began to show progress as she was able to do the activities even if she did them poorly. As Fluttershy was doing some push-ups with her wings, Flint lowered his mask and turned to Jasmine.

"Miss Jasmine, can we talk?" He spoke, causing Jasmine to jump slightly in surprise.

"Huh? Oh, what's up?"

"I wanted to ask, what are the others like?" Jasmine looked at the soldier in confusion. "I mean, how would you describe them in your words?"

"Oohh. Well..." Jasmine looked up into the sky, thinking about what to say. "Well you've got Alex, he's quite sporty. Though he can be scary at times when someone or something gets on his nerves. He still hasn't fully forgiven Rarity over her going a bit too far, and that was months ago... A-anyways, there's Zenix, he's-"

"I already know about Zenix's history as a Mirmadon, so no need to explain to me."

"Oh, okay. Well, there's also Huston. He's a painter, but he also knows martial arts. He also seems to know just what to say. Cali might seem mean but she's actually very nice, she just needs to warm up to you. She's also someone who is first to act in emergency situations, though it can be a bit violent at times. Still, she's someone we all depend on. And then there's Xavier, oh where should I start? He's strong, smart, brave, kind-"

"You seem to have more words for Xavier than anyone." Flint noticed, Jasmine still listing compliments. "Is it... that you two are dating?" At that comment, Jasmine's train of compliments came to an abrupt stop, her face lighting up red.

"Um!? I-I mean we a-are technically. W-we've only just confessed a short while ago, s-so w-we're still not fully dating! B-but it's not l-like we aren't, b-but... ooh!!" Jasmine fumbled about with her words for a bit, ending with her hiding her face into her hands embarrassed, practically smoking. Despite the amusing situation he put Jasmine in, his face stayed neutral as he watched. It didn't last long though as Fluttershy was finishing up her reps, signaling them to follow, though Flint did have to drag Jasmine a bit due to her still recovering.

Later, at the Track

Despite the incident that happened yesterday, training managed to go smoothly, each pegasus growing their wing power over time. And as Twilight got readings on the crowd's wing power, she and her friends were impressed by the rise of wing power.

"That's wonderful, Flitter. Much better than yesterday." Twilight complimented, Spike taking notes

"This is crazy awesome! We're gonna smash that record!" Rainbow cheered, excited for the results.

"Still, ay'd kill fer growth this fast." Alex grumbled. "Ye ponies go' tit' easy."

"The only way you'd get that kind of gain is if you took-"

"Shut up, Zenix." Xavier cut off, slapping his hand over the merchant's mouth. "We don't need that kind of stuff making their way around."

"I'm just saying." As they were talking, a squirrel fan up to them, catching some of the group's attention. Once it did make it, everyone was looking at it as it chittered and pointed, though no one could understand.

"What did he say?" Spike asked.

"Do I look like I speak squirrel?" Twilight asked. It wasn't until Alex took a glance upwards, doing a double at what he saw.

"Aye, what's goin' on over there?" Looking up at where Alex was looking, they saw a few things approaching. Amongst the things they saw were a few more small animals, both Flint and Jasmine, and the biggest surprise, Fluttershy who was looking confident for once. As she went to the starting block with her animal friends helping her get ready, Jasmine and Flint joined up with their friends.

"Hey, what happened?" Cali asked, her face portraying skepticism.

"Just watch her hard work!" Jasmine said beaming, watching Fluttershy as she began to flap her wings slowly. Suddenly those wings accelerated, sending her forwards quickly as she flew with passion. And as she passed the anemometer, everyone looked at the meter to see-

"2.3?" It read, Fluttershy and her friends in disbelief at the number. "2.3?! That has to be some kind of mistake! I worked so hard!"

"Ye kiddin' me? That right there's improvement the best athletes wish they could get in a day!" Alex said with genuine amazement.

"You did awesome, Fluttershy." Rainbow said proudly, flying up to her friend and

"No, I didn't." Fluttershy retorted, pushing Rainbow off her. "I thought I'd gotten over my nerves, but they still got the best of me! There's no way I'll fly with 10.0 wing power tomorrow!"

"So you won't fly with 10.0 wing power. Every bit counts!" Rainbow said as a way to make her feel better.

"How would you feel if everypony else was flying with 10.0 wing power and you were flying with 2.5?!" Fluttershy retorted tearfully.

"Actually, it was only 2.3 and-OW!" Spike began, but was cut off by the tip of Alex's bat slamming down onto his tail like a cane. It wasn't hard enough to cause damage, but it was hard enough to hurt. And as Spike cradled his tail and looked up at the athlete, he was given a glare and a signal to zip his lips.

"Well, uh...I'd feel...um..." Rainbow Dash stammered, unable to find any words to make it seem better for her.

"Exactly! Humiliated!" Fluttershy cried, shocking everyone with how loud she got. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, I just can't do it!" Fluttershy then took to the air and flew off, no one but Jasmine running to try and stop her.

"Fluttershy! Wait!" She called after stopping a short distance away, hoping she would. Against her hopes however, Fluttershy never stopped as she flew out of view. A few moments after she did, Jasmine slumped in sadness as she walked back slowly.

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash, you've still got plenty of wing power for your-" Spike was never able to finish as he was grabbed by the tail, curtesy of Alex who dragged him off. Once Jasmine reached the others, she went over to Xavier and before he could react, leaned into him. He reacted by hugging her gently as to keep her from falling, but before he could question in classic confusion, he saw the look in her eyes. Once he saw the sadness, he simply stayed quiet, letting her cry softly.

"If only there was a way to lift Fluttershy out of the dumps." Rainbow said sadly, lowering her hat as her excitement for the water transfer began to fade. Her friends mirrored her sadness, feeling upset about their friend's struggles. All but one.

The Next Day, Fluttershy's Cottage

As the sun rose to the peak of a beautiful afternoon, it was calm since the water transfer was scheduled for later in the evening. Although, it was abnormally quiet at Fluttershy's cottage, as the animals that were normally out and about weren't doing that. If they weren't in their dens and nests in silence, they were inside trying to help comfort their caretaker on the couch. She wasn't crying fortunately, but she was in a sad funk laying on the couch. Her sulking however was interrupted by two knocks at the door.

"Miss Fluttershy? It's Flint." The knocker spoke in a kind manner. "I came to check on you." Fluttershy didn't answer. "Can I come inside?" Once again she didn't answer, but she did signal Angel to open the door, the rabbit complying. Once the door opened, Flint entered the cottage and took a look at Fluttershy. "Mmm, would you mind if I use your kitchen? I'd like to brew us some tea to drink." Looking up at the soldier, Fluttershy simply gave a nod. "Okay then, give me a moment." True to his word, some time later he re-emerged from the kitchen, holding a tray that had a pot of tea and two tea cups that he put down onto the coffee table. "I made some chamomile tea for us. It seems like something that would help." As he poured the tea, Fluttershy lifted her head slightly and picking up the cut Flint passed to her.

"U-um..."

"Oh, and don't worry, you don't have to talk if you want. But if you do, we can talk about anything you want." Flint comforted before taking a sip of tea, Fluttershy following suit. As she set down her cup, she looked at Flint who was swirling his cup slightly, watching the tea splash about. She didn't know why, but despite his size he seemed, calming. Like he was someone that would never step out of line and wait for his turn. It was this comfort that allowed Fluttershy to speak up.

"W-well, d-do you have a-any questions?" She asked, Flint looking into her eyes.

"I see." He said, putting his tea cup down. "Can you tell me what exactly happened at this, 'flight camp'? And why was it so bad?"

"W-well, it wasn't the greatest time in my life." Fluttershy began. "Everypony there were fairly skilled fliers before coming, all but me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I was never able to fly as fast, long, or gracefully as anypony else. Rainbow was there to support me, but it didn't help when the other foals made fun of me." Fluttershy waited for a response, but Flint nodded as he sipped his tea. "It got to the point that even ponies watching me would cause me to freeze up. I tried to grow stronger, but I just couldn't. Even now, I just can't grow if I wanted." She was stopped by the clink of fine China.

"Miss Fluttershy, I think you have it wrong. You going from 0.5 to 2.3 is a very good improvement. And before you say anything-" Flint put his finger up, telling Fluttershy not to talk yet. "-it is a very good improvement. And yet, it doesn't mean you will have the ability to become a strong flier." Flint picked his tea cup up again, looking into the orange-brown liquid. "Some people, or ponies in your case, just don't have the body to grow their physical strength in the same way as others. Pushing yourself too much can hurt you in the long run, so there is no need to feel bad about how strong a flier you are."

"B-but-"

"Another thing," Flint continued, not letting Fluttershy make a comment. "I understand that ponies in the past made fun of you, but that's the thing. It's all in the past. Take it from me, the ones who grow up staying judgmental bullies aren't going to get far when everyone dislikes them. People grow up and learn to be kind and not judge when they see someone putting in the effort to help like you."

"Uh-"

"But there is one more thing I want to say." Flint stated, still not letting Fluttershy comment. "I think there is something to be said about Miss Dash and the way she 'comforts' you." Flint's face may not have changed much, but one could see that it felt tenser than before. "Before, she didn't show much comfort, rather trying to use the water transfer as a way to help raise your confidence. It's not the best way of helping in my experience." Flint finished up the cup of tea that he was drinking, putting it down for the last time. "I think you should tell her that in more detail than 'I just can't do it.' And what ever you do, don't become a people pleaser."

"People pleaser?" Flint stood up, looking out the window with his arms behind his back.

"It means someone who will do anything to keep other's opinions of oneself high. You never want to be like that even if it's just second nature to you, as it will only cause you to act more like a puppet to the world's whims. Just know this, do what you can do best and never bend to the will of the general society, you'll regret it in the long run. Now, I must ask." Flint looked down at the pegasi, his face emotionless. "What is it you're best at?" Looking up at Flint, Fluttershy felt something stir. What was stirring, was true confidence.

"I-I'm somepony who cares for animals and my friends, and my friends need me now!" Flint gave a small but genuine smile, reaching his hand down.

"Well then, why don't we do that?"

Sunset

With Fluttershy wanting to support in her own way, she and Flint let her cottage to observe and cheer on the others, a few of her animals following along. As they closed in on where the water transfer was taking place they felt the wind pick up as it churned. As they continued it only picked up, so much so that Fluttershy was having a hard time moving, at least until Flint grabbed her and tucked her under his arm like a log. He was able to keep pushing forwards despite the wind, to the point Fluttershy's animals even clung to him. It took some efforts since the winds were practically tornado levels, but they did manage to make it as they saw the massive vortex causing the winds along with Twilight, Spike, and the other humans all clinging onto a large device that looked like the anemometer.

"Seven hundred and fifty wing power!" They heard Twilight call out, watching a needle rise gradually.

"Twilight! Everypony!" Fluttershy called, getting the observer's attention.

"Flint!? Shy!? What in the hell are ye doin' 'ere!?" Alex yelled out.

"I figured... if I couldn't help Rainbow Dash with the tornado... the least I could do was offer moral support!" Fluttershy struggled to yell out thanks to the winds as Flint managed to grab the machine as an anchor.

"Moral support is not going to be enough when eight pegasi are out with the feather flu!" Cali shouted, causing concern between the two newcomers. Though one didn't express as much as the other.

"Is that a bad thing?" Flint asked as he put Fluttershy down.

"More than bad." Xavier explained. "It brought their numbers down enough that they may not have enough wing power to even do the transfer."

"Oh no! That's terrible news!" Just as Fluttershy said that, they heard an unsettling crunch nearby. They looked at the tornado in fear as they managed to catch glimpses of ponies flying out of formation and colliding with others. It wasn't long before the entire tornado fell apart, sending the water that was accumulating back into the reservoir and the pegasi all over the place, including Rainbow as she slammed into a tree.

"Are you okay?" Twilight questioned as she, Fluttershy, and Flint ran over to her, the others running to check up on the other pegasi.

"I'm fine!" She answered, recovering as she got up.

"Oh, you were so close to the eight hundred wing power minimum." Twilight began sadly. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash.

"We've got to try again!" Rainbow announced as she took to the skies again.

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Flint said firmly, stopping Rainbow with voice alone. "You and the other pegasi have push yourselves to the limit already." He motioned to many pegasi getting back up with the help of the other humans, some of them looking worse than others. "Trust me when I say that if you break up again, someone will get hurt."

"No! One more time!" Rainbow announced. "I've gotta know we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying!" She then flew over to the other pegasi, all of them looking up at her. "C'mon, ponies, let's make this happen!" She shouted, the other pegasi perking up and cheering, the non-pegasi and Fluttershy all showing their own concerns.

"Let's see what happens now." Flint mumbled, watching the pegasi get back into position as he walked back over to the anemometer with the others. Once everyone was in place, Twilight gave a nod to Spike who stood next to a large horn. Once he blew into it, all the pegasi took off, once again starting up the tornado.

"Okay, here we go... one hundred wing power!" Twilight announced.

"I hate to say it, but I don't think she'll do it." Xavier said, watching the wind pick up, much to the dismay of Jasmine and Fluttershy.

"What?!"

"Two hundred!"

"He's not off." Cali said.

"Yeah. They might've if they didn't get sent flyin' the last time." Alex added. "Since they got hurt, they may not be 100 percent now."

"Five hundred!"

"Well what do we do? Tell them to stop?" Huston asked, clearly not believing it would work. While the tornado raged, Fluttershy watched the tornado in worry, hearing Rainbow coaching faintly through the wind.

"Seven hundred!" Jasmine then took notice of Fluttershy's worry, so she put a hand on her.

"Fluttershy, you need to help them." Jasmine was heard by most of the group, shocking everyone

"What?! No offence but why would ye suggest that?!" Alex shouted.

"They need the help, and I-"

"I'm going to have to cut you off." Zenix said. "I hate to say it but I doubt she can reach the level needed to reach the threshold."

"Seven hundred and fifty wing power!"

"No! She can!" Jasmine shouted, surprising everyone.

"B-but I only have a 2.3 wing power! It's not-"

"It is!" Jasmine said grabbing Fluttershy's face. "You need to stop doubting yourself, you're amazing! You're strong to fight alongside everyone and do things none of us have the guts to do! You need to believe in yourself!" Hearing Jasmine's heartfelt speech lit something in Fluttershy, and turning to the tornado she felt ready.

"It's sticking at seven ninety five! I don't know if they've got any more in 'em!" Spike yelled, worried about the outcome. At least until he and Twilight saw Fluttershy walking slowly up to the tornado.

"*sigh* If you're going on this mission, take this!" Zenix yelled, throwing a pair of goggles to Fluttershy, the shy pegasi catching them and putting them on. "I've got a question for you Jasmine. Why don't you help out? You're the one who can make tornadoes, who's to say you-"

"Maybe if Fluttershy didn't come." Jasmine said as she watched. "But since she did come, I want her to grow." The continued to watch Fluttershy, right up to when she got sucked into the tornado, leaving everyone worried. "U-um... S-she'll be fine!"

"It's moving! She's doing it!" Twilight announced, everyone turning to the anemometer to see that it was indeed moving. In fact, it was going much further than previous tests. "Seven ninety eight! She surpassed her best wing power number!"

"You know what, I'll shut up now." Zenix said as he and some of the others looked guilty.

"Do it Fluttershy!" Jasmine cheered into the tornado, the needle hitting the eight hundred mark just as she said that. Suddenly, a large pillar of water erupted out of the tornado, creating an ark of water straight into Cloudsdale.

"She did it! She did it! They all did it!" The watchers from the ground cheered, all happy there were successful. After a bit of time, all the water was drained out of the reservoir, allowing Spike the cue to blow the horn again, giving the signal for the pegasi to exit the tornado safely. Once on the ground, all of them began to stomp the ground in excitement, cheering for their success. Once Rainbow landed, she looked around, but noticed that Fluttershy wasn't on the ground. When she looked up, she saw that Fluttershy was still in the air, flying around like she was still in the tornado, only stopping when she slammed into a cloud.

"Huh? D-did-" She never finished her sentence as Jasmine hugged Fluttershy in joy.

"You did it, Flutters!" She cheered happily. Fluttershy then looked around, seeing how everyone was cheering, making her feel good. The two soon descended to the ground, there a few pegasi walked up to them.

"Great job, Fluttershy, that was awesome!" One of them said, proud of her.

"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without you." As this was going on, Rainbow watched proudly at her friend, failing to notice the overseer walking up to her.

"Nice job, Rainbow Dash. You may not have set a new record, but you showed a lot of guts." Spitfire congratulated, catching Rainbow off guard.

"Thanks, but if you wanna talk guts, then you've gotta give it to my number one flyer, Fluttershy!" Rainbow announced, gesturing to Fluttershy to her shock. "Let's hear it for Fluttershy!" She was preparing for the worst, but was surprised when she was picked up like a hero.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can really fly!" They all chanted, perking her up as she was carried off to celebrate alongside her, her friends following them. As she was being carried off, she noticed Flint standing and staring at the anemometer with interest. He did notice Fluttershy looking at him, so he turned to Fluttershy and gave a proud mile and a thumbs up, making her feel proud.

"This world is so interesting" He thought as he began to follow the group. "Everyone acts so kind, and yet it's not an act to look good. They strive to better themselves, but aren't opposed to help or support. The biggest thing, they're able to see their flaws and admit them. Those suck-ups could learn a lesson from these ponies." As he caught up to the others, he smiled more. "And yet, it makes me feel like I could live to love this place like the others. Hm, I guess I can try again."

Tails of Precaution

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"*Gulp* Ahh... That's the good stuff."

"Ya said it."

After the water transfer finished, life went on like normal, but now with Flint along for the ride. And after introductions to Applejack and Pinkie, there was little problem going forward. This continued for two weeks, though strangely Flint was seldom seen by his new friends. They didn't mind however, seeing as he was new to the new world. Right now though the scene is set at Sweet Apple Acres, Alex and Applejack sitting on an old stump drinking some water.

"Never thought ay'd be workin' the farm, but this' pretty fufillin' work." Alex said, raising his water bottle up.

"Well I've learned that fate is somethin' else." Applejack responded. "I mean if it wasn't fer Rainbow's sonic rainboom I might just be in Manehattan still."

"Guess it is funny." With another sip of water, Alex sighed. "Speakin' of, what're yer thoughts of the new guy?"

"Hmm... not sure to be honest." The farmmare admitted. "He seems like a good guy, no doubt about that. And yet... he's quite strange." Alex gaze turned to Applejack, so she began to elaborate. "It's just that, he seems like he's keepin' a secret from us."

"Meh, ay can see where yer gettin' at, but who can say though." Alex said. "He may just need to open up around us. An' who knows, he may be hidin' it since it's embarrassin'."

"Yeah..." Taking one last sip of water, Applejack got up from the stump and faced Alex. "Welp, break time's over. Let's get back to work."

"Aye aye, boss. Let's continue." The two resumed the farm work, taking care of the chores around the orchard steadily. As they were however, Applejack noticed that Alex's attention wavered every now and then, his mood dropping slightly before shaking his head to continue.

"Are ye okay?" Applejack asked, Alex turning to her. "You've been spacin' out quite a lot."

"O-oh, it's nothin'." Alex deflected.

"Ya sure? Yer lookin' a bit pale." Alex hesitated for a bit, his eyes looking down.

"A-ay'm sorry lass, but ay ain't ready to say."

"Alex, this is some-"

"No no, it's not like that. " Alex interrupted. "Ay'd tell ye if ay could figure it out."

"...An' what is 'it'?"

"...Ye remember the dragon migration, right?" Applejack nodded. "Well ay saw somethin' that day. You'd think it'd be a hallucination from what ay saw, but it just felt... too real to be just that. Hell, it a bunch of emotions mixed in my mind about this whole thing."

"What emotions do you feel."

"Can't exactly say, but let's just say... it's not a good feelin'." Alex's description startled Applejack a bit. "Ay wish ay could say that ay'm just exaggeratin' here, but what I saw sparked somethin' in me that ay could never understand." The two stood there for a while, not sure what to say.

"L-let's drop this topic for another time, Alex. We've got work after all."

"Y-yeah, let's do that." Despite them focusing on their work yet again, the silence and air around them was awkward and tense, neither of them willing to spark another conversation until the end of the day as they walked back to the farmhouse so Alex could grab his stuff and a snack before heading home. When they saw the farmhouse come into view however, they saw Flint talking with Granny Smith on her rocking chair, the soldier waving and walking into the orchard in a different direction.

"Was that Flint, Granny?" Alex asked as he and Applejack got near.

"That's what he called himself." She answered. "Never met him until today though."

"What was he doin' here?"

"He was goin' off about lookin' around the orchard, sayin' it was fer a job of his. Don't know what for though, never told me. *sigh* He's somethin' else, he's polite yet..." At this point Granny began to ramble, no sign of stopping anytime soon. At least this gave the two friends time to talk.

"He wants ta look 'round fer his job?" Alex questioned, eyebrow raised. "When the hell did he get one?!"

"Don't know, but now that I think about it..." Applejack put a hoof to her chin, thinking back. "When I did see him last time, he was crouched near town hall." The two looked at each other for a bit, but ultimately decided to leave it at that.

"Not much we can do." Alex shrugged. "Besides, ay wanna rest up fer the day."

"Alright then. I'll see ya around then." As the two were giving their goodbyes however, their minds stirred with the things that happened today, wondering what everything meant.

A Few Days Later, SugarCube Corner

As Rainbow and Applejack entered the bakery, they looked around to find that a good amount of their friends were talking. Approaching them, they all greeted each other.

"Hey hey you two." Alex began, giving a fist bump to Rainbow. "Ye've been doin' good?"

"You know it."

"Glad to see y'all." Cali said with a tilt of her hat, snacking on some cookies with Jasmine.

"You too." Applejack said, pulling a seat up to sit next to Twilight and Huston. After some time between friends' small talk, they noticed that Flint entered the building, taking a quick look around.

"Hey Flint." Twilight greeted, getting Flint's attention.

"Hm? Oh, hello everyone." Flint nodded politely. "How are all of you today?"

"We're doing okay." Huston said. "Would you like to join us?"

"Sorry, I can't stay for long." The soldier said. "There are still things I need to do for the day. Maybe next time." Flint then walked up to the counter where Pinkie popped up. Before she could greet him however, she was greeted herself by a piece of paper being offered to her, to which she took. Looking it over, she smiled at Flint before putting a serious face on, dashing into the kitchen with a salute. A bit later she reemerged, carrying a paper bag she passed to Flint. With a silent thanks, Flint left as Pinkie waved with her classic smile, ducking back behind the counter. As this exchange happened, everyone watched with curiosity.

"Well that was... something." Twilight said.

"I'll say." Rainbow continued. "It was like some crazy scene out of Daring Do."

"...I won't deny it's a bit strange." Cali commented. "What was that guy doing?"

"You think he was playing around with Pinkie?" Jasmine asked, tilting her head.

"Maybe, but that's just one of the weird things he's been doin' since comin' here." Alex mused. "He's been sneakin' 'round the place. Not ta sound suspicious, but what could he be doin' ta cause this?"

"You think he's a spy?" Rainbow suggested, though everyone looked at her like she was crazy.

"You do realize who we're talkin' about, right?" Applejack reminded. "Who would he be spyin' for, let alone thinkin' anypony would ask him when he's bigger than Big Mac."

"Hmm..." Huston thought for a moment, looking up to where Pinkie was. "Pinkie? You there?"

"What's up?" Like usual, Pinkie popped up between the group, startling them.

"Ah, *sigh*. I wanted to ask you about what Flint gave you."

"Sorry, that's confidential." Pinkie answered with a hop. "But it's important to him!" As Pinkie hopped away, everyone looked with different emotions.

"What in the hell did she mean by that?" Alex questioned.

"How should I know?" Cali bounced back. "For all we know he just bought a cupcake."

"*sigh* Maybe we should stop for now." Twilight suggested. "We can ask him about it later. Besides, he's our friend, we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Everyone looked at each other for a bit before voicing their agreements, returning to their conversation from before. After some time they all decided to leave, giving their regards to Pinkie. As they were leaving however they bumped into a familiar face. Well, more like toppled them as a certain merchant was sent to the floor.

"Grah! Hey, watch where you're- oh, it's you guys."

"Sorry Zenix, are you okay?" Huston asked as he helped him up.

"Yeah I'm fine buddy. I'm just a bit hungry." As Zenix was dusting himself off, he looked over his friends with a grin. "So, have any news?"

"*sigh" Is that seriously you're way of starting a-"

"Wait, hold that thought." With two fingers raised, Zenix zipped into SugarCube Corner, coming back out a few moments later holding a strawberry cupcake. "Okay, now we can talk." Zenix said as he took a bite out of the sweet.

"...Like any news gets past you." Cali mentioned.

"Eh, just figured you'd have some info about the new guy." Zenix shrugged. "I've been gathering a bit about him-"

"You've been what?" Everyone asked with confusion with turned heads and raised eyebrows.

"If you let me finish, I've been gathering info about him because a client of mine wants to know more about him, and most notably if he's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Jasmine and Rainbow asked together, Rainbow continuing on. "Why would they think that?"

"Well if you think about it, all the humans you've met are quite strong." Zenix explained as he took another bite. "I mean, you've seen some of us in action, and even you can't deny that those feats aren't exactly 'pacifist'."

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying miss 'war against an orchard', is that unlike the cushy ponies, we've been living in a much more harsh and unforgiving world for most of our lives." Zenix said, getting shocked looks from everyone. "I hate to sound cynical, but it's the truth. And besides, who knows what could happen in a new world? You aren't held back by the old rules and laws you once knew, and depending on the circumstance, you might know more advanced tech that can change the world forever. You've seen and read those types of stories, who's to say that they're showing the bad side to it all."

"...Dude. That's just..."

"Sorry, that's just how my world, the business world, is." Zenix said, finishing the cupcake and putting his hands under his shawl, looking down with a sad smile. "You can't really trust anyone, not even your own employees, and you learn quickly that the only ones you can trust are yourself and your own judgement. If you don't, you'll be chewed up and spit out with nothing to your name. Seen it many-a-time."

"...Still, it doesn't mean everyone you meet is going to take advantage of you." Huston disagreed, stepping forward. "There's always going to be someone out there that can be trusted with your life, and if you cut yourself from everyone, you may drive that person away."

"Oh yeah, and what about you?" Zenix shot back, a sneer on his face. "You cut yourself off from the world as well. Who are you to preach that I should open up?"

"I know I did, and that's something I regret." Huston said with guilt in his eyes. "Because I cut myself off from someone I trusted, and I may never get the chance to thank them." Zenix was about to retort, but he stopped when he process what Huston said.

"Thank them?"

"For allowing me to become who I am today." Huston said with a sad, yet thankful smile. "I may have never become an artist in any way without her. So while saying sorry for what looks like abandoning her looks appropriate, I think a thank you is the best response." The group went silent for a while, with everyone looking at both Huston and Zenix in hesitant anticipation.

"Nnnrrr." Zenix growled after a few moments, turning away. "I still say that trust is much better spent on your own feats, but whatever floats your boat. Besides, we still don't know much about the guy, and after hearing the rumors about shadows sneaking around after dark in the most unnerving places like the Everfree Forest's borders." Hearing that earned a gasp from the group. "I know, crazy, but that's what I've heard. Take that information as you will." Before anyone could ask, Zenix was walking away, showing no interest in continuing.

"...Well that was, uncomfortable." Applejack admitted.

"Yeah, won't deny that." Alex agreed.

"...Let's stop thinking about that for now." Huston suggested. "I wonder what reason Flint has to go to the Everfree forest."

"Honestly anything is up in the air with that." Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin. "It's one thing to go at all, but at night?"

"Could he really be a spy?!" Everyone looked at Rainbow again, though not because she was talking crazy again.

"...You know what sure, put that in the list." Twilight shrugged. "If only there was a way to tell."

"We could put together a stake out, but I doubt we could get away with that with someone in the military." Alex thought out loud.

"Stake out?" Jasmine thought, before a thought hit her. "Wait, what if we got Storm and Fluttershy to help?" Everyone turned their attention at her, willing to listen. "Well we could have them watch him when he goes out at night since Storm is nocturnal and Fluttershy lives close to Everfree Forest."

"That's... actually a pretty good idea." Applejack admitted, others voicing their agreements.

"Now hold on a minute." Cali stopped. "You do realize that this has happened multiple times in the past."

"What happened multiple times?" Alex asked.

"Someone in our group thinks that something is suspicious, outrageous, or a very big issue and decides to do something about it, which ends up becoming an even bigger problem than what they though. I'm not saying what's been happening isn't weird, but we may just be blowing things out of proportion, unless I need to remind you about the Pinkie Sense or the time travel incidents." Twilight visually shuttered at that memory.

"You do have a point." Rainbow said. "But right now is different. Besides, it's just a few days of look out duty. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"If that wasn't enough Zenix is actin' on this because someone 'ere thinks he's dangerous." Alex mentioned. "He may be weird, but he knows too much ta be written off."

"...You realize Rainbow just said the worst thing to say." Cali groaned as she pinched her nose in annoyance. "But sure, go for it. I'm just saying my piece before goin' off the handles." With Cali's warning, the group began to plan out their stake out.

The Next Day, Fluttershy's

Once everyone managed to hash out all the details of the plan, they spilt up to discuss the plan with the key pieces to the plan. Fortunately the two were okay with helping, one much more eager to do so. Of course the only thing to do now was sleep on it as that was the time everything happened. Once the morning did rise however those involved in the plan quickly got themselves ready and left, leaving those who weren't in the loop confused. They headed over to Fluttershy's place, where their pony friends were waiting with Storm hanging off of Fluttershy's wing.

"Took you guys long enough." Rainbow shouted at the humans as they walked up.

"Yeah yeah yeah, shaddup lass." Alex retorted. "Not everyone can be yer kinda fast."

"Let's not delay for much longer." Twilight said, turning to Fluttershy. "So what exactly happened last night?" Watching Storm chitter for a bit, Fluttershy began to explain.

"S-so he says that Flint did leave the house last night. He was walking around town, though Storm said he seemed... aimless. He did take pauses at times, looking at different buildings from time to time."

"Okay, and did he do anything when he was looking at them?" Jasmine asked, to which Storm shook his head.

"Well that's a bust." Alex groaned. "Did he do anythin' else that night?" The bat chittered a bit, to which Fluttershy translated.

"Apparently, the last thing that Flint did last night was go to the edge of the Everfree forest and buried something in the ground." This managed to catch the attention of the heroes.

"What did he bury?" Applejack asked. Storm scratched his head with a look that said he didn't know.

"All he said that what he buried was small and glowed slightly."

"And is that all you can say for the night?" Huston asked, to which Storm nodded. "Not much information here, what now?"

"Maybe we could see what he buried?" Alex suggested.

"And why would we?"

"Well who knows what he buried there!" Rainbow announced. "He could have planted some crazy human bomb for all we know." This was the third time everyone looked at her, though it was once again crazy.

"...Unless it's another military experi-whatever, I don't think that it." Cali deadpanned.

"Plus, why would he plant a bomb in the middle of nowhere?" Applejack asked, Rainbow struggling to think of an answer.

"I kinda want to check as well." Jasmine admitted. "It may not be a bomb, but it could still be dangerous."

"You too Jas?" Cali looked at her friend with concern, to which she nodded. "*sigh* I guess I have no choice but to follow." It didn't take long before everyone was on board with investigating, so they let Storm guide them while Fluttershy stayed behind. It didn't take long before they reached the place where Flint was, with Storm sitting on a spot on the ground that was loose.

"This the spot little buddy?" Jasmine asked, the bat nodding. "Okay, thank you." As Jasmine was petting her pet, Alex grabbed a flattish rock nearby and began to dig away. Before long he managed to scrape up something that matched Storm's description of being small and glowing. As Alex picked it up though, there was some blue sparks that emitted from it, the glow ceasing and letting the group look at it closely. When they did they saw it was a small stone orb with some kind of rune carved onto it.

"What the hell is this thing?" Alex questioned, putting it up in the sky.

"I think it's a warding stone." Twilight mentioned, everyone looking at her in confusion. "It's something that is made in Canterlot. It's a magical item that emits a magical frequency which disturbs certain organisms' magical-"

"Can ye speak in 'average Joe' language?" Alex asked, Twilight deadpanning.

"It's a tool that can keep monsters away."

"Wait, so he planted an electric fence?" Alex questioned.

"Where did he even get that?" Jasmine wondered.

"Don't know, but it looks like he wasn't doing anything wrong." Huston noted.

"You see!" Cali said exasperated. "You blew this out of proportion again! Gah, just bury the thing again and forget this ever happened."

"Actually, we'd just be burying a rock at this point." Twilight commented, getting curious looks. "Warding stones are quite fragile due to the nature of the runes and magic used. So much so that once activated, it won't take much to dispel the magic."

"So it's useless now." Applejack summed up, to which Twilight nodded. "Well that's a problem."

"How is it a problem?" Rainbow asked. "In fact, why would he even have the need to put it here? It's not like the Everfree forest is sending monsters out every day-"

"Grrr" Everyone froze as they heard growling nearby. Looking at the forest, they all began to panic when they saw not one, but three manticores emerging from the forest.

"OH YE'VE GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME!" Alex screamed as the beasts leaned down to pounce. Before they could realize what they were doing the manticore on the left pounced. Just as the beast was about to land the group was tackled on the side, narrowly missing. Realizing what happened, everyone got up to see Flint standing before them, pistol in hand. "Flint?! What-"

"We can talk later." The soldier shouted. "They're coming at us." Not given much choice, the group readied themselves for the attack. The manticores engaged, the heroes splitting up to engage. Cali, Applejack, and Jasmine fighting one, Huston, Rainbow, and Twilight fighting another, leaving Alex and Flint to engage the last. Unlike the last time they had to deal with a manticore however, they group had much more experience in battle and were able to take them out. The first beaten with the combination of blinding wind magic and powerful blows by Cali's group, a decisive three-way blow to the head in Huston's group, and constant attacks by Alex and Huston. Once the three manticores fled back into the forest, everyone sighed as they lowered their guard.

"Thanks fer the help lad." Alex thanked, but was interrupted by Flint getting up close.

"Why in the world would you dig the warding stone back up?!" Flint questioned loudly, startling the group. "For that matter, why are you all here?!"

"We're here because everyone was thinking you planted a spy camera or somethin'." Cali answered, everyone looking betrayed. "What? You guys were the ones who overreacted."

"What happened to Ms. 'action over words'?" Rainbow questioned.

"It's called, 'knowing the consequences'."

"Stop." Flint growled, causing everyone to jump. "What does Ms. Cali mean by that?" Everyone looked at each other nervously (save for Cali who simply watched with arms crosses)

"*sigh* Okay, we'll tell you." At this point the group began to explain their suspicions, from Flint's sneaking to his secretiveness, and even mentioning some of the rumors they heard (They left out the part about Zenix looking into him) Once they finished, Flint sighed.

"I guess I can understand your view." He admitted. "But I just didn't want to involve you in this."

"And what is it ye didn't wan' ta involve us in?" Alex asked, to which Flint took the warding stone from him.

"You see, some time ago the mayor approached me to get my help." Flint began. "She said she got a letter from the princess saying that the Everfree forest was behaving strangely."

"Isn't it always strange?" Applejack asked.

"More than normally as of late." Flint continued. "She said that the forest was more active than normal, in fact when she looked closer she realized that creatures within were moving about much more than normal. To the point that it looked like they were running from something." This concerned the heroes, as they were thinking about what could scare a manticore, let alone a group. "She said that she would investigate, but for now the beasts were likely to leave, so she had me take the role of town guard. I planted this stone after determining where they would most likely leave, but you broke it."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Twilight apologized, her and everyone bowing.

"It's fine, though I will have to get a replacement." Flint paused as he looked at the stone. "There is something concerning however." Everyone looked confused at him. "You say that the rumors say that there are shadows at night, correct." A wave of nods were his answer. "Well that couldn't be me. I'm always carry a flashlight with me, so why would I be called a shadow? Furthermore, I've checked around town, there hasn't been any signs of monsters inside, but I did notice that there were patches of dead grass here and there, even though they were in bright places." Once again concern filled the group.

"That is unnerving." Huston said.

"It is, but nothing I can do about that." Flint said, sighing as he put the warding stone into his pocket. "I would like to ask all of you to stay out of my way from now on when I'm working as this can get dangerous as you've seen. In return I will try and be less secretive around you." Everyone looked at each other, feeling okay with that proposal.

"I mean we can, but there's one question I have." Rainbow said. "What did you and Pinkie do yesterday involving that bag." To everyone's surprise, Flint looked away slightly, with an equally slight blush.

"Well... the only thing in the bag was a lemon-lime cupcake." Flint said, everyone looking at him bewildered.

"Wait, so you're saying my random guess was right?!"

"Look, I'm just not open about liking sweets!"

"Sorry Flint!" Jasmine apologized with a bow. "I-it's just surprising."

"*sigh* Whatever, let's just leave things as it is today." Flint sighed as he left, giving a wave to his friends. Even though the group were suspicious about Flint in the beginning, their trust began to build up, hoping to get to the point that Flint was open with them completely.

Later

"And that's my report on Flint, boss."

"Don't call me that."

"Hey man, you wanted this info." Unbeknownst to everyone, Zenix was watching them from the background, listening to their conversation. Now he was reporting everything to Xavier in his room, and they both were looking over the facts.

"Well, at least we can say he's not acting maliciously." Xavier concluded. "At most, he's at least on our side. Although..." Xavier looked up to think. "What do you think that whole, 'shadow' thing is about?"

"Hard to say." Zenix shrugged. "It could be ponies seeing things, or some creature we don't know about as of right now. For now though, I'll look into more rumors about suspicious events in Ponyville and maybe even all of Equestria if you want me to." Xavier looked at him for a moment, before sighing.

"Alright, I trust you."

"It's my pleasure." As Zenix was walking away, he stopped. "Is it alright to ask you something?" Xavier nodded. "Why are you going so far with this?"

"What do you mean."

"You're doing quite a lot for a bunch of people you claim you're not close to." Zenix began. "It's not hard to see that you've changed since coming here, I mean Mr. lonely man managed to get a girlfriend for crying out loud. I thought you never wanted to get close so you never feel heartbreak again."

"...I guess it's the atmosphere." Xavier said. "It's a peaceful place, yet it's probably much more spontaneous on its danger. I want to keep everyone from experiencing what I've been through, so I want to what I can to protect them. Call it stupid for changing my wants, but I want to keep them safe, no matter what." Zenix looked at him blankly before closing his eyes and turning away.

"I can't say the change is bad, but pace yourself Ver." Zenix said as he walked away. "You don't want to be the one to cause the trauma." As Zenix turned the corner, Xavier sighed as he turned to his desk.

"Don't worry Zen, I'm going to protect them, no matter what." Looking at his desk, he pulled over a piece of paper with blueprints of what looked like a metal brace, something that was titled, "Project Conductor". Whatever the Engineer was planning, it would be pride, but he wasn't the only one to see the plans however as a wisp of black fog could be seen outside his window, but only briefly as the wind scattered it. The only thing left was a patch of dead grass.

Calming the Flame

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After the meeting between Flint and the other heroes, things were a bit tense for a while. Most of the time when someone saw Flint they tended to get out of his way, giving a greeting as they passed. It wasn't that they were afraid of him per say, it was just that they respected his wishes and wanted to keep their friendship intact if getting in his way meant angering him. They already did interfere when they broke the warding stone. As time went on however, they noticed that Flint was working a lot more than any of them, either heading to the Everfree forest or patrolling town. If he wasn't doing those things he was working out, almost never giving himself time to rest. Even now he was working out as Rainbow, Xavier, and Alex watched him do some pushups in the park.

"So... do ye even take breaks lad?" Alex asked.

"I do, but I cannot become complacent." Flint replied.

"Dude, you sound like one of those weird monks." Rainbow mentioned, getting a nod from Alex.

"It's just a part of the army." Flint said. "You never know when someone will attack."

"...I'm not going to deny that it's pretty common for something to attack around here." Xavier admitted. "And I will admit I do tend to get lost in work, but even I need a break at times."

"Yeah, aren't ye gettin' exhausted, goin' from the Everfree ta workin' out after?"

"Actually, those trips-"

"Hey man, no need to get yourself worked up." Rainbow interrupted, flying up to his shoulder and patting it. "We're gonna help you out by teaching you how to relax."

"Well actually-"

"No buts lad!" Alex announced, also next to him with Xavier following. "Yer gonna be relaxin' fer the rest've the day, like it or not!"

"...I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

"Sorry, those two are pretty headstrong, take it from me." Xavier said as he patted his other shoulder. "I do agree though, take some time off."

"Alright. I guess we can-"

"GREAT!" Rainbow said excitedly as she and Alex began to push him, Xavier following behind. "C'mon, let's go."

Later, by Rainbow's home

Once the decision was made, everyone decided that the best place to start was Rainbow's place, as she was well known by her friends as laid-back when nothing pressing was happening. All the humans had to do was wait for Rainbow to get finished with preparations, which was bringing down some beach chairs for everyone to use.

"Alright, here we are gang." Rainbow announced proudly as she finished putting up the last chair.

"Thanks for lending us some chairs Dash." Xavier said as the humans went over to the chairs.

"Aahh, this is good." Alex sighed as he fell into a chair, Rainbow and Xavier following suit. It took a bit for Flint to get settled, but he was also settling into his chair.

"Hmm, not bad. So now what?"

"Nothing." Rainbow said, getting a confused look from the soldier as she reclined.

"Nothing?"

"Exactly." She said, pulling some shades out and putting them on. "This is the art of 'chilling out' my friend."

"You said it." All three laid back and let out a collective sigh, calm in their world. Flint mimicked their actions, even letting out his own sigh. They laid there for a minute, but it wasn't long before Flint began to twitch a bit. It was just his finger at first, but it soon escalated to his foot, then his leg, and before long he sat up.

"Soo... how long do we do this for?"

"For a long time." Rainbow said, leaving Flint to his own thoughts again. This lasted for another minute, but Flint couldn't sit for long before getting up, alerting the others. "Hey! Why'd you get up?"

"I'm sorry, but this isn't working." Flint apologized as the others got up. "I'm not used to sitting around doing nothing."

"I guess I can get that." Xavier admitted. "But it is a good time to calm down and relax."

"I truly am sorry, but I cannot focus when idle." The group argued lightly for a bit, trying to understand each other. Of course with such debating, it's bound to attract attention, and it so happened that a certain artist was walking by.

"Um, is everything okay here?" Huston asked as he walked over, getting everyone's attention.

"Oh, hey dude. What brings you here?" Alex greeted.

"I was looking for a nice place to do some sketching." He said, holding up a sketchbook. "But what are you guys arguing about?"

"We're trying to get Flint to relax from work." Rainbow answered, flying up to Flint. "But the guy is having a hard time sitting still."

"...I see."

"Hmm... Hey you wouldn't mind if we join ye?" Alex asked, catching everyone's attention. "Ay mean, ye always look so calm when doin' yer paintin' and stuff, so maybe Flint could pick up art as a hobby or somethin'."

"I guess I can understand where you're coming from." Huston thought out loud. "But let's not jump the gun here. We can't just make Flint do these things."

"It's fine." They heard Flint say. "I'm more or less just playing along, might as well try it."

"...A-alright then, would any of you like to join?" Everyone nodded at Huston's question, so Huston sighed and agreed. After a bit of time since he had to grab a couple more sketch books, everyone was now sat in front of the lake, with a tree in view. "We can start simple for now, see if you can draw the view from here. We can check our progress in ten minutes." Huston instructed as he took a seat and began to scribble alongside everyone. They all scribbled in silence, the sound of pencils moving filling the air. It wasn't before long that ten minutes were up, and everyone stretched. "Okay, I'll start the show then." Huston raised his sketchbook, showing a very impressive sketch of a tree, though it was lacking the lake. Nonetheless everyone was impressed and clapped. "Thank you, but what about all of you."

"Heh, I'll show you mine." Rainbow said confidently as she showed her sketchbook. The response to hers was laughter from two close friends. "HEY!"

"I-I'm sorry, but what is that blob in the sky?" Xavier asked, laughter in the mix.

"It's the sun!"

"N-no, the other one."

"That's a bird!"

"That's a bird!? What's that giant mushroom then?!" Alex wheezed, laughing much harder.

"That's the tree you jerk!" The two kept laughing, irritating Rainbow. "OH YEAH! LIKE YOU DID ANY BETTER!"

"Oh ay know I didn't do better." Alex said proudly as he showed his drawing. Well, it was more like doodles you'd see in a student's notebook. "Ay got bored lookin' at that tree, so ay gave up."

"Weren't you the one to suggest this?" Huston deadpanned.

"Ay did, never said ay'd take it seriously." Alex admitted with a smile, everyone groaning. "What about you bro, got anything good?" Everyone looked at Xavier's drawing, and were all shocked to see that his was actually pretty good.

"Whoa what the-" Rainbow stammered. "How did you do this?!"

"I guess drawing up blueprints can do that?" Xavier answered uncertainly. "I'm definitely not on the skill level Huston is though."

"Still, this is impressive." Huston commented. "You may have what it takes to be an artist."

"No thanks, there are still projects that I need to complete."

"Fair enough. For now, the 'main attraction waits' so to speak." Huston and the others went to Flint, who never moved from the spot he sat, his face emotionless. "Let's see what you've done Flint-" Everyone just stopped, all of them staring at Flint's sketchbook. They didn't know what to think when they saw it. It was, just...

Well, it was not pretty. It wasn't even Rainbow levels of bad. It was so bad in fact that the image was practically seen with a mosaic over it, and everyone had disturbed faces. It was that bad.

"Yeah, it's bad." Flint calmly said, closing the book and pocketing it. "I was never good at art."

"Theeennn why did you agree?" Alex asked in discomfort.

"It's so that everyone knows and we never have to suggest this again." He replied, standing up. "Don't worry, I'll burn the book later. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading to the-"

"Hey wait a minute!" Rainbow shouted, snapping out of the state she was in and snapping everyone else out. "You are not going back to the Everfree yet!"

"But I have something to-"

"Hey man, don't worry about it." Rainbow interrupted. "Didn't you install all those warding stone things recently?"

"Well, yes. But-"

"Then we're fine!" She began to push him along. Well, he wasn't moving due to his size. "I've got another idea for you to relax, and it's a good one." Sighing, Flint moved his feet to where she wanted to go, Alex and Xavier following along.

"Have fun with that." Huston said as he waved. "I still want to do some sketching, so I'm going to stick around." Giving goodbyes, the group let Rainbow take the wheel to their destination.

That destination being the Golden Oaks Library.

"Ooh, a good book is a pretty good way to relax." Xavier said with a nod.

"I know! C'mon." Everyone entered the tree house with the goal of finding a book for Flint. And who better to help out then Twilight who noticed them enter.

"Oh, hello everypony. What brings you here?"

"We're here fer a book Flint 'ere would like." Alex answered. "Anythin' come ta mind?"

"Well... What do you like Flint?'

"I... I'm not sure." Flint admitted with guilt, looking to the side. "I never really had any interests in the past." Everyone just looked at him, both is surprise and slight sympathy. "How about you suggest something?"

"Hmm... Alright." Twilight then used her magic to levitate a bunch of books from the shelves and float them around her. "Let's see here, how about this one?" Twilight wondered as she brought a book up to Flint, the cover depicting a knight looking at a tower in the distance. "This one is a story about a hero searching for a long lost friend."

"Mmm, I don't know." Flint mumbled, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in thought. "Seems a bit cliche."

"Oh, in that case." Twilight brought the story to the side and brought another one up, this one showing a pony surrounded by flowers. "This one is about a florist's journey to find happiness."

"Sounds a bit too simple."

"Hmm, how about a classic?" Twilight showed him the first book of the Daring Do series. "Daring Do is always a safe choice."

"I've been told enough by them about the series." Flint said pointing to the others, mostly at the non-human. "I'm not exactly interested in the concept." (The non-human in question was devastated)

"Oh, umm. Well..." Soon the two began a cycle of Twilight showing a book with a short description with Flint giving a reason for not liking it. And as the pile of books grew to a mountain, and Twilight's mane earning a few misplaced hairs.

"Well, how about this one? This one is-"

"Miss Twilight, perhaps we should stop." Flint interrupted, pushing the book to the side. "I mean no offence, but I don't think that reading will be something I will stick with. I never was one for reading anyway."

"Haaahh." Twilight groaned as she went over to the others. "I don't get it, even you were able to agree to read a book eventually."

"I know!" Rainbow announced, also irritated. "How could he disrespect Daring Do like that!?"

"*Sigh* Well that was a bust." Xavier sighed, looking at the pile of books.

"We're gonna need another plan." Alex thought out loud, thinking of some more ideas.

"What is the goal anyway?" Twilight asked.

"Getting the guy to relax for once." Rainbow answered. "The guy's been pushing himself since day one, he needs a break. He's kinda like you when you get something in your head."

"HEY!"

"Disregarding others..." Xavier commented. "Even I think he needs something to take his mind off of work every now and then. Unfortunately nothing seems to be working, as you can tell."

"I wish I could help, but he's shot down everything I've recommended."

"Don't sweat it, pal. Ye've done yer best. We'll just 'ave ta find another option." Alex said, walking to the door. "C'mon gang, we'll think of somethin' yet! In fact I already got an idea, and if this next idea doesn't work, we may as well give up!"

"The idea is this place!"

"...You know they aren't going to give discounts all the time, right?"

Alex's plan was simple, the spa was do or break. After all, the spa was THE place to unwind and relax no matter who you are, at least that's what Alex said. Now they were looking up at the building, ready to enter.

"Ay know, but-"

"I'm also not paying."

"What!?"

"Well there's a difference to doing things freely and using your own money for it."

"Well it's one time, so it'll be fine bro."

"You just want an excuse to have a spa day." The two began to bicker, Rainbow watching them deadpanned.

"Can you two stop?" Rainbow said getting in between them. "Can we just focus on getting Flint to relax?" She pointed to the man in question, at least where he was as he was not there. It was then they realized that he wasn't nearby, and with a little looking they saw him walking away. "Hey!" The trio chased after him, aiming to stop him. "Where are you going?"

"To the Everfree forest. I've wasted enough time." Flint answered with a bit of coldness in his voice.

"But-"

"I appreciate your concern, but I have business there." Flint said, continuing to walk.

"Wait, what are you even-"

"Please, all this has done is distract me from more pressing matters. So please, just let me go." With that, Flint left the three, leaving them feeling guilty.

Later

After Flint's abrupt departure, the trio were feeling quite down, so they all just walked off. Now they were sitting at a table with drinks, with Xavier leaning on his arm and the others face down.

"As if our relationship wasn't strained enough..." Rainbow moaned.

"He probably hates us." Alex added with a grumble. Xavier simply sighed in response, not feeling like responding. The three sat there in silence for a while, at least until they were approached by someone.

"Are you okay?" Looking up, they saw Jasmine looking at them with a tilted head and a concerned face.

"Not really..." Alex responded, prompting Jasmine to sit with them. "We were with Flint all day tryin' ta distract him from work, but all we did was annoy him."

"You can't really blame us when his work keeps sending him to the Everfree forest after all." Rainbow defended, but this caught the newcomer's attention.

"Huh?"

"It's just he's been working out or working his job since coming here." Xavier explained. "Even me and Twilight don't work all the time."

"Yes, but-"

"An' besides, we've barely had the time ta just talk ta him!" Alex said with a raised voice, lifting his head up and stretching his arms out. "Not ta sound desperate, but I'd want ta get ta know a guy and make things right after gettin' in his way!"

"Yeah, why does he think he can take this by himself!" Rainbow joined in with an equally raised voice. "We're the ones who saved Equestria multiple times! If anything he should have told us to get help!" This boisterous tone died quite quickly, as the two put their heads onto their arm/hoof and sighed.

"...I don't think he's going there to work."

"What?!" The three immediately jumped up and leaned over to Jasmine, causing her to panic and swing her arms about.

"Too close, too close!"

"What is he doing there!?" Looking at the three, Jasmine took a breath and got up.

"I think it would be best to show you."

Everfree Forest, near Fluttershy's cottage

After Jasmine's info drop, she began to lead her friends to the Everfree forest where Flint is. What confused them is that they were approaching Fluttershy's cottage, as calm as ever.

"I-is Flint doing some guard work here?" Rainbow asked, flying next to Jasmine.

"Not quite." She replied with a weary smile. As they got close to the front door, they began to hear a lot of noises from animals nearby, and they way they sounded made it sound like they were cheering.

"What in the hell's goin' on around 'ere?" Alex questioned, walking around the cottage to investigate, the others following behind. When they got to the backyard, everyone besides Jasmine was shocked and surprised to see Flint surrounded by animals of all sizes, but what was more surprising was what he was doing. On the ground, Flint was doing pushups red-faced as he worked with a bunch of small animals on his back. He managed to finish two before tapping out, the animals getting off of his lying body as he got up.

"*huff* Hooh, what a workout..." He huffed, taking a breather as he took a water bottle and towel from Harry, using both. "Thank you Harry, in a bit we should start some sit-up reps, alright?" Harry gave a nod and a smile, but when the bear looked up he saw the others, Jasmine waving at him. This of course got Flint's attention, and the soldier stood up. "I see you've found out where I've been."

"Sorry, Flint. It kind of slipped out."

"It's fine miss Jasmine." Flint said as he stepped closer. "We can talk about this soon. She should almost be done."

"She?"

"Flint? Are you done already?" They heard Fluttershy, and looking over they saw her coming over. "Oh! H-hello everyone."

"Relax, miss Fluttershy. I was just about to invite them to tea."

"Tea?"

"That's what he's been coming here for." Jasmine answered, walking up to Flint. "I found out when I came here one day to play with the animals."

"We can talk after some tea, it's going to get cold." Flint waved for the three to come along, to which they obliged. They were soon sitting at a table with teacups and tea snacks, Flint pouring tea from a teapot. Once he sat down and took a sip of tea, Flint began to explain. "To put it simply, I come here when I'm not on the job for tea with Fluttershy and the animals here. Never would have thought that animals would be so interested in tea parties, especially you Harry." The bear looked at him as he lifted a tea cup to his maw. "No offence, just saying." Harry nodded and went back to his tea.

"Okay, but why were ye workin' out?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, that seems kinda contradictory." Xavier added, eyebrow raised.

"...Couldn't tell you." The response was confusing to the three, as evidence by their blank stares. "It's just that it's hard to explain. I guess... it's something that diverts my attention."

"...Really?" Rainbow asked, not really understanding.

"W-well... it's kind of like how you all those activities calming." Flint said, clicking a few things in place. "Huston paints as a way to express himself, you two play those sports with each other, you work on your gizmos, or even Fluttershy caring for her animals."

"I think he's trying to say that this is how he relaxes." Jasmine said, helping Flint speak.

"...Yeah, I guess it is." Xavier said with guilt. "And yet we've dragged you all around town thinking you were overworking yourself with no breaks."

"We're sorry." Alex, Xavier, and Rainbow apologized with a seated bow.

"It's okay, I should apologize as well." Flint said, putting his tea cup down. "I haven't been very open with any of you, and I was not very friendly when I confronted you. So could we move on from that incident and start over as friends?" Everyone looked at him with surprise, but they eventually smiled at him.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." With a old grudge buried and a flower of friendship growing from the mound, the group enjoyed a tea party with their worries leaving for the moment.