> My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Chronicles of the 7th
>  by mrthischarmingman2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Friendship is Magic part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Chronicles of the 7th

I do not own this series. MLP: FIM is property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust, please support the official release. My first fanfic. Yes, it is a self insert, but please give me a chance! Constructive criticism welcome. Enjoy!

Friendship is Magic Part 1

So... what's there to be said about me? I'm no one special. I'm just your average guy who just wants to get somewhere in life. I dream of becoming an actor, I want to be known, to respected by others for being someone. Still, I know I have a long way to go down that path, but it'll all be worth it in the end.

Oh, sorry, I haven't even introduced myself yet! My name is James Morgan. I'm your typical Year 11 student with his GCSE exams making his life a living hell, and I'd prefer to just play video games rather than revise. Sure, I know how important it is for my future, but let's be honest here, who actually does enjoy revising? I consider myself an in-between kind of guy. The sort you see in walking the crowd but don't think to look at twice before continuing on you way. In a sense, I like it that way. Being the centre of attention isn't always my kind of thing.

But enough about me, I think it's about time I got to the point. I'm here to tell you all about how I met the six best friends of my whole life. Sure, I had some very close friends already, but the way this lot made me feel, I'd never felt happier around them. My life changed forever, and it's all thanks to them...



I couldn't sleep. It usually took me a while to nod off, and this was no exception. Now normally I wouldn't care what time it was, but for some reason turned on my bedroom light and I checked my watch. It read 11:30. I put my watch back on my draws and turned out light, allowing the light from outside creep in from underneath my bedroom door... Wait a minute, it was 11:30! Mum should have been asleep by then, so why was the bathroom light still on?

Ah well, I thought; might as well turn it off now, it's better than letting it burn all night. Walking other to my door, I grabbed the door handle, pressed down and pulled the door open. I didn't expect what I saw next. It was a blinding white light which shone intensely into my eyes, nearly blinding me. Before I could shield my eyes, the light shone brighter, and I blacked out without even having time to figure out what was happening.



"Where do you think this guy came from Twilight?" a voice echoed in my head. It sounded masculine, almost like some kid around 7 to 8 years old.

"I have no idea Spike, but he's got some answers to give when he wakes up, like why he decides to crash right into my library!" another voice, clearly feminine, answered. It sounded irritated, like Mum did when I didn't make my bed in the morning and left  her to do it instead. "I just hope the Princess knows what to do with him.".

"Urrgghh..." I murmured softly. My eyes began to flicker open, and I heard the female voice say, "Spike! I think he's waking up!". My vision was blurry, but I could make out what appeared to be shelves filled with books. Was I in a library? I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes with my hooves in hopes of it helping me see better.

Wait... HOOVES?!

My eyes widened as I looked at where my hands and fingers were meant to be, only to find a pair of blue coloured hooves in their place. I looked down, and instead of my normal pajamas, I was covered in dark blue fur. Further down where my legs and feet usually were, another pair of hooves had replaced them. Spinning my head backwards, I saw a chocolate brown tail sitting on a leather fabric surface. This is when I realised that I was sitting on a sofa.

Now normally, you would have expected someone to scream their lungs out if they were in this kind of situation, but I knew better than to do that. I needed to keep a calm head on my shoulders no matter what was happening around me, or else I would look crazy, and that would not be good. Taking a deep breath I assessed the current fact: 1, Something had happened to me last night. 2, I was now a horse in somebody's library with no idea what had happened last night. I immediately shot down the most obvious answer: I was dreaming. This all felt way too real to be that. The most illogical conclusion I could come up with was that I had somehow been teleported to another world (or even dimension, that was also possible) and had been turned into brightly coloured horse as a result. Yet for some reason, the most illogical conclusion seemed like the most logical in this situation.

"Alright mister, you've got a lot of explaining to do!" It was the female voice again, as irritated as ever. I turned to the source and saw something that made my eyes widen again. A lavender coloured horse with a dark purple mane with a pink streak running through it. I immediately noticed that she had a horn protruding from her head. A unicorn?, I thought to myself. Suddenly, I noticed something even more surprising. On her flank there was a pink-purple star surrounded by five white stars, like a tattoo. I would have stared at it a bit longer, but I didn't want to find out what the lavender mare would do when she realised I was staring at her ass.  

"First of all, what gives you the right to crash into my library and make a mess of the place?!" The mare angrily demanded. "Secondly, how could you even fall from the sky when you're quite clearly and earth pony; and thirdly, who are you?" She didn't sound as aggressive as she did when she asked the third question, but there was an obvious bitterness in her voice. Wait, they're called ponies? This day was getting crazier by the minute!

"To answer your first two questions, and to be perfectly honest, I'm having difficulty comprehending the current situation myself." I answered bluntly, "As for you third question, my name is James Morgan. And you are...?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," the mare answered, "and what kind of name is James Morgan?" she asked, raising an eyebrow to emphasise her point.

"I could ask the same thing about Twilight Sparkle." I answered back.

"It's a perfectly fine name I'll have you know!"

"I'm sure it is by this place's standards, but from where I'm from, you'd get a lot of weird looks." I responded, as my thoughts immediately  shifted to a certain series of teen romance novels that I had the pleasure of never reading. 

"Where are you from anyway?" Twilight asked curiously. Jeez, this girl never ran out of questions did she? I shouldn't say to her that I'm a human from another world/dimension who has somehow transformed into a pony, she'd think that I was crazy!

"What I need to know right now is what's going on, where I am, and how I got here" I responded, getting frustrated on not getting the information I needed, "Can someone just please tell me that?"

"Well, you just fell from the sky out of nowhere, which is weird seeing as you're not a pegasus." another voice butted in. I recognized this voice, it was the other voice I heard while unconscious, the one that sounded like it came from a boy around 7 or 8. I turned to the source and saw a short lizard creature with purple and green scales. "The name's Spike by the way, Twilight's number one assistant!" it added proudly.

"Nice to meet you Spike." I said, "May I just ask though, what are you?".

"He's a baby dragon." Twilight cut in, "As for where you are, you're in the city Canterlot, the capital of Equestria."

"Hey!" I said defensively, "Let the kid speak for himself!". Still, this new information was interesting. This place had dragons too? 

Twilight groaned, while Spike gave her a cocky grin, pleased at the attention he was recieving from me. "Whatever, besides when the Princess's letter arrives, we'll be able to figure out what to do with you." Twilight said.

"The Princess?" I asked, this being the first time I had heard of this.

"That's right. I'm Princess Celestia's personal student." Twilight stated proudly, "While you were unconscious, I sent a letter to her about that little incident of your arrival. Her reply should arrive any minute now."

At that moment Spike suddenly belched, and a green flame flew out of his mouth and formed into a sealed scroll before my eyes. "I knew she would want to take immediate action!", Twilight declared.

My jaw dropped like a ton of anvils upon seeing this. That was how she received mail!? Now I'm really jealous of her! Then something clicked in my head, "Wait a minute, I'm not that big of a deal am I? I mean yeah, I fell from the sky out of nowhere into your home, but I wouldn't have thought that you would send a letter to the Princess over something like this!"

"That's not all she had me write in the letter she sent James." Spike answered, "She also wrote something about something really bad happening."

This brought up my attention. Something really bad happening? Oh no - this wasn't a doomsday prophecy was it? Nah, I shouldn't pursue this right now, not until I gather more information on it.

Spike cleared his throat and began reading from the scroll, "My dearest, most faithful student Twilight; you know that I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely."

Twilight beamed in pride as she heard the contents of the letter, "But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!" Spike read, causing Twilight to gasp and her face to fall in shock. As this little scene played out, I snickered to myself. It was funny to see a puncture in that girl's pride.



By now, me, Twilight and Spike were flying in a chariot  pulled by two white pegasus ponies. I assumed that they were stallions like me, and they wore golden coloured armour and helmets that reminded me of the Romans. Celestia's letter was anything but what Twilight had expected, she had told her to go and oversee some sort of festival or something, and had advised her to have me tag along as well! She wasn't pleased at all with this, I could tell.

"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young ponies life than studying." Spike read from his scroll, "So I'm sending you and your new friend to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location, Ponyville!" The town in question immediately came into view. It seemed like a quaint little place, with brightly coloured homes and an overall welcoming feel. "And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!". Twilight moped dejectedly at this, obviously not too happy at this assignment.

"Look on the bright side Twilight, the Princess arranged for you to stay in the library. Doesn't that make you happy?" asked Spike.

"Yes!" Twilight answered, "Yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return!"

"Who?" I asked, having not recalled anything about someone's return. Did this have something to do with that doomsday prophecy thing she wrote to Celestia about? I still needed more info to pursue this further.

"It doesn't matter." Twilight said dismissively, clearly not wanting to share anything with me. I scowled at her, she obviously didn't like me very much, but she didn't even know me well enough to draw a proper conclusion. It was beginning to remind me of a certain girl at school, whose identity I won't disclose, who just told me to shut up every time I opened my mouth to say something to her.

"But then, when will you make friends like the Princess said?" Spike asked Twilight.

"She said to check on preparations." Twilight answered, "I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.". The carriage landed smoothly on the ground in the middle of town, and the stallions pulling the carriage whinnied like any horse from back home.

"Thank you sirs." Twilight said politely to the two stallions, who huffed proudly at her good manners. They then turned to me, obviously expecting the same.

I nodded politely at the two, and said, "Yes, thank you indeed.". It was the best that I could come up with. The stallions nodded politely back, before taking off back into the sky.

I walked up to Twilight and Spike. Spike was talking with Twilight, "Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about!". As he said this, a pink coloured pony walked up to us. "Come on Twilight, just try!".

Twilight smiled nervously at the pink mare, before letting out a small, "Hello?". Immediately, the pink pony leapt into the air and gasped over dramatically before rushing off, still in mid-air.

"Well that was interesting all right." Twilight said sarcastically before trotting off. Spike sighed sadly before following after her. Meanwhile, my head was still trying to piece together what had happened. What was that pink girl's problem? Better not delve to deep into it I though, and trotted off to catch up with Twilight and Spike. 



Now the thing that baffling to me right now, was that it felt so natural to walk on all fours, yet I'd spent nearly all of my life walking on two. However, like all things about this world, it would be best if I didn't delve to deep into this subject. What also caught my attention was that the strange pink pony had a tattoo thing on her flank like Twilight did, hers were three party balloons. Did those things mean something?

"Hey Twilight," I asked, causing her to turn to me, "what's that thing you have on your flank?"

She looked at her tattoo, then back to me with a confused look plastered on her face. "Uhhh... It's my cutie mark." she answered, "What else would it be? You've got one as well."

A cutie mark? That was what they were called? That sounded really degrading, giving how girly a name it was. Then what Twilight had just said clicked something in my head, I had one as well? Craning my head around to look behind me, I saw that on my flank was a golden coloured shield with a pure white diamond encrusted at the centre.

"What does yours mean?" Twilight asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What special talent does your cutie mark symbolise?"

These 'cutie marks' (jeez, I wasn't going to get used to that anytime soon) symbolised somepony's special talent? This confused me. I would have thought that my special talent would have been acting, so why wasn't it anything related to theatre? Wait, did I just say somepony? This place was already getting to me!

"I... I don't really know." I answered earnestly.

Twilight raised her eyebrow, "How can somepony not know their special talent?"

"You're asking the wrong person sweetheart."

She sighed, clearly irritated at my answer; "Whatever" she groaned, "I've got more important things to worry about, like the entire fate of Equestria!"

Wow, she wasn't going to let this whole 'fate of Equestria' thing slide was she?



"Summer Sun Celebration: Official Overseer's checklist." Spike read from his scroll, "Number One, banquet preparations, Sweet Apple Acres!", he continued to read as we walked up to what I assumed to be the farm in question.

"Yeehaw!" shouted a southern female voice. An orange earth pony with a blonde mane tied in a ponytail, a brown Stetson hat, and three red apples for a cutie mark rushed up to an apple tree and kicked it, sending its contents into the baskets nestled underneath. She then gave a small pose, a way of congratulating herself.

"Let's get this over with" Twilight sighed as she trotted over to the mare. "Good afternoon," she began, "my name is Twilight Sparkle...". Suddenly, the orange mare grabbed her hoof and shook it vigorously. How she 'grabbed' it, so to speak, I have no idea.

"Well howdy doo Miss Twilight!" the southern pony greeted enthusiastically, "A pleasure makin' your acquaintance! Ah'm Applejack, we here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!"   

"Friends?" Twilight asked, her voice vibrating as her hoof was continuously shook, "Actually, I..."

"An' who are you mister?" Applejack interrupted, turning to me and releasing Twilight's hoof, which kept shaking up and down until Spike stopped her. He snickered at her distress.

"I'm James Morgan." I replied holding out my hoof, yet dreading what she would do to my poor arm in what should have been a simple polite gesture, "It's a pleasure to meet you, AJ."

To my surprise, Applejack trotted up to me and simply  gave my hoof a normal, but firm handshake (or in this case, hoofshake); as opposed what she did with  Twilight.  "AJ?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah, just a way of shortening you name. Besides it sounds cool."

Applejack pondered for a quick moment before smiling at me, "AJ... Ah like it! Yah c'n call me AJ anytime you want James!" she said happily. I could only smile back at her healthy enthusiasm. "So, what c'n ah do ya for?" she proceeded to ask.

Twilight cleared her throat, "Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and you're in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are!" AJ proudly declared, "Would ya care to sample some?"

"As long as it doesn't take too long." Twilight replied, but before she had even finished her sentence AJ had rushed off and rang a rusty triangle.

"SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!" she hollered. 

*WHAM!*

Before the three of us could react, me, Twilight and Spike were struck from behind by a stampede of ponies. When the dust cleared, we found ourselves sitting at a table in a gazebo.

"Now," AJ announced, popping up next to us, "How 'bout ah introduce y'all to the Apple Family?". She pointed out to all the ponies that were surrounding us.

"Thanks," Twilight began, "but we really need to hurry...", she was cut off as a fritter was shoved in front of her face by a yellowish-green pony with a green mane.

AJ  then began introducing all of her family members, each one putting an apple based food product onto the table as she said their names. I would tell you their names, but I'm afraid I lost track as her speaking began to speed up and the food began piling up on the table. Finally, she inhaled and introduced the last three. "Big Macintosh,", she pointed to a large red stallion with a brownish-blonde mane who was holding a cupcake in his hoof. "Apple Bloom," to a small yellow filly with a red mane  and a cute purple bow who was balancing a cake on her back. "and," she announced before shoving an apple into Twilight's mouth, "Granny Smith", she pointed to an elderly mare dozing in a rocking chair.

"Up an' at 'em Granny Smith!" AJ called over to the old mare, "We got guests!"

Granny Smith woke up and slowly walked up to the gazebo, mumbling incoherently.

"Why, ah'd say, they're already part of the family!". AJ's comment caused Twilight to spit out the apple in her mouth.

"Okay," she said, laughing nervously, "well,  I can see the food situation is handled so we'll be on our way."

"Aren't ya gonna stay for brunch?" the yellow filly asked. She stared at us with huge puppy dog eyes, her bottom lip trembling as if she was about to cry.

My heart melted. How could anyone say no to something as adorable as that? I found myself opening my mouth to speak, but Twilight cut me off before I could say anything.

"Sorry," she said, "but we have an awful lot to do."

Everypony, including me, sighed disappointedly and lowered their heads and disappointment.

Twilight looked around at everypony around her and the sad expressions on their faces, "Fine." she said begrudgingly. Everypony around us cheered, while I kept my happiness to myself.



A while later, the three of us were walking back into town, "Food job taken care of," Spike read from his scroll, "next is weather". Twilight trailed behind up, her stomach bloated.

"Uhh," she groaned, "I ate too much pie."

Personally, I hadn't eaten that much. Sure, I felt pretty full, but I was fit to bursting like Twilight was. I had no idea that so many food products could be made from apples! It was also an interesting experience conversing with AJ and her family. Her brother Big Mac, seemed to be a cool guy, and her sister Apple Bloom was a cute kid. I think I was beginning to think this world wasn't so bad after all.

"Hmm," Spike pondered, "there's supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds"
Looking up, me and Twilight and I clearly saw a large number of clouds floating in the sky. "Well she's not doing a very good job is she?" Twilight said sarcastically.

*WHAM!*

Before I knew what had happened, me and Twilight were lying in muddy puddle, having suddenly felt a force suddenly crash into my side, which caused me to crash into Twilight and leave us face down in mud.

"Excuse me?" a new voice giggled. It sounded raspy , yet unmistakably female. I looked up and saw a cyan coloured pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane hovering over us. Her cutie mark was a white cloud with a rainbow coloured lightning bolt striking from it. Definitely Rainbow Dash, I thought, no question about it.

"Let me help you." she said before zooming off. She immediately came back with a large gray cloud, which she placed directly on top of me and Twilight. How did she do that? The next thing I knew, me and Twilight were drenched with cold water that rained from the cloud. Seeing as it moved slightly up and down, I could assume that the multi-coloured mare was bouncing on the cloud to make the water come out from underneath. Wow, the ponies could control weather? Humans could only dream of being able to do something like that!

Rainbow Dash looked down at us from the cloud, which I noticed was now white after having used up all of its rain water. "Oops," she giggled, "I guess I overdid it! How about this?".

Before I could even respond, she suddenly circled me and Twilight at an incredible speed. I couldn't see anything beside a rainbow blur spinning around us, and could feel the huge gust of air that was blowing around me as a result. "My very own patented Rain-Blow dry!" I heard Rainbow declare. Finally, the spinning stopped, and I could see the outside world once more. However, I knew that whatever the cyan pegasus had done, it had completely dishevelled mine and Twilight's hair.

"No no no," Rainbow said as he landed back on the ground, "don't thank me. You're quite welcome." She stared at me and Twilight, and tried to suppress a laugh, her eyes tearing up. Unfortunately, she couldn't control herself and fell yo the ground laughing. And if that wasn't enough, Spike joined in, lying on Rainbow's back as they both laughed uncontrollably.
"Let me guess," Twilight said un-amused, "you're Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only!" Rainbow stood up, knocking Spike off her back. She began hovering in front of us, flapping her wings to stay in the air. "Why? You hear of me?" she asked, shoving her head in front of Twilight.

"I heard you meant to be keeping the sky clear." Twilight said. She sighed before continuing, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and..."

"Wait." Rainbow interrupted, "Who are you?" she demanded, pointing a hoof accusingly at me and eyeing me suspiciously.

"James Morgan." I introduced myself. Rainbow's accusing look was replaced by one with confusion.

"What kind of freaky name is that?" she asked.

"I'm not from around here." I said simply.

"Where are you from then?" she replied, returning to her suspicious gaze.

"Somewhere very far away." was my answer.

Rainbow's face folded into a scowl, clearly not happy at her answer's vagueness. "Whatever." she growled, leaning her head towards mine, "I've got my eye on you."

"Anyway," Twilight cut in, "the Princess sent me to check on the weather."

"Yeah, that'll be a snap!" Rainbow said dismissively, now lying on the cloud, "I'll do that in a jiffy, just as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing for what?" Twilight inquired.

"The Wonderbolts!" Dash declared, pointing to a nearby poster, "They're gonna perform at the celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show em my stuff!". She jumped off the cloud she was on and landed on another.

"The Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked.

"Yup!"

"The most talented fliers in all of Equestria?"

"That's them!"

"Please," Twilight scoffed, "they'd never accept a pegasus who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day!"

"Hey!" Rainbow countered, "I can clear this sky in ten seconds flat!"

"Prove it." Twilight replied slyly, narrowing her eyes in smug confidence.

Rainbow Dash immediately took flight and before you knew it, she really had cleared the sky in the said time limit. I watched in awe at this marvel, it was a very impressive sight to behold. As for Twilight and Spike, their jaws had dropped like a ton of anvils in amazement.

"What did I tell you?" Rainbow declared smugly, "Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hangin'!" She laughed, "You should see the looks on your faces. You're a laugh Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more!" This caused Twilight to snap out of her shock induced trance.

"But you," she snarled, turning her attention to me and narrowing her eyes, "I'm watching you." With those words, she flew off, leaving just the three of us.

"Wow." Spike gasped in awe, "She's amazing!". He then began playing with Twilight's dishevelled mane, snickering.
Twilight immediately started trotting away towards a building that was presumably the town hall, grumbling in an irritated manner.

"Wait!" Spike called as he rushed to catch up to her, "It's kinda pretty once you get used to it!". I trotted behind them, unable to get that cyan mare's attitude towards me out of my head. Why didn't she trust me? She was most likely just following her gut, something I'd expect from someone like that. Ah well, I'm sure I can get her to warm up to me next time I encounter her again...



Spike wrote down something on his scroll, I couldn't see what it was. "Decorations," he read as we entered the town hall. I stared in awe at the sight before me. Whoever did all this had really outdone themselves in my opinion!

"Beautiful." said Spike, sounding a mile away.

"Yes," Twilight agreed, "the decor is coming along nicely. This ought to be quick. I'll be at the library in no time! Beautiful indeed."

"Not the decor," Spike said dreamily, "her!". He pointed towards a pure white unicorn with a curled purple mane and three diamonds as her cutie mark. I noticed that she had larger eyelashes compared to the other mares I had seen. 
"No, no, no." she said to herself as she looked at different ribbons. She had a very sophisticated voice, almost upper class like. "Oh! she exclaimed at one, "Goodness, no!"

Spike stared at her, his eyes having morphed into two hearts. "How are my spines?" he asked, "Are they straight?". I stared at her as well, but not because of her good looks. It was because her horn was glowing a blue aura, and the ribbons were actually floating.

"How is she doing that?" I asked Twilight, who gave me a funny look.

"Uuuhhh... it's magic." she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. They have magic as well? Actually, this fact didn't take me by surprise as much. I mean they had unicorns, pegasi, and dragons here; so why wouldn't they have magic?

As I pondered on this revelation, Twilight trotted over to the white mare, "Good afternoon." she began.

"Just a moment please," the white mare declared, "I'm in the zone, as it were!"

"Oh yes," she said as she tied a sparkling red ribbon to a wooden pole, "sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why Rarity, you are a talent!" So Rarity was here name? "Now, how can help you-Wahaha!" she screamed in horror as soon as she saw us, "Oh my stars, darlings! Whatever happened to your coiffures?!"

"Oh, you mean my mane?" Twilight asked, looking up at the crow's nest she had nestled on her head, "Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations and then I'll be out of your hair!"

"Out of my hair?" Rarity asked, "What about your hair?" She immediately came over and started pushing me and Twilight away somewhere.

"Wait, where are we going? Help!" Twilight yelped.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Personal space! Personal space!" I protested, but despite our pleas, she wasn't going to have it. As for Spike, he was too love struck to care about us as he followed behind.



Having a makeover is not the most masculine of things to do. Actually, a better way to say it is that anyone who heard that a guy had had a makeover with a couple of girls would immediately declare him gay. Thankfully, no one was around to see me as I had my hair brushed and I was forced to go through some extravagant outfits. Rarity had taken me and Twilight all the way from the town hall to the Carousel Boutique, which as it turned she owned, insisting that she fixed our manes and that she find us an outfit for the Summer Sun Celebration. Now that Rarity had finished with me, she had switched her assault of fashion onto Twilight.

"No, no, uh-uh." she rambled on as she had Twilight wear a vast assortment of different outfits, "Too green! Too yellow! Too poofy! Not poofy enough! Too frilly! Too shiny!". Finally, she placed Twilight in a white outfit with an emerald encrusted on the front. To be honest, it reminded me of both a saddle and a corset.

"Now go on my dear," Rarity said to Twilight, "You were telling me where you're from!". She started tugging onto the cords on the back of the outfit with her mouth.

"I've... been sent... from Canterlot... too..." Twilight managed to wheeze out, before Rarity suddenly released her grip and sent herself flying backwards.

"Canterlot?!" she cried, "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour! The sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there!" She then turned to me and asked, "And are from there as well good sir?"

Shit! What was I supposed to say? I could easily just be very vague like I did with the last one, but something told me that she wasn't going to be swayed by it. Looking at my options, I decided to do the one thing I could do in this situation: tell the truth.

"I'm from the UK." I replied.

Both Twilight and Rarity stared at me, arching their eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" Rarity inquired.

"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." I explained matter-of-factly, "Also known simply as the United Kingdom or just the UK." I added with a tone of finality.

"I've never heard of it." Twilight cut in.

"That's because it's very far away from Equestria." I said.

Rarity's face suddenly lit up with glee, "Oh, how marvellous!" she exclaimed, "A stallion all the away from another kingdom! You must simply tell me about the fashion you have there! I can't wait to hear all about it! We're going to be best friends, the three of us!" She noticed the emerald encrusted in Twilights outfit.

"Emeralds?! Oh, what was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" she declared before rushing off.

"Quick," Twilight said, running for the door, "before she decides to dye my coat a new colour!"



"Wasn't she wonderful?" Spike said dreamily, lying on Twilight's back following our 'escape' from Rarity's boutique.

"Focus Casanova." Twilight told him, "What's next on the list?"

"Oh! Music!" Spike read from the scroll in his claw, "It's the last one!". Suddenly, the three of us heard a beautiful chorus of birdsong. It sounded too organised for it to simply be birds though. Following its, we found a butter yellow pegasus with a strawberry mane and a cutie mark of three butterflies for her cutie mark hovering in front of a small tree. A number of birds were perched on the tree, which were chirping a beautiful tune. Suddenly one of them began to sing out of tune.

"Oh my." the pegasus said in a demure voice, "Stop please everyone". She flew up to the out of tune bird, "Excuse me sir? I mean no offence, but your rhythm is just a teeny tint bit off.". As she flew back to her previous position, she told them all, "Now, follow me please. A one. A two. A one, two, three..."

"Hello!" Twilight suddenly interrupted, causing the pegasus to gasp and her birds to scatter into the air.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry." She apologised, "I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check on the music and it sounded beautiful."

The pegasus landed on the ground in front of us, but didn't make any attempts at conversation, she just stood there staring at the ground, causing Twilight to start grinning nervously.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight introduced herself, but the pegasus still didn't reply, "What's your name?"

"Um... I'm..." the pegasus whispered. I couldn't hear what she said her name was, she was so quite.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked, clearly not hearing her.

"Um... my name is..." the pegasus mumbled again, even less audible than before.

"Didn't quite catch that." Twilight still couldn't hear her. 

This time, the pegasus just whimpered fearfully, hiding her face behind her mane.

"Let me give it a try." I told Twilight before trotting up to the pegasus. "Hey," I said in the softest voice I could muster, "it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The mare stopped hiding behind her mane and she started to look me, yet she still looked afraid.

"My name's James." I whispered to her, "What's yours?"

"Fluttershy." the mare said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear her.

"Fluttershy?" I asked, "Why that's a wonderful name." She blushed slightly at my complement, and her smile grew slightly. My mind was made up, I liked this girl!

"You're doing a great job with the music. I can't wait to hear it at the Celebration." I told her.

"Thank you." she murmured, her cheeks becoming a darker shade of red. I couldn't help but chuckle softly at Fluttershy's adorableness. By now, her birds had once again perched onto back the tree.

"Well," Twilight cut in, "it looks like  your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!". Fluttershy's only response was another whimper; she may have been okay with me, but it seemed that she still needed to get used to Twilight, "Ooookay." Twilight said awkwardly and began trotting off back to Spike.

I looked back at Fluttershy, "I've got to go." I told her. She simply gave me another smile. With those words in, I turned and trotted over back to Twilight, Spike.

"Well, that was quick." Twilight said as Spike walked up to her.

"A baby dragon!" Fluttershy suddenly exclaimed, rushing forward in front of Spike and sending Twilight flying. "I've never seen a baby dragon before! He's so cute!"

"Well, well, well!" Spike said cheekily at Twilight, folding his arms to give him a sense of importance.

"Oh my," Fluttershy said, "he talks! I didn't know dragons could talk! That's just so incredibly wonderful, I just don't even know what to say!" She began hovering in the air in delight.

Suddenly, Spike suddenly floated above her and onto her Twilight's lap. "Well, in that case we'd better be going!" she said, obviously wanting to get away as soon as possible. 

"Wait! Wait!" Fluttershy began following us closely, "What's his name?"

"I'm Spike!" Spike replied.

"Hi Spike, I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon. And what do dragons talk about?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Upon hearing this Twilight could only groan.

"Well," Spike began, "I started out as a cute little purple and green egg..."



By the time we arrived at the library, the sun was beginning to set, and Spike was still telling Fluttershy his life story to every last detail.

"And that's the story of my whole entire life!" Spike concluded, "Well, up until today! Do you want to hear about today?"

"Oh, yes please!" Fluttershy said sweetly. Suddenly, Twilight zoomed around to face her.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "how did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville, and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep!"

"No I don't!" Spike protested, but Twilight just kicked off her back sending him to the ground. Wow, that was a bit harsh.

"Aw, wook at that!" Twilight baby talked at him, "He's so sweepy he can't even keep his widdle bawance!"

"Poor thing." Fluttershy said, suddenly scooping Spike up into her hooves, "You simply must put him to bed!". She opened the door to the library and flew inside. Twilight suddenly dashed inside after her, pushing Fluttershy out of the door.

"Yes, yes." she said, "We'll get right on that. Well goodnight!". She slammed the door shut, leaving me and Fluttershy outside. I just gave Fluttershy a confused look before opening the door and following Twilight inside.

"Huh," Spike grunted, "rude much?"

"Sorry Spike," Twilight apologized, "but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and we're running out of time! I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time! Now where's the light?"

As if on cue, the light suddenly switched on, "SURPRISE!" yelled an enormous crowd of ponies that surrounded the three of us. The resulting shock nearly gave me a heart attack!

"Surprise!" a pink mare yelled out in front of us. Why did she look so familiar? Suddenly, it clicked in my mind. She was the strange one we ran into when we first landed in Ponyville!

"I'm Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh-huh-huh?"

"Very surprised!" Twilight exclaimed, "Libraries are supposed to be quiet!"

"Oh that's silly!" Pinkie declared, "What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh, bo-ring. You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all, hello, and I was all," she gasped dramatically, "remember? You see I never saw you before, and if I never saw you before that means you're new, 'cause I know every pony, and I mean every pony in Ponyville, and if you're new, then it meant you haven't met anyone yet," she continued to blabber on as Twilight began pouring herself a drink, "and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad, and I had an idea, and that's why I went," she gasped dramatically again, "'I'll just throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville'. See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!" As she said all this, Twilight began drinking her drink and Pinkie was surrounded by the five other mares Twilight and I had met today.

Twilight eyes widened, and she turned around to face us. Her cheeks were burning red, and her eyes were watering. "Are you alright sugercube?" AJ asked with concern. Steam suddenly came out of Twilights ears, her mane caught fire, and she suddenly rushed up the stairs.

"Aw," Pinkie cooed, "she's so happy she's crying!". As Twilight ran up the stairs, I glanced at the bottle Twilight had poured her drink from.

"Hot sauce." I read from the label. Suddenly, Pinkie grabbed the bottle with her hooves (I'm not going to debate how because it won't get me anywhere!") and poured the contents onto a cupcake, which she proceeded to eat.



It had been quite a while since the party went underway, and to be honest, I wasn't enjoying it one bit. I hated parties. They were too loud, too many things went on at once, and the party host was as annoying as hell in this particular case! It was official, I didn't like Pinkie. She was annoying, naive, and extremely simple minded. That's why I decided to ditch the party and go upstairs to check on Twilight.

I knocked on the door politely, "What is it?" I heard Twilight's irritated voice ask. I opened the door and found her lying on her bed.

"Hey," I said softly, "you okay?"

"No!" she snapped back at me, "All the ponies in this town are CRAZY! Do you know what time it is?!"

"Apparently, we're all trying to stay up till midnight so we can see the Princess raise the sun." I answered. To be honest, the idea that she could raise the Sun made no sense to me. Like any other human, I was taught about how the Earth spun on its axis and all that, you know what I mean. I really wanted to ask how this worked, but I didn't think Twilight  was in the mood to answer. Besides, she probably wouldn't know anyway.

Twilight lay on her back, "Here I thought I'd have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony, but silly me! All this ridiculous friend making has kept me from it!" she said sarcastically, turning around to face the window.

"The Elements of Harmony?" I asked her, "What are they?"

"Oh they're nothing major," she said, her voice still coated with sarcasm, "just the very things needed to stop Equestria from eternal night!"

Now, I'd had enough. Of her vagueness, of her rudeness. I wanted answers, and now I was going to get them.

"What the hell is your problem?" I demanded, causing her to turn and face me, "You've been shooting me down every time I tried asking you! Why?"

"What's it to you anyway?" she retorted back.

"If you think it's more important than overseeing preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, than it's  got to be something important! Am I right?"

"Why do you even want to know?!"

I sighed, letting all of my anger go before answering. "I can tell that this is eating at you." I said softly, "If you tell me, maybe it will help"

Twilight stared at me, her eyes filled with anger and frustration. We just stood there, like two duellists waiting to see with one made the first move. Finally, Twilight gave off a huge sigh; not an annoyed one like previously, but a sad one.
"Alright," she said quietly, "you win, I'll tell you."

This caused me to become concerned, yet I didn't know why. I'd only met Twilight today, so why did I suddenly fell very concerned about her well being? I mean I wasn't heartless, I would have been concerned if anyone was sad, but not in the way I felt now. When I saw her sad, It made me feel sad. Why was I feeling like this...?

"1000 years ago, Equestria was ruled two regal sisters who brought peace and harmony to all the land." Twilight said, snapping me out of my train of thought. "The eldest would raised the sun and bring forth the day, while the younger sister raised the moon and ushered in the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects. But as time went on, the younger sister grew resentful. While ponies relished and played through the day her elder sister brought forth, they shunned and slept through her beautiful night.". Okay, I could see where this was going, "Then one fateful day, the younger sister refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young ones heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon! She vowed to shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic know to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility, for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since."

Okay, now that answered a lot of questions. It was one of them 'return of an ancient evil' scenario wasn't it? "Let me guess," I said, having remained quite throughout her story, "you think that she's going to return don't you?"

"She will," Twilight said, turning to window and staring out into the night sky, "It is said that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night!"

"And that's tonight isn't it?" I inquired, turning my head round to face her.

"I know it is!" Twilight insisted, "It has to be and I have to stop it, but I don't know what to do!" 

Now normally, I'd have been like anyone else and say that she was crazy. However, after seeing ponies talk, use magic, and having learned that the Princess rose the sun and moon, who was I to not believe her? It weren't just that though. For some reason, I felt... compelled to believe her, like I had to for some reason. Why was I feeling like this?

"There's only one thing that we can do Twilight." I found myself saying.

"I know it sound ridiculous," Twilight began, "and you don't have to..." she stopped and stared at me, her eyes widening, "Wait... you believe me?!"

"I do," I replied, "and I want to help you stop this. But there's only one thing that we can do right now."

"Really?" Twilight asked hopefully, "Then what do we do?"

"We wait." I replied simply. Twilight's eyes widened again, this time not in shock, but anger.

"WHAT!?" she snapped, "What good is waiting going to do!? We'd just be wasting time trying to find a way to stop Nightmare Moon from bringing upon eternal night!"

"Think about it Twilight." I said, my tone calm yet serious, "We don't know anything about this enemy, and she hasn't even made a move yet. The best we can do is wait for her to strike, then form a plan to stop her."

Twilight stayed silent, letting this information sink in. She sighed reluctantly and said, "Your right. We can't do anything else right now. We'll just have to follow your plan and hope for the best."

I nodded thoughtfully and turned around to leave. I'd invaded her privacy long enough.

"Hey," I heard Twilight call out. I turned to face her again, and saw gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you," she said softly, "for believing me James."

I was caught off guard by this. In the short time I'd known her, this was the first time I'd heard her address me by my name. Looking into her eyes, a strange feeling washed over me. I felt... warm... happy. I'd never felt these emotions in such a way before in my life. Looking into her eyes, I found myself thinking, they were beautiful eyes...

"Come on, you two!" a voice cried out, snapping me out of my train of thought. Looking over to its source, I saw Spike standing through the door. "It's time to watch the sun rise!"

Looking back to Twilight, I smiled warmly. "Come on." I said, "Let's go."

As we headed out of the room back downstairs, I could have sworn I heard Twilight say, "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is an old ponies tale."



Everypony was gathered in the town hall. They all seemed excited, but to be honest, I was on the edge. Standing next to me was Twilight, who had Spike mounted on her back. The thought of the return of Nightmare Moon really had me on the edge. Wow, is it hot in here?

"Isn't this exciting?" an energetic voice asked out of nowhere. Pinkie Pie had suddenly appeared next to Twilight and was speaking mile a minute. "Are you excited? Because I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went" she gasped dramatically for the third time today, "But I mean really, who can top that?"

"Pinkie," I said to her irritably, "do you ever consider keeping your mouth shut for once? It would make everyone else happier." Jeez, she was annoying.

Before she could respond, the sound of conducted bird song filled the hall. I looked up and saw Fluttershy conducting her birds to sing. A spotlight shone down over a middle aged mare with a grey mane wearing a pair of glasses with a golden rim.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts," she annouced, "as the Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"

Everypony in the room cheered in delight. If only they knew...

"In just a few moments," the mayor continued, "our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land; the very pony who gives the moon each and every day, to good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria: Princess Celestia!"
With those words, the curtains on the top balcony opened up to reveal... nothing. Everypony started chattering in confusion at this unperceived event.

"This can't be good." Twilight said. I couldn't help but agree with her, something was definitely up.

"Remain calm everypony," the mayor declared, yet her voice seemed to falter, "there must be a reasonable explanation..."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie interrupted, "I love guessing games! Is she hiding?"

Rarity walked up onto the balcony. She must have been the one to open the curtians.

"She's gone!" She exclaimed. Everypony in the room gasped in horror.

"Ooh, she's good!" Pinkie said. She looked up the balcony, and suddenly screamed in shock. Looking up I saw a black starry mist begin to form out of nowhere.

"Oh no!" Twilight whispered. The mist suddenly departed, revealing the most menacing looking pony I had ever seen.

"Nightmare Moon!" Twilight exclaimed as Spike fainted and fell of her lap.

Nightmare Moon had a jet black coat, her eyes were completely blue and her pupils were cat like slits. She wore a set of blue armour around her body, and her mane was the same as the starry blue mist she appeared from. Heck was it even her mane? What really caught my attention was the fact that she had both wings and a horn, which I hadn't seen on any other pony I'd seen. Overall, she was a truly intimidating figure to behold.

"Ah, my beloved subjects!" she declared, looking down on the ponies below her, "It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun loving faces!"

"What did you do to our Princess!?" I heard Rainbow Dash demand. She took flight, but was stopped by AJ holding on to her by the tail... with her mouth for that matter.

"Whoa there nelly!" she said as she struggled against Rainbow, who was trying to free herself from AJ's grip.

Nightmare Moon just chuckled darkly, "Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" she demanded.

"Ooh! ooh! More guessing games!" Pinkie cried out, "Uh... Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No... Black Snooty! Black Snooty...!". Before she could continue endangering her chances of survival, AJ quickly shoved an apple in her mouth. That girl was never going to see the big picture was she?

"Does my crown no longer count now that I've been imprisoned for 1000 years" Nightmare Moon demanded at Flutterhsy, causing her birds to scatter. "Did you not recall the legend?" She turned to Rarity, "Did you not see the signs?"

"I did!" Twilight shouted boldly, "And I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon!" Everypony gasped in horror at the revelation.

"Well, well, well." Nightmare Moon said, a hint of amusement evident in her voice, "Somepony who remembers me! And what's this?" she asked, turning her gaze directly at me, "A human!"

I froze in shock, maybe even horror. She knew what I really was?! But how?! It's impossible! This couldn't be right!

"W-what are you...?" I managed to stammer out before Nightmare Moon interrupted me.

"Do not lie human!" she shouted, "I know what you are! Even in the body of a pony, I can easily see that you are not what you appear to be!"

"James?" I heard Twilight ask, "What is she talking about?"

"Let me ask you, the both of you." Nightmare Moon said, now sharing her gaze with Twilight, "Do you know why I am here?"

"You're here too... too..." Twilight faltered, too scared to finish her sentence

"Remember this day little ponies," Nightmare Moon chuckled, "for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night... will last... forever!"

With those words, she laughed. Me and Twilight could only stand in horror at the terrifying marvel. I knew we had to stop her, but how...?

To be continued...

> Friendship is Magic part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friendship is Magic part 2

I was transfixed. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there as Nightmare Moon laughed and declared eternal night. That wasn't what had left me speechless though. How did she know that I was human? How did she even know humans existed? I would have continued asking myself questions like this if the mayor hadn't snapped me out of my shock induced trance.

"Seize her!" she shouted to a group of guards, "Only she knows where the princess is!"

I could only watch in horror as the guards took flight and advanced towards Nightmare Moon. What were they thinking?! When an ancient evil appears, the last thing you want to do is try to fight it!

"Stand back you foals!" Nightmare Moon shouted. Her eyes glowed pure white. As the guards got close to her, they were struck back by lightning. With that, Nightmare Moon surrounded herself in the starry mist, which proceeded to slither out of the doors leading outside. As everypony in the room ran around in panic, Rainbow Dash broke free of AJ's grip and flew after it. 

Somepony tapped me on the shoulder. Turning round, I saw Twilight motioning at me to follow her before galloping off outside. I immediately galloped after her, towards the library.



We'd placed Spike in his basket, where he was now sleeping soundly.

"We gotta stop Nightmare...!" he murmured before slipping back off to sleep. I had to admit, it was kinda cute watching the kid sleep like that.

Twilight placed a blanket over him, "You've been up all night Spike" she said, "You are a baby dragon after all.". Turning out the light, we moved downstairs and started looking for clues regarding the elements.

"Elements, elements, elements. Ugh!" Twilight groaned, "How are we going to stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"

"And just what are the Elements of Harmony?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, flying in from nowhere and shoving her face into Twilight's, "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon huh? Are you a spy?". Before she could accuse Twilight of anything else, she was pulled back by AJ, who held her by the mouth (again). 

"Simmer down sally!" AJ declared, "They ain't no spies!". She, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy began to approach us, "But they sure do know what's going on, don't ya you two?"

There was a short pause before Twilight opened her mouth and explained.

"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 where they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do!"

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." Pinkie suddenly said, staring at book on one of the shelves. Twilight suddenly ran up, pushing Pinkie aside.

"How did find that?" Twilight asked in amazement.

"It was under 'E'!" Pinkie trilled in a sing song voice. Twilight just deadpanned before grabbing the book with her magic. She was about to open it, but Rainbow suddenly cut in.

"Wait a minute!" she shouted out, breaking Twilight's concentration and  causing her to drop the book. She pointed at me accusingly, "When Nightmare Moon showed up, she went and called you a 'human'. What did she mean by that?"

Everypony in the room now had their eyes fixed on me. I felt terrified, like you always feel when your backed in an unpleasant corner. There was no way I could lie my way out of this one. Time to come clean.

"Alright." I began, knowing that this probably wouldn't end well, "I guess you all deserve to know anyway. As some of you already know, I'm not from around here, but not just Equestria.". Everypony in the room was staring at me, their eyes filled with confusion.

"This probably sounds crazy," I continued, "but I'm not from this world. Heck I may not even be from this dimension! And I'm certainly not a pony. I'm what is called a human, a race of mammals descended from the apes.". Everypony kept staring at me, their eyes full of surprise and shock as they let this information sink in.

"But... You said you were from the United Kingdom!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yeah," I replied, "I do live in the UK. Only thing is, it's back on Earth, my home planet."

Rarity's jaw dropped open in shock. "I told you it was far away from Equestria didn't I!" I said sarcastically. Technically I had told her the truth when she asked, I just didn't given her all of the details.

*WHAM!*

Suddenly, I found myself lying on the library's hard wooden floor, looking up at an angry cyan coloured pegasus.

"I knew it!" Rainbow snarled, "You're nothing but a no good, lousy alien! Well guess what chump, If you think that you can just come here and take over our planet, then you've got another thing coming!"

"Rainbow Dash! Get off him!" Twilight suddenly demanded. Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise as she turned her head towards Twilight.

"What?" she asked in shock, "Twilight, you can't be serious! This guy is an alien! We can't trust him!"

"He said that he would help stop Nightmare Moon!" Twilight argued, "I believe him. You don't have to, but I trust him and I say that he comes with us!"

Rainbow Dash paused, then began looking back and forth between me and Twilight. Finally, she narrowed her eyes and moved away, allowing me to stand back up.

"Alright." she growled, "I'm letting this one fly, but if you try anything funny, I'll buck your flank so hard you'll fly all the way back to your home planet!"

"Duly noted." I replied dryly. Rainbow simply sneered at me with distrust. I turned my attention over to Twilight, trotting up to her.

"You believe me?" I asked her, genuinely surprised at the fact she just defended me like that.

"Yes." she nodded, "I don't know why, but I feel as though I can... trust you."

"Trust an alien?" Rainbow cut in, her voice etched with sarcasm, "That's one of the worst mistakes anypony could make."

Ignoring her, I was compelled by what Twilight had said. How she trusted me. It made me feel... happy. The same happy from before. I mean, I felt happy around the people I cared for, like my friends for example. I also felt happy when I was around family, that's always a good time...

Oh my god, my family!

How could I have forgotten about them?! With everything that had happened, I hadn't had time to think about them, let alone how they must be feeling now! Mum would be hysterical when she woke up and saw that my bed was empty and that I was nowhere in the house! I... I couldn't believe myself. My family meant everything to me, and now I just felt so far away from them...

"James?" I heard Twilight's voice ask me, snapping me out of my trance. I felt tears roll down my face. My breathing was shaky. I turned to face Twilight again, her eyes staring back at me with concern.

"Are you alright?"

Silence filled the room for a few seconds before I opened my mouth to answer.

"I'll... I'll be fine." I reassured her, "Come on, what does the book say?".

Twilight picked up the book once more and opened it with her magic. "There are six Elements of Harmony," she read, "but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty.  The sixth is a complete mystery."

"It is said," she continued, "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!" everypony declared in fright.



By now, we were standing in front of the said forest. Looking at it, it was pretty creepy, like the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter. Strangely, as we stood there, the girls had said 'the Everfree Forest' again, in pretty much the exact same way they had said it back in the library.

"Wee!" Pinkie squealed, "Let's go!". She began trotting towards the forest.

"Not so fast!" Twilight suddenly declared, causing Pinkie to stop in her tracks "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."

"What?" I asked aloud, "Twilight, I promised you that I'd help stop Nightmare Moon if she returned." I said, looking her dead in the eyes, "I don't go back on my promises, and I'm sure as hell not letting you go through this alone!"

"He's right sugercube!" AJ cut in, "We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours walk into that creepy place alone!". Twilight's face shifted uncomfortably at being called a friend. "We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple." AJ continued as she and the other girls began to trot inside.

"Especially if there's candy apples in their!" Pinkie suddenly declared. All I could do was give her a deadpan look over what she had just said. "What?" she asked innocently, beginning to continue inside the forest "Those things are good!"

Twilight let out a sigh. "Come on." I said, beginning to follow the others. Twilight trotted after me as we entered the dark forest. 



"So, none of you have been here before." Twilight asked the girls.

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

"And it ain't natural!" AJ cut in, as we walked towards the edge of a cliff, "Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria!"
"Wh- what's that supposed mean?" Twilight stammered, her voice etched with fear.

"No pony knows." said Rainbow Dash in a spooky voice, emerging from the shadows. "You know why?" she asked as she advanced towards me, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Rainbow!" AJ scolded, "Quit it!"

"Cause everypony who's ever come in," Rainbow said, continuing her advance, "has never... come... OUT!"

The next thing I knew, we were all sliding down the cliff, screaming. edge had suddenly collapses underneath us, and now me and Twilight were hanging on to the edge for dear life.

"Hold on!" I heard AJ's voice call out. I looked up and saw her sliding towards us. "Ah'ma comin'!" she said as she grabbed us by her hooves (again, I have no idea how they do that!).

"Applejack!" Twilight cried out, "What do we do?!". AJ was silent for a moment, before she opened to give her answer: 

"Let go." 

"WHAT!?" I yelled.

"Are you crazy!?" Twilight demanded.

"No ah ain't." AJ reassured us, "Ah promise you'll both be safe."

"That's not true!" Twilight protested.

"Now listen here," AJ told us, "what a'hm saying to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe." Twilight and I stared at her, but she just returned with a reassuring smile.

"If I die AJ," I told her, "then I'm coming back to haunt you!"

We let go of her hooves, letting ourselves plummet to our certain dooms.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the both of us screamed, when suddenly, I felt myself halt mid-fall. I opened my eyes. Fluttershy was holding me, while Rainbow Dash had Twilight. Me and Twilight both breathed a sigh of relief, before Fluttershy suddenly dropped down slightly.

"Oh, sorry James." she apologised, beginning to descend at a more steadily pace, "I'm not used to carrying anything more than a bunny or two.". As we descended, I noticed AJ jumping down the outcrops on the cliff. 

"First things first!" I declared as soon as Fluttershy placed me on the ground. I immediately turned to her and wrapped my hooves around her tightly. I heard her give a small "meep!" as I did so. A minute passed and I let go of her, her cheeks now burning red.

"That," I said, "was for saving my life."



"And once Pinkie and Rarity were safe, WHOOSH!" Rainbow bragged, "Me and Fluttershy looped-the-loop around and WHOOM! Got you two right in the nick of time!"

"Yes Rainbow, I was there;" Twilight responded, "and I'm very grateful, but we gotta..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of a foot hitting the ground cut her off. She gasped as she saw what stood before us. I couldn't believe what I was looking at either. At first glance, you would have thought it was a lion, but it was anything but that. On its back sprouted a pair of large, leathery wings; and its tail belonged to a scorpion if anything.

"A manitcore!" Twilight cried out in horror. The beast reared up, giving off a terrifying roar. "We've got to get passed him!" Twilight declared. 

Now if you think I was going to stand valiantly with them to fight this terrifying beast... then you're wrong. You couldn't be wronger. While the girls were riled up and ready to go, I just dived into a pair the bushes and hope that I didn't smell too tasty. That's right, laugh at the big chicken, but ask yourself: If you were faced with a monster that would very likely rip you to shreds, what would you do? And so from my little hidey hole, I just sat and watched this little event play out.

The manticore pounced towards Rarity, prepared  to swipe her with its sharp looking claws. However, just as it was about to make contact with her, she ducked her head and immediately bucked it in the face.

"Take that you ruffian!" she taunted. The creature roared in her face in response, messing up her mane. "My hair!" she cried out in horror, before noticing the manticore still standing there and promptly rushing off, the beast chasing after her.

"Wait!" I heard a faint voice say. Definitely Fluttershy's voice, but I don't think any of the other girls heard it. Suddenly, the manticore stopped and looked up to see AJ standing on its head.

"Yeehaw!" she cried, "Get along little doggy!"

"Wait!" I heard Fluttershy say again, as the manticore leaped all over the place in an attempt to shake AJ of its head. Eventually it was able to send her flying.

"All yours partner." I heard her say to Rainbow.

"I'm on it!" was Rainbows response, before zooming towards the beast.

Once again, I heard Fluttershy's timid plea, "Wait!" 

Rainbow Dash circled around the manticore so quickely that she was just a rainbow coloured blur. Unfortunately for her, t beast was able to swat her away with its scorpion tail.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out in horror and concern. The pony landed in front of her. As she got up, the manticore dragged its paw across the ground in a threatening manner. The girls responded with the exact same gesture. My eyes widened in horror. They weren't going to... they were.

Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie and Rainbow galloped towards manticore (or in Pinkie's case, bounced). I closed my eyes. I couldn't watch. I sat there cowering in the bushes and waited for it all to end. Hopefully, the beast wouldn't find me.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" a voice suddenly shouted out. My eyes shot open, and there was Fluttershy, of all people (err, ponies), standing between the other girls and the manticore. She trotted up to the manticore, no sign of fear or hesitation whatsoever, and the beast raised its paw as if about to strike her. Me and the rest of the girls braced ourselves, but instead...

"Shhh. It's okay." Fluttershy cued gently, nuzzling the beast's paw. The beast suddenly pulled a sad looking face, and let out it's paw to her, revealing a huge thorn sticking out of it.

"Oh you, poor, poor little baby" she said sympathetically.

"Little?!" Rainbow asked in disbelief to no one in particular.

"Now this may hurt for just a second" Fluttershy went on, before taking the thorn with her mouth and pulling it out of the manticores paw. The beast immediately grabbed her and viscously roared in her face.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight and AJ yelled in horror. I couldn't watch this. Not someone as sweet as her! But instead of ripping her to shreads or anything like that, the manticore just licked her affectionately, like dog to its master.

"Oh, you're just a little old kitty aren't you? Yes you are. Yes you are." she giggled as the other girls trotted past. I didn't want to be left alone, so I this was the best time for me to come out of the bushes and go after them. As the others went onwards, Twilight stopped and turned back to Fluttershy.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't." Fluttershy answered, her mane stuck up from the creatures lick, "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness."



"My eyes need a rest from all this icky much" Rarity shuddered as we went deeper into the forest. The trees now very closely together, blotting out the light that the moon provided.

"Well I didn't mean that literally." she muttered to herself.

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it!" Twilight said, as the girls began bickering to each other over where they were.

"Oh wait," AJ said, "Ah think ah stepped in somethin'."

Suddenly, Fluttershy screamed in fright.

"It's just mud." AJ declared, before she bumped into a tree. Looking at it, she screamed as well, leaping away from it. What I saw on the tree truly startled me. A twisted, frightening looking face on the trunk, and the lower branches adding effect by looking like arms. Now I'll say again, this startled me, but nothing more. The girls... well... that's a different story. The sudden screams nearly gave me a heart attack.

Suddenly, we all picked up a sound. A sound that wasn't screaming. In fact, it was the total opposite. It was... laughter. Standing in front of one of the trees, Pinkie Pie was laughing gleefully and pulling silly faces.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!" Twilight asked bewildered "Run!"

"Oh girls, don't you see?" Pinkie asked, before suddenly doing the most horrible thing she could think of doing. She did something so evil, so inhumanely cruel, that it haunts me to this very day.

"When I was a little filly and the sun was going down..."  she started singing.

"Tell me she's not.." Twilight began.

"The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown..." Pinkie interrupted her with her song.

"She is." Rarity answered Twilight's inquiry, as Pinkie continued her singing.

"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 asked. Pinkie answered with more singing (what else?). 

"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!"


She laughed at one of the trees, causing the scary face to disappear. We were all shocked at what just happened, our mouths hanging open.

"So, giggle at the ghostly" Fluttershy began to laugh at one of the scary trees, causing the it's scary face to disappear.
"Guffaw at the grossly" Then Rainbow.
"Crack up at the creepy" And Rarity.
"Whoop it up with the weepy" Now AJ.
"Chortle at the kooky" Even Twilight.
"Snortle at the spooky" Now it was my turn, and I would have laughed... if it was funny. Instead, all the other girls laughed in my place.
"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...
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuugh!"


As Pinkie finished the last line of the song, all of the trees lost their scary faces, and she fell beside Twilight as the 6 girls laughed their hearts out. I just stood there watching. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Just watching them laughing made me feel angry. How could they just lay back and laugh at a time like this? 

"Really!?" I demanded as they continued laughing, "This is what you girls are doing!?"

My little outburst had now caught the girls attention, and they immediately stopped laughing and turned to face me.

"In case you weren't aware," I said disapprovingly, "we still need to stop some crazy mare who wants to bring about eternal night!"

"Oh come on Jamesey!" Pinkie said, trotting up to me with a smile etched on her face, "Can't you take a joke?"

"Pinkie," I said, making my agitation clear, "that was not funny. A man complaining about a dead parrot is funny! A lumberjack singing about how he dresses up as a woman is funny! The Spanish Inquisition is funny! What you just did was so childish and immature that it's pathetic! So forgive me if I don't see the funny side of all this, but we have a world to save! If you just want to screw around here and leave the grown-ups to do all the work, then go ahead, but leave me out of it!". Wow, that felt good, just yelling at someone as pathetic and annoying as her. "Now, can we please get back to finding the Elements of Harmony?" I asked irritably. 

There was a good moment of silence from the girls, just staring at me, unsure who was going to be the first to say anything. Suddenly, Pinkie just burst out laughing again, and was quickly followed by the others. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Geez, that pink pony was annoying.



I plodded on behind as the others as we walked onward. They were still laughing as they trotted ahead. I didn't really care that I was falling behind. I was too caught up in my own thoughts to really notice.

After we had done it, defeated the evil and saved the world and all that palaver, what was going to happen to me? How was I going to get back home? These questions kept circling around my head, but as hard as I searched, I couldn't any answers in there. So the questions just kept asking themselves over and over again, until I ended up walking right into something in front of me. Looking up, it turned out I had ran right into Fluttershy's behind. She and the other girls were staring at a rapid flowing river right in front of them, far too dangerous to swim across.

"How are going to cross this?" Pinkie asked. As if to answer her question, the faint sound of wailing caught our ears. It sounded masculine, but it also incredibly effeminate. Turning towards the source, there was a large serpent up the river, thrashing its tail as it wailed in distress.

"What a world!" the serpent wailed, "What a world!"

"Excuse me sir," Twilight called out, "why are you crying?"

"Well, I don't know!" the serpent answered, "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this... tacky little cloud of purple smoke just... whizzed past me, and tore half of my beloved moustache...clean off!". "And now," he went on, "I look simply horrid!", before letting himself fall into the river with a splash, causing the seven of us to become soaked from the tidal wave he created.

Okay, it was official, this guy was gay. The bad sort of gay. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against gay people personally. It's their business and not mine. At the end of the day, they're just normal, healthy guys... dykes on the over hand are evil!

"Oh, gimmie a break." Rainbow muttered.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" AJ asked irritably.

"Why, of course it is!" Rarity exclaimed, trotting up towards the moping serpent, "How can you be so insensitive?". "Look at him," she continued, "Such lovely luminescent scales!"

"I know." the serpent moped.

"Your expertly quaffed mane!" Rarity pointed out.

"Oh, I know, I know!" The serpent said.

"Your fabulous manicure!" she added.

"It's so true!" the serpent gasped.

"All ruined without your beautiful moustache!" Rarity said sadly.

"It's true!" the serpent wailed, "I'm hideous!"

"I simply cannot let this crime against fabulousity go uncorrected!" Rarity declared, narrowing her eyes. With that, she grabbed one of the serpent's scales with her mouth and pulled it out.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, "What did you do that for?"

Rarity held up the scale, still in her mouth, which then gleamed that gleam you'd get from a knife or any other sharp object.

"Rarity what are you...?" Twilight asked, only to be cut off by a one clean SLASH! The serpent once again wailed and collapsed.

But no, Rarity hadn't done anything to him, it was more about what she did to herself. She had used the scale to cut her own tail off, which she then levitated with her magic and attached it to the end of the serpent's moustache.
He laughed a laugh that was filled to the brim with delight. 

"My moustache!" he exclaimed, "How wonderful!"

"You look smashing!" Rarity complimented.

"Oh, Rarity." Twilight said sadly, "Your beautiful tail!"

"Oh, it's fine my dear." she brushed off, "Short tails are in this season! Besides, it will grow back.". Me and Twilight both smiled. You don't often see someone being this generous, especially to a complete stranger.

"So would the moustache." Rainbow muttered, snapping me and Twilight out of our trances.

"We can cross now!" the former called out, beginning to cross the river. "Let's go... Uuaahh!" she yelped in surprise as the serpent's tail raised her up from the water.

"Allow me!" he gestured before diving into the water, allowing us to use his coiled tail to cross the river as if they were stepping stones.

Still never saw the big deal about his moustache, but the point is that we managed to cross the river and press forward.



Finally, the seven of us walked up to a truly welcoming sight.

"There it is!" Twilight cried out, "The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony! We made it!". She began galloping forwards, towards the ancient castle.

"Twilight!" AJ called after her, "wait for us!"

"Were almost there!" Twilight called out. Suddenly, her body jolted down. Her hind legs were now the part of her that was on solid ground, the rest of her body teetering over the edge of a steep cliff.

"Twilight!" I called out, quickly diving over to her and grabbing her tail with my hooves. I expected it to be a hard time pulling her up, but she was actually quite light.

"What's it with you and falling off clips today?" Rainbow asked her, "And why didn't you just use your mouth?" she directed to me.

"What?" I asked, "Bite a woman? What sort of person do you take me as?". Twilight smiled before turning her head away from us. Was it just me, or did her cheeks suddenly seem more rosy for split second?

"Whatever." Rainbow muttered.

"Now what?" Pinkie sighed as we looked down the edged of the cliff, unable to see what was at the bottom due to a thick mist. The bridge connecting to the other side was hanging only on one side, leaving us no alternative to cross.
"Duh." Rainbow said, shaking her wings.

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie realised as Rainbow took off and dived down the cliff. She rose back up, holding on to the other side of the bridge with her mouth, before flying over to the other side. You would think that tying it on the to the rock to keep is steady would be a quick job, but for some reason she was taking quite a while to do so.

"Rainbow!" Twilight called out, "What's taking so long?". I looked over to the other side, and my eyes widened in shock. Rainbow was standing there talking to three ponies, wearing dark coloured racing suits.

"Oh no, Rainbow!" Twilight called out to her, "Don't listen to them!". Suddenly, the mist began to thicken, until we were unable to see what was going on at the other side of the cliff.

I hate to admit it, but for the few seconds that followed, I was actually worried about Rainbow. I mean, all she had done to me up to that point was shower me in distrust. I knew she didn't like me, so why would I feel concerned about her safety?
However, my doubts were erased, when Rainbow flew through the fog and landed in front of us. The girls cheered for her as we began to cross the now stable bridge.

"Good job Rainbow!" Twilight said.

"See?" Rainbow declared, "I'd never leave my friends hanging!"

We reached the other side of the cliff and began heading towards the ruined castle. As I followed the girls, I started feeling that same feeling from before. It was the same feeling I felt back at the library.

Why was this happening? Why was I feeling like this?



Walking into the ancient ruin, standing in front of us a tall stone structure, with five stone orbs attached to it.

"Whoa." AJ (I'm guessing?) said in awe, "Come on Twilight, isn't this what you been waitin' for?"

"The Elements of Harmony!" Twilight declared, "We found them!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up and grabbed the orb with their hooves.

"Careful." Twilight instructed as they place the orbs onto the ground, "Careful."

"One, two, three, four..." Pinkie counted, "There's only five."

"Where's the sixth?" Rainbow asked.

"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?", AJ asked.

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea." Twilight answered, crouching on the floor, "Stand back! I don't know what will happen!". She closed her eyes in concentration as her horn began to glow.

"Come on y'all." AJ told the others, who were now following her out through the door, "She needs to concentrate."

My eyes widened in surprise. They were just leaving her? Just like that? I understood how they thought Twilight needed to concentrate, but to me, this was a bad idea. Leaving her alone just didn't seem right... Wait a minute, what was that thing in the corner of my eye?

I turned and gasped in horror. It was the dark blue starry mist I saw earlier, when Nightmare Moon vanished from the town hall. They began to circle around the stone orbs, which began levitating as the mist turned into a tornado.

"Twilight!" I called out, causing Twilight to open her eyes.

"Ah!" she cried out in shock, "The Elements!"

Suddenly, she leaped forward towards the tornado, disappearing inside it.

"No!" I found myself yelling. The next thing I knew, I leapt in after her! I have no idea why. What the hell was I thinking?! It just happened, as if it were instinct, that's the best reason I can come up with.

There was a bright flash of white, and I found myself lying next to Twilight, the both of us coughing. We looked up and gasped at what we saw. There was Nightmare Moon, with lightening and all, standing before us, the elements levitating around her.

Then, Twilight did something I really didn't expect her to do. She entered an aggressive stance and began to stamp her hoof on the ground.

"You're kidding." Nightmare Moon deadpanned, "You're kidding, right?"

With that, Twilight charged towards her, her horn glowing as she galloped. What the hell was she thinking?! Did she want to die?! Actually, of course she didn't, but she'd probably want to run away even less.

Then I did something I didn't expect myself to do. I actually began galloping with her, and I had no idea why! Nightmare Moon was right in front of us, getting closer and closer. Then, just right before we were about to collide, Twilight vanished in a flash of light, leaving me on my own.

*WHAM!*

My body flew through the air. I felt an explosion of pain coming from my chest, as I came into contact with the ground. My whole body felt numb. I could barely move. Everything was blurred.

"James!" Twilight's voice echoed into my ear, "Are you alright?!". Looking the sound's direction, I could make out a lavender coloured blur in the distance.

"I'll be fine." I managed out, "Just do whatever you've got to do!"

With that, I turned my attention towards Nightmare Moon, who bared down on me with a loathing expression across her face.

"How?" I asked her, "How do you know what I am?"

Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. "You want to know how I know human?" she asked, "I have seen your race before. So proud and self righteous. Thinking that you could enslave us and treat us like mere animals! Your kind got what they deserved!". She then proceeded laugh, before turning her attention back to Twilight, who seemed to be focusing her magic on the Elements. The dark  mist enveloped her, which then flew towards Twilight, as she materialised in front of her. I could only watch this little event unfold, too weak to rise to my feet.

Suddenly, Twilight was blown backwards landing, a few feet away from Nightmare Moon. However, the elements suddenly started glowing.

"No!" Nightmare Moon shouted in defiance, "No!"

I started  to smile. We'd done it! We'd actually done it! The elements continued to glow, and suddenly... they stopped.
Twilight and I gasped in horror, "But, where's the sixth element?!" Twilight asked as Nightmare Moon cackled. She raised her front hooves into the air and sent them crashing down,  causing the orbs to shatter like glass. Me and Twilight could only watch in horror as the shards fell in little pieces to the ground.

"You little foals," Nightmare Moon declared, "thinking you could defeat me! Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last... forever!". She cackled once again, as Twilight could only watch in horror and despair.

"And now," Nightmare Moon continued, slowly advancing on the petrified Twilight, "I'm afraid your time is up!". Twilight did nothing as Nightmare Moon's horn glowed with energy, a murderous glint evident in her eyes.

Oh no. Twilight! She wasn't going to stand a chance against Nightmare Moon! I tried as hard as I could to stand up, but the pain was too much for me to handle. No matter how hard I tried to, I just couldn't do it. I lay there helplessly, unable to do anything. I was useless, unable to do anything. I'd failed her...

Wait, what the hell was I thinking!? Didn't I say something earlier at the forest entrance?

"Twilight, I promised you that I'd help you stop Nightmare Moon if she returned. I don't go back on my promises, and I'm sure as hell not letting you go through this alone!"

I'd made it this far hadn't I? Why should I give up now? Twilight was depending on me right now! I couldn't let her down now!

Summoning all of my strength, I pulled myself up, ignoring the searing pain, and managed to get up on my hooves. As Nightmare Moon's horn began charging up more energy, my body just reacted. I ran as fast as I  could towards her and Twilight. Everything around me seemed to slow down as I moved closer and closer.

And then I leaped forward.

I leaped in front of Twilight and Nightmare Moon, just as the latter released the energy from her horn. I cannot even to describe the pain I felt as the blast came in contact with me. Coupled with me being sent flying across the room earlier, the pain was unbearable. I landed right next to Twilight, barely conscious.

"James!" Twilight called out in horror. Nightmare Moon's cackle echoed through my ears.

"Foolish boy!" she taunted, "Haven't you realised yet? You cannot defeat me! Without your precious elements, your efforts are futile!". Once more, she cackled with more lightning. I couldn't believe it. I'd tried, and I'd failed. It was hopeless. There was nothing I could do now. Equestria was doomed...

"Don't worry Twilight!" I heard a collection of familiar voices, "We'll be there!"

Suddenly, everything made sense; and I gasped in realization, Twilight joining me. I could have sworn that I saw a faint twinkle in her eyes. Hearing the voices of the girls, made me feel... happy. The warm feeling from before came back, but this time I knew what it was, and it gave me the strength I needed to stand up again.

"You think that you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight asked with newfound confidence, "Well your wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!"

Rarity, Fluttershy, AJ, Rainbow and Pinkie now lined up with us. The shards around Nightmare Moon suddenly began to glow an levitate around her.

"What?" she asked, her voice suddenly in a worried tone. Twilight just smiled, more than happy to explain.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... Honesty!". Several of the shards flew towards AJ an circled her.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... Kindness!". Fluttershy was startled by the shards that began circling her, but she accepted after realising what was happening.

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... Laughter!". Pinkie jumped up into the air with glee as more of the shards circled her.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... Generosity!". Rarity only gave a modest look as she received her own set of shards.

"And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of... Loyalty!". The final set of shards began circling Rainbow Dash.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight finished triumphantly.

"But you still don't have the sixth element!" Nightmare Moon countered, the fear evident in her voice, "The spark didn't work!"

"But it did!" Twilight began again, "A different kind of spark!". She turned around to face the girls, "I felt it the very moment I realised how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared for you!". Tears if happiness began to form in her eyes, "The spark ignited inside of me, when I realised you all... are my friends!" she finished. That's when it dawned on me. What the warm feeling from before was. Why I felt it when I was around the girls. Twilight said it herself, they were her friends, and they were mine too! 

Suddenly, there was a burst of light coming from above. Looking up we saw another orb, which then descended until it was floating just above Twilight. The glowing light intensified, causing Nightmare Moon to shield herself.

"You see Nightmare Moon," Twilight continued, "when those Elements are ignited by the... uh... the spark that exists in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element!"

"And the seventh." I cut in, unable to contain a smirk.

"WHAT?!" everypony asked in shock, turning their attention towards me.

"That's right people." I declared, "There aren't six Elements of Harmony, there are seven! Unfortunately, the Princess of the Sun couldn't use all seven at once, as only one can wield it. And that person turns out to be... me!". With that, there was another burst of light, and another orb appeared before levitating  just above me.

The girls smiled, while all Nightmare Moon could do was stare at me in pure terror.

"I, James Morgan, who would willingly risk my own safety to ensure Twilight's, represent the spirit of... Valour!" 

"And I am the element of... Magic!" Twilight declared.

With that, the shards began becoming together around the us, forming necklaces for each of the girls.

Fluttershy's had an pink coloured jewel that was shaped like a butterfly.

Pinkie's jewel was coloured in a light blue, and was balloon shaped.

Rainbow's jewel was a  red lightning bolt.

AJ's was coloured orange and shaped like an apple.

Rarity's was purple, and was shaped like a normal diamond.

As for me, my Element was shaped like an amulet, and the jewel was a plain white diamond.

Finally, instead of getting a necklace, Twilight received a tiara with a pink coloured jewel on top.

Suddenly, the elements unleashed a giant rainbow, which then shot towards Nightmare Moon.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried as the Rainbow surrounded her, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

My vision was then blocked by an intense flash of bright light, before I suddenly lost consciousness...



I don't know how long I was out, but by the looks of things it was only a few minutes or so. Maybe an hour, I couldn't tell, it was still dark.

"Ugh, my head." I heard Rainbow groan as I awoke.

"Everypony okay?" AJ asked.

"Oh thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed in delight. Looking over in her direction, I noticed that her tail had suddenly grown back after she had cut it off.

"Why Rarity," Fluttershy said, "it's so lovely."

"I know!" Rarity said, beginning to wag her tail up and down. "I'll never part with it again!" she added as she began to brush it against her face.

"No. Your necklace." Fluttershy corrected, "It looks just like your cutie mark!"

"Oh!" Rarity realised, having a proper examination of her Element, "So does yours!" she pointed out, causing Fluttershy to gasp in amazement.

"Look at mine! Look at mine!" Pinkie cried out as she bounced up next to AJ.

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow declared, proudly huffing to show off her necklace.

Staring at my amulet, I then turned to look at my cutie mark, comparing the two. They looked exactly the same, a golden shield with a white diamond encrusted at the centre.

As for Twilight, the jewel at the top her tiara  resembled her cutie mark as well. Come to think of it, it looked a bit too big to be a tiara, but it certainly wasn't a crown either. You know what, I'm just going to call it a tiara anyway.

"We did it." I said to her, trotting up towards her. As she turned towards me, she gasped in surprise.

"What?" I asked in concern, "What's the matter? Is there something behind me? Is there a giant beetle on my back? What?"

Twilight pointed to my back with her hoof. Twisting my head round, I gasped at what I saw. Attached to my back were a pair of wings, which I'm sure weren't there when I first arrived. Turning back to Twilight, I saw that she now had her hoof pointed towards my head. Feeling around with my hoof, I felt something protruding from my skull, something that was was long and hard (but not full of anything.). A unicorn horn. that was the only thing I could come up with. Looking around me, the other girls were also staring at me, with equally shocked expression on their faces.

"James..." Twilight managed out, trying to recover from her shock, "You're... You're a..."

"An alicorn." I finished it for her. Wait, how did I know that that was what you called them?

"How the hay is that possible?" Rainbow asked, being the first to recover from her shock.

I paused, thinking hard for any logical answer. There was only one I could think of.

"It must have been something to do with the elements." I shrugged.

"James..." Twilight said softly, gazing at me in wonder, "This... This is incredible! I can't believe it! I never would have thought that you would be an alicorn, let alone represent an Element of Harmony! How is this even..."

"Alright, alright Twilight." I interrupted her, preventing what I knew would be a lengthily debate, "I get it. It's unbelievable, but we can talk about it later."

Twilight looked slightly offended by my interruption, but she then smiled and nodded in acceptance. 

"Gee Twilight." AJ cut in, "Ah thought you were just spoutin' a lotta' huey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship.". Wait a minute, aren't they called the Elements of Harmony?

"Indeed you do." a new voice echoed. Suddenly a bright light began to glow out of one of the windows. Looking out of it, I realised what it was. The sun was rising, the dawn of a new day.

As the sun rose into the sky, another light shone in front of us. It lowered to the ground, and in a flash, there was a tall white horse standing before us. Her fur was pure white. Her main was striped in blue, dark pink, purple, and sea green, and seemed to flow majestically without the need of wind. Her cutie mark was the sun, and like me, she had both a horn and a set of wings.

All of the girls suddenly bowed in respect, except for Twilight, who gasped in amazement.

"Princess Celestia!" she said in awe, galloping up towards the newcomer.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." the Princess acknowledged her, "I knew you could do it."

"But…" Twilight responded. "You told me it was all an old pony tale."

"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." Celestia corrected her, "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew you had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

Twilight turned to the others, smiling at them. They returned with their own smiles.

"Now if only another will as well." The Princess continued. She approached the shattered armor that was what was left of Nightmare Moon. Lying there was a dark blue coloured pony, who looked no older than any of us, with a cutie mark resembling a crescent moon. Like me, she too had wings and a horn.

"Princess Luna." Celestia addressed the pony, who gasped in terror. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this.". She crouched down, kneeling next to the blue mare, "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together little sister."

"Sister?" Twilight and Rainbow questioned. I too was surprised, but not at the fact that Luna was Celestia's sister. I mean, it's easy to figure out isn't it? Twilight had read the legend herself hadn't she? Why was she so surprised?

"Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia asked, rising to her feet. The girls leaned forward with concerned looks on their faces, with Pinkie toppling over. Luna was silent for a while, her head drooped down in shame, before she suddenly leaped over to Celestia.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, "I missed you so much big sister!". Tears of joy were running down both ponies faces.
"I've missed you too." Celestia replied. Suddenly, Pinkie began bawling, tears rushing out of her eyes like a waterfall as she held a handkerchief in her hoof.

"Hey!" she suddenly exclaimed, the tears stopping as quickly as they started, "You know what this calls for? A PARTY!"



We were back in Ponyville now, with everyone in town attending to the party. When we arrived, Spike rushed up and gave Twilight a hug. The Princesses arrived on a guard driven carriage, and as they got off the, everypony bowed in respect at them. Two fillies flew up to an ashamed looking Luna, surprising her by placing flowers around her neck. It was then when something suddenly popped into my head. I had a lot of questions to ask.

"Princess," I called to Celestia, walking up towards her, "We need to talk."

"Really?" Celestia inquired, turning her attention to me, "What do we need to talk about?"

"A lot of things." I answered, "Preferably in private."

With that, I took her out of the main crowd, where no one would pay any full attention to us.

"I'm sure you know what I am." I said, "You know I'm not a pony."

"I do." Celestia admitted, "And I understand that you require a lot of answers human."

"Alright." I began, "First off, how do you know about humans in the first place? I asked Nightmare Moon, but she didn't really give me any solid answer."

"That is quite a long story James." Celestia replied, "Do you want hear the full version, or do you want me to shorten it down?"

"Just give me the short version."

"Very well," she began, "Thousands of years ago, before the unification of the three tribes, Equestria was invaded by a race from far across the seas. They called themselves humans, and sought to enslave all living beings of Equestria. They conquered nearly all of the land, until the three tribes joined together and managed to drive them out. This legend has long since been forgotten, for nopony desired future generations to grow up in fear that they would one day return."

"Well that explains what she said earlier." I cut in, "I'm not ashamed to admit that humans can be like that. It's just how we are."

"I always thought that all humans were destructive beings who could never understand harmony." Celestia continued, "I sensed that you were human the moment you arrived, and my initial course of action was to dispatch a group of royal guards to arrest you. However, when I also sensed that you were the seventh element, I decided that it would be best to observe your behaviour. Now I know that you truly are capable of understanding friendship and harmony, and I am more than happy to have Twilight consider you her friend."

"Thanks," I replied, letting out a small smile, "but I also need to ask you, how do I get home? I have a family back home on Earth, and other friends as well. They may not be like the ones I've made here, but they're still important to me."

"I understand." the princess answered, "One day, you will need to return to your world. Unfortunately, I do not know how, but I will do everything I can to find a way to send you home. Until then, you are very welcome to stay here in Ponyville. It's the least I could do for you for helping save Equestria."

"Thanks, that means a lot." I said, my smile growing wider, "Come on, let's get back to the celebrations." She nodded and smiled at me, before turning back towards the crowd. I followed her, feeling a bit better after what she had said. It wasn't the best answer I could have gotten, but it was something. Guess I'm just going to have to hang around here until the princess finds something that can send me back. Doesn't sound that bad, except that I don't know how long it will take.

Who knows, it might even be fun.



Walking back to the party, Celestia trotted up to Twilight, who surprisingly had a sad look on her face.

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

"That's just it." Twilight responded sadly, turning to her friends, who looked saddened by the news, "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them.". 

Celestia paused for a moment, before suddenly saying, "Spike, take a note please.". Spike was quick to have a scroll and quill in hand, while I trotted up next to Twilight as the princess continued to speak.

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville. I further decree that the alicorn known as James Morgan reside with her and assist her in completing her tasks."

Our friends surrounded us, chattering in excitement. I felt relieved, having somewhere to live now. For a moment, I was worried I'd have to start from scratch and get a job and other stuff like that. Good thing I don't have to!

"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, "I'll study harder than ever before!"

As everypony cheered, I couldn't help but smile. Today turned out to be quite good in the end. Despite getting zapped into an entirely different world, I'd made some new friends and helped defeat an ancient evil that threatened to bring eternal night.

Oh, I definitely was going to enjoy my time here...

> The Ticket Master
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No... Nope... Nope..." Spike droned on as he inspected the apples in one of the baskets Twilight as carrying on her back, just as he threw them out onto the ground. What was wrong with them, I have no idea, they all looked fine to me. It had been about two days since all that Nightmare Moon business, and I'd already felt like I'd settled in. Twilight had even taught me some basic magic techniques, like that levitation spell that all unicorns have learned at some point. It was pretty cool, being able to do that, but what I really wanted was to find out how use my wings. I'd have asked Rainbow Dash, but I doubt that she would be willing to teach me.

"Thank ya kindly you two, for helping me out." AJ said as the three of us trotted towards the barn, "I bet Big Macintosh I could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime. If I win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of granny's girdles." she added with a chuckle.

Yeah, me and Twilight had been helping our farm friend buck apples all morning. I'm not usually the one to accept hard labour, but I had nothing else to do today anyway. Besides, it turned out to be pretty easy when I started, heck it was even enjoyable! Still, keep doing this for a while, and you realise how tough it really is. Thank God it was nearly lunchtime, I was starving!

"No problem at all, Applejack." Twilight answered to the farm pony, snapping me out of my thoughts, " I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry."

"You're not kidding." I told her, "You have no idea how famished I am right now!"

"I know, right?" Spike cut in, throwing an apple behind him which hit Twilight on the head.

"Puh-leez," Twilight said, turning to glare at the dragon riding her,  "Spike, you've been lounging on my back all morning while we worked!"

"Exactly!" Spike protested, "The three of you are taking so long I missed snack time!"

At that moment, Twilight's stomach gave off an audible grumble. She looked at Spike again, laughing nervously. "I guess we better get some food." she admitted.

"Nope..." Spike continued sorting out the apples, throwing the ones he deemed bad onto the ground again, "Worm..."

"Okay, Spike," I interrupted, snapping him out of his train of thought, "Are you being serious about all this? I mean, all of those apples look just fine, and your just throwing onto the ground without even looking at them properly."

"It takes a fine eye in order to inspect an apple to every last detail James." Spike replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," I answered back to him, "and it's something that you seem to be lacking!"

The purple dragon scowled at me, before returning to his 'inspection'. He reached deep into the basket, and suddenly emerged with a very pleasant surprise. "A-ha!" he declared as he presented it for us all to see. In his claws he held a bright red, juicy looking apple, just ready to be eaten.
"Oh Spike," said Twilight, licking her lips, "that looks delicious!". But before she could say anything else, Spike almost immediately shoved the majestic fruit into his mouth, which he was now munching on.

"Spike!" Twilight scolded, glaring at him disapprovingly.

Spike gulped down the contents in his mouth, before letting out a simple "What?"

All of a sudden, Spike clutched his mouth and let out a loud belch, letting out a green flame followed by a trail of smoke. In a small 'puff', a scroll appeared, which proceeded to gently levitate down to the ground.

"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed (Wow, I never would have guessed!). Spike proceeded to pick up the scroll, clear his throat  and open it.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he read aloud, "Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of, eh, yadda yadda yadda, cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest."

Upon hearing this news, Twilight and AJ's faces lit up in amazement. "The Grand Galloping Gala!" they said together in excitment. 



"The Grand Galloping Gala!" Twilight and AJ repeated, leaping up and down, whooping and cheering. I stood  there, watching them, unable to comprehend any reason to why they would start doing this. What was so exciting about this gala to make them start doing this? Am I missing something here? Should I be excited as well? I kept answering myself those questions over and over in my head as the two girls continued.

As the little scene in front of us played out, Spike gave off an un-amused look; when all of a sudden he belched again, this time revealing two golden tickets which floated down into his claws.

"Look!" he declared, "Two tickets!"

"Wow, great!" Twilight declared, "I've never been to the gala. Have you, Spike?"

"No," Spike answered, "and I plan to keep it that way. I don't want any of that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense."

"Alright," I cut in, "am I missing something here? What's the Grand Galloping Gala? And what makes it so exciting?"

The two ponies and the dragon stared at me, the three pairs of eyes staring at me in shock.

"You've never heard of The Grand Galloping Gala?!" Twilight demanded, her voice full of surprise.

"Twilight," I said calmly, "you need to remember that I've only been in Equestria for two days now. In the time span of those two days, you have been teaching me how to use magic, so I haven't had any time to learn much about Equestrian culture."

The three sets of eyes continued to stare at me for a few second, before their owners relaxed and Twilight opened her mouth.

"The Grand Galloping Gala is a royal ball held every year." she explained, "Princess Celestia chooses who is invited herself. The fact that we've been invited is a great honor!"

A ball? Now that sounded really interesting! I was never the one for parties, but I'd gladly make an exception for something like this! I could see it now, me walking into the ballroom, as slow music began to play. Twilight standing there, as if waiting for somepony. I walk over, take her hooves and... Wait, what the hell am I thinking?!

"Really?" I said quickly, snapping myself out of my thoughts. Twilight nodded tow my question, which didn't really need to be answered, "That sounds pretty nice I guess..."

"Nice?" AJ cut in, "It's a heap good more than just nice! Ah'd love to go! Land sakes, if ah had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chowin' our tasty vittles till the cows came home! Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big McIntosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip! Why, ah'd give mah' left hind leg to go to that gala."

Replace that saggy old hip? Is she saying that she can't afford a chiropractor? Does she even know what it is?

"Oh, well in that case," Twilight began to ask, "would you like to...?"

"Whoa!" a new voice suddenly cried out from above. I looked up to see its' source, just in time to see a seeing a certain cyan mare crash on top of Twilight and AJ.

"Are we talking about The Grand Galloping Gala?!" Rainbow  Dash cried out in excitement.

"Rainbow Dash! You told me you were too busy tah' help me harvest apples! What were yah' busy doin'? Spyin'?"

"No," Rainbow answered , "I was busy... napping."

Really? She actually used that as an excuse? Who does that? Seriously?

"And I just happened to hear that you have an extra ticket?" Rainbow continued as he hovered upside down. You heard me right, she was hovering in the air, UPSIDE DOWN. Just go along with it alright?

"Yeah," Twilight began, "but..."

"YES!" Rainbow cried out, performing a midair back flip, "This is so awesome! The Wonderbolts perform at The Grand Galloping Gala every year. I can see it now. Everyone would be watching the sky. Their eyes riveted on The Wonderbolts, but then in would fly Rainbow Dash! I would draw their attention with my Super Speed Strut! Then, I would mesmerize 'em with my Fantastic Filly Flash. And for my grand finale, The Buccaneer Blaze! The ponies would go wild! The Wonderbolts would insist that my signature moves be incorporated into their routine, and then welcome me as their newest member. Don't you see, Twilight? This could be my one chance to show 'em my stuff. You gotta take me!"

Suddenly, she jerked backwards, as AJ pulled her away from Twilight by her tail (which she kept in her mouth).

"Hold on just one pony pickin' minute here." AJ said through her teeth, before releasing Rainbow's tail, "Ah asked for that ticket first."

"So?" Rainbow retorted, "That doesn't mean you own it."

"Oh, yeah? Well ah challenge you to a hoof-wrestle!" AJ challenged, " Winner gets the ticket!"

With those words, she and Rainbow dashed over to a nearby tree stump, trying to pin each other's hoof onto the surface. But before they could get very far, Twilight, popped up in between them and pushed them away.

"Girls!" she exclaimed, "These are my tickets, I'll decide who gets it, thank you very much. Whoever has the best reason to go should get the ticket, don't you think?"

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to come back to bite her in the ass?

"Drummin' up business for the farm?" AJ inquired, taking a step closer.

"A chance to audition for The Wonderbolts?" Rainbow cut in, moving closer that AJ.

"Money t' fix granny's hip!"

"Living the dream!"

Okay , if I had to choose between those two, I'd say that AJ had the better reason. I mean, she wanted to expand her business right? And she needed to fix her barn and all that. So for me, this would be a no-brainer.

"Oh my," Twilight said, "those were all pretty good reasons, aren't they?". Suddenly, her stomach rumbled again. "Listen to that," she giggled "I am starving. I don't know about you, but I can't make important decisions on an empty stomach, so I'll, uh, think about it over lunch and get back to you two, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan." I added, as Spike hopped back onto her back. Seriously, I was starving! 'Bout time we got a bit of scran. With that she began to trot back into Ponyville, with me following her posthaste.



"So, who are you going to give the ticket to, Twilight?" Spike asked as we made though town.

"I don't know Spike," Twilight admitted, "but I really can't think straight when I'm hungry, so where should we eat?"
Suddenly out of nowhere, as we walked past Sugercube Corner; a sudden force coming from our left sent Twilight hurtling to the right, unintentionally taking me with her. Now before I continue, let me tell all of you about Sugercube Corner. It's actually a pretty decent bakery, with some really tasty goodies for sale, but it also has a dark side. For deep within, there lies an unspeakable horror. So... horrifying. So... evil. So... PINK. That horror was now lying on the ground next to us.

"Gah! Bats! Bats in my face! Help" cried Pinkie Pie, unaware that the 'bats' were actually the two tickets, and now running around in panic. "Wait," she said, stopping abruptly in front of the tickets, which were now lying on the ground; "these aren't... tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?!" she cried out, her eyes now seeming to sparkle, "It's the most amazing incredible tremendous super-fun wonderful terrifically humongous party in all of Equestria! I've always always always wanted to go!"

And with those words, she began bouncing around us and burst into song: 
"Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me
Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me
Hip hip 
Hooray! It's the best place for me
For Pinkie..."

"With decorations like streamers and fairy-lights and pinwheels and piñatas and pin-cushions. With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sun-beams and sarsaparilla. And I get to play my favorite-est of favorite fantabulous games like Pin the Tail on the Pony!" she rambled on before continuing the song.

"Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me
Oh the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me
'Cause it's the most galarrific superly-terrific gala ever 
In the whole galaxy
Wheee!!"

" Oh thank you Twilight," Pinkie said as she shoved her face right in front of Twilight's, "it's the most wonderful-est gift ever!"

" Um," Twilight began, "actually..."

Suddenly, a new voice gasped in awe. Turning to see its' source, I saw Rarity standing next to Spike, who now held the two tickets in his claws.

"Are those what I think they are?" Rarity asked.

" Yes, yes, yes!" Pinkie exclaimed, " Twilight's taking me to The Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot!"

"The gala?" Rarity gasped, " I design ensembles for the gala every year, but I've never had the opportunity to attend. Oh, the society, the culture, the glamor! It's where I truly belong, and where I'm destined to meet him!"

"Him?" I asked, "who the hell's him?"

"Him." she emphasised, her eyes becoming misty, " I would stroll through the gala, and everyone would wonder, 'Who is that mysterious mare?' They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself, and the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew: the most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say, 'Yes!' We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is" she giggled, "what I would become upon marrying him, the stallion of my dreams!"

That's... a pretty childish fantasy. I mean seriously, why would he be anything like that? Whoever the guy is, he's probably just a stuck up, pompous, arrogant little bitch. Actually, thinking about it now, I didn't know Celestia had a nephew!

"Twilight," Rarity declared. " I simply cannot believe you would invite Pinkie Pie so she can... party, and prevent me from meeting my true love! How could you? Hmph."

"Well, actually Rarity..." I began.

"Hey!" Spike suddenly shouted out. Turning around in his direction, I spotted a small white bunny dashing way from him, with the two tickets in its' mouth, towards a certain yellow mare.

"Angel," Fluttershy gasped, "These are perfect."

"Uh, listen guys," Twilight said, "I haven't decided who to give the extra ticket to.

"You haven't?!" Rarity and Pinkie exclaimed at the same time, turning to face her with their eyes wide.

"Um... excuse me, Twilight." Fluttershy quietly inquired, "I would just like to ask, I mean, if it would be alright, if you haven't given it to someone else..."

"You?" Rarity asked in disbelief, "You want to go to the gala?"

"Oh, no." Fluttershy said flatly, before bunny tapped it's foot rapidly on her leg, "I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of. You see, it's not so much The Grand Galloping Gala as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the gala, and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!"

"Gee, Fluttershy," Twilight was unsure of what to say, "it sounds... beautiful?"

"Wait just a minute!" a new, but familiar voice said from above. Looking above to see its' source, we saw that it was none other than...

"Rainbow Dash." I said as she swooped down to land in front of me and Twilight, "Are you stalking us?"

"Why would I follow some weird alien around?" she asked, her voice full of hostility as she eyed me in an unwelcoming way.

"You never know." I said bluntly, "So if you're not following me, your following Twilight?"

"No!" she declared,  "I mean, yes! I mean, maybe! Look, it doesn't matter. I couldn't risk a goody-four-shoes like her giving that ticket away to just anybody!"

Wait a minute, did she just say anybody? Doesn't she mean anypony?

"Wait just another minute." a southern voice suddenly cut in.

"Oh, AJ." I groaned as the orange pony trotted towards us, "Please don't tell me your were following us too?"

"No. I was followin' this one to make sure she didn't try any funny business." she answered, pointing at Rainbow Dash, "Still trying to take mah ticket."

"Your ticket?!" Rainbow retorted, now hovering in the air.

"But Twilight's taking me!" Pinkie cut in.

With those word, all of the girls surrounded us, arguing to each other over who should get the other ticket.

"Girls." I said, trying to catch their attention. It did no good.

"Girls." I repeated, louder more sternly. Once more, they ignored me.

I was going to yell a third time, but it turned out that I didn't need to.

"QUIET!" Twilight yelled, causing everyone to fall silent.

"And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you craz...?'" Pinkie faltered before letting out a small "oh."

"Girls," Twilight declared, "there's no use in arguing."

"But Twilight..." Rarity moaned.

"Eh!" Twilight cut her off, "This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise..." her stomach suddenly rumbled, "not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo."

The five ponies trotted off, grumbling with their heads drooped down.

"And don't worry," Twilight called out to them, "I'll figure this out..." her dropped down dejectedly. somehow."

Damn, she hadn't had those tickets for that long, and already it was tearing at her. It's always hard making hard decisions, but being pressured in which one you should make? That's a whole diferent story. And the fact that you're on an empty stomach doesn't make anything any better! All this talk of lunch just kept reminding me about how hungry I was!

"Come on," I said, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder, "let's just go and find somewhere to eat. We can clear or heads an think this through, right?"

Twilight gave off a sad sigh, before turning to me with a small on her face.

"Yeah," she said, "let's do that. Maybe we can make a decision over lunch."

"Know anywhere worth checking out?"

"There is this one place that I've heard of, not very far from here. Maybe we should give that a try?"

"Sure." I said, "Lead the way.". With those words, we started trotting off towards our destination.



"So, James..." Twilight asked as we walked. I turned my head to face her.

"Hmm?"

"What's Earth like?" she inquired, "And how do humans live?"

"Earth?" I began, "Well, it's actually quite similar to this world now that I think about it, but there are quite a few key differences. I guess the most obvious is that nobody raises the sun every day and night."

"What?!" Twilight asked in a mixture of awe and disbelief, "How is that even possible?!"

"To put it simply, the Earth orbits the sun and spins on its' axis, and the moon orbits the Earth. Because the Earth spins on its' axis, it's daytime for the side facing the sun, and night for the side facing the moon."

"Fascinating." said Twilight in awe, "And what about the way humans live?"

"For starters, humans have no access to magic whatsoever. Because of that, we advanced in the fields of technology, science and physics. As for our government, Earth is divided into separate nation states; such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation." 

"Really?" Twilight inquired with interest, "You don't have any sort of unity whatsoever?"

"There is the United Nations," I responded, "an international organisation which has a representative from each country. It's goals are to uphold international law, human rights, civil rights and loads of other things; with the ultimate goal of ensuring world peace. Apart from that, my species has no unified government to speak of."

"Wow." Twilight said in amazement, "You race sounds really fascinating! I ought to ask you more questions when I get the chance."

"And I would be more than happy to answer them." I replied curtly. Twilight giggled in response, and I could have sworn I saw her cheeks go pink for a split second.

"Ah!" she exclaimed as we walked towards a restaurant, with many diners eating outside and enjoying outside, "Here we are."

"Finally!" Spike groaned, "I'm starving!"



As we sat down with our menus, Twilight's face began to fall, and she placed her head on the table.

"Something wrong?" I inquired.

"Oh, James" she sighed sadly, " what am I gonna do? All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the gala." She began picking the petals of a flower in a vase on the table, "Applejack, or Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity... Oh, who should go with me?". She then stuck out her tongue and used it to place the petals in her mouth.

"Have you made your decision?" the waiter asked as he walked over to our table.

"I CAN'T DECIDE!" Twilight yelled in frustration. Several other ponies looked up.

" Twilight," Spike said, "he just wants to take your order."

"Oh." Twilight realised, "I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich."

"I'll have the garlic bread please." I ordered.

"Do you have any rubies?" Spike asked. The waiter gave him an un-amused look. "No? Okay, I'll have hay fries. Extra crispy." Spike said disappointedly, tossing the menu behind him.

"What do you think, James?" Twilight asked me.

"Think of what?"

"How do I choose which one of our friends to take to the gala? And when I do choose, will the other four be mad at me? I mean, I could give up my ticket and give away two, but that would still leave three disappointed ponies. What if I..."

"If you want my personal opinion Twilight," I interrupted, in order to stop her fretting, "then I'd choose Applejack. The fact that she needs to raise money for her farm and business seems like the most important reason to me, but my opinion shouldn't have any impact on your final decision. It's your choice, and no one elses."

Twilight sighed sadly again, "I suppose your right."

The waiter returned with three plates. One with a sandwich containing daisies and daffodils, another  holding a huge pile of fries (or as I would call them, chips, even though they aren't. Don't question me, I'm British!"), and the third with four pieces of warm bread, with garlic butter spread across each. The scent entered my nostrils, and I felt the inside of my mouth beginning to water.

"Ah, your food." he said as he placed them on the table.

Me and Spike didn't hesitate to dig in. As Spike shoved the fries into his mouth,  I bit into a piece of bread, taking my time to feel the texture and fully appreciate the taste. I dare say it, but this was probably the best garlic bread I had ever tasted!

"Oh thank you." Twilight said in  "This looks so good. I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat."

As she was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, all of the other ponies that were sitting outside suddenly raced inside the restaurant.

"Em, madam? Monsieur?" The waiter asked, now standing just in-between the door leading inside, "Are you both going to eat your food in ze rain?"

Rain? What was that Frenchy talking about? There weren't a cloud in the sky.

"It's not raining." Twilight said. She spoke too soon. Around us, it was chucking it down, yet for some reason the sun seemed to shine around us. "What's going on?" she asked to no one in particular, looking up to see a hole in the clouds, which was where the sun's rays were coming from.

"Hi there best friend forever I've ever ever had!", said a voice I'd heard enough times today to know who it was. A certain cyan pegasus made herself visible from the other side of the hole. "Enjoying the sunny weather?" she asked.

"Rainbow Dash," Twilight questioned suspiciously, "what are you doing?"

"Whaddya mean?" Rainbow asked innocently, " I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all."

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

"Me? No no no, of course not!". ('Arthur... Arthur... King of the Britons' anyone?)

"Uh-huh."

"Seriously," Rainbow insisted, "I'd do it for any pony." she then chuckled nervously, realising that many other ponies around us were getting soaked to the skin.

"Rainbow," Twilight explained, "I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now."

"Fine." Rainbow groaned, before zipping up the hole in the cloud.

"That's better." Twilight said, before levitating the sandwich towards her mouth. Before she could take a single bite, the rain hit the three of us, soaking us and our food. A real pity as well, I'd only taken  one bite out of that garlic bread and now it was ruined!

"Twilight, James,"

I turned my attention towards the new, but familiar voice, and there was Rarity. She was keeping dry thanks to an umbrella connected to a saddle on her back.

"it's raining."

"No, really?" Twilight asked sarcastically.

"We never would have guessed." I added my own jab.

"Come with me before you catch a cold!" Rarity exclaimed, grabbing Twilight and pulling her away from the table. Not wanting to spend much more time standing outside getting wet, I quickly followed post haste.



We were now safely inside the confides of Carousel Boutique, where me and Twilight shook ourselves like dogs until we were dry. Unfortunately, as we turned round, we saw that Rarity was now twice as soaked as the both of us were.

"Oops," Twilight chuckled meekly, "sorry."

"Oh no," Rarity smiled it off, "it's quite alright. After all, we are... the best of friends, are we not? And you know what the best of friends do?"

"Uh..." Twilight was clueless.

"Makeovers!" Rarity trilled, using her magic to cover herself and Twilight with a screen. And I would say that only God knew what happened behind there, but he's not real is he? I could swear that I heard the sound of drills behind there!

"Ugh, Rarity," I heard Twilight protest, "ow, this really isn't fixing it. I mean, thank you but, ooh, that's too tight!"

"What the hell's going on back there?!" I demanded, just as the screen was moved to the side to reveal Twilight, who was now wearing and dark blue saddle.

"There." Rarity said, "Oh, you're simply darling."

"Uh, yeah," Twilight admitted, "it is kinda pretty, isn't it?"

"And you." Rarity directed towards Spike, "Oh Spike, I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing gent!"

"D-ah," Spike cried out as he tried to escape, before being obscured by the screen, "ow, oh, hey, wow, watch it, whoa!"

The screen once again moved away, now revealing Spike wearing bright blue Georgian Style suit and a blond wig, mush to his horror.

"Oh, Spike." Twilight giggled at the scene.

"Now you just need a hat" Rarity finished, placing a large black hat on the dragon's head.

" Ugh," Spike groaned, "I told you, I don't want any part of this girly gala gunk, see you back at the library." With that, he immediately dashed out through the door, leaving behind his embarrassing outfit.

Rarity giggled somewhat forcefully; "Oh who needs him anyway?" she asked, pulling forward a mirror in front of Twilight, who began to check herself out. "This is all about you, and how fabulous you'll look at The Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Wait," Twilight realized, "The Grand...

"And oh, my goodness," Rarity gasped, "what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours to a T. We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know, the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the unicorn. Ah, and Twilight Sparkle, of course." she added, laughing nervously.

"I see what's going on." Twilight said, clearly agitated, "You're just buttering me up so I give you the extra ticket. Well it's not gonna work." she threw off the saddle she was wearing, "You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been trying all day just to get some lunch." she finished as she headed for the door. 

Lunch. Jeez, I forgot, I was still hungry. Damn I was going to have some delicious garlic bread earlier, but I only managed one bite out of it!  Clearly the weather didn't like me, or else in wouldn't have rained!

"Did somepony say lunch?"

Twilight was suddenly yanked outside by a certain orange pony. I rushed out of the boutique, and there was Applejack with a cart fool of food products.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief at the site.

"Ah got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple crumblers, and apple Brown Betty!" AJ declared, "Uh, the dessert, not my auntie. What do ya say there, best friend?"

Twilight's stomach grumble once again, "Is that a yes?" AJ asked.

"No. No." Twilight said in clear frustration, "I don't know who I'm giving the ticket to, and all these favors aren't making it any easier to decide. In fact, I'm less sure now than I was this morning. Ugh!"

"So, that's a maybe?" the orange farm pony guessed as the purple unicorn galloped away.

"AJ," I said, "do yourself and Twilight a favor, and stop all of this alright? No good is going to come out of you continuing!"

I didn't wait to her answer, I just galloped off in the same direction which Twilight had galloped away.



"Ugh," Twilight groaned as we trotted towards the library's front door, "I never thought being showered with favors would be so aggravating.". Opening the door, what we didn't expect to see inside were  four birds and squirrel, led by a yellow pegasus mare who was humming to herself as they tidied up the library.

"Fluttershy," Twilight said in disbelief, "not you too?"

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

"It's summer." Twilight deadpanned.

"Oh, well, better late than never, right? It was Angel's idea.". The white bunny in question was wearing a chef's hat and mixing up a salad.

"You're not doing this for the ticket, are you?" Twilight questioned, arching her eyebrow in suspicion.

"Oh no," Fluttershy insisted, "I'm doing this because you're my very best friend. Right Angel?". The white bunny gave her disapproving glance. "Oh, yes," she admitted, still smiling, "we are just doing this for the ticket.". With those words, Angel rushed up to Twilight, offering her the bowl full of salad. Twilight's stomach rumbled once again.

"No, no, no!" she exclaimed, "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." she said sarcastically, opening the door.

"SURPRISE!" a band a voices suddenly cheered outside, accompanied by the sound of party whistle and some confetti. Suddenly, a pair of pink hooves grabbed Twilight and yanked her outside. I rushed out to see what was going on, and saw a crowd of ponies, including Pinkie Pie, toss Twilight into the air. As they did so, Pinkie began to sing:
"Twilight is my bestest friend
Whoopie, whoopie!"

"Pinkie..." Twilight said, failing to get the pink pony's attention.
"She's the cutest, smartest, all around best pony, pony!"

"Pinkie." Twilight repeated, again getting no reaction.
"I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party!"

"Pinkie!" Twilight said, now protesting.
"She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!"

"PINKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Twilight finally yelled, making all of the other ponies the back away, and causing her to fall to the ground with a *thud*.

"Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie asked innocently, blinking her eyelids rapidly.

"At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Wait, what ticket? What gala?" one of the ponies asked.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Pinkie declared, "Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"The Grand Galloping Gala?"  all of the ponies cried out in unison, before surrounding me, Twilight and Spike.

"Ever told you how much I love your mane?" I heard one them ask.

"I'll wash your dishes." I heard another say, but by that time the three of us were trying to get away from it all. However, before we could escape, we ran into another pony holding some unearthed flowers in her hoof.

"Would you like any help with your gardening?" she asked. We turned around, but there was another mare standing right in front of us.

"I have a cartload of extra carrots." she offered, as the others proceeded to surround us.

"What are we gonna do?" Spike asked Twilight, as he tried to climb onto her back.

"We're... gonna... RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Twilight exclaimed, leaping into the air and dashing off, Spike holding on to her tail. I didn't need telling twice, and I followed her just as quickly.

I don't really know how I can describe what happened next, it all happened so quickly. To put simply, we went all Benny Hill with this, which I don't really think is very funny. I mean, all he does is run around like an idiot. League of Gentlemen is way better! As well as Monty Python of course! But I digress, back to the story. 

Eventually, we reached a dead end, and the mob surrounded us. This day was turning out to be the worst ever! I'm starving, got my lunch ruined before I could enjoy it, and now I'd been chased by a mob of ponies obsessed with going to a royal ball!

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, accompanied by a *poof*ing sound. When everything was visible again, we were suddenly back in the library. Then it dawned on me. Twilight had told me about a teleportation spell during our little lessons, something that I was unable to do at the present time. If I tried doing it now, I don't think the results would be very positive. She must have used it to get us away from the mob, thank goodness! Spike looked the worse for wear however, looking like he'd been set on fire to put it bluntly.

"Warn me next time you're gonna do that." he moaned at Twilight, struggling to keep his balance.

"I didn't even know it was gonna happen!" Twilight protested, "Now quick, lock the doors!". With that, we turned out all of the lights inside the library, and locked the doors like she said. The three of us sighed in relief, only for the light turn on, revealing our five friends (or four in my case) standing by our beds. 

"Yaaaargh!" Twilight screamed, "I can't decide, I just can't decide. It's important to all of you and I just can't stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won't make any difference, because you're all my friends and I wanna make you all happy and I can't, I just can't!" she exclaimed, crouching on the floor in despair.

That did it for me. After seeing Twilight get so worked up because of what they had been doing, I couldn't contain my own rage and frustration.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU!!" I yelled at the top of my voice, "YOU'VE ALL PRESSURED HER INTO GIVING YOU THE BLOODY TICKET  AND HAVE'NT EVEN CONSDERED HER WELL-BEING! I THOUGHT YOU ALL KNEW BETTER THEN THIS, BUT YOU'VE JUST LET IT TEAR YOU FRIENDSHIP APART!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow retorted flying up to me and getting all up in my face, "You've been doing  just the same! You've followed her around all day so that you can that ticket all for yourself!"

"Actually Rainbow," I snarled, gritting my teeth, "I was just trying to spend some time with my friend, maybe get a bit of lunch as well! But nooooooo! The ticket has been such a priority that we aren't allowed to eat at all!"

"Twilight, sugar," AJ said to Twilight, sounding concerned and sincere, "ah didn't mean to put so much pressure on ya, and if it helps, ah don't want the ticket anymore. Ya can give it to somepony else. Ah won't feel bad, I promise."

"Me too." Fluttershy added, "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."

"And me too." Pinkie cut in, "It's no fun upsetting your friends."

"Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Rarity admitted.

"Yes!" Rainbow exclaimed, "That means the ticket is mine! Ha ha, I got the ticket, I got the ticket..." she chanted in a sing song voice, until everypony in the room glared at her dissaprovingly. "you know," she said quickly, "I haven't perfected my signature moves for The Wonderbolts anyway. I don't need that ticket either."

"We all got so gun-ho about going to the gala that we couldn't see how un-gun-ho we were making you." AJ said.

"We're sorry, Twilight." they all declared in unison. Twilight smiled in relief, getting back up on her hooves.

"You should take someone who hasn't tried doing any favors for you like we did." Rarity added, "A pony who deserves to go with you because of their patience and tolerance. Someone like James."

"You're right." Twilight said in realization. She turned to me and asked "Would you like to go to the gala James?"

My eyes widened in surprise. Me? Go to the gala with Twilight? Just me and her? Why hadn't I thought of that before? That sounded like a great idea! Yet, I shouldn't really be any different from the other girls. I wasn't anyone special, so why should I be the one to go when the other couldn't?

"Twilight," I answered, "I said it earlier today, "It's your choice, and no one else's. As much as I would love to go, what I want shouldn't have any impact on your final decision."

Twilight nodded in understanding. She paused for a moment, before saying, " Spike, take down a note.". Spike had a scroll and a quill at the ready as Twilight read her note aloud:

"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?!" the girls cried out in disbelief.

"If my friends can't all go, I don't wanna go either." Twilight announced.

"Twilight," AJ protested, "ya don't have to do that."

"Nope. I've made up my mind." Twilight reaffirmed, "Spike, you can send the letter now.". "With those words, Spike opened the window and blew a green flame onto the now sealed scroll. The flame flew out of the window, turning into smoke before disappearing.

"Now you won't get to go to the gala either." Fluttershy said sadly.

"It's okay girls." Twilight reassured, "I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me," we all crowded round her happily, "so I would rather not go at all."

That was probably the best thing I'd heard all day. While it did seem sad that she wouldn't be able to attend the gala, I knew Twilight had made the right choice. We're all equal in friendship after all, and nothing like that should cause a rift, even though they usually do.

Suddenly Spike covered his mouth tightly, as if he was going to hurl.

"Well wallop mah withers, Spike!" AJ scolded, "Isn't that just like a boy? Can't handle the least bit of sentiment!"

Suddenly, Spike belched loudly, a wisp of smoke emerging from his mouth.

"Whoa Nelly!" AJ exclaimed in surprise, ducking down as the smoke flew through her the gap between her head and her hat. The smoke formed into another scroll, which Spike proceeded to catch.

"A letter from the princess?" Twilight said, "That was quick."

Spike cleared his throat and began to read: "
My faithful student Twilight, 
Why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

He grabbed something that must have come with the letter, and presented them to everypony in the room, "Seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

The girls gasped in amazement. "Now we can all go!" Twilight declared, and the other girls cheered. Then, Twilight's stomach rumbled loudly. She laughed nervously as Rarity trotted up to her.

"Allow us to treat you to dinner." the white unicorn said.

"What a great way to apologize!" Rainbow declared as we all walked out of the door.

"And to celebrate!" Pinkie added, "Come on everyone, the cupcakes are on me!"

You know what, forget what I said earlier about what was the best thing I'd heard all day. This was the best thing I'd heard all day! As we walked out, there was another belch coming from behind me, as well as a flash of green light. Soon enough, Spike rushed out through the door, holding another ticket and giggling to himself. Then he realized that I was standing right there next to him, to which I gave off a small smirk.

"I mean, gross, I have to go to?" he moaned, before rushing off, continuing his giggling.

I couldn't help but chuckle as well. Some things never change it seems. Suddenly, I heard my own stomach rumble, and continued on to catch up with the girls.


> Applebuck Season
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...And that is the basis of all human religions." I finished.

"Interesting," Twilight said," Humans must be really diverse if you all have different faiths and beliefs."

"That we are." I responded, "Christianity, Judaism and Islam all technically worship the same God, but they all have different customs; such as what happens after death, or is to be done with the body."

"That makes me want to ask." Twilight said, "What religion do you follow James?"

"None."

"None?"

"Not all humans follow a God, and people like this are known as Atheists. They believe that it is impossible for a deity to exist, and that there is not enough evidence to prove otherwise. There are some atheists, like Richard Dawkins, who speak out against religion as well."

"But what about magic and the Princesses here on this world?" Twilight asked, "Doesn't that prove to atheists otherwise?"

"I can accept that in this dimension, deities can exist." I answered, "Celestia and Luna can be considered gods as they can raise the sun and moon respectively. However, there is still no evidence that any deity exists in my dimension, so none of that really proves God's existence."

"I suppose you're right." Twilight said with a sigh.

Suddenly, the ground began to shudder violently. Looking over into the distance , I could clearly see a large cloud of dust that seemed to be getting closer and closer to the town.

"STAMPEDE!" I heard Rainbow Dash suddenly yell. She was right, soon enough, I saw that the cloud of dust was being made by a herd large of cows rushing towards the town. They definitely had no intention of stopping. 

With that, the entire town entered panic mode. Some of the townsfolk rushed inside their homes, shut their windows, locked their doors, and even brought in their doormats. Others who were still outside were running around, screaming.

"He-e-e-e-y!" Pinkie Pie laughed, her voice vibrating  as her whole body shuddered up and down, "Thi-i-is ma-a-akes my-y-y vo-o-oice so-o-o-und si-i-illy!"

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight cried out to her, "are you crazy?! Run!"

"Of course she is!" I shouted, as the two of us also began to run for safety.

"Everypony, calm down!" the mayor declared above all the screaming, "There's no need to panic!". No need to panic?! Who is she, Kar'shan's defence minister?!

"But Mayor," Rarity said dramatically, walking over to the grey maned mare "whatever shall we do?!"

"Look there!" Rainbow shouted, pointing towards the stampede. 

"YEEHAW!" a southern voice suddenly cried out. Looking over, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was Applejack, running through the herd of cows, accompanied by a dog. Upon seeing her, the ponies began to cheer.

AJ was able to keep all of the cows running in one straight line. While Rarity was forced to look away, Pinkie of all people was watching with anticipation, holding a bag of popcorn in her hooves.

"This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!" she said before diving her head into the popcorn.

Really? This was what she was doing?  She was actually watching this with a bag of popcorn?! What the hell is wrong with her?! Does she ever take anything seriously?! The fact that she isn't, and she thinks that this is a fun thing to watch, it disgusts me! She disgusts me! Hell, even Twilight gave an odd look when she saw what Pinkie was doing.

As the stampede drew closer to the town, AJ leaped on top of one of the cows, while her dog leaped in front of the one leading the heard. The orange farm pony grabbed a lasso from out of nowhere (Seriously. One second it wasn't there, the next it was!), and hurled it around the leader's neck. Leaping off the cow she was on, she landed next to the lead cow and tugged on the rope in her mouth. Just as the herd was about to cross the bridge into town, it turned to the right and continued running alongside the stream.

"YEEHAW!" I heard AJ yell as the girls around me cheered once more. My jaw fell open in a mixture of shock and amazement as AJ continued pulling the rope until the herd stopped completely. Three words: That. Was. Awesome!

AJ began to converse with the cows, before the heard began walking away from town. She trotted up to the hill where everypony could see her, and the crowd cheered for the town's hero once again.

"YEEHAW!" Pinkie suddenly cried out, "Ride 'em cowpony!".

"Applejack was just... just..." the mayor was at a loss for words.

"Apple-tastic!" Pinkie exclaimed, popping up out of nowhere as she usually did.

"Exactly!" the mayor agreed, "We must do something to thank Applejack for single-hoofidly saving the town!"

"I know!" Pinkie declared, "A PARTY!"



Following the stampede incident, we had all come to the agreement that Applejack should receive a ceremonial party in her honour for her actions. The townsfolk had decorated the area surrounding Ponyville's town hall. There were balloons, ribbons, and all many other decorations as far as I could see. Seemed like a bit much for a ceremony if you ask me personally.

Me and Twilight, who had Spike sitting on her back as usual; walked over to Rarity, who was busy tying a red ribbon around a tree. "We all ready?" Twilight asked.

"Just one last thing." Rarity answered, before using her magic to place a large yellow banner decorated with apples on the town hall. "Now we're ready." she declared.

"Is Applejack all set?" Twilight questioned.

"Actually, I haven't seen her all week." Rainbow responded, as she hovered over to us and landed on the ground.

"Not since the stampede." Pinkie added, trotting up to us as well.

"But she'll be hear for sure." Rainbow said in reassurance, "Applejack is never late!"



By now, everypony in town was gathered in front of the town hall. Twilight stood behind a podium, taking a large stack of papers and sorted them with her magic. "Welcome everypony!" she declared, "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 suddenly interrupted, flying forward and taking Twilight's place behind the podium, "What an athlete! This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome!"

"Exactly!" Twilight cut in, pushing Rainbow Dash aside, "And..."

" This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!" Pinkie announced, pooping up in front of Twilight.

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

"Oh." Pinkie realized afer a short pause, "Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!" she announced, causing the crowd to cheer.

"Oh-kay, that's great." Twilight continued, pushing Pinkie away from the podium, "Now if I could just make a point without being inter-"

"Twilight?" Fluttershy cut in.

"-rupted." Twilight finished, before giving Fluttershy some space next to her nehinf the podium.

"Twilight, I'm so sorry," Fluttershy said, "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."

"Anyone else?" Twilight asked the crowd as Fluttershy slipped away, "Anyone? No?". The crowd remained silent. "Well then, as I was trying to say..." Twilight began, only to see the mayor standing next to her. "Urgh!" she groaned, tossing the papers away and trotting down, "Never mind!"

The mayor walked up the podium, where she cleared her throat. "And so, with no further ado," she said, "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!"

The curtains beside her opened, and the crowd of ponies cheered, only to stop after realizing there was nopony there.

"Cool! Way to go Applejack, that was awesome!" Spike cheered, only to notice the pairs of eyes centered around him, causing him to blush in embarrassment.

The mayor cleared her throat again. The crowd was silent

"Awkward." Spike murmured.

"Ah'm here!" A southern accented voice called out from the crowd. I looked over in its direction, and could just see a stack of apples and a brown Stetson hat move through the crowd. "Ah'm here." the voice said again, before giving off an audible yawn. "Sorry ah'm late..." it continued as the hat and the apples continued through the crowd, "... whoa... ah was just... whoa... Did ah get yer tail?"

Out of the crowd, there staggered a tired looking Applejack, carrying two baskets full of apples.

"Miss Mayor," she said, walking up the podium, "Thank ya kindly for this here... award thingy." . She yawned, before turning her attention over to the trophy, "It's so bright and shiny and," she chuckled," I sure do look funny.". She began leaning her head back and forth, staring at her reflection ion the polished trophy. It wasn't long before Pinkie joined her.

I stared at AJ and Pinkie as they continued messing around. Something definitely wasn't right here.

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

"Yeah." AJ murmured, "I like helping the ponyfolks and," she interrupted herself ith a yawn, "and stuff.". Suddenly, she began snoring, "Oh, uh, yeah." she said quickly, snapping herslef awake, "Uh, thanks."

With those words, she took the trophy by the mouth and dragged it away.

"Was it just me," Twilight asked, "or did Applejack seem a little..."

"Tired?" Rainbow finished.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy added.

"Messy" Rarity offered, earning a few odd looks from me and the girls, "Well, did you see her mane?" she justified.

"She seemed fine to me!" Pinkie Pie cut in, "Woo! Woo!"

I managed to hear Twilight give of a faint "Hmm.", and I knew she thought the same as I did.

Something was definitely up.



I watched the scene that played out in front of me and Twilight. Applejack was bucking apples out of two trees. Nothing out of the ordinary there, except for the fact that she was obviously tired and fatigued. After bucking a third tree, she closed her eyes for a second, the immediately shook her head and opened them. Then, in a tired daze, she ended up kicking a barrel of apples by mistake.

"What on earth is that pony doing?" Twilight asked to no one in particular.

"That's what we came to find out." I answered.

"Whoops" I heard AJ murmur, having realized what she had just kicked. She then closed her eyes and began to snore.

"Hey, Applejack!" Twilight called out. AJ didn't hear her.

"AJ?" I tried calling as well, but also fell on death ears.

"Applejack!" Twilight called again, once gain failing to be heard. With that, her horn began to glow, and in a flash of light she had vanished. There was a white flash in front of AJ, and when it settled, Twilight was standing in front of her.

"AppleJACK!" she shouted, startling the orange farm pony awake. I quickly trotted over to joining them.

"Oh, howdy Twilight." AJ said, "Howdy, James." she added, turning to me.

"What is all this." Twilight asked.

"It's Applebuck Season" AJ answered as she walked over to buck another tree.

"Apple-what Season?" Twilight questioned, teleporting in front of AJ again.

"It's what the Apple family calls harvestin' time." AJ explained, "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell em'."

"But why are you doing it all alone?"

"'Cause Big Macintosh hurt himself."

"What about all those relatives me and James have met when we first came to Ponyville? Can't they help?". Actually, that was a great question! Where were they all now? I thought the farm was quiet when me and Twilight helped harvest all of the golden delicious apples.

"They were just here for the Apple family reunion." AJ sighed, " They actually live all over Equestria and are busy harvestin' their own orchards. So, uh, ah'm on my own.". As she walked towards another tree, Twilight once again teleported in front of her.

"Which means, ah should really get back to work.". Twilight stayed where she was. "Ahem..." AJ cleared her throat, "hint hint? Get back to work?"

"Fine." Twilight said simply, moving aside.

"Could you step aside, Twilight?" AJ murmured, her body beginning to spread left and right.

"I just did." Twilight responded, "Applejack, you don't look so good."

"Eh, don't any of you three worry none," AJ said after shaking her head, "ah'm just fine and dandy.". She tried to buck another tree, but was too far to even touch it, causing her to stagger forward. Twilight once again teleported in front of AJ.

"Do you.. want some help?" she asked.

"Help?" AJ repeated indignantly, "No way, no how!"

"But there's no you can handle all of this on your own!" I said.

"Is that a challenge?" AJ demanded in a threatening voice, shoving her face right into mine. I was quite taken aback by this, unsure what to say.

"Uhh... no?" I answered nervously.

"Well, ah'm gonna prove to both of you that ah can do it!" the orange earth pony declared, "Now if you'll excuse me, ah've got apples to buck!". With that she trotted off to continue her work. I didn't like the sound of this. Not one bit of it. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us all in the ass...



I sat on the library's balcony with Twilight, reading one of the library's many books to pass the time. I'd already given Twilight a lesson on human history, so I guessed now was a good time to learn about pony history. The book I was currently reading detailed events before the founding of Equestria, and before the unification of the three tribes. That struck me as odd. Didn't Celestia say that they united to drive this world's humans out of the land? Maybe the alliance was only temporary and they went back to being separate again immediately after?

As I would have guessed, there wasn't any mentioning of humanity's invasion. Celestia had told me that that subject had long been forgotten, but that was besides the point. Just being in a place like Ponyville for a few days makes you think that the ponies were always good friends. You'd never think that all three sub species would ever hold each other with contempt. Then again, history is full of surprises isn't it?

Suddenly, there was a loud crash that sounded like it was right in front of us. Shooting my head up from the book, I saw none other than Rainbow Dash lying on the balcony.

"Can I help you?" Twilight asked.

"I think somepony else needs your help." was Rainbow's response.

"Applejack?" Twilight guessed.

"Yep."



There was AJ, standing right behind us, though she was facing the opposite direction. As she lowered her head to pick up and apple on the ground, she banged her head on a lower branch. She stood up, her head seeming to vibrate.

"Applejack," Twilight asked, "can we talk?"

AJ fiddled with her ear, as if she was having trouble hearing. "CAN BEES SQUAWK?" she called, "AH DON'T THINK SO!"

"No," Twilight responded, "can we talk?"

"TWENTY STALKS?" AJ called again, "BEAN OR CELERY?"

"No!" Twilight shouted back, "We need to talk to you!"

"YA NEED TA WALK TO THA ZOO? WELL WHO'S STOPPING YOU?"

"We need to talk to you!"

"OH! WELL WHY DIDN'T YA SAY SO? WHAT YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT?"

"Rainbow Dash dropped in to see us today!"

"THAT'S QUITE NEIGHBOURLY OF HER!"

"Yes, except that she crashed onto our balcony after you launched her into the air!"

"Oh, yeah," AJ responded, "ah wasn't feelin' mahself this morning."

"Maybe that's because you're working too hard and you need help!" I cut in, feeling that I needed to make myself heard as well.

"What?" AJ seemed taken aback, "Kelp? I don't need kelp. I don't even like seaweed."

"I said: YOU NEED HELP!" I yelled at her face.

"Nothin' doin' James!" AJ declared stubbornly as she began moving forward, "Ah'm gonna prove to you, an' Twilight, an' t'everypony, that ah can do this on mah own!". Immediately having finished speaking, she banged her head against the low branch again. "Now if you'll excuse me," she continued, as began staggering away, "ah, gotta help Pinkie Pie!".

Wow. That girl really doesn't like the word 'help' much does she? Whatever's going to happen with her and Pinkie, it's not going to end well for anyone, I know that... Oh, and remember when I said that I hoped this wouldn't come back to bite us?

Well so much for wishful thinking...



Something was telling me that I should be looking at what was happening with AJ and Pinkie, and after seeing AJ as tired as she was, I doubt it was going to be anything good.

Walking into Sugarcube Corner, it wasn't difficult to notice the crowd of ponies gathered in front of the counter.

"Free muffin sample spectacular!" I heard Pinkie's voice announce as I made my way through the crowd. On the counter there were two trays filled with freshly baked muffins. They smelled delicious. 

With their mouths watering, the crowd went and grabbed a muffin each. Suddenly, I found myself reaching for one as well. Surely one wouldn't hurt right?

"Yeah!" I heard AJ yell out, causing me to stop reaching towards the counter. There she was, with heavy bags under her eyes. "Muffin spectacles!" she continued, "Get 'em while they're hot!"

On second thought, I'm not really hungry for muffins right now...

"What's the matter, Jamesey?" Pinkie asked, in that usual annoyingly upbeat voice of hers, "Don't you want to try one of these muffins Applejack and I baked?"

"No thanks." I answered simply, "Not feeling very hungry at the moment."

"Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" she said, still smiling, "I'll just make sure to save some for you later!"

"No!" I shouted out, which wasn't really my plan to begin with. Several of the ponies looked up to face me. Even Pinkie seemed a little shaken by my outburst, though AJ didn't seem to notice. "No," I repeated much more calmly, "that won't be necassary.". With those words, I turned and began to walk towards the door leading back outside.

"Oh, and Pinkie?" I added, turning my head back to face her, "Don't you dare call me 'Jamesey'. Ever." I snarled at her through gritted teeth.

Unsurprisingly, Pinkie didn't seem to notice the hostility in the request. "Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" she declared before grabbing one of the muffins.

As I walked out back into town, I had two things on my mind. #1: Pinkie. That girl was so annoying, naive and childish that it knocked me sick. Unless she realizes how dark the world really is, then she will never get through life. Ignorance may be bliss, but the world has never rewarded the naive. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those guys who sees the world as a horrible place where there is no good and the only person you can trust is yourself. I'm the sort of guy who knows that there are dark parts of life, but there are equal amounts of good. Friends, true friends; not the people you copy and hang out with just because you think they're cool, are the people who can lead you in the direction of the good parts; though when it comes to friends, I'd consider Pinkie anything but one of mine.

#2: AJ. I think my instincts have helped me in the long run. Not really sure what was in those muffins, but I don't want to find out. I could only feel sorry for the ignorant crowd who took one of them, for I knew that no good was going to come out if this.

And believe me, I knew.



"We came as soon as we heard!" Twilight said to the nurse.

"Oh thank you, Twilight." The nurse responded, turning our attention to the patients, "We need all the help we can get."

All of the ponies on the beds were the ones I saw in the crowd at Sugercube Corner earlier. Their faces were green, the rest of their bodies were pale. One of them I noticed was vomiting into a bucket.

"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed, "What happened?". At that moment, I noticed notced one of the muffins lying on the ground, having been bitten out of. Spike picked it up in his claw, and suddenly a worm stuck out from inside. I shuddered in disgust. I could have eaten one of those!

"It was a mishap with some of the baked goods." the nurse explained.

"No," I heard  Pinkie groan. She lay in one of the hospital beds, her face a sickly green. "not baked goods, baked bads.", she managed out, before looking as though she was about to vomit. As the scene played out in front of me, I felt my mouth form into a faint smile, and a felt something inside. There's probably one word I can use to describe that feeling: enjoyment.

"Applejack!" Twilight said, realizing who was responsible for the situation.

"Mmm. Want one?" Spike suddenly asked her, holding out one of the muffins.



AJ trotted backwards, with a wagon full of apples, towards a barrel nestled between two hillocks. As she stopped at the edge, the wagon tilted backwards, landing on its back and leaving her hanging upside down.

"Applejack," Twilight said, "we need to talk."

"Why? Huh?" AJ murmured, startled awake, "Oh, it's you two." she yawned, "Ah know what yer gonna say, but the answer is still no."

"Not to upset your applecart," Twilight answered, "but you need help."

"Hardy har." AJ muttered tiredly, flailing her arms helplessly,

"Come on AJ," I urged her, "let us help you."

"Help? No thanks." she declared, and with those words, the orange farm pony began to try freeing herself from the wagon. "A little more... " she grunted, "Little... There.". Having freed herself and pulled the wagon out with her, she walked over to another tree, which had no leaved or apples to be bucked from.

"Ah'll prove that this Apple can handle these apple!" AJ announced, beginning to kick the tree, "Come on apples," she grunted  "fall off!"

"AJ," Twilight said, "I think you're beating a dead... tree."

"Ah knew that." AJ responded quickly, before trotting away to find another tree.

"Actually Applejack, I had something else to talk to you about." Twilight said as me and her began to follow after her, "We just came back from Ponyville Urgent Care and..."

"Ya know," AJ interrupted, "Ah'm a little busy to get lectured right now, Twilight!"

"But if you'd just let me and James help..."

"No, no, NO! How many times do ah gotta say it? Ah don't need no help from nopony!". And with those words, AJ trotted off. Neither me or Twilight bothered following her.

"Ugh." Twilight groaned, "That pony is stubborn as mule. No offence." she added to a mule that stood next to me.

"None taken." he replied.

What the hell? Where did he come from?

"Come on James." Twilight said, "She's not going to listen to us. Let's head back to the library."

I looked one last time at AJ, who was now bucking another tree as tiredly as ever. The I sighed sadly.

"All right." I said, "Let's go."



Back at the library, Twilight was engrossed in reading a book, probably trying to take her mind of what was going on with AJ. As for me, I could only pace up and down, unable to get my concerns out of my head. AJ was tearing herself apart, and other ponies were paying for it. I wanted to do something about, but there's little you can do if your help is not welcome.

"Uh, James?" I suddenly heard Twilight's voice inquire, thankfully allowing me to snap out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I responded, turning to face her.

"I want to know something else about humans," she said, "but... is this a bad time?"

A bad time? This was perfect timing! Answering questions: the best way to take your mind off things.

"I've always got time for you Twilight." I replied, "Ask away."

"Well..." Twilight began, "This isn't really a question about humans then it is about..."

"About what?" I asked.

"...You."

"Me?" I was taken aback by this. She wanted to know more about me? "Why would you want to know about me?"

"James," Twilight answered, "you're my friend. I should know more about you, but I barely know anything except that you're a human and you're from a planet called Earth."

Good point. I hadn't really told her a thing about my own life back home. Doesn't she deserve it? I mean, she's my friend after all.

"Alright then." I responded with a small smile, "Where do I start? Well, my father is an engineer and my mother is a secretary. My brother Adam is away at university, and Dad is away on business."

"What's your family like?" Twilight inquired.

"Mum and Dad are great people. I mean, they love and care for me, and that's what parents are supposed to do right?" Then my face fell, " Adam?" I continued, "Well... I think that the best way to describe him is to say that he's an ass."

"What do you mean?"

"He's obnoxious, lazy, disrespectful, self centred, and the only things he ever does are work out at the gym and drink protein shakes. He never cleans up after himself, and he just annoys the shit out of all of us!"

"So basically, you don't like him?"

"No. I don't. Call me cruel, but I'm glad he's away."

"Surely you don't really mean that."

"I don't know if I am myself." I said sombrely, "On one hand, I'm glad to not have him around; but on the other, I miss him a lot."

"There, you see?" Twilight said , causing me to look up and face her.

"See what?" I asked.

"You miss him. Just that shows that you actually care for him. And I'm sure that he misses you as well and that deep down, he cares for you too. I mean, he's your brother isn't he?"

"Yeah..." I responded, the small smile from before forming again, "you're right. Brothers: you can't live with or without them can you?"

"No you can't." Twilight answered with a chuckle.

"You know what?" I said, walking towards the door, "How about we just go out for walk, just for the hell of it?"

"Why not?" Twilight answered, as she began to follow me. She opened the door with her magic, and began to step outside.

"Twilight." I called out.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks. For what you said about Adam. I already knew it, but hearing it from you means a whole lot more."

"Think nothing of it James." she said with a smile, "It's the least I could do for a friend. Especially for a friend like you."

My face suddenly felt hot, and Twilight started to giggle. Wait... was I blushing?

As Twilight stepped through the door, I followed her outside.



As Twilight and I trotted around town, Twilight began humming to herself, only to stop and gasp in shock when she saw three mares lying on the ground. One was beige and had very dark pink mane with a much lighter streak of pink running through it, one was pink and had a blonde mane, and the third was pinkish purple with a light green mane. 

"The horror! The horror!" cried the one with the pink hair.

"It was awful!" the blond one declared.

"A  disaster! A horrible, horrible disaster!" the one with the green mane added. However, looking around, nothing appeared to be wrong. There was no sign of damage or anything.

"I don't get it." Twilight muttered, looking confused. The three mare got up and rushed in different directions. 

"Our gardens! Destroyed!"

"Every last flower devoured!"

"By... by... THEM!" the one with the green mane cried out, pointing to a large herd of rabbits. Fluttershy was there, talking to the bunnies but seeming to have little success in getting their attention.

"Oh my." she said, "Oh... Please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness."

"Alright." Twilight declared, "Enough is enough."



"Must... keep... buckin'... just... a few... more. Must finish harvestin'..." AJ gasped out as she bucked her hind legs tiredly against an apple tree.

"Alright Applejack." Twilight said sternly, "Your applebucking hasn't just caused you problems, it's over-propelled Pegasus', practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say, you. Need. Help."

AJ gave the tree one last buck, causing the rest of the apples to fall into the baskets strapped on her saddle.

"Ha!" she smiled, "No ah don't. Look, ah did it. Ah harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help. How d'ya like them apples?"

Looking around, it seemed as though she was right. All of the apple trees I saw had been bucked bare of their fruits.

"Um, how do you like them apples?" a new voice suddenly said. Turning to its source, I saw none other than Big Macintosh. The middle section of his body was covered in a white bandage, obviously due to the injury AJ had mentioned. He drew all of our attention towards a set of other apple trees, with delicious looking apples just waiting to be bucked.

AJ stared in shock, began to mutter incoherently, and finally collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"AJ!" I shouted out in concern, running over to her side. Twilight followed me, and began calling our friend's name.

"Applejack? Applejack!"

AJ's eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" she mumbled.

"Oh, good," Twilight said in relief, "you're okay. Now Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. You're always there to help any pony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you."

"OK, Twilight."

"I am not taking 'no' for an answer--what?". Twilight was taken aback by the farm pony's sudden acceptance.

"Yes, Twilight." AJ responded, putting her hooves together in a begging fashion, "Yes, please. Ah could really use your help."

Twilight could only give off a small chuckle and a sigh of relief.



"Dear Princess Celestia, 
My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help any pony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it, so while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer. 
Your faithful student, 
Twilight Sparkle" 

Me, Twilight and the other girls were more than happy to help AJ with the rest of her apple harvesting. Twilight made it much quicker by using her magic to levitate apples from the trees and placing them in the barrels.

"How about y'all take a little break?" AJ called out, pushing a trolley holding seven bottles, " Ah got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!"

As we walked over, AJ gave a content sigh, "Guys, ah can't thank you enough for this help. Ah was acting a bit stubborn."

"A bit?" Twilight asked, a clear sign of amusement in her voice.

"Okay. A mite stubborn," AJ admitted, "and ah'm awful sorry. Now, ah know the town gave me the Prized Pony award, but the real award is having you six as my friends."

"And having you as a friend AJ is an award in itself." I said, before taking a drink of the refreshing juice from the bottle.

"Phew!" Rainbow exclaimed, "That applebucking sure made me hungry!"

"And I've got the perfect treat!" Spike decalred, holding up a tray of half eaten muffins.

"Eeew... Spike, I threw those all away. Where'd you get them?" Pinkie asked.

"From the trash."

"EW!" the girls exclaimed in disgust, as they all began to walk away.

"Just a little nibble?" Spike beckoned, "Come on!". The girls continued to grumble as they walked off. "What about you James?" he asked, holding one out to me.

"No thanks." I said quickly. After seeing what happened to the ponies in intensive care, my mind was made up about those muffins.

"Oh well," Spike said, "that means more for me!"

Good for him.


> Griffon the Brush Off
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hoof-biting action overload!" Pinkie Pie rambled as she bounced up and down, "She was like a stunt superstar, flying higher and higher, and then Rainbow Dash swooped down--swoosh--and right before she hit the ground--shoom-she pulled up--vrrrmmm!"

"Uh-huh." Twilight said dismissively, more focused on her book than listening. The two of us had decided to spend some time in the park, as there was a beautiful day to enjoy. Come to think of it, nearly every day was like this. However, as we sat down on a bench by the fountain, who should show up but a certain pink menace?

"And then she looped around and around like whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo!" Pinkie continued on, before throwing herself onto the ground.

"Wonderful." I responded, not in the best of moods. I had just been about to have a nice nap in the warm sunlight, and had it not been for her, I would have done so.

Suddenly, Pinkie noticed something in the sky. Looking up, I quickly noticed a familiar looking cyan coloured pegasus soaring through the air. With that, the pink earth pony got up and rushed after Rainbow Dash, leaving just me and Twilight. Twilight gave a sigh of relief and proceeded to continue reading.

Finally! Some peace and quiet. I closed my eyes, lay down on the bench, and drifted off to sleep...



On pleasant nap later, Twilight and I went back into town. As we stopped outside a bookstore, I began to think about Rainbow Dash. After all that had happened with Nightmare Moon, I just couldn't see why she still didn't like me. What am I in her eyes? Still an alien just waiting to take over the planet? Some stuck up prick who's really full of himself? Actually, scratch the latter. What have I done to give her that impression?

"Twilight, James," a voice said, snapping me out of my train of thought. "have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?" Pinkie asked.

"Isn't she right up there?" Twilight asked, pointing up to a cloud right on top of us.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie called up to the cloud. The cloud suddenly dissipated as Rainbow Dash zoomed off, followed by a bouncing pink pony.

"What do you think that was all about?" I asked Twilight.

"I have no idea." Twilight admitted, "Then again, maybe we should leave her to it."

"Agreed." I responded, "So, is there anything else we should do?"

"Actually," Twilight said, "Would you mind if you went with Spike to get some scrolls for me when we get back to the library? I'm going to stay behind and set up a little experiment I've been wanting to do."

"I wouldn't mind at all Twilight." I answered with a smile, and with that we began to head back to the library.



While Twilight stayed behind to set up her experiment, me and Spike went off to the town hall to get the scrolls Twilight had requested. Spike insisted that he carry them all, the reason being that he was Twilight's number 1 assistant and I wasn't. We were just walking back outside, when suddenly...

*BOOM!*

The sudden crack of thunder caused me and Spike yell in surprise. Spike dropped the scrolls he was carrying and stood silent. A second passed,  and he was hiccupping. Suddenly, the sound of a snicker becoming full out laughter met my ears. I turned my head in the direction it came from, and my eyes met the sight of a familiar pink mare.

"Oh Rainbow Dash," Pinkie giggled, "we startled Spike into getting the hiccups!"

My ears picked up an amused chuckle right in front of me. In that direction, there was Rainbow Dash, lying on a cloud, most likely the one where the thunder had come from.

"Good one, Pinkie *hic* Pie!" Spike said, "*hic* You're always pulling a fast one *hic* on me!"

"What the hell was that for?!" I demanded angrily. This was so humiliating, falling into that sick little prank of theirs. I can't believe that that just happened!

"Oh come on now James!" Pinkie giggled, beaming her innocent little grin, "It's only a little prank!"

"Oh forget it Pinkie." Rainbow scowled, "How would an alien get the fun in pranks?"

"This again?" I asked in disbelief, "Come on Rainbow, I thought you would have gotten over all this alien crap by now."

"Oh, you couldn't be any wronger buddy." the pegasus mare snarled, "You may be one of the Elements of Harmony, but I know you're game. As soon as we all let our guards down, you're gonna swoop in and call your invasion fleet to take over our planet! Well you know what? That ain't happening on my watch!"

And here I was thinking AJ was stubborn! That girl was fierce, yet at the same time, that was something I respected her for. No one should ever be afraid to speak their mind, and Rainbow Dash was anything but afraid.

Before I could respond, I noticed Spike bend down and pick up one of the fallen scrolls. Suddenly, he hiccupped; causing a green flame to emerge from his mouth, which proceeded to disintegrate the scroll and float away into the distance.

"Oh no," Pinkie called out in concern, "you're not hurt are you?"

"Ne--*hic*--eh," Spike assured her, "don't be *hic* silly, dragons are *hic* fire-proof."

"Oh," Pinkie said, "okay, good."

Alost immediately, she and Rainbow both broke out into hysterical laughter. Spike picked up most of the scrolls, only for them to vanish with another hiccup.

"I wish the same thing *hic* were true with scrolls." I heard him mutter to himself, though I was more concerned about Celestia's reaction to having that many scrolls delivered at once. As he tried to pick up what was left of the scrolls, only to hiccup and send them away, Pinkie and Rainbow continued laughing.

"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?" Pinkie giggled, before letting herself collapse to the floor and continue to laugh her heart out.

"I can think of one thing." Rainbow smirked. With those words, she kicked the cloud again, causing another clap of thunder. Pinkie cried out in surprise, and after the passing of a second, she hiccupped. She continued laughing, which was interrupted by the occasional hiccup.

"I didn't take you as a prankster Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow declared, fluttering down from the cloud and landing beside the pink pony.

"Are you *hic* kidding?" Pinkie asked, "*hic* I love to pull pranks. It's all *hic* in good fun, and Pinkie Pie lo--*hic*--oves to have *hic* fun! *hic*"

All in good fun? Does she realize how humiliating it is to fall for a prank? I think not.

"You know Pinkie Pie," Dash continued, "you're not as annoying as I thought."

And she's just as annoying as I thought.

"You wanna hang out?" Rainbow asked Pinkie. Suddenly Pinkie jolted upward into the air with another hiccup.

"That'd be..." another hiccup sent her flying to the right, "I'd really..." she zoomed back to the ground, "When do... " she shot up in the air again, "I mean..." she landed back onto the ground, "When would you..." she zoomed forward; only for Rainbow Dash to place a hoof on her mouth, stopping her in her tracks.

"A simple nod will do." Rainbow said.

"Mmm-hmm." was Pinkie's response, accompanied by a nod like requested.

"Yeah, well have fun with all that." I called out to them, though they didn't seem to be paying attention. With that, I turned my attention to Spike.

"Come on buddy"  I said to him, "Let's get back to the library."

"But what are we going to *hic* say about the *hic scrolls?" he asked, looking uneasy and the concept of facing an angry Twilight Sparkle.

"Well, we'll just have to tell her the truth won't we?" I answered simply. I didn't like the thought either, but was there a better thing to do?

"Alright." Spike answered, clearly not looking forward to what he believed awaited him, "Let's go.", and thus we headed off back to the library.



"So let me get this straight." Twilight said, "You got the scrolls like I asked, only as soon as you left the town hall, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash scared the both of you, causing Spike to get the hiccups and incinerate them all?"

"That about sums it up." I responded sheepishly. I thought it was best that we didn't tell her about the scrolls being sent to Celestia, so I left that part out. "Look, I'm sorry about this happening, but..."

"What are you apologizing for?" Twilight asked, giving of a small giggle, "It's not your fault that the scrolls are gone. Besides, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow were only having a little bit of harmless fun."

I wouldn't call it harmless, I thought to myself. "But, what are you going to do about them?"

"I can always get some more again some other time." Twilight smiled, "Now come on, we've got an experiment to conduct."

Oh yes, Twilight's experiment! I'd totally forgotten about that. It seemed as though she had set everything up while me and Spike were out, with three vials containing different coloured compounds. I'd done Chemistry back in school, so I this seemed pretty standard, but I didn't know what these compounds were. They could be compounds that can only be found in this dimension for all I knew!

Twilight began by writing on the scroll that she had place on a stand, before quickly turning to back to the vials and pouring the green compound into the blue compound, creating  a bubbling purple one... I'm going to repeat that. She combined blue and green, and came out with purple... How does that work exactly? I mean, since when did blue and green make purple? Seriously?

"Huh?"

The sound of Twilight's voice caught my attention. She was staring and the scrolls she had written on, but there wasn't  anything there! It was blank! But hadn't she just written something down? Twilight looked back and forth between the bubbling liquid and the blank scroll in confusion, whe suddenly...

*POOF!*

There was a large puff of purple smoke, followed by a pair of familiar sounding giggles coming from outside. Me and Twilight moved to the window, and there was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, nestled in the tree's branches. I noticed what Rainbow was holding in her hoof, just before she dropped in a fit of laughter.

Invisible ink.

I felt something stir up in my gut. Anger and frustration to be exact. That was funny to them? They just ruined an experiment Twilight was performing, and all the do is laugh? What kind of friend does that?!

"Again?!" I shouted out to nopony in particular, "First the scrolls, and then this?! Who the hell do they think they are?!"

"Whoa, James! Calm down!" Twilight said carefully, "It's just a prank, nothing harmful or humiliating."

"It is harmful and humiliating Twilight!" I retorted angrily, "Have you ever thought about how stupid you must look to other people for falling for even the simplest prank? Do you know how that feels?! Do you?!"

Twilight's mouth was agape. Her eyes were widened in shock, maybe a bit of fear mixed in. I stared into them, and immediately all the anger inside me dissipated, leaving nothing but regret sadness in its' place.

"Twilight," I stammered out, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to lash out at you like that! It's just..." I paused, giving a small sigh before continuing.

"It's just that I don't take pranks very well." I finished quietly.

Twilight was silent. She still had a surprised look on her face, but her mouth was now closed and her eyes held a sense of sadness in them. That look was enough for me. I started moving towards the door leading out of the room.

"J-James?" Twilight asked, her voice full of concern, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going out." I said, not looking back at her.

"Out where?"

I stopped just in front of the door, turning my head to face her.

"I just need some alone time." I answered sombrely.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked. My lips gave off a sad smile.

"I'll be fine." I responded, trying to sound reassuring, though I doubt it did any help. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, so I turned my head back toward the door and went through, walking downstairs and out into Ponyville.



As I walked down the street away from the library, I couldn't help but notice that many ponies were staring at me. They had looks of awe and surprise on their faces, and some were muttering to each other. Why? Why were they all doing that? Was there something on me?

That was when it dawned on me.

There was something on me. Two things to be exact. A horn and a pair of wings. As far as I knew, only royalty had both of these. I'd never really noticed it before, but I guess I did stand out, being the only alicorn in town.

I was so caught up in my thoughts, that I failed to notice the pony right in front of me, that was until I collided head on into them. I staggered back slightly, and managed to get a good look at who I'd walked into. It was actually a quite pleasant surprise.

"Fluttershy!" I exclaimed enthusiastically  to the yellow pegasus mare standing in front of me.

"Oh." she said softly, "H-hi James. I'm, um, sorry for bumping into you like that and..."

"It's alright." I interrupted her with a kind smile, "It's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I walked right into you, so I'm the one who should be apologising."

"O-okay then." Fluttershy all but whispered, returning the smile I had given her. That was when I noticed that she was carrying a brown satchel.

"What's that for?" I asked her, pointing at the satchel in question.

"Oh." she answered, "I've been going around feeding all of my animal friends. I was just going over to the lake and feed the animals there..." then she turned her head to the side with an uneasy look on her face, "If, you know, that's okay."

"Shy." I chuckled, placing a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly, "Nobody's going to say it's wrong to look after animals. And speaking of that, mind if I tag along?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Y-y-you... you want to come with me?" she stammered, dumbfounded by my question.

"Why not?" I answered with another question, "I don't really have anything else to do anyway."

"O-oh." Fluttershy said quietly, "Okay then, if that's what you want to do."

"Lead the way then." I responded, and with those words we headed out of town and towards the lake.



So that was where we were. At the lake feeding the fish and turtles that were there. Once we were finished with feeding three fish, we turned to see two fish and a turtle anticipating their turn to be fed. Next to them was another turtle with a thin rubber tube running from its' behind, which led to over a small slope next to a hill on the other side of the lake.

Wait a minute...

Upon closer inspection, the 'turtle' appeared to have been sewed together, with buttons for eyes. Additionally, the tube that ran to the back of the hill also seemed to run through the turtle, and was poking out of its mouth...

My thoughts were cut short when my face was suddenly squirted with water, which came out of the  'turtle's' mouth. As if on cue, and eruption of giggles suddenly caught my ears, coming from the direction of the slope. I recognized the two voices immediately.

It was Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

I can't believe I fell for another one of their pranks again! Twice in one day no less! God, I felt stupid! There was no way I could live this down! And there laughter, it was unbearable, especially when it was directed towards me!

Suddenly, my ears picked up a soft titter; which, to my disbelief, came from none other than a certain yellow mare.

"It's not funny!" I snapped at Fluttershy angrily. Out of all the people to laugh at my misfortune, she was one of them!

Fluttershy's eyes suddenly widened, her pupils shrinking in fear.

"O-o-oh." she stammered quietly, having trouble finding words, "I- I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have laughed like that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

I felt a sharp twinge of guilt in my gut. What had I just done? I had just lashed out the sweetest, most gentle creature I had ever met! How could I have done that? I'd already shouted at Twilight, and now I did it at her!

"Fluttershy." I said softly, trotting up to her and placing a hoof on her shoulder, "I didn't mean to lash out at you like that, and I'm sorry I did. I just don't take pranks very well, that's all."

"O-okay." she reponded, "Are... Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine" I reassured her, "Listen, I think I'll just head home now ok? Thanks for letting me join you."

"You're welcome James." the yellow pony smiled, "It was actually very nice to have you with me, even thought it was only for a short while." I gave her a smile of my own, and with that headed back into Ponyville and back to the library.



"Hello?" I called out as I opened the library door, walking inside and shutting it behind me. By that time, the sun had set, and the moon was now hanging in the sky with the stars.

"James!" Twilight's voice called out, in what I could have swore was relief. Twilight herself suddenly burst in from the upstairs door. "You're back! Are you alright? I was beginning to worry! You'd been gone for a while and I was beginning to wonder if..."

"Twilight, Twilight." I said, unable to suppress a chuckle, "Didn't I tell you I'd be fine?"

Now it was Twilight's turn to chuckle. "You did." she answered, "Why did I even worry about you in the first place. I mean, it's not like you were going to run into any trouble around Ponyville is it?". There was something about how she said it. It seemed kind of... forced, as was her smile, though I decided not to think much of it.

"Well," I said, beginning to head upstairs, "I don't know about you, but I'm shattered after all that's happened today. I'm off to bed."

"Alright then" Twilight responded, beginning to follow me, "I was just about to go to sleep myself. Be careful not to wake Spike though. He's already nodded off."

"If you shouting my name out suddenly isn't enough to wake him up, I think I'm in the clear." I replied, causing her to giggle as we headed up to our beds, ready to sleep through the night and wait for what tomorrow had in store for us...



"So Pinkie Pie," Twilight said as she flicked through the pages of the book she was reading, "are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash was really so mean?"

"Um, yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she paced around the room. "She keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she pops my balloons, and she told me to buzz off! I've never met a griffon this mean! Well, actually, I've never met a griffon at all, but I bet if I had, she wouldn't have been as mean and grumpy as Gilda!"

Yeah, this came pretty much out of nowhere for us. Pinkie just burst into the library telling us about someone called Gilda, who was apparently an old friend of Rainbow Dash, being horrible to her. One thing that got my attention about this Gilda was that she had apparently been horrible to Pinkie, and if that was true... well it was great news for me! Maybe I'd found a kindred spirit! I may not have met her yet, but not liking Pinkie Pie was a good enough reason for me to like her!

However, that was not what caught my most attention to. Pinkie had said that Gilda was a Griffon. Now to be honest, that didn't really come as a big surprise. I mean, think about it: a world full of ponies, where the princesses raise the sun and moon, which also had manticores and dragons. Who's to say that there aren't any griffons as well?

"You know what I think Pinkie Pie?" Twilight declared.

"Hm?"

"Well I think... you're jealous."

" Jealous?!" Pinkie repeated, shocked at being referred to as such.

"Green with envy." Spike cut in, "Well, in your case, pink with envy."

"Well yes, jealous." Twilight continued, "Listen Pinkie, I don't want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn't make Gilda a grump. I mean, perhaps it's you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude."

"Improve my attitude?!" Pinkie demanded indignantly, "But I... D... B.. It's Gilda that... D... Are you seri...". She yelled in frustration, and proceed to storm out of the front door.

Twilight and Spike glanced at each other worryingly, the latter letting out a disappointed sigh. I, on the other hand, was more curious than worried. Sure, Pinkie was annoying, but she didn't rub off as someone who could be jealous of someone. Maybe it was here positive demeanor on everything, or something like that. Still, not holding grudges or being jealous of anyone is a respectful trait of character. It's even better if your friends with that person... Wait a moment what am I saying?! This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about, the most annoying and naive person I've ever met. She's not my friend, and she never will be!

Anyway, I digress. Something felt off to me, and I wanted to see this Gilda for myself.

"Hey, Twilight." I said, "I'm going to go for a walk."

"Huh?" Twilight asked, looking up at me. She had a confused look on her face, which then shifted to realization as she processed what I had said; "Oh, okay then." she answered. before continuing to read her book.

I didn't need to be told twice, so I opened the front door and walked outside.



I would say that today was beautiful day, but everyday was pretty much like this, so what was the point? Anyways, I'm sure  it was obvious to you all why I left the library. I was trying to find Pinkie Pie and figure out why she had said that about Gilda. Only question was, where was she? I guess the town centre was a good place to start.

And that's what I did, I walked to the centre of town, where Sugercube Corner was. Everything looked pretty normal. Ponies were out and about and talking to each other, and the market stalls were open selling fruit and veg as usual. However, there was something there that completely stood out. A creature stood there which I'd never seen before. It had an eagle's head, talons and wings, but they were accompanied by the body of a lion.

It was griffon, and if I recall correctly, Pinkie mentioned that Rainbow's friend Gilda was a griffon. This had to be her. No doubt about it.

" Alright little ones," a demure voice said softly, "this way, this way. Mama duck, you're free and clear."

I turned in the direction of its' source and smiled. There was Fluttershy leading a family of ducks through town. She was walking backwards so that she could keep watch of the ducks, and not looking ahead and where she was going. As such, she walked right into Gilda, or as I saw it, Gilda was walking right into her.

"Hey!" the griffon shouted, causing Fluttershy to look up.

"Please excuse me." she said.

"I'm walking here!" Gilda retorted angrily.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry." Fluttershy stammered out, beginning to back up, "I-I-I was just trying to..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Gilda said mockingly, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. Here was this griffon yelling at one of the sweetest, kindest creatures I had ever met! Just watching this made my blood boil with rage. Who the hell did she think she was?!

"B-b-b-but I... I..." Fluttershy stuttered out, to afraid to form any words. Gilda took in a deep breath and...

"Oi!" I yelled out, causing Gilda to turn in my direction.

"Yeah?" she sneered, "What do you want?"

I gritted my teeth as I walked dangerously towards her. "I want you to leave her alone." I snarled.

"Really?" Gilda laughed mockingly, "And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Wanna find out?" I asked. I didn't care if I was being stupid by doing this. Nobody, but nobody, screws around with my friends, especially Fluttershy!

Gilda gave a cocky smirk, and breathed in again. Before she could anything though, she suddenly found herself  floating in the air, covered by a blue coloured aura. I smirked. Using magic wasn't as hard as I first thought, and I was making good use of it here.

"Listen to me, and listen to me well," I said darkly, "because I'm only going to say this once. Leave. Her. Alone. If you have a problem with that, then you have me to answer to; and trust me, you won't like me when I'm angry.". With nothing left to say to her, I set Gilda down on the ground with enough force to make her stagger, but not enough to leave her lying on the ground.

"You." She declared, pointing at me for emphasis, "You're gonna pay for that."

"We'll see." I responded simply, mentally preparing myself for the retaliation that was bound to happen next.

"Ugh, please," the griffon suddenly scoffed, "all these lame ponies are driving me buggy. I gotta bail.". Before I could react in anyway, she leaped into the air and took off.  I felt my anger subside as she disappeared from view. I'd met a lot of people like her before in my life, but none of them had ever made me feel so angry. Maybe that was because they didn't gang up on my friends like she did.

I turned to Fluttershy, and what I saw made my heart shrink. The yellow mare was trembling uncontrollably, and tears ran down her cheeks from her eyes.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, genuinely concerned.

"Y-y-yes," she sniffed out, "Th-thank you."

"Hey," I said as soothingly as I could, pulling her into a small hug and running my hoof through her mane comfortingly, "It's okay. I'm not going to let her or anyone push you or any of my friends around like that. I promise."

"Wow!" a energetic voice suddenly called out, causing me to turn my head in its' direction. Standing there was none other than Pinkie Pie herself, the mare I'd been searching for in the first place.

"You were right, Pinkie." I said grimly (I know that rhymes), releasing Fluttershy from the hug.

"I know!" Pinkie exclaimed, "She's a grump, and a thief, and a bully! The meanest kind of mean meanie-pants there is! I can take it, but no one treats Fluttershy like that! No! One! This calls for extreme measures, Pinkie Pie style!"

"Wait a minute Pinks, slow down." I interrupted, "What did you say about her being a thief?"

"You didn't see it? She scared poor Granny Smith and then took an apple without paying for it!"

All the more reason for me to hate her, I thought to myself. Pinkie was right, something needed to be done.

"Alright, Pinkie." I began, knowing that I was going to regret it, "Have you got any ideas on how we can deal with Gilda."

"Do I?" Pinkie declared, "Of course I have an idea!"

She beckoned me towards her, so I leaned my head forward, to which she put her mouth to my ear and whispered:

"Here's what we're gonna do..."



Note to self: Whenever Pinkie comes up with a plan, don't go through with it.

Her plan: A party.

This was her big plan to deal with Gilda, by throwing a big party and inviting everyone in town . What was I even thinking when I said I would help her with this?! Am I going crazy?! Why did I actually decide to work with that pink retard in the first place?!

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!" I heard Pinkie greeting to the ponies who had just entered.

"Who's this Gilda ah've heard nothin' about?" AJ's voice asked. I looked and saw her standing next to Rarity.

"I hear she's an old friend of Rainbow Dash." the white mare answered as they began to walk off, "A griffon. So rare."

I walked over to Twilight, who was talking to Fluttershy.

"You've met Gilda right?" the purple unicorn said, "What's she like."

"Oh, um, well" the yellow pegasus stammered, "I'll tell you later Twilight."

As she trotted off, Twilight watched as she left, a confused look on her face. That was when she spotted me.

"What about you James?" Twilight asked, "What do you think of Gilda?"

"You'll see Twilight." I answered, "You'll see."

Twilight groaned in exasperation, before trotting off and leaving me by myself.

"Gilda!" Pinkie suddenly cried out, leaping in front of the griffon now standing in the doorway, "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."

She left her hoof out in front of Gilda, who hesitantly took it. Suddenly, her body began to react as if she was having an electric shock. Actually she was. I could see sparks of electricity coming from her body. Once they stopped, she collapsed to the floor, dazed. Pinkie burst into a fit of giggling, and revealed a button strapped to her hoof. The old electric handshake, or hoofshake in this case.

"Oh Pinkie Pie, the old hoof-shake buzzer!" Rainbow Dash laughed, "You are a scream!"

"Yeah." Gilda chuckled nervously, "Uh, good one, Pinkie Pie."

"Come on G," Rainbow said to the griffon as she began to walk off, "I'll introduce you to some of my other friends."

"Right behind you Dash!" Gilda responded, before turning over to Pinkie Pie. Rainbow on the other hand, met my eyes, and her expression soured. She stormed up to me, gritting her teeth while doing so.

"Just what is your problem?!" she demanded angrily.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"What are you talking about?" I repeated, unable to understand why she was so angry at me.

"Gilda came and told me all about what happened earlier today! How you threatened her for no apparent reason! What gives you the right to push my friends around?!"

"Ah," I said in realization, now knowing what she was talking about, "I don't think you've heard the full story Rainbow. You see..."

"I don't want to hear it!" the multicoloured mare snapped at me, "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies! I don't want you to be anywhere near me, or my friends ever again! You can go back to your home planet, your mother ship, or wherever you came from! You're not welcome here on Equestria anymore, alien scum!"

"Again with this alien shit Dash!" I retorted, now as angry as she was, "Will you just shut up with all that crap? What gives you the reason to judge me Dash?! What have I done to make you see me like this?! Because I'd really like to know!"

"Enough!" Dash shouted out, stamping her hoof in anger, "I don't want to hear anything else from you! I want you to get out of here right now, and never bother me and my friends again!"

"Dash, listen to me..." I started to say.

"GET OUT!" she yelled at me, causing everypony in the room to look up in surprise.

I sighed in defeat. There was no convincing her.

"Fine." I said simply, turning and trotting towards the door. As I did so, I glanced over to Gilda, who gave a smug grin as I walked outside.



I don't know how long I stayed there for. It seemed like mere minutes, but It may have been hours for all I knew. After I'd left the party, I had just walked out of town and ended up to at the lake where I had helped Fluttershy feed her animals. I should have realized that Gilda would do that, go and fabricate the story of what happened and paint me as the bad guy. Now that I was on my own, Dash's words had sunk in. I felt like an outsider. She didn't want me around any of her... our friends I mean. They were my friends as much as they were hers.

"Um, James?"

My thoughts were cut off by the sound of a familiar voice calling out my name. I turned around and saw none other than Rainbow Dash standing there, with an ashamed look on her face.

"That's the first time you've called me by my name Rainbow." I said in acknowledgement.

"Can we talk?" she asked awkwardly, moving closer towards me.

"What about?" I asked, getting up and standing to face her. Rainbow smile sheepishly at me, and began to talk again.

" You see... the thing is, at the party, I set up a lot of pranks so that I could get a few laughs when other ponies fell for them. Gilda ended falling for all of them, and she ended up snapping and lashed out at everypony there. She called everyone, my friends, dweebs and said that me and her were cooler than any of them. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. One of my oldest friends was being horrible to my new friends. I realized that being cool was all she cared about, so I told her to leave. After that, Pinkie and Fluttershy told me all about what really happened earlier today. How you'd stood for Fluttershy when Gilda tried to push you around. I felt guilty for believing what Gilda told me, but it also got me thinking.

"I thought about all the times I didn't trust you, judged you, looked down on you; and I realized that there was no reason for it. I was hating you for no reason, and I didn't even give myself a chance to know you better! And I'm supposed to represent the Element of Loyalty! I'm supposed trust my friends and stay by their side no matter what happens, and I pushed you away like you weren't worth anything!". She sat down and hung her head in shame, "I'm no better than Gilda." she muttered quietly, "Some Element of Loyalty I turned out to be."

I was speechless. Here was Rainbow Dash, the mare who had looked down and me at every turn. The mare who wouldn't trust me for anything. The most stubborn pony I had ever met. And here she was telling me how wrong she had been, and how horrible she felt for it! I stared at her slumped form, feeling only sadness and sorrow for her, and approached.

"Dash." I said, now standing over her, "Don't say all that. Don't say it because it isn't true! You were picked as an Element of Harmony for a reason, because you never give up in or abandon your friends or what you believe is right!"

Rainbow looked up at me, surprise filling her eyes.

"But all those things I said to you. How can you just brush them off like that?"

"Because like I said;" I replied, "you, as the Element of Loyalty, will never give up on what you believe is right. Granted, you were wrong, but you stood up for it with no doubt in your mind! That is an admirable trait that few people have, Dash. You should be proud of you are, and I don't think any different of you."

Rainbow Dash looked at me, a smile etched on her face as she let my words sink in.

"So are you we friends?" I asked.

"Friends." she confirmed with a firm nod.

As that word left her mouth, I took out my hoof, spat on it, and held it out in front of Dash. She stared at it with a mixture of disgust and confusion.

"Why did you just spit on your hoof?" she asked.

"Spit on yours now and we'll shake on it."

"Are you serious?"

"What's the matter, Rainbow Dash?" I asked teasingly, giving her a cocky smirk, "Afraid to get your hooves dirty?"

That was all she needed. With those words leaving my mouth she spat on her own hoof, before connecting it with mine with an audible clop. We shook once, and parted our hooves.

"You know James," Rainbow declared, "I'm beginning to like you already!"

"Good to know." I responded. Then something clicked in my mind, "That reminds me. Rainbow Dash, as you know, as an alicorn I have both wings and a horn."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I can work my horn just fine. Only problem is, I have no idea how to work these wings. I was wondering if you knew anypony who could..."

"Say no more!" Rainbow snapped, "You're talking to the right pony! By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be almost as good a flyer as me! Unfortunately, you have to be as cool as me to be able to fly as good as me though. Sorry about that."

Oh, that ego. I certainly wasn't going to miss that anytime soon.

"Great!" I exclaimed, "When do we start?"

"As soon as possible." Rainbow declared, "But right now, there's a party going on, and we're missing it! Let's go now before everyone eats all the cake without us!"

"No argument here!" I said with a smile. And so, together, me and Rainbow Dash walked back into Ponyville. Together. That word hadn't felt so good to me before...



Dearest Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that it's hard to accept when somepony you like wants to spend time with somepony who's not so nice. Though it's impossible to control who your friends hang out with, it is possible to control your own behavior. Just continue to be a good friend. In the end, the difference between a false friend and the one who is true will surely come to light.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

What a long, but fulfilling day today had been. I had had a feeling that I would eventually warm up to Rainbow eventually, but not this soon. Now that we were both properly friends, I felt like I was one of them proper. Not someone who joined in, but one of them.

"Hey James." Twilight called out to me, causing me to look up. She had rolled up her friendship report, ready and waiting to be delivered to the Princess.

"Yeah Twilight?"

"Could you pass me that jar of ink over there?"

I turned over to the table in the centre of the room, where a jar of normal looking ink lay. Using my magic I moved over to Twilight, who caught it with her magic and allowed me to release min grip of it.

"Spike," she said, turning to the purple dragon in question, who was ready to send the scroll to its' destination, "Could you send this with the friendship report to the Princess?"

"Uh... Okay." Spike responded, confused at the request. He didn't question it any further though, and he quickly breathed his magical flame on both objects, sending them all the way to Canterlot.

"What was in that jar that you just sent?" I asked Twilight suspiciously, but not in the negative way, more in the curiously amused way.

"I just sent the Princess a jar of invisible ink." Twilight grinned, "If she tries to writh a reply with it, she'll see it disappear before her eyes!"

She started laughing, thinking about Celestia's reaction, with Spike quickly joining her. "Don't worry James," she said between giggles, "it's just a harmless prank."

"Yeah." I said, unable to not join in the laughter with the unicorn mare and the dragon, "A harmless prank..."