Guys' Nights New Additions

It was another quiet night in Ponyville.

Spike and the guys were once more at the Castle of Friendship, for another Guys' Night.

"It's Guys' Night! Oh yeah! Having fun now! Oh yeah!" The boys chanted, before they resumed their games of Ogres and Oubliettes, donning up their game personas.

Castle Rock - Rayman Legends

"Captain Wuzz!" Spike shouted to Discord. "Up high!"

Discord looked up and quickly fired an explosive arrow into the air, striking down a flying monster, "Back at ya, Garbuncle!" Discord shouted as he fired an arrow at a skeleton monster that almost got Spike.

Spike looked to Thorax and Pharynx and screamed, "Mario! Luigi! Look out!" With that, the two changelings dodged to the side, just as a giant fly swatter nearly crushed them.

Spike and Big Mac both backed up against each other, and using some creative teamworks, they fended off some surrounding enemies.

"WATCH OUT!!" The boys said, while pointing behind the other. Big Mac quickly kicked a troll away, while Spike blasted another with his fire breath.

"Behind you!" Spike warned, as he and Big Mac rolled to the side. Spike looked up, and spotted Stygian, sitting on the sideline, watching the whole fight taking place before him. Curious, Spike walked up to the small unicorn, "Hey Stygian. Aren't you gonna help us fight?"

"What? Oh no, I'm just gonna watch and learn," Stygian waved.

"Watch and learn?" Spike repeated. "Learn what?"

"What it means to be a hero," Stygian replied. "And what it means to be a friend, and work as a team."

The rest of the boys ceased their game, as they all joined around Stygian and Spike.

"And pray tell, why do you want to know what it means to be a hero and friend, exactly?" Spike asked, while trying not to sound too insensitive.

Stygian shifted a little, before he replies, "Well. I'm sure you've all heard about the tales of how I united the Pillars of Equestria, and defeated the Sirens, thus saving my home." The boys all exchange agreements.

"And following that incident, you went coo-coo, and turned yourself into the Pony of Shadows, and almost destroyed the whole world," Discord said bluntly, before he was elbowed by Pharynx and Big Mac.

"Don't mind him," Spike quickly said. "Please, continue."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

"Well, there's more to it than that," Stygian explained. "Before we went into battles. The Pillars were dubbed the elements of Strength, Bravery, Healing, Beauty, Hope, and Sorcery. And while I wasn't a pillar myself then, I was given the title as the Element of Friendship itself."

The boys were shocked, "You're the Element of Friendship?!" Thorax asked.

"Was," Stygian repeated. "Not anymore. In fact, I'm not even certain that I deserve such a title. The pillars say that I'm deemed the Pillar of Friendship, because I brought them all together. But that's just it. Nothing more. Though I'll admit, I was so moved by their strength combined together, with their dedications to saving Equestria and being the heroes they are, I wanted so badly to be like them. And......you know the rest," Stygian muttered, while lowering his head at the last part.

The boys all turned to each other, before they nodded in agreement. Spike was the first to start, "Y'know, Stygian," Spike began. "You're not the only one who wanted to be a hero, now and then."

"Eenope," Big Mac agreed.

"And you're not the only one who's got friends who are the heroes of Equestria," Thorax added.

"Especially friends who were once your enemies," Discord pointed out on behalf of himself, and the Changeling brothers.

"So, we all understand perfectly how you're feeling," Spike smiled in sympathy.

"Eeyup."

"How can you understand Spike?" Stygian asked. "You're a hero, too! A hero of the Crystal Empire!"

"That's just it," Spike answered. "I'm only a hero of the Crystal Empire! But in truth, it was Twilight who did all the work on finding the Crystal Heart. I only delivered it to Princess Cadence to beat King Sombra."

"What about that time during the Equestrian games?" Thorax asked.

"Yeah. You did that all by yourself, little guy," Pharynx pointed.

Unable to argue with that, Spike replied, "Touché," Getting back on topic, Spike continued, "But the point I'm trying to make is, I'm only a hero of the Crystal Empire. Twilight and the girls are heroes of Equestria and beyond. Maybe even the whole world, or two. And I wanted to be more of that."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, before he continued. "That's just like me too. I'm just a simple farm pony, always helping out on Sweet Apple Acres, while Applejack is off saving the world. And every time she comes home, she's always got a story to tell. And each one just makes me wish I could be more, and more like her. A hero."

"Same for us too," Thorax spoke up. "After Queen Chrysalis was defeated, and I took over as the new leader of the hive, we changelings have been striving to show the world that we're different than what we used to be. All the more reason I enrolled Ocellus into the Friendship School to begin with. In hopes for her to show we changelings can be friends with the world, and be heroes too."

"I second that notion," Pharynx voiced his approval, before he and the boys all turned to Discord.

"Yeah, well....fine," Discord admitted. "I do want to be a hero, sometimes. But it's only to stay on Fluttershy's good side. Besides, it's better to be loved than to be feared....I guess."

Turning back to Stygian, Spike added, "So you see, Styg? You're not alone. We all wanted to have a chance of being a hero. But it takes more than just good deeds, or two. It takes the magic of friendship to guide us all the way, to make the right decisions."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed. "Not everything's set in stone. You gotta write your own story."

"Besides, you've got a new story of your life now," Thorax added. "A story that begins with you, and all of us together!"

The rest of the boys all agreed. Touched, Stygian walked over, "Thank you, gents. I never realized how much I needed to hear all this."

"Guess we sidekicks just got to stick together, huh?" Spike added.

"Eeyup," Big Mac and the Changelings agreed.

"I prefer the term 'Cans of heroic characters waiting to be opened,'" Discord voiced his opinion, before the boys all shot glares at him. "But yeah. Bros until the end," With that, the draconequus shared a quick fist bump with all of the boys.

"Hey! I got an idea!" Discord shouted. "What's say we go visit Lulu? It's been awhile since we've visited a fellow reformed villain!"

The boys turned to each other, before they all shrugged in agreement, "Let's do that!" Spike replied.

With that, the boys find themselves in Canterlot, and were on their way to the castle, while Discord continues to list off some other ideas, "And how about after this, we go see that Sunset Shimmer girl? I hear this Human World is lovely at this time of year. She did mentioned something fishy about those Dazzling characters she and her friends have been keeping some eyes out for. And after that, let's steal Celly's cake again. And if anyone asks, I'll escape into the human world, and I'll come back to bail you guys in a thousand year."

Hang On - Smash Mouth