Alere

* * * * * P.O.V: Twilight * * * * *

'What is taking so long?' You thought to yourself. You had been waiting outside of the castle doors for quite awhile now and you were getting restless. "Whatever it is, I just hope that Red is okay," you said through a yawn. It was getting pretty late and the sun was almost set.

"Excuse me, guards?"

"Yes, your highness?" The guards said in unison, causing a shiver to run down your spine.

"I must take my leave for Ponyville. When my companion returns, tell him I have done so," you told the guards.

"Of course, your highness," they answered.

"Thank you," you replied. You turned away from the doors and started walking down the long path to the castle gates. About half way to the gates, you activated your magic and teleported to the library. You sighed with relief as you appeared in your home, but then you saw that everypony was there in the library. Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Trixie and Discord were all standing around your living room staring at you. You looked up at all of your friends with a curious glare. Slightly upset that you weren't getting to rest just yet, you also saw streamers and balloons. You then put any idea of rest out of your mind.

"What is everypony doing here?" You asked, putting on a smile.

"Well, I was making some cupcakes over at Sugarcube Corner when I realized that with everything that has happened, I haven't thrown a "Welcome to Ponyville" party for Red yet, so I put up a whole bunch of decorations and rounded up all of our friends and brought them here, but we were starting to think that you guys weren't coming, but then you poofed into the room. Now we can get this party- wait, where is Red? Didn't he come here with you?" Pinkie replied, all in one quick breath.

"Well, when I left, Red was still in his meeting with Princess Celestia, and after their meeting, he was planning to go meet up with Lyra and her friends, and it is pretty late, so I don't know if he will be back," you answered. When you said this, you could see Pinkie's mane and tail start to deflate. "Oh. Okay then," Pinkie said in a very sad tone as she started pulling the streamers down from the ceiling.

"Wait, Pinkie! He still might be able to make it to your party. There is no need to start tearing down the decorations," Rainbow said, wondering why Pinkie had become saddened so quickly.

"Yeah, Pinkie, so why don't ya put them streamers back where ya got'em," said Applejack.

"But what if he doesn't show up?" Pinkie asked sadly.

"Then we can do it tomorrow," you answered, hoping that the party really could wait until tomorrow. You loved Pinkie's parties, but you were too tired and badly needed sleep.

"Okay, but I will have to make up for lost time with a "Super-Duper-Awesome-Welcome to Ponyville" party," Pinkie replied with a sudden poof of her mane and tail. Pinkie started hopping around the room going off about how much fun the party is going to be and all of the different sweets she will make for the party.

That is until Discord snapped his fingers and froze her mid-jump and said, "Oh no you don't little missy. You wait there and I will be right back." He snapped his fingers again and disappeared.

"Umm. . . I can't move," Pinkie said as she struggled to land. Everypony rushed to her side to try to help her down. Everypony besides Rainbow Dash, who was doing her best to hold back a laugh. After several minutes of frantically going through spell after spell, you gave up and told everypony to just wait for Discord to return.

After several more minutes of waiting Rarity asked, "What is Discord doing that is- AHH!". She was interrupted by a loud pop and something falling on her.

"I'm back, and I brought friends!" Discord called merrily into the room. Everypony looked to see him sitting on the still frozen Pinkie Pie.

"What do you mean?" You asked with a suspicious stare.

"I mean, I have brought the guest of honor to the party. Who has decided to take a nap on our dear friend Rarity." Replied Discord with a devilish smile. You just rolled your eyes and looked over at Rarity to see that Red was laying on top of her and was snoring like a foal. Rarity on the other hoof was having a mini freak out.

"Get him off, Get him off, Get him off!" She repeated in increasing volume as she struggled, not stirring the still unconscious form of Red.

"Okay Rarity, jeez. Just give me a minute," you said as you tried lifting him off with your magic, but it was to no avail. 'Still too tired to even lift him? Wow, I need some sleep.' You thought. You took a few steps closer as you thought of different ways to try to remove him from your friend, but you were stopped by a gray hoof.

"Excuse me, Princess, but I think that this is better left up to me," said the owner of the hoof, through a yawn. The pony was a grey mare with a slick black mane and a light purple treble clef as a cutie mark. The mare walked over to your unconscious friend’s back and brought a hoof up. Her hoof hovered over his back for a few seconds before she smiled and jammed her hoof into the lower left side of his back. This caused him to suddenly wake and cry out in pain.

Rarity managed to slip out from under Red and stood up, all the while giving the mare a death glare. A glare which copied your own. "Why did you do that to him!?" Rarity half yelled at the mare.

"Oh would you relax? He's fine, just look at him," she said, waving a hoof dismissively at Red who was now sitting with his legs crossed and staring at the mare with a look of anger.

"Wait. . . " She said as she turned back to Rarity. "Are you mad because I caused him to get off of you, but you liked the feeling of him being on top of you?" She asked with a wink, causing Rarity's face to become as red as a cherry. You could hear Rainbow and Discord laughing their flanks off from behind you.

"Oh, umm . . . I uhh . . . " Rarity stammered with the ever growing blush upon her face.

"Hmm?" The mare asked, taking a few steps closer. You couldn't help but let out a small giggle at your friend.

"Oh, will you stop picking on her?" Red asked the mare as he tried to hide his own laughs. She looked back at Red with a pleading look on her face, but he just stared her down. After several seconds of this, the mare sighed and said with a small smile, "Just as resilient as ever.". That confused you.

"You say that like you have known him for a long time," you said as you gave her a curious look.

"I did and I do," she replied with a smile.

"But he has only been in Equestria for a few days," you said.

"This is true," she responded with the same smile.

"And you are a pony from Equestria," you retorted with irritation creeping into your tone.

"This is also true," she said, her smile growing.

"So how is it possible for you to have known Red for so long if he has been here for such a short amount of time!?" You asked, a little louder than intended.

"It's a secret," she responded with an innocent look.

"Uhh, what?" You asked.

"It - is - a - secret," she replied slowly. Like she was talking to a foal. The way she said that really made you angry. You were about to tell her off when someone stepped in between the two of you. "Tavi, will you please stop picking on my friends. I know it can be fun to watch them get all flustered, but do try to lay off just a little?" Red said with a small smile spreading across his lips.

The mare rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.".

"Good," Red replied as he hugged the mare.

You were about to ask Red what was going on when Rainbow asked, "So, what exactly is going on here Discord?".

"Whatever do you mean, dear Rainbow Dash?" Discord responded, hopping off of Pinkie's back. "I merely brought the guest of honor to his party."

"But, what about these other ponies?" Rainbow asked.

"Well they were all having such a good time, I didn't want to break it up," Discord answered, motioning towards the two still sleeping forms of Lyra and a white unicorn mare.

"You know you could have asked us to come, instead of knocking us out and kidnapping us, like you did," Red said.

"But, it was the only interesting way to get you here quickly that I could think of. Besides If I didn't do it the way I did, well lets just say the ride would not have been very pleasant," Discord responded with a grimace.

"Wow, something to give him that look must really be bad, you thought.

"Umm, Discord? Do you think you could let me down? I'm starting to get a cramp," Pinkie pleaded.

"I suppose," eeplied Discord. With a snap of his claw, Pinkie fell back to the ground with a thud, to which she instantly sprung back up and loudly said, "Yay! Now we can get this party started!". At those words, everypony, but you and Red, who just looked confused, cheered in unison.

"Well, while you all do that. I will be getting some much needed sleep, so good night everypony," you announced to your friends.

"Ahh. Are you sure you don't wanna stay? It's gonna be fun!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Sorry, Pinkie, I am just too tired to stay up for your party," you replied through a yawn. You turned towards the stairs that led to your bedroom. When you reached your door, you looked back over the ponies in your living room and asked, "Please try to keep it down while I try to sleep, will you?".

"Of course we will, Twilight," Rarity replied.

"Thank you. Goodnight everypony." You said as you walked into your room. You sighed with relief as you closed your door. You walked over to your bed and climbed under the covers, thinking about all of the questions Red had left unanswered, and what you would ask him the next day.

CRASH!

"Aghhh...."

Here is a big shout out to all of my readers who believe my writing is worth the time to sit down and stare at a screen for a good fifteen to twenty minutes every once in awhile.

Also thanks to macandcheese6 for editing the chapters as they come out. 'Celestia knows I'm too damn lazy to do it myself.'  You guys should go check out his story Power of Emotions. It's on hiatus right now, but it is still worth a read, especially if you enjoy mine.

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