Alere

Five Minutes Earlier, Dream World

* * * * * P.O.V: Red Hearts * * * * *

You were about to follow Luna through the door when you asked “So what you’re saying is. If I don’t make ten true friends by the Summer Sun Celebration, I will be sent back to Earth where I will forget everything that happened?”

"That about sums up your task." She mused.

"And, the Summer Sun Celebration is in exactly one month?" You asked.

"Yes."

There were many questions running through your head, but only two weighed heavily on your mind.

"So when we get there, will I transform into a pony?" You asked in a slightly worried voice.

"I... am not certain. The only other time a human came to Equestria was when I was still under the influence of Night Mare Moon," She said. A shiver went up her spine at the thought of her confinement to the moon.

'There was a human in Equestria before me?' You thought to yourself.

"I know that he did eventually turn into a pony, but I am not sure if it was by entering Equestria, or by a spell he performed." Said Luna, doing her best to inform you.

"Oh well, I was just wondering if I would- wait. Did you say a spell he performed?" You asked surprised.

"Yes. He was a powerful wizard. As a pony he went by the name of Starswirl the Bearded, but I think he was truly called Merlin." She said with a shrug.

Your eyes went wide at that name. 'That is just too damn awesome! Who would have thought that Merlin was real!?' You shouted in your head.

You looked at Luna to see that an impatient look has dawned upon her face. You didn’t want to delay the two of you from walking through the door for any longer, but there was another question that was plaguing your mind.

"One more question, your highness." She very clearly rolled her eyes at this. "If I do manage to complete the task, what would happen?"

"What do you mean?" She asked

"I mean if I make ten true friends within a month, will I get sent back home with the memories, or will I stay in Equestria?" You asked with a hopeful glint in your eye.

"Well of course you will stay. I would think that to be obvious." She stated with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. "Now it is about time we got going. It may not seem like it, but keeping this door open is quite strenuous."

"Oh sorry. Let us be off!" You exclaimed.

You finally followed Luna through the door with a little bounce in your step. Upon exiting the door, you saw that is was still early into the night, and you were in the Everfree Forest. Not a good combination. You turned around to ask the Princess why she would pick here to drop you off instead of anywhere else like Ponyville or Canterlot, only to see that both Luna and the door had disappeared.

"Well that's just fantastic. I have no idea where the fuck I am, and I have no clue as to where it is that I am supposed to go!" You shouted into the air and received a lone, far off, howl in response. "Perhaps I should keep my voice down," You said quietly.

'If I were a civilization filled with colorful marshmallow ponies where would I be?' You thought to yourself. You wandered around the Everfree Forest for a few minutes until you came to a clearing.

'This should be a good place to rest until morning.' You thought as you finally started to relax, that is until you heard someone crying. You instantly forgot about the problem at hand and focused of the crying. You hated to know someone felt bad and you could have done nothing for them, so you would go out of your way to try to comfort anyone who was feeling down.

You only looked around for a few seconds before you noticed the distressed pers- pony was Trixie. You were a bit hesitant when you saw her, because she had humiliated the Mane six and tried to take over Ponyville, but your hesitation barely lasted a second. You slowly walked up to her, crouched down to be on her level, and placed a hand on her back.

"Hey, are you alright?" You could feel her muscles tense at the surprise of your question.

She shot you a look, not of fear like you had been expecting, but of curiosity.

"Why would you care? Everypony hates me!" She yelled at you. "I am just a horrible pony that has done horrible things to so many ponies. I deserve all of the hate they’re giving me."

"Hey! Never say stuff like that. I'm not sure why you are so upset, or what you did to make everypony hate you," You lied. "But, let me tell you this. I have made mistakes in the past and some ponies hate me for it, but I don't let their hate get to me. So if you like, why don't you tell me exactly what happened and maybe I can help?"

“O-Okay” She mumbled wiping away a tear.

She went on to tell you the things she had done in the past and when she went to apologize publicly to everypony, they started to throw produce and trash at her.

"You know what it sounds like to me?" You received an expectant stare in response. "I think you made some mistakes in your past, but you saw what you did was wrong and you did the right thing. Remember, it's not the mistakes that make you who you are, but it is what you do after the mistakes that defines you." You said.  A small smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you for making me feel better, but what about the ponies who don't accept my apology and still hate me?" She asked with a sad tone slowly coming back to her voice.

"If they start harassing you just ignore them. Lets do a little exercise that I did when I was picked on, shall we?" You said as you stand up and offer her your hand.

"Okay if you think it will really work, but before we go on, I don't think I ever got your name." She said with a small smile.

"Oh why where are my manners? Red Hearts at your service madam." You said in a fancy voice, giving a slight bow.

She gave a light chuckle and proceeded to bow as well. "Oh why you are quite the gentlecolt. I am Trixie, and may I say it is quite pleasant to make your acquaintance sir." She said in a fancy voice much like yours. You both laughed.

"Well now that introductions are out of the way, shall we proceed?" You asked

"If you think that this will help, then gladly." She responded.

"Okay this is how this is going to work. I am going to fling as many insults at you as I can, and you are just going to ignore them. Got that?"

She nodded. You proceed to throw a few petty insults her way and she did a good job of ignoring them.

"You are useless!"

She flinched. That one seemed to strike a nerve.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT TRIXIE!?" She asked in a loud voice that would give Luna a run for her money. You were wondering why she hadn’t been talking in the third person until then. Third pony? I don't know.

After checking to make sure your ears were still functioning, you try to say "Trixie I was-".

"TRIXIE IS NOT USELESS! TRIXIE HAS A GREATER GRASP ON MAGIC THAN MOST OTHER UNICORNS! IS THAT USELESS!?" She roared.

Damn this is really starting to hurt. You thought to yourself.

"Listen. Trixie I- ARRRGGG" you started to explain, only to be hit in the side with a purple magical blast.

"Leave her alone!" Shouted the unknown source of the blast. You look in the direction of the blast to see a very angry looking Princess Twilight and the other Mane six. You turn to see where Trixie was standing only to see the tip of her white tail rushing behind the trees. You look back at the now advancing group of mares.

'Well, I'm fucked.'

After the "Apology"

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

You had started to run after Trixie, but you had started to lose her in the forest. Luckily you ran into Fluttershy and asked her to go get the other girls so they could help. She flew off as fast as she could and soon all of your friends were gathered. You quickly formulated a plan. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy would search the skies, Pinkie and Applejack would search the ground while you and Rarity would try to sense Trixie's magic with your own.

You all had been looking for about an hour when you saw Fluttershy speed towards you.

"Oh Twilight, come quick! I found Trixie, but there is this strange creature that is saying very mean things to her!" Exclaimed Fluttershy in a very worried tone.

"Okay Fluttershy calm down. Start gathering up the girls and we will go face this thing together." You said in a soothing tone, trying to calm her down.

Fluttershy soon came back with came back with the others and started to explain what she saw.

"I have never seen a creature like that before. It had no fur, except for on top of its head. It walked on two legs and had no hooves. It had hands like spike, but with five claws instead of four." She explained.

'Weird. That sounds like those creatures that Lyra is always going on about. You thought to yourself.

"Well we need to get there fast. It sounds like Trixie is in trouble."

You arrive within a few minutes to see that Trixie is shouting rather loudly at the creature.

"TRIXIE IS NOT USELESS! TRIXIE HAS A GREATER GRASP ON MAGIC THAN MOST OTHER UNICORNS! IS THAT USELESS!?" She screamed at the creature.

"Listen. Trixie I- ARRRGGG" It started to explain only to be interrupted by one of your most powerful magical projectiles.

"Leave her alone!"

Strange.That blast would have knocked out a hydra. Why is he still moving?'It doesn't matter now. This possibly dangerous creature is threatening somepony and I need to stop it.

* * * * * P.O.V: Red Hearts * * * * *

You sit there and stared at the five very scary looking cartoon ponies and the one that hid behind the rest, as they approached you,so you did the only reasonable thing you could think of. You ran like a little bitch.

You ran as fast as you legs could go somehow managing to keep a good distance between you and your pursuers. You didn't quite know how you were doing it, but you didn't care. You knew what they were capable of and you didn't want to face their pony wrath.

The more you ran, the more you thought of the dream you had the night before.

'This is not what I meant when I said that living in Equestria would be a dream come true.' You thought before a purple blast of magic grazed your side.

"Oh shit!" You screamed in surprise. You looked back and saw that they were getting close. Too close.

You ran until you came to a large cliff. You looked over the edge to see what was about a three story drop. At the bottom was a road. The only pony that was on said road was a large grey stallion pulling a large cart with a huge pile of hay.

You looked back to the ponies chasing you and saw that they were pretty damn close. You looked back to that stallion pulling the cart, who was now directly below you , and an idea formed in your head.

'Well, I can't say I didn't want to try this.' You thought as you got ready to leap.

"One, Two...fuck it i’m assassin’s creeding this shit." You said as you ran forward and swan dove off the edge.

Your aim was true and you landed in the hay, only to hit your head on a hidden toolbox.