Life, Death, and Ponies

Chapters

Sympathy From The Lord
Introductions
First Lessons
Apple Butter
A New Home
Mixed Feelings
A New Song
Crash Landing
Hyper and Shy
Surprises
Confessions
Lullaby
Frustration
Pinkie's Idea
Meanwhile
Flowers for Departure
This Empty Home
Odd Plans
Hand over Hoof
What Ifs
Magic and Music
On the Road Again
Parallel Becomes Perpindicular
Keeping a Promise
Balancing Games
Second Chances
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Hell Hath No Fury
A Night in Manehattan
Apples and Stars
Apples and Stars Pt, II
Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
Dream Weaver
Shards of Glass
The Last Note
The Grand Tour
Wagers
Dog Fight

Sympathy From The Lord

You wake up feeling weightless. When you open your eyes you see nothing but white going on forever. “Unnngh, what happened?” You said while rubbing your eyes. Then the moment you were run over played back in your mind. “Oh, that’s right, I’m dead. I guess it’s fitting. I’ve spent my whole life watching and moving away from death, and now I got to see my own come. Still, I can’t believe this is the afterlife.” You said turning your head around to get look at the expanse of white. “If this is heaven then whoever designed it has a weird sense of the word paradise.”

“This is not heaven, [your name],” echoed a voice from the void around you.

“Well, it seems I’m talking to God now. Are you going to tell me that my life wasn’t as horrible as I made it out to be and that I should’ve had more faith in you?”

“No, I came to tell you that I am truly sorry for the way your life played out.” All of a sudden you burst out laughing at what God had just said.

“Are you serious?” You said after catching your breath. “You’re apologizing to me? You who did things like sent plagues onto people and tested them by telling them to kill their children. I must be hallucinating because that’s just ridiculous.”

“Yes, I did many things out of my blind rage and curiosity, and even now I’m trying to figure out the right way to watch over the ones I’ve created.” God said in a remorseful tone.

“Did the perfect being just tell me that he has flaws? Man, my mind just keeps getting better and better.”

“I am not a perfect being. That is where humans got things wrong. I have flaws like any other being. The only difference is that I can alter the world as I see fit. At first I showed myself as much as possible to help give my people faith and to show them that I was there. I ended up doing the things you said and as a result people feared me and did horrible things in my name. Now I try to show myself as little as possible and people are still doing terrible things. I’m starting to doubt that anything I do will make the world any better.” God sounded like he was on the verge of tears as he spoke.

“Well, you’re God so why don’t you just start all over?”

“Doing what I do is a lot like being a parent, just because I don’t like what my children are doing doesn’t mean I’m going to wipe them all out.”

“Didn’t you that with that whole Noah’s Ark thing?”

“That story is completely untrue, I may have done some horrendous acts but destroying all of humanity in a flood wasn’t one of them.”

“And the apocalypse?”

“I made that up a long time ago to frighten people.”

“Well, not that talking to you hasn’t been fun, but can we get to the part where we talk about why I’m here instead of heaven or hell?”

“You are here because I’m giving you a second chance at life.”

“You’re doing what now?”

“I am giving you, life again so that you can find happiness and as my way of apologizing for the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded your life.” God said, sounding like he was hiding something.

“What unfortunate circumstances would those be? The fact my mom died of disease, or that my dad committed suicide, or is there something else I should know?” You said, on edge.

“Yes, there is something else.” God replied, sighing. “It concerns your thread of fate.”

“Wait fate is real?”

“Very much so. Now, may I continue?” You only nodded. “Every person is born with a thread of fate that is given to them at birth. It is one of the few things that I did not intend to happen but did, and I cannot control it. This thread does not dictate what a person’s actions or thoughts will be. It merely steers a person’s life in a certain direction. Normally the thread’s effects are negligible at best, but there are some cases where the thread causes many events to take place in a person’s life. In some cases these events lead a person to greatness but in others…”

“In other cases it does what?” You cried, already coming to a grim realization.

“In other cases this thread will cause much tragedy and strife in a person’s life. You are one of those truly rare cases. You were born with a thread of tragedy. Even among others who have been born with this thread yours was especially strong.” You were visibly shaking as soon as God had said that. Tears were starting to form in the corners of your eyes. You didn’t know whether to be angry or sad. So you chose both.

“So everything that’s ever happened to me is this fucking thread’s fault? I killed my parents?” You screamed, tears steadily rolling down your cheeks.

“I know you’re upset but…”

“Upset? I’m more than goddamned upset.” You hissed. “I’m absolutely pissed! All of my life, I’ve always wondered why I couldn’t stay happy. Why I couldn’t keep anything I cared about ever. And now, now you tell me that it’s all some damn thread. How should I feel? Should I thank you for telling me the truth or curse your name forever? Because honestly, I don’t know what I should feel anymore.”

“I’m truly sorry, that is why I’m offering you a second life. Now that you’ve died once your thread is no longer with you. If I do this everything in your life will have nothing to do with fate of any kind.” God explained, possibly crying.

“Why are you offering me this? Aren’t there others that could use a deal like this? Or am I actually the worst case scenario when it comes to life?”

“You are not the first person that I’ve given a second chance to. Some of them were in situations much like yours. So I ask you, [your name]. Will you take this second chance?”

“Huh, sure, do it. Send me back.”

“I cannot send you back. Once a life is extinguished in the world there is no way of sending them back.”

“Then how am I going to get a second chance?”

“Instead you will go to another world. Life cannot be brought back into a world, but new life is formed all the time. That being said will you still accept my offer?”

“You know as well as I do that I had nothing in that world anyway so why not?”

“Very well, [your name] I now grant you a second life as payment for the tragedy you have endured.” God boomed in a commanding voice, finally collecting himself after his little display of emotion. The next moment you could feel an incredible force pulling on you, and everything went black again. Just like it had when you died.

You could feel yourself return to consciousness with a groan. You could hear birds outside your window and light was making its way past your closed eyes, filling your vision with red. ‘That was the weirdest dream I’ve ever had.’ You thought. ‘I mean dying and talking to God. Maybe I do need a Psychiatrist?’

“As long as it’s anyone but that woman again.” You said to yourself.

You opened your eyes and found that you weren’t in the room of your foster home anymore. Instead you were in something that resembled a palace’s bedroom. You started to panic and wondered what had happened to you last night. You looked around the room and found a dresser with a mirror behind it. You payed no heed to the dresser, it was the reflection in the mirror that grabbed your attention. Instead of your face was a very confused looking… horse?

You rushed over to the dresser to make sure that what you were seeing was correct. When you reached it the horse in it only got clearer. You tested it by making a series of faces but the horse in the mirror acted in unison with your movements.

“That wasn’t a dream, was it?” You said a slight hint of fear in your voice. “I actually died and now I’m a dark blue… is that a horn on my head?” You reached up to the appendage on your head and discovered that you did in fact have a horn. You shook your head, tousling your hair that was now the same sapphire color as your fur, and running through it was a black highlight. All of a sudden the part of your brain that dictated logic and reason hay wired and you were left muttering incoherent statements for a few seconds.

“Calm down if I just calm down maybe I can… Aaaaaagh!” You couldn’t take it anymore and screamed. In an instant a grey horse with a horn like yours rushed into your room. He was wearing some sort of golden armor and had a concerned look on his face.

“Sir, are you alright? Why did you scream?” The sight of this talking horse did nothing to alleviate your shock and left you stammering to yourself. “Sir, what happened? Please, I’m trying to help you.” You finally managed to collect yourself to a degree that allowed you to speak.

“I just had a strange dream. And, I’m kind of confused about where I am.”

“You’re in Canterlot Castle, of course.” The horse said, alleviated that there was no present danger.

“Oh, is that right? Well, I’m sorry for intruding but I have to go.” You replied and tried to get out of the room.

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you do that. The princesses requested to see you as soon as you had woken up.”

‘I might as well do as I’m told. I shouldn’t make these princesses or whatever mad at me if I can avoid it.’ “Lead the way.” Was all you said to the guard.

The guard led you through long corridors that were decorated with red tapestries that had a depiction of the sun on them. As you made your way through the grand hallways you managed to collect your thoughts and went from being confused to angry. ‘So god tells me I get a second chance at life and what does he do he sends me into a world of talking… I think I’m a pony. Yeah, that’s what a tiny horse is called. That doesn’t matter!’ You told yourself trying to get yourself back on track. ‘What does matter is that God didn’t even give me a little warning ahead of time. You know maybe he could’ve said, “I’m giving you a second chance at life… and you’ll be a pony in it.” If this is a joke then God has a real sick sense of humor.’ You concluded.

The guard stopped your train of thought as he stopped in front of a large door that had a sun on it. The guard stopped and with the help of two other guards that were standing watch there, opened the door with a glow at the end of their horns. You didn’t have time to be impressed as you were led into a grand throne room with two large ponies with wings and horns at the end of it. The first one was snow white with a mane that flowed with different colors even though there was no wind in the room. It had a gentle face that let you know that it was a female and only wore a crown and a necklace. It was less flashy than the guards’ armor but it didn’t have to be, her presence alone was enough to draw your eyes toward her. The other pony was black with a mane that swirled like stars. She also only wore a necklace and crown although hers were black instead of gold. She was also a little shorter than her white counterpart. Both of them stared at you with curiosity. It was like they were trying to tell if you were a threat of some kind.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. I have brought you the strange pony we found last night.” The guard who had led you from your room said with a bow.

“Thank you. You can go back to your assigned duties now.” The white one who you guessed was Celestia said. Her voice was calm and motherly. You started to tear up, the last time you had heard a voice like that was from your own mother. You stopped yourself from crying just as she returned her attention to you. “I have a few questions for you.”

“Only if I can answer them without your royal henchmen staring at me.” You said indicating the guards around the room.

“The princesses cannot comply with that order.” A white guard with wings spoke up anger present in his voice. “We are charged with the task of watching and protecting the princesses at all times.”

“I will respect your wish if you can give us a good reason to do so.” The Celestia said, silencing the guard that had spoken with a look.

“We… I agree your request is odd.” Luna said. It was strange. She was obviously fully grown but she almost sounded like a teenager.

“Because I have a feeling that you’re going to ask me where I’m from and how I got here, and both of those questions have answers that I don’t want anybody to hear if they don’t have to.” The two princesses shared a look for a moment and told the guards to leave.

“We’ve told our guards to leave.” Celestia said once you three were alone in the room. “Now, tell us where you are from and why you were unconscious in the royal garden last night. You took a deep breath and started to tell them your life story.

Introductions

“The first thing you should know about me is that my name is [your name] and I’m dead.” You said it in a nonchalant way, but almost started laughing at the reactions from the princesses.

“You’re dead, but you’re standing right here. How can this be?” Luna asked warily
.

“I agree it does seem unbelievable.” Celestia said, almost glaring at you.

“Maybe that was too much to start with?” You suggested, offering them an apologetic look.

“Yes, why don’t you start your story from the beginning?”

“Huh, alright but have some Kleenexes or something, this could be a tearjerker.” As soon as you said that the princesses materialized handkerchiefs in case your claim proved true. ‘I kind of want to learn how to do that.’ You thought before you continued. “I am not from this world at all. I come from a world where bipedal beings called humans are the dominant species.”

“I’m sorry but what is a human?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, humans evolved from the ancestors of monkeys and apes so imagine a hairless monkey without a tail and a more expressive face. I did have a picture but I don’t think that came with me.”

“If you’re talking about the bag that was found with you last night, then yes it’s here.” Celestia said a little intrigued at your offer.

“It did? Where is it? Did anybody look through it?” You cried out frantically. Your shoulder bag was the last thing you cared about. Inside were all of the things that reminded you that you had had a happy life. To anybody else it was a collection of useless trinkets and toys, but to you it was almost as necessary as the air you breathed. Losing it was one of the reasons you had screamed that morning.

“Relax, no one looked inside. We merely had it examined with magic to make sure that it wouldn’t cause any harm to my little ponies.” As Celestia said that your bag appeared in front of you. You opened it and quickly discovered that all of your things were safe and accounted for. “You have your bag now, so may we see what one of these humans looks like?” Celestia asked, somewhat eagerly.

“Sure, just promise me that you won’t do anything to it or show it to anybody else.” You said as you pulled a photo of your mother and father before you were born out of your bag. You didn’t have too much time to look at it as the princesses levitated towards them. They stared at it for a while and then looked at you.

“Is one of these humans you?” Luna asked.

“No that’s my mother and father, which leads me to part two of my story.” The princesses nodded for you to continue and returned the photo to you. “I used to live with my mother and father, and for a while we were pretty happy. Then my mom died on my seventh birthday while the doctors were trying to fix her.” Tears formed in all eyes of the room as you spoke. “My dad and I were forced to live in a tiny apartment because of the bill that the hospital sent. My dad went into a state of deep depression from the loss of my mother and killed himself a few years later.”

“What would possess somepony, let alone a parent to kill themself?” Celestia asked, actively crying now.

“I’ll get to that part.” You said failing at stopping your own tears from falling. “After my dad’s suicide I was sent from orphanages and foster homes. I never stayed in one place for any long length of time. It seemed like nobody wanted me. I would infuriate abusive homes with my lack of response, and depressed the optimistic ones. When I did go to school kids would usually make fun of me because of my depression. Emo is a word they used a lot to insult me. Because I moved a lot I didn’t stay in schools long enough for them to teach me. I took care of my own education and ended up on par if not a little better than most my age in that regard. The last place I lived was with a politician. He was using me and I did something to make him regret that. I walked out of his home and ended up in an accident that killed me. Instead of going to the place people usually go when they die I met God. We had a bit of a heated exchange where I learned some life changing facts about myself. “

“What Facts did you learn?” Luna asked.

“Hold your horses I’m getting to that.” The princesses rolled their eyes at your pathetic attempt at humor. “I learned that all humans are born with a thread of fate that directs their lives in one direction or another, but usually doesn’t affect their lives in any significant way. I learned that I was a special case among special cases, where my thread caused tragedy after tragedy in my life. I learned that my parents death, and everything else that’s ever happened to me, it was all my fault.” You covered your face with your hooves and wept freely. The Princesses walked over to you and wrapped their wings around you in a warm embrace. You wanted to leave it but the feeling was almost nice.

“Hush now, none of that was your fault. You didn’t mean for any of it to happen. And I don’t think your parents would blame you either.” Celestia said trying to wipe a tear out of her eye now ending the embrace. “But it still doesn’t explain how you’re here.”

“Yes, and who is this God You speak of?” Continued Luna, who was having a harder time collecting herself.

“God is the creator of my world. He also gave people a basic guide to live by and tries to help them every now and then. After he told me about my thread of fate he said that he wanted to give me a second chance at life and happiness as an apology for the way my life turned out. I agreed but apparently you can’t bring life back into a world only create new life. So now I’m here, a candy colored pony with a huge horn, and only a few trinkets to remind myself that anything I just said is actually true.” You said it with a hint of bitterness.

“At least you were given another chance you should work to make the most of it.”

“I suppose you’re right. But if I’m going to start a new life then I’m going to need a place to live.”

“Yes, and you may want to think of a new name, [your name] may be a bit strange to anypony that doesn’t know your story.”

“Well how am I supposed to think of a pony approved name?”

“We could start by examining your cutie mark.” Celestia offered.

“Cutie what?”

“Look at your flank.” You turned your head to see a strange design on your rear. It started off with a blue swirling pattern with a black five pointed star at its center. You thought for a moment until a great name came to mind.

“I think I’ll call myself Blackstar from now on.”

“That is a fine name for a young unicorn such as yourself.” Celestia agreed. “As for a place to live I have a student in a small town called Ponyville that may prove to be a great help to you.”

“Thanks, but don’t tell her I’m coming, I prefer to arrive unannounced.”

“Trust me I know the feeling.” Celestia said with an almost evil grin plastered onto her face. “Before you go though I think you should have a basic understanding of magic if you are to find a place of employment.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me as well.” Luna agreed.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” You said.

“Good then for the next few days we will instruct you in the ways of magic here in the castle and perhaps teach you a little Equestrian history as well. So for the time being you will stay in the room you were given last night, with that said do you have any questions?”

“Just one, can I start learning right now?”

“No, I’m afraid you can’t.” Celestia said with a chuckle. “We have other business to attend to at the moment so it will have to wait until the morning.”

After that the princesses called in one of the winged guards, told him to lead you back to your room and told him that if you requested anything that it should be granted immediately. He stared at them for a moment in utter disbelief. He shot you a glare which you in turn responded with a look of pure innocence. He shook his head at you and led you back through the corridors to what would be your room for the next few days. The guard opened the door to your room and you thanked him as you walked inside.

“Will you be needing anything else, sir?” The guard said still regarding you with cold eyes. That didn’t bother you though; you were used to people looking at you like that. Not only that but you were some stranger who had waltzed in, demanded to speak to the princesses alone, and suddenly he was supposed to treat you like royalty. You understood where his aggression was coming from. But that didn’t mean you weren’t going to abuse your newfound power over the winged pony in front of you.

“Yes, I would like a hot fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, and could you have that brought to me immediately, that would be great.” You struggled to keep a straight face as the guard looked like he was about to blow a gasket. He started to grate his teeth together before he was able to speak again.

“That will be fine; I’ll have the royal chefs work on that at once.”

The guard came back a few minutes later and you thanked him for the sundae. The instant you brought the spoon to your mouth, the ice cream, chocolate and caramel blended in a way that some would describe as heavenly. It took you a while to figure out how to do so, but you finally managed to levitate the spoon. All you had to do was, concentrate your energy into your horn and create a mental image of the spoon being picked up. You congratulated yourself by finishing your sundae with your new ability. At first your aim was a bit off but after a while you perfected the art of magical eating.

Without thinking you pulled out your journal to see if you could use levitation to write. You soon discovered that you could and began to write down your thoughts on the day’s events.

Hey, me in the future. I hope you’re used to life in Equestria as you’re reading this because I don’t know if I am. In case you ever forget how it is we got here and what happened when we first got here let me give you a quick rundown. We died, met God. Then we were given a second chance at life as an apology for all the crap we went through in our old life. Then we woke up in a huge bedroom as a very confused looking unicorn. After that we had a little chat with the princesses where we told our entire life story. I never lost my cool though if that’s what you’re thinking. They then decided that they’re gonna teach us magic. So now I’m here sitting and waiting for tomorrow to come so I can see what magic can really do. Honestly, I’m still a little upset about my whole thread of fate situation, but after meeting the princesses and the hospitality they showed us, maybe, just maybe this was all for the best. I’ll talk to you later when I have something interesting to say.

You closed your journal and carefully slid it back into your bag before you made your way to your new bed for some rest for tomorrow.

First Lessons

Bang.

The noise rang out and woke you from your sleep in your old apartment. You sprang up out of your bed and rushed to your father’s room. A smell stopped you as you reached out to the door handle. You couldn’t quite place it but it was almost sickly sweet and a bit metallic. You opened the door, your concern for your father won out over your growing fear. When you opened the door the smell that had stopped you before suddenly rushed into your nostrils. You were unprepared for such a terrible smell and quickly fell to your knees and threw up for a minute or so. You finally steeled yourself enough to look back up and that’s when you saw it.

Blood. Blood covered every surface of what was once your father’s bedroom. You almost threw up again but stopped it from happening midway. You started crying as you scanned the room hoping to find any answers as to what had happened here. You found what you were looking for when you spotted your father’s corpse lying in the corner of the room, most of his face missing and a pistol in his hand. You ran over to your father asking him if he was okay. Deep in your heart you knew there wouldn’t be a response. But you were in shock at losing the last person in the world that cared about you. After a while you gave up and ran into the kitchen to call the ambulance. You made it to the phone and pressed the buttons as quickly as your frantic little fingers would let you.

“Hello, 911 what’s your emergency?” Asked a voice from a female dispatcher.

“M, m, my daddy’s hurt!” You cried out, barely keeping yourself under control.

“Please calm down and tell us your information.”

“I’m [your name], and I live on…” In the background there was a shuffling noise that was steadily growing louder.

“Ok, we’ll send someone right over, please stay calm and don’t leave the area.”

“Sure I won’… mmph.” You were suddenly wrenched from the phone as an unknown hand pulled on you and shoved you to the ground. You couldn’t move and were at the complete mercy of whomever it was that had grabbed you. Your assailant turned you over to look at you. At first all you could see was a silhouette but the figure came into your light to allow you to see something terrible…

… The corpse of your father. Most of the left half of his face was completely gone and what did remain of it was barely held together. He stared at you with his right eye, looking deep into your own eyes before deciding to speak.

“This is all your fault.” He rasped in a sinister tone.

“What do you mean daddy?” You were scared and confused. What did he mean? What was your fault?

“Don’t play dumb with me you bastard!” Your father cursed his rage increasing as he shook you violently. “Your mother’s death, my suicide, none of it would’ve happened if it weren’t for you and your damn thread! You never should’ve been born, you freak!”

“Daddy, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I never wanted any of this to happen!”

“Well it did happen, and now you have to live with it.” Your father hissed one last time before the dream started to dissipate.

You woke up covered in a cold sweat, tears in the corners of your eyes, and confused about your exact location. You then remembered your death and the fact that you were now a unicorn in a magical land of ponies. You shook your head for a moment and wondered what your dream was all about. You had relived that night countless times, but this was the first time your father’s corpse had reanimated itself and attacked you. His large bloodshot eye still crept in the corners of your mind causing you to shudder for a bit. You started to think that despite the princesses’ words, you still blamed yourself for the death of your parents. You felt a small pain in your chest that caused you to cry silently for a few more moments.

When you were finished you looked out your window and saw that it was only the beginning of the morning. You debated for a moment on whether or not you should go back to bed, but the thought of having that dream again made you shudder one more time. In the end you threw the covers off of you and stretched for a moment. You went through your morning routine just as anyone would in the morning, except you were using your new magic to levitate anything and everything that was even remotely related to preparing you for your first day of magical training. Finally, you used your magic to carefully place your bag over your neck and draped it behind your back. You then opened the door to your room and were greeted by an unfamiliar guard. He was a light grey winged pony with yellow eyes. Instead of gold armor his was purple, and he had wings like a bat instead of the feathered ones you had seen on all of the other winged guards. He stared at you with something like a cross between a sneer and a glare for a moment before you decided to speak up first.

“Umm, what happened to my guard from before?”

“We switched posts a while ago. I am one of Luna’s night guards.” His voice sounded friendly enough, but his demeanor hadn’t changed at all.

“Uh huh, and is there a reason why you look like a vampire pony or am I just crazy?”

“Yes there is a reason, every guard wears enchanted armor to change their appearance based on their duties. Celestia’s pegasi will become white and Luna’s will change into something like what I look like right now. Normally, I’m red and yeah, I do have feathers.” He explained it with a chuckle, which allowed you to warm up to him a bit.

“You’re way more personable than my other guard; he nearly had a stroke when I asked for some ice cream. I was beginning to think all you guards were stiffs.”

“That guard was my brother.” Your guard said, his glare intensifying. “But yeah he always does have a stick up his flank so don’t be too offended. He prefers to take his guard duties seriously. Me, let’s just say I let loose once in a while.”

“No problems here, I don’t deal well with people who take themselves too seriously anyways.”

“Me either, my name’s Flarewing by the way, what’s yours?”

“Oh, it’s Blackstar. Nice to meet you, Flarewing.”

“Pleasantries aside, your lesson with the princesses doesn’t start for a few more hours so you can go back to bed if you like.”

“No thanks, I’d much rather take a look around the castle if it’s all the same to you?” You said, laughing nervously at the offer.

“Alright, follow me and let the tour begin.”

Flarewing led you through a great deal of hallways and chambers and went through a basic rundown of each one. Along the way you two made small talk as you went.

“You should know that everypony in Canterlot is talking about you right now.”

“Oh really what are they talking about? Is it my dashing good looks or my cast iron wit?”

“No, they’re saying that some odd pony was found in the royal garden and suddenly he’s become the princesses’ newest student.” Flarewing said with a chuckle.

“It wasn’t all of a sudden; I had to have an entire conversation with them.”

“Still, who exactly are you? Are you some kind of foreign dignitary or something?”

“Tell me Flarewing, do I seem like a foreign dignitary to you?” You said with an incredulous look on your face.

“Not at all, which is why I asked. Normally, you can tell a diplomat from a normal pony the instant they walk into the room.”

“Good because I’m not, so can you show me the library, I overheard yesterday that it was really impressive.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. There may still be some students from the magic school studying in there and if they see you, the source of all sorts of rumors, they might start asking you a lot of questions.”

“I guess you have a point. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait until later to get my hooves on the books there.” You said with a sigh. You were interested in learning more about the place you were supposed to call home, but not at the cost of having to put up with a bunch of annoying chatter. You had had your fill of being interrogated yesterday.

“You didn’t strike me as a bookworm, Blackstar.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Flarewing.”

“Like what?”

“Sorry, but a pony has to keep his secrets.” You replied, hoping the pegasus would drop the topic.

A few more hours passed and you were brought into a large circular chamber, where Princess Luna was waiting for you. The room was mostly bare save for a tapestry here or there and a large fireplace that had logs but no fire in it. The floor was scattered with a few stacks of books. Luna had an excited look on her face. You guessed that this was her first time teaching and walked into the room with a weak smile.

“Hello, Blackstar are you ready for your first lessons in magic?”

“Yes, I look forward to the lesson, But where’s Celestia?”

“She has other matters to attend to at the moment so I will be the one to teach you for now. Let us begin with the basic of all basics, what is magic?” Luna asked it as if it was some sort of philosophical question.

“Magic is taking energy inside of one’s self and using it to do tasks that one would otherwise consider impossible.”

“Correct, but magic does have its limits.” Luna warned.

“Magic’s effects are not permanent and cannot be used to do things like bring back the dead.”

“How do you know so much about magic already? Were you able to use it back when you were a human?”

“No, humans aren’t able to use magic. There are stories about humans that could called witches and wizards, but they were usually portrayed as evil and there’s no proof that anything like that ever existed. I’m just inferring based on what I’ve already seen.”

“You have a much sharper mind than I had anticipated. Let’s move on to the next part of our lesson, levitation. All you have to do is…”

“Actually, Princess I kind of learned how to do that already.” You said with a grin.

“How did you do that?” Luna asked in disbelief.

“Ice cream.”

“Huh?”

“I asked for a hot fudge sundae yesterday after our meeting, and I tried to lift the spoon with my hooves, but it didn’t work. So I tried to use magic to do it and after a while I figured out how to use levitation. I can even use it to write.”

“You’re ability to learn so quickly is truly impressive. We may go through our lessons much more quickly than I had originally thought.” Luna stated with a smile of approval.

“Is our next lesson going to be starting a fire with magic?”

“What makes you think that?”

“The fireplace has logs but no fire; something tells me you wouldn’t set up a fireplace without planning to start a fire so I figured it must be part of our lesson.”

“Very observant, I can see why you were born into this world as a unicorn, it’s almost like your mind was made for the intricacies of magic.”

“I wasn’t always this observant, and it’s not that impressive. After being sent to a number of abusive homes I just learned to pick up on certain behaviors and things so it would be easier for me to avoid punishment.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Blackstar. Many others would crumble if they were given such a life. Instead you adapted and have ended up a splendid young pony because of it. I once made a very large mistake and I’m still trying to make amends for it.”

“You, I don’t believe it. You’re usually so quiet and kind. What mistake could you have made?”

“As you can probably imagine being the princess in charge of the moon is not that glamorous of a position. Everypony does their business during the day and sleeps at night.”

“So, being in charge of the night means that you allow everypony to get some rest so they can do the things they have to for the next day, to me it seems like a position of quiet respect.”

“You’re right of course, if I had been half as mature as you are now I would have seen that. But, instead I grew jealous and bitter with my lot in life and allowed myself to be consumed with anger. In the end I was sent to the moon for a thousand years and then the Elements of Harmony saved me from that bitter rage that I allowed into my heart.”

“I take it you’re saying I shouldn’t be too upset over this whole becoming a pony thing, huh?”

“I was just telling you a little story, but if you draw a deeper meaning from it then that’s fine. Now, let’s return to our lesson. In order to create a fire you must first concentrate a strong image in your mind. Any image, you can think of that spreads a warm feeling down your entire being and then focus that feeling onto one spot.”

You did as you were told and you thought of something that always spread a warm feeling inside of you, your family. You thought of a time you were all together. Your mother and father were looking up at you while you sat on their shoulders. You could feel the magic working for a moment but something happened. Your concentration was broken when the image of your father’s corpse appeared, causing your spell to backfire. You were knocked onto your flank and part of your mane was singed.

“What went wrong?” Luna asked, concerned.

“A disturbing image popped into my head is all. Let’s try a different spell.” You said rubbing your now aching head.

"Let’s continue with the lesson then.”

You nodded your head and a few hours later Princess Luna told you that the lesson was over. You had learned how to control your levitation to a point where you could lift incredibly heavy objects or many objects at once. You also learned how to change water into ice and a few other little spells. Princess Luna gave you a book on magic for beginners and told you to practice whenever you got the chance. You took the book and exited the room excited at the prospect of learning more magic.

Apple Butter

It had been two weeks since your trip into Canterlot. Word had quickly spread throughout the city about your deed and you were regarded as a hero. Luckily, Celestia had prevented the story from spreading any farther. You had thanked her mostly due to the fact that you were unsure how to feel about all the attention. You still went out every now and then with Flarewing and a crowd of ponies usually formed around you as you did. At your last lesson Princess Celestia and Luna had told you that your proficiency with magic and knowledge of Equestria was enough to allow you to leave. You were disappointed of course you loved learning about magic and everything about the world you were now calling home. On more than one occasion you had spent all night in the royal library to read every form of book you could fine.

A lot of what you read was pretty astounding to you. In a book that was about animals of Equestria. You noticed that many of the creatures in this world were nothing more than myths in your old world. You had learned that a lot Equestrian art wasn’t all that different than a lot of art you had seen back home. You had even read a little on Philosophy during your stay. Pony philosophy tended to be about the importance of trust and companionship but it was still somewhat interesting.

But now it was time for you to leave the castle and venture off to the small town of Ponyville. Today was the last day for you in Canterlot then you would make your departure that night. You had decided to leave at night for a number of reasons. One being that you wanted to avoid a commotion in the town, the other was that you wanted to be able to say goodbye to Flarewing. In the short time that you had known him, Flarewing had become something like a best friend and mentor to you. Whenever you two went into town together he would insist that you talk to a few of the female students from the magic school. Even though he held back snickers at your miserable attempts at small talk, in his own way he was helping you overcome your apprehension towards women.

It was a good thing too. During your third trip out into Canterlot you had noticed that women outnumbered men by quite a bit. You wondered why it had taken so long for you to figure something like that out. Then you realized that when you had first arrived most of your time had been spent in the castle and most of the guards were male. At first you were a little frightened at the prospect. Back home, most girls your age had wanted nothing to do with you and some even openly mocked you. Now you were facing the exact opposite. Thankfully, with Flarewing’s help you were now able to hold a somewhat normal conversation with a member of the opposite sex.

Then you started thinking of the positives to leaving. ‘On one hand… I mean hoof, I’ll be leaving behind the only friend I’ve made in years. On the other if nopony knows who I am then I can live in some modesty and avoid all this hero worship. Not only that but I’ll get to meet this Twilight that Princess Celestia said is her other top student. I guess I can make the best of this.’ You thought with a soft smile creeping up on the corners of your mouth.

By the time you were done thinking it was almost time to see the princesses. You went to the bathroom to freshen up and placed your shoulder bag across your back. You exited your room a half an hour later and were escorted into the throne room one last time. There the princesses sat waiting for you with warm smiles and tears in the corners of their eyes. Flarewing was also there, wearing his night guard armor.

“Hello, Blackstar. It seems it’s time that you go to make your way in the world.” Celestia said.

“Thank you so much Princess. I can never hope to repay the kindness that everypony here has shown me.”

“If you really want to thank me, there were several requests for your ‘presence’ among many of the young mares of Canterlot.” Celestia said with an evil grin. Your eyes widened and your cheeks turned an impressive shade of red as you realized the hidden meaning in her words.

“What my sister is trying to say is that your appreciation is more than enough.” Luna replied trying to ignore her sister’s small prank. “When we found you, you were confused, scared, and even depressed. Now you have opened up and became somepony that others not only respect, but emulate.”

“Thank you again. I guess I should get going now.” You said while turning to exit the room.

“Not so fast, we have a few parting gifts for you.” Celestia said, changing back to her original, matronly self.

“I couldn’t accept any more gifts. You’ve already given me so much.”

“We can’t just have one of our favorite students leaving with nothing but a few trinkets.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You could start with thank you.” Flarewing said with a chuckle.

“Anyway,” Celestia said, “we are giving you a few hundred bits in order for you to purchase a home when you arrive. We are also giving you a few books on magic that I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading, and a few apples to eat along the way.”

“Thank you so much, I almost don’t want to leave, but I don’t want to live off of your hospitality forever.”

“We understand, goodbye Blackstar and may you find happiness in your new home.”

“Goodbye, princesses.” You said with a slight bow. “Flarewing, thanks, you’ve been the best friend a pony could have.”

“Don’t say it like that. You’re not getting away from me that easy. I’m gonna visit you every now and then to see how my favorite little bookworm is doing.” He said with his signature impish grin.

“You just want to hit on the girls in town.”

“Now that you mention it I could do that too.” With that you and Flarewing exchanged a gesture that you had appropriately named, brohoof. Then you took the princesses’ gifts, placed them in the remaining space in your bag, and turned to leave.

The night air felt brisk and refreshing on your face as you walked. You had left the city a few hours ago and had made a note to thank Luna. She had obviously used her magic to make the light of the moon a little bit brighter for your trip. You never needed to stop for directions. The paths of Equestria were simple and easy to follow, not like the large highways that dominated your world. All thoughts of apprehension had left you after you exchanged goodbyes. ‘Flarewing’s gonna visit me, I’d better warn some of the mares in town beforehand. Huh, for the first time in a very long time. I think I’m excited. If I ever see God again I may have to hug him instead of slap him for all of this. Nah, I’ll do both.’ You thought with a smirk.

You stopped at certain points to relieve yourself and to eat one of the apples that the princesses gave you. ‘I wonder what I should do when I get to this Ponyville.’ You thought as you took a bite of the apple. ‘I could become a teacher. Maybe they need someone to teach magic. I don’t really care what kind of job I get. I just want to live in peace at this point.’

You had to stop when the sun was rising, feeling your aching joints at having travelled for such a long period of time. You found a tree by the side of the road and rested for a few hours. You got up and travelled onward until nightfall again. You were tired from all of the walking and saw that you were surrounded by rows of trees. You figured that civilization wasn’t that much farther and decided to get some sleep until the morning.

Your restful sleep was interrupted by someone poking at your side with their hoof. You reluctantly got to your feet to see who it was that had decided to wake you up. Standing before you was an orange pony with deep green eyes and a cowboy hat. She had long straw blonde hair that she tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon. You noticed that she was showing signs of fatigue and were about to say hello when she said.

“What the hay are yah doin’ sleepin’ on mah orchard?” She had a deep southern drawl, which wasn’t that surprising given her choice of headwear. You looked around and saw that the rows of trees that you had noticed last night were actually apple trees.

“Sorry, I was travelling for a while and I decided to sleep off of the trail. I didn’t know that it was your orchard.” You said, somewhat nervously. You muttered a curse as the feelings you thought were under control returned.

“No problems there, I’m Applejack, What’s your name?”

“My name’s Blackstar. I was just on my way to Ponyville, is it close.”

“I’ll say you’re in it right now.” Applejack said with a laugh.

“Oh, say why do you look so tired?” You asked hoping to hide your embarrassment.

“I was up buckin’ apples for the last few hours, that’s why.”

“All by yourself? That’s a pretty odd thing to do.”

“Normally I have my big brother to help me, but he’s sick so I have to do it by myself today.” You stared at Applejack for a moment and considered how to respond. After a while you just opened up your bag and gave her your last apple.

“Here, take this and rest. Let me take over for you a while as my way of saying sorry for sleeping on your orchard.”

“I couldn’t do that. I barely know you and apple buckin’ is tough work.” She said with a shake of her head.

“I insist, and don’t worry about it. I’m no stranger to tough work.” This wasn’t a lie. You had actually spent about a year on a farm as one of your foster homes. The people there weren’t abusive or annoyingly optimistic. They were simply hard working people who had expected you to work hard too and only spoke about personal topics if you wanted to. It was actually one of the few times you had felt at peace after your family’s death. Of course it didn’t last, nothing in your old life had. Applejack gave you a wary look for a moment or so, before speaking.

“I suppose it’s alright. But none of that fancy magic.” She said pointing an accusatory hoof at your horn.

“I wasn’t planning to.” After a few miserable attempts and snickers from the farm pony, you were finally able to get into the rhythm of apple bucking, each swift kick from your hind legs shaking apples loose from the tree.

“So tell me, Blackstar. What brings a pony like you to Ponyville?” Applejack asked after you had been working for about an hour, eyeing you suspiciously.

“I’m gonna be living here from now on.” You replied, wiping sweat off of your brow.

“Do you have any ideas about what you’re gonna be doin’ here?”

“No, I still need to find a job. I was thinking of something along the lines of a teacher, but I’d be happy with just about anything really.”

“Well, we’ve already got a teacher, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find somethin’.” She said with a chuckle. “Here let me help yah, I’ve rested long enough.”

“Sure thing.”

After a few more hours of bucking apples it was about two in the afternoon. You and Applejack were sprawled out on the ground, exhausted. “You’re right, that is hard work.” You panted.

“Yeah, but you did alright seein’ as it was your first time. I’m hungry what about you.”

“I haven’t eaten anything since last night so yeah I am a little hungry. What do you have to eat around here?”

“We’ve got: apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts…” Applejack started to list off an endless amount of apple based products at speeds you couldn’t quite follow.

“Uh, I’ll just have some toast with some apple butter if it’s all the same with you.”

“Apple what?” Applejack asked you with a confused look on her face. You stared at her with your mouth agape. You couldn’t believe that an apple farm that boasted an almost unlimited number of apple based treats didn’t have one of your favorite comfort foods. Your father’s family had an old recipe for apple butter that you had seen a number of times. Making your mind run like clockwork to pull up the memories of the delicious spread, you looked at Applejack with a serious look in your eyes and said.

“You need to show me your kitchen right now.”

Once you were inside you immediately set to work on gathering all of the ingredients. “Applejack do you have any apple cider around here, preferably with some alcohol in it.”

“Yeah, we got a bit left over from cider season this year.”

“Good I’ll need that.” Applejack returned a few minutes later with a decent amount of cider for your concoction. She was followed by a young pony with light yellow fur and a red mane that had a large pink bow in it and orange eyes, and by an elderly pony with a frizzy white mane done up in a bun, light green skin, and the same eyes as the young pony.

“Who’s this Applejack?” The young filly asked tilting her head.

“Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, this is Blackstar. He’s movin’ into Ponyville.” Applejack said as a way of introducing everyone. You nodded, without turning away from your work. “Ah found him this morning asleep in the orchard and he helped me with apple buckin’. Now he’s showin’ me somethin’ called apple butter.
”

You finished your work with the three ponies watching you as you did so. Eventually the sugar from the cooked apples caramelized turning the entire mixture a shade of brown. You grinned as you took some of your creation and spread it on some toast that you had made along with the apple butter and handed it to Applejack. You watched her face carefully as she took her first bite.

A New Home

Applejack’s eyes became as wide as dinner plates as she tasted the apple butter you had just made. You could feel yourself smirk at seeing how much she obviously enjoyed the apple butter.

“This is almost as good as Zap Apple Jam.” Applejack remarked.

“Pony feathers!” Granny Smith exclaimed with a glare directed at you. “Ah’ve been making apple products for done near all my life and Ah’ve never even heard of this apple butter. How good can it be?” Right after she said that you offered her a spoonful of apple butter to show her that it was as good as Applejack claimed it to be. Her eyes almost went as wide as Applejack’s had when she tasted the spread. “Oh my Sonny, I don’t know who you are but that is one of the best darn things Ah’ve ever had.”

“Thanks but it’s nothing really, it’s an old family recipe my dad gave me.” You said, recalling how your father would always make apple butter whenever you were upset.

“Hey, can Ah have some too?” The filly asked with pleading puppy dog eyes.

“Sure,” you said being pulled out of your thoughts. “We can all have it with some lunch.” You quickly set to work and about half an hour later you had made four stacks of pancakes each with a generous amount of apple butter. You sat down and watched as everypony’s face lit up as they took their first bite. You grinned and began eating your own pancakes.

“This is really good, Blackstar!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, virtually attacking her stack of pancakes.

“Apple Bloom, try to show some manners, we’ve got a guest.” Applejack scolded.

“She’s fine, I’m just glad to see somepony enjoy my handiwork.”

“Alright then,” Applejack said with a warm smile on her face. “That bein’ said how’d you get so good at cookin’? These are some of the best pancakes Ah’ve ever had.”

“I cooked a lot for… my family growing up, after a while I got bored and started experimenting with different ingredients.” This technically wasn’t a lie, you had cooked a lot, but it was for foster families not your real family. Applejack gave you a weird look for a moment but it passed as quickly as it came. “Hey, Applejack I think I just got an idea what kind of job I’ll have.” You said with a grin.

“Really, what?” She said with a raised eyebrow.

“I could make this apple butter with Granny Smith here and between the two of us I’m sure we can make something that everypony in Ponyville will go crazy over. Then you can sell it and I’ll take a small percent of the profit.”

“You’re gonna let us sell this?” Applejack asked with excitement in her eyes. “Ah don’ know what to say. Isn’t this a family recipe?”

“My dad gave me this recipe to do with as I saw fit. Besides, I’m sure he’d be happy knowing that it was going to make a lot of ponies happy.”

“What do you think, Granny Smith?”

“Ah think that Ah want to make as much of this apple butter as Ah can.” Granny Smith said with more energy than she normally spoke with.

“That tears it then. Welcome aboard, Blackstar.” Applejack said with a grin. “With all the money we’ll make from this we’ll finally be able to fix yer hip Granny.”

“Don’t treat me like an old barn, you silly filly.”

“Does this mean you’re gonna be livin’ here, Blackstar?” Apple Bloom asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know you’d have to ask Applejack and Granny Smith.” You said a little hesitantly with the look she was giving you. “I was planning on living by myself. But, if they don’t see a problem with it then I don’t.” Apple Bloom turned her puppy dog eyes towards her family for a moment. Applejack and Granny Smith exchanged glances for a few seconds before they finally responded.

“There’s room for ya if you’re willin’ to stay here.” Applejack said, caving in to her little sister’s will.

“Yay, now it’s like Ah have two brothers!” Apple Bloom cheered, doing a little jig on the floor. “Ah got to show you around town!”

“Slow down there, Kiddo.” You said with a small laugh. “I have a few things I have to do before I can do that.”

“What do ya plan on doin’?” Applejack asked.

“First, I plan on introducing myself to this brother of yours; we don’t want him too surprised at seeing me when he gets better do we?”

“I suppose yer right.” Applejack replied with a nod.

“Then I’m gonna see if I can help him feel better with this.” You said, indicating your horn.

“No, we don’ use shortcuts to do things ‘round here.” Applejack said decisively.

“Fine, fine, then when I’m done introducing myself I’ll set to work on making as much apple butter as possible so I can take a day off tomorrow to explore the town and introduce myself to a few ponies around town.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“So I can show ya around tomorrow?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Sorry Apple Bloom, but you’ve got school tomorrow.” Applejack said with authority. Apple Bloom responded by pouting but you stepped in with.

“Maybe you can give me your special tour some other time. I may accidentally forget a few of the best places in town and we don’t want that do we?” Apple Bloom nodded her head with renewed vigor and everyone finished eating their meal in peace.

After you had helped clean up after your meal you were led upstairs and into a modest bedroom where a giant red stallion was lying in bed looking like he was a little flushed.

“Hey Big Mac, how are ya?” Applejack asked calmly as she stepped into the room.

“Not too bad.” Was all he said, in an extremely deep voice.

“That’s good, listen. we’d like to introduce you to Blackstar here. He’s gonna be stayin’ with us for a while and is makin’ somethin’ for us to sell.” Applejack said, indicating for you to introduce yourself.

“Hi, Big Macintosh I’m Blackstar and it’s nice to meet you.”

“Eeeyup.”

“Hmm, can I take a look at him for a moment?”

“Ah thought Ah told ya, no magic as a shortcut.” Applejack said, annoyed.

“I know, but I have a little knowledge on traditional medicine. What are his symptoms?”

“He’s been cold, nauseous and has a headache.”

“Give him something to help his digestion, make sure he gets liquids with plenty of electrolytes in them, both in sparing amounts every so often, and wrap him up in a few more blankets. If you do that then he should be fine in a day or two.” You said recounting all of the books on medicine you had ever read.

“Uhhh… okay.” Was all Applejack managed to say before she, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom trotted out of the room. They returned a few minutes later with, a few blankets, a bowl of soup, and a glass with a cool drink which was a light yellow. “Will this do?” Applejack asked letting you examine the items they had brought.

“That’s perfect I’ll leave you to feed him. Granny Smith, let’s go make some apple butter.” With that Granny Smith and Apple Bloom followed you out of the room and back into the kitchen. You asked where all the remaining cider was and were shown to a cellar. Using your levitation you were able to lift the remaining barrels of cider back into the kitchen. You and Granny Smith set to work and once both of you were working at a steady pace, Apple Bloom started asking you questions.

“Hey Blackstar, what’s yer special talent?”

“Why do you wanna know that, Kiddo?”

“She asks everypony that, Sonny. She’s upset that she doesn’t have her cutie mark yet.” Granny Smith answered, taking a taste of your efforts to test it.

“You shouldn’t be too upset about not having your cutie mark yet, Apple Bloom.” You said with a comforting grin, having taken notes from the princesses.

“But almost everypony in mah class has their cutie marks already. And there are these really mean bullies in mah class that make fun of me because of it.” The word bully struck a nerve with you. Being bullied growing up it only made sense. You stopped working for a moment to offer a comforting pat on the head to Apple Bloom.

“Say, you know when a cutie mark appears, don’t you?”

“A cutie mark appears when you learn what your special talent is, the thing that makes ya different from anypony else.” She said blandly, the words coming out rehearsed and rigid.

“Exactly, you can’t just blindly run out and do a bunch of crazy things hoping a cutie mark will show up.” Apple Bloom winced when you said that, almost as if that was exactly what she was doing. “First you need to ask yourself, who am I, and what makes me happy? If you don’t do that then you’ll never be able to earn your cutie mark. For example, I like learning about how things work and how to use them for others. So my cutie mark is for magic.”

“Ah think Ah understand, but is it really that easy?”

“It’s only as easy as you make it.” You said with a warm smile. “Besides, if those bullies mess with you anymore just tell them your new big brother will turn them into newts.” Apple Bloom cheered up immediately after you said that and hugged you before running out the door.

“That was mighty nice of ya, Sonny.” Granny Smith said with a smile, turning away from working for a moment.

“It was nothing; sorry for saying I was her new big brother by the way.” You said, feeling awkward for saying it.

“After cheering her up like that, Ah think it’s alright.” She said, still smiling. “Now get back over here and help me make this apple butter.” You and Granny Smith worked until almost midnight making jar after jar of apple butter. After you reached about sixty you both decided that it was time to call it quits for the night.

You placed your bag in your new room and tried to get some sleep. For a while you shifted around restlessly, unable to fall asleep. You decided to get some fresh air and maybe do some stargazing to help you relax. You walked out and found a nice hill on the farm to lie down on your back and look up at the endless stretch of sky around you.

‘That was kind of fun.’ You thought to yourself with a slight grin. ‘I met an interesting family that gave me a job and a place to stay. I’ll have to talk to Applejack about rent though; I hate the idea of sponging off of these ponies.’ Then your thoughts shifted toward something else that was nagging at you. ‘Tomorrow I get to take a tour of Ponyville. I wonder what I should see. The only thing I know about this place is that Celestia’s other student, Twilight Sparkle lives here. Should I ask Applejack about her? Probably not, they may not know each other, and even if they do, she’ll want to know how I know her.’

Your train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from behind you. You leaned your head back to see Applejack staring down at you.

“Hey Applejack, what are you doing up at this time of night?”

“Ah could ask you the same thing. You’re not gonna make a habit of sleepin’ in the orchard are you.” She said with a small laugh.

“No, I’m not, I was just out because I was having a hard time falling asleep, so I decided to look up at the stars for a bit.” You replied, laughing nervously.

“That’s fine Ah guess, I was just checkin’ up on ya to see how you were doin’, but when Ah didn’t see ya in the room I figured Ah’d come look for ya.”

“I’m doing fine. How’s Big Mac by the way.”

“He said he was doin’ a lot better thanks to that freaky medical knowledge of yours. Thanks for that.”

“It’s the least I could do seeing as you’re letting me stay here.”

“Well, we appreciate the heck out of it.” Applejack said as she lied down next to you. “Even Big Mac told me to say thank you for him.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal, just some basic treatments.” You said, feeling a little nervous at having her that close to you.

“Call it whatever ya want, it was still a nice gesture.” She said smiling. “Not only that but you gave Apple Bloom some real good advice.”

“You heard about that?”

“Granny Smith told me about it right before she went to bed. She said it perked Apple Bloom right up about her whole cutie mark situation.”

“It just felt like the right thing to say.”

“Yer real bad at just taking compliments, ya know that?” Applejack laughed.

“I guess I am.” You said with a slight smile.

“Speakin’ of cutie marks how’d ya get yours?”

“I…” This was something you hadn’t prepared for this. You couldn’t just say you woke up with it. Even though you had, you had to think of something quick or risk being thought of as some kind of freak. “I was bullied a lot growing up. Even though I was a unicorn all the magic I tried would blow up in my face. It made me feel completely useless. I decided that I would pour everything I could into learning all the magic I could. At some point I learned it was my special talent. After that I’ve been using my magic to help anypony I can.”

“That’s a real nice story.” You sighed in relief when she said that. Luckily, lying was something you were good at
.

“What about you, how’d you get your cutie mark?” Applejack told you a story about running away from home to live with relatives in a city called Manehattan only to come back to Ponyville by following a rainbow in the sky.

“…Anyway after that Ah learned that there was no place Ah’d rather be than on the farm.”

“I’m still having a hard time picturing you living in a snooty upper-class place like that.” You said with a chuckle
.

“Are ya sayin’ that Ah don’t have the manners for it?” Applejack replied, glaring at you.

“No, not at all. In my experience people who consider themselves high class live life in fear of scrutiny from others. Everything they do and say is for appearances. To me, you seem to be comfortable with yourself; you don’t seem to care what anypony says or thinks about you.”

“Thank you, that was awful nice of ya to say.” Applejack replied, slowly. “Well, both of us need our sleep, so we better go to bed.” She said hopping to her feet and walking off to the farm home. You continued to stare up at the night sky for a moment before you followed suit.

Mixed Feelings

You woke up to the smell of cooking food with a slight smile on your face. Today was the day when you were going to tour your new town. Normally new homes meant another place where people could mock and ridicule you. But, so far nothing like that had happened in your new life. You looked out your bedroom window to see the morning sun stream in and warm rays of light hit your face. You got up out of bed and stretched to prepare for whatever the day might hold. You went into the bathroom to take a shower and were soon downstairs in the dining room. The rest of the Apple family was already there waiting for you, including Big Macintosh who was looking cured of whatever had been ailing him. As you were about to sit down Applejack called out to you.

“Well good mornin’ there, sleepy head. We were startin’ to wonder if you were gonna sleep the whole day away.”

“Eeeyup.”

“It’s only seven in the morning.” You replied, yawning.

“Ah was jokin’, Blackstar. Anyway today yer gonna be tourin’ Ponyville, right?”

“Yup, and you’re gonna be selling the apple butter we made last night, right?”

“Yes Ah am, and Apple Bloom’s gonna be goin’ to school soon so eat some breakfast and let’s all go together.”
You nodded and sat down to eat. You always wondered why ponies who were normally strict vegetarians would eat something like eggs. Then again it wasn’t nearly as strange as the fact that you could perform magic or a Pegasus being able to fly so you never really dug into the mystery too much. After breakfast you helped Applejack load up her cart of apple products and set off into town, talking with Apple Bloom and Applejack as you did.

“So Applejack what can you tell me about Ponyville?”

“Well, we pretty much have a fair amount of each kind a pony, although we got more earth ponies and pegasi than unicorns by a little bit. Ponyville is a fairly small town where everypony knows each other.”

“So I’m going to stick out a bit, huh?”

“At first, but as soon as everypony gets used to you you’ll be just fine. Just watch out for Pinkie though.”

“Who’s Pinkie?”

“She’s a fun lovin’ party pony who will throw a party at the drop of a hat.” Apple Bloom explained.

“Uh huh, is she a friend of yours, Applejack?” You asked, hoping to get a better explanation.

“Yeah, she’s a good girl when you get to know her, but there’s no tellin’ what’s goin’ on in her head.”

“Do you have any other friends I should watch out for?”

“There’s Rainbow Dash, she’s the most competitive pony you’ll ever meet. Fluttershy is a good girl who loves animals but…”

“Let me take a wild guess and say she’s shy.” You said with a grin.

“Ah reckon the name does kind a give it away.” Applejack chuckled. “Then there’s Rarity, she’s a bit of a drama queen and loves fashion. And finally there’s Twilight, she’s loves books and learnin’ and she lives in the town library.” You perked up at the mention of Twilight. Applejack actually knew her. Not only that but she had told you where to find her, things were turning out to be easier than you had originally thought.

“Sounds like you have an interesting group of friends to say the least.”

“Ah guess ya could say that. Listen Ah’d love to stay and talk more, but Ah have to get goin’.”

“Sure, I think I can manage.”

“That’s good to hear, try not to get lost okay.”

“See ya later, Applejack.” You said as she turned toward the town market. “So, Apple Bloom, want me to walk you to school?”

“Sure, you could meet mah friends if ya did that!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. Apple Bloom and you were walking for a little while before she decided to ask.

“Are you and Applejack gonna be each other’s certain special somepony?’” You stopped dead in your tracks for a moment, staring in utter disbelief at what you were just asked, and the one that had asked it. You took a moment to collect yourself before you replied.

“What made you want to ask something like that, Kiddo?”

“Well, you an’ Applejack seem to get along real well, so I thought you two might get together and that way ya really would be mah new big brother.” Her head started to lower a little as she answered and you let out a laugh at the little filly’s explanation.

“Is that what that’s about? Listen, a relationship like that needs more than just two ponies getting along well together.”

“Like what?”

“It’s a little hard to describe.” Your brow started to furrow, you had no idea how to explain love. The only time you had ever felt it was with your parents, and something told you that the feeling of two people in an intimate relationship would be different than love for a parent. “Listen Apple Bloom, I may know a lot about all sorts of things, but love is something that you can’t really study. You just kind of feel it. So all you really need to know is that, no matter happens between Applejack and me you can come to me with any problem you might be having.”

“Alright, Ahm sorry that Ah asked ya something like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, but don’t tell Applejack about it, I’m not sure how she’d react to it.” She nodded but your conversation was interrupted with,

“Hey Apple Bloom who’s that?” Called out a little orange Pegasus with purple eyes and a purple mane.

“Hey Scootaloo, this is Blackstar. He’s gonna be livin’ on the farm for a while.”

“Really, that’s cool, what’s he gonna be doing there? Asked a little white unicorn with green eyes, and a light pink and lavender mane.

“He’s been tradin’ recipes with Granny Smith, and together they’re makin’ something that everypony in Ponyville will love.”

“You know I’m right here.”

“Sorry Blackstar.”

“It’s alright, Kiddo, just introduce me to your friends here.”

“I’m Scootaloo, President of the Rainbow Dash fan club, and a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” The orange Pegasus said with a confident look on her face.

“And I’m Sweetie Bell. I’m also in the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” The unicorn said in a high pitch voice.

“It’s nice to meet you two.” You said with a grin. “I’m Blackstar, graduate of Magic School, and currently working with Granny Smith in the kitchen of Sweet Apple Acres.”

“That’s really cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Does that mean you can do all sorts of magic? You gotta show us some!”

“I’d love to, but right now you three have to get to class.” You said pointing a hoof at an annoyed looking purple pony with pink hair.

“Oh shoot, come on girls we gotta get to class or Miss Cheerilee will freak.” Scootaloo said before turning and running towards the small red schoolhouse. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell followed suit and you just waved them goodbye before you turned to leave.

You stopped for a moment in the town square to get a better look at the buildings. Everything seemed to be pretty simplistic, small houses that doubled as businesses and painted in warm, bright, colors. Most of the buildings had thatched rooftops but every now and then there was a building with a tiled roof. At one point you saw a building that looked like it was made out of ginger bread and other sweets. You chuckled at the sight of something so whimsical before thinking of a plan of action.

‘First thing’s first, I should go see Twilight Sparkle. I know she lives in the town library so I should start there. I could use a jacket in case I’m ever caught in the rain so a clothes shop would be a good place to go to after that. Then … I don’t know guess I’ll just wing it from there.’ You started to grin as you started searching the town for the library.

When you had first set off into town most of the ponies in town were still in their homes, asleep or possibly preparing for their jobs around town. Now the town was abuzz with activity as all sorts of ponies went about their day. Some were gardening; others were walking around town and talking with each other, while others were trying to buy and sell goods. Every now and then you would notice a few of the ponies staring at you but you just smiled and waved at them which seemed to satisfy their curiosity and they returned their attention to their previous activity.

Eventually you found a sign that indicated that the library was right in front of you. You were confused for a moment because the only thing in front of you was a large tree. Then you noticed the circular holes that had curtains behind them and realized that the tree was the library. You recovered quickly from the surprise. After all, eve since you had died you had: yelled at God, woken up as a unicorn, and learned magic from beings that controlled the sun and moon. At this point, even if the laws of physics were blatantly broken right in front of you, you wouldn’t bat an eyelash. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the library.

Applejack was in the town market trying to sell her apple products, humming a little tune as she did so. She would call out to anypony that passed by, mentioning the new apple butter to any that stopped to look at her stand. A few took her up on the offer of the new and strange spread, while others just bought an apple and left. Applejack grinned as she made bit after bit. Eventually she was greeted by a certain fashion pony as she stopped by the stand.

“Well hello, Applejack, Darling. How are you this fabulous morning?” Rarity asked flipping her curled violet mane as she did so.

“Hey there, Rarity, Ahm fine thanks fer askin’.”

“It seems you’re energetic today. Having a good day are we?” Rarity asked, giving Applejack a curious look.

“Ah guess you could say that. We got a new product fer sale thanks to our new worker.” Applejack said with a chuckle.

“You got a new employee, what’s their name?”

“His name’s Blackstar.”

“Oooh what a lovely name, you simply must tell me about him.” Rarity pressed.

“There’s not much to tell really. Ah found him yesterday fast asleep in the orchard. He told me that he had been travelling a while and that he wanted to get to Ponyville to find a job. He noticed that Ah was lookin’ tired and offered me somethin’ to eat while he apple bucked fer a while in my place. After a while we stepped in fer lunch where he made our new product. He calls it apple butter, though it doesn’t really have butter in it. He told us that he’d make it fer us in exchange fer a small percent of the profit and Apple Bloom convinced us all to let him stay with us fer a while. Then he helped Big Mac get over his sickness, gave Apple Bloom some advice, made a whole heap of this here apple butter with Granny Smith, and after that we had a little talk.” Applejack explained, blushing ever so slightly.

“He sounds like a great pony, I wouldn’t mind meeting him. Could you tell me what he looks like?”

“He’s a unicorn with dark blue fur. His mane is the same color as his fur and has a big black stripe in it and his cutie mark is a black star with a swirling pattern around it.”

“Is he back on the farm right now?”

“No, he’s lookin’ around town right now, tryin’ to get used to the place.”

“I’ll have to keep an eye out for him. He sounds like a fine young pony. He might even be the kind of stallion one would want to have a relationship with, right Applejack?” Rarity said as she turned to leave.

“Now what do ya mean by that?” Applejack asked, turning a bit redder.

“Oh nothing, I was just thinking out loud.” Rarity said with a small chuckle.

Applejack wanted to say something to Rarity but she was already gone. Applejack only put her head on the fruit stand for a moment. Now she was left alone with her thoughts about the strange pony she had found yesterday. She started to blush again at Rarity’s comment about him being the type of pony one would want for a relationship. Applejack shook her head vigorously and pushed out all thoughts of Blackstar. But he kept popping up into her mind.

“Now why did Rarity have to go and say somethin’ like that?” She said with a sigh.

A New Song

You knocked on the door to the library and heard the shuffling of feet behind it. A few moments later the door opened but no one was there.

“Welcome to the Ponyville Library.” Said a young, male voice. You looked around a bit but you still didn’t know where the sound had come from.

“Hello?”

“Hey genius I’m down here.” The voice grumbled, obviously getting irritated. You looked down to see some kind of small, purple lizard. He stood on two legs like you once did with short arms that ended in clawed hands, his underbelly was a light tan in color and he had green spikes on his back. He also had a short tail that ended in a spade shape. Looking at him made you think of a certain children’s show but you kept that thought to yourself.

“Oh, I’m sorry I just wasn’t expecting to run into a baby dragon around here.” You said, patting yourself on the back for studying magical creatures during your stay with the princesses.

“No problem, but I’m not that much of a baby.” The dragon said puffing his chest out a little.

“Of course not, with muscles like yours, you must get a lot of attention from all sorts of mares.” You replied with thinly veiled sarcasm. The dragon didn’t seem to pick up on your tone and took the compliment at face value.

“Well, I do try to take care of myself. I’m Spike by the way.” Spike said with an inviting claw letting you know that it was okay to enter the home/library.

“I’m Blackstar.”

“Pleasure to meet ya, Blackstar so what can I do for ya?”

“I’m new to town and I wanted to introduce myself to a few ponies and take a tour. And with how much I like to read I figured a good place to start would be the library.”

“Oh man, something tells me that you and Twilight are going to get along great.” Spike said with a roll of his eyes. “Seeing as you’re introducing yourself I’ll go get her. I think she fell asleep studying last night.” Spike turned and disappeared up a staircase in the back of the room, leaving you alone to examine the library.

From the look of the building someone had found a way to hollow out the tree without actually killing it. You chalked up another point to magic before you could start to question such a feat. The entire room seemed to have bookshelves carved into the walls and every single one of those shelves were filled with books, minus a few empty spaces but from what Spike had told you Twilight was probably studying from them. You chuckled for a moment as you remembered how you had pulled all night study sessions a few times when you were back in the castle, learning from the princesses. Of course you had also done it as a human but not just for pleasure.

‘Celestia never mentioned Spike to me. Could he and Twilight be in a relationship?’ You thought, causing your brow to furrow. ‘No the way he talked about her didn’t indicate anything like that. They do seem to have a close relationship, but not that kind. Then again, what do I know? I’ve never even thought of a woman in that way before. And I don’t think I’ve gotten used to the pony form enough to call anyone attractive yet.’

Your train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. You turned your head to see a lavender pony with a dark purple mane that had a pink stripe running through it and her eyes were a deep amethyst color. She also seemed to have a bookish or inquisitive air about her. This could have been because she lived in a library, or the fact that you were told that she had fallen asleep studying, or maybe it was something in her eyes that seemed to have a spark of curiosity in them. Or maybe it was all three. She stopped a few feet away from you and offered you a slight grin before speaking.

“Hi there, I’m Twilight Sparkle, student to Celestia and the current Ponyville librarian. You’ve already met my assistant, Spike.”

“Yes, he seemed to say something about you falling asleep while studying. Does that sort of thing happen often with you?”

“He told you that?” She replied blushing a little. “I was brushing up on a certain historical figure and I kind of lost track of time.”

“It’s not a problem; I’ve spent plenty of nights studying instead of sleeping.” You said grinning a little. “My name’s Blackstar by the way.”

“Blackstar, that name sounds vaguely familiar somehow.” Her voice trailed off for a moment as she rubbed her chin with her hoof. “Could you excuse me for a moment?” And with that she vanished in a glow of purple light. This didn’t surprise you. You instantly recognized the telltale signs of teleportation magic, and were even working on mastering the spell yourself.

She returned a few moments later with a newspaper floating in front of her. “Here it is.” She said with an odd facial expression. “New student to the princesses rescues foal.” She read aloud, looking at the headline. “Do you mind explaining this?”

“How did you get that?”

“I always have a Canterlot newspaper sent to me so to help stop homesickness. Now would you please tell me what this whole ‘new student to the princesses’ business is all about?”

“Hmm, to put it simply, I was found in the royal garden, had a little discussion with the princesses. They said they would teach me magic, I finished my lessons a few days ago and now I’m here.”

“Huh?” Twilight gawked, her mouth nearly hitting the floor. “What kind of discussion would convince the princesses to teach you personally?”

“That’s private.” You said averting your gaze away from her eyes ever so slightly. You didn’t want to tell your life story again. Once had been hard enough already.

“Okay then.” Twilight sighed. She had obviously wanted more information. “Still you must be very gifted in magic if the princesses took notice of you. Can you tell me what spells you used to stop the piano?”

“I’m not that good. All I did was mix a slow momentum spell with levitation. Then I repaired the ropes and used an enchantment to strengthen them.” You explained, rubbing the back of your head with a hoof.

“That’s very impressive, balancing all those spells together takes a lot of concentration and energy.” Twilight said with a smile of approval.

“The whole thing did take quite a bit of my energy, and it’s nowhere near as impressive as dealing with an Ursa Minor.”

“You heard about that?”

“Princess Celestia may have mentioned it once.”

“Really, she mentioned me during your studies?” Twilight asked, her face lighting up.

“She said you were one of the most talented ponies she had ever met.” You replied, grinning.

“That might be a little too much. So what brings you to Ponyville? It seems like you had a lot going for you in Canterlot.”

“I wanted to get away from all of the attention that saving the foal brought me. I prefer to stay low-key. And my friend plans on visiting me so I don’t think I’ll get too lonely.”

“That’s good to hear. What do you plan on doing here in Ponyville?”

“For now I’m working at Sweet Apple Acres, but I hope that I can find something like being a teacher.”

“You’re working with Applejack?”

“Yeah, so far she’s given me a place to stay, but I don’t know how long I’ll be staying.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. If you ever need anything please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“You don’t have to help me.” You stated with a short laugh.

“Sure I do, personal students to the princesses should stick together.” Twilight answered with a bright smile.

“Then I might have to take you up on the offer. I wanted to study my magic some more and it would be a big help if I had someone else to work with and if you ever want somepony to study with don’t hesitate to ask me.” You said with a grin, turning to leave.

“See you soon, Blackstar.” Twilight called causing you to wave as you exited the building.

Twilight abruptly sat down on the floor with an odd expression. Spike descended from the staircase a few moments later and noticed the look on Twilight’s face. He walked up to her and waved a claw in front of her face to snap her back into reality.

“Twi… Hey, Twilight. Geez, what’s the matter with you?” The tiny dragon asked arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about some of what Blackstar said.”

“What, about you two studying together?”

“Well that,” Twilight said, shifting uncomfortably, “and when he mentioned his discussion being private. He seemed to get uncomfortable.”

“So you think he’s hiding something? Do you think he’s a bad pony or something?”

“No from what I can tell he seems very nice. Not only that but he seems well versed in magic theory.”

“Are you gonna ask the princesses about their discussion with him?”

“No, it would be wrong to do something like that. Besides, I don’t think they would tell me anything if it was private. If he ever feels like talking about it, then that’s for him to decide.”

You walked out into the streets of the small town with a fresh source of vigor. The already bright colors of the town seemed a shade brighter and the sunlight felt a bit warmer on your face. So far everything had gone better than you could have possibly imagined. The instant you had made it to town you had found a job and a home. Then you found Twilight who was very kind and intelligent. You were excited to have someone to practice magic with. You were actually working on a few original spells of your own and having someone monitor your progress and give some advice would be greatly appreciated.

You continued walking down the streets and once again noticed ponies staring at you. Your cheeks started to turn red and you lowered your head. You decided to head to a clothes store as quickly as you could. Being naked may have been normal for most of these ponies but it still made you somewhat uncomfortable. You scanned the area and suddenly saw a store that had a sign that said, “Carousel Boutique”. You quickened your pace to the large building that was shaped to look like… Well a carousel.

You thought about knocking for a moment but remembered it was a business and that you could simply walk inside. You opened the door and heard a small bell chime as you did so. The entranceway to the store was filled with all sorts of dresses ranging in everything from color and style. Every dress you could see looked expensive and well made. A few were even lined with jewels.

“I’ll be right with you, Darling. I just have to take care of something.” Called out a somewhat musical voice from some other room of the boutique.

You found a small couch in a waiting room-like area and sat down, a few minutes later a white unicorn with a purple mane that appeared to be well groomed stepped into the room. Her eyes were an icy shade of blue which was accentuated by light blue eyeliner. Her eyes seemed to light up as she took notice of you.

“Well hello there Darling, you must be Blackstar.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was well known.” You said chuckling nervously.

“Oh don’t worry about that, Applejack merely talked to me about you is all. Although she failed to mention that you were so handsome.” She said with a grin.

“Thank you,” You said, blushing slightly. ‘I really need to stop blushing.” You thought, chastising yourself. “…and you seem to take good care of yourself Miss…”

“I’m so sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself.” She replied, gasping dramatically. “I’m Rarity the owner and designer of this establishment.”

“It’s fine, Rarity. I guess I should formally introduce myself. I’m Blackstar, recently graduated from Magic School and currently working at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Well it seems somepony here is well versed in proper manners. What can I do for you today?”

“I just wanted a jacket for when it rains, but it looks like you only make dresses so I’ll go.”

“Nonsense, I can make you something like that. Especially for somepony that’s working for my good friend Applejack. Now come with me and I’ll take your measurements.”

You followed Rarity into a large room that was a sharp contrast from the rest of the boutique. Instead of being clean and orderly it was a mess. Fabric rolls were lying around and all sorts of equipment was strewn about. You were confused by this Rarity didn’t seem like the type to let such a mess exist in her store.

“Uhh, Rarity did the weather team accidentally start a tornado in here?”

“No, this is my idea room. Don’t worry about the mess I know exactly where everything is.”

Rarity started taking your measurements and was close enough for you to smell her perfume as she did. It was a light floral scent that was similar to something your mother had worn before a concert when you were about five or so. Eventually Rarity stopped taking your measurements and started levitating fabric rolls in front of her.

“So Blackstar, what causes somepony who’s graduated from something like Magic School to work on a farm?” Rarity asked with an odd look at you.

“To tell you the truth I saw an opportunity for a job and I took it. And my job is cooking a recipe my father taught me so I do enjoy the work.”

“That’s good to hear, everypony should have a job they love.”

“You do seem to enjoy making clothes.”

“But of course, Darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “Being the greatest designer in Equestria has always been my dream.”

“That’s a good dream. From the little work I saw downstairs you have a good shot at it.”

“You’re too kind, Darling. While we’re on the topic, what was your dream job as a little foal?”

“Oh, my dream was… kind of stupid, you don’t want to hear about it.” You said, lowering your head.

“Nonsense, there are no such things as stupid dreams. Please tell me.”

“Fine, when I was a kid I wanted to play violin, like my mother did.”

“That sounds like a wonderful dream, did you ever take lessons?”

“For a few years, but I stopped. I never was that good anyway.”

“I would love it if you could play something for me.”

“I don’t have a violin.”

“I once tried to play the violin when I was just a little filly. I still have it. Wait right there and I’ll go get it for you.”

Rarity disappeared from the room before you could voice your dissent. You sighed and started to think back on when you tried to learn how to play the violin. It was after your mother’s death when you first decided to learn. You even used her old violin, always being careful with the instrument and practicing it around your father actually made him smile. This fueled your passion for learning to play even more. You only stopped when one of your foster parents broke your mother’s violin when you were eleven. After that you had never felt like playing again.

Rarity returned with a black case that she placed at your feet. You opened it up and saw the all too familiar shape of the instrument inside. At first you tried to put it in proper position using your hooves but the fingering felt off. So you used your magic to pick it up. You closed your eyes and began to imagine playing the violin as if you were still a human. At first you made a few mistakes but eventually you corrected yourself and the song came out the way you wanted it to. It started out slow and sad, with every note lingering on for a second or so. Then it picked up speed and became happy and cheerful. At the end the song took on a mysterious note and you stretched out the last note for a bit of a dramatic effect. You looked over at Rarity who had tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I would be that bad.” You said, feeling hurt.

“What are you talking about? That was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.”

“Thanks,” you replied, blushing once more. “How’s my jacket coming along?”

“I should be done with it by tomorrow.” Rarity said, snapping herself back into the task at hand.

“Okay, how much do I owe you?”

“Nothing at all, Darling.”

“I can’t just ask you to make something for me for nothing.”

“Then consider that song payment, and take the violin while you’re at it. You seem to have far more talent for it than I ever did.” Rarity said with a wave of the hoof.

“Now I owe you for the violin.”

“Then come back in and play again for me sometime and I’ll consider it payment.”

“You’re very generous, Rarity.” You replied with a weak smile.

“I’ve been told that before. Now run along I want your jacket to be a surprise.”

“I understand, just tell me when the jacket’s ready and I’ll play for you again.” You said turning to leave the boutique.

Once Rarity was left alone she turned to one of her free mannequins and brought out blue and black fabric wheels towards her. After working for a while her brow furrowed and she let out a sigh.

“I can see how you fell for him, Applejack.”

Crash Landing

You stepped out of the boutique feeling a little drained. Playing the violin again had brought up a lot of memories. Some good, others were very painful. You sighed for a moment and clipped the violin to your shoulder bag before starting to think.

‘That was… interesting to say the least. Rarity was nice enough but the violin and jacket being free was a bit much. She also said something about Applejack talking about me. I wonder what she said about me.’

‘She probably said that I’m some weird pony that woke up in the orchard and managed to get a job cooking with her grandma.’ You thought with a weak smile. Then you let out a large yawn and stopped for a moment. ‘Man I’m starting to get tired. I should find a place to rest for a minute.’

You scanned the area for a good place to rest without being disturbed. Nothing jumped out at you until you saw a lone cloud hovering above a clearing just outside of town.

‘From what Flarewing told me clouds are incredibly soft. Actually, he said they were the second best thing to lie down on. It took me a while to figure that one out.’ You thought with a grimace at remembering the double entendre. ‘And the sad thing is that I consider the pony who scarred me on a regular basis to be my best friend. Oh well, no sense worrying about my mental instability right now. If I remember correctly there was a spell in one of the books that the princesses gave me that would allow me to walk on clouds.’

You opened up your bag and used your levitation to bring up both of the books that the princesses had given you before you left. You quickly leafed through the pages of both books until you found the spell you were looking for.

‘Ah, here it is. The “Cloud Shoes” spell. If applied properly then whoever this spell is cast on will have the ability to stay on a cloud as if they were a Pegasus pony for three days. That’s perfect I’ll only need the spell for about an hour or so.’

You gathered the necessary amount of energy into your horn and released the spell. You didn’t feel that different than from a moment ago, but decided that you could test it out when you reached the cloud. You made your way into the clearing. You used your magic to levitate yourself onto the cloud and let yourself drop onto the fluffy, white mass. You were relieved when you didn’t fall through the cloud as you landed with a small bounce.

“Ha! I continue to make a mockery of the laws of nature. Who needs physics when you have a magic horn?” You gloated to no one in particular. You lied down on the cloud and quickly got comfortable. Before you knew it you were dozing off. That’s when a dream set in.

You were about six years old in this dream. This was made clear by you running up to your mother with your backpack still on. She caught you in a warm embrace and looked at you with her ice blue eyes shimmering happily. Her long jet black hair simply fell from her shoulders, framing her soft and kind features. She had her trademark smile on which could turn even the worst day into a good one. Your mother started stroking the back of your head and said.

“Hey there, Kiddo. How was School?”

“It was great!” You enthused. “Today we talked about the planets in our solar system.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun. Can you name all the planets?”

“Uh-huh, and I can do it in order too: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.”

“You’re such a little genius.” Your mother cooed, tousling your hair a bit. “Did anything else happen in School?”

“We talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up.”

“And what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I want to be a Veterinarian and a Fire Fighter and I want to play the violin like you do Mommy.”

“Sounds like you’re gonna have a lot on your plate, Kiddo.” Your mother replied chuckling a bit. “Say, do you know what all those jobs have in common?”

“No, what?”

“They all help people in some way.” Your mother stated simply.

“I don’t get it.” You said with a rather confused look. “I see how a Veterinarian and Fire Fighter help people, but how would I help people by playing the violin?”

“Because the violin… Actually just music in general speaks to human emotions and can make us feel something. The Greeks called the release of emotions catharsis. Except it usually meant the sadness we feel when watching a tragic play.”

“Catarasis?”

“Ca-thar-sis.” Your mother sounded out for you. “It might be easier if I just showed it to you.” With that your mother stepped out of the room for a moment and returned with her violin. “The thing you have to remember about a good instrument is; that it’s able to make someone feel almost any emotion.”

Your mother brought the bowstring down on the instrument and played a few long, haunting, notes. “How would you describe that sound?” She asked, looking up from the violin.

“It was… sad, and lonely.”

“Good, now how would you describe this?” Then her hands seemed to glide along the violin as a series of crisp, cheerful, sounds were emitted from her violin.

“That was really happy sounding.”

“Very good, and what do you think would happen if we put the two together?” And with that your mother played a few bars that started off sad and then ended on a cheerful note.

“It made it sound like something bad happened, but then everything got better.”

“Bravo my little maestro.” Your mother replied with a theatrical bow. “Music can be used to tell an incredible story without ever saying a single word. When people listen to music, they get whisked away to a world where nothing matters. Not their age, where they come from, or even their values. Music provides a way for people to come together, if even for just a moment. And that’s how music helps people, Kiddo."

“I love you, Momm…”

You never had a chance to finish your thought as you were wrenched back into reality. Your eyes tore open to see a rainbow colored streak crash into you. You and the rainbow streak tumbled through the cloud you had used as a makeshift bed and collapsed onto the ground. The instant you hit the earth all of the wind was knocked out of your lungs leaving you a wheezing mess. You winced in pain and started to curse under your breath.

“God dammit what hit me?” You said grimacing a little.

‘Just calm down and assess what we know.’ You thought. ‘I was having the first pleasant dream that I can remember for… years. When all of a sudden a rainbow pushed me through a cloud and is currently crush… Wait, why do I feel so warm right now?’

You opened your eyes to see that a sky blue Pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane was lying on top of you. She still seemed dazed from the collision and had her head on what would have been your chest. You winced a little at the realization of a certain response you were having from the mare’s current position on you.

‘Damn it! Come on you freakin’ hormones, calm down! Well this just great… New body same damn urges. I thought I said I wasn’t ready to call anyone attractive yet?’

Your heart stopped momentarily when the mare’s eyes fluttered open. They were a rosy pink color that, under normal circumstances you would’ve called interesting, or maybe even pretty. Then again these were anything but normal circumstances and those eyes only filled you with a strange terror upon looking at them. You pretended to only just be recovering when you heard the mare say.

“Ow, what the hay just happened?” She said in a tomboyish voice.

“Ouch, what hit me?” You replied in a similar fashion. You heard a surprised yelp and soon received a hearty hoof to the face as the mare scrambled off of you.

“What are you doing there, you creep?!” The mare boomed as she stared daggers at you. You brought yourself back to your feet and rubbed your muzzle for a moment.

“Hey I was just minding my own business when you crashed into me. Excuse me, if that makes me a creep.” You retorted, annoyed at the mare for one, interrupting your dream, and two because she was pinning the blame on you.

“Yeah right,” She snorted, “I was working on a new routine and I wanted to go through a cloud. Next thing I know I’m on the ground.” She explained, keeping her glare trained at you.

“Did you ever think that somepony might have been on the cloud?”

“Last time I checked only a Pegasus can walk on clouds.”

“I’m a unicorn, and we’re kind of known for doing magic.” You retorted in a somewhat condescending tone.

“Whatever just leave me alone you weirdo.” The mare said, bringing down her right fore-hoof down for the first time since you two had crashed. She winced for a moment and immediately brought the hoof back up. Your expression softened and you sighed as you made your way toward her.

“Here, let me see your hoof.” You said with an outstretched hoof of your own.

“Why would I want to do that?” The mare asked taking the hoof further away from you.

“Because it could be seriously hurt and the faster you get somepony to treat it the better; and lucky for you I can take care of anything up to a minor fracture with my magic.”

“How do I know you’re not gonna make things worse?”

“Just let me look at your hoof.” The mare reluctantly allowed you to examine her hoof and you gently placed it within your own front hooves. “Okay tell me where it hurts.” You said as you applied pressure to different spots until you got a response.

“Ow, ow, right there!” The mare wailed.

“Relax, you’re doing great.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“I can’t exactly treat a wound if I don’t know where it is. And I guess I’m sorry for being in the way of your routine.”

“No, I’m the one that crashed into you.” The mare admitted sheepishly. “I’m Rainbow Dash by the way.”

“I’m Blackstar, and I have to say that a little humility looks good on you.” You said with a grin.

“Shut up, Weirdo.” Rainbow Dash said with a small giggle.

“Alright, Rainbow, I need you to try and wiggle your hoof.” You said becoming serious again. Rainbow Dash complied and she slowly wiggled her hoof back and forth.

“It hurts, but I can do it.”

“Good, it seems like you only have a sprain. Now that I know what I’m dealing with I can treat it properly with a spell.” Rainbow Dash nodded in consent and the tip of your horn glowed as you used the necessary spell to treat her hoof. You were done in a few moments and you slowly released the hoof from your grasp.

“There you go, should be good as new.” Rainbow Dash put her hoof to the ground and a smile sprang up on her face.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding. My hoof feels great! Thanks, Blackstar.”

“Don’t mention it. But can you tell me why you were doing stunts in the first place?”

“I’m training to be in the Wonder Bolts! I’m already the fastest flier in Equestria but I was working on a totally awesome routine that would’ve impressed them for sure. You know, until I crashed into you.” She said rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. You had actually heard of the Wonder Bolts. Flarewing had brought them up a few times and told you something very interesting about them.

“It’s funny you bring up the Wonder Bolts. My best friend is actually the brother of their leader.” Rainbow Dash’s face lit up and she started muttering “Ohmygosh” to herself for a few moments before she was able to speak.

“Your friend is Spitfire’s brother?” She exclaimed. “You have to get him to put in a good word for me!”

“I could do that. But it’ll cost you.” You said with an imitation of Celestia's evil grin.

“What cost?”

“It’s simple really; all you have to do is beat me in a race. You can fly and I’ll use a little spell that I’ve been working on. I promise that it isn’t teleportation.”

“Why do you want to race?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Because a competition will make things more interesting. If you win I’ll tell my friend to put in a good word for you. If I win then you have to put on a frilly pink dress and make you tell everypony in town that you’re a pretty pony.” You said with an evil grin.

“Why would you want me to do that?” Rainbow Dash asked in a tone that was somewhere between shock and disgust.

“I’m still a little sore about the kidney you crushed when you interrupted my nap.”

“Whatever," Rainbow Dash said regaining her confidence. "it doesn’t matter what you want me to do, nothing your little horn can do will beat my all natural speed.” Rainbow boasted.

“Glad to see you’re so confident. First one to that mountain over there is the winner.”

Both of you took your starting positions and you gathered energy in your horn in preparation for the spell you were about to use. You were actually planning on using an acceleration spell that you had created yourself. This would be the first time you would be using it on yourself and you wanted to see what would happen.

There was another reason for this race and it wasn’t humiliating Rainbow Dash for revenge, although if that did happen then you were okay with that. The real reason for this race was for you to experience competition. Back when you were human most of your time was spent alone and when you did interact with others your own age they never really wanted you to participate in whatever game they were playing. You were genuinely curious what competition felt like and from what Applejack said, Rainbow Dash was the pony to provide the feeling.

Rainbow Dash yelled “go”, and you quickly set to work on creating the spell. In a few moments the spell gave your legs unnatural speed and the world became a blur. You took the lead away from Rainbow Dash and were enjoying the wind rippling through your hair. A few moments later you noticed something odd appearing in front of you. It was almost invisible but came into focus just enough for you to make out what it was.

‘No way! Is that a Mach Cone? This spell works even better than I thought it would. Let’s see you top that, Miss Fastest in Equestria.’

You were convinced that your victory was assured when you saw something that looked like a prismatic explosion in your peripheral vision. You didn’t have time to wonder what it was when an all too familiar rainbow streak rushed past you and made you lose your footing. You slid into the Mach Cone which stretched back like it was made of rubber and tossed you back a good twenty feet or so. You had just picked yourself back up when Rainbow Dash glided over to you with a smug look on her face.

“So when you tell your friend to talk about me, make sure he says that I’m the most awesome pony in all of Equestria!”

“You broke the sound barrier.” You stated in a state of slight disbelief, panting heavily from all the energy the spell took.

“Yup, I should’ve told you that I could pull off the Sonic Rainboom, but the look on your face right now is priceless.”

“Don’t be too proud of yourself, if I work on that spell a little bit then I might be able to do the same thing. But for now I’ll take being the second most awesome pony in all of Equestria. That was pretty fun.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised an egghead like you could keep up with me.”

“What makes you think I’m an egghead?”

“For one thing you know how to walk on clouds even though you’re a unicorn, and you just give off a smart guy vibe, you know? The fact that you’re carrying a violin doesn’t help.”

“Excuse me for knowing how to play the violin.” You said in a mock offended tone. “I’m hungry what about you?”

“Yeah, a Sonic Rainboom works up an appetite like you wouldn’t believe. Come on, loser has to pay for the meal.” She said with a laugh. You sighed and the two of you started making your way back to Ponyville.

Hyper and Shy

Rainbow Dash walked at your side with a huge grin on her face. You chuckled a little at seeing the pony who had greeted you by yelling at you, was now welcoming your presence.

“What’s so funny?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nothing really,” You replied with a small smile. “…you just seem to be in a good mood for somepony who just had their stunt routine ruined by a, weirdo.”

“What can I say; beating somepony in a race when they give me a challenge just puts me in a really good mood.”

“I’m guessing the fact that I can put in a good word for you with the Wonder Bolts helps too.” You suggested.

“You know it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her grin getting a little wider.

“I gotta say, even though I lost, I still had a lot of fun. Not only that but I got to see how effective that spell was.”

“Yeah, what was up with that? I’ve seen Twilight do a lot of spells, but that was different from anything she does.”

“That’s because I made that spell myself.” You stated, feeling a hint of pride as you did.

“And you wondered why I called you an egghead.” Rainbow Dash said with a short laugh.

“What’s wrong with being an egghead?”

“Nothing really, unless somepony thinks that being smart makes them better than everypony.”

“Hmmm, and that’s different from thinking that being fast makes a certain somepony think she’s the most awesome in all of Equestria, how?” You said with a sly look at Rainbow Dash. She was taken aback at the statement, and put on a rather defensive demeanor.

“Hey, I mean that I’m the most awesome in general. I know that there are things that I’m not good at.”

“Yeesh, I was joking. You’re not gonna get emotional on me are ya?” Rainbow Dash perked up a little at your comment and even laughed a little.

A few minutes later you managed to get back into town and once more you noticed a few of the mares looking at you again, only this time they were whispering occasionally.

“Looks like somepony’s pretty popular.” Rainbow Dash said with a nudge of her elbow. Your cheeks turned an impressive shade of red and you lowered your head a bit.

“What do you mean by that?” you asked quietly.

“You’re not shy are you?” She asked with a slight grin on her face.

“Not really just… uncomfortable, I’m not really used to having this kind of attention.”

“Uh huh, and all I heard was “Blah, blah, blah, yes Rainbow Dash I am shy.””

“Fine, whatever, I might be a little shy. Happy now?”

“Yes, and I’ll be even happier when I’m eating my victory meal.”

Rainbow Dash picked the restaurant which was fine with you because you didn’t know what places were good or not. She got something that looked like the pony equivalent of a cheeseburger and you ended up getting the same thing.

You were still fairly uncertain about what would taste good to you now that you were a pony. All of your meals had been picked for you at the castle (Not including the desserts you ordered on occasion.) and almost all of them incorporated fruit which was something you were used to. And you of course ate apples with Applejack and her family. Now you were dealing with something that you had tried to avoid up until this point…

…Hay. You took a quick sniff of the burger, hoping it would put your mind, and stomach at ease. Your stomach gave out a quick growl as you did, and you slowly took your first bite. You learned that you did in fact enjoy hay now that you were a pony. A bitter feeling began to nag at you in the back of your head.

‘I’m sitting here, enjoying something made of hay, just another sign that I’m not human anymore. Another sign that I can never look at my real face in the mirror again. Even though this world has been great so far, and everyone that I’ve met has treated me so well.’ You thought, your mind focusing in on an image of your parents.

‘It’s just not my world. It’s not the world where my parents cared for me and raised me. I know that everything fell apart in my old life but I still had certain things I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to go to my parents’ graves and show them how I turned out. Maybe I would’ve bought another violin and play it for them. Maybe I could have become a doctor and found a way to cure that heart disease that took my mom. Could I have found some way to have been happy despite my thread?’

‘If I had never walked out of that politician’s door that night, would things be different? Or would I be the same miserable kid that I was?’ Thoughts like this continued clawing at the edges of your mind. You didn’t know how to feel about being a pony anymore. And not knowing was killing you.

“Hey, Blackstar, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked.

You looked up and the look on her face instantly brought you some relief. Concern. It was an expression you had seen feigned numerous times before, but on her it looked genuine. You managed to smile a little and told her,

“It’s nothing. I just thought I forgot something for a minute.”

“That’s good, for a second there you didn’t look so good.”

“Don’t worry, everyth…”

“HEY DASHIE!” an extremely energetic sounding voice called out, nearly giving you a heart attack. You turned your head to see a bright pink pony materialize next to Rainbow Dash. She had a big mess of a pink mane that reminded you of cotton candy. The only things that didn’t seem to be pink on her were here light blue eyes and her bright white teeth that were currently displayed in a huge smile. Her cutie mark probably wasn’t pink either but you didn’t plan on checking. The warning Applejack had given you that morning suddenly played back in your mind and you knew who this pony was.

“Hey, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash replied, seemingly unfazed by the pink pony’s arrival.

“I’ve been hearing a rumor that there’s a new pony in Ponyville. And when I heard that I thought, “Ohmygosh! There’s a new pony in Ponyville! If they’re new then they probably don’t know anypony, and if they don’t know anypony then they must be lonely. And if they’re lonely then they must be sad.” And then that made me sad. Then I thought, “I better find this pony and welcome them to Ponyville!” But I’ve been looking all over the place and I haven’t been able to find any new ponies. I did find some new flowers in Cheerilee’s garden but that doesn’t count. So can you help me Dashie? All you have to do is fly around and tell me when you see something that looks like a new pony!” Pinkie explained, each word flying out of her mouth at speeds that put Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom to shame.

“Uhh, Pinkie, turn your head a little.”

“Okay, but I don’t see how that’s gonna… Ohmygosh it’s the new pony!” Pinkie squealed as her eyes met yours. Then she rushed over to you, her face mere inches from your own.

‘Personal Space! Personal Space!’ you cried out in your thoughts.“Uhh, hi.” Was all you managed to say to her.

“Hey there, I’m Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie, almost everypony does.”

“Okay, I will, I’m Blackstar by the way.”

“Oooh that’s a …” All of a sudden Pinkie Pie gasped at an ear shattering level and jumped in the air. She rotated herself in midair and stayed in place as she looked at Rainbow Dash.

“I just realized that you two are alone together! Is this a date?! Dashie, is Blackstar your certain spe…”

Rainbow Dash clamped a hoof over Pinkie Pie’s mouth muffling the rest of her question. You looked at Rainbow Dash to offer her a look of gratitude and noticed something odd. It was only for a fleeting moment but you were almost positive that Rainbow Dash had blushed.

“Pinkie, don’t get any crazy ideas. Blackstar made a bet with me and lost. This was part of the payment.” She said taking her hoof away from Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

“Wow a bet! What kind of bet?”

“He challenged me to a race and he lost.”

“A race,” Pinkie Pie said with a confused look. “, wait is that why you did the Sonic Rainboom?”

“Yeah,”

“That’s Amazing! Starry here must have been super-duper fast to make you use that.”

“Umm, Starry?” You asked, arching an eyebrow a little.

“Yeah, it’s my new nickname for you.” Pinkie explained returning her attention to you. “Blackstar is a nice name and all, but Starry is just a lot more fun to say.”

“I would kind of like it if you stuck with calling me Blackstar.” You said with a nervous grin.

“You don’t like my nickname?” Pinkie asked, appearing to be on the verge of tears, and her mane deflated slightly.

“No, no, no, that isn’t it at all!” you replied frantically, trying to defuse the situation. “In fact, I love the nickname, it’s perfect.” You finished with a weak smile.

“That’s great to hear!” Pinkie exclaimed, her mane returning to its normal shape. “It was nice meeting you, Starry; I gotta go do something super important so I’ll leave you two alone.” And just like that Pinkie disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving a pink outline of herself in her place for a few moments.

Rainbow Dash looked back at you with barely contained laughter. “Nice save there, Starry.”

“That was insane.” You said with a sigh of relief.

“She’s always like that around new ponies.” Rainbow Dash explained. “Once she gets used to you she’ll calm down… a little.”

“Well, how long does it take for her to get used to a new pony?”

“It varies from pony to pony. It only took her a few days to get used to Twilight.”

“I guess that’s a relief.” You said, weakly smiling again.

“You know for somepony who’s supposedly shy, you handled yourself surprisingly well with Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh that, I’m used to dealing with peo… ponies that are bubbly. Not to the level of Pinkie Pie obviously, but still close enough to where that kind of energy doesn’t bother me.”

“You are definitely one of the strangest ponies that I’ve ever met.” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.” You replied, returning the gesture.

“Well I got to go. I’ll see you later, Blackstar.” Rainbow Dash said, taking to the skies in an instant. You payed for the meal, which barely put a dent in the reserves of money, that the princesses had given you and continued your tour of the town.

‘This has been the strangest day ever.’ You thought while walking through the town square once again. ‘I’ve been given a free jacket and violin; I took a nap on a cloud, crashed through said cloud, and talked to a pony that is obviously well acquainted with sugar and caffeine. And despite all of this I can’t stop thinking how… peaceful and calm I feel most of the time. The ponies here don’t seem to have a care in the world. And now, I’m one of them.’

You brought yourself back into reality in time to notice that you were no longer in Ponyville. Instead you were on a cobblestone path that led to a small cottage in the distance. The roof appeared to blend in with the tops of the trees in the forest behind it. The cottage also seemed to have an assortment of animal pens around it. You couldn’t resist the urge to smile at the sight of the modest structure.

‘Hmm, a cottage on the edge of the forest away from the town, add that to the fact that the place seems to have at least twenty of every animal ever conceived and you’re left with two possibilities: The former being Noah’s summer home; and the latter being the home of the last of Applejack’s friends.’ You thought with a grin. ‘And I was told that the story of Noah’s ark is complete nonsense so I guess that means that it’s the latter.’

You continued to walk down the path when you saw something strange. A light yellow Pegasus was chasing after a small white rabbit with a half-eaten carrot in her mouth, her long pink mane was whipping behind her face as she did
.

“Pweefe Angel, eat the carrot.” She called out, still holding onto the carrot. But the rabbit didn’t listen, if anything the rabbit was enjoying itself as it sprinted away from the mare you thought to be Fluttershy. After a while it stopped and sat on its haunches as the Pegasus mare caught up.

“Oh, please Angel Bunny, eat the carrot.” She said getting down to eye level with the rabbit and placing the carrot in front of it. The rabbit crossed its arms and turned away from its offered meal. An idea came to you in that instant and you made your way to the strange duo.

“If the rabbit won’t eat the carrot, can I have it?” You asked gently approaching Fluttershy, remembering what Applejack had told you about her being shy.

Despite your attempts, Fluttershy still made an “eep” noise at your intrusion. She avoided looking at you and whispered something.

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that.” You replied with a reassuring grin. Again Fluttershy said something you couldn’t quite hear. “I’m sorry but could you repeat that?” You asked.

“I said that that’s Angel Bunny’s carrot, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy replied, barely audible. The rabbit turned away from her and made a noise like a huff.

“He doesn’t even want it. Please, I’m very hungry.” You said, using your levitation to bring the carrot towards you.

“Oh, please don’t, he really needs to finish that carrot!” Fluttershy pleaded, her cyan eyes growing wide. You pretended to ignore her and brought the carrot close to your mouth. All of a sudden a fluffy white face came into your vision as the rabbit slapped your cheek, making you drop the carrot.

“I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“Don’t be that worked perfectly.” You said with a grin.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, confused.

“Why don’t you take a look over there?” Fluttershy followed your gaze over to the rabbit, which was now gorging on what remained of the carrot
.

“He’s eating it! Angel’s eating the rest of his carrot!”

“Yeah, it looked like he was running away from you to get your attention so I came in and took your focus away from him and that made him go after the carrot in an attempt to get your attention back.” You explained giving a triumphant grin to the rabbit that was staring daggers at you.

“Thank you so much…”

“I’m Blackstar.”

“And I’m Fluttershy.” She said weakly, still averting her gaze from you.

“Why won’t you look at me, I’m not that ugly, am I?” Fluttershy laughed a little at your joke and offered you a weak smile.

“No, not at all, I’m sorry I just get nervous around somepony that I don’t know.”

“It’s perfectly fine, I’ve been known to be a little hesitant around others myself.”

“It was very nice meeting you Blackstar, and thank you for helping me with Angel Bunny, he can be so fussy sometimes. But I have to get back and take care of the rest of the animals.” She said turning to leave.

“Maybe I could help you with that, taking care of animals, was something that interested me since I was a foal.”

Fluttershy looked unsure of what to say about your offer for a moment but eventually replied, “Well if it’s not too much trouble for you, then I guess it’s okay.” And with that the two of you made your way to the little cabin you had noticed, closely followed by a suspicious rabbit.

Surprises

Fluttershy and you walked down the cobblestone path that led to her cottage. She had warmed up to you a little but was still somewhat hesitant around you. You couldn’t blame her, you had interrupted her when she was feeding her pet, and went so far as to trick it to get it to eat.

You didn’t mind the silence between the two of you though. After your little interaction with Pinkie Pie, some silence as you did something you enjoyed was exactly what you craved. Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage and were greeted by the cacophony of animal sounds. Most of them didn’t seem to be bothered by your presence, while others eyed you warily.

“Hello there everypony, this is Blackstar and he’s going to help me take care of you all.”

‘Wait. Did she just say everypony to those animals?’ You thought with a puzzled expression. ‘I guess that means they say, ‘pony’ at the end of certain words even when talking about other species. If it wasn’t for how happy and sunshiny everything is around here I’d be accusing them of racism.’

“Umm, Blackstar, are you o.k.?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“Sorry, I just got lost in thought for a bit.” You explained.

“It’s fine, would you like to help me feed the animals?”

“Sure thing,”

You and Fluttershy fed the animals together for a while and as you did you noticed a change in her behavior. Before she seemed nervous and hesitant possibly even frightened, now she was warm and bright, she used her wings to flitter between each animal and hummed a tune as she did, sometimes giggling as the small creatures scrambled over the piles of food she left them. It was like she had become a completely different pony than the one that you had met on the cobblestone path.

You followed her outside where she fed the birds. When she was done the birds started making a three note tune. Fluttershy responded with three notes of her own and noticed the beauty of her voice. It amazed you in a small way, when you first met her she would barely speak to you, and yet here she was singing in perfect pitch. Fluttershy and the birds exchanged notes a few more times and as she landed you brought your fore-hooves together in a slow, steady, clap.

“Bravo that was lovely.” You said with a grin on your face. Fluttershy looked at you with a shocked expression on her face, and glanced away from you quickly.

“Y… You really think so.”

“Yeah, that’s why I said it.”

“Thank you, I get asked to have my birds perform at town functions sometimes, but nopony has ever given me a compliment like that before.”

“I don’t see why, you have a great voice.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you need any more help around here or did you just have to feed the animals?”

“Well, a lot of the animals like to play, but I usually can’t move as fast as they’d like me to go. Do you think you could play with them for a while? That is, if it’s not too much trouble.” Fluttershy meekly replied.

“Playing with animals, sounds like fun to me.”

Playing with some of Fluttershy’s was simple enough. All the puppies wanted to do was have you chase them around the small field near her cottage. You even managed to mix your acceleration spell with levitation to race around with some of the birds. This time however, you were mindful of your energy output so you wouldn’t move too fast or collapse from exhaustion. Fluttershy watched the entire time as you did. You never looked directly at her, you were almost sure that if you did then she would just look away. But in the corner of your eye you saw her smiling.
Everything was fine until the rabbits decided to play with you. A group of them tackled you and pinned you to the ground. You turned your head to see that Angel had led the charge. It was his turn to flash you a triumphant grin as he stood on your chest.

‘That damn, sneaky, rodent.’ You thought bitterly for a moment. But the moment passed and you nodded respectably at the rabbit on your chest and said, “Well played,”

Fluttershy giggled at the spectacle which sparked a new series of thoughts.

‘I think I could get addicted to the sound of a pony giggling. I mean it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.’ You blushed and your thoughts turned frantic. ‘I mean it’s cute the way a box full of kittens is cute not cute like… wait. Nobody heard that. For someone who’s been called a bookworm and egghead, I sure am an idiot sometimes.’

“Okay, Angel Bunny, you can let him go now, I think he’s learned his lesson.” Angel complied with his master’s wish but stuck his tongue out at you for a moment before he returned to Fluttershy’s side.

“Thank you, I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t rescued me from that menacing rabbit.” You said in an exaggerated tone.

“Oh, I know, those rabbits can be such vicious creatures.” Fluttershy replied in a similar way. The two of you started laughing at the joke you had shared.

Applejack walked around Ponyville in search of Blackstar. It was nearly four in the afternoon and Applejack had been elected to bring the guest of honor to Pinkie’s surprise party. A part of her had wanted to say no. Ever since Rarity had stopped by the fruit stand she had been having strange thoughts regarding the stallion. In the end she had no choice in the matter and was forced to go.

‘Come on, admit it, you like him,’ laughed a voice in her head.

“Ah do not, Ah barely even know ’im!” She snapped back.

‘Okay then think about him right now, and see what happens.’ Applejack listened to the voice and the memory of Blackstar offering her the apple played back in her head. She started to blush as she shook her head furiously in a desperate attempt to free her mind of the images. ‘I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.’ The voice goaded.

‘Maybe Ah do like him a little, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ah barely know ‘im.’ Applejack replied, in her thoughts this time.

‘Ughhh. Is that all you got. You know plenty. He’s a hard worker, he’s kind, and he’s good with Apple Bloom.’

‘Well, Apple Bloom did take a likin’ to ‘im real quick.’ Applejack thought with a nod. ‘But, he may not even think of me that way.’

‘Then make him think of you that way. You are not a quitter, and you’re not gonna start being one now.’ The voice boomed.

Applejack felt a surge of confidence run throughout her body as she walked around the remainder of the town. She couldn’t find Blackstar anywhere. She decided to check around Fluttershy’s cabin for him. Even if he wasn’t there she could still tell her friend about the party. Applejack made her way down the cobblestone path to Fluttershy’s cabin and saw something that shocked her.

Fluttershy and Blackstar were laughing together. Fluttershy hardly ever warmed up to anypony that quickly, yet there she was laughing outright with Blackstar. This upset Applejack to some degree and she didn’t know why. She shook the feeling off when she saw that the two were done laughing. She walked up to the two of them and called out to you.

“Hey, Blackstar, Ah need yer help.” You and Fluttershy turned your heads to see Applejack and you grinned at her.

“Hey, boss, what do ya need?”

“You two know each other?” Fluttershy asked, confused.

“Yeah, I’m working at Sweet Apple Acres, which would make Applejack my boss I guess.”

“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense.”

“So, what do ya need?” You said, returning your attention to Applejack.

“A wheel broke off a’ the cart, so Ah need you t’use yer magic and help me fix it.”

“I thought you didn’t like to do things with magic.”

“Normally, Ah don’t but Ah must’a misplaced the jack and Ah can’t lift the thing and put on the wheel at the same time.”

“Whatever, I don’t need a reason to help a friend. Lead the way.”

“Well, I’ll see you two later, I guess.” Fluttershy stated, looking a little disappointed.

“Fluttershy, Ah could use some help puttin’ on the new wheel, maybe you could come too?”

“Sure, I’d love to help you, Applejack.”

You slowly made your way back into Ponyville with Fluttershy and Applejack at your side. It made you somewhat uncomfortable but you managed to keep the feeling in the back of your mind. You had just reached the outskirts of town when you noticed something odd. When you had left for Fluttershy’s cottage the streets had been abuzz with activity. Now, the town was at a complete standstill. All the windows to the homes and businesses were closed, and not a single pony was out, save for, Applejack, Fluttershy and you.

‘This is a little strange.’ You thought, craning your neck to get a better look at the proverbial ghost-town that Ponyville had become. ‘In Canterlot things never seemed to die down until at least nine o clock. Then again, that was an urban area and this is a rural area, so lifestyles are bound to differ in a few ways. But, I can’t quite shake the feeling that something’s off here.’

Eventually the three of you made it to the Town Hall where you could’ve sworn you could hear the faintest shuffling of hooves. Then, as soon as the three of you made it to the front of the building, the entire town shimmered like a mirage and a group of voices called out “Surprise!”

You were taken aback slightly from the sudden change in landscape. The bare buildings from earlier now had streamers and balloons of every color flying from their roofs. The empty streets were now jam-packed with ponies. You looked over and saw that Fluttershy was faring worse than you were from the sudden appearance of everypony. She was shuddering behind Applejack and hiding her face behind her hooves. You were about to ask her if she was okay when a pink blur rushed up to you.

“Hey there, Starry! I threw this party just for you! So, did I surprise ya, did I? Did I?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hopping around you as she did.

“Yes Pinkie, I was very surprised. How did you manage to hide all of the decorations?”

“That was easy peasie, I just had Twilight and a few other unicorns do their thing and *poof* everypony was hidden, just like that.”

“That’s all well and good, but Ah think y’all needed ta warn Fluttershy about the party, ya scared her half to death.” Applejack remarked.

Pinkie Pie rushed over to Fluttershy’s side and started to pat her on the back. “Aww, I didn’t mean to scare ya, Fluttershy. Let Auntie Pinkie Pie make it up to you.”

“I’m a year older than you.” Fluttershy grumbled, slowly resettling herself. You forced yourself to stifle a laugh at Fluttershy’s statement. The immature comment almost seemed out of character coming from her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the party, I had to work really hard to set everything up, and it just slipped my mind.” The pink party pony explained at her usual, undefinable speed.

“It’s alright, Pinkie, I know you didn’t mean to forget.”

“Good, now that that’s all cleared up, let’s party!” Pinkie cheered, taking you by the hoof and leading you into the crowd of ponies at an alarming rate. Music started playing and the party went into full swing. Pinkie started introducing you to every pony in attendance. Your head started swimming from all the names that it was being forced to commit to memory.

Applejack looked around the town square and after a few minutes found, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all talking together. Applejack nudged Fluttershy and led her to their friends. She said hello, and they all turned toward her and greeted her.

“Hey y’all. Whatcha talkin’ about?” Applejack asked.

“We were all wondering when you would return so we could talk about the guest of honor.” Rarity chimed a slight grin on her face.

“Okay, Ah will." Applejack said, remembering her pep-talk with herself. "So, has anypony here met Blackstar yet?” Applejack was a little surprised to see that all of her friends nodded. She collected herself for a moment and then asked, “So what do y’all think of him?”

Confessions

“So, what do y’all think of him?” Applejack asked.

“He seems pretty cool to me.” Rainbow Dash said. “When I met him I thought he was a real jerk at first. He ruined this awesome stunt routine I was working on and we got into a bit of an argument.”

“How does all of that make you think he’s cool?” Twilight asked, curious.

“Well, I kinda crashed into him while he was sleeping on a cloud. Apparently, he knows that spell you used to visit me in Cloudsdale for the Best Young Flyer’s Competition. So, when I saw that he was underneath me when I crashed I kind of hit him in the face.” Rainbow Dash said with a nervous chuckle. “Then, when he saw that I hurt my hoof, he totally changed. He wasn’t angry anymore. Instead he looked concerned. He even offered to fix it for me.”

“At first I didn’t trust him, but in the end I let him fix it for me. Then we talked a little and we had a little race. He used this really freaky spell he said he made that made him go insanely fast. I actually had to use the Sonic Rainboom to beat him!”

“Well, my meeting with him was not quite as… eventful.” Rarity said carefully. “He came into the boutique and asked me to make a jacket for him. We had a small conversation and I ended up giving him my old violin from when I was a foal and he played it for me. It was lovely: sad, sweet, and even a little mysterious. It was like his emotions were pouring out of the strings. I could tell just by watching that he enjoyed playing.”

“Wow,” Twilight said. “It sounds like Blackstar is a pony of many talents.”

“How did you meet him, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Well, he came by the library this morning and we talked for a little bit. He said that he wanted to study magic with me. As it turns out, he’s also a personal student to the princesses.”

“What!” The rest of the group cried out.

“He never said anythin’ like that t’me.” Applejack stated.

“Yes, and he told me that he graduated from Magic School.” Rarity said with a shake of the head.

“Well, he didn’t exactly tell me.” Twilight replied. “You girls know how I get a copy of the Canterlot newspaper sent to so I don’t miss home quite as much?” The others nodded before she continued. “Well, he was on the front page of one of them. The article talked about him being a student to the princesses.”

“Why would he lie about something like that?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “When I asked him how he convinced the princesses to make him their student he just said it was a private conversation.”

“What do you think he’s hiding?” Rainbow Dash asked with a stern look.

“Maybe he isn’t hiding anything.” Fluttershy offered. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to draw attention towards himself. Twilight, you know what it’s like to be a student to the princesses. Have you ever felt like ponies have judged you just for being Celestia’s personal student?”

“Well… I,” Twilight stuttered. She couldn’t say that she had never felt that way. In fact she knew it was true. Whenever she walked through Canterlot growing up she could overhear whispers from several ponies, some of it was positive, but not all of it. “I guess I can see your point. He did say he wanted to stay low-key. And other than how strange he acted when I brought up the conversation with the princesses he seemed very nice.”

“How ‘bout you Fluttershy, you wanna tell everypony how you met ‘im?” Applejack asked.

“Well,” Fluttershy started, rubbing her fore-hoof against her leg. “I was feeding Angel Bunny, but as usual he was acting picky. I was begging Angel to eat his carrot when Blackstar showed up and tricked Angel into eating the carrot. At first I didn’t know what to make of it. I mean, it usually takes me forever to get Angel to eat, but Blackstar did it in a minute. Then he asked me if I wanted any help with the animals and I let him. He even played with some of them. He was: gentle, funny, and extremely nice. He also has this odd twinkle in his eye. I don’t know how to describe it, but it seems… bitter-sweet.” Fluttershy finished suddenly, as if she was aware at how much she had said.

“That sounds lovely.” Rarity said a wistful look on her face. She then straightened herself out and looked toward Applejack. “Well, Darling, you’re the only one of us that hasn’t told all of us how you met Blackstar.”

“Yesterday, Ah found him asleep in the orchard. Ah was upset obviously, but he apologized and told me that he didn’t know that it was an orchard. Then he asked if Ponyville was close. I laughed and told him he was in it. He was obviously embarrassed and offered to help me with the apple bucking. Then he made this stuff he called Apple Butter and said we could sell it. We gave him a job and a place to stay. He helped Big Mac get better and gave Apple Bloom some real nice advice. Ah don’t really have much else to say other than… Ah think Ah may like him, a lot.” The rest of them got an uncomfortable look on their faces and avoided making direct eye contact with the farm pony.

“Looks like you girls like ‘im too.” Applejack said with a sigh.

“Maybe a little,” Fluttershy admitted sheepishly. “But if you like him, then I won’t.”

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash said quickly. “He needs to be about 20% cooler to get with me.” She said with a nervous laugh. “But if you’re ever up for sharing him let me know.”

“Rainbow Dash, that’s a horribly vulgar idea!” Rarity shrieked in a hushed tone.

“Girls,” Applejack said, hoping to defuse the situation. “I’m not claiming ‘im or anythin’, Ah just wanted to admit it to somepony. In the end, this is Blackstar’s choice. If it isn’t me, then Ah’d be okay if it were one of y’all. We should just wait and see what he chooses.”

“We may be left waiting a long time.” Rarity said.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“Trust me, Darling; you may have a way with animals. But, I have a sense for romance. And I get the feeling that Blackstar has about as much romantic sense as an old washcloth. And yet I find a part of myself attracted to him.” Rarity admitted with a sigh.

“Ooh, you all have feelings for Blackstar.” Pinkie Pie giggled, popping in from seemingly nowhere.

“Pinkie, where’d you come from?” Twilight asked.

“Over there silly, I finished introducing Starry to everypony in Ponyville a few minutes ago and found you guys. I was about to say hi, but then I heard all of you telling each other how you met Starry, so I decided to listen. And now I know that you all like Starry!” Then Pinkie gasped and her already wide grin seemed to grow wider. “Maybe I should like Starry too. Then, we could make a game out of who gets him first! This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Pinkie Pie, you don’t just decide to like somepony, it has to happen on its own.” Rarity interrupted. Pinkie’s mane deflated a little at having her idea shot down.

“Awww, that stinks. Then maybe I can play matchmaker!”

“We all decided to let him choose, on his own.” Applejack said.

“Fine, but will you at least hear me out on one thing.” Everypony circled around her as she whispered her idea.

“Please!” Scootaloo begged.

“Come on girls, I’ve had a long day.” You said for the tenth time to Apple Bloom and her friends.

“But you said you’d show us some magic later, and it’s later.” Sweetie Bell said with a sweet grin.

“Maybe some other time, right now I wanna see if I can find Applejack, she seemed upset back at Fluttershy’s.”

“Hey Apple Bloom, looks like Blackstar here has a crush on your sister.” Scootaloo said obviously mocking you.

“That’s fine by me. Then he’d really be mah new big brother.”

You could feel your cheeks burning for a moment. You shook off the embarrassment and sighed in defeat. “So, what kind of magic do you want to see?”

“Something cool!” Scootaloo beamed.

“No, something pretty,” Sweetie Bell argued. The two of them yelled back and forth for a minute until you stepped in between them.

“Girls, stop it, I have an idea that I think will satisfy both of your desires. All I need is a red piece of paper.”

Apple Bloom ran off quickly and returned with exactly what you had in mind. It was red paper that you had seen used numerous times for what you were about to do. You closed your eyes and an image of an origami crane came into your mind. In a matter of moments the paper took the shape of the crane in your mind. You held up the paper crane for the three fillies to see but none of them looked too impressed.

“Is that it?” Scootaloo asked, disappointed.

“I mean it’s pretty but I was kind of expecting something bigger.” Sweetie Bell admitted.

“Who says I’m finished?” You said with an incredulous look. “That was step one of three.”

Their faces lit up as you tossed the paper crane into the air. Then you used a spell to give it motion and to fly. They oohed and ahhed but you still had another trick up your sleeve. Your horn glowed again and the single paper crane became an entire flock that flew over the entire town before dying in a fizzle of sparks. You looked at the three wide eyed fillies with a proud look on your face.

“So, was that pretty, or cool?” You asked with a playful smile.

“Both!” they cheered.

“Good, now if you excuse me I have to go…” All of a sudden the music stopped and a familiar hyperactive voice came onto the mike.

“Attention everypony!” Pinkie Pie called out. “I know everypony loves Vinyl Scratch’s music, but we’re about to have a special performance by the guest of honor himself on the violin.”

Somehow at that moment you were standing on the stage. You didn’t feel anything that would indicate teleportation magic. You got the feeling that you should just chalk it up to Pinkie Pie doing whatever it was that Pinkie Pie did. “Good luck, Starry.” She said with a wink before hopping off of the stage.

You looked at the crowd who all stared back at you expectantly. You slowly removed your violin from its case. You took a deep breath and remembered what your mother always said about performing. All that matters is the music. If you like what you’re playing then chances are that the crowd will like it too. You debated on playing what you played for Rarity. You decided against it though because it had come to you in the spur of the moment and you doubted you would be able to replicate it entirely. Instead, you chose to play the theme song to one of your favorite video games when you were growing up. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was actually one of the first things you had learned to play on the violin and you still remembered it note for note.

You brought the bow to the strings with your magic and closed your eyes. Again you imagined playing the violin as if you were still human, but as you played other images wormed their way into your head. You remembered staying up on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa to bring you the game, and staying up late some nights until you could beat a difficult temple. And most of all, you remembered telling your parents that you had beaten it. They had told you they were happy for you and you had felt a surge of pride as they did. You couldn’t help but smile as the memories caused a warm feeling to spread through you, and eventually the song came to an end.

You opened your eyes and the ponies cheered and stomped their hooves to the ground, an obvious sign of approval. You took a quick bow and hopped off of the stage, and the party slowly returned to normal.

Lullaby

The party had officially ended and ponies started to leave with yawns and tired looks on their faces. You didn’t feel tired though. If anything it was like someone had poked you with a cattle prod. A part of you was nervous about what was going to happen next. Things had never gone so smoothly for you when you were human. The only thing on your mind was the possibility of something going wrong. Just like it always had before.

‘I must be the most backwards thing ever.’ You thought while chewing on your upper lip, an old habit of yours that happened when you were lost in thought occasionally. 'Most people and ponies relish this kind of peace and happiness. But it scares me. I can’t help but feeling that something’s gonna happen. Am I going to say something stupid and make everyone think I’m strange? Or will someone find out about my past? If they did, would they call me a freak? A zombie? Or am I overthinking things as usual?’

It took you a while but you were able to bring your thoughts under control. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t waste my time worrying about these things. I should just relax, and let whatever happens happen.’ You looked across the emptying square and saw Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh.

You trotted over to them and the four of you made your way back to the farm.

“Hey Blackstar, how’d ya like the party?” Applejack asked.

“It’s safe to say that that was the greatest party I’ve ever been to.”

“That’s great!” Apple Bloom cheered. “And that song you played was really cool!”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.

“Glad to see you liked it. I always get a little nervous when it comes to performing.”

“Well, Ah didn’t really notice at all.” Applejack said.

“Did y’all see that spell Blackstar did?” Apple Bloom said with a bounce.

“That was you?” Applejack asked. “I just thought it was somethin’ Pinkie Pie cooked up.”

“Well, Apple Bloom and her friends practically… scratch that they did beg me to do a little magic for them.”

“Good t’hear that they didn’t start pestering ya with questions about cutie marks.” You all shared a laugh for a moment and little while later you stepped into the Apple Family’s home.

“Alright Apple Bloom we let ya stay up for the party now ya have t’go to bed.”

“Fine,” Apple Bloom sighed and then turned to you. “Blackstar, will you sing me a lullaby?”

“Well, I don’t see why not, but wouldn’t you rather have Applejack do that?”

“Please,” She pleaded with big doe eyes.

‘Oh God! It’s the puppy dog eyes!’ You screamed in your head. ‘That’s just not fair. Must resist the cuteness!’

“Sure,” you said with a weak grin.

‘You weak bastard,’ a part of you hissed.

Apple Bloom led you up to her room and you tucked her in carefully. You took a step back from the bed and she looked at you expectantly. You tried to think of a good song to sing, but only one comes to mind. You clear your throat and take a deep breath.

When the night, has come and the land is dark

And the moon is the only, light we’ll see

No I won’t be afraid

Oh I won’t be afraid

Just as long as, you stand, stand by me

So darlin’ darlin’ stand, by me

Oh stand by me

Oh stand, stand by me

If the sky, that we look upon, should tumble and fall

Or the mountains should crumble to the sea

I won’t cry, I won’t cry

No, I won’t shed a tear

Just as long as, you stand, stand by me

And darlin’ darlin’ stand, by me

Oh stand by me

Oh stand now, stand by me

You looked up at Apple Bloom saw she was fast asleep. She was lightly chewing her hoof as she mumbled something about a big brother. You felt a warm smile play across your lips and you walked over to her. You tousled her hair lightly and said, “Good night, Kiddo.”

You were about to leave the room when you noticed something on her dresser. You picked it up and realized it was the blueprints to some sort of clubhouse. You looked it over quickly and saw that it was perfect down to the last detail: the measurements, the schematics, and the list of materials. All of it would put to shame all but the most seasoned of architects.

‘I’ll be damned. Apple Bloom is amazing. If she actually designed and built this then why doesn’t she have her cutie mark?’ Then you remembered your own advice from yesterday. ‘Duh, she hasn’t realized it’s her talent. I might have to fix that, but for now there are stars to look at.’

You turned to leave the room but saw Applejack standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey Applejack,” you said. “How long have you been standing there?”

“’Bout halfway through the song,” she replied. “It was very sweet.”

“Thanks, my dad always used to sing that to my mom. It’s ‘their’ song.”

“Sounds like your pa really loves your ma,” Applejack said with a warm smile.

You hold back a grimace that tries to worm its way onto your face. Your mind starts to be flooded by images of the wreck that replaced your father after your mother’s death. “You have no idea.” You said with a forced smile. You continued out of the doorway but Applejack calls out to you.

“Where are you off to?”

“I was gonna stargaze on that hill again, you’re welcome to join me if you like.” You turn your head and wonder why you had said that. Looking up at the stars was something you did by yourself. It was one of the few times you felt you could let your thoughts run free without any fear of judgment although, you hadn’t really minded Applejack’s presence when you were stargazing last night.

“Sure, Ah guess Ah could come with you.” She said, making her way next to you.

A few moments later you made it to the hill with Applejack. You had arranged yourselves so the tops of your heads were touching, her faded brown Stetson next to her. You weren’t as nervous as last night when she was close which relieved you in a small way.

“Ah gotta ask,” Apple jack said after a few minutes. “What’s the deal with you an’ lookin’ at the stars? I mean, they’re nice an’ all, but to come out every night, there has to be a reason.”

“Well, I don’t know. It’s just, whenever I look up at the stars I feel like I’m staring at something that doesn’t change. Even when the seasons change and different constellations are out the others come back at some point. Something like that just puts my mind at ease.”

“Ah never really thought ‘bout it that way before.”

“Good, that means you’re not crazy.” You said with a chuckle.

“Ah don’t think yer crazy.”

“There are several professionals that would disagree with you, but thanks.” She laughs for a second or so and you join her.

“Anyway, what do ya think of Ponyville?”

“I think that it’s one of the craziest towns I’ve ever been to, and I couldn’t love it more.”

“Glad t’hear it.” She said, shifting a little. “So, yer a student of the princesses?”

“Did Twilight tell you that?”

“Yeah, and it’s makin’ me wonder, why’d ya ask fer a job here? With that, you coulda gotten just about any job ya wanted.”

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure myself. I just kind of saw an opportunity to have a job.”

“Oh,” Applejack said, slightly disappointed.

“But, I’m glad I got the job.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you and your family are all really amazing. Apple Bloom is one of the sweetest little kids I’ve ever known, Granny Smith is a bit odd but she’s like the fun grandma I never had, and Big Mac is quiet but I get the sense that he cares for you all more than anything. I think he looks at me every now and then to make sure I don’t try to do anything to one of you.”

“What do ya think a me?” Applejack asked hesitantly.

“I think you’re hardworking, a little prideful and very nice.” You said with a grin. Then you asked, “what about me, huh? What do you think of me?”

“Well, Ah think yer hardworkin’ too, yer kind, Apple Bloom loves ya, Granny thinks yer great too, ya seem t’be smart, and ya can play that violin all right.”

“I’m glad I have the Apple family stamp of approval. Say Applejack,” You said with an odd look on your face.

“Yeah Blackstar?”

“Last night you said that at one point you ran away to relatives in Manehattan and they forced you to change everything down to your voice, right?”

“Yeah, and?”

“I was wondering if you could still do it. You know, talk in that hoity-toity voice.”

“Why would ya want t’know somethin’ like that?” She asked, shocked.

“’Cause I think it would be funny.” You admit with a laugh.

“Even if Ah could, Ahm not gonna do it just so you can laugh.”

“Aw come on. Please, just once?”

“Ah said no.”

“Please,”

“No.”

“Come on.”

“Please sir, would you kindly stop?” Applejack covered her mouth with her hooves, realizing what she had done. You had to place a hoof over your own mouth to keep from laughing. Your eyes met and Applejack’s shocked expression quickly turned into a glare. “Yer not thinkin’ a laughin’, are ya?”

“No, no, no,” You lied, still holding in laughter. “That wasn’t even funny.”

“Well that’s good…”

“It was downright hilarious!” You said, a burst of laughter escaping from your throat. You finally stopped laughing after a minute or so before wiping a tear out of your eye.

“Are ya done?”

“Yeah, I’m done. Sorry Applejack but you have to admit that was a little funny.”

“You can think what ya like but Ah don’t think it was funny.”

“Hey, you laughed when I messed up apple bucking the first few times. The way I see it we’re even now.”

“Fine, if that’s the way yer gonna be.” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s getting pretty late. We should rest up fer tomorrow.” She said getting up and fixing her Stetson back onto her head. As she did you accidentally got an up close look of her flank, among other parts. You even saw her cutie mark was a group of three apples. A deep blush settled in on your cheeks and you scrambled to your feet to keep from seeing more.

You’re heart never stopped pounding until you made it back to your room. You check the side pocket of your shoulder bag and saw that your iPod had survived the trip to Equestria. You turn it on and hope that music can calm your nerves. Sad but True, by: Metallica started playing and you let out a sigh of relief. Metal is exactly what you needed to counteract any awkward thoughts that could pop up. You pulled out your journal and started to write.

Hey me. life in Ponyville has to be one of the craziest things ever. I trespassed on someone… er, pony’s property and ended getting a job. I met Celestia’s other student, Twilight Sparkle. She seems really nice. We’re even going to study together. Yeah, I know I’m a nerd. I don’t need me to remind myself. I got a new violin from a mare called Rarity. It’s been years since I’ve played and it feels a little weird to just start up again, but it also feels kinda good.

I met a few other interesting ponies too. Rainbow Dash, who’s a bit brash and competitive, but other than that seems pretty cool, Pinkie Pie, she is pretty much the very definition of bubbly and optimistic and she threw a party for me which no one except my parents have done that for me before, Fluttershy, don’t let the name fool you she’s actually very shy. Except when she’s around the animals she takes care of, then she becomes a completely different pony, and she has a great singing voice. And last but not least is, Applejack, she’s really hardworking and above all dedicated to her family.

I also have good news and bad news. The good news is that I saw my first naked girl. The bad news is that it was a pony, Applejack to be specific. Writing this is starting to be uncomfortable, so I think I’ll stop for now.

You quickly slipped your journal back into your bag and forced yourself to get to sleep.

Frustration

Applejack sighed as she laid her head on her pillow.

‘Ah can’t believe Ah did that.’ She thought, pressing the pillow against her face. ‘Ah haven’t talked like that since Ah ran away. Then, Blackstar asks me and Ah do it. What’s wrong with me? And the worst part is Ah almost wanted him to say… No Applejack, ya can’t think like that. Ya said ya wanted this t’be Blackstar’s choice and ya meant it.’

Applejack removed the pillow and a weak smile spread on her face. ‘At least Ah told the girls that Ah like ‘im. It felt good to say it to somepony. Too bad most a them feel the same way. Ahm kinda worried about it.’ She thought with a gulp. ‘What do Ah have that the others don’t? Ahm not smart like Twilight or pretty like Rarity. Ahm just me.’

‘For Celestia’s sake do you ever stop kicking yourself in the flank?’ Asked the voice in her head, ‘every time I try to take a break you go and worry about something stupid.’

‘Leave me alone, Ahm not in the mood to deal with you.’ Applejack thought, groaning.

‘I am you. Seriously, I’m talking to you in your head. Who did you think I was, Rainbow Dash?’

‘Just shut up and leave me alone.’

‘No can do, Sweetheart. I’m here to smack a bit of sense into that thick skull of yours. You’re a great pony. You’re athletic, hardworking, and a lot more than that. Besides, Pinkie’s idea could be good for you.’

‘But Pinkie’s idea could give an edge to anypony.’

‘Then you have to make anypony be you. Now get some sleep. Trying to woo somepony with sleep circles under your eyes will be hard.’

Applejack didn’t argue with the voice anymore. She was just glad to have it be quiet. A yawn escaped her as she felt herself drift into sleep.

Applejack was sitting on a bench next to Blackstar in the park. Apple Bloom was also there. She was dancing around happily as the sun started to set.

“Ah did it! Ah finally got mah cutie mark!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Thank ya so much, Blackstar!” Apple Bloom beamed showing off her new cutie mark, but the glare from the sun blocked it from Applejack’s view.

“Don’t worry about it, Kiddo.” Blackstar said with a warm smile. “Maybe you should go and show the other Crusaders? I bet they’d like to see it too.” And with that Apple Bloom ran off into town.

“Ah still can’t believe ya figured out her special talent like that.”

“That was the easy part. The hard part was helping her realize it.”

“Thank ya, Blackstar.”

“I didn’t really do anything that deserves thanks.”

“Yeah ya did,” Applejack laughed. “Ya helped Apple Bloom earn her cutie mark. If that doesn’t deserve a thank ya, then nothin’ does.”

“Hey Applejack,” Blackstar said with a strange look on his face.”

“Yeah, Blackstar?”

“You got something on your face.”

“What is…”Applejack didn’t have time to finish the sentence because Blackstar pressed his lips against her own in a brief but passionate kiss. He pulled away from her with a sly grin on his face.

“…It was me.”

“Why’d y’all go an’ do that?” Applejack asked, her cheeks turning redder than a ripe apple.

“Did you not like it?”

“Ah never said that.”

“Good,” Blackstar leaned in again and gave Applejack a much longer kiss that she returned.

Applejack let out a sigh in her sleep from the pleasant dream she was having.

Rainbow Dash flailed around in her bed trying to keep herself from thinking about Blackstar.

“He’s not cool at all.” She said to herself. “So what if he’s the only pony that can keep up with me?” Rainbow Dash’s shoulders slumped and knew she couldn’t lie to herself at this point. “I do like him don’t I? He’s more than somepony that can keep up with me in a race. He was really nice to me even after I was a jerk to him. Normally, I hate somepony touching my hooves, but he was gentle.”

“He’s the only stallion that doesn’t seem to be… I don’t know, intimidated by me I guess. He can even reel me in when I get a bit full of myself. I always thought I’d go for a Pegasus.” Rainbow Dash sighed, turning her head to see Tank the tortoise sleeping in the special bed that Twilight made for him which brought a small grin to her face. “Then again, I thought I was gonna get a pet that could fly.”

“Blackstar’s smart, fun to be around, and a bunch of other things that I didn’t even know I wanted in a stallion. Ugh, I just wish I could tell him I like him instead of having to wait for him to make his choice. Taking any kind of action would be better than waiting! I mean I know I’m awesome, but Twilight’s smart, Rarity’s pretty, Fluttershy’s so kind and good with animals, and he lives with Applejack!” Rainbow Dash boomed. “They all have something that gives them an edge over me. The only thing left is to hope Pinkie’s idea works out for me.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to calm herself down.

Fluttershy sniffled a little into her pillow and couldn’t shake the image of Blackstar from her mind. Angel came over and patted her on the back to try and cheer her up. She turned on the lamp next to her bed and saw Angel with a concerned look on his face.

“Oh Angel, it’s alright. There’s nothing to worry about.” Fluttershy weakly said to the rabbit. Angel shot Fluttershy a cross look and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not lying, Angel Bunny. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with me.”

Angel started tapping his foot repeatedly, irritated. “Oh fine, I can’t stop thinking about Blackstar. Are you happy now?” Fluttershy said, a tear rolling down her cheek. Angel rolled his eyes at the mention of the unicorn from earlier, but straightened up almost immediately to help his distraught master. He offered her a comforting look and a pat on the head.

“Thank you Angel, but I don’t know what I should do. I mean there’s no way anypony would like a mare like me. I’m scared of my own shadow and I’m not a great flyer like Rainbow Dash. There’s nothing appealing about me.” Angel put a paw over his face and slowly dragged it across his features. Then he started making a variety of gestures that only Fluttershy would ever be able to decipher.

“I guess he did say that he liked my singing. But, there’s nothing else that’s really special about me.” Angel rubbed the bridge of his nose at that comment and made a few more gestures. “Well, I suppose me taking care of animals is my special talent, but I don’t think taking care of animals would make somepony fall for me.” Angel made another series of gestures that caused Fluttershy’s cheeks to turn bright red.

“Angel Bunny! That… that is… just… how could you even suggest something like that?! You’re a very naughty rabbit. No carrot juice for a week mister.” Fluttershy firmly retorted.

Angel hung his head in defeat as he made his way off the bed, but when he was out of view of the yellow Pegasus he had to work to contain his laughter. His comment had done exactly what he had meant it to. Fluttershy was out of the funk that she had put herself in. Losing carrot juice for a week was a small price to pay for something like that. Then he remembered the reason she was in a funk in the first place, that crazy unicorn, Blackstar. He made Angel look like an idiot with that trick of his.

Then, when Angel had gotten even to try and make him look like an idiot in front of Fluttershy, he had somehow turned it into a big joke. And now, Angel had helped her work through whatever problem she was having regarding the stallion. Angel brought a paw to his temple due to a slight headache that was starting to form there.

Fluttershy turned off her lamp and sat uncomfortably and thought about what Angel had told her. “I can’t believe Angel would say something like that. I mean, he is handsome, and nice and…” Fluttershy lost her train of thought as a few ideas started crossing her mind. “Nonononono. I just met him and the others like him too. I just have to hope that he picks me. Oh, I hope he picks me. I mean, if it’s okay with the others. I wonder if Pinkie’s idea will even work.”

“…That should go in Ancient Equestrian History.”

Spike’s eyes opened and let out a groan. He had been pulled away from his ice cream dream with Rarity for the second time this month. He rubbed his eye to get the sleep out and walked down the stairs to see Twilight talking to herself and rearranging the shelves.

“Proper Horn Care. That should go in the Medical/Hygiene section.” Spike had to duck to avoid the book that flew towards his head.

“Hey, watch it Twilight! What’s got you so worked up?”

“Nothing, I just happened to notice that a book that belonged in nonfiction was with the fiction books. So, I’m just rearranging the bookshelves so everything is in place.” Twilight said frantically.

“Twilight, we just rearranged the shelves a few days ago. You only rearrange the bookshelves twice in one week if you’re stressed out about something.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’ve known you my entire life. Seriously, spend as much time together as we have and anypony would know all of your habits.”

“I guess you do make a good point.”

“So, what’s got you so upset?”

“Spike, am I pretty?” Twilight asked after a long period of silence.

Spike was taken aback by the question. In all the time he had known her, Twilight had focused more on studying than appearances, and it made him a little uncomfortable. “Where did that come from?”

“Well, I kind of have a bit of a crush on Blackstar. He seems to be studious and he’s a student to the princesses just like me.”

“Oh that,” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. He's planning on studying with you, right?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Well there you go. You can use that to help you.”

“But, most of the others like him too.” She said, not wanting to admit that Rarity was one of them.

“You can either try to get him to like you and have the possibility of having a relationship with him.” Spike firmly stated. “Or give up and rearrange bookcases every night. It’s your call. And if it helps you’re the second prettiest pony I know.”

“The first being Rarity?” Twilight asked, knowing the answer already.

“Yup, now, let’s go and get some sleep.” Spike said, turning to go back up the stairs.

“Spike,” Twilight called, causing him to turn around. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

You hated your dreams. Every night you were forced to relive a memory of your parents, usually they were perverted into something strange and terrifying. However, tonight your dream took you farther into your life. You were fifteen or so. You were sitting on the roof of one of the schools you had gone to and were ditching class. Even while ditching you still read about the material. At the moment you were reading about Chemistry and took notes on the different types of bonds.

“In a metallic bond metal atoms share their electrons evenly and form something called a sea of electrons.” You muttered to yourself.” You were so absorbed in your reading that you didn’t hear the door to the roof open. Your concentration was broken only when a girl with a deep southern drawl called out to you.

“Ya know, the purpose of skippin’ class is t’avoid doin’ the work.” You turned around to see a girl that looked about a year older than you wearing a faded orange flannel shirt and jeans. She had long blonde hair that had a ribbon tied to the end. She had dark emerald green eyes and at the corners of them were three freckles that made an odd triangle.

“Is there any reason you felt like telling me that?” You said, trying to return your attention to the textbook.

“Not really, I just thought you’d be interested in knowin’.”

“Well, I’m not. I just came up here to be left alone.”

“Ahm here so ya can’t say yer alone now, can ya?”

“Is there a point to all of this because I fail to see one?”

“What’s got you in such a foul mood?”

“To properly answer that question would take a lot of time and effort. So, I’ll just give you the short version. Life’s a bitch.”

“Oh, well it can’t be all bad.” The girl offered.

“It can, and it is.”

“Its talk like that that makes everyone in our class hate ya.”

“You’re in a class of mine?”

“Yeah, we’re in Chemistry together. The teacher sent me ta find ya. I’m Annabeth by the way.”

“I’m [Your name]. So are you here to drag me back to class or something?”

“Nah, I just wanted ta get t’know ya a little. Ya seem kinda distant in class.”

“Moving all over the country from one random home to another makes it kind of hard to keep friends so I don’t bother with it.”

“That sounds hard.” Annabeth offered with a sympathetic look.

“I reiterate life’s a bitch.” Annabeth chuckled a little at your ill attempt of humor and you stifled a smile at hearing her laugh.

Pinkie's Idea

You woke up with a confused look on your face. Not only did you not dream about your parents, but there was something familiar about the girl you saw in your dream.

‘Wait a minute. According to Einstein there are an infinite number of parallel universes that differ in at least one aspect. So if this world is parallel to my old one then that means everyone here is a pony version of someone from my old world. That would explain why Annabeth seems so familiar. She could be the human version of Applejack. Well, that’s one mystery… Wait,” You thought, scratching your chin with a hoof.

‘If this world is a parallel universe, could that mean that the pony version of me died as well and I just took his body? Or did I just take over his body without him dying? Either way, that would explain why I already had a cutie mark when I woke up in the castle. Does that mean the pony me is in my body now? Or is he just dead? Maybe I shouldn’t think about this too much. After all, I’m here now and that’s all that matters, right?’

Your subconscious didn’t answer you, which was frustrating, but you just shook it off and got ready for the day. You walked out of the shower and gave yourself a quick sniff. ‘I know they’re the Apple family and all, but do they have to use apple shampoo?’

You walked down to the dining room and the Apple family was already there again. You took your place at the table and started to eat.

“Good mornin’, Blackstar.” Applejack said.

“Mornin’,” You replied with a yawn.

“What’s got ya so tired? It’s already six in the mornin’.”

“That’s another way of saying: it’s six in the morning and I’m awake.”

“Ah think ya picked the wrong house not ta be a mornin’ pony.”

“Eeyup,”

“Then maybe I should move out. You said it yourself that I could get just about any job I wanted.”

“Very funny,” Applejack replied with a roll of the eyes.

“Hey, I thought it was funny.”

“Well, you got an odd sense a humor anyway.”

“Maybe,” you said with a shrug.

‘Applejack and Annabeth sound exactly the same. I guess that means the alternate universe theory is pretty likely. Or it could just be a coincidence.’

“Blackstar, are you okay?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

“What were ya thinkin’ about?”

“It’s nothing important. Just something I remembered all of a sudden.”

“Alright, if ya say so,” Applejack said.

“So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Well, yer gonna work with Granny, and Ahm gonna go into town and sell our products.”

“Fine by me.”

An hour later Applejack loaded up the cart and walked into Ponyville. After a while business slowed down a little, leaving Applejack alone with her thoughts. ‘At least things seem t’be normal between me an’ Blackstar. Fer a minute there Ah thought he was gonna bring up what happened last night. Why can’t Ah stop thinkin’ about that? Oh, Ah know it’s because Ah made a complete fool of mahself in front of ‘im.’

Applejack pulled herself away from her thoughts when she saw Twilight walking towards her stand. “Hey Twilight, how are ya today?”

“I’m fine, how are you today?”

“Ahm alright Ah guess, but Ah think Ah did somethin’ stupid when Ah talked to Blackstar last night.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“Well, ya know how Ah ran away to Manehattan when Ah was a filly?”

“Yeah, and you followed the rainbow that Rainbow Dash made with her Sonic Rainboom and earned your cutie mark, what about it?”

“Ah told Blackstar about that too, and he asked me if Ah could still talk like Ah did when Ah was with mah aunt and uncle, Orange. Ah told ‘im Ah wouldn’t do it but eventually Ah slipped and Ah did. Is there somethin wrong with me, Twilight?” Applejack groaned.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. We all do stupid things when we have a crush on somepony. Last night, I was up until almost four in the morning rearranging bookshelves because I was worried about him not liking me.”

“Why are ya worried about him not likin’ ya? Yer so smart and organized, Ah don’t think Ah can compete with that.”

“Thanks Applejack, I hope the others aren’t freaking out about this whole thing like we are.”

“Me too, but Ah don’t think it works that way, especially when almost all yer friends like the same stallion.”

“I guess I see your point.”

“Well, I may not be a personal student to Celestia, but Ah do know a few things.” Applejack said with a slight grin, causing Twilight to chuckle for a bit.

“I should get going. I need to buy more parchment and quills. I always seem to run out at the worst times.”

“Ah’ll see ya later, Twilight. We’re all meetin’ up at Sugarcube Corner later t’hear more about Pinkie’s idea, right?”

“I know. I have it set on my schedule so I don’t forget.” Twilight said with a bright smile.

You finished working with Granny Smith and walked into Ponyville early in the afternoon. You remembered that Rarity said your jacket would be done by today. You decided that would be your first order of business and headed off to the boutique. The small bell in the door chimed and Rarity’s voice followed suit a few moments later.

“I’ll be right with you, Darling.”

“It’s me, Blackstar. I’m here to pick up my jacket.”

“Alright, stay right there and close your eyes, I want it to be a surprise.”

“Fine,” You said, quickly following Rarity’s instructions. A minute later you heard Rarity enter the room.

“Okay, Darling. For your jacket I wanted to make something that seemed to fit you. So, I made it fabulous of course, but in a subtle way.”

“Sounds great, can I open my eyes yet?”

“Yes. Now, don’t be afraid to tell me your thoughts, I want your honest opinion whether it be positive or negative.”

You opened your eyes and saw what looked like a black trench coat with dark blue trim. You walked up to it and took in every detail of the garment. Then you used your magic to put it on. It was one of the most comfortable things you had ever worn. It was warm but not suffocating and the fabric had a light sheen to it which was stunning, but was only visible if you were looking right at the coat.

“What do you think?” Rarity asked hesitantly.

“This jacket is absolutely amazing.” You said.

“You’re too kind, Darling.” Rarity beamed, regaining her composure.

“I mean it,” You said with a grin. “How did you get the coat to gleam like this only when I look right at it, some kind of enchantment?”

“No,” Rarity chuckled. “I sewed some black gemstones into it, and arranged it so that it would do that.”

“You’re really talented, Rarity.”

“Oh come now, it was just a simple sewing trick.” Rarity dismissed with a wave of the hoof.

“A simple sewing trick that I don’t think that I could replicate even if I used my magic,” you stated.

“Well, you certainly know how to flatter somepony.” Rarity replied with a slight grin.

“I don’t flatter. I merely give credit where credit is due.”

“Thank you very much, Blackstar.”

“For what,” You asked with a feigned confused look. “You did all of the work. And I believe all we have left is the matter of the payment.”

“Oh yes, what will you play for me?”

“Ah, ah, ah,” You started. “It’s lady’s choice.”

“Well, could you perhaps, play what you played for me before?”

“I’ll try, but I just made that up at the time so it may not sound exactly the same.” You explained while pulling out your violin.

“It’s okay, Darling. I know I’ll enjoy whatever you play.”

You fell into your new routine for playing the violin and took a deep breath. Unlike the last time you played the song you didn’t falter over the notes. Everything came out the way you wanted to. Each note flowing into the next almost seamlessly. You could tell that you had made a few changes from last time, but that didn’t bother you and you kept playing until the end. As soon as you were finished you looked up at Rarity who had a warm look on her face.

“What did you think?”

“That was even better than the last time you played.” Rarity stated in a somewhat mystified voice.

“Thanks,” You replied rubbing the back of your head with a hoof. “It looks like I’m finally shaking the rust off, but I’m still nowhere near as good as my mom. She makes what I just did sound like a cat wailing in comparison.”

“She sounds truly spectacular.” Rarity said. “Blackstar, may I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it Rarity?”

“Why did you stop playing the violin? You seem to enjoy playing a great deal.”

“Uh, I don’t really know.” You lied. “It kind of just happened.”

“That’s not a real explanation.” Rarity huffed.

“Be that as it may, it’s my explanation.”

“Fine, be that way.” Rarity pouted, turning her head away from you.

“I will,” You said with a short laugh. “I gotta go, but I hope to see you again soon, Rarity.” With that you turned and walked out the door.

Rarity started to shake her head as the door closed behind Blackstar.

“That boy is such a mystery.” She said to herself. “One minute he’s kind and charming, and the next he acts like a foal. Then again, I might have asked an uncomfortable question.” Rarity let out a little sigh and looked over at the clock on her wall. “Oh dear, look at the time!” She exclaimed in a melodramatic tone. “I need to get to Sugarcube Corner to meet the others.” She then hurried out of the boutique and into town.

You walked down the street and didn’t feel quite as uncomfortable as you had yesterday. This was mostly due to your lack of exposure. You took another glance at your new coat and smiled a bit as you saw the subtle shine from the gems hidden deep within the fabric.

‘I can’t believe Rarity made me something like this. Just like everyone else she’s gone way past generous with this. Maybe I should’ve given her something more than some song?’ You thought, furrowing your brow as you did. ‘Then again she did seem to like it. Hmm, what should I do now? I can’t live at Applejack’s forever. That would be too weird. So, I should look into finding a house for myself. Celestia said she gave me enough to do that much.’ You were pulled away from your thoughts when you heard a voice around you say,

“Why, hello there ladies. I was just walking by and I couldn’t help but notice how breathtaking you all look.” You turned around and saw who the voice belonged to.

Rarity was the last one to walk into Sugarcube Corner. The others were all huddled around one of the tables in the center of the shop. As soon as she was through the door Pinkie Pie got up and turned the sign in the window to closed.

“Hello girls, how are you doing today?” Rarity asked.

“We’re all fine,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Let’s just get to the part where we talk about Pinkie’s idea.”

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie Pie chimed, bouncing back to the others. “We all remember my idea, right?” She asked with a wide grin on her face.

“Yes, we all go on individual dates with Blackstar, without calling them dates so he doesn't know and hope that helps him make his choice.” Twilight stated. “But, how are we going to decide what order we go in without starting an argument?”

“Easy, we pick at random.” Pinkie beamed. “I’ll put five slips of paper in a hat with numbers on them and the number on your paper is your place in the order.”

“Ah guess that makes sense.” Applejack said.

“I agree. This way it’s completely fair as to who goes when.” Rarity continued.

“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Applejack, could I use your hat? I’ve got the papers all set right here.” Applejack complied with Pinkie’s request and she dropped the slips of paper into it. She then gave it a quick shake to mix them up. The group slowly approached the hat and took one of the slips. Rainbow Dash was the first to open her slip of paper.

“Aww yeah!” she exclaimed. “Number one, that’s what I’m talking about!”

“Looks like I’m number two.” Fluttershy said sheepishly.

“I’m third,” Twilight said.

It was down to Applejack and Rarity. Neither of them wanted to know what was written on their slip. Finally, Applejack broke the tension and opened her piece of paper. Her heart sank as the number seemed to stare back at her, mocking her.

“Ahm, the fifth and last one to go,” She said, downtrodden.

Meanwhile

Blackstar, the real Blackstar woke up confused. He could feel pain in just about every part of his body. His mind was ragged and his thoughts were muddled and unclear. He also couldn’t help but feel… odd. It was almost as if he wasn’t quite right. He opened his eyes and groaned as bright lights clouded his vision. He shook his head and opened his eyes again, this time at a much slower pace.

Blackstar noticed that he was in a hospital room with a few machines and tubes clustered around him. Confusion quickly turned to fear, his eyes widened and his breathing became rapid and shallow. Blackstar called out, hoping someone would hear him.

“What’s going on here? Where am I? What am I doing here?!” In a matter of moments Blackstar could hear voices just outside of his room.

“Doctor, it seems the car accident patient is finally conscious!”

A little later, an older man with thin framed glasses and salt and pepper colored hair entered the room. His face was a mask of indifference as he stared at a clipboard. Then he examined Blackstar a little which resulted in a few grunts and moans. “Alright then, you seem to be recovering well considering what happened to you. Tell me, what do you remember about your accident?” The man asked, never looking away from the clipboard.

Blackstar racked his brain for what seemed like an eternity, but nothing came to him. Even his own name was a mystery to him. “I…I can’t remember anything.” Blackstar whimpered. “What happened to me? Who am I?” He asked frantically, his words becoming more and more incoherent the longer he spoke. At one point he moved is arm wrong and a jolt of pain erupted down to his fingers. He let out a choked groan but calmed down a little when the pain stopped.

“Relax,” The man said, completely devoid of sympathy. “We have your paperwork here. Your ex-foster father was more than happy to come forward and identify you to avoid accusations to his involvement in what happened to you. After that we were able to contact your caseworker and were able to acquire all of your records.”

“Can you just tell me why I’m here, and why I can’t remember anything?” Blackstar groaned.

“A car hit you and caused severe damage to many major systems of your body. You suffered from a cranial fracture which could account for your retrograde amnesia. Your spinal column was also severely damaged, but the spinal cord was only slightly bruised so you should be able to walk again. A few of your ribs were broken but none of them punctured your lungs and other organs. You even suffered from a slight organ shift. You’ve been unconscious for a little over two weeks now. All in all it should be considered a miracle that you didn’t die.”

Didn’t die. Those words stuck with Blackstar for a few moments. Something felt off about them. A sharp pain shot through his head as he tried to remember something. A minute later the pain subsided and Blackstar was confident in one thing. The doctor was wrong, he had died.

“Can you tell me who I am now?” Blackstar asked, hesitantly.

“Of course, your name is, [Your Name].”

[Your Name], it sounded strange to Blackstar, but it would have to do. “Thank you, Doctor. How long will it be until I recover?”

“It’s hard to say, but I’d say about a month or so. So, you should get as comfortable as possible. I’ll have one of the nurses bring in your case folder so you can learn a little bit about yourself. That is assuming if you still remember how to read.”

With that the doctor left the room and left Blackstar with his thoughts. ‘Something isn’t right here. None of this seems familiar. I guess that’s because I have amnesia, but it seems like it’s more than that.’ He thought, looking at his one good arm. ‘I feel like I don’t belong here. Like the entire world is foreign to me. Maybe I’m just overreacting. I hope I’ll be able to figure things out once I recover.’

A nurse came in about an hour later and dropped off a tray of food and a manila folder. “There’s also a letter that someone sent you in there.” The nurse carefully stated.

Blackstar quickly thanked the nurse and opened the folder fervently. He almost whooped in joy when he discovered that he did in fact remember how to read. But his heart quickly sank when he saw what was written in it. It started out with some date, his name, and the name of the caseworker and the location of the office. The rest seemed to be a personal report with dates at the top of each entry.

August 16, 2003

Today I started working with, [Your name]. All I can think to say is how much I feel for this kid. I had been told about what happened to him and I still can’t believe how hard he’s had it: Losing his mom on his seventh birthday due to surgical complications, and the recent suicide of his father. When he was let into my office I noticed three things about him right away. One, he had welts and bruises all along his face. I was expecting that because I was told about his fight in the orphanage he was sent to. The second was that he was clutching onto a shoulder bag and violin case like he was afraid he was going to lose them. He didn’t say what was in the bag, but I get the sense that whatever it was, it was immensely important to him.

I pointed at the case and asked him if he was any good at the violin. All he said was, “Not really, my mom was the real virtuoso.” That was the first time I had heard a nine year old use the word virtuoso. I would’ve been impressed if it wasn’t for the third thing I noticed. It was the look in his eyes. There was almost no light in them. It was like he was dead inside, desperately clinging onto some desperate sliver of hope. I’ve dealt with a lot of kids that have been in tough situations before and I thought I had seen everything, but that look was a first for me. So far it’s obvious he has signs of Major Depressive Disorder, so I’ll recommend treatment to the family that’s taking custody and hope he improves. I really hope he does, he seems like he could have a bright future.

August 21, 2003

Today I checked in with, [Your Name] in his new foster home. He’s shown no signs of improvement and whenever I ask him questions his answers are short and rigid. The family talked to me and says that he spends all his time away from others. They say he’s either: studying, playing the violin, or out looking up at the stars. I was expecting him to be despondent, and only time will tell if he’ll ever be normal.

September 5, 2003

[Your Name] has been sent to another home. Apparently the other family gave up on him. I was shocked and appalled by this, but he didn’t seem to care. He told me, “What did you expect? These people brought me into their lives to fix me. When they figured out I didn’t want their help, they tossed me aside to get their warm, fuzzy feelings somewhere else.” I’m in utter disbelief at that statement. Does he really feel that people only support the foster care system to feel good about themselves?

I was eventually able to ask him why he didn’t want their help. He said, “Like I said, they didn’t genuinely care about me. And there’s another reason.” I asked him what it was and he asked me if I was married and had kids. I told him I was married but I didn’t have any children. He nodded his head with an odd expression for a moment and then said, “Your wife is the most important person in your life, right?” I just nodded my head and let him continue. “Imagine if you’re wife killed herself.” That sent a chill down my spine. It was more than the thought of having Karen kill herself. It was the way he said it. His voice was full of malice, bile, and remorse. I could even see tears trying to form at the corners of his eyes.

“Now imagine she wrote a suicide note where she said she did it to make your life better somehow, and that she was sorry that she couldn’t find some other way, and at the end of it all said she would always love you. How would you feel then?” I told him I didn’t know. He snorted slightly and said. “Neither do I. And that’s what I’m dealing with because of my father. Do I hate him for doing something like this? Do I blame him for doing something he thought was right? Or do I just miss him and wish he hadn’t done it? And what’s more, what if it does make my life better? How would I feel then? Until I can find a way to answer these questions, I won’t feel any better.”

Blackstar decided to close the folder. He felt a crushing weight forming in his chest. He couldn’t believe he had said things like that. Not to mention the fact that his family was dead. None of it felt quite right, like everything else that had happened to him since he had woken up, except for the studying and looking at the stars part. Something about that was oddly familiar. He sighed for a moment and started to eat the cold food he had been presented. His mind wandered as he ate the tasteless food. Eventually, he was able to convince himself to read more.

March 15, 2012

It’s been nearly nine years since I started working with, [Your Name]. And there’s been virtually no progress. He’s almost as unresponsive to people as when he first walked into my office all those years ago. He still hasn’t found a permanent home to adopt him, and he doesn’t have a lot of time left. In a few months he’s going to turn 18 and the government loses responsibility and he’ll have to take care of himself. He knows this, and told me that he’d manage somehow when it came down to it. I didn’t like the way he had said, “when” and not, “if”. But a part of me felt like it was right. He’s been moving from one home to another for nine years and every single one has given back custody. And every time things seem to improve, or a home seems to stick, something happens to ruin it.

People around here gave him the nickname, Murphy. He knows about it, but to most it would seem like it doesn’t faze him. But I’ve been working with him long enough to read beneath his deadpan. It does bother him, but only because the name seems to fit. I want to help [Your Name], I do, but I don’t know what I can do at this point.

A few years ago, Karen and I talked it over and we agreed that we could try to take him in. We invited him over to our house for dinner to talk it over with him. He shook his head and told me, “I can’t live here. You and I both know that when I’m put in a home with good people that something terrible happens to them. Stan, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend in my life right now. It tears me up when someone I barely know gets hurt just because they wanted to try and take me in. If I did the same thing to you or your family I don’t know what I’d do. For Christ’s sake Stan, you have a newborn son! So please, if not for your sake, or mine, then don’t take me in for his.”

Karen and I teared up at that. [Your Name] really is a good kid. No one seems to know that because he doesn’t talk to anyone much, but that’s just another defense mechanism of his. After that he asked if he could see Derek, our son. Derek cried a little at first, but [Your Name] started humming a few bars from some piece of music and calmed him right down. I couldn’t really tell, but I think I saw [Your Name] smile a little. [Your Name] still comes over to our house every now and then, and Derek absolutely loves him. [Your Name] teaches him little facts and plays with him. I think it helps him in some small way. Whenever [Your Name] leaves to go to another home Derek always asks when he’s going to come over again.

I look back on that night when I offered to take him in and I always wonder if I should ignore what he said and just adopt him anyway. I know it’ll be a waste of time. [Your Name] is stubborn and would only do something drastic to avoid seeing us get hurt. Right now, he’s in the care of some politician and has been admitted to a psychiatrist. I hope this one sticks. He deserves a good home and a happy life. But at this point I think it would take a miracle for something like that to happen, and I don’t know if I believe in those anymore.

Blackstar closed the manila folder and stared out the window into the night sky, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I hope you’re wrong about miracles, Stan because I need one more than ever now."

Flowers for Departure

Blackstar woke up from a dreamless sleep and tried to stretch, which resulted in a sharp pain in his broken arm. He looked down at the small table in front of him where his case folder lied. He opened it to get a look at the letter that he had heard someone had sent him. At first, he thought it would be Stan, his case worker, but if he had wanted to send him a message he could’ve written it in the case folder when he had sent it to the hospital.

Blackstar was desperate to learn whatever secrets he could from it and quickly opened the folder, but something odd happened. Two envelopes dropped out of it. The first had two addresses on it, the address of the hospital and the return address. But the other was just a blank envelope. There were no clear markings on it or even a postage stamp. He quickly thought it was a message from Stan and opened it. What he read only served to confuse him more.

If you want the answers to all of your questions all you have to do is call for my aid.

-G

‘G, what’s that supposed to mean?’ Blackstar thought. ‘Stan’s last name doesn’t start with g, so who is this G person? It’s probably just a prank someone’s pulling on me. As if it’s not bad enough I have amnesia, now I have someone who’s messing with me about my past. Thanks, G, whoever you are. I know I’m not calling on you for help anytime soon. Let’s check out this other letter while I’m at it.’

Just as Blackstar was about to open the envelope someone knocked at the door.

“You can come in, I’m awake.” He said, slightly agitated. The door opened and a nurse poked her head into the room.

“Hey there, I brought you your breakfast, and there’s someone that wants to see you.”

“It’s fine, they can come in.”

The nurse brought in the tray and placed it in front of Blackstar. A moment later a man that appeared to be in his early forties stepped into the room gripping onto a vase with a white flower in it. The man had short cropped brown hair, and dark brown eyes. His face was fairly average looking except he looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days.

“Hey, Stan, are ya happy to see me?” Blackstar said with a forced smile.

“You remember me? That’s great!” Stan exclaimed. “What else do you remember?”

“I didn’t actually remember you.” Blackstar replied. “I just guessed that you’d be here to see me based on what’s written in the case folder.”

“Oh,” Stan said, clearly disappointed. He quickly shook the look off and offered a weak smile. “At least it’s nice to see you’re as sharp as ever.”

“What about you?” Blackstar said with a returned weak smile. “I’m the one that was in a car accident and you look worse than I do.”

“I drove all night to get here. I didn’t get any sleep.” Stan said, his smile getting warmer.

“So what’s that you got there?” Blackstar asked, pointing at the vase.

“This?” Stan said. “This is something Karen grew in her garden. She told me to give it you so your room would be a little livelier.” With that he brought up the vase so that Blackstar could finally get a good look at its contents. The white flower was one Blackstar knew well. A pain shot through the side of his skull. He started to clutch at his temple as a memory brought itself to the surface.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving today.” A female voice said.

“I know. I got you something.” Blackstar said.

“You’re the one that’s leaving. I should be the one to give you something.” The voice complained.

“You know I always do things backwards. Just like I know this is your favorite flower, but I made it blue so you’d remember me until I get back.”

“As if I could forget my annoying best friend,” The voice laughed

“Annoying? Don’t you mean charming, handsome, or something along those lines?”

“I mean exactly what I said… but,” The voice said, almost sounding like it was on the verge of tears. “I really wish you didn’t have to go.”

“I know, but I have to go. Lily, this is my lifelong dream we’re talking about. I’ll be done with this school in a few years and I’ll be back for sure.”

“You promise?” Blackstar didn’t say anything for a while, but he got the sense that something important was happening. Then it was over and he finally said,

“Yeah, I promise.”

The memory ended and the pain in Blackstar’s head quickly became a dull throb. He looked up and saw the flower again with a tear in his eye. “Lily.” He whispered.

“Hmm,” Stan said, “Did you just say lily? I think Karen said this was a lily but I’m not sure.”

“Yeah, it’s a lily. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.” Blackstar said with a sigh.

“Are you okay? Do you need any painkillers?” The nurse asked.

“Stan, I need to say something.” Blackstar said, giving the nurse a dismissive wave.

“Sure, you can tell me anything.”

“I need you to adopt me like you offered all those years ago.”

“That’s great news! But you said…”

“I read what I said,” Blackstar interrupted. “But, it’s just like what you wrote down. If somep…” Blackstar stopped for a moment to correct himself. “If someone doesn’t adopt me in a few months than I’m going to have to be on my own, and I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready for something like that. I mean, look at me. I look like I’m about ready to fall apart. Not to mention I can’t remember how to do a lot of things for myself. So, as much as I’m scared about this and what could happen, I need someone to help me until I can figure everything out.”

“Don’t worry, [Your Name], I’m here for you.” Stan replied with a reassuring smile.

“Thanks, Stan. I’m sorry I had to ask this of you.”

“Don’t be. I’m going to call Karen and let her know that when you’re discharged that you’re coming to live with us. Derek will be so relieved to know that you’re alright. You just focus on getting better, try to relax and watch some TV. I’ll see you when you’re better, okay?”

“Yeah, you should go. You’ve got a family that’s waiting for you.”

“They’re you’re family now too, Son.” Stan said with a warm smile, and a tear rolling down his cheek.

It was about an hour after he ate his breakfast that the thought of his new memory started to nag at Blackstar. He looked at his case folder again to see if he could find anything that might mention this, Lily he had obviously known. He spent what felt like an eternity scanning over every word in the folder, but couldn’t find even a trace of her.

‘This doesn’t make sense!’ He screamed in his head. ‘What’s going on with me?! Is my mind playing tricks on me?’ He thought about this for a while but only started to shake his head. ‘No, it felt too real. That ‘s a real memory. It’s one of the few things that have felt real since I’ve woken up.'

‘Am I crazy? Everything that I’m being told is the truth about me feels like a lie, but the one broken shred I get from a flower seems real? I need answers, but I don’t think I’m going to get them here.’ Blackstar thought, finally calming down to a certain extent. ‘For now, I’ll relax and try to just focus on fixing my body. Fixing my mind can come later. I’ll just watch TV like Stan said.’

Blackstar found the remote, and eventually figured out how to turn on the TV. Then he started to aimlessly flip through the channels. Nothing seemed to stand out to him, until he found something odd, and stopped as a theme song started to play.

My little pony

Blackstar sat, entranced at what he was seeing. There were six colorful ponies starring in the show. He would probably call them cute, or maybe something more. He was unsure, so just shook the feeling off. What he didn’t shake off was the feeling that all of it was familiar. It felt crazy to him obviously, but it was there nonetheless. And when they spoke they said things like, “somepony” and other things. Blackstar’s mind started to race as soon as the credits started to roll.

‘What did I just watch, and why does it feel so familiar. Is it possible that… No! There’s no way. There is no possible way that I am from that show. That doesn’t even make any sense! I’m a person not a pony. So, why do I still feel like I am? What’s going on? Let’s review what I know. My name is supposed to be, [Your Name]. I’m almost positive that I died. I apparently have no real family, and have a broken memory of a girl named Lily, who was my best friend, or possibly something more. I just watched a show about talking ponies and have come up with the idea that I was one.’

Blackstar let out a deep sigh and looked at the flower that rested on the windowsill. “What am I going to do?” He asked. “Why am I so confused? Why can’t I find any answers that satisfy me? …And now I’m talking to a flower.” He let out another sigh. “I might as well check out that other letter now. It can’t confuse me anymore than I already I am.”

Blackstar gently picked up the letter and opened it.

Hey,

You probably don’t remember me, but I remember you. We only knew each other a short time but I thought you were a really nice guy once I got to know you. You seemed so lost and alone and I couldn’t help but want to help you. I’m sure this is sounding really crazy. We haven’t talked in almost three years. You were always being sent across the country so fast that by the time I learned your address you were already somewhere else.

I heard about your accident on the news, almost everyone has considering what you said about your foster father. I managed to get the address to the hospital you’re in and decided to write this letter. I just wrote this to ask if you’re okay. That probably sounds stupid seeing as you were run over, but I couldn’t think of anything better to say. I guess I could say I’m glad you’re still alive. Seeing your picture on the news reminded me that I’ve wanted to see you.

I hope you read this and write me back, if you ever need someone to talk to, that is. If you do write me back then send your new addresses along with the letters so we can keep in touch. If you don’t then I understand.

Sincerely,

Annabeth

Blackstar closed the letter and felt a little better. It helped him see that everything wasn’t as bad as he felt. There were plenty of people that wanted to help him, Stan and his family, and this Annabeth. Blackstar hit the call button to get the nurse and asked for a piece of paper and something to write with. She returned with what he wanted and started to write. Slowly but surely words started to form on the page.

Hey,

You’re right that I don’t remember you. Then again, I don’t remember much of anything. Funny thing that amnesia, taking your memories and leaving you confused over the most simple of questions. Thank you for your letter, you have no idea how much it helped me. I really could use someone to talk to. Everything the people here are telling me about myself sounds wrong. Is that how it is for everyone with amnesia?

I mean, my parents being dead and things that I supposedly said. It doesn’t feel like it really happened to me. There is some good news. I should only have to send you one letter with my address because I just got adopted. Thank you again for the letter, I hope I hear from you again soon. I’m supposed to be here for a month so I could really use some conversation, even if it’s in the form of letters.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

This Empty Home

“You never change, do you, Flarewing?” You asked walking right up to him. He turned around and looked at you with his impish grin.

“Why would I?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you seem to get yourself in trouble at an almost constant rate.” You said, rolling your eyes.

“Name one time I’ve gotten myself in trouble by complimenting a pretty mare.”

“I can name twelve. One being the last time we went out into Canterlot together. That one stallion nearly threw you through a window because you hit on his wife.”

“In my defense,” He said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know she was married. And I could’ve handled him.”

“But you didn’t,” You started. “I did. I managed to calm him down and saved your sorry flank.”

“Can you do anything but focus on the negative?”

“I could try to focus on your positive qualities,” You said with a wicked grin. “But it’s just a lot easier, and more fun to point out your flaws.”

“And to think I call you my best friend.”

“Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about you not too long ago.” You said with a short laugh. Flarewing joined in and soon the two of you bumped hooves with grins on your faces.

“It’s really good to see you, Blackstar. How have you been? And I just noticed that cool coat you’re wearing. Where’d you get it?”

“I got it at this place in town. A new friend of mine made it for me.”

“Look at you making friends already. Come on, we can catch up at your new place.”

“Actually, I don’t have a house of my own. I was just about to buy one when you showed up.”

“You don’t have a house, then where have you been staying?” Flarewing asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Oh, I got a job with this family and they’re letting me stay with them, for a little while at least.”

“What kind of family, ya gotta tell me about them.”

“Let’s see,” You said, scratching your chin with a hoof. “There’s: Granny Smith, she’s a little odd but in a good way, Big Mac’s really quiet, but I get the sense he’s dependable, Apple Bloom is a great little kid, but can be a little excitable, and Applejack, she’s pretty nice and she’s a hard worker.”

“How old is Applejack?”

“I think she might be a year or two older than me.” You replied, a confused look on your face.

“Well, that’s interesting.” Flarewing said with an odd expression.

“What’s so interesting… oh no. You are not using me to hit on Applejack. There is no way that’s going to happen.”

“That’s not what I had in mind at all.”

“Uh huh,” You replied, not convinced in the slightest. “Can you please not try anything like you normally do around some of my new friends?”

“I only promise to try.” Flarewing said with a chuckle.

“Anyway,” You said, trying to change the topic. “…how are things in Canterlot?”

“Things are pretty much how they always are, except Celestia and Luna seem bored.”

“Well, running an entire country probably takes up a lot of time.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. Now, you have to introduce me to some of these friends you mentioned.”

“Later, right now I have to get a house. I can’t live off of others forever.” You said, walking to find a place to buy a house with Flarewing at your side.

“You always say things like that.” Flarewing stated. “Back in Canterlot you would always try to deny things the princesses wanted to give you. What’s up with that?”

“I prefer to not feel like I owe somepony something.” You admitted. “If I can do something on my own then I will, and if I can’t then I try to do something in return for whoever helps me. It’s just the way I am, so don’t try to change me.”

“I wouldn’t bother trying. You’re way too stubborn for something like that.”

“I’m not the only stubborn one here.”

“I’m not stubborn, I’m persistent.”

“Uh-huh,” you said with a roll of your eyes. “Looks like I found something.” You said, stopping in front of a house with a, “For Sale” sign in the window. You and Flarewing found the address on the sign and about half an hour later you had the key to your new home. You used your new key and unlocked the front door. Both of you stepped inside and quickly noticed how empty it was.

“Nice place, all it needs is some chairs, and tables, and just about any other piece of furniture.”

“With as much as this place cost I don’t think I could afford a sandwich, let alone a chair.” You sighed.

“Don’t worry about that, let’s just take a look around and see what we got.”

“What’s with this ‘we’ business?”

“Duh, I’ll stay here when I come to visit.”

“If I do allow you to stay over when you visit then the first rule is: you’re not allowed to bring anypony over without getting an okay from me first. Otherwise I’m afraid of what you’d do here.”

“Are there any other rules I need to follow?”

“That all depends on your behavior.”

“Fine, Mom.”

“Just shut up and help me look through the place.” You said with a quick shake of the head.

The two of you started walking through the rooms of the house. The only things that seemed to be furnished were the kitchen and master bedroom. The rest were bare and had marks on the floor where the previous owners belongings had resided. The house had one feature that you enjoyed. The master bedroom had a door that led to a balcony with a view of a wide open field stretching for what seemed like an eternity. Flarewing walked up beside you as you were enjoying the view.

“Not a bad view. That field looks like a great place to just stretch my wings and fly.”

“That’s not really an option for me, so I’ll just enjoy the view.”

“Can’t you use your magic to fly around?” Flarewing asked.

“The magic field for levitation is dense, so it blocks out most of the feeling of the wind currents or anything else you’d experience from normal flight. Otherwise, you’d probably see a lot more unicorns doing it, but without the sensation of flying I don’t really see the point.”

“Yeah, if I couldn’t feel it I don’t know if I’d bother with it either.” Flarewing agreed.

“Well, I can look at this anytime let’s find my new friends and introduce you to them.” You said, leaving an empty home again.

“So do you know where to find these friends of yours?” Flarewing asked after a few minutes of walking down the streets.

“I think so.”

“Wow, you not knowing something, never thought I’d see the day.”

“There are plenty of things I don’t know. I’m not some sort of reference book!” You snapped back, with more intensity than you had intended.

“Relax; I was just messing with you.
”

“I’m sorry,” You said, slowly taking a deep breath. “I’ve had a lot of stuff on my mind lately and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“What is it? I might be able to help you.”

“I… I don’t know how to put it exactly. I’m happy and all, but a part of me feels like I shouldn’t be. I probably sound really stupid right now.”

“Not at all,” Flarewing replied. “You’re talking to the youngest sibling of a lieutenant in Celestia’s royal guard and the captain of the most famous performers in Equestria. I used to feel like I shouldn’t be happy with what I was doing with my life.”

“What helped you get over that?”

“I remembered that I’m not them and I should do what I want.”

“So, I should just live my life? Do you have any other advice to give?”

“All I can say is try not to stress yourself over things you can’t control. Other than that I’m not that good at giving advice.”

“Thanks, Flarewing, your advice helped, I think. I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.” You said with a weak smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve come to accept the fact that you have your own little quirks.”

“And by little quirks…”

“I mean you’re kinda nuts, but you’re still a good guy.”

“Yeah I am nuts, but I keep it to myself.”

“That’s part of the problem.” Flarewing said in a hushed tone.

“Hmm, did you say something?”

“Nope, come on let’s find those friends of yours.” You and Flarewing walked down the streets until you made it to the library. You knocked on the door and Spike answered it again.

“Hey Spike, is Twilight here?”

“Oh, hi Blackstar. No, Twilight said something about going to Sugarcube Corner.”

“Thanks, sorry to bother you.”

“Don’t worry about it. See you soon.”

“You too,” You replied, starting in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

“Blackstar, how many of your new friends are girls?” Flarewing asked after you two had walked for a while.

“Why are you asking?”

“It seems like at least two of your new friends are girls so I was curious.”

“I haven’t really thought about it but all of my new friends are girls.”

“Way to go!” Flarewing said with a sudden slap to your back. “I remember when you could barely say a word to a girl, and now you’re friends with a bunch of girls. What would you do without me?”

“Yeah, thanks for that.”

“Don’t get sappy on me, Blackstar; let’s go see those friends of yours.” The two of you made it to Sugarcube Corner in a few minutes. You noticed that the sign said it was closed. You thought it was odd and knocked on the door.

“Is it supposed to be closed this early?”

“I don’t think so. Pinkie said that this place doesn’t close until about eight at night.”

“Maybe it’s a mistake. You could try knocking.”

“Hey, Pinkie; are you in there? It’s me, Blackstar.” You said while knocking. A few moments later Pinkie opened the door with her normal grin.

“Hey Starry; what are you doing here?”

“Starry?” Flarewing said with a snort.

“My friend from Canterlot is visiting me and wanted to see my new friends, and when I went to the library, Spike said that Twilight would be here.”

“Yeah, she’s here and so is everypony else.”

“Why are they over here?”

“We… were having a little get-together.”

“What for?” You asked.

“It sounded like fun to me so I asked them to come over.”

“Can you ask them if they want to meet my friend?”

“Sure, that shouldn’t be too hard.”

After that, You, Flarewing, and the girls decided to have dinner together at a restaurant in town. Much to your surprise Flarewing didn’t attempt to hit on any of the girls and all of you had a great time. You told Flarewing about Rainbow Dash and her wanting to join the Wonder Bolts and he told her about an upcoming tryout. At the end of the night you all said good night and you and Applejack walked home together.

“That was a lot of fun.”

“I agree. I’m glad to see everypony got along with Flarewing.”

“It wasn’t that hard, you and him acted just like brothers.” Applejack said with a smile.

“Really?” You asked an odd expression on your face. “I’m an only child so I wouldn’t know.”

“Trust me, ya did.”

“He has helped me out a lot.” You replied, thinking back to earlier in the day.

“What about you? Have you helped him any?”

“Yeah, I have helped him out from time to time.”

“That’s good. Well, good night.” Applejack said with a yawn.

“Good night.” When you got back to your room you fell into your routine of pulling out your journal.

Hey me in the future. I’ve been writing this journal for a few weeks now without even realizing it. I was forced to write the first entry, and I wanted to test out my new magic with the second entry. But, the rest I wrote just because I could. I guess that psychiatrist was right. Writing down my experiences and feelings really does help me sort out what’s going on in my head. Speaking of experiences, today Flarewing stopped by and helped me pick out a house. It’s a nice place. At least, it will be once I buy some decorations and furniture. After that I’ll move out of the Apple family’s house and live on my own.

Huh, living on my own doesn’t have as much appeal as when I first came to Ponyville. It shouldn’t matter too much seeing as I’ll be hanging out with my new friends a lot, but a part of me feels like I should have something… or somepony as the case may be to come home to. What am I thinking about? Do I want a relationship with somepony? I don’t even know the first thing about asking a girl on a date. Let alone what to do when on one. Looks like I have more sorting out to do in my head than I thought. I’ll stop for now. I hope you know how to handle this better than I do.

Odd Plans

You stifled a yawn as you sat at the kitchen table of the Apple family home with a crudely drawn blueprint in front of you. It had taken you a week but you had finally thought of a plan to help Apple Bloom what her cutie mark was. The only problem was that you had needed to find a way to wake up before the Apples, and in all of your brilliance you had decided to stay up all night to make sure you were at the table before them.

‘Damn it why did I have to do this the same day as Rainbow Dash’s audition for the Wonderbolts. At least this will all be worth it when I see the look on Apple Bloom’s face when her cutie mark appears.’ At that point a yawn escaped your throat. ‘Ugh, why do I have to hate coffee so much? It would help so much right now.’

You heard footsteps coming from upstairs and pretended to be absorbed in your blueprint. A few moments later the Apple family came into the kitchen with their ever-present energy at the early hours which managed to annoy you slightly. You pushed the thought out of your head when Apple Bloom approached you.

“Whatcha doin’ up so early, Blackstar? Normally you’d still be asleep at this point.”

“Hey, Apple Bloom I didn’t see you there.” You lied. “I was just making a plan for what I wanted to do with the house I bought about a week ago. Would you like to take a look?”

“Sure,” Apple Bloom replied, pulling up a chair next to you. Applejack gave you an odd look which you noticed right away. You just gave her a slight grin that you hoped hinted at what you were trying to accomplish. “Blackstar, Ah don’t want to offend ya or nothin’, but this is a terrible plan.”

“What do you mean by that?” You asked innocently. ‘That’s it little fishy, take the bait.’

“Fer starters, the dimensions ya got here don’t seem to follow any kind a scale. Then ya got the drawing itself. Ah can barely tell what it is.”

“Why don’t you show me how to fix it?” ‘Now I just start reeling it in gently.’

“Alright,” Apple Bloom said, taking one of the pens you had on the table and placing it in her mouth. After a few minutes Apple Bloom held up the revised blueprint with a smile. “Ah think Ah made somethin’ you’ll really like.”

‘He shoots, he scores. Wait, I was using a fishing metaphor. Man, I am tired. Who cares though! I did it. Now all I have to do is sink the putt. I should really start talking before I switch to another metaphor. “Wow Apple Bloom, that’s awesome. That sure is one special talent you have there.”

“Ya really think so!” Apple Bloom beamed.

“I know so, take a look.” There was a small flash of light as Apple Bloom looked at her flank, where a mark of a ruler and hammer were crossed in an x shape with a blueprint in the background.

“Ah did it Ah earned mah cutie mark!”

“Good job, Apple Bloom.” Applejack said with a warm smile.

“Eeyup”

“Way to go there Dearie, Ah knew ya could do it.”

“You all can have your little moment. I on the other hand will go make breakfast.” You said, getting up from the table and heading into the kitchen.

“Ah’ll help ya,” Applejack replied. “Ya look like yer about to collapse.”

After you and Applejack got a pace settled in cooking she managed to break the silence in the room. “How’d ya do it?”

“How’d I do what?”

“Don’t play dumb. How’d ya get Apple Bloom to earn her cutie mark?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Apple Bloom earned that cutie mark herself.”

“Blackstar,”

“Fine, I figured the only way she’d earn her cutie mark is if somepony recognized and told her what a talent she had for design work. So I set up a blueprint I made myself so she’d want to fix it. Then, I’d tell her what a good job she did and, presto instant cutie mark.”

“Ah don’t know whether to be impressed or scared of ya.”

“It’s not that big a deal. I just wanted to help. Think of it as my way of saying thank you for all your family has done for me.”

“If you keep doing things like this, we’re gonna start owing you.”

After breakfast you decided to wash up and rest before you had to leave and meet up with Rainbow Dash.

Applejack sat back with an odd look on her face. She couldn’t help but think about what Blackstar had just done. She couldn’t help but think about the dream she had had a while ago. It was very different from what she had pictured but in the end he had still helped Apple Bloom earn her cutie mark.

“Alright ya lazy sack a bones we still got plenty a work to do so let’s get goin’.” Granny Smith said, pulling Applejack away from her thoughts. Just as she was about to leave Granny Smith grabbed her by the hoof to keep her in her seat. “Not so fast, you and Ah need to have a little talk.”

“What do ya want to talk about, Granny?”

“What do ya think? This is about a certain blue worker that you’ve taken a shine to."

Applejack blushed and looked away from Granny Smith for a moment. “You noticed.”

“Sugarcube, Ah’ve watched you grow up from a little foal to the strong mare you are today, of course Ah noticed. What Ah wanna know is why you haven’t done anything about it.”

“Its mah friends, most a them like ‘im too.”

“And you think that if you just tell ‘im outright how ya feel you’d be hurtin’ them.”

“Ah guess ya could say that.”

“Listen, Ah went through somethin’ like this too. Some of mah friends liked your grandpa, and Ah felt like Ah wouldn’t be able to get ‘im without makin’ them mad or upset. But in the end Ah decided to put it all on the line and just tell ‘im mah feelins.”

“And yer friends understood?” Applejack asked hopefully.

“No,” Granny Smith replied, causing Applejack to deflate a little. “At first, they almost hated me for it. Eventually they were able to understand but it took some time.”

“What was the point of that ya almost lost yer friends.”

“The point is that Ah might’ve lost somethin’ even more important if Ah had waited. You might not even be here right now if Ah hadn’t done it. Ah know you think that this is Blackstar’s choice to make, and it is. But he’s probably twice as thickheaded as yer grandpa was so he’ll need some convincin’ to make the decision. At first, yer friends may not wanna talk to ya for doin it, but if they’re really yer friends then they’ll understand eventually.”

“Ah’ll keep that in mind Granny.”

Rainbow Dash hovered with her thoughts racing with the million things that could go wrong. ‘Alright Dash, you can do this. You’ve been training your whole life for this moment. So what if you screw this up you may never have another opportunity like this again. And if you do screw up it won’t just be in front of all of Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolts. Oh no, you’d be screwing up in front the stallion you… really like.’

‘If that happens then how can I claim to be the coolest pony in Equestria? And if I’m not the coolest pony in Equestria, then what possible reason would Blackstar have for liking me? It doesn’t help that his friend did everything but read the Riot Act to us last week.’

Rainbow Dash thought back to that night and everything started to melt away as the moment came back to her.

“I’m impressed, Flarewing. It’s been almost an hour and you haven’t done anything ridiculous.” Blackstar said.

“Me, do something ridiculous? When have I ever done something like that?”

“Just about every second I’ve known you. I could start listing off examples but in the interest of your dignity and the fact that I have to use the restroom I will avoid doing so.” Blackstar said, getting out of his seat.

“Fine, I’ll just sit here and tell the girls some embarrassing stories about you until you come back.”

“Wow you and Blackstar get along really well.”

“Yeah, we do. And that’s why I have to ask you girls not to do anything to hurt the guy.”

“Excuse me?” Twilight said. “Why would we want to hurt Blackstar?”

“Look I’m not blind. I can tell that most of you like him. That’s by no means an insult he’s a really good pony. But be careful. You know the pony you just saw leave the room?” Everypony at the table nodded slowly feeling apprehensive. “Well, that wasn’t the same pony I met about a month ago. The fact that he can open up to you like that means he does see you girls as his friends. But there’s something on his mind that he doesn’t want to talk about.”

“You mean the thing he talked to with the princesses?”

“Probably, I don’t know much about that though. Even though we’re best friends he doesn’t tell me everything. Whatever it is you girls are planning, please be careful. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen the guy and I don’t want anything to happen to him.” The girls slowly nodded and Rainbow Dash slowly returned to reality.

‘I mean, what right does that guy have to say what we should and shouldn’t do?’ Rainbow Dash’s shoulders slumped. ‘Who am I kidding? He had every right to say that. He’s just really concerned for his friend. If I was in the same position I probably would’ve said a lot more. I wonder: what is it that Blackstar has on his mind? Is he sick or something? Or is he hiding something really bad about himself?’

Rainbow Dash started to shake her head vigorously. ‘What am I thinking, Blackstar, a bad pony? That’s crazier than Pinkie Pie on coffee, which I never should do again. I’m getting distracted. Whatever it is that’s on Blackstar’s mind, he’ll talk about when he’s good and ready. Right now I have to psych myself up for the audition. Alright I can see it all now.’

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and was suddenly in the middle of the Cloudsdale stadium. There I’ll be, the cheers of the crowd thundering down on me. Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash! They’ll cry. I’ll give them a modest wave to start things off and to keep them waiting. Then, I’ll shoot up and do my Filly Flash. After that I’d do some of my other moves like the Buccaneer Blaze, and to finish it all off I’ll do what nopony else can do: the Sonic Rainboom!

The crowd, Wonderbolts, and Blackstar would erupt into cheers. The Wonderbolts would name me the winner on the spot, and the crown would feel so sweet. After the crowd leaves it’ll just be me and Blackstar. He’ll give me that weird and somewhat cute grin he does and say to me,

“The Wonderbolts uniform is gonna look good on you.”

“I know, thanks for being here for me.”

“Are you kidding, I wouldn’t have missed this for anything!”

“Really, are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“Even if Applejack asked you to miss it to do… other things,”

“Are you suggesting that I like Applejack in a more physical way?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Let me put it to you this way. Applejack may be kinda cool, but there’s a certain mare that is really cool that I’m attracted to.”

“Do I know her?” And then Blackstar will lean in and kiss me, causing the world to disappear for a while. Then, he’ll break away with a grin on his face.

“I think you’ve met her before.”

Hand over Hoof

You felt yourself return to consciousness with a ray of light playing on your closed eyelids. It was a common enough occurrence but something about it felt… different. You were perplexed by this. You were comfortable enough with the Apple family. At first some of the things about the place had taken some getting used to. Parts of the farmhouse creaked and groaned as old buildings were prone to doing; it was difficult settling in with a new family, and the animals.

The animals on the farm were the biggest problem you had with the Apple family and the other farm you had been on. They all started making noise at the early hours of the morning which was not a good time for you. That’s when it hit you. The reason everything felt different. You couldn’t hear the animals outside. Fearing the worst you threw the covers off of your body and jumped down from the bed.

As you did, you nearly fell over in shock. You weren’t in your room at the Apple family farmhouse. Instead, you were in a room decorated with most of the items you carried in your shoulder bag. You wanted to make some sort of noise, but whatever it would have been turned into a gurgling squeak in the back of your throat. You slowly looked down and saw that you were wearing black sweatpants and a t-shirt. All connected to a human body.

You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. One minute you had been a pony and now you were human again. You slowly made your way toward a mirror in the corner of the room. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. You were human again. You looked just like you had right before you had died. You brought a hand up and drug it across your cheek. You could feel the smooth skin against your touch, and a smile broke out on your face.

‘I can’t believe it! I’m a human again! Wait, how am I human again? Didn’t God say I couldn’t come back to my world? Maybe this isn’t my world at all. Then where am I?’

All of a sudden the door opened and a little girl stepped in. She looked like she was about nine, had long black hair and had a face that seemed way too familiar to you. “Good you’re up, Mom sent me to come get you. We have to go to school.”

“Uh sure, no problem, I was just about to get dressed. So get out Kiddo, unless you want to see me without any clothes.”

“No thank you. And stop calling me kiddo. It’s bad enough, Mom does that.”

“My mom called me kiddo too.”

“What are you talking about? Mom still calls you that.”

“What did you just say?”

“Did get hit in the head or something? Our mom, you might know her. Black hair, blue eyes, and happens to look a lot like me.” The girl chided with a roll of the eyes.

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. This girl was claiming that your mother was alive. That couldn’t be true. You took another look around the room. You suddenly recognized it. It was the room from your old house, the one that you had lived in before your mother’s operation. Your eyes widened to an unbelievable level and you rushed out of your room, pushing the little girl claiming to be your sister out of your way. You made it down to the kitchen and standing in front of the stove was your mother.

She looked just like you remembered her. No, there were a few differences. This woman looked a little older. Other than that everything was the same, the long hair that draped behind her back, the icy blue eyes, and the most notable feature, the smile. It was the same smile that you had recalled from your dream. It was that soft grin that could melt any and all problems away. She finally noticed you standing there and turned that smile toward you.

“Hey Kiddo, glad to see you’re awake. Breakfast will be ready in a bit so get ready until it’s done.”

The world around you seemed to grind to a halt. You wanted to say something but whatever it was wouldn’t come out. Instead you could feel your breathing grow shallow and hoarse. When you finally were able to speak all you could manage was a quick, “No.”

“What did you say, Kiddo?”

“No, no, you can’t be real! This has to be a dream! It has to be a dream!” You screamed. The little girl and someone else walked into the room, both looking confused.

“What’s with all the noise in here?” Your father asked. It took a second for you to recognize him. He looked better than you had remembered, and the smell of alcohol no longer clung to him.

“I think something’s wrong with, [Your Name], he pushed me and he never does that.”

‘What’s going on here?’ You thought frantically.’ I never have dreams like this. Everything is just… perfect. My mother and father are alive, and now I have a sister. There’s no way this is real. I just have to wait this out and everything will go back to being the way it was. In the meantime I’ll just milk this for all it’s worth.’

“I’m sorry about that.” You said, collecting yourself. “I had this really disturbing dream and I just kinda lost it. But I’m feeling a lot better. I’m gonna go take a shower, sorry if I worried you guys.”

You stepped out of the kitchen and back up the stairs to the shower. You could feel your family’s eyes on you as you did, but you didn’t care. They were just specters in your mind. They would fade away soon enough. You stepped into the bathroom and quickly threw off your sleep clothes and took a closer look at your human body. After a quick inspection you saw that nothing was missing or added to help indicate that this was a dream.

You even had all five fingers, one of the oldest tricks to learn whether or not a person was dreaming. Another idea began to form as you stepped into the shower. You turned the water on and left it on the coldest setting. You instantly regretted this and started cursing through gritted teeth as you turned up the water temperature.

‘Ok what have I learned so far? One, I’m in a dream where my mother never died, my father and I never became depressed, and I deemed it necessary to add a sister to the mix. Two, my body has no physical abnormalities to indicate that this is a dream. Three, I am still able to respond to negative stimuli so I can’t use that to rule this out as a dream. So in summation I’ve learned jack shit.’

You let out a quick sigh and allowed yourself to relax as the warm water washed over you. Once you were done you dried off and threw on a set of clothing. It was a blue, long-sleeve button up shirt with a black undershirt and a pair of jeans. You let out a quick chuckle at your choice in clothing. It would be a small joke that only would get. You slung the backpack that you had found on the back of a chair when you noticed something in the corner of your eye. It was a violin case. You quickly decided to take it with you and clipped it to your backpack. You made your way back to the kitchen table and enjoyed a quick meal with your family. When it was done you got in your car and drove to school.

The drive had been fairly pleasant and had allowed you to get a good look of your hometown. You weren’t quite sure if it was how you remembered it. A lot had happened to cloud your memories. Not to mention you had seen so many towns that they had all seemed to run together in your mind at one point or another. But if this was all real then those memories had never really happened, and what you had thought was your life… not to mention your death had all been a lie.

‘What if this is real?’ You thought stopping to consider the possibility. ‘I mean my life had gotten pretty strange. I was a unicorn for god’s sake. Speaking of God, I talked to him. That seems way more likely to be a dream than all of this.’

You had almost convinced yourself that what you were experiencing right now was reality when a familiar noise rang out in your mind. You slammed on the brakes and stopped to catch your breath. You were forced to continue when the cars behind you started to honk their horns at you. ‘No, no matter how strange things had gotten there is one thing I can’t deny. It’s all real. That night, that horrible night was too fucking vivid to have been a dream. No matter what these people try to tell me. That was at least real.’

You finally managed to get to your high school and walked through the doors. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it. In fact most of the other students seemed to be ignoring you. It was a welcome change of pace from what you were used to from high school. Well, most of them ignored you. All of a sudden, a girl your age came towards you. She looked extremely angry and you didn’t know why. Her hair was fairly short and a sandy brown color. Her eyes were a dark brown that reminded you of fondue. And her face was shaped almost like a heart. By all accounts she was pretty, but you didn’t have time for that. You were too busy hoping that she was pissed at anyone but you.

“Where the hell were you this morning?” The girl asked you with a scowl. “You told me that you were gonna pick me up and give me a ride.”

“Sorry, I forgot. I had the weirdest morning after I woke up from this dream.” ‘Oh good,’ you thought. ‘A girl that’s pissed at me, at least she breaks up the Norman Rockwell painting that is my life at the moment.’

“Out of all the guys I could be dating in this school and I picked the one that’s so clueless that he’d forget his head if I wasn’t there to remind him he had it.”

“Well, if I’m that much of a burden to you then you can leave me any time it pleases you.” You said with a wide grin.

“Unfortunately, if I did that you wouldn’t last five minutes.” The girl said with a sigh as she slowly returned your grin.

The two of you started to walk off together and you started your day. All in all it was a fairly normal day. You had some teachers that were friendly and others that were so boring you were fighting to stay awake. You had actually started enjoying it and were slowly starting to get used to the dream. Your girlfriend whose name you had learned was Jane wanted to make plans but you told her that you couldn’t. It was a lie of course, you had no idea what your schedule was like in this dream but you wanted to spend time with your family tonight.

When you got home your mother was there to greet you and you gladly returned the smile she was offering you. Your father returned just in time for dinner. Your entire family sat down and it was hard not to enjoy yourself. Your mother was as vibrant as you remembered, your sister seemed a little bratty but was still a good kid, and it actually felt like your father was there, instead of the hollow shell that had killed himself. It didn’t help, every time you looked at him you could feel your teeth clench. You tried to ignore it, but you couldn’t help it. A part of you still blamed him for what happened to you. Even your mother’s smile couldn’t make that feeling go away.

After dinner you had decided to go out and look at the stars. You put on a coat and grabbed your violin case and walked out the door. A slight breeze brushed against your face as you walked out to the park where your mother had introduced you to star-gazing. You welcomed the feeling and had brought you a small form of comfort. A few minutes you had arrived at your destination without any interruptions.

You found a small, grassy hill and sat down. You were content and could feel the freedom that being under the stars always gave you. At one point you looked over at the case and opened it. Inside was the violin that your mother had given you for your seventh birthday. You forced yourself not to think about that day and bit your lip as a tear started to roll down your cheek. The violin looked like you had taken good care of it, like you had before it was broken. You continued to inspect it for a few moments, and then stood up to play. As the bow drug against the string the notes to one of Mozart’s symphonies began to fill the night air. When you were done you could hear the sound of light clapping and turned to see your mother standing there.

“Don’t stop on my account,” She told you with a smile. “You’re getting pretty good there, Kiddo. Mozart’s not easy to do, and you played it with barely any mistakes.”

“I know. I was too sharp in some places. I’m not as good at transitions as you.”

“The biggest part of solving a problem is, knowing that there is one. I can help you if you want.”

“Maybe some other time,” you said, putting the violin back in the case, “I’m done playing for tonight.”

“That’s alright, mind if I stay here and talk for a while.” Your mother replied, taking a seat next to you.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“What do you think, what was that dream of yours about?” Your mother asked fixing her eyes right onto yours.

“It wasn’t really about anything really.” You lied.

“[Your Name], Vanessa and your father might believe you if you told them that, but I know better. So tell me again, what was your dream about?”

“Do you remember my seventh birthday?” You asked, giving up.

“Barely, I was still coming down from the anesthetics after my surgery that it’s all a blur. Sorry about that by the way, that must have ruined the party.”

You ignored the joke and said, “Well, in my dream… you died on the operating table. Dad and I had to move out of the house because of the bills. A few years later, Dad died too. I was left alone and got sent to all these foster homes. And then… I… I just woke up.” You lied, not wanting to admit about dying and becoming a pony.

“And now that you’ve woken up you think that this is the dream.” Your mother stated.

“No, I…”

“Don’t say that you don’t think that. I raised you so I know how you think.”

“Well, I haven’t found any evidence to say that this isn’t a dream. I’ve done everything I can to disprove it but there’s no logical evidence to disprove any of this.”

“Honestly, “logical evidence”, should have named you Spock with talk like that. What was it your father liked to say about you?”

“That I got his outsides and your insides, why?”

“Because for the most part he’s right, you and I are alike in so many ways. But you and your father share one crucial trait. Both of you think you can solve your problems on your own. Listen, Kiddo, sometimes you need to let people in. If you don’t then sometimes things can fester and get worse."

“Then, what do you think I should do about this?”

“Just keep asking yourself which one feels real. And hopefully the rest will sort itself out.”

With that your mother left. A little while later you followed suit. As you lay in your bed you asked yourself which of your lives had felt real, and for some reason, you couldn’t decide. You woke up the next day surprised to see that you were still in your human form. You shrugged it off and continued through your routine. Days turned into weeks, and eventually you had celebrated your eighteenth birthday with your family.

Jane had been there too along with some of your friends from school. You were enjoying yourself in this life. The past that had tormented you for so long had become hardly more than a thought in the back of your head. Or so you had thought. Every now and then you almost swore that you had seen one of your friends from Equestria.

It had started out simply. One rainy day you thought that Rainbow Dash was out getting rid of the clouds. You stopped and realized that the clouds were just parting. Then, you thought you had seen Twilight in your school library, but the figure disappeared as soon as you had approached it. You had seen all of your friends at one point or another and tried to rationalize it in one way or another but you still felt nervous. Then the strangest thing happened one day when you woke up. You were fixing your hair in the mirror when the image suddenly changed. It was still your face… just not your human one.

“Hey there, looking good.” The image mocked.

“What are you doing here?” You asked. You didn’t know what to make of this. None of the other images of your friends had talked, not even Pinkie.

“Where else is a reflection supposed to be but the mirror?” It asked, as if you had asked what color the sky was.

“You’re not my reflection.” You hissed. “I’m a human, not a pony.”

“Keep telling yourself that, it won’t make it true.”

“You’re not real. All of that was a dream! Magic doesn’t exist.”

“Is it the magic you don’t want to believe? Or is it something else?”

“What are you saying?”

“You know full well what I’m saying.” The image growled. “You’re clinging to this little lie because it’s easy. But you know why this can’t be real. And it comes down to one word… bang.”

All of a sudden you heard the gunshot. You could feel your nostrils fill with the scent of blood to the point where it was settling on your lips. You wanted to be sick but you steadied yourself as you glared at the image. “That never happened,” you insisted. “My father is still alive.”

“Still in denial, huh. You always were stubborn, bang.”

The image kept repeating the word, every time it did a new wave of nausea crashed into you. The image of your father’s corpse became more corporeal every time the image in the mirror said the word. Finally, you could take no more of it. You cocked your arm back and sent a fist right through the mirror. A million shards cascaded down and the image was silent. You looked down at your arm and saw that it was covered in cuts and blood oozed from all of them.

All you could do was collapse to the ground clutching it, and weep. You couldn’t feel it at all.

What Ifs

You shot upright and found yourself back at your room in the Apple family house. You quickly looked down and saw your blue hooves with no scratches on them. You were almost tempted to shove them through another mirror but threw the idea away. Your ears perked up and you started to scan the room. For some reason you felt like you were being watched. You looked in the doorway but no one was there. You were completely alone in the room. The feeling lingered for a moment or so and left, without a trace.

You forced yourself out of the bed no matter how much you just wanted to stay and continue lying there. You felt that you couldn’t stomach the dream a second time. You cursed under your breath at your stupidity. Of course it had been a dream. You had told yourself that right from the start. But the dream had lingered and had sucked you into it. And why wouldn’t it? It was what you had always wanted. You let out a sigh and went to the bathroom and started to take a shower.

You tried to put the dream and the strange feeling you had that morning out of your head, but it was no good. Your mother’s smile and what you had told yourself in the mirror kept working their way back into your mind. You finished your shower and started to dry off. You accidentally took a look at the mirror, and instantly regretted it. Your face was at odds with the one from your dream. Instead of a smirk you looked defeated. You fought the urge to smash the mirror and forced yourself out of the bathroom. You used your magic to finish getting ready and walked downstairs. There was a plate of food and a note at your place at the table, which you picked up with your magic and started to read.

Hey Blackstar,

We figured since we had the day off we’d let you sleep I as late as you like. We left some food for you when you do decide to wake up. If it’s cold by the time you get it, just give it to Winona so it doesn’t go to waste. Make sure you enjoy your day off and try not to get into any trouble.

You let out a quick sigh and started eating the cold meal in front of you. You wished that it wasn’t your day off. Working in the kitchen with Granny Smith would help clear your head. Instead you had an entire day to do with as you pleased, and no idea what to do with it. You wandered out into Ponyville to find something that could occupy your time. You put on a fake smile as you scanned the streets. You had a lot of practice doing so in some of your foster homes. You had mastered it after your father’s death. You had made sure that it wasn’t so small to look forced and not large enough to look fake or creepy.

You could almost feel the eyes of others around you as you walked. A part of you nagged that they could tell what you were thinking. You shook it off but your paranoia returned. You silently hoped that none of them asked you what was wrong. You could tell that it wouldn’t take much to set you off, and word traveled fast in the small town. Your friends would find out and some of them were more stubborn than you, they wouldn’t stop until they knew what was wrong with you.

Eventually you were in the park. You figured that would be a good place to relax and took a seat on a bench. The weather was warm and mild, with the Pegasi clearing away the last of the clouds. A light breeze whistled through some of the trees while some foals started to fly kites. There were a lot of ponies around but you didn’t feel paranoid the way you had on the street. You actually felt a little peaceful. You had had finally started to relax when they showed up.

“Hey, Blackstar, whatcha up to?”

“Hi, Scootaloo, nothing much, just enjoying the day.” You had known this was coming the moment you had helped Apple Bloom get her cutie mark.

“We were just wondering….” Sweetie Belle said, trying to be slick.

“I know what you want, and I can’t help you.”

“Ya didn’t even let us finish, how do ya know what we were gonna ask?”

“What’s the name of your club?”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Scootaloo answered.

“And what are you always trying to do?”

“Earn our cutie marks.”

“Exactly, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt anyway and ask, what did you want to ask me?”

“Would you help us get our cutie marks like you did with Apple Bloom?”

“Girls, I’d love to help you get your cutie marks, but I have no idea where to start.” You said with a sigh. “I was only able to help Apple Bloom with hers is because I’ve been living with her family and got to know her better. And even then I managed to get a lucky break in finding her special talent. I’m sorry but the only thing I can do is offer you the same piece of advice that I offered Apple Bloom. Instead of trying all sorts of new things that you know nothing about, try looking at the things you already enjoy and see if that helps.”

“Come on,” Scootaloo said, agitated, “there’s gotta be something you can do. You found out Apple Bloom’s talent no problem, but now you can’t do anything? You just don’t want to help us.”

“I already told you, I’d love to help…”

“Then why don’t you?”

“I will, maybe my next day off I’ll spend the day with you and try to learn a little about you two. Who knows? That might help me learn enough about you to figure out your special talent.”

“Why can’t you help us now?” Sweetie Belle asked, with her eyes narrowed.

“Because I.., I” you stuttered. You couldn’t think of anything to say, the truth was obviously out but what could you say?

“Hi, Blackstar, I was looking for you,” called a familiar timid voice. You looked up and saw Fluttershy standing a few feet away with a basket on her back. “You said you were going to help me get some plants from the forest in case I need to make medicine for my animals.”

“Right, I was just to tell the girls that.” You lied as you silently thanked Fluttershy for getting you out of that uncomfortable situation. “Like I said girls, maybe my next day off I’ll try to help you with your cutie marks. Right now though, I have to help Fluttershy.”

You walked up to Fluttershy and mouthed “thank you” to her as the two of you walked out of the park. The two of you walked in silence as the park started to shrink in the distance. You welcomed the silence. It was a fairly common occurrence when you were left alone with Fluttershy. If she had something to say she would say it (or at least attempt to). Or she would answer if you wanted to talk. You noticed that you were walking toward the Everfree Forest and decided to finally break the silence.

“Uh, Fluttershy, aren’t you scared of the Everfree?”

“A little, but at this time in spring most of the animals are still sorting themselves out after winter. Besides I’m sure you can protect me with your magic.” She stated with a small smile.

You fought the urge to blush, turning your head so she couldn’t see your face. No one had ever counted on you like that before. It felt surprisingly good to be someone that one of your friends could run to. The feeling went away quickly, allowing you to focus on the forest itself. You had always wanted to look around the forest and see what made it renowned. You had heard stories about it and never fully understood all the hype. Aside from some of the monsters that were described to live in it, it sounded like an ordinary forest to you. You had quickly remembered where you were and realized that your idea of “normal” was now the societal weird.

The forest was dark. Even in the early afternoon it looked more like evening. The little bit of light that did come through the thick canopy did little to help the two of you see. It didn’t matter though; sticking to the trail was easy enough. At one point Fluttershy stopped which caused you to do the same.

“Blackstar, we have to leave the trail, could you use your horn to light our way? That is, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Sure thing,” You said with a small laugh.

It always amazed you how Fluttershy switched from comfortable with you to… well shy. Then again she was like that when the others were around too so you chalked it up to just being a part of her personality. Besides, you didn’t really mind it. In fact, you found it kind of endearing. Then, a light appeared in the distance. You walked into it and had your breath taken away. You were standing in the middle of a clearing with an incredible amount of colorful flowers and plants; on the edge was a small waterfall that fed a pond that cut through the clearing.

“What do you think?”

“This place is beautiful.” You said, still taking it all in.

“I know this is my favorite place in Ponyville.”

“I can see why. It’s hard to believe that a place like this is in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I bet the others like it too.”

“Actually, you’re the only one I’ve shown this to.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know. Normally I come here to be alone and think when I’m not sure what to do, or when I just want to get away from everything. I guess I thought that out of everypony you’d understand the need for a spot like this.”

“Yeah I do,” you said with a hint of a blush. “Except my private spot is any open space where I can look at the stars.”

“I’m glad you like it. Would you like to help me pick the herbs now?”

“Sure, but first I have to thank you for showing me this place.” You said, stepping toward Fluttershy.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I insist, besides, I’ll get something out of this too.” You pressed, a mischievous smile spreading on your lips.

“No, really, I’m just happy knowing that you like this place.”

“Trust me, this will be really cool.” You urged, pulling out a lump of coal from one of the side pockets on your shoulder bag and handing it to Fluttershy.

“You’re giving me coal?”

“It might be coal now, but in a few minutes that piece of coal is going to be a diamond.”

“How can coal become a diamond? Is there some sort of spell for that?”

“Yes and no. I could use your standard transformation spell to make the coal a diamond, but if I don’t pour energy into it every now and then it would change back eventually. Twilight and I have been playing around with some of Star Swirl the Bearded’s time spells, and we have a theory that if somepony were to simulate a natural process with one of them then the effects might become permanent.”

“So you want to use one of those spells on the coal to see if the spell will last?”

“Exactly, all I have to do is put the coal a few thousand feet into the ground to supply a significant amount of heat and pressure, and then I’ll use a spell to accelerate the flow of time around the coal until it becomes a diamond.”

“How much time would that normally take?”

“A thousand years or so; give or take.”

“Are you sure this isn’t dangerous?”

“It’s perfectly safe. And anyway, Twilight and I have a little contest going to see who can prove the theory first, with a bonus for style. If this works then I’ll win for sure.”

“Alright, just be careful.”

You gave Fluttershy a quick nod and enveloped the coal in a thick magic field. The energy sparked a few times and the coal vanished in flash of light. You could feel the strain in your connection to the coal due to its distance. You took a deep breath and steadied your focus for the next step. You used the time spell and could feel beads of sweat forming on your brow as the spell took out a large of energy. As the spell took its toll you struggled to maintain it. You thought you weren’t going to be able to finish when all of a sudden you felt the field around the coal shift. You took that as the signal to bring it back up and stopped the spell. You brought the coal back up and instead got a diamond that was about one fourth the size of the coal you had started with. You smiled triumphantly for a moment before you felt your legs go out from under you and passed out.

“Blackstar!” Fluttershy cried out, rushing to your side.

Fluttershy had finally brought her breathing back to normal as she sat beside the stream with Blackstar’s head on her lap. She gave a small sigh as she looked down at his unconscious face.

‘He really is too reckless sometimes. He knew how much that spell would drain him and did it anyway. If he had been more careful he wouldn’t have collapsed. Then again, he does look like he’s going to be okay, and the spell did work. He looks so peaceful right now. Almost like I could just… what am I thinking? I couldn’t just…k- kiss him. I’d be taking advantage of him. And I’d be breaking the promise I made to my friends. But could one kiss really be that bad? There’s nopony around, and it’ll just be a little one.’

Fluttershy took a deep breath and started to lower her head towards Blackstar’s. She could feel his soft breath hit her face and part of her mane brushed against his. Just as she was about to make lip contact Blackstar’s eyes fluttered open. Fluttershy shot her head up and felt a hot blush spread across her face.

“You’re awake. That’s nice; I was starting to worry about you.”

“Yeah, I sort of overdid it a little with those spells.” Blackstar said, getting up and rubbing the back of his head with a hoof.

“You really should be more careful, you could’ve been hurt.”

“Not very likely, there aren’t any cases of somepony getting hurt by draining their magical energy. Besides, even if it did hurt me, I could take it.”

“Blackstar, is something wrong?”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’ve been acting strangely today. I noticed it back at the park. Normally you would’ve tried to help the girls right away.”

“Fluttershy, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.” Blackstar insisted, with an edge laced into the words. Normally, that would be enough to make Fluttershy back down. But not this time, this was exactly why she had brought Blackstar out here. She steeled herself and shot him a sharp look.

“Don’t lie to me. I just want to help you, Blackstar. But I can’t do that if all you do is push me away. And I’m not the only one. You do it to the others too. You don’t have to explain yourself, I’m sure you have your reasons. But if something is bothering you,” Fluttershy said, feeling tears starting to roll down her cheeks, “then I want to do something about it. Please, just… just tell me what’s wrong.” Blackstar stared at Fluttershy, his eyes full of regret.

“I… I’m sorry if I seem so distant. I’m used to moving around a lot so I don’t have much experience when it comes to this sort of thing.”

“It’s okay, just try.” Fluttershy reassured.

“Fine,” Blackstar said, taking a deep breath, “it’s a little hard to describe but, has there ever been some… event in your life that just changed everything about you? And have you ever wondered what your life would’ve been like if it had never happened?”

“What do you mean? What sort of event are you talking about?”

“I don’t want to say.”

“I guess I understand. When Rainbow Dash and these colts from Flight School got in a race I was knocked off a cloud. I wasn’t a strong flier back then so I thought I was going to hit the ground. But a group of butterflies saved me and I earned my cutie mark right after that. I’m still scared of flying because of that, but if it hadn’t happened I might not have earned my cutie mark and moved to Ponyville.”

“Exactly, but with my event, I had always thought that it was the worst thing that could’ve happened; that my life would’ve been better off without it. But now, I’m not so sure.”

“What caused that to happen?”

“Coming to Ponyville; that event caused me to move around the way I did. I would’ve never met any of you if that event never took place. In a way, I owe who I am and everything I have to it.”

“Blackstar, I can understand why you’re so confused. There are times where I’ve wondered how my life would be if certain things had played out differently. But you shouldn’t drive yourself crazy over “what if” situations like this. You’re here now and there’s only one question that you need to ask yourself, am I happy?”

“Heh, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” Blackstar sighed, a slight smile forming on the corners of his mouth. “Thanks, Fluttershy, I’m glad that I have friends like you that care about me.”

“That’s good to hear.” Fluttershy said, wrapping her fore-hooves around him in a warm embrace. “And thank you for the diamond; I’m sure the spell will last.” Fluttershy finished, ending the hug and turning to walk home. All the while, a warm feeling spread through her body.

Magic and Music

It had been nearly a week since you and Fluttershy had talked in the Everfree. You were still wondering what had compelled you to say what you did. Living in Ponyville was changing you. Some changes were obvious; the fact that you were happy was one of them. But others were more subtle. You were starting to become more open with your friends. It was a strange feeling to you.

You had just finished your work for the day and decided to go study with Twilight. She was the only friend you had that you could talk to about magic. Sometimes she seemed to be more passionate about the subject than you. Sometimes you didn’t talk about magic and just focused on books or something. The two of you had a lot in common just like Celestia had said you would. You knocked on the door of the library and were surprised to find Twilight on the other side.

“Hey Twilight, where’s Spike?”

“He’s helping Rarity with a dress order.” Twilight replied, letting you in.

“Again? At this point it’s pretty obvious to everypony how he feels about her. Hay, I’ve even seem him wear an “I Heart Rarity” t-shirt. Why doesn’t Rarity just do something about it?”

“I’ve asked her the same thing before. She says it’s just a harmless first crush and she doesn’t want to hurt him. She thinks he’ll grow out of it soon enough.”

“I guess it’s none of my business.” You said with a shrug. “So, have you been studying anything interesting lately?”

“Not really, I was just about to find something in my books. If you’d like to help that would be fine.”

The two of you started to flip through several books. Every now and then one of you would suggest a spell or just talk a little. This continued for a while until you pulled out the two books that the princesses gave you.

“Do you have everything in that bag, or does it just seem like it?”

“In a way I kind of do,” you said, not taking your eyes away from the book you were looking through. “I got so used to moving around constantly that I just started carrying everything I own with me at all times.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“Nothing, I guess I thought I hit a nerve.”

“Nah, you girls already know that I used to move a lot. Talking about it isn’t that big of a deal anymore.”

“Well then, can I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead.”

“If you carry your stuff around because you moved around a lot, then why do you still do it?”

“I haven’t thought about that.” You said, closing your book. “I think it’s just force of habit at this point. If I did unpack it, it would feel weird.”

“I think I understand. We all have our odd habits.”

“What about you? Do you have any odd habits?”

“Will you promise not to laugh?”

“Twilight, I don’t think you have to worry about me laughing at whatever it is that you do.”

“Fine, sometimes… I take out some of my old toys from when I was a foal, fix them up and play with them a little.” You suddenly burst out laughing. Twilight started to give you a nasty look with a blush on her face.

“You promised not to laugh.” Was all she managed to say to you.

“No, I said I don’t think you have to worry. But I was wrong. I’m sorry Twilight, but you have to admit, that is a little funny.”

“Maybe to you, but to me it’s absolutely horrible.”

“Why? It’s not like I plan on telling anypony about that. If it makes you feel any better I carry around old toys from when I was a kid in my bag.”

“You do, why do you do that?”

“They’re just full of good memories. They remind me of how things were before… anyway I think I know a good spell. It’s supposed to be a long distance teleportation spell.”

“That sounds interesting, is it difficult?”

“From what I can tell it’s definitely doable, but it would take some finesse to pull off.”

“Hmm, are you sure you want to go through with it?”

“Twilight, when have I ever not wanted to try a new and difficult spell?”

“Just thought I’d ask,” she said with a chuckle. “Still, maybe I should try it out first.”

“Why do you get to go first?”

“I have more experience with the traditional teleportation spell, not to mention magic in general,” Twilight stated, making a fairly convincing argument. “Besides, you already got to do the time acceleration spell so it’s my turn to try the new spell.”

“Fine, do whatever you want.”

You gave the book to Twilight and her face took on a look of determination. She was silent for some time, her eyes scanning the pages. Then, she put the book down and readied herself for the spell. Her horn started to glow and a gust of wind picked up in the library, causing a few loose papers to sail around the library. The glow around Twilight’s horn intensified and sparks arced across the room. Then, the two of you were swallowed up in an orb of light and your entire body felt like it was being stretched. When the light died down you were standing at the front gate of Canterlot. You turned over to Twilight just in time to see her fall over. You caught her in your hooves before she hit the ground and gave her a quick smile.

“Maybe it was a good idea to let you go first. If I had fallen I don’t think you’d be able to catch me.”

“I could, if I used my magic to do it.”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that.”

“How could you forget about that? You have almost as much magical ability as me.”

“I’m used to doing things without magic back at the orchard. Umm, are you ok to stand up yet?” You asked slowly, starting to realize just how close Twilight was to you.

“Yes… I should be fine, thanks.” She said, pulling herself away from your hooves.

You looked around for a few moments and realized something. “Uhh Twilight, I think you forgot to bring the book along with us.”

“Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem. I can just use the spell again to take us back.”

“I don’t think so. Using it once almost made you collapse. And I don’t want to find out what happens if you do it twice.”

“You’d probably try it.” Twilight reasoned.

“That’s beside the point.”

“You’re going to get hurt if you push yourself like that.” She said, laughing.

“So will you if you try to emulate my stupidity. Anyway, it looks like we’re stuck here a while until you’re ready to use the spell again.”

“Fine, I don’t think I’m going to convince you to let me use the spell again. So, where do you want to go?”

“I can think of a good place.” You said, a wicked grin spreading on your face.

The two of you entered into the gates of Canterlot and the neat layout city spread out in front of you. You silently prayed that none of the ponies would bother you, and for the most part that seemed to be happening. The two of you entered the donut shop and Donut Joe smiled as you did.

“If it isn’t one my favorite customers, oh and Twilight you’re here too.”

“Hey Donut Joe, we just happened to be in town and we wanted to get some of your awesome donuts.”

“No problem. Did you want the usual?”

“That’d be great, thanks. Twilight did you want anything to drink?”

“A cup of coffee would be nice.”

Joe got the donuts and drinks and placed them on the counter. You paid for everything and were about to walk out when Joe called out to you, “Have a nice date you two.”

You blushed and looked at Twilight, her face a mirror of your own. “Uh, Joe, this isn’t a date,” you explained, “We’re just friends.”

“Is that right? Sorry, for the mistake."

You walked out of the shop and found a place to sit down. You pulled out one of the glazed donuts and let out a sigh.

“I can’t believe Joe thought we were on a date.” Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

“I guess it makes sense.” You said between bites. “We’re alone in a nice setting. Under these conditions anypony, even are friends might think this was a date.”

“You make a good point.” Twilight replied, looking around. “Huh, I spent almost all my life here and never noticed how pretty everything was.”

“You did spend most of your time studying,” you reasoned.

“Didn’t you do pretty much the same thing?”

“True, but Celestia forced me to go out and Flarewing forced me to socialize so I noticed the look of the city more.”

“What did you do before them?”

“I kind of just studied, read, and distracted myself the best that I could.”

“So you did exactly the same thing that I did.” Twilight chuckled.

“Yeah, but I had a better reason. I moved around so much that I never had a chance to make friends.”

“No, you have a better excuse. We both had the same problem, the only difference between us is that I stayed in one place and you moved a lot.”

“There are more differences between us than you know.”

“Like what?”

“Well… uh,”

“Blackstar? Is that you?” Called out a female voice, distracting you and Twilight.

You cocked your head to see where the noise had come. When you did, two familiar mares were standing there. You had met them once or twice during your time in Canterlot, and were students of the magic academy. One was a light blue with a matching mane and green eyes. The other was white with a red mane and dark red eyes. You looked back at Twilight who seemed somewhat upset for some reason. You didn’t have time to think about it too much because the mares walked up to your table.

“Wow, it is you Blackstar. What are you doing here? We heard that you moved somewhere else.” The blue mare said.

“Hey girls, it’s been a while hasn’t it? You’re right though, I did move.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Twilight and I were trying out this long distance teleportation spell, but it took more energy than we thought, so we’re stuck here for a while until we can use the spell again.”

“Wait, you’re Twilight, as in, Twilight Sparkle? We’ve heard so much about you!”

“Oh, thanks, I didn’t realize that I had fans.” Twilight said, taken aback.

“Of course you do. You’re one of the Elements of Harmony. You and the other elements have saved Equestria twice already. I can’t believe the two of you are dating!” She squealed. “A lot of the girls back at the academy have made stories pairing the two of you together. They’ll be so excited to hear about this.”

“Yeah, but the Flutterstar girls are gonna be disappointed.” The white mare stated.

“Umm, girls,” Twilight said, “Blackstar and I are just friends.”

“Oh my gosh; I’m so sorry. This looked like a date.”

“It’s fine, no harm done.” You said, rubbing the back of your head with a hoof.

“We heard that there’s this travelling performer set up in the park. We were gonna check it out” The white mare said. “If you two are interested, you could come with us.”

“That sounds pretty interesting.” Twilight said. “What do you think, Blackstar?”

“Sure, it’s been a long time since I watched a live performance.”

You started to follow the two mares for a while, doing your best not to stare at their unmentionable areas. You decided to focus on the city to help calm you down. The sun was just starting to go down and streetlights were turning on as you walked. You had seen the city at night before but it still impressed you. The streetlights cast shadows that gave the city a mysterious feeling. Contradicting the almost fairytale vibe that Canterlot normally had.

Eventually you made it to the park and saw a crowd waiting for something to happen. The park was fairly large with many exotic trees and plants. It even had a small lake. All of the ponies seemed to be crowding around a small caravan of some sorts.

“Something about this seems familiar.” Twilight said, stroking her chin. Before you had a chance to ask her what she meant the caravan opened up into a stage and a blue unicorn mare with a silver mane and the most ridiculous looking wizard outfit you had ever seen.

“Greetings citizens of Canterlot, I the Great and Powerful Trixie will amaze you with feats that no other pony could ever hope to accomplish.”

“Ugh, I knew that caravan looked familiar. I can’t believe I’d run into Trixie again.”

“Maybe she’s changed from the last time you saw her.” You offered.

“Did you hear that introduction? She’s as big of a showoff as ever.”

“Sometimes performing means selling yourself,” you explained. “She wouldn’t draw much of a crowd if she just said “I’m Trixie and I’m going to do some magic now.””

“Maybe you’re right. After what happened back in Ponyville there’s no way she could be the same.”

After some more fanfare Trixie called for a volunteer to join her on stage. A student from the magic academy walked on with an excited look on her face. Trixie asked her to perform the most amazing thing she could think of. The student lit up her horn and an impressive image in the sky above the park. It was a nice little spell but Trixie used her magic to ruin the image and laughed at her volunteer.

“Oh please, that’s nothing. Isn’t there anypony among you so called “gifted” unicorns that can do something that isn’t so pathetic?”

“Well, looks like she’s exactly the same.” Twilight growled.

“Excuse me for a moment Twilight, there’s something I have to do.” You replied, walking toward the stage.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go put on a show.” You said with a wink. Twilight’s face seemed to light up and nodded as you disappeared in a flash of light.

“Who are you?” Trixie asked trying to keep her composure as you suddenly appeared on stage.

“I’m nopony special. I just wanted to make a complaint about your show.” You said with the cheekiest of grins
.

“What do you want to complain about?” Trixie replied, getting agitated.

“Nothing much, I just wanted to say that the point of performing is to entertain an audience, not to humiliate or anger them.”

“Do you think you can do any better?”

“Trixie, it wouldn’t take much to outperform you.”

“Prove it then, try to do something, and I guarantee that I can do it better than you.”

“Alright, but I’d hate to outshine you at your own show.” You said pulling out your violin and tuning it a little. You started to play a melody on your violin and got ready to sing.

You’ll burn my flag

You’ll crash my car

You’ll kill my cat

You’ll break my balls

You’ll watch my cities fall

But not tonight

You’re the devil’s own

You’ll cheat and lie

And you won’t stop until

You’ve stole the glimmer from my eye

But not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you

I know you want to

But not with me

It’s all so clear to see

You can try to destroy me but not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you through

You can fight if you like some other time

You’ll find I’m out of reach

Your words can’t touch me I’m out tonight

My heart’s divided

Yes surrender would be nice

To just lay down

My sword and shield

By the flowers

But I know that you lie

In wait tonight

But I won’t let you

I know you want to

But not with me

It’s all so clear to see

You can try to destroy me but not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you through

You can fight if you like

You can scale any wall

You’ll discover that of anything at all

Your words can’t hurt me

Your words can’t touch me

Your words can’t hurt me

I’m out tonight

The crowd stomped their approval as you finished the song. You smiled back at them and felt the sweat trickling down your face. You looked back at Trixie and almost wanted to laugh in her face. Instead, you placed the violin in front of her feet.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“Didn’t you say you could beat me at anything?”

“Well… I… I can… but.”

“So pick up the violin and play it.”

“Fine,” Trixie huffed.

She picked up the violin and bow, and looked extremely uncomfortable as she did. She kept readjusting it but couldn’t seem to figure out where to place it. When she did settle on a position the noises that came out of the instrument went to a level beyond ear shattering. It was like something straight of Hell, only much worse. Eventually she did stop and everypony in the audience started laughing. Trixie looked mortified for a few moments, but that was soon replaced with rage.

“You know what. Buck this stupid violin!”

And with that Trixie threw your violin to the ground with a look of sadistic pleasure etched on her face.

On the Road Again

Time seemed to slow down as your violin hit the ground. For a split second you thought that you could save it. That idea was immediately crushed when Trixie stomped on the instrument. You could feel your composure waver as a wave of anger coursed through your body. Trixie gave you a triumphant look causing the anger in you to rise. She looked just like the foster parent that had broken your mother’s violin all those years ago. You had given them the reaction they were looking for back then, but not this time. But that didn’t mean you were just going to take it either.

“Uh Trixie, that’s not how you play a violin.” You said, forcing yourself to laugh.

“Are… aren’t you upset?”

“Why would I be? I can just do this.” You said picking up the pieces of the violin and using the repair spell on them. The violin was back to normal in a few seconds and Trixie looked annoyed.

“So what, do you think you’re better than the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Personally, I don’t care about being better than anypony,” You sighed. “But if you really want to see if you’re better than me, then I’d be more than happy to oblige.” Your horn started to glow as you concentrated on a spell. Once the spell was ready you shot a beam square into Trixie’s chest. To everyone in the crowd it looked like you had made Trixie disappear.

“What the hay did you do to me?!” Trixie cried out in a tiny voice.

“Since you seem to enjoy making others feel small. I figured I’d let you know what it was like.”

“Okay you’ve shown me, now turn the Great and Powerful Trixie back.”

“I don’t think so. If you’re so much better than me, then you can reverse the spell yourself.” You said, walking off of the stage.

“Wait you can’t do this! Please, change me back!”

“Have fun, Trixie. Don’t let anypony step on you.”

You walked away from the crowd. If any of them were trying to say something to you then you couldn’t hear it. You needed to be alone. You kept a fake smile on your face as you walked down the empty streets. You found an alleyway and ducked into it. Once you were in you let yourself go.

“That fucking bitch!” You screamed, hitting your hooves against the wall. “You should’ve known better! You should’ve never let her fucking touch the violin. This is just like when you were eleven! You never fucking learn!”

“Blackstar, is that you?” Twilight asked, straining her eyes to look for you.

“Yeah, I’m here. “

“Are you o… oh my gosh, your hooves are bloody.” Twilight gasped, taking your hooves in her own.

“I’ll be fine. It’s not that big of a deal.” You said, pulling away from Twilight.

“I can fix them up for you if you’d like.”

“I can do it myself.” You said. Your horn started to flicker and eventually the light died out. “Whatever, I don’t need to fix them.”

“Can I say something real quick?” Twilight sighed.

“What is it Twilight?”

“You really impressed me up on the stage there.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll be able to play like that again for a while.”

“You didn’t impress me with your song. It was how you dealt with Trixie that really impressed me.”

“Really, there wasn’t anything special about what I did.”

“Yes there was. If Trixie had done something like that to me I would’ve lost it. But you managed to smile and joke about it. And you could’ve done a lot more to her than you did.”

“I managed to learn how to control myself over the years. I’m used to situations like this.”

“Yeah, something about when you were eleven?”

“You heard that?”

“I think half of Canterlot heard that.”

“Well, yes, something like this did happen when I was eleven.”

“Would it help if you talked about it?”

“Fine, I’ve never talked about it, but you’ve already seen me break down this much. I can’t see how much worse I could get. My mom gave me her violin for my seventh birthday. I’d always watch her play it, but it was mine then. I practiced every chance I could get. I took it with me everywhere. Even after I started to move I played every day.”

“What happened next?”

“I was eleven. I ran into somepony that you could call a bully. He tried to hurt me with words, when that didn’t work he tried hitting me. That didn’t give him the response he was looking for either. That’s when he tried something different. He took my violin from me, and stomped on it until it was nothing but splinters. That did it. I broke down, worse than right now. I had put my heart and soul into learning how to play. And just like that my mother’s violin was gone. I wanted to make that pony pay so badly; but I couldn’t. I don’t know if it was my sense of decency or because I was scared of him, but I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him the way he hurt me.”

“Blackstar, I’m so sorry to hear about that. If you want I could help you get a new violin.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll get my own violin, eventually. In the meantime, I’ll keep using the repair spell on this one until it stops working on it. You should get back to Ponyville about now.”

“Alright, let’s get going.”

“No, you go by yourself. I feel like being alone for a while.”

“Blackstar, it would take you at least a day to make it to Ponyville from here without the spell.”

“I know that, I kind of did it before.” You snapped back.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I just want to be alone right now. Is that really so hard to understand?”

“Fine, if you want to be alone then I’ll respect that. I’m just trying to help.” Twilight said, aggravated, and she teleported away shortly after.

“Way to go dumbass. You just pissed off one of your friends. Huh, oh well, can’t do anything about it now.”

You pulled a roll of bandages and some antiseptic out of your shoulder-bag and used them to quickly fix your fore hooves. You slowly made your way out of Canterlot wincing every now and then from pain. You tried to vent your anger in any way you could, but nothing helped. You kept thinking back to that day when you were eleven. You stopped to rest for a little while when the sun started to come up.

Twilight appeared in the library with a scowl on her face. She marched upstairs, causing Spike to lift his head up from his pillow.

“Oh hey, Twilight where have you been?”

“I was out with Blackstar.”

“What happened? You seem upset.”

“Blackstar was finally opening up a little, but pushed me away right after.”

“Could you elaborate a bit more?”

All of a sudden there was a knock at the door and Twilight went downstairs to answer it. Standing in the doorway was Applejack with a concerned look on her face.

“Applejack, what are you doing here?”

“It’s gettin’ pretty late an’ Blackstar ain’t back yet. Ah was a little worried so Ah figured Ah’d check to see if you knew where he was.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, where is he? Is he in the library?”

“No, he isn’t. Listen, this is gonna be a little tough to explain.” Twilight said.

Applejack made her way inside. Spike came down the stairs to see what was going on.

“Alright Twilight, where’s Blackstar?”

“Well, we tried this new teleportation spell that allows you to travel farther than the standard kind. We ended up in Canterlot. Everything was fine until these other mares showed. They talked to us for a while and invited us to this show they had heard about. It turns out it was Trixie of all things. Blackstar went up and she said she could do anything better than him.”

“So what did Blackstar do? Did he create a huge fireball? Or did he turn himself into a giant monster?” Spike asked, excited.

“No he played his violin.”

“Of course he did.”

“Well, it made sense. Trixie couldn’t play the violin at all. And she didn’t take kindly to it. She broke Blackstar’s violin. I was almost sure that he was going to hurt Trixie right there. But he didn’t. He laughed in her face about it. Then Trixie egged him on a bit more about who was better and Blackstar used a spell that shrank her.”

“That’s awesome! He turned Trixie into… Pixie!”

“Spike, this isn’t the time for that sort of thing.”

“Sorry, I was just having some fun. What happened after that?”

“Blackstar walked off the stage and then he started to flip out. I found him and tried to cheer him up but he said that he wanted to be alone. And then I left.” Twilight admitted sheepishly.

“Ya left him alone in Canterlot? How could you do that?”

“Well, I was frustrated. All of us have known Blackstar for nearly two months and we still know next to nothing about him. And the one time I offer to help him and learn a little bit about his past he pushes me away.”

“And that’s yer reason because Blackstar was being himself.”

“Yeah, I understand, I should’ve brought him back.” Twilight sighed, lowering her head.

“Look Twilight. Ah can’t get too mad at ya. Blackstar is pretty stubborn. Even if ya did try t’force him to come back he probably would’ve done somethin’ crazy to make sure he was left alone.”

“You’re probably right. Anyway, Blackstar will probably be back sometime tomorrow, you should head back to the farm to make sure he’s okay.”

“Ah will. Sorry fer intrudin’.” Applejack said turning to walk out the door.

You managed to get back to Sweet Apple Acres by mid-afternoon feeling completely drained. You looked down at your hooves and realized the bandages were still wrapped around them. You quickly stuffed them in a side pocket so you could throw them away later. When you did make it back to the farmhouse Applejack was outside waiting for you.

“Have you been standing there all day for me?” You said with a forced smile.

“Ah have. Ah was worried about ya.”

“Why? I was only gone for a day. Besides, I’ve walked back from Canterlot before.”

“Ah wasn’t worried about that. Are ya feelin’ any better?”

“A little, some time to vent on my own helped.”

“Glad t’hear it ‘cause first thing tomorrow mornin’ yer gonna buck apples until Ah tell ya t’stop.”

“Fine, I’ll do it. Do you have any other punishments in mind for me?”

“Not right now, but give me some time and Ah might think of somethin’.”

“Ok, you can tell me all about it, after I get some sleep.” You walked past Applejack and went into your room. You pulled out your journal and began to write.

Hey me in the future. I’ve been having some bad days recently. Everything started out fine when I was hanging out with Twilight. We tried out a long rang range teleportation spell and ended up stuck in Canterlot for a while which wasn’t that bad. It gave me an excuse to go to Donut Joe’s shop again. After that, Twilight and I just talked for a while.

Then two mares came along and saved me from talking about my past. They ended up taking us to a show that starred a showboating showpony called Trixie. I got on stage to try and knock her down a peg. It didn’t turn out so great. She broke my violin right in front of me. I was tempted to choke her right then and there, but I controlled myself. Instead, I just laughed it off and shrank her when she kept pushing me. I almost wish somepony stepped on her. Once I was away from the crowd I kind of, sort of freaked out.

Twilight found me and I told her about the first time I lost my violin. She even offered to help buy me a new one. It’s just like what happened with Stan seven years ago. I can’t believe I haven’t thought about him in all this time. He was the only person I could even begin to call a friend back in my old world.

I wonder how he took the news of my death. Is Derek okay? Ugh, how could I tell God that I had nothing back there? I’m not sure if you remember this or not but, Stan also offered to adopt me once. That was right after Derek was born. I think he’s six now. What would’ve happened if Stan had adopted me? Something bad, probably. That always was the story with my old life. In the end it was probably for the best I died.

Any who, Twilight and I had a little fight and I walked back to Ponyville alone. When I got back Applejack said I’d have to make up for the lost work day. I’m starting to have a habit of pissing off all the girls in my life. That’s all for now, I hope things are better between you and the girls when you look at this again.

Parallel Becomes Perpindicular

Blackstar shifted uncomfortably in his hospital bed as he tried to get some sleep. It had been a little over a month since he had woken up without his memory, and was slowly adjusting to what was supposed to be his life. Eventually he gave up trying to sleep and sat up and thought. Something he was prone to doing a lot. He turned on the light above his bed and looked at the most recent letter he had received from Annabeth.

Dear, [Your Name]

It’s great to hear that you’re going to be let out of the hospital soon. If it’s alright with you and your new family, I might be able to come down to visit you. I’d love to be able to talk to you in person instead of through these letters. Anyway, get well soon. And I hope you and your new family get along.

Sincerely, Annabeth

Blackstar hadn’t sent his reply yet. He was still waiting to ask for Stan’s permission. He let his head slump back into the pillow as he stared at the white lily he had received from Stan and his wife.

‘Should I ask Stan to let Annabeth to come down? It’d be nice to have a friend to talk to for a while. And I might be able to get a little bit of my memory back. Technically I have my entire life in front of me. So why does it all feel so strange to me? That car really messed me up. I almost thought I was from a cartoon for crying out loud! Calm down. Nothing will get fixed if I keep thinking about this so negatively. Stan knows me better than anyone. He can help me through this.’

Eventually sleep gripped Blackstar and he drifted off into unconsciousness. He didn’t dream. He never did at the hospital. When it was time for breakfast the nurse came in like she always did and woke Blackstar up.

“Good morning, [Your name]. I have some good news for you. Your new guardian talked to the doctor and you’re going to be discharged as soon as he comes and gets you.”

“That’s great. So, what’s on the menu today?”

“Eggs, bacon, and oatmeal”

“Again? Come on, how many times are they gonna feed me oatmeal?”

“The fiber is good for you. But, if it makes you feel any better I snuck a couple packets of honey and an extra juice for you.”

“Thanks Tabby, you’re a big help.”

“Consider it a going away present for my favorite patient.”

Blackstar grimaced at what the nurse said. His mind immediately went to the memory that had returned when he had first seen the lily Stan had brought him.

“[Your name], are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had something on my mind, that’s all.”

“Alright, if you need me just hit the call button and I’ll be here as soon as I can.”

Blackstar nodded and watched as the nurse left the room. He tried to distract himself from thinking about Lily with his breakfast. It didn’t work. He sighed and pushed the food away and hit the call button. The nurse came in a few minutes and helped him into the wheelchair that sat in a corner of the room.

“[Your Name], are you okay? You hardly ate anything.”

“I’m fine, it’s just, this whole amnesia thing is throwing me for a loop.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone keeps telling me what my life was like, but none of it feels real. The only thing that feels real to me is this scrap of a memory that I can’t find any evidence of ever happening. Is there something wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Everyone deals with amnesia differently. I know you’re confused right now but your brain is trying its best to make this as easy on you as it can. Don’t worry, eventually everything will make sense.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. I am a trained professional after all. So what’s this memory that feels real to you?”

Blackstar took a deep breath and told the nurse everything about the memory including the moment he wasn’t sure what had happened.

“Sounds like you had a little romantic moment there.” The nurse said, laughing slightly.

“You really think so? But, this memory doesn’t fit in with anything my file says. What does this mean?”

“I’m not sure exactly. There could be some sort of kernel of truth in your false memory. You should ask your new guardian about this. He has a better understanding of Psychological illnesses than I do.”

Blackstar thanked the nurse for her help and asked her to take him into the courtyard. She complied and left him alone to collect his thoughts. Blackstar tried to relax but the whole thing still bothered him. He wanted to know why his mind would give him a fake memory. What purpose could that serve? Ultimately, Blackstar gave up on figuring it out and returned to his room.

The next day, Stan came and released Blackstar from the hospital. He helped Blackstar into the small car and put the crutches that the hospital provided in the trunk. Blackstar held the lily in his lap and spent most of the ride in silence. Stan didn’t look nearly as disheveled as the last time he had seen him, probably because he was excited to bring home a new addition to his family. Stan decided to break the silence of the car ride and struck up a conversation.

“You look like you’re doing a lot better.”

“Yeah, my arm’s healed up, and they took the stitches out of my head. The only things that need to heal, is some of the internal damage in my torso and one of my legs.”

“Good to hear. I’m glad you’re healing up. How’s the amnesia by the way? Can you remember anything yet?”

“No, all I have is this false memory about this girl.”

“Was her name, Annabeth? I remember you telling me about her a few years ago. I was really excited back then. The family you were with seemed like it was going to work, and you were making friends. It was the most progress I’d ever seen from you.”

“No, the girl’s name was Lily, but since you mentioned Annabeth. She and I have been exchanging letters while I was in the hospital. She wanted to know if she could visit.”

“I don’t see any problem with that. She could help you retrieve some of your memory.”

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to tell her that you said it was okay as soon as we get to your house.”

“It’s your house now too. I know it’s hard to think of me as your new parent, but I want you to know that I really do care about you. Karen and I are going to do everything we can to get take care of you. Once the school year starts up again we’ll put you back into high school. And we’ll help you with your amnesia.”

Blackstar smiled weakly and thanked Stan for everything he had done. Stan stopped the car and had the two of them stay at a hotel for the night. They woke up and set off again in the early morning and made it back to Stan’s home by the early afternoon.

Stan’s son, Derek rushed up to the two of them and hugged them tightly. Blackstar said hello and did his best to return the gesture. Derek looked up at Blackstar with confusion in his eyes and asked why he didn’t call him “Kiddo”. Stan and Karen did their best to explain about Blackstar’s amnesia and Derek finally nodded slowly. Stan helped Blackstar into his house and told him to settle in.

Life at Stan’s seemed to fall into a routine. Blackstar would: wake up, get help to start the day, play with Derek or read him a story, and eventually Stan would try to restore Blackstar’s memory. The gestures started out small with casual conversations. Then he pulled up photos Blackstar’s dead parents to see if that sparked anything.

Even as Stan was starting to get desperate, Karen insisted it was important for the family to maintain spiritual connections. So on Sunday Stan took Blackstar and his family to church and Blackstar took a seat toward the back. He listened intently to the preacher and was a little interested in what he was saying. He found it surprisingly easy to get behind the idea of a deity that controlled the world. The preacher went on about God’s love, and how through prayer one could find the answers that they needed.

Blackstar left the church feeling somewhat relieved of some of the stress that he had built up and was surprisingly calm. That changed once he returned to Stan’s home. Blackstar heard Derek cry out suddenly and point at something in the yard. At first Blackstar didn’t see anything, but once he strained his eyes he was finally able to make out what was scaring Derek.

It was a snake. It was a dull black in color and was at least four feet long. It was coiled up near the side of Stan’s house, and barely acknowledged their presence. Blackstar could feel a stabbing pain start to form in his head. He recalled the incident with the lily and felt himself slip into another memory.

It was dark out, a few street lights glowed dully in the distance, but other than that there was no light. Blackstar crept through what looked and felt like a miniature jungle, but he knew it was a garden. He also knew he could make a little light, to help him see, but avoided it so he wouldn’t get caught sneaking around.

Blackstar noticed that there was something different about how he stood. And for some reason it seemed much more comfortable. He thought he heard somepony approaching and ducked into the underbrush. A guard wearing the purple of Luna’s night guard walked past him, never taking notice of him. As soon as the pony was gone Blackstar chuckled a little and was glad for his natural dark coloration.

Blackstar continued through the foliage, deciding to take the direct route to his destination. Blackstar could see the outline of the castle looming in front of him, beckoning him to accomplish his goal. Blackstar picked up the pace, knowing the princesses would appreciate his tenacity and listen to him.

‘How could those ponies reject me to their academy? So what if I’m older than most of the students that start out there? It doesn’t matter. I’m going to become even better than Twilight Sparkle! And she became great by studying with Celestia. If I can just get her to listen to me, I know she’ll want to teach me.’

Blackstar’s train of thought was cut short by a sudden pain in his leg. He looked down and saw a snake had sunk it’s fangs into him. He started to panic and tried to kick the snake off. Blackstar eventually succeeded and watched as the snake slithered away. He took a deep breath to help calm down, but suddenly his limbs felt heavy.

Blackstar tried to think of a solution, but a thick fog clouded his mind. In a matter of moments Blackstar collapsed and he knew that this was the end. He took one last longing look at the castle in the distance and tried to release his primal rage. If any noise did come out it was reduced to a squeak. As his vision started to darken, and darken. He thought back to the girl he had left behind and realized that he had made a huge mistake. And just like that, he was dead.

Blackstar shot upright, his eyes frantically scanning his surroundings. He saw that he was in Stan’s living room. Stan and his family were crowded around Blackstar and stared at him with concern etched into their features.

“Are you okay?” Stan asked. “You just collapsed back there.”

“I’m fine,” Blackstar lied, “I just felt faint was all. How long was I out for?”

“A few hours,” Karen answered. “If you’re hungry I can make you some dinner.”

“I’m not hungry right now, I’m just gonna go to bed, if that’s all right with you guys.”

Stan helped Blackstar to his room and told him to call him if he needed anything. Blackstar’s mind instantly started to be flooded with questions as soon as Stan closed the door.

“What the hell was that? Was that another false memory? If it was, then why did I die in it? ... And those names and creatures. They were from that show about ponies I’ve been watching. What’s wrong with me? Why is my head doing this to me?”

Blackstar took a deep breath and remembered what the preacher had said in his sermon. Blackstar closed his eyes and started to pray.

“God, if you really are out there, and love all of your creatures, then please help me. Nothing makes any sense. Everything people around me tell me seems wrong and my mind keeps giving me information that feels right, but is so hard to believe. I need to know the truth. Please, that’s all I want.”

Blackstar opened his eyes and didn’t feel any different. He sighed in defeat and crawled into bed. At some point during the night he felt his body shift a little. When he opened his eyes all he could see was an expanse of nothingness. He looked around and saw a strange figure sprawled out nearby. Blackstar’s jaw nearly dropped when he saw what it was. It was a pony. It was just like something from the show he had been watching. Only for some reason this one seemed strangely familiar.

You shifted uncomfortably in your sleep. It was one of the rare nights where you didn’t dream about anything. But, something seemed off. A groan escaped from your throat, and you slowly woke up. You blinked a few times and recognized where you were. You stood up and wondered what God wanted from you this time. You looked over, shocked to see you’re old body staring at you.

“Who the hell are you?” Your body asked.

“You don’t know who I am. Do you have amnesia?”

“How do you know about my amnesia?” Your body cried out.

“Oh crap, this is gonna be tough.” You mumbled, scratching your chin. “The best way I can put this is that we’re alternate versions of each other from other universes, and because of God we’ve switched bodies.”

“How did that happen?”

“Well, I got the offer because I had died. What about you?”

“I didn’t get an offer, and. Oh God, I really did die?!”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be the one to explain all this. Hey God, get your lazy incorporeal ass over here! You have a lot of explaining to do.” You called out.

“Wait, you can’t talk to God like that. You don’t want to bring down his wrath.”

“Trust me, he’s earned it.”

“I am here, and I will answer all of your questions.”

“Who am I, or what am I?”

“You were once a pony named Blackstar. However, you and he died at almost the exact same moment, and so I switched your bodies around to give the two of you life again.”

“Why didn’t you just put us back in our original bodies?” The real Blackstar asked.

“Because he’s not allowed to defy nature like that.” You answered. “But what I want to know is why you were able to switch us around. Doesn’t the fact that we’re alternate versions of each other mean that putting us in the other’s body is the same as resurrection?”

“Apparently, there were enough differences that it didn’t matter.”

“What do you mean by, “Apparently”?” You asked. “You knew what you were doing, didn’t you?”

“To be honest, I’ve never had an opportunity to do something like this. This was the first time that an alternate version of a person I’ve given a second life to has died at the same time. So, I let my curiosity get the better of me and I switched you two.”

“So, Blackstar here could’ve gotten my thread of fate because you were curious?!” You hissed.

“What’s a thread of fate?”

God went on to explain threads of fate to Blackstar. You were furious at him for what he had done. Once he was done with that, God went on to tell Blackstar all about his life. Blackstar did his best to keep his composure, but you could tell the news had disheartened him. Once God was done you tried to comfort him.

“Hey, I know learning that you’re dead isn’t easy, but I’m sure you can make the best of it.”

“Maybe, Stan and his family have been nice to me so far.”

“You’re living with Stan, how is he?” You asked hopefully.

“He’s good, and so is the rest of his family.”

“That’s good to hear. Listen, speaking from experience I know they can’t replace the family you’ve lost, but you have to try and move on. It’s the only option you have left. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for doing this to you. If I can do anything to help make it up to you then I will.”

“There is one thing you could do. Could you go and tell my family, and my friend Lily what happened to me. They deserve to know.”

You nodded and felt yourself slowly return to consciousness.

Blackstar sat up in his bed and tried to come to grips with everything that he had just learned. He was dead, and he’d never be able to see his old friends and family again. He couldn’t tell Stan or the others about any of it. They’d think he was crazy. Blackstar continued to sit up, debating over and over what he should do next.

Keeping a Promise

You opened your eyes to your room in the Apple family’s home. You looked out the window and saw the sun was still far beneath the horizon. You couldn’t shake off your encounter with Blackstar. You had been tossing around the idea of being in an alternate universe, but now it was all but undeniable. You took a deep breath and tried to reason that what you had just seen might have just been a dream.

Even though the sun wasn’t even up yet you decided to get out of bed and prepare for the day. Your body did its best to remind you that you were in fact not a morning person. You ignored your body and walked into the bathroom. You hummed a few bars to a tune while you turned on the water to the shower and waited for it to heat up. You then tested the water with a hoof and stepped in. You sighed in content for a moment as the water washed over you.

The feeling didn’t last as a persistent thought continued to nag at you. You had to know if you were really in an alternate universe or not. You sat back on your haunches and started to inspect your body carefully. Eventually you found what you were looking for on your rear-leg. It was faint. If you hadn’t been looking for it, it would’ve easily escaped your notice. You found a scar that looked like two puncture wounds. You were immediately reminded of the story that God had told the real Blackstar… and by extension you in your dream.

‘This proves it.’ You thought sullenly. ‘I really am in an alternate universe. Not only that, but I… took over the body of the alternate version of myself. I’m worse than a thief. I should’ve just let myself die.’ A bitter feeling formed in the pit of your stomach. ‘I suppose that doesn’t matter now. I’m here and alive, and that’s all that matters. Besides, I have a promise to keep.’

After your shower you grabbed your shoulder bag and jacket, put them on, walked downstairs and made a quick breakfast of toast and ate it while you thought of what to say to Blackstar’s friend and family. Nothing you thought of seemed appropriate. You sighed in defeat and just decided to say whatever came to mind when you found them. You finished your simple meal and decided to write a note to the Apple family, explaining that you had something important come up and you’d have to leave town for a while. You placed the note on the refrigerator so that it would be easy to find and walked out the door. When you did you heard a voice call out to you.

“Where do ya think yer goin’?”

You almost jumped out of your skin, but recovered quickly when you recognized the voice. You turned around to see Applejack without her hair tied up and signature hat. A part of you thought she looked kind of cute like that, but put the thought out of your head.

“Why are you awake at this time of day?” Was all you managed to say.

“Ah could ask ya th’same thing.”

“I had an odd dream so I just decided to get up.”

“Well, Ah woke up when Ah thought Ah heard the shower on.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Don’t worry about it. Ah’m used t’ wakin’ up early. Now, where are ya goin’?”

“Well I…” This was bad. What were you supposed to tell her? The truth was obviously out, or was it? “I made a promise to an old friend so I have to leave town for a little while. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it, but I just remembered it myself.”

“An old friend, Ah thought ya said that ya didn’t have any old friends.”

“I said that once I started moving that I never really had time for friends. I met this pony before I decided to avoid making friends.” You lied.

“Alright, Ah suppose keepin’ a promise is important. But when ya get back Ah’m makin’ ya clean out the barn fer not tellin’ me about this sooner.”

“I accept your terms.” You said with a small grin. You turned and started to walk away before Applejack called out to you.

“Make sure t’ come back soon, okay?”

You stopped for a moment. The truth was you didn’t know how long you’d be gone. But you couldn’t bear to hurt Applejack, so you just gave her a weak nod before continuing to your destination. You made it into town and were somewhat disturbed by the silence. It didn’t feel right. You had grown accustomed to all the dins and shouts of store owners, the strange whooshes the weather team made when the cleared away clouds, and the antics of Pinkie Pie. She was always trying to find some reason to have a party. Or just playing a prank on you or somepony else.

You tried to take your mind away from the uncomfortable silence by trying to focus on something, anything else. Unfortunately, the only thing that came to you was your task at hand. You couldn’t help but think about all the ways it could go wrong. What if they hated you? What if they called you a murderer and tried to have you arrested? Or what if you just broke their hearts?

You stopped in front of Whitetail Woods and gulped. You were starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea. You were even considering not doing it all together. But with a shake of the head you put that idea out of your mind. ‘I can’t just avoid this. I promised, Blackstar that I would do this. Besides, I’m the one that chose to have this new life. Now I just have to reap what I’ve sown.’

You decided to calm your nerves with some music. You pulled out your iPod and turned it on. You carefully placed the ear-buds in and hit the shuffle button. When you did “Wheel in the Sky” started playing. ‘You know, sometimes I think this thing has gained sentience. At the very least it’s familiar with dramatic convenience. Oh well, Allons-y.’

You pulled your hood over your head. Luckily, Rarity had made it large enough to obscure your face even with your horn. It gave you a small sense of security. Now nopony from Blackstar’s hometown would recognize you. You made your way through the woods and shivered as a cool morning breeze whistled through you. Other than that the trip through the woods was rather enjoyable. Unlike the Everfree Forest, which was ominous and dark, Whitetail Woods seemed friendly and inviting. It helped calm your nerves a little for what you were about to do.

Your trip lasted hours and took you out of the woods and through several other towns. You grabbed some food and water at one of these towns. Thankfully you were almost done refurnishing your home so you didn’t have to worry too much about your finances. You garnered a few looks from the ponies around you. You easily ignored them. Looks of suspicion or accusation was something you were used to.

The sun was high in the sky by the time you made it to Blackstar’s hometown. A small place called Hoofington. The town reminded you a little of Ponyville. It was a small collection of mostly thatch-roofed houses arranged in a way that it would be easy to navigate the streets. Unlike Ponyville though, which had a fairly decent balance of all three types of ponies, Hoofington was predominantly Earth pony. There were a few Pegasi and Unicorns peppered along the streets, but they were few and far between.

It was at that moment that you realized something important. You had no idea how to find Lily. Even though God had told you and Blackstar about her personality, he had failed to describe her appearance. You considered asking around town about her, but quickly tossed the idea aside. If this town was anything like Ponyville, then everypony here knew each other, and would recognize your voice almost immediately. You almost hit yourself at how stupid you were being. You could easily use your magic to disguise your voice.

You ducked out of sight and pulled out your books on magic and quickly found the spell you were looking for. Once the spell was complete you strolled back into town and started asking around about Lily. Most of the townsfolk didn’t seem to want to answer. You guessed that it was some sort of paranoia against outsiders, but kept trying. You told one elderly mare that you had an important message for her and that you had to see her. The mare relented, despite the fact that you wouldn’t tell the mare what the message was about.

The mare led you to a flower shop with a picture of Lily’s namesake on the hanging sign on the front. You wanted to face hoof at how obvious this should’ve been. Instead you thanked the mare and walked inside the store. Inside a young mare with a white coat and a short, curled yellow mane was making a floral arrangement and humming a tune to herself behind the store’s counter. You could tell her heart wasn’t into it and took a deep breath before walking up to the counter.

“Umm, Lily?” You asked hesitantly.

The mare opened her eyes and they were a vibrant yellow color that was a few shades lighter than her hair. “Yes, I’m Lily. How do you know my name stranger?”

“That’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.” You said pulling down your hood.

Lily’s eyes widened and tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. “You’re back!” Lily cried, rushing out from behind the counter and locking you into a massive hug. “I’ve missed you so much. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. What are you doing here? Don’t you have some super important classes you have to be at in Canterlot?” Lily kept asking you questions at a rate that put even Pinkie Pie to shame. At some point you were unable to make them all out and just waited for her to finish. Eventually, she stopped hugging you and looked up at you, confused. “What’s wrong? You look like something’s bothering you?”

You undid the spell on your voice and did your best to try and explain the situation. “Listen, there’s something important I have to tell you.”

“Go ahead, you can tell me anything.”

“I’m not really Blackstar, I’m someone else entirely.” You stated bluntly.

“What are you talking about?” Lily started to chuckle but stopped when she saw your somber expression. “Blackstar, what’s going on? You’re starting to scare me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry about that. But, I’m being serious. I’m not the real Blackstar. I’m an alternate version of him from a parallel universe.”

“Blackstar, if this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny.”

“I told you I’m serious. I wish I wasn’t, but I am. Blackstar and I both died and thanks to a deal I made with a powerful being, was able to come back in Blackstar’s body.”

“Okay then, if you’re in Blackstar’s body, then what happened to Blackstar? And if this ‘powerful being’ could bring you back to life, why didn’t it just put you back in your body, huh?” Lily growled.

“Because you can’t put a soul back into its original body,” you explained. “And the Blackstar you knew is in my body now.”

“That can’t be true! Why are you lying to me Blackstar? What aren’t you telling me?” Lily blurted out, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “Did you meet another mare? Some sort of Unicorn that you can do magic with? Have you outgrown me, is that it?” Lily sobbed, weeping freely now.

“I’m not lying to you. By God, I wish I was. But this is the truth. And sadly, I can prove it.” You said, slipping off your shoulder bag and pulling out the photo of your parents. “Lily, look at this.” You sighed, holding out the photo with your magic.

“What’s this?” Lily asked, grabbing the photo from you and wiping the tears from her eyes. Her eyes widened and she started to tremble. “What the hay are these things?”

“Those are my parents, the ones from my old universe.” You explained looking away from her.

“This isn’t fake, is it? Oh by Celestia! Blackstar’s really dead, isn’t he?” Lily started to break down and threw her fore-hooves around you, weeping into your shoulder. You wrapped your fore-hooves around her as well, and started to rub the back of her head in a vain attempt to comfort her.

“I know how hard this must be for you. I’m so sorry. If I had known that being brought back to life meant taking over someone else’s I never would’ve agreed to it, I swear.”

“No, I don’t blame you for what happened.” Lily said slowly, trying to collect herself. “Even If you hadn’t done this Blackstar would still be dead, right?” You nodded slowly which made Lily tremble a little more. “And didn’t you say that Blackstar is alive in your body right now?” You nodded again which seemed to cheer Lily up a little. “Well, at least he’s still alive somewhere. Do you know how he’s doing? Is he alright?”

You looked at the hopeful expression in Lily’s eyes and knew you had to say something to make her feel better, even if it could be a lie. “He’s with a caring family right now, and is fine.” You said with a weak smile.

“Thank you, umm… if you’re not Blackstar, then what is your real name?” You told her your name and she scrunched up her face a little and started to chuckle a little. “That’s kinda weird, but it’s still a nice name. Thank you, you didn’t have to tell me this, but thank you for telling me the truth.”

“I promised Blackstar that I would tell you so don’t thank me too much.”

“It was still nice of you to tell me, you could’ve easily broken your promise.”

“Yeah well, I still haven’t kept the promise completely. Could you take me to Blackstar’s parents? I have to explain this to them too.”

Lily’s face hardened a little, but she nodded in understanding. “Sure, just follow me.” You put your photo back into your bag and draped the bag over your back. You quickly caught up to Lily, your hood concealing your face again. “Why have you been hiding your face like that?”

“I don’t want anypony to recognize me. Otherwise I might have to explain to a whole town about what happened to the real Blackstar.”

“Don’t they deserve to know? Almost everypony in towns was friends with Blackstar.”

“Look, once I’m done explaining this to Blackstar’s parents, you can tell the rest of the town whatever you want. But for now, can we just keep this a secret?”

“Alright, I’ll keep your secret, for now.”

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence you made it to the home of Blackstar’s parents. You knocked for a bit and almost gasped when the door opened. It was like someone had taken your mother and turned her into a pony. That really shouldn’t have surprised you seeing as this was an alternate universe. Blackstar’s mother was a teal color and hardly looked her age. Her mane was long and jet black just like your mother. Her eyes were the same color as your mother’s as well. But the thing you noticed immediately was the smile. It was the same smile that melted away all of your childhood problems.

“Oh, hello Lily, it’s so nice to see you. And who are you?”

You wanted to say something, but a lump in your throat kept you from making even a pathetic gurgle. Luckily, Lily could tell you were having trouble and stepped in. “I just met this guy, but he says he has something important to tell you and your husband.

“Why didn’t you just say so? I’ll go get him. You two make yourselves comfortable. I’ll get you something to drink too.”

You stared at the pony version of you… no. These were Blackstar’s parents you kept telling yourself. Blackstar’s father had the same dark blue fur and mane as you. The only real difference you could see between the two of you was that his mane didn’t have black in it like yours, and he wasn’t a Unicorn. Actually, both of Blackstar’s parents were Earth ponies.

“So, you have something you want to tell us?” Blackstar’s father asked impatiently. You struggled on what to say for a moment but Lily gave you a reassuring look that helped calm you down.

You told Blackstar’s parents about what had happened to their real son and at first they didn’t believe you. It took some time before you and Lily were able to convince them, but it hadn’t been easy on anyone in the room. Blackstar’s mother just seemed mournful of the fate of her son and maybe even a little concerned for you too, but his father looked at you with bitter rage.

“You monster,” he spat. “You took my son from me!” He boomed.

“Honey, keep your voice down, you’ll wake up Ginger.”

“Who?” You asked.

“Blackstar’s little sister.” Lily whispered to you. A little sister; why did that sound so familiar to you? You didn’t have time to explore that thought as Blackstar’s father got right in your face.

“You took my son from me,” he repeated, “and then you had the nerve to slip inside his body and decided to wear it like a cheap suit.”

“I…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, I swear.”

“Tell me, can your sorry bring back my son? No, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“You’re right. My apology can’t bring him back. If it’s any consolation, then please do whatever you want to me to make you feel better.” Right then, Blackstar’s father smashed his hoof into your jaw. You winced as a gush of blood worked its way down your throat. You looked up and saw that he was about to hit you again but Blackstar’s mother stood between him and you.

“Honey don’t, no matter what you do to this boy it won’t bring back Blackstar.”

“Boy, this thing took the place of our son… our little miracle. Remember when we first called him that.” Blackstar’s father said a wave of sadness overwhelming him as tears trickled down his cheeks.

“I do, but this boy said that Blackstar is still technically alive. He’s just in this boy’s old body that’s all. Even if we can’t see him anymore, we can at least take solace in the fact that he’s not really gone.”

“How do you know he’s not lying? What if he’s the one that killed Blackstar?”

“If he really did kill Blackstar, then why would he come tell us?”

“Well… I don’t know.” Blackstar’s father sighed, calming down a little.

“Honey, I don’t know if this boy is telling us the whole truth or not. But I do know that it took a lot of courage to come here and tell us what he did.” Then, Blackstar’s mother turned to you and gave you a slight grin, and helped you up. “Listen, I don’t know what you were doing before you came here, but if you really are an alternate version of our son then you’re welcome to live with us. Is that okay with you, honey?”

Blackstar’s father grumbled for a moment but ultimately let out a sigh and softened his expression. “If he agrees to it, then I’ll manage.”

You didn’t know what to say. You had always wanted to get your old family back, and this was as close as you were ever going to get. But, you still had your friends back in Ponyville to consider. Even though you had only known them for a relatively short time you felt so close, and what about the Apple family? They had done everything in their power to make you feel like you were one of their own. You stood there with your mouth agape for what seemed like an eternity. Somehow you were able to form a reply.

“Can I please have a few days to consider this? I don’t want to make any permanent changes without thinking it over. I’ll stay here for the time being, and I’ll let you know if I’m going to leave or not.”

“That sounds fine.” Blackstar’s mother assured. “You take as long as you need to make up your mind.”

“Thank you, and can you please show me to Blackstar’s room. I’m really tired.”

“No problem, right this way.”

Blackstar’s mother… and potentially your new mother took you upstairs and opened a door to a fairly small bedroom. There were posters of things like the Wonderbolts and various magicians along the walls, and the dresser was lined with numerous photos of Blackstar with his family and Lily. You felt a twinge of regret that you no longer had any photos like that and looked over to Blackstar’s mother was starting to get misty eyed.

“I’m sorry that things turned out like this, I wish I could just use my magic and make everything different.” You said, wanting to do anything to make up for what you'd done. Blackstar’s mother chuckled a little and gave you a weak smile.

“You sound like him so much. He would always say that he’d make his magic so strong that we’d never have any problems ever again. I remember when he was first born. He looked so beautiful that we almost thought he was a filly. Hay, we didn’t even notice that He was a Unicorn until his magic started to flare up. But that was Blackstar for you. He was always full of surprises. The only thing that never surprised me about him is that I never stopped being proud of all the things he did. I’m glad that he’s safe, even if it is in another universe. Oh, I’m sorry it must be tiresome to listen to some mare you barely know ramble on about her son.”

“It’s no trouble at all. You actually remind me a lot of my mother.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment. So, what was your childhood like? I’d like to get to know you a little better.”

“I…I’d rather not, my childhood was… long and very painful to say the least. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time.”

“I understand, you can tell me anytime you feel ready. Good night.”

You parroted good night back to Blackstar’s mother and carefully placed your things in Blackstar’s closet. You got into the bed and started to consider what you wanted to do with your life.

Balancing Games

Three days had passed since you had told Lily and Blackstar’s parents the truth about their son. Things didn’t go that bad all things considered. Blackstar’s mother and friend Lily seemed to like you, but his father had been rather distant. You couldn’t blame him though. You had told him the worst news a father could hear. You gave him plenty of space and tried not to bother him. You tried to avoid thinking about that and looked out the window of Blackstar’s room and wondered what you were going to do with your day.

If you were back with the Apple family you would’ve been working already. But here, you had no real responsibilities. You walked over to the closet where you kept your bag and jacket and opened your violin case. When you did the instrument fell out in pieces. You grimaced at the sight and sighed as you used the repair spell on the instrument again. The process took more concentration and energy than usual, but it barely registered to your magical reserves.

You looked at the fully restored instrument and knew you’d have to replace it soon. But for now you made do with what you had. You used your levitation to bring the violin into the familiar ready position and closed your eyes. You don’t know how long you were playing. You lost yourself in the music and were only brought out by a familiar voice.

“Wow, I had no idea you were so musical.”

You looked over your shoulder and saw that Lily was standing in your doorway. “Hi Lily, how’d you get up here?”

“Your parents let me in. They’re starting to get worried. You haven’t left the house since… well, you know.”

“I didn’t mean to worry anypony. I’ve just had a lot on my mind. That and I don’t know anypony in town. I don’t want to do anything that’ll give me away.”

“Cooping yourself inside all the time isn’t going to help. Come on, let’s go do something. If anypony bothers us, I can do all the talking.”

“Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“No, you don’t.” Lily said with an eerily enthusiastic smile.

“Alright then, lead the way.” You said with a fake sigh.

Lily led you around Hoofington, and the two of you looked at the various stores. Normally the idea of walking around stores would make you want to claw your own eyes out. But Lily helped make it enjoyable. After a few hours the two of you decided to get something to eat. You paid for the two of you and the both of you sat on a bench near a fountain. There seemed to be an enjoyable atmosphere between the two of you.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

“What were you doing before you came and told us about the real Blackstar?” Lily whispered, not wanting to be overheard.

“Well, after I died and made that deal, I woke up in Celestia’s castle. I didn’t know that at the time though. I started to look around the room, and that’s when I noticed my reflection.”

“I bet you started freaking out.” Lily giggled.

“No way,” you said with a cheesy grin. “I just smiled and said ‘Huh, I thought I was feeling a little horse.’”

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, I think your jokes are actually worse than Blackstar’s.”

“Thank you.” You said with a chuckle. “Anyway, a guard came into the room and took me to meet Celestia and Luna. I told them about my situation… and my past.” You added slowly. “They decided to help and started teaching me about magic and Equestria in general.”

“You actually learned magic from the princesses!” Lily gasped. “Ever since Blackstar had heard about the Elements of Harmony and how Twilight Sparkle is Princess Celestia’s personal apprentice, he’d always wanted to do the same thing.”

“Yeah well, they didn’t teach me because I was particularly talented. They taught me because they pitied me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I haven’t known you very long, but if you’re anything like the Blackstar I remember, then you proved yourself through sheer determination.” Lily said with a reassuring hoof on your shoulder.

A part of you noticed some odd ticks in Lily’s body language. She was definitely trying to hold something back. Somehow, through what could only be described as a miracle. You were able to put two and two together. You gently brushed her hoof from her shoulder and stared deep into her eyes. “Lily, were you and Blackstar… more than just friends?”

Lily was taken aback and started to fidget a little. She avoided making eye contact while she answered. “I… I guess you could say that. Blackstar had been my best friend since we were foals. We did everything together. I think I’ve had a crush on him for about five years now. But, when he started to go through puberty… he started hitting on just about every mare in town.” You couldn’t help but think about Flarewing at that moment.

“I don’t know if he ever actually did anything with those mares. Whenever I asked him about it he would just ignore me, or change the topic entirely. I had given up hope on ever being more than friends with Blackstar when he said he was going to Canterlot to study magic. But, right before he left… he kissed me. It was the greatest moment in my entire life. Of course, that was the last time I ever saw him. Say, do you think Blackstar and I could’ve made it work if he hadn’t… you know?”

“Well Lily, if I’ve learned anything from my death and my time in Equestria, it’s that just about anything can be possible if you have a little faith and determination.”

“That sounds like something Blackstar would say.”

“Well, I am an alternate version of him, there are bound to be at least a few similarities between us.” You said,
uncomfortable with the look Lily was giving you.

“I guess you’re right. Umm, [Your Name]. Thanks for hanging out with me like this. I’ve been really lonely ever since Blackstar left, and you’re a lot of fun to be around.” Lily whispered through heavy lidded eyes and a light purr to her voice.

Even with how socially illiterate you were, you could read Lily’s body language like a pop-up book. She was trying to seduce you. A strange tingle started to spread along your body, and you could feel your face flush. You did your best to shake off the primal urges. Or maybe they were some sort of residual emotion that Blackstar had left behind. Either way you knew what you had to do. You gulped and took Lily’s fore-hooves in your own and started to tremble like a leaf in a hurricane.

“Lily, I think there’s something important you need to hear.”

“You can tell me anything.” Lily exclaimed eagerly.

“I think you’re a very nice mare, we seem to get along extraordinarily well, and I really do seem to find you very attractive.”

“Why thank you, I do try my best.” Lily giggled, making what you were about to say even more difficult.

“But I don’t think we should be anything more than friends.” You blurted out.

“What? But… what about everything you just said?”

“You’re right, a part of me might want to try and be more than friends with you. But, ask yourself, Lily. Do you want to be more than friends with me?”

“Of course I do. You’re so…”

“…So much like Blackstar. That’s what you were about to say, wasn’t it?” You said with a determined look in your eyes.”

“N…no, I wasn’t going to say that.” Lily hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth.

“Lily, it’s ok. You’re attracted to Blackstar’s body, and the fact that I remind you of him even a little must help.”

Lily burst into tears and threw her hooves around you. Just like when you had first told her about Blackstar’s fate.

“You’re right.” She sobbed. “I… I just miss him so much. I thought that if I could just… sleep with you just once, then maybe I’d be able to get Blackstar out of my head. By Celestia, you must think I’m horrible for trying to use you like that.”

“Not at all,” you reassured her, returning the hug. “You knew him for so long, had been through so much together. It’s understandable that you’d try to do something a little crazy now that he’s gone. Everypony deals with loss differently. I won’t hold what you did against you. And I’m sure Blackstar wouldn’t either.”

Lily lessened her grip on you so she could look you in the eyes. “Thank you for saying that. I’m sorry I acted like that.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” you said with a warm grin. “Although, I think that we should just be friends. I mean, we did just meet. We should actually get to know each other, and if you like the real me and not just the parts that remind you of him. Then we can see how things end up.” You said with a slight ache starting to form in the lower half of your body.

“You’re right,” Lily agreed a little sadly. Then, her expression radically changed and shot you a goofy grin. “Well, I am a little impressed. You had the perfect opportunity to take advantage of a beautiful young mare, but did the very noble thing instead. Either you actually are very noble, or you’re just a complete blockhead.” Lily said with a chuckle, ending the hug.

“I prefer to think of myself as being a little bit of both.” You said with your own chuckle.

“So, can I start to get to know the real you right now?” Lily asked.

“Sure, what do you want to know about?”

“Can you tell me what your life before you came to Equestria was like?”

You froze up for a moment. You knew if you said too much then she might start to worry about Blackstar’s safety. But then again, if you wanted to make your decision of whether or not to stay in this town, you had to know if Lily and Blackstar’s parents were willing to accept the darkest parts of your life.

You steeled your nerves and started to tell Lily everything about your old life. You left out some of the more gruesome details, like how your father had died, but other than that your story was pretty much complete. Lily looked a little disturbed, but never voiced her opinion until the end of your story.

“I can’t believe how tough you had it. And you’re sure that Blackstar’s really fine?” Lily asked worry etched deep into her features.

“I’m positive. He’s staying with the nicest family I’ve ever known.” Your answer wasn’t a complete lie. You only had vague suspicions about whether or not Blackstar had your Thread of Fate or not.

“That’s a relief. Still, you’ve been through so much. How are you able to stay as cheerful as you are?”

“Honestly, I’m still dealing with a lot of stuff from my old life. But, the princesses helped me deal with it a little. And my friends from Ponyville have been a big help.” You’re smile momentarily shifted into a frown as you remembered your friends back in Ponyville. You started to wonder how they were all doing, and if they missed you at all. Lily noticed your expression and raised an eyebrow at you.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something, that’s all.”

Eventually you and Lily had to go your separate ways and waved goodbye. You walked in to where Blackstar’s family was and started to tell them about your past. Except for Ginger, she was too young to understand and still thought you were the real Blackstar. They seemed to understand, and Blackstar’s mother tried to be supportive, while his father just nodded and occupied himself with a newspaper.

You spent another three days in Hoofington and continued to hang out with Lily. Although, you never got the same reaction that you did when she had hit on you. You guessed that the reaction might have been your body finally getting completely used to the pony anatomy. It made sense. You seemed to be able to gauge attractiveness far better and you sometimes had to stop your gaze from lowering too much. Even with your new acclimation to pony society you couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Your mind kept drifting to your friends back in Ponyville, which always caused a small ache to form in your chest. You also couldn’t help but feel like a stranger among Blackstar’s family. They seemed a lot like your parents, but deep in your heart you knew they weren’t really your parents. In the end, you decided to sneak out in the middle of the night and head back to where you really felt you belonged, Ponyville. You had almost made it to the edge of Hoofington when a voice called out to you.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

You turned around and were surprised to see Blackstar’s father had followed you. You didn’t bother with lying and replied, “I’m going back to Ponyville. I don’t think this is going to work.”

Blackstar’s father let out a deep sigh and shot you an expression that was difficult to read. “I understand, you’re a full grown stallion now and are free to make your own decisions. I just want you to know that you’ll always be able to find a place with your mother and me.”

“I appreciate the gesture but… wait a sec; did you just refer to her as my mother?”

“Yes I did. Your mother came to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter what universe you came from. You’re still our son. And you know what… I have to agree with her.”

“You do? But I thought you hated me?”

“I think I might have at first. And I apologize for my behavior. It took an unprecedented amount of courage to tell me what you did. And the amount of control you showed at my outburst was nothing short of impressive. I’d be proud to call somepony like you my son.”

“Th…thank you. That means a lot.” You couldn’t believe what you had heard. They actually considered you family? But you had hurt them so much. You turned your head back towards Ponyville for a while and stared.

“Is something wrong? Weren’t you just about to leave?”

“I… I don’t know anymore. I mean, I miss my friends back in Ponyville so much, but I’ve always wanted a real family. Agggh! What should I do?” You screamed.

“Relax; you’re making this more complicated than it has to be. You should go live with your friends back in Ponyville. And every now and then you can come and pay us all a visit. What do you think? Does that sound like it could work?”

“I think so. Thanks, you just took a huge weight off my mind.” You said with a slight grin.

“That’s what a father is supposed to do. Now come here.” You did as Blackstar’s father asked and he put his fore-hooves around you in a brief hug. “Come home soon, son.”

“I will, dad.”

Second Chances

You were practically skipping down the trail as you made your way back to Ponyville. You had to admit that it was an odd sight with your face obscuring coat on. You were even singing to yourself in the stereotypical family road-trip way. Yes it was loud, obnoxious, and off-key, but you didn’t care. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and you had a real family again. Nothing was going to bring you down. “I’m walkin’ on sunshine! Whoaoaoa. Walkin’ on sunshine, and startin’ to fee... Whoa sweet baby Jesus!” Well, nothing except whatever it was you just tripped on.

Somehow you had fallen in a way that your horn was actually stuck in the ground. “Annnd that was a serious buzz kill. Oh well, at least nopony’s around to see this.” You struggled for a few moments and were able to wrench your horn free from the ground, landing square on your flank. You rubbed your horn for a moment and looked up at the sky. “Ok, universe, I get it. I’m not allowed to be too happy. So from now on I’ll do my best to tone down the happy. What did I trip on anyway?” You picked yourself up and turned to see a pony lying on the ground.

You rushed over to the pony’s side and started to inspect her. The pony was covered in what you hoped was dried mud and grime. You quickly located the pony’s head and took her pulse and checked if she was breathing. You exhaled when you found both. Unfortunately, both were faint. This pony had obviously been here a while. Which would be easy, you were taking a less traveled path that was barely wide enough for a small trade caravan. You thanked yourself for your choice of shortcut and picked up the pony with your levitation.

If you wanted to help this pony then you would have to hurry. You couldn’t heal the pony yourself. You didn’t know the extent of the injuries. Besides, you were somewhat of a novice at healing magic. You couldn’t carry the pony all the way to a hospital. The nearest town was about five miles away. That left you one option. You would have to teleport the both of you into the town.

You gathered the energy for the spell into your horn and concentrated on the spell. Sweat started bead along your brow, and you clenched your teeth as the orb of light surrounded you and the unconscious body. In a matter of moments you were standing in the middle of a marketplace. To be more specific, you were standing on top of one of the various stands. Your sudden appearance attracted quite a bit of attention. The vendor of the stand glared at you and started to scream.

“MY CABBAGES! You ruffian, you’re going to…”

“I’ll pay for them later!” You snapped back. “Right now I need to know the fastest way to the hospital!” It was at that moment that the vendor noticed the unconscious body you were carrying and decided to point you in the direction of the hospital. You quickly thanked him and winked out of existence again.

You pushed your way into the hospital and skidded to a halt at the front desk. You explained your situation and the nurse had a crash cart brought to the pony you were carrying as quickly as they could. You decided to wait until the doctors were finished with the pony. You were curious what the pony was doing alone and in that kind of condition on a mostly forgotten road. Something didn’t feel right about this, and you wanted to know why. You settled in for a few hours and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

One of the doctors woke you up with a nudge on your shoulder. You snapped to attention immediately and the doctor chuckled a little. He was an older looking stallion with a dull yellow coat, and a brown mane that was slicked back a little.

“Relax, we just finished working on the patient you brought us, and she should make a full recovery.”

“That’s good to hear. What kind of injuries were they?”

“She was covered in a large amount of claw and bite marks. The puncture wounds suggest that whatever attacked her was canine.”

“Could it have been wolves?”

“No, the wounds were too large to have been caused by wolves.”

“So, you think she was attacked by Diamond Dogs?”

“The evidence does seem to lean that way.”

“That’s odd, Gem Fido has a very good standing with Equestria. So why would Diamond Dogs attack this pony?"

“It’s not entirely uncommon for Diamond Dogs to split off from their country and form small gangs. Actually, the same could be said for citizens of any country really.”

‘Even this world has its fair share of problems.’ You thought grimly.

“Anyway, thank you again for bringing this mare in. It’s nice to see a young stallion such as yourself.”

“Don’t mention it. I couldn’t just leave her like that in the road.”

“Glad to hear it. Listen, she’ll need some time to rest up, but I’m sure she’d like to thank the one that saved her life. Would you mind coming back in a day or so?”

“I was planning on leaving, but I guess another day or so away from home won’t hurt too much.”

‘Applejack was probably going to buck me right in the face anyway. Huh, that came out wrong. Glad that was just in my head.’

“Good, I’ll be sure to see you then.”

You exited the hospital and looked up at the sky. It was late in the afternoon and night seemed to be approaching. You pulled your hood up and decided to head back to the marketplace to ask where the nearest hotel was, and to repay that cabbage vendor while you were at it. The sun had fallen beneath the horizon as you sat on the edge of the bed in the inn at the outskirts of the town. You let out a sigh of relief; feeling refreshed having just stepped out of the shower.

‘I can’t believe I keep saving ponies lives. Maybe I should give up working on the farm and just become a superhero?’ You thought with a chuckle. ‘Actually… that doesn’t sound so bad. If I am going to be a superhero I’ll need some powers, or access to advanced technology. You then remembered your horn and realized you already had a power. ‘Okay, so I’m a magic based hero. So I should call myself something like… Mister Mystic.

‘Not bad, the alliteration does give it a certain flare. So, Mister Mystic would travel across Equestria and right all wrongs, and save anypony that needed him. He could stick to the shadows and become a whisper of a rumor to the superstitious and cowardly lot of criminal scum. Or he could become a symbol of purity and be a beacon of hope to all those who cry out in fear! Parades would be held in his honor and everypony would love him, especially the ladies.’

With that your mind started to drift off to more… explicit topics. You shook your head and were left with a puzzled look on your face. “Where did that come from?” You wondered aloud. “Oh yeah, years of sexual repression; I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve finally gotten used to the pony form. Come to think of it that mare I saved might be kind of cute. I guess that’s something to look forward to. “

With a simple shrug you lied down on the hotel bed and pulled out your journal and wrote down your thoughts from the day. Once you were done with that you drifted off to sleep peacefully, with dreams of the adventures of Mister Mystic to entertain you until the morning.

Surprisingly you woke up rather early to get to the hospital at the beginning of visiting hours. You chalked it up to wanting to get back to Ponyville as quickly as possible. You walked through the sliding glass doors and approached the nurse at the front desk. Luckily for you it was the same one as the day before so she knew what you wanted without you saying a word.

She got up and led you through the pale, white hallways. You had to fight the urge to shiver as you passed by several patients’ rooms. Not because the building was particularly cold, but because you had an acute hatred for hospitals. You had felt that way ever since the death of your mother. It had taken you years to learn to trust doctors again after the incident, but you were confident that no amount of time would lessen your feelings for their place of work.

Just as you were beginning to lose yourself to your thoughts the nurse turned and raised an eyebrow at you. “Is everything okay, sir?”

“Wha…” You said, with a shake of the head, “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“I asked if you were okay.” The nurse repeated with a cute giggle.

“Yes… everything’s fine. Hospitals just make me uncomfortable that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it. A lot of ponies feel the same way as you about them. Anyway, this is where we’re keeping the young mare you brought in. She should be awake, so don’t worry about disturbing her.”

You gave the nurse an appreciative nod and watched as she turned and returned to her post. Then, you took a deep breath and crossed the threshold into the mare’s room. You put the biggest and friendliest grin you could muster onto your face and introduced yourself to the mare.

“Hello there, I’m Blackstar. I would’ve introduced myself earlier, but you didn’t seem to be in the mood for pleasantries when I found you. So, what’s your name?”

“What! You’re the one that saved me?!” A familiar voice shrieked.

You opened your eyes, unaware that you had even closed them, and were greeted with the site of the last mare in Equestria you wanted to see. There, lying before you with a glare that could shatter stone was Trixie. A part of you wanted to groan and just walk out right there. Your other, and probably better half told you to stay and figure out what happened to her that put her in the condition that you found her in. You cursed yourself for your morality and ignored the death stare Trixie was shooting at you. You also had groan inwardly that you still found her kind of cute.

“Well, this certainly is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here, Trixie.”

“That’s the Great and Powerful Trixie to you!” She snapped. “So what brings you here? Do you want to gloat over me and mock me for needing the likes of you to rescue me?”

“Look Trixie,” You said, emphasizing the point that you refused to address her by the ridiculous title. “I didn’t visit to gloat over you. I told you the last time we met that I have no interest in things like proving whether or not I’m better than somepony. You can choose not to believe me, but right now there’s something more important than our petty squabbles. There’s something I need to ask you.”

“If you mean to ask me out, then I’m afraid you don’t meet my standards.”

“Wow, not even close to what I was going for. Look, when I found you, you were covered in dirt and dried blood. I may not be a detective, but I can tell that something or someone attacked you. So, if you could just lose the attitude and give me a straight answer, I’ll get out of your hair quicker.”

“Fine,” Trixie huffed. “I was making my way towards this town in order to hold a performance here. I normally take back roads and old trails in order to avoid annoying, travelling merchants. I was in the middle of preparing my grand entrance when the ground suddenly erupted all around me. Before I knew it I was surrounded by a group of Diamond Dogs.”

“The largest of them strode towards me with a wicked grin on his face. He told me to give me everything I had and I wouldn’t get hurt. So of course I tried to take care of them with my magic.”

“And judging by how I found you, it didn’t work.”

“No… it was awful.” Trixie stated with a shudder. Her haughty demeanor had melted away as she recalled what the Diamond Dogs did to her. “A few of them were tricked by my illusions, but the leader quickly got them under control. He placed one of his claws around my face and started to laugh. He had told me I had made a huge mistake. He made a signal with his other claw and the rest of them piled on me.”

“It was so hard to breathe.” Trixie said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. “I wanted to scream but the noise was caught at the back of my throat. They ripped and teared at me for what felt like hours. The last thing I remember is seeing them go back underground with my caravan. After that I blacked out. I thought that I was going to die.” Trixie finished, freely sobbing.

Even though you hated her for what she had done. You couldn’t stand what happened to her even more. You held back the anger welling up inside of you and trotted up to Trixie to place a hoof on her shoulder. She gave you a confused look, but you just started to do your best to reassure her she was safe.

“So what?!” She cried out. “I just lost my home! I neither need, nor want your pity.”

“That’s good because I planned o doing a little more than planning your pity party.” You quipped with a cheeky smirk.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m going to help you find the Diamond Dogs that did this to you and get you your stuff back.”

Trixie laughed uproariously at your statement but stopped when she saw you were serious. “Are you crazy? What do you plan to do against that group of monsters?”

“My plan was to kick plenty of ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m fresh out of bubblegum.”

Light at the End of the Tunnel

“Trixie, can I please help now? I’m so boooored!” You groaned, sprawling out on Trixie’s bed.

“You just fought a group of Diamond Dogs and you’re complaining about being bored? You have to be the craziest pony I have ever met.”

“I could’ve told you that.” You replied with a roll of your eyes. “So can I help or not?”

“No!” Trixie snapped. “You’re in no condition to be up and about right now. Besides, you need to save your energy in case those Diamond Dogs come after us again.”

“They shouldn’t be a problem,” You said, “especially since I took their leader’s magicite necklace.”

“Since you bought it up, what do you plan on doing with that thing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” You asked with a maniacal edge in your voice. “I’m going to Canterlot and taking over Equestria! With this stone not even Celestia or Luna could stand before me!”

“Really?” Trixie asked nervously.

“Of course not,” you replied with a chuckle. “Even though this stone protects the one holding it from projectile spells, levitation, unwanted teleportation, and illusions. Somepony could still use a physical augmentation spell on themselves and fight me that way. Besides, ruling Equestria with an iron hoof doesn’t really appeal to me. I’ll just give the magicite to Celestia and Luna and let them decide what to do with it.”

“That makes sense.” Trixie said with a sigh of relief. But how do you plan on meeting with them. Not just anypony can waltz right into Canterlot Castle and meet the Princesses unannounced.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m friends with a Royal Guard, he’ll let me in.”

“You’re just full of surprises.” Trixie said with a giggle. The two of you continued on in companionable silence for a while until Trixie broke it. “Say, now that we’re supposed to be friends, could you tell me a bit about yourself?”

“Sure, but you have to return the favor.”

“Okay, sounds like a deal to me.” Trixie replied. “What was growing up in Canterlot like?”

“I wouldn’t know.” You answered. “I’m from a small town called Hoofington. But, I did study magic there. And from what I’ve seen, it’s nice. Some places are a bit too high-brow for my taste, but such is the nature of the capital of Equestria. What about you? Where are you from?”

“I’m from Boltimare. My father performed as a magician in a pretty big theater, while my mother was your typical stay at home mom.”

“Well, would you look at that,” You said with a chuckle. “We actually have something in common.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mother was a violinist and performed at local town theaters. She helped inspire me to learn how to play the violin.”

“You’re right, that is something we have in common. My father is a big reason why I wanted to be a travelling magician. Okay, so why were you all the way out here when you found me?”

“I was just visiting my family and friends back home. Don’t you ever visit your family?”

“No, my parents split up a few years ago. I know where they are, but the last time we saw each other, we all said some terrible things. That’s why I travel and perform. I just don’t think I could stand to be around them anymore.”

“Trixie,” You said, your voicing taking a serious tone, “you have to make up with them.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?!” Trixie snapped. “I appreciate what you’ve done for me. But you don’t know what I’ve been through, so shut up!”

“You’re right,” You admitted, “I don’t know exactly what you’re going through. But, I do know what it’s like to have things hanging over you, and I know how it feels to not deal with those things. If you don’t deal with whatever is going on between you and your folks, it’ll tear you up inside.”

“You might have a point.” Trixie said with an exhausted sigh. “I’m sorry I flew off on you like that. When we get out of here, I’m gonna try and find my parents and see if I can patch things up. Thanks, I don’t know how you do it, but you keep helping me with my problems. I might have to keep you around in case something else pops up.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s what I do. And if you ever need me then you can always swing by Ponyville and ask for it. Or you can just visit me for no reason, like a friend would.”

“I guess I could bring myself to go back to Ponyville. By the way, if you were raised in Hoofington, and learned magic in Canterlot, then why did you move to Ponyville?”

“While I was learning magic I heard about Twilight Sparkle and the fact that she’s the apprentice to Princess Celestia. So, being the magic obsessed nut-ball I am, I had to see what kind of magic I could learn from her.”

“Sounds like somepony has a little crush on the Princess’s apprentice.” Trixie said with a giggle.

“Wha… no,” You stammered, flustered. “Twilight and I are just friends. I mean there’s nothing wrong with her. I just don’t want to jeopardize our friendship!”

“Relax, Blackstar, I was only kidding. Looks like I struck a nerve.”

“Sorry, I’m not very good when it comes to my romantic life.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’ve never actually had a romantic life. Between learning magic and learning how to play the violin. I never found the time to nurture a love life.”

“That sounds like an excuse to me.”

“It might be, but it’s my excuse.”

“So, do you have any idea what you’re looking for in a mare?”

“Not really. I should just be able to get along with them, and it can hopefully work itself out from there.”

“Really, you don’t have any preferences? Are you more attracted to Pegasi, Unicorns, or Earth-ponies? What about personality? Do you like a girly-girl, what about the shy and reserved type?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really given it that much thought.”

“You really are a strange pony.”

After that the conversation between you and Trixie died down to little more than chatter. Trixie continued to use her magic to read the direction of the wind. After another hour or so, the two of you found the source of the airflow. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what you were hoping for. At first, you thought you had hit a dead end. However, further inspection of the rock-face revealed a small crack-like opening, with only the tiniest sliver of light to show that it led to the outside world. You climbed out of the caravan and inspected the rock-face to the best of your ability.

“Well, what do you think?” Trixie asked, obviously on edge. “Should we turn back and try to find another exit?”

“No,” You answered calmly, “if we do that we might run into those Diamond Dogs again. Not to mention we have no idea how long finding another exit could take.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“We need to find a way to use this exit.”

“Hey, maybe you could use that spell you used to shrink me on the two of us.” Trixie suggested.

“I don’t think I could safely make both of us small enough to fit through a hole that small. And then I’d have to return us to normal. But, maybe we don’t have to make ourselves smaller. We should try to make the hole bigger.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“I have a spell that should act like a drill. Hopefully that will let us get through the rock. I could teach it to you if you want to help me.”

“If it helps us get back to civilization, I’ll gladly get my hooves dirty.”

Trixie picked up how to do the spell rather quickly and the two of you got to work on digging through the wall. The task was slow going, made all the slower by Trixie insisting that you take breaks constantly. You constantly told her that you’d be fine, but she wouldn’t hear any of it. In the end, you finished digging in about three hours. When you finally made it through the rock, you were greeted by the sight of the setting sun and the outline of Canterlot above you.

“Oh fresh air, how I’ve missed you!” You exclaimed dramatically, letting yourself flop to the ground.

“I hate to interrupt your little moment, but we need to get you to a doctor. Those wounds could get infected if you’re not careful.” Trixie said.

“You don’t have to do that.” You said, picking yourself up off the ground. “I can teleport to Canterlot from here. Like I said before, I have some business to take care of with the Princesses.”

“Are you sure? I’d feel terrible if something happened to you.”

“I’ll be fine. Just meet me in Ponyville whenever you get the chance.”

“Okay, I think… I’m gonna go see my parents, and hopefully fix things between us.”

“Take care, Trixie, and good luck with your family.”

“You take care too, and try not to push yourself too hard.”

“What?!” You shouted, starting the teleportation spell. “I can’t hear you, this spell is really loud.”

And with that you vanished in a flash of light. A few moments later you appeared at the gates of Canterlot. Your face brightened up when you saw a familiar guard tending the gate. However, when you started to walk forward, you realized that a lot of your wounds had reopened. All of a sudden you started to feel woozy and your vision started to blur. Before you knew it the guards at the gate were rushing towards you. Although, you were barely aware of this as you started to slip into unconsciousness.

When you finally returned to consciousness you were greeted by the sight of a worried looking Celestia and Luna. That quickly changed once they saw you were okay. In an instant their faces contorted into deep scowls.

“Would you mind explaining to us why in Equestria two of our guards found you covered in what the doctors described as Diamond Dog wounds?” Luna growled.

‘I have the oddest sense of déja vu right now.’ You thought to yourself.

“Would you believe I got them trying to help somepony in need?” At that, both Celestia and Luna let out a long exasperated groan.

“Why do you hold your own safety in such little regard?” Celestia asked.

“It’s not that I hold my own safety in little regard.” You explained. “It’s just that I hold the safety and concerns of others on much higher regard.”

“Blackstar, you need to take better care of yourself.” Luna said with a sigh. “We worry about you. Now please, start your story from the beginning.”

You told Celestia and Luna about finding Blackstar’s parents and telling them about who you really were. You then explained that on your way back to Ponyville you found Trixie collapsed in the middle of a dirt road. Then, you told them about fighting the Diamond Dog leader and the rest of his gang, and about finding the magicite necklace. You finally finished with digging your way to the surface and teleporting to Canterlot. For a while, Celestia and Luna just looked at you with sympathetic looks in their eyes. Eventually though, they found the nerve to speak.

“So, you really are in the body of one of our former subjects.” Luna stated. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not gonna lie. I feel a little guilty. I mean, I essentially stole someone’s life.”

“You didn’t steal anything.” Luna stated firmly. “The original Blackstar was already dead. Anyway, I’m proud of you for telling his family the truth.” She finished with a smile.

“Me too,” Celestia continued. “Although, I will miss being the only ones to know the truth about who you really are.” The three of you shared a quick laugh and continued to talk for a while.

“Hey, why aren’t you yelling at me for the stupid stunt I pulled? Normally you two would be all over me for something like this.”

“Oh, we sent a letter to Twilight and her friends telling them about your condition. We figured they’d yell at you enough for the two of us. In fact, they should be here any minute.” Celestia explained with a wicked grin.

“WHAT IN THE HAY WERE YA THINKIN’?!” A familiar voice shouted at you.

“Oh no.”

Hell Hath No Fury

“WHAT IN THE HAY WERE YA THINKIN’?!”

“Oh no,” you said, already preparing for the worst.

‘Damn you Celestia. A pissed off Applejack is a fate worse than death. Okay, calm down. You can talk your way out of this… probably.’

“Why would ya go an’ do somethin’ as stupid as mess with Diamond Dogs!”

You quickly looked around the room, hoping to find someone in the room that had some sympathy for you that you could use. However, that didn’t end up panning out. All of your friends had scowls on their faces that could put Celestia and Luna’s to shame. Even Fluttershy looked angry with you. Actually, her face scared you more than the others.

‘Ahhh! I take it back! Angry Fluttershy is so much worse than Applejack.’ You screamed in your head. ‘Okay, calm down. I’ll just tell them what happened.’

“Listen, Applejack. I have a good reason for what I did.”

“Let me guess,” Applejack replied with a roll of her eyes, “ya ran into a pony that needed help and it somehow led to ya fightin’ Diamond Dogs to do it.”

“That is about the gist of it.”

“Honestly, you are so predictable sometimes.” Rainbow Dash huffed, hovering in one corner of the room.

“Look, I know I’m prone to helping ponies. But there’s a lot more to it than that. So, can I please explain the rest of my story before you all start chewing me out?”

“Alright,” Twilight sighed, “it’s only fair that you have a chance to explain yourself.”

“Thank you. Okay, I’ll start this from the beginning. I was on my way back to Ponyville and I was on this little side trail that nopony seemed to use much. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going and suddenly tripped over something.”

“How does this lead to you fighting Diamond Dogs, darling?”

“I’m getting to that. This is a long story, so please just bear with me.” The girls and Spike all nodded and allowed you to continue. “I picked myself up off the ground and turned to look to see what I tripped over, which turned out to be a pony. She was in bad shape, and was so covered in dirt and blood that I could barely her gender. I quickly teleported into the closest town and got the mare to a hospital. The doctor asked me to come and see the mare the next day to visit the mare I’d saved. And when I did it turned out to be Trixie.”

“What!?” Your friends cried out in unison.

“You’re telling me that you put yourself into the hospital over Trixie?!” Rainbow Dash growled, getting close to your face.

“Rainbow Dash, calm down,” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice. “Blackstar said that she was in bad shape. He couldn’t just leave her alone.”

“And he didn’t.” Rainbow Dash snapped. “He got her to the hospital and made sure she was o.k. he didn’t need to do anything else.”

“Look, both of ya make a good point.” Applejack said. “But, let Blackstar finish his story.”

“Thanks Applejack. Ahem, when I found out it was Trixie I was about as excited as the rest of you, and wanted to leave then and there. But, my curiosity got the better of me and had me ask what happened to her. She told me a group of Diamond Dogs sprang up and tried to steal her caravan. When she wouldn’t give it to them: they swarmed her, took her caravan and left her there to die. I couldn’t leave that alone and so I decided to help her get it back. A few days later, we went to where I found her and went down into the tunnels that the Diamond Dogs were in. When we found them I easily took care most of them with my magic, but their leader had a magicite necklace.”

“What the hay is magicite?” Applejack asked.

“It’s a rare mineral that is immune to all types of magical energy. If somepony were to wear it then a unicorn wouldn’t be able to use magic on them.” Twilight explained.

“Exactly,” you said with a nod. “So when I noticed the necklace I had no choice but to fight the leader with my bare hooves. It was a difficult fight, but I finally managed to get the advantage over him and knocked him out cold. Then I took his magicite necklace and Trixie and I made our way back to the surface with her caravan in tow.”

“That’s quite the story.” Rarity said. “But, what made you want to help her?”

“What do you mean?” You asked, confused.

“I don’t know; it just seems like you had something extra motivating you other than your normal moral compass.”

“I guess you’re right.” You admitted. “I guess you could say I could just relate to Trixie, and that really made me want to help her.”

“That’s crazy, Blackstar.” Rainbow Dash blurted out. “You and Trixie are nothing alike. She’s completely selfish and bigheaded. And you’re one of the nicest and humblest guys I know.”

“That’s not what reminded me of her. When she told me that those Diamond Dogs stole her caravan, she looked devastated. I know what it’s like to lose something really important, not to mention I used to travel around a lot like she does. I felt like if things in my life had ended up differently in my life, I could’ve been just like her. So I really wanted to try and change her for the better.”

“So, did ya end up changing her?” Applejack asked.

“I think so.” You admitted with a smile. “I mean, I was able to make friends with her.”

“Only you could make friends with a pony like Trixie.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I just did what I thought was right.” You said with a shrug. “I’m just glad that you all aren’t mad at me anymore.”

“Hold on there, pardner. We never said that we ain’t still mad at ya. We’re just not as mad at ya. Yer still gonna get punished for bein’ so thickheaded and rushin’ into trouble. When we get back to Ponyville yer gonna be buckin’ trees, cleanin’ out the muck in the pig pens, and whatever else pops into mah head for a long while.”

“I saw that one coming from a mile away.” You replied with a chuckle. “It’s good to see you all again.”

“The same goes for us.” Rarity said. “Now just try to get some rest, darling. We want you to come home as soon as possible.

“Alright,” you replied, laying your head down on the pillow of your hospital bed.

After your friends left you drifted off into a dreamless sleep. A part of you was dreading the punishment that Applejack had planned for you, but another was just happy to be returning home. You had to stop and catch your thoughts for a moment. That had been the first time you had referred to it as “Your” home and not the Apple family’s home. You smiled at yourself internally for this development. Eventually, you had to wake up and you were greeted by a soft knocking on the door to your hospital room.

“Hey, Blackstar, it’s me. Can I come in?” A familiar voice called out to you.

“Sure, come on in.”

The door opened and Flarewing was standing in the doorframe. “Hey dude, I heard you were back in town.”

“Hey yourself, I was hoping you’d come and visit me.”

“Well, what kind of best friend would I be if I wasn’t there for my friend when he’d bored out of his skull in a hospital?”

“Thanks, I’m just glad I’m getting a visitor that isn’t chewing me out.”

“From what Luna told me, your friends from Ponyville have already done plenty of that. So, is there anything you want to talk about in particular?”

“There is something that I’ve had on my mind for a while, and I think you’re the only one I can talk to about it.

“This sounds pretty serious.” Flarewing replied, lowering his brow. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really,” you started, “I mean it’s still important, but…”

“Blackstar, calm down,” Flarewing interrupted. “Just spit it out, dude.”

You managed to put your thoughts in order and took a deep breath. “I was just wondering; if a friend starts dating another friend… do things get weird?”

“Where’d this come from?” Flarewing asked. “Do you have a specific friend in mind?”

“No, it’s just that, a lot of my friends back in Ponyville are girls, and I get along with all of them. So I just wanted to know if escalating things with one of them would complicate things in our group.”

“Well, are you attracted to any of them?”

“I don’t know.” You admitted. “I’m not entirely sure what that feels like.”

“Trust me, when you feel it, you’ll know. So if you don’t really feel attracted to them then you shouldn’t ask any of your friends out. Now, if you do eventually find yourself attracted to one of your friends then you will run the risk of making things weird with your other friends. And if the relationship doesn’t pan out and you end up breaking up with this friend then don’t expect things to go back to normal right away, if they ever do.”

“Thanks. Ya know that was a surprisingly intelligent answer from you, Flarewing.” You said with a smirk.

“Of course, you asked me about my area of expertise, mare on stallion relations.” Flarewing replied, ignoring your remark. “Also, I’d recommend that you try going on dates with a few mares. It’ll help you figure out how to have a successful date. And when you’re ready to take a serious relationship to the next level, I can give you advice for the more ‘intimate’ part of a date.”

You easily figured out what Flarewing meant and instantly felt your face go flush. “Uh, no thanks. I’m pretty sure if I go that far with a girl, then it’ll work itself out.” At that, Flarewing started to laugh uproariously. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” he replied, barely able to collect himself. “You’ll find out for yourself.”

You and Flarewing continued to talk for a while until a nurse came in and told Flarewing that visiting hours were over. You two brohoofed and he slipped out the door.

Later.

Rarity walked into the Carousel Boutique with her mail in tow. She quickly found the foal-sitter that she had hired to watch Sweetie Belle, and made her way to her room. At first glance it looked like Sweetie Belle was asleep, but all of a sudden Sweetie Belle whipped around and sprang up onto the bed.

“Is Blackstar okay?!” She cried out in her shrill voice.

“He’s fine Sweetie Belle; he just needs a day or two to recover.”

“That’s good. I was really worried when I heard about that letter Twilight got.”

“I wasn’t aware you cared so much about Blackstar.”

“Well yeah, Apple Bloom really likes him. If anything happened to him she’d be destroyed.”

“It’s very sweet of you to be concerned about your friend.” Rarity replied; proud of how mature her little sister was becoming.

“Besides, he promised to help me get my cutie mark. If something happened to him, then I might never get it!”

Rarity laughed a little at this. Sweetie Belle was still at the age where she could afford to be selfish every now and then. Besides, she had been worse at that age anyway. Rarity put Sweetie Belle to bed, and made her way to her own room. Rarity sat down on her bed and started to rummage through her mail while thinking to herself.

‘I almost feel like we were too hard on Blackstar back in Canterlot. He was only being selfless trying to help a pony in need. Actually, I think it’s his selflessness that draws all of us to him. Then again, he did nearly get himself killed, so it does even out. I swear the boy needs to stop being so impulsive. Oh well, Applejack has his punishment lined up so there’s no need to be too mad at him. Speaking of Applejack, we’re the only ones who have our proto-dates with Blackstar left. I wonder what I should do for mine.’

No sooner did the thought come into her head, than her eyes rested on a strange letter. She opened the letter and examined its contents. When she saw what it was her eyes lit up and a smile worked its way onto her face.

“That’ll do,” she said to herself.

A Night in Manehattan

You scrubbed yourself desperately in a futile hope to make yourself feel clean. Once your body started to burn from the friction of your scrubbing you decided to just give up and let the water cascade on your fur for a moment or so. This had been your third shower and yet you still didn’t feel any cleaner than when you started. Applejack had been true to her word and had enough chores to keep an army busy for a month lined up for you. Earlier that day you had to clean out the pig pens and unfortunately you had fallen into the muck. You were up to your neck in what you hoped was only mud, but you knew it wasn’t. Somehow you’d managed to crawl out of the pen, but Applejack made you finish up in there before letting you clean yourself off.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be clean again.’ You thought with a shudder. ‘Applejack has given me all of the crap work around the farm for two weeks now. And the worst part is that I couldn’t use my magic for any of it. Oh well, at least it’s over now. And I learned my lesson, don’t get caught being reckless ever again.’ You finished with a smirk.

You finished your shower and walked into your room started to think about what to do with the rest of your day. In the end you just decided to wander around town for a bit. The town was as peaceful as when you had first walked into it over a month ago. The only difference now seemed to be that you fit into everything. You knew most of the ponies and had an idea on what was going on with their lives. You smiled for a while at this. You had changed so much since you had come to Equestria; and in more than the obvious way of your body. You still missed your old world a little, but not as much as you had. You shook all of those thoughts out of your head and just started to focus on what you should do with your free time. But before you could, you noticed Rarity was heading your way.

“Why hello there, darling.” Rarity called out to you. “What are you up to today?”

“Hey Rarity,” you replied, “not much I was just trying to find something to do.”

“That’s good to hear. I have an offer for you. Would you care to hear about it?”

“Uh sure.” You answered, starting to feel uneasy with the way she was looking at you. “What’s your offer?”

“I received an invitation to attend a pristine dinner party in Manehattan, and since the invitation had a plus one attachment, I figured I’d take you with me.”

“When is this dinner party?”

“It’s in three days.”

“I don’t know Rarity. Applejack just forgave me for my last little excursion out of Ponyville.”

“Applejack was angry because you put yourself in the hospital. If you’re with me then you won’t have a chance to get into any trouble.” Rarity finished with an underlying edge of a threat in her voice.

“Okay, but why me? Isn’t there anypony better suited for something like this?”

“I couldn’t think of anypony better if I tried. This party is a chance for me to impress all sorts of ponies and others that could showcase my clothes all over the world. And seeing as you lived with the princesses you have experience dealing with a high-class environment.”

“Twilight lived in Canterlot longer than I did. Wouldn’t she be better to bring along than me?”

“True, but Twilight doesn’t have the artistic side that you do. Plus, it’d be better if I brought a stallion as my plus one. If I took Twilight some ponies might get the wrong idea.”

“So you want me to pretend to be your coltfriend?” You asked, your cheeks burning red. “Uh sorry Rarity, but I think I have to um… wash my mane, so I can’t make it.” You stuttered before turning and walking away. You only managed to get a few feet away before she called out to you.

“I get it; you can’t even make time to help me accomplish the dream I’ve had ever since I was a foal. This could be the greatest chance I’ll ever get. I’ll just stick with being a small time fashion designer.”

You stopped and let your shoulders droop while she continued to guilt-trip you. “Fine, I’ll go to Manehattan with you.”

“Oh thank you Blackstar!” Rarity squealed as she wrapped her hooves around you in a massive hug. “You won’t regret this!”

‘I already do.’ You thought.

“Now come on we need to get you ready and presentable before we leave for the party.”

“And what will that entail?”

“We have to take you to the spa to give you a full body and hoof treatment. Then, we’re going to a salon and get your mane done, and then we have to get you fitted for a tux!” Rarity happily chirped as she led you through the streets of Ponyville.

‘Oh yeah, I’m definitely regretting this.’

Getting ready wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. It was still bad. Just not absolute torture like you thought it would be. The spa was probably the worst. Getting rubbed down by two mares was extremely awkward, although, you did have to fight the stylist at the salon over your mane. For once in your life you had long hair and you weren’t going to let some jerk with scissors take that from you. In the end you finally were what Rarity called “presentable” and she took you to the carriage that would take the two of you to Manehattan.

You let out a deep breath that you weren’t aware you had been holding. You let your eyes wander back up towards Rarity’s. The two of you had been on the road for a few hours now. You chastised yourself for getting so embarrassed. It was only Rarity. She was only scary if you spilled something on one of her outfits, or if you messed up her mane.

“What’s wrong, darling? I’m not going to bite you or anything.”

“Sorry, I guess I’m not used to being alone with a mare in a closed space like this.”

“Don’t worry about it. Actually, I have something that might help.” Rarity said, using her magic to pull out a bottle of champagne and two glasses, which she proceeded to fill. “Here, this should help you relax.”

As soon as your eyes fell on the bottle your mind flashed to when you were a child living with your father and all of his worst moments. Even down to when he took his life.

*Bang*

“Blackstar? Blackstar, Blackstar, are you okay?!” Rarity called out.

“Sorry… my mind just drifted away there for a second there.”

“Um, Blackstar, are you crying?”

You brought a hoof up to your eye and sure enough there was moisture. “I guess I was.” You said slowly.

“What were you thinking about? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Thanks, but don’t worry about it. I’m already over it.”

“Did that have something to do with the drinks because I can put them away?”

“No, it had nothing to with the drinks. It’s just that when I’m stressed my mind tends to wander, and it looks like it wandered to a bad place this time.” You answered, which wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Okay, well you never did answer if you wanted one of these.”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea for a seventeen year old like me to be getting into alcohol.”

“Wait a minute,” Rarity said, taken aback. “You’re only seventeen?”

“Yeah, didn’t I ever tell you? Does it really surprise you?”

“No, you never told us, although that does explain quite a bit.”

“What do you mean?”

“How you go from being so mature to a total foal sometimes.”

“I do not act like a foal.” You replied with an overdramatic huff. “I’m the most masculine stallion ever. Could a foal beat up an entire gang of Diamond Dogs?”

“You just proved my point.” Rarity said with a giggle.

The rest of the trip was much better. Rarity seemed to forget about your little outburst, or maybe she was just pretending to. Either way, you were more relaxed for the rest of the ride. Early the next morning the two of you made it to the hotel that Rarity and you would be staying in during your stay in Manehattan. The rest of your day was spent taking in the sights and going to various museums. You and Rarity had a lot of fun and you impressed Rarity with your knowledge on art. The next night you and Rarity went to the dinner party. The party was in an expensive loft overlooking the city. You made your way through the crowd and introduced yourself to various high-class ponies and griffons. At some point Rarity led you to a group of other ponies and griffons and told you that they were some of the biggest names in the world when it came to fashion.

“So Blackstar, was it? What do you do for a living?” A stallion named Fancypants asked.

“Nothing much at the moment. Really, I’m sort of a professional student. I study any and all magic I can get my hooves on and master it.

“Are you any good?” A random mare asked.

“Blackstar was a student to the princesses.” Rarity answered.

“That’s very impressive. I hadn’t heard that the princesses had taken on another student.” A griffon replied.

“I don’t believe you.” A random snooty mare proclaimed. “I mean, you expect me to believe that this little colt here was good enough to be trained by the princesses? Why don’t you prove it?”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” You asked, annoyed at the mare for her attitude.

“Give us a little demonstration of your magic.”

“Now that sounds like fun. Fancypants said. “Go ahead; show us a little of what you can do.”

You looked to Rarity to see if she could talk the group out of this, but instead she just gave you a supportive nod. You racked your brain for any ideas of what you could do to impress the high class ponies. You looked back at Rarity again and suddenly a bolt of inspiration hit you. You sparked up your horn and levitated all of the punch out of the bowl, and had it hover over the center of the room. Dissatisfied with the amount of liquid under your control, you started to take people’s drinks. Once the sphere of liquid was to your liking you created a giant ice sculpture of Rarity in her dress with a large air pocket in its center. You weren’t done yet though, you sent out a large surge of ultraviolet light into the air pocket of the statue. Using what you knew about physics you used the ultraviolet light to create a miniature aurora borealis inside the ice sculpture.

“Does that prove anything? Or do I have to do something else?” You asked the speechless ponies you had been talking to.

“I think that little demonstration will suffice.” Fancypants said with a chuckle. “How did you manage to pull all of that off?”

“Most of the spells I used were actually fairly simple. It just helps to have a beautiful and talented mare like Rarity to inspire you.” You said indicating Rarity.

“I see, well if that’s the case then I’d say she must be one incredible mare to inspire all that.”

“I think you should talk to her about that. She has a lot of ideas that I’m sure you’d like to hear about.”

The evening continued and everything seemed to be going well. Rarity was hitting it off with all of the fashion representatives and others. That was until,

“Well Blackstar, you’re one of the most interesting ponies I’ve ever met.” Hoity Toity said. “The only thing I could criticize is that ratty old bag you have slung up on your back.”

“This bag was my father’s, excuse me for a moment.” You said, as calmly as you could, and teleported out of the room.

You appeared in the middle of the balcony behind the loft and opened the bottle of champagne that you had swiped from the party and brought it to your lips. It took time for you to adjust to the taste but you muddled through and pretty soon almost half the bottle was gone. You sat on the railing that overlooked the city, opened your bag, and brought out the envelope that contained your father’s suicide note. You nearly bore holes in it with the intensity of your stare. After a few minutes of staring you heard the door to the balcony open. You didn’t bother to turn around; you weren’t in the mood to talk with anyone.

“Blackstar are you out here darling?”

“Uh huh, now please leave.” You said, taking a drink from the bottle of champagne.

“Are you drinking that whole bottle?! That’s way too much for somepony as young as you!”

“Look, I’m angry, and depressed, and I need something to drown out the conflicting emotions, now leave.” You snapped bitterly.

“Now I really can’t let you have that.” Rarity replied, levitating the bottle away from you. “Heavy drinking and extreme emotions is a poor mix.” You immediately teleported the bottle back to you and glared at Rarity.

“You’re not my mother Rarity! You can’t control what I do!” Rarity was taken aback by your outburst, but her expression took on a more tender feel to it and walked right up to you and started stroking your mane. There wasn’t anything romantic to the gesture, it was just, comforting. That and the serene glint in her icy blue eyes sent you back to when you were a child and how your mother would comfort you after a particularly difficult day. Then, tears came unbidden to your eyes. “Dammit, why am I blubbering like a baby?”

“You’re an emotional drunk darling. These things happen. Now, what made you do all this?”

“I started to think about my dad, and that always causes a mess in my head.”

“Why don’t you and your father get along?”

“Let’s just say he’s the reason that I moved around so much. He couldn’t get over something and instead of trying to deal with it, he just ran away from his problems.”

“And you’re not doing that right now by drowning your sorrows in spirits?”

“At least I usually try to solve my problems. This is just an etrenua… extre… this is special.” You answered with a frown.

“I’m only teasing, darling. Listen, maybe you should try to reconcile with him. It’s not healthy to have this kind of grudge with your family.”

“I wouldn’t know where to find him.” You lied. “He’s probably still moving all over the place. Damn, alcohol makes me talk a lot.”

“I know it’s a healthy change of pace.” Rarity said with a chortle. “I’m sorry that things are so tough between you and your father.”

“It’s okay, everypony in Ponyville is like my family now: you, Rainbow Dash, and especially the Apple family. Rarity, I’m sleepy.”

“Don’t worry darling, just get some rest.”

Rarity helped pull you down from the ledge and laid your head down in her lap. You looked up into Rarity’s eyes and felt a dopey, alcohol induced grin spread across your face. And with the smell of liquor and Rarity’s perfume mingling in the air, you drifted off into a state of unconsciousness.

Apples and Stars

Applejack paced back and forth in her room frantically racking her brain tirelessly over a very important subject. ‘What the hay am Ah supposed t’do fer mah fake date with Blackstar? No matter what Ah try, Ah can’t think of anythin’ better than the others. Maybe its fer the best, Ah don’t think Ah’d be a good fit fer ‘im. He’d probably be better with Twilight. They’ve got a lot more in common. Ah should let the others know that Ah’m givin’ up on Blackstar.’ Just as Applejack was about to leave, something inside her made her stop.

‘What in the name of Celestia do you think you’re doing?’

‘Not you again,’ Applejack groaned inwardly. ‘Look, Ah’ve made up mah mind, Ah’m not gonna listen t’ya.’

‘Fine, give up. This is your life. You can screw it up however you want.’

‘Ah just don’t want t’be competin’ with mah friends anymore.’

‘That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it!’

‘What are ya gettin’ at?’

‘I’m saying you’re just denying the real reason you want to give up, you’re scared.’

‘What do Ah have t’be scared of?’

‘You’re scared of letting Blackstar get too close. For the longest time it’s just been you and your family. Sure, you’ve got your friends, but this is different isn’t it? Falling in love means allowing somepony into your life more than any normal friend would ever get. And now that there’s somepony special to you so close to that, you’re terrified. You just want to throw it all away so that you don’t have to deal with the change. But do you really think giving up and just staying friends is going to make your feelings for Blackstar go away? I think you and I both know that, that isn’t very likely.’

‘Yer right.’ Applejack admitted. ‘Ah am scared of what could happen if Ah let Blackstar get too close. But, Ah really do like ‘im, maybe even… love ‘im. What do ya think Ah should do?’

‘First, don’t give up. You need to do your fake date with Blackstar, and then, well, let’s just take this one step at a time.’

‘Okay, do ya have any ideas fer that?’

‘Sorry, I can’t help you with that one. Talk to one of your friends and see if they can help.’

And with that, the voice was gone again. Applejack let out a sigh of relief and started to think which one of her friends she should ask. Rainbow Dash was out; she was with the Wonderbolts for the day. Rarity was good with romance, but she’d probably recommend some sort of makeover. Then, Applejack thought back to the other times she’d had problems involving Blackstar. Twilight had been the one to help her with some pretty good advice. That pretty much settled it. Applejack made her way out the door and set out for the library. A few minutes later she was at Twilight’s doorstep. Applejack took a deep breath and slowly knocked on the front door.

“Hello, how may I help… Oh, Applejack, I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Twilight said.

“Hi Twilight, Ah was hopin’ Ah could talk t’ya fer a while… in private.”

“Not a problem,” Twilight said, letting Applejack in, “Spike went out and said that he was going to hang out with Blackstar. He said something about needing guy time.”

“That makes sense; both of ‘em probably need it.”

“So why did you want to talk to me alone?” Twilight asked, cutting to the chase.

“It’s about Blackstar. Ah can’t think of anythin’ fer the fake date.”

“I’m happy to help, but don’t you think Rarity would be better to ask for this sort of thing?”

“Ah considered it, but she’d concoct somethin’ too complicated fer mah tastes. And you’ve given me good advice before.”

“You make a good point. Hmm, maybe I should go see if there’s a book on this somewhere.”

“Twilight,” Applejack said, firmly placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Ah asked you, not some book. How’d ya come up with yer date with Blackstar?”

Twilight nodded in understanding and started to think for a few minutes. “Try taking him somewhere important to you. That’s what I did.”

“Yeah, but all of the places that are important to me are here in Ponyville. That’s nowhere near as impressive as Canterlot.”

“So, Blackstar won’t care. As long the two of you have fun where you are won’t matter. Ooh, also try showing off something that you’re really good at. I’ve read somewhere that helps a lot!”

“Thanks Twilight that really does help me.”

“So do you have an idea now?”

“Ah think Ah might have somethin’.” Applejack thanked Twilight and hurried back to the farm, smiling all the way. She gathered everything she would possibly need and spent the next few hours preparing for her date.

Spike had found you while you were looking for something to do and asked if you had wanted to hang out. You accepted. You could use some time away from the girls for a change. They were great and all, but sometimes you just needed guy time. The two of you spent a good bit of time looking around the market for anything cool. Eventually the two of you got it in your heads to start pulling some pranks. It didn’t take much to convince you to do this. You had never pulled pranks before coming to Ponyville.

The two of you talked it over for a while and headed into the joke shop and picked up the equipment you would need. You both bought: sneezing powder, various fake objects that could squirt various liquids and a lot more. Once you had everything you needed you spent the next few hours pulling pranks on anypony you and Spike happened to come across. It was a lot of fun. When you were done, the two of you sat down in the park, still grinning ear to ear.

“I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” Spike stated. “I like Twilight and all, but sometimes I just need some time away from her.”

“Same here; by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a long time. How did you and Twilight get to be so close? I mean, it’s not exactly common for dragons and ponies to live together.”

For a moment Spike seemed to be confused by your question. Then he started to chuckle as he shook his head. “Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know this story. Sometimes I forget that we’ve only known each other for a few months. Anyway, it all started about eleven years ago. Twilight was trying to get into Celestia’s school for gifted Unicorns, and in order to get in she had to hatch a special egg. After trying and failing for a while, she was startled by a loud, prismatic, explosion which caused her magic to go out of control. And as a result I hatched of that egg. That’s how Twilight became Celestia’s personal student, and she thought it was best that she kept me, and we’ve been together ever since.”

“How did those teachers get their hooves on a dragon egg?” You wondered aloud.

“I don’t know, when we asked they just told us that they found my egg along one of Equestria’s borders. They never found any evidence about where my family went. I don’t know anything about them. I don’t know what my parents look like, if I have any brothers or sisters, or even if they miss me. I don’t even know who I really am.” Spike did his best not to cry. In the end he hid his face behind his claws so you wouldn’t see the tears. You couldn’t stand to see Spike like this. You walked up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder.”

“What are you talking about? You’re Spike: baby dragon, number one assistant to Twilight Sparkle, and if it means anything my friend.”

“Thanks Blackstar.” Spike said, wiping his eye with the back of a claw.

“Don’t mention it. If you ever need to talk about this just come find me, I’ll always be ready to listen.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Listen, I gotta get going we should do this again soon, Blackstar.”

“Alright, I should head back too. If I get back to the farm too late Applejack will start to think I’m off doing something stupid again.”

“Sheesh she has you seriously whipped dude.” Spike laughed.

“Watch it scale for brains, it’s not wise to insult a powerful unicorn.” You said with a mocking serious tone.

“Can’t you take a joke?” Spike asked with a shrug and started to head back to the library.

You ignored him and walked back to Sweet Apple Acres. You felt good about the little moment you had just with Spike. You really could relate to him given your own past. You quickly dropped that thought though and walked into the Apple family home. As soon as you did you saw Applejack sitting in the living room reading a book. You decided that you didn’t want to interrupt and started to creep up the stairs. Unfortunately, one of the steps made a long creaking noise when you placed one of your hooves on it. The noise caused Applejack to turn her head. When her eyes met yours a smile spread across her face and she closed her book.

“Well howdy there Blackstar. Ah was wonderin’ when you’d be comin’ home.”

“Hey Applejack, sorry if I interrupted anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that important. Actually, Ah have somethin’ Ah wanna show ya.”

“Oh really, what is it?” You asked.

“You’ve gotta follow me if ya wanna find out.” She answered, striding right out the door.

“Do you really have to make this so difficult?” You replied with feigned exasperation, clearly enjoying Applejack’s playful attitude.

You quickly followed after Applejack as she led you silently through the orchard towards your destination. Eventually Applejack stopped at a surprisingly clear part of the orchard at the top of a hill that had a blanket with a sheet draped over it. Applejack calmly walked over to the sheet and pulled it away to reveal a picnic basket and two plates set up for the two of you.

“What’s up with all of this?”

“Its mah way of thankin’ ya fer everythin’ you’ve done for me and the rest of us here.”

“Really, you’re rewarding me after all the crap I’ve pulled? Most other employers would’ve fired me.” You asked with a cheeky smirk.

“Just shut up and eat the food Blackstar.” Applejack stated in a no nonsense tone.

You still had the smirk on your face as you found a comfortable spot on the blanket. Applejack followed suit and started to take a multitude of food out of the basket and divided it between the two of you. For a while the two of you shared a companionable silence only broken when you gave the occasional bit of praise to Applejack’s cooking skills. Eventually though, Applejack started up the conversation.

“Hard t’believe it’s only been a few months since ya moved here.” She said looking meaningfully into the distance. “Things around here have really picked up since ya came around. Ah never would’ve expected ya t’be such an important part of the farm when I first found ya in the orchard. When Ah first saw ya there Ah pretty much wrote ya off as some useless weirdo that somehow wandered onto mah property. “

“But when ya offered t’help me with mah apple-buckin’ Ah was really surprised. Sure, at first ya could barely make a few apples fall but ya stuck with it. And ever since then you’ve proven that yer a great pony and an even better friend.”

“I think you’re giving me way more credit than I deserve.” You said, blushing awkwardly at the lavish praise you were receiving.

“Ah’m the element of honesty, Ah’m just sayin’ what Ah really think. Things haven’t been this great around the farm in a long time. Apple Bloom finally has her cutie mark, Granny Smith thinks the world of ya, and even Big Mac seems t’have come out of his shell a little. It’s like you’ve helped us all deal with what happened to Ma and Pa, at least a little bit.”

All of a sudden Applejack’s cheery mood disappeared. She did her best to hide her face from you and seemed to be on the verge of tears. You cursed yourself for never noticing this. In all the time you had lived with the Apple family you had never seen a trace of her parents. Even in a world that always seemed so bright and cheery, tragedies could still happen.

“What happened to them?” You asked with as much tact as you could muster.

Applejack took a deep breath and did her best to recount the story. “It happened about six years ago. Mah Pa was a rodeo pony and was pretty famous in those circles. Mah Ma would always go with him to the competitions, and sometimes Big Mac and Ah would get to go with them. Anyway, they were on their way back home from one of the competitions one late night when a storm blew in from the Everfree Forest. They both got caught up in it. Somepony found them the next morning.”

As soon as she finished the story the floodgates opened and you could hear her openly sobbing. Unthinkingly, you walked up to Applejack and wrapped your fore-hooves around her. “It’s okay Applejack. I know what you’re going through.” You whispered softly.

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked, looking up at you, confused.

“My mom died when I was seven, and my dad died a few years later.” You said, trying to keep your own composure. “She was diagnosed with a heart disease and needed a dangerous surgery. Needless to say she didn’t make it.”

“What about yer dad?”

“He… we had an accident in our apartment and he died. After that, I was shipped around to a bunch of different foster homes. So, if you ever need to talk about this, I’m here for you.”

“Thank ya.”

You kept holding Applejack for a while longer, and offering the occasional comforting word. Eventually the sun started to set, and the two of you went back to the farmhouse in silence.

Apples and Stars Pt, II

You couldn’t fall asleep. You still couldn’t believe how much you had told Applejack. Now, it was only a matter of time before she told the others and the thought of their reactions terrified you in a way. You could already picture the looks on their faces, the weak, forced smiles and their eyes. The eyes would be the worst part. They would become deep pools of pity. You had seen that look countless times from many foster families and teachers. You hated that look. Just thinking about was enough to piss you off a little. You let out a deep sigh and got out of the bed.

You slipped your bag on and walked out of the Apple family as quietly as you could. You went out to the orchard toward the hill that Applejack had shown you. Once you were there, you lied down to look at the stars. Unfortunately, the thought of your friends’ reactions wouldn’t leave your mind. You mulled it over for a while, and eventually found something you could distract yourself with. You pulled out your violin and decided to practice playing without your magic. You took a few minutes to try and find a comfortable hold. Once the more traditional positions were ruled out you took on more unorthodox ones. In the end you found something that made you feel like an overdramatic street performer. Once that was taken care of you tried positioning your hoof on the strings. After that, you started with the most basic scales.

It took you a while to make anything that could be qualified as a note, but eventually you started to get the hang of playing the violin without fingers. Once you felt that you had mastered the scales you moved on to simple melodies. This went on for a few hours until your fore-hooves started to ache. You quickly put the violin away and leaned against a tree to look at the stars. Even after the last few months in Equestria you still were captivated by its night sky. You looked at all the unfamiliar constellations that you were slowly starting to learn about. You started to lazily trace the outline of some of them with your hoof when a familiar voice called out to you.

“Blackstar, are ya out here?”

“I’m over here Applejack.” You called out, and cast a light spell to illuminate your immediate area. “What are you doing out this late?”

“Ah’m the one that should be askin’ that.” Applejack replied with a roll of the eyes, taking a seat next to you.

“I just wanted to come out here and clear my head.”

“Is this about what we talked about earlier?”

“Yeah, a little bit. I can’t stop thinking about what the rest of our friends will think of me when they find out about my past.”

“That’s what’s got ya up this late?”

“I know it’s kind of stupid, but I just can’t stop picturing the look in their eyes. It just makes my skin crawl.”

“Yer talkin’ ‘bout pity aren’t ya? Ah know all ‘bout that.” She said with a sigh.

“I bet, you’d think it would get easier after a few years; nope pity is just as annoying even after a decade.”

“Oh great, that means Ah’m gonna be dealin’ with bitin’ mah tongue fer a long time, aren’t Ah?”

“Sorry to be the one to break the bad news, but somepony had to tell you.”

Applejack had a faint smirk on her face that lasted a fleeting moment before taking on a more serious edge. “Blackstar, Ah need t’be serious with ya fer a moment. How’d ya do it? How’d ya deal with losin’ yer parents on yer own?”

“I didn’t really. Before I became Celestia and Luna’s student I was just a stupid, angry, kid. I got tossed around so many homes that I can hardly even keep track of em’ all.”

“How did ya become their personal student anyway?”

“I failed to get into the school for gifted unicorns, so I decided to sneak into the Princesses’ castle through an opening in the garden. My thought was I could convince them to let me into the school. Instead, I got bit by a venomous snake and passed out. Luckily, a night guard found me before the venom spread too far. After I was treated I explained myself to the Princesses and you know the rest from there. As much as I hate pity it’s the only reason I was trained in magic.” You said glumly.

“So, what the Princesses did may have done may have come from pity or sympathy, but look what it’s done, yer just about as good with magic as Twilight. Ah think that speaks more about ya than anything else. Yer the hardest worker Ah’ve ever met. You should be proud of yerself.”

“You always give me way too much credit Applejack.”

“I give you so much credit because Ah’m yer friend. Y’know, friends are supposed t’support each other.” She replied with a smirk.

“You really don’t wear condescension well.” You stated with a smirk of your own.

“Ah wouldn’t have t’get condescendin’ with ya if ya didn’t keep makin’ me state the obvious.”

“Fair enough,” you conceded with a shrug. “Hey Applejack, would you mind if I asked what your parents were like?”

“Ah guess not. But ya gotta do the same.”

“That seems fair. I guess I’ll go first since I brought it up in the first place. My parents were actually Earth ponies.”

“Are you serious?” Applejack asked confused.

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Ah dunno, but Ah guess it’s not impossible. Ah mean look at the Cake twins.”

“Exactly, now, let me finish my story. I’ve mentioned it before but my mother was a violinist at a local theatre. She was the nicest mare I think I’ll ever know. She only had to smile and all of your problems would go away. I don’t remember what my Dad did too well. I just know it was business related. He always worked hard and with the way he acted around my mom, you’d swear they were still newlyweds.” You stated with a small smile. “But once my mom died,” you continued, your smile disappearing, “my dad changed drastically. He almost never smiled, and he turned to alcohol to try and drown his sorrows. That only made things worse. A part of me wanted to blame myself for his condition. I was constantly getting in trouble at school. I would pick fights with the bullies at school. Whenever I brought home news about a new punishment from school he would break down and sob. I wanted to hate him, wanted to chastise him for being so weak. Actually, a part of me still does.” You admitted grimly.

Applejack was trying and failing to fight back tears. She placed a hoof on your shoulder, hoping to comfort you in some small way. She managed to collect herself enough to ask, “Ya mentioned an accident killed yer Pa, what happened?”

“There was a fire.” You lied. “I managed to get out but my dad wasn’t so lucky. Since nopony knew about any relatives of mine I was sent to foster homes until I managed to make it to Canterlot and you know the rest from there.”

“Ah’m amazed Blackstar. Ah don’t think Ah could’ve turned out like you if Ah went through half o’ that. Ah dunno if it means anything, but you’ll always have a special place in the Apple Family.” She said wrapping you in a massive hug. You returned the gesture with a grin on your face.

“Actually Applejack, that means the world to me. I can never repay you and your family enough for everything you’ve done for me, and for putting up with all my crap.”

“You’ve done plenty fer us, just by bein’ you.” She stated warmly.

Eventually, the two of you ended the hug and fell into a comfortable silence for a short time. You turned to the mare sitting next to you with a dopey grin on your face and said, “Okay, I’ve told you about my parents so now it’s your turn.”

“Fine,” Applejack replied with a roll of the eyes. “Ah suppose fair’s fair n’all. Mah Pa was the Apple an’ mah Ma was an Orange named Orange Blossom.”

“So with you it really is like comparing apples and oranges.” That statement earned you a punch to the shoulder.

“Anyway, they met when Pa was going to a rodeo just outside of Manehattan. Apparently it was love at first sight. Mah Ma got a lot of weird looks from her family when she married Pa, but she never cared. She was like that. She always did whatever she wanted and didn’t care what anypony thought. Ma and Pa were amazin’ together. They always managed t’balance work, their personal lives, and raisin’ Big Mac and me. Ah’ve always strived t’be just like ‘em no matter what. And Granny always says that Ah look just like Ma.”

“She must’ve been beautiful.” You stated.

“Thank ya Blackstar. Ah gotta say, Ah feel better after havin’ this talk.”

“Me too, maybe we should do it more often. Oh and Applejack?” You said, inching closer to Applejack.

“What is it?” She asked, getting nervous with how close you were.

Just when your muzzles were dangerously close to touching did you act. You lifted your hoof up and snatched Applejack’s hat right off her head. You quickly put the hat on your head and teleported away. Applejack sprang to her feet and whipped her head around to try and find you.

“Blackstar, give me back mah hat!” Applejack called out.

“No way Applejack, if you want this hat back, you have to find me.”

“This isn’t funny!”

You chuckled appearing behind Applejack. “I have to disagree,” Applejack tried to tackle you, but you disappeared in another flash of light and Applejack caught nothing but empty air. “This is hilarious, to me at least.”

“This is unfair!” Applejack cried. “How am Ah supposed t’find ya when ya keep teleportin’?”

“How is it unfair when I’m the one making the rules?”

This continued for a few minutes. You would appear close to Applejack and she would come tantalizingly close to getting her precious hat back. After a while though, you stopped teleporting, and Applejack was getting desperate. She was having a hard time seeing, even with your light spell. She scanned the nearby treetops hoping to find any sign of you. “Now where did that snake in the grass go?” She muttered under her breath. Just then, you appeared in Applejack’s line of sight, suspending yourself from a tree limb with your rear hooves.

“I think I’d prefer to be called a bat in a tree in this case.” You said with a goofy grin on your face. Applejack let out a cute squeak in her surprise and immediately punched you in the gut. The blow was enough to knock the wind out of you, causing you to collapse onto the ground, and Applejack’s hat to fall off your head. She quickly scooped it up and returned it to its proper resting place.

“Ya nearly scared me half t’death there, Blackstar.” Applejack growled. You picked yourself off of the ground and shot her a pitiful look.

“Aren’t you even a little worried that I might be hurt?”

“Ah didn’t hit ya that hard. Keep it up and Ah can show ya what years of apple buckin’ can do fer a pony’s strength.”

“I can’t believe this. You’re turning into an abusive brute, Applejack!”

“If Ah’m such a brute then maybe ya can find another place t’work.”

“Hold on there, Applejack, let’s not do anything hasty now.”

“So, am Ah an abusive brute?” Applejack asked arching an eyebrow at you.

“Of course not, you’re the best pony ever! And I’m extremely lucky to have a friend like you!”

“That’s what Ah thought, now come on. We have a long day tomorrow and we’ll need plenty of rest.”

A yawn escaped your mouth and you nodded at her suggestion. The two of you walked side by side, the two of you laughing at your previous exchange. Occasionally you would look over to Applejack and felt a tightening in your chest. You didn’t know what make of it and forgot about it as soon as your head hit your pillow back in your room, and you drifted off to what you hoped would be a pleasant sleep.

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

A few days had passed since your talk with Applejack and things were back to normal. Or at least they should’ve been. For some reason you felt uncomfortable around Applejack. You weren’t afraid of her telling your friends your secret. She had promised that she wouldn’t, and Applejack always kept her promises. You just couldn’t describe it. Whenever you looked at her your chest would tighten, you felt like your body was about to break out into a cold sweat, and it became hard to breathe. You also had to stop your gaze from shifting to her lower half constantly. You had no idea of what to make of all of these changes. But you knew somepony that might. The only problem was getting to them. You’d have to tell Applejack where you were going. You shook all of the doubt from your mind. If things were going to be normal between you and her then you had to do this. You found Applejack in town, selling her products like she usually did. When she saw you she greeted you with a warm smile. You felt the tightening in your chest return. You ignored it the best you could and walked up to her.

“Hey Applejack, I was thinking about going to Canterlot to visit Flarewing.”

“Why do ya wanna do that?” Applejack asked.

“Well, the last time I saw him was when I was in a hospital bed. So I figured I should hang out with him for the day.”

“Alright, just be back soon.” Applejack said with a sigh.

“Got it, you’ll see me in about two weeks and have to come get me from the hospital.” You replied with a wicked grin.

“That’s not funny Blackstar.”

“So I take it you don’t want that to become a regular thing between us when I leave town?”

“Just go before Ah change mah mind.”

“Fine, don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” You said as you vanished in a flash of light.

You appeared on the outskirts of Canterlot and made it through the gates without a problem. You talked to the guard for a little bit and then headed towards your destination. It was the middle of the day so there was a good chance you knew exactly where to find him. You walked down several streets and walked up a set of stairs until you were at the door to Flarewing’s apartment. You knocked and waited a while but there was no response. You tried to knock again but that yielded the same results. You let out a quick sigh and fished out the spare key he had given you and stepped through the door. You had been to Flarewing’s apartment once or twice before and nothing had changed. It wasn’t dirty or clean, just a little sloppy. There were a few empty containers lying around and papers were scattered along his coffee table. Unfortunately Flarewing wasn’t in the front part of his apartment. You thought that he was most likely asleep. You walked down the hallway and slowly opened the door to his bedroom. Much to your dismay you found Flarewing getting “acquainted” with a Unicorn mare. You carefully closed the door with your face taking on a crimson hue. You took a few deep breaths and calmed down. After a while, an idea popped into your head and an impish grin spread across your face. You used your magic to change your voice and appearance. You now looked like a slender young mare with virtually the same coloring that you had before. You had to stop yourself from laughing like a madman and threw the door open.

“FLAREWING, WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU DOING!” Both ponies stared at you dumbfounded. You fought the urge to smile and continue. “How could you cheat on me?! After everything I’ve done for you? I’m going to be the mother of your child and this is how you repay me?” The young mare scrambled to her hooves, trying and failing to collect herself.

“Oh dear Celestia, I’m so sorry. I...I had no idea that he… I swear I’m not that kind of mare!”

“Just go, Flarewing and I need to have a long talk.” You said, closing your eyes and turning away from the mare. She nodded furiously and ran out of the apartment. Flarewing tried to stop her but it was too late. He made it back to you and stared you up and down, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Who the hay are you?” He asked. “I know for a fact that I haven’t gotten anypony pregnant.”

“You wound me Flarewing. Don’t you recognize me?” You asked with a smirk on your face.

“Blackstar is that you?” Flarewing asked you in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was here to ask you about something important.” You said strutting across the room and taking a seat on his bed. “But then I found an opportunity to mess with you and I couldn’t let that go to waste.”

“Yeah thanks for that. Now I have to find a way to explain this to everypony.” He said with a groan.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out. Now, I really do need your advice.”

“Look, before we have this important talk… would you undo your transformation? It’s really weird seeing you look this hot.” Flarewing stated, continuing to look you up and down.

“Woops, I guess I forgot to do undo it once we were alone.” You said, returning to your normal form. “Okay, so I wanted to ask you…”

“Blackstar,” Flarewing interrupted.

“What is it?”

“You still sound like a mare.”

“Sorry,” you giggled before undoing the spell. “Is there anything else I forgot or can I ask you for that advice I wanted now?” Flarewing nodded and you took that as your sign to continue. “Lately things have been kind of weird between Applejack and me. You remember Applejack right?”

“Yeah she’s that orange Earth pony that you work for right?” And what do you mean weird? Did something happen between you two?”

“Not really, A few days ago I told her almost everything about my past and, ever since then I’ve had the weirdest reactions whenever I’m around her.”

“What kind of reactions? You’re gonna have to be specific.” You told Flarewing about the symptoms you had been experiencing. When you were finished Flarewing just started to laugh.

“What are you laughing about? Is there something wrong with me? Flarewing shook his head and placed a reassuring hoof across your shoulder.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with you. In fact you’re perfectly normal. You have a crush on your friend Applejack.” Flarewing said with a grin.

“What?! There’s no way I have a crush on Applejack!” You barked. “She’s one of my closest friends. And at this point we’re almost like family.”

“Sorry dude, but the heart wants what the heart wants. But I’ll tell you what. Let’s see if you really do have a crush on her. Can you use your magic to make me sound like her?”

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.” You stated, failing to see where this was going.

“Good then close your eyes and do it.” You did as you were told and waited for a minute or so. All of a sudden you felt hot breath on one of your ears, causing it to lay flat on you head. “Blackstar, Ah want ya. Ah want ya so bad.” Applejack’s voice purred. “Please Ah want ya to plant a big ol’ apple tree inside me.” The voice practically begged. You felt your entire body go flush and a cold sweat broke out along your forehead. Your eyes shot open only to see Flarewing looking at you with a smirk. You quickly undid the spell and turned away from Flarewing. “Wow, I got a reaction out of you in less than ten seconds. You must really like her.”

“Okay maybe I do like her, but what am I supposed to do about it?”

“You’ve gotta tell her. The worst thing she can do is say no.”

“That is not the worst that could happen!” You snapped. “What if she doesn’t like me that way? Or what if things don’t work out between us? It could put a huge strain on our friendship.”

“You not telling her about this is already putting a strain on your friendship!” Flarewing roared. “The longer you sit on this the harder it’ll be to tell her. And Applejack won’t wait for you forever. Eventually some other stallion is going to see just how pretty that mare is and sack up and ask her out! Is that what you want to happen?! Do you want her to run off with somepony else?”

“No,” You sighed.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“No,” you said a little louder.

“I still can’t understand you.”

“No,” you yelled. “I don’t Applejack to be with some other stallion!”

“You’re damn right you don’t!” Flarewing replied, beaming from ear to ear. “And if you want to make that mare yours then you have to do something about it. You’ve got to show her you’re serious.”

“What should I do?”

“Do some crazy gesture that shows her exactly how you feel.” You thought about it for a moment until a bolt of inspiration ran through you. You quietly told Flarewing your idea and a small grin formed on his face. “That could work.”

You spent the better part of the next hour working out the details of your plan until you felt that you were ready. You thanked Flarewing and teleported back to Ponyville. You had a determined look on your face as you started to frantically search for Applejack. Luckily, she was alone in the barn finishing her chores when you found her. She turned around quickly and was surprised with your expression. “Blackstar, what’s wrong? Ah thought ya were still in Canterlot.”

“There’s no time for that! I think I saw Vampire Fruit Bats in the orchard!”

“What?!” Applejack boomed, a look of horror plastered on her face. “The last time Vampire Fruit Bats came in Ponyville nearly starved!”

“I know, but there weren’t that many of them, so if we hurry we can stop them before this becomes a huge problem!”

“Lead the way.” Applejack said as you both rushed out of the barn. You led Applejack to a distant hill in the orchard that overlooked the rest of the town.

“This is the last place I saw them.” You lied. “They should still be around here.”

“Ah hope yer right. Ah’d hate t’think what would happen if we let them run amok.” Applejack said with a shudder.

You let Applejack scan thee trees while you prepared your spell. You fired it off into the air and allowed it to take shape. Once you were finished you got Applejack’s attention and pointed her towards the sky. Her jaw dropped as she saw what you had created. Up in the sky for everyone to see was the message “I <3 Applejack” with a recreation of her next to the message. Applejack turned to you with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

“What’s this all about?”

“Just what it says,” you said, your nerves starting to get to you. “Lately you’ve been on my mind constantly. I have to stop myself from staring at you and… I think I’m falling for you Applejack.” Your words seemed to sink in and what could only be called a smoldering look appeared on her face. She strutted over to you until you were barely inches apart.

“Is that right?” She asked wrapping her fore-hooves around your neck. You were barely able to nod, which made her look intensify. “Then you’d better prove it t’me.” And with that Applejack pressed her lips to yours. Your mind slipped away and you allowed your instincts to take over. Your tongues found each other and started to explore your mouths. Your tongues continued to dance along one another until you felt like you were going to suffocate. Just when it almost became too much, you both broke away from the kiss. You were both still panting as you looked in each other’s eyes and smiled.

“Oh by the way I lied about the Vampire Bats.” You said dumbly.

“Ah kinda figured that out.” Applejack replied with a laugh.

Dream Weaver

You stepped back from Applejack and rubbed the back of your head with a hoof.

“So where do we go from here?” You asked her with a hopeful look on your face. Applejack started to laugh.

“Whadda ya mean where do we go from here? Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really, I didn’t plan this far ahead. I wasn’t even sure you’d say yes.”

“Well Ah did, so what do ya want t’do?”

‘Kiss you again,’ you thought. “I guess we should start dating. And I guess we should tell the others about this.”

“Ya guess? What happened to all that confidence ya had a moment ago?” Applejack asked, playfully bumping against your side. This eased your nerves and you shot her a playful smirk.

“It kind of went bye-bye from that mind-blowing kiss.”

“If all it takes to break ya is a kiss then we’ve got a lot of work on our hooves here.”

“I can’t think of anypony I’d rather work with than you.”

“Well aren’t you a charmer?” Applejack said wrapping her fore-hooves around you again. This time though the kiss was much shorter, but just as passionate as the first. She pulled away from you and started walking toward the barn. “Ah still have t’finish mah chores. Ya can help me if ya promise not t’stare at mah flank.” She said with a wiggle of her hips.

“That’s going to be impossible.” You stated matter of factly.

“What am Ah gonna do with ya?” Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” You and Applejack made it back to the barn and you helped her with the last of your chores. From time you’d look over at Applejack with a goofy grin on your face.

‘I can’t believe it. I told Applejack how I feel about her, and she actually feels the same way. I wonder where things will go from here. I still can’t believe this is happening. I guess I’ll just have to go with the flow and see how things progress on their own.’

Once you and Applejack were finished with the chores you walked side by side into the Apple family home. You both took a seat on the sofa and chatted until it was time for dinner. You thought the meal was progressing normally until Granny Smith spoke up.

“Somethin’ seems different between the two of ya.” She said pointing a hoof at you and Applejack. “Is there somethin’ yer not tellin’ us?” You and Applejack shared a look and silently made a decision.

“I guess you could say something’s different. Applejack and I are dating now.” You admitted.

“Is that so? Just be careful you two. Ah don’t want t’be called Great-Granny Smith just yet.”

You felt your face flush at the comment but all of a sudden a certain filly started bouncing up and down excitedly. “Ah can’t believe it! You’re Applejack’s special somepony. That means ya really are mah big brother now!”

“Whadda ya mean now?” You said scooping up Apple Bloom and tousling her mane. “Didn’t I tell you that I’d always be a big brother to you, Kiddo?”

“Ah know, but this makes it official!”

“I swear,” you said, putting Apple Bloom down, “there’s just no pleasing you.” You finished with an over-dramatic sigh.

“Ah think you’ve been takin’ lessons from Rarity on how t’be a drama-queen.” Applejack said placing a hoof on your shoulder.

“Y’know you love it.”

“Ah can safely say that Ah love a lot of things. We’ll have t’wait and see if yer one of ‘em.” She said with a smirk.

The rest of the meal progressed rather uneventfully all things considered. When you all were finished you offered to clean up and everyone cleared out of the room, everyone that is except Big Mac. The two of you stared at each other for a few moments. You were uncomfortable with the look he was giving you. There was a deep frown on his face and it looked like he was trying to bore a hole in your head with his eyes. After what felt like an eternity he finally decided to speak up.

“So, you and mah sister are datin’.” He stated more than asked.

“That’s right.” You answered, rubbing the back of your head nervously.

“Ah gotta admit, yer a good stallion.”

“Thanks Big Mac, that means a lot coming from you.”

“But,” he said walking right up to you, “if you do anything t’hurt Applejack Ah’ll make sure ya live just long enough t’regret it.”

“Big Mac you have my word, I’d rather die than do anything to hurt her.” You stated confidently.

“Ah’m gonna hold ya to that.” He replied with a soft smile. He turned and started to leave, and just when he was standing in the doorway when he looked back at you and said, “Ah hope the two of you are happy together.”

The next day was your day off so you decided to spend it with Applejack. The two of you walked around Ponyville trying to find something to do together. You mostly wandered around shops and chatted. The day seemed to fly by as you spent time with your new mare-friend. Eventually, dinner rolled around and the two of you decided to invite your friends to tell them about your new relationship. All of them gathered at the restaurant and you all were seated fairly quickly. Once everyone’s drinks arrived you decided to tell everyone.

“Hey everypony, Applejack and I have something to say.” You started with a grin on your face. “We’ve actually started dating.”

“Finally,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, “all of us were wondering when the two of you would get together.”

“Now Rainbow Dash, we shouldn’t tease these two.” Rarity scolded before turning her attention towards you and Applejack. “That’s wonderful news darling. So, how’d the two of you become an item?”

“Well, a few days ago, Applejack and I had a long conversation, and ever since then I’d noticed some weird “symptoms” so with a little help I figured out what they meant. After that, I led Applejack to a secluded spot of the orchard and used my magic to write a message in the sky telling her exactly how I feel.”

“That’s very sweet.” Twilight said.

“I have to agree, but what kind of conversation did the two of you have that made all this happen, that is if it’s okay with you?” Fluttershy asked.

“I… we talked about my past.” You said with a solemn tone.

“Would you mind sharing that with us, darling?” She asked carefully.

You felt the color drain from your face. You had hoped that you’d be dealing with this later rather than sooner. But before you could slip into a full-blown panic you felt someone take hold of one of your hooves. You looked over and saw Applejack with a warm smile on her face. She gave your hoof a comforting squeeze which let you gather your courage. You managed to tell the girls everything you had told Applejack. Like with her, you left out some of the more grisly details. By the end of your story there wasn’t a dry eye at the table. You let your head droop, ready for the pity that was about to come. It never did though. You cautiously looked up and saw slight smiles on your friends’ faces even as they wiped the tears out of their eyes.

“I can’t believe you’ve been through so much.” Fluttershy said softly.

“I can’t either,” Rarity interjected, “although, it does explain quite a bit.”

“How’d you manage to always smile around us, Starry?” Pinkie asked.

“With friends like you girls it’s hard not to smile.”

“Ugh… that was way too cheesy.” Rainbow Dash said, clearly messing with you.

The rest of the meal livened up from there and everypony had a great time all things considered. You were relieved how well your friends took the news about your past; even if it did end up overshadowing the news about you and Applejack. You didn’t let it upset you too much though. Your past was rather extreme. You asked Applejack if she wanted to watch the stars with you. She agreed and you took her to the hill where you first looked at the stars with her. You lied down first and Applejack slid right up to you with a look you could only describe as content.

“These last few days have been crazy.” You said.

“Is that a bad thing?” Applejack asked in a mocking tone.

“Yes, dating the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria is the worst thing to ever happen to me.”

“There ya go bein’ a charmer again.”

“With you it’s easy to be a charmer, just pick a feature and tell the truth about it.” You said with a goofy grin.

“Rainbow’s right, ya are way too cheesy.”

“I try to be nice and compliment my mare-friend and this is the thanks I…” All of a sudden Applejack turned your face towards her and captured your lips in a kiss. You returned the kiss wholeheartedly and rolled over to wrap your hooves around Applejack and deepen the kiss. This continued for a while until Applejack pulled away very slowly.

“Ya talk too much.”

“I guess I have to work on that.” You said before kissing Applejack again.

Months passed and your relationship with Applejack continued to intensify. You nearly passed out when she told you that she was pregnant. In all honesty it shouldn’t have surprised you given what you and Applejack had been doing. It took you a while but you embraced the idea of being a father with everything you had. As the pregnancy progressed you continued to dote on Applejack more and more. She didn’t like the idea at first, but you made her see your point. Eventually the day of the birth came and you were starting to freak out. You were outside the hospital room and pacing back and forth frantically. Your other friends and the other Apples were there too and wordlessly watched you, until Rainbow Dash decided to speak up.

“Dude can you calm down, my neck’s starting to hurt from watching you.”

“I’m sorry, I'm just nervous because my fiancé is giving birth in there and I can’t do anything about it. Not to mention, I have no idea how to be a good father. If I do something wrong it could screw up our foal.”

“You’re worrying too much darling.” Rarity said trying to reassure you. “Besides you should’ve thought of that before you and Applejack took your relationship to a more physical level.”

“I get it, hindsight is 20/20. You girls aren’t being very helpful right now.”

“Blackstar, you have nothing to worry about.” Twilight said, placing a hoof on your shoulder. “Between you and Applejack your foal won’t have anything to worry about. We all think you’ll be a great dad.” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. Once you were finished you looked up at Twilight with a grateful smile.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Just then the doctor walked into the hallway with a grin on his face.

“I think all of you should go in there. There’s somepony that wants to meet you.” You struggled not to push past the doctor and scrambled into the room. The first sight to greet you was a tired but content looking Applejack holding something bundled up in a blanket. You hurried over to her side and held her and your foal in your hooves.

“So this is…”

“Eeyup, say hello to our new daughter,” Applejack said, turning over the bundle to give you a better look at the foal you had made together. She was an earth pony with a dark, reddish brown coat. She had your eyes and what little mane you could see was a shade of black that was just a tad lighter than the black in your own mane.

“She’s beautiful.” You stated, and you meant it. Even if you had started your life as a human, this was your daughter and she was gorgeous to you. “Hey little girl, I’m your daddy.” You said, tears trickling down your eyes.

“We sure do make ‘em good don’t we?” Applejack asked, her tired smile only growing wider as she laid her head onto your chest. “Ah can already tell that she’s gonna be just like ‘er pa. When Ah first got a look into those eyes it was like lookin’ at a tiny version of you.”

“Oh I really do hope for our sake that she takes after mother.” Applejack laughed at your lame attempt at humor and all the apprehension you had about being a father melted away. “This has made becoming a pony worth it.” Applejack’s eyes widened instantly and pushed you off of her. You weren’t expecting this and landed on your flank.

“What do ya mean becomin’ a pony?” Applejack growled.

“I used to be something called a human, didn’t I tell you this?” You replied, looking around the room hoping to find some support. Instead you were surrounded by glaring forms. You couldn’t believe this. No, you could. This is exactly what you were worried about since you had started to living in Ponyville. “I’m sorry I should’ve told you sooner. I was just scared what you’d think about me.”

“And why were ya so scared? Ah can’t believe this. You were some sorta monster, weren’t ya? Ya didn’t trust me this whole time!”

“No, that’s not it at all!” you screamed. “Please, you have to believe me.”

“No, Ah don’t, and Ah’m not about t’be the mother t’some monster’s baby.” And with that, Applejack took your daughter in her hooves, and with a sickening snap, broke the newborn’s neck. Then she tossed the corpse aside as if it were nothing. You couldn’t speak; you couldn’t even make a noise. You were too shocked to do anything but sit and stare at the lifeless corpse that had once been your child. Before you could take in what had just happened a voice caught your attention.

“So what is a human exactly?” Twilight asked, picking you up with her magic. “Ooh, I know, maybe if we cut you open we’ll be able to find out.” Twilight used her magic to take you to some sort of operating room. She carefully strapped you down so that your limbs were spread out in the shape of an X. Then, she placed something that pinched the base of your horn. “There, now you won’t be able to use your magic to try and escape. Now Pinkie, would you like to make the first incision?” Suddenly, Pinkie stepped out of the darkness dressed in a surgical mask and scrubs.

“Don’t mind if I do.” You couldn’t see her mouth, but her voice and eyes told you that she had a sick smile on her face.

Pinkie carefully picked up a scalpel and placed it just at the beginnings of your chest. You could feel the blade dig into your skin and couldn’t help but cry out and struggle against your bindings. This did nothing to stop Pinkie from continuing until she had finished cutting your chest. She giggled as she placed the knife on each of your limbs and made cuts along those as well. When that was done she took her hooves, placed them on the incision on your chest, and started to dig into it. She stretched the cut until your skin started to split and the muscle underneath was revealed. She switched off with Twilight and both of them repeated this process until your ribcage and organs were exposed to them. You didn’t know how you were still alive for this; you didn’t even know how you were still conscious for this. You just knew that you wanted it to stop, one way or another. Just when you thought all hope was lost, help seemed to come from two unlikely sources. Blackstar’s parents.

“Thank God you two are here. Please, you have to help me.” You wheezed, barely able to speak.

“Sorry, but we can’t do that.” Blackstar’s father said.

“That’s right, not when we’re about to get our precious son back.” Blackstar’s mother continued, her smile putting you on edge.

“What are you talking about?”

“They’re talking about me.” Someone said in all too familiar voice.

Stepping out of the darkness was Blackstar in your old body, with a smirk on his face. “Thanks for keeping my body warm for me, but I want it back.” And just like that Blackstar started to force his way into the incisions along your body. The pain was unimaginable. Just when you thought you couldn’t take anymore your survival instincts started to kick in. You flailed wildly and did your damndest to use a spell, any spell you could think of. Some part of your mind noted a faint voice, but you paid no attention to it. The voice continued to get louder and eventually you were able to make out what it was saying.

“Blackstar!” the voice said just as you fired a bolt of magical energy at it. Your mind dimly noted that you were no longer in pain and opened your eyes to see who had called out to you. Picking herself up off of the floor was Luna, who shook her head as she turned to face you.

“Blackstar, are you okay?”

“I...I… what’s going on?” You asked confused.

“You were having a nightmare,” Luna replied, wrapping her hooves around you in an attempt to comfort you, “a terrible one at that. What brought all this on?”

“Wait, if this is a dream, then how are you here?”

“I have the ability to enter the dreams of anypony in Equestria, and it is only recently that I have been able to master it.” Luna answered breaking the hug and looked at you with an oddly serious expression.

“How is that possible?”

“I have some theories about that but as of now they are nothing more than that. Now, back to you, this was a rather extreme nightmare, don’t you think?”

“Not really,” you replied. “I’ve been having nightmares since I was a kid. Something like this is nothing new.” Luna visibly relaxed a little as you said this but still looked concerned for you.

“Given your past I guess you are well acquainted with night terrors. Still, what do you think brought on this particular nightmare?”

“I told Applejack about my past, although, I did leave out the part about being a human and dying.”

“And now you’re worried about what she and the others will think of you when you tell them.”

“I guess, I mean even with the proof in my bag my story does sound unbelievable, or even scary I guess.”

“Your fears are understandable, but maybe I can help you. In a few months I will be coming to Ponyville to celebrate Nightmare Night. We could gather your friends and tell them the truth about you together.”

“I think I’d like that. Thank you Luna, for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me, I’d do anything for my precious student, and for what it’s worth I’m proud of you for being able to tell somepony about your past in any way.”

“That means a lot Luna. I think I wanna wake up now.”

“Of course, but before I go I’ll take away the memory of this foul nightmare so it won’t plague your thoughts.” The tip of Luna’s horn lit up and she touched the side of your head with it. When she did the world around you started to fade away until you woke up in your bed at the Apple family home.

Author's Note

Look I know what you're thinking, but stay with me. This is all a part of my plan, although my plan is a little fucked up.But don't worry, this will be the last time I pull a stunt like this.

Shards of Glass

Back On Earth: A little Over a Month Ago

Blackstar woke up from his meeting with God and [your name] feeling almost numb. Almost being the key word. He pulled himself over to the edge of the bed and sat rubbing at his temples with his hands. All of his memories from when he was a pony started flooding his mind; images of his family, his loving parents and sister. And Lily, the mare he left behind. Memories of time spent with Lily wouldn’t leave the forefront of his mind. All of the moments from their youth, running around their hometown and getting into trouble where they could. He would make whatever jokes came to mind and she would humor him and laugh at them. When they got older Lily showed an interest in taking over her family’s flower shop, while Blackstar wanted to become the greatest magician in all of Equestria.

Blackstar also started to notice a growing interest in his childhood friend. The new feelings for Lily scared Blackstar so he tried to hide them by going after other mares. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to anything serious with these mares. He would’ve told Lily about his feelings, except he was afraid to. He thought that their different goals would eventually cause the relationship to die. And then that fateful summer happened. Nightmare Moon returned only to be defeated by the new embodiments of the Elements of Harmony. Among them was Twilight Sparkle the Element of Magic. Blackstar became fascinated by Twilight. If he wanted to become the greatest magician in all of Equestria then he would have to become better than her. He spent over a year learning everything he could about magic and Twilight Sparkle’s life. When Blackstar felt he was ready he told his family that he was going to Canterlot to further his studies. The day before he left there was a town-wide celebration to see him off. And as he left his unspoken emotions for Lily reached a fever pitch and he kissed her.

That kiss was everything Blackstar had hoped it would be and more. Now that his emotions had been laid bare and he knew that there was somepony special waiting for him at home, his apprehension melted away and he made the journey to Canterlot, and that journey ended his life. Finally, the moment he died played out in his mind again. Blackstar slowly drifted back into reality and shifted on the edge of the bed. He looked up at the mirror and his reflection stared coldly at him.

‘This isn’t my reflection.’ Blackstar thought. ‘This’ll never be my reflection. I was an idiot for leaving home. I could’ve been happy. I should’ve just stayed with Lily. If I had then everything would’ve been great. I mean, I would never become the world’s greatest magician. But then again, I’d still have magic!’ Blackstar closed his eyes once more and lay down on the bed before continuing his train of thought. ‘I can only imagine how Lily and my parents will take the news about my death. Dear Celestia, it’ll probably destroy them. And it’s all my fault. I just had to prove I was better than Twilight Sparkle. If I just knew when to quit and went home when the school wouldn’t teach me, but no I didn’t do that. Instead I went and died, with nopony to blame but myself.’

At that moment Blackstar remembered something from his conversation with God and you. ‘No it’s not my fault. It’s that bastard [your name]’s; him and that thread of fate of his. It’s his fault that I’m stuck in his body. I bet he’s been having the time of his life in my body. And who knows what he’ll do to Lily when he talks to her. That son of a bitch probably will probably take advantage of her. I can’t let that happen! There has to be something I can do!’ Blackstar racked his trying to find a solution to his problems, growing more and more desperate with each passing moment.

Finally, inspiration struck him. Blackstar stood up with an odd grin slapped across his face. ‘I know what I can do. I’ll kill myself. The last time I did that God gave me a new body so this time shouldn’t be any different. And if he doesn’t send me back home then I’ll try again, anything to keep that asshole away from my Lily. Blackstar hobbled over to the mirror and sneered at his reflection.

“What do you think of that you bastard? I’m coming for you. There’s no way I’m going to let you have my life.”

Suddenly, Blackstar drove his fist into the glass causing pieces of it to shatter with a loud crash. He didn’t pay any mind to the noise and picked up a piece of glass with his bloody hand. Before he could talk himself out of it, he dragged the sharp glass across both of his wrists. He barely felt anything as the blood poured out of his body. In fact he felt an odd rush that a few of the other patients at the hospital had mentioned when they had done something similar. Blackstar barely heard the door open when he started to feel his consciousness slip away; confident that he would be reunited with his precious Lily soon.

Stan and Karen shot up in their bed when they heard a loud noise ring out from somewhere. Stan barely felt the adrenaline enter his system before he realized where the sound came from. He flung the covers off of him, grabbed a baseball bat he kept handy in case of break-ins and rushed off to Blackstar’s room with Karen close behind. When Stan opened the door he was horrified at what he saw. He saw Blackstar with a piece of glass in his hand and blood gushing out of his hands. Blackstar was starting to fall over when Stan leapt out and caught him. Karen gasped when she made it to the doorway and to panic, tears running down her cheeks. Stan had to fight back his own tears, if we wanted to have any chance of saving Blackstar.

“Karen, honey, calm down.” Stan said in the most reassuring tone while taking off his shirt and pressing it against the wounds. “I need you to go and call an ambulance. And when you’re done with that I’m going to need a lot more cloth to try and stop the bleeding.”

“Why would he do this? Things were finally starting to work out.” Karen whispered, slightly dazed.

“I don’t know, but that’s not important right now.” Karen gave Stan a nervous nod and rushed to grab her cell-phone.

Stan continued to apply pressure to Blackstar’s wrists and felt his mind rush trying to make sense out of all this. He had been working with you for years, and he knew more about you than you’d ever care to admit. And in all that time you’d never tried taking your own life. You’d never seriously considered it either. Of course, he didn’t know about the situation between you and Blackstar. In the end Stan managed to calm himself down and decided the reason behind this would reveal itself eventually. At the moment he was more concerned with saving Blackstar’s life. The paramedics arrived a few minutes later and strapped Blackstar to a crash-cart and rushed him to the hospital. Stan and Karen did their best to explain the situation to Derek while leaving out a few details. Stan ended up cleaning the broken glass and eventually went back to sleep.

Blackstar found himself drifting in the white void again. He congratulated himself and called out to get God’s attention. “Hey, I died again. Isn’t this the part where I get a new body? And if it’s not too much trouble, could I get sent back to my old world?”

“I’m not going to send you back.” God responded with an edge in his voice.

“Why not!? I need to get back home! I need to keep [your name] from taking Lily from me!” Blackstar screamed in desperation and rage.

“So that’s what this is about.” God said with a disappointed sigh. “[Your name] and I told you that once someone dies they cannot be revived in their own world. And yet here you are expecting me to do just that. I’m only going to tell you this once: do not try anything like this again, or I will not hesitate to send you to Hell. You had your chance with Lily, and unfortunately you died before anything could come of it.”

“Does that mean you’re going to send me to another world?” Blackstar asked hopefully.

“No, you should be waking up shortly. Your suicide attempt failed.”

Shortly after that, Blackstar felt himself wake up. He groggily sat up and was immediately assaulted with the familiar sterile scents of a hospital. Blackstar mumbled something to himself before someone rushed over to him and wrapped their arms around him.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Stan whispered in Blackstar’s ear. “You worried us to death.”

“I’m sorry.” Blackstar deadpanned. “It won’t happen again.”

“I hope so. But just to be safe I’m going to find a Psychiatrist to help you through this.”

“You mean like it helped all the other times?” Blackstar replied with heavy sarcasm.

“I know it’s a longshot, but there’s someone I know of that has a pretty good track record of dealing with things like this.”

Blackstar merely rolled his eyes at the prospect and later that week he was dragged to the office of his new Psychiatrist. The only thing silver lining to the whole situation was that his cast was finally off and he could walk without crutches. Blackstar stepped into the office and saw his new Therapist. She was an older woman with graying hair and hard lines in her face. She was dressed professionally and was regarding Blackstar with a calculating gaze.

“You must be [your name].” The doctor stated. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Now, please take a seat and we can get started.” Blackstar did as he was told and sat in the chair opposite of her, slumping down into it and avoiding her gaze. “I understand I’m not the first Therapist you’ve been to.”

“That’s right.” Blackstar lied. “I’ve been to nearly a dozen different ones over the years.”

“That makes sense. you were forced to move around a lot. It’s hard to go to visit a doctor that’s several states away. Let’s hope that I’m the last one you’ll ever have to visit.”

“You can say that again.” Blackstar huffed, still avoiding eye contact.

“Alright I’ll dispose of the pleasantries.” The Therapist said in an even tone. “Why did you try to kill yourself?”

“Stan must’ve given you my file. So why don’t you tell me why I did it?”

“He did, and I read it several times over this past week. He said you showed several signs of Major Depressive Disorder and possible signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He also said that you had tendencies to push others away and shut them out. But he never said anything about suicidal tendencies. Suicide isn’t something someone just does for no reason. Something prompted you to do it, would you mind telling me what?”

“I would actually.” Blackstar replied. “Even if I did tell you, you wouldn’t believe me.” Blackstar finished with a mumble.

“What was that?” The Therapist asked.

“Nothing, look, nothing prompted me to do it. I just did it, and I’m not going to do it again. So can I please go now?”

“Sorry but you’re booked for a full hour. Now, we don’t have to talk this session. You can just sit there and relax. It’s been pretty stressful in your house lately, hasn’t it?” Blackstar simply nodded and did his best to relax.

Annabeth was driving down a small town road looking for the address Blackstar had given her. She had called the house a few days before and was shocked by what she heard. As she pulled into the driveway she took a deep breath and thought about what she was going to say. Scratch that, she knew exactly what she wanted to say. Dozens of emotions may have been swirling around inside of her, but only one was at the forefront of her mind. She stepped out of her truck and walked towards the door. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by who she guessed was his adopted mother.

“Hi, Ah’m Annabeth Smith. [Your name] and Ah are friends. Ah heard about what happened with him.”

“I’m Karen Lewis. My husband Stan told me about you. He thinks seeing a friend will help [your name].”

“Where is he right now?”

“He’s in his room right now. Stan’s keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t… try anything again.” Karen replied, choking up slightly. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“Thank ya, Ah’ll try not t’be too much of a bother to ya.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Karen led Annabeth upstairs and knocked on a door. Stan’s voice came from the other side and the two of them walked into the room. “Honey, this is Annabeth, she’s [your name]’s friend you were telling me about.”

Stan looked away from Blackstar who was lying on his bed, halfheartedly reading a book, to smile up at his wife. “That’s great, did ya hear that [your name]? You’ve got a visitor.” Blackstar answered in the form of a grunt. Stan looked at Annabeth with an apologetic smile. “He’s been like this ever since the incident. Now that you’re here I’ll leave the two of you alone. You probably have a lot of catching up to do. Come on, Karen.” With that, both Stan and Karen walked out of the room. Once Annabeth could no longer hear their footsteps she turned towards Blackstar and started to yell at him.

“What the Hell were ya thinkin’?!”

“I take it they told you about the suicide attempt?” Blackstar replied, closing his book.

“Yer goddamn right they told me about it. And how dare you treat it like it’s nothin’.” Annabeth growled.

“Why do you care? It had nothing to do with you.”

“Is that what you think? That yer the only one killin’ yerself would effect?!” Annabeth screamed, grabbing Blackstar by the collar of his shirt. “That’s not how ya used t’think. Back when we went to school together Ah asked ya if ya had ever tried anythin’ like this. You told me you would never do anything like that. You said that yer dad’s suicide caused ya so much pain that if yer own would cause a fraction of it t’someone else that ya wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on yer worst enemy.”

“Well, obviously I’m not that guy.” Blackstar spat back.

Annabeth paused for a moment and released her hold on Blackstar’s shirt. “What do ya mean by that?”

“What do you mean?” Blackstar asked nervously.

“Somethin’ about the way ya said that. It just felt off. Is there somethin’ yer not tellin’ me?”

Blackstar frantically searched for some sort of explanation, but none of them seemed good enough. In the end he just let out a weak laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “Ya know what, why don’t I just tell you the truth. I’ll probably get sent to an asylum but who cares. I’m not actually [your name]. He and I died over a month ago and God switched our bodies.”

“If God intervened then why didn’t he just bring the two of ya back t’life?” Annabeth asked, highly skeptical of the whole thing.

Blackstar spent the better part of an hour explaining his situation to Annabeth He left out a few details, like how he used to be a pony among other things, but other than that she knew everything.

“Do ya expect me t’believe all that?”

“No I expect you to call me crazy and to have me locked up.” Annabeth seemed to think about it for a while and her expression softened a little.

“Well it is a tough pill t’swallow, but, [your name]… er Blackstar, or whatever it is yer callin’ yerself. So, while I may not fully believe ya, Ah’ll come around whenever Ah can and listen to any more of yer stories.”

“But you were [your name]’s friend, not mine.”

“Ah’m yer friend too. Listen, Ah’ll be in town fer a few days, so Ah’ll drop by and check in on ya tomorrow. See ya later, Blackstar”

And just like that, she left, leaving Blackstar dazed and confused.

The Last Note

You walk over to the small desk in the corner of “your” room. It sits right next to the window which gives you a clear view of the dreary weather outside. You look around at the blank white walls of the room and let out a sigh. Finished with examining yet another new environment you sit down at the desk and pull out a small journal and a pen from your shoulder bag. You open the journal to the first page and begin to write.

Hey there, me. You and I both know why I’m doing this but I’ll explain anyway. My new Psychiatrist thinks it’ll help my depression if I write down my thoughts and feelings down in this journal. I’m still wondering if she was joking with me or not. If she was serious then it’s obvious that she’s an idiot and will hopefully lose her license soon. Anyway, until then I may as well start this journal with my life story and all that. I won’t hear the end of it otherwise. My name is [your name] and I’m seventeen. My life started out like anybody else’s. I had a mom and dad who loved me and for a while things were great. Then, when I was six years old my mom learned that she had a rare heart disease that would require a massive surgery if she even wanted a chance to live. She died three months later on the operating table, and I had just turned seven years old.

Unfortunately, this story continues and so far my depression remains very much intact. My dad lost a lot of money on the surgery even though it had failed miserably. Funny how that works isn’t it? When someone at a restaurant makes an error with your order you usually get a new one and have the item removed from your bill. When someone fails to save the people we love most we give them the money and end up with sorrow and debt. The point of that little rant was that my dad and I ended up living in poverty because of the medical bill. My father became depressed and took to drinking. He never abused me or anything like that so there’s one thing I can add to the list of things that didn’t go wrong. While he may not have beaten me my father was still far from functioning and balanced. Whenever I did something wrong or misbehaved he would start sobbing uncontrollably.

This was and still is a heartbreaking image. Think about it, your dad is the person you look to for guidance and support, now imagine him breaking down completely every time you came home with the slightest bit of bad news. Sometimes I actually wish he had hit me instead because of how much pain the memory brings. Anyway, I didn’t have to live with a depressed father for long. When I was nine years old he committed suicide one night after tucking me into bed. I’ll never forget the sound of that gunshot. Sometimes I can still hear it in my dreams or in the back of my head when my thoughts begin to wander. The night is still vivid in my memory; I jumped out of my bed to make sure my dad was alright. Of course I found him in a heap on the floor with pieces of his skull brain and a lot of blood everywhere. The stench of blood was so heavy that I threw up. I ran over to my dad’s body and asked him if he was okay.

I knew there wouldn’t be a response but I was young and had farfetched hopes. When he didn’t respond I ran to the phone to call the ambulance telling them what had happened. As soon I got off of the phone with the dispatcher I fell to the floor, crying. The ambulance came in about twenty minutes later and wheeled him out of our apartment with a sheet over what remained of his face. The paramedics wrapped me in a blanket and took me to the police station and placed me in some small room to leave me alone in while they collected evidence o could find a gentle way to tell me that my life was going to fall apart entirely. Either way it took about three hours for some police office to tell me what I had already guessed, my father killed himself. Then he gave me an envelope that had my name written on it.

The envelope had some blood splattered on it and was already open. The officer told me that the police had investigated in the off chance someone had forged it and that he was murdered. I pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope and started to read my father’s suicide note. He had written that he couldn’t take the way of life he was providing for me. He claimed that his death would somehow benefit me and that it was all for the best. He told me that he wished that there had been some other way. Then the bastard had the nerve to write that he loved me and always would. Like that would make his death any less painful. If anything that note left me with mixed feelings.

Now, whenever I look at the thing I feel angry and upset about my dad’s death, and yet I carry the note with me everywhere. At the time I just started bawling again and the officer tried to comfort me in some way. I told him to leave me alone and he respected that. The next morning I was told that I had no known relatives so I would have to be put in the foster care system or an orphanage. I’ve actually been in both, being passed along like some sort of baton at a sick kind of track event.

I was taken into my first orphanage with everything I owned, the most important of it I now keep in my shoulder bag. The other orphans had all come from broken homes of one kind or another and so cared little about me and my problems. If anything they were just like any other set of children only with more emotional baggage and the mean streak that occasionally went with that. I spent a week or so in the orphanage before things went bad. I was staring at the only photo I had of my family together and was crying. A few of the older boys picked up on this weakness and stole the picture from me. I begged and pleaded for them to return it, tears streaming down my face. The lead boy mocked me mercilessly and eventually tore the photo in half. That had sent me over the deep end. I had lost my mother while she was receiving the treatment that was supposed to save her. Tossed into poverty and watched as my dad slowly ate at himself before he snapped. Then I was thrown into an orphanage and was helpless when the only reminder that I had once belonged to a happy family was destroyed.

I reared back and kicked the boy who had ripped my photo right in his “family jewels”. When he staggered to his knees with his eyes watering I punched him in the nose and probably broke it. Then I tackled him and pounded away furiously until his friends recovered from the shock and ripped me off of him and returned the favor. I found myself in the police station with welts and dried blood on my face. The officer from before came to see me and told me that I wouldn’t have to go to Juvie because he had worked out some way for what had happened to be considered self-defense. Then I was sent into my first foster home. It was an alright place I don’t have much to say about the rest of my life. Some families were abusive and others were hopelessly optimistic that they could help me with my depression.

I hated both of those types of houses equally. I’m not sure maybe I hated the optimistic households more. With the abusive houses I knew I was gonna get screamed at or hit and then left alone for a while. The optimistic households would always try some new and idiotic treatment. At one point I was given a one hour hug and warm thought session. I’m not kidding these people actually thought that would actually work. Let’s just say I mastered self-control that day and leave it at that. I was tossed around from home to home on an almost monthly basis. I never had time for any real friends, and most of the education I have is from doing the reading on my own.

I ended up doing an alright job I guess considering I requested an IQ test once and scored a one seventy-five. Along the way I earned the nickname Murphy in the foster care system, after that damn law. I never enjoyed the name but I never said anything about it partly because I didn’t think it mattered, and mostly because the name seemed fitting to me. That’s basically it; my life can be summed up just like that. Right now I’m in the care of some politician. I didn’t bother to remember his position because I know I’m not gonna be staying here long anyway. He claims he wants to help me, but I’ve learned how to read people over the years. I’m sure he’s only using me for sympathy, people like him usually do. I may write down something later… if I feel like it.

You closed the journal and put it and the pen back in your shoulder bag. You slipped a jacket on because you liked taking walks at night, even if it was raining outside. You made your way down the stairs and saw your new foster father talking to some people from the media.

“Yes [your name] has been through a lot but I believe that with the Psychiatrist I’m sending him to for treatment and my loving care at his side he may finally forget the pain he’s in. Speak of the devil there he is now.” You roll your eyes and attempt to walk down the stairs without being pulled into this. Your foster father wasn’t about to let that happen and wrapped an arm around your shoulders as you walked by. “Why don’t you tell them all about the progress you’ve made so far, Son?” he said with a perfected camera face.

“Leave me alone. I’m in no mood for this, old man.” You whispered in a hushed tone that only he could here.

“I don’t care. Just say something that the press will love, or its back in the system for you, you ungrateful brat.” He hissed back, making sure the press didn’t pick up on it. He would come to regret those words. You didn’t really respond well to anything, but threats were something you hated the most. Threats implied that the person threatening you could actually do something that could harm you in any way. After the life you’ve lived you felt that nothing could compare to anything you’d already seen or done.

“If I had to say anything about my foster father and the time we’ve spent together it would have to be… He plans on spending all tax money on his own gain, he makes shady deals on a regular basis, he pays prostitutes to dress him up in women’s clothing and then smack him with a riding crop, and he threatened to kill me just a moment ago.” You said, each word leaving your mouth at an almost unnatural speed. The reporters and newscasters went into a fury and surrounded your now ex-foster father to hear his defense to these accusations. He gave you a look of complete and utter rage as you slipped out the door and into the rain.

You took your iPod out of its side compartment on your shoulder bag and placed the ear buds into your ears before pressing play. Mozart’s violin concerto number three came on. You listened to classical music because you remembered that your mother had played violin in a community orchestra. This was the same song that she would play to you before telling you good night growing up. You felt a warm feeling spread throughout your body for a moment before it was replaced with bitter regret.

You tried to take your mind off of these feelings by thinking about what you had just done to your most recent foster parent. He had told you to say something the cameras would like, and you had. Although it wasn’t something he liked.

“He should’ve picked his words a little more carefully” You said with a hint of a smirk on your face. Then you looked down at the iPod in your hand and continued, “But he did give me a nice toy here and there.”

You continued walking with the raindrops landing in near perfect harmony with the notes of the violin. You took a left at a crosswalk to go to the town park to sit up and look at the stars when a bright light filled your vision. You swiveled your head just in time to see the fuzzy outline of a car barrel towards you. Then, your vision goes dark and the last thing you can hear is the final stroke of the violin as the concerto and your life end.

The Grand Tour

You stood out on your balcony and allowed the crisp night air to settle on your face. The sun had been lowered by Celestia a few hours ago and was replaced by Luna’s moon. You still had a hard time believing that anyone could pull off such feats. You had read somewhere that the sun was over five thousand times heavier than the Earth. Yet, there was a being here that could lift and lower it as she saw fit. And there was a being that could do the same with the moon. The moon may have been a lot smaller than Earth but it wasn’t exactly light either. You made a quick note that while the princesses may look kind and warmhearted you had a feeling that if they wanted to they could rip you a new flank without even breaking a sweat.

You stared up at the blanket of stars in the sky for the first time since you had woken up in your new life. It had been three days since your first magic lesson with Luna, and you had made quite a bit of progress since then. You could now mend a broken object, change something’s color (or somepony as was the case with an unfortunate guard that had got caught in the crossfire of your first attempt at the spell), you could even render someone silent by creating a zipper over their mouth. But, no matter what you tried you couldn’t start a fire with your magic.

Every time you tried something would always break your concentration. Most of the time it was the image of your father’s corpse, but sometimes the memory of your mother’s death would interrupt the image you used to inspire warm feelings. After a while you tried to use a different image in order to master the spell, but it was useless. Nothing in your life had made you feel as warm and secure as your parents.

You continued to stare at the night sky expecting to see completely foreign constellations. But there were some that you recognized, like Draco, and Cassiopeia. Based on that you guessed it was roughly the beginning of spring in Equestria. At least that’s when those constellations appeared back home. Despite all of the distractions you tried to preoccupy yourself with, your mind continued to go back to what the princesses had told you after your lesson that day. They had told you that you should report to the throne room instead of your usual meeting place for a special surprise. Perhaps they needed extra room for a spell that they were going to teach you. Or they could be telling you that your lessons were over and that it was time for you to depart to that small town called Ponyville where Celestia’s other personal student lived. You remembered that her name was Twilight something. At one point Celestia had said that you reminded her of this other unicorn.

You guessed that she meant that both of you were studious and learned quickly. Other than that you had never really thought about your own personality. You let out a quick yawn and realized that the answer to what the princesses had meant by “surprise” would only become clear in the morning. You climbed into your bed and slowly but surely went to sleep.

You could see your father in front of you with a disappointed look in his eyes. You were about eight years old as far as you could tell. Your father sighed for a moment and then began to speak.

“So, you got in another fight at school today?” He asked devoid of tone.

“Dad, I had to. These bullies were teasing someone in class. Just because they thought he was weird.” You replied trying to justify the black eye you could feel throbbing as you spoke. “During recess they stole his toy and they wouldn’t give it back to him. I told them to stop but they pushed me down and said to butt out. Then, one of them tried to punch me and the kid and it turned into a big fight. I even managed to get the kid’s toy back for him.” You said with a small hint of pride.

“Who cares about that?” Your father boomed. “Look at you, you’re hurt and you’re in trouble at school for doing this, and for what? Some kid that you don’t even know?”

“But, you always said that I should do the right thing. And letting some kid get picked on just because I don’t want to get hurt isn’t right!” Your father looked at you with a wide eyed expression for a moment. His eyes started to water and he lowered his head.

“You sound just like your mother right now. Whenever I came home from work and talked about some of the things my bosses did she would ask why I didn’t do something about it. I always said that I couldn’t or I’d get fired. She told me that doing nothing when I know something is wrong is worse than doing the wrong thing. She was always so strong willed and kind. Just like you, son. Please, promise me that you’ll avoid getting into trouble from now on.” Your father said with tears steadily falling from his eyes. You simply nodded and felt a lump form in the back of your throat.

Your father tended to get a bit emotional ever since the death of your mother. You always hated to see him break down like this. What made it worse was that you were usually the cause of these breakdowns. You ran into your room to avoid seeing your father in such a state for a second more.

The dream ended and suddenly you were left sitting in your bed with a bittersweet feeling in the pit of your stomach. You had hated seeing your father like that, but he had revealed a little something about yourself. ‘I can see the strong willed, seeing as I died because I didn’t like being threatened, but I don’t know about kind.’ The thoughts of your dream were quickly forgotten as you remembered that you had to meet the princesses for whatever news they had in store for you.

You jumped out of bed and used your magic to get ready for the day as quickly as you possibly could. Outside your door was one of Celestia’s guards who led you through the all too familiar hallways to show you into the throne room where the princesses stood with an unfamiliar red Pegasus. You were just about to question this pony’s presence but Princess Celestia called out to you before you had the chance.

“Ah Blackstar, one of my most faithful students, please come here. We have some news for you.”

“What is it Princess?” You asked, your curiosity growing with every passing moment.

“You have been here for almost a week now and in that time you have never left the castle. Princess Luna and I thought it would be for the best that you see the city and get some fresh air.”

You let out a sigh of relief that you weren’t being forced to leave the castle permanently. “That sounds fair, but who’s he?” You said, pointing a hoof at the red Pegasus standing in-between the princesses.

“You wound me, Blackstar. Don’t you recognize me?” You knew that voice and as quickly as he asked you responded…

“Flarewing, is that you? I’ve never seen you without your armor on. What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna be your tour guide for the day.”

“Don’t you have your guard duties for tonight?”

“Today’s my day off so I elected to show you the sights and some popular attractions.”

“Thanks Flarewing, you didn’t have to do this.”

“Yes I did, if it was anypony else they would’ve just shown you the historical sights. And while I’m sure you would’ve enjoyed that, there are plenty of other things to see.”

“Have fun you two, but make sure you don’t do anything too extreme, Flarewing. We don’t want you to traumatize Blackstar here.” Celestia stated with a warm grin and firm eye towards Flarewing.

“When have I ever done anything like that, Princess?”

Soon after that you were in the streets of Canterlot. It was definitely not your average city. It was like something out of a fairytale. The homes and businesses were all white with large golden spires coming out of their tops. Every now and then Flarewing would read off some facts from a card that you were sure that someone had prepared for you. Whenever you passed a group of dignified looking ponies he would roll his eyes and tell you to move quicker. You wondered why he would do something like this and questioned him on it.

“Hey Flarewing, why do you keep avoiding certain ponies?

“Because the rich ponies around here are really boring; and if you’re not careful they can suck you into their conversations just to talk down to you. Sometimes I let them do it on purpose just to tell them that I’m a Royal Guard. You should see the looks on some of their faces when I do.” He said with an impish laugh. You were about to voice your opinion on the matter when your rumbling stomach interrupted. “Come on, let’s go get some donuts, and then we can continue our tour.”

Flarewing led you to a small shop close to the castle. You asked him why you were getting donuts when the city was filled with such an amazing variety of foods. He simply laughed and told you that you’d see. Once inside he ordered six chocolate and six glazed donuts. Then he ordered himself a coffee and you said that you’d take some milk. You dunked one of the chocolate donuts in your milk (using your hooves, Celestia had shown you a way one night at dinner) and took a bite. Flarewing almost busted out laughing when he saw you go wide eyed in amazement at how delicious the simple pastry was. You fervently finished the donut in a few bites and reached for one of the glazed.

“Slow down there, buddy. If you keep that up then you’ll get sick.”

“Sorry, these are just the best donuts I’ve ever had!” You exclaimed between bites.

“I know they’re good, but you gotta relax and be cool.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because there are a few pretty fillies that are checking us out.” As he said that he nudged his head toward a group of three female unicorns. One was a light green color with a green mane and eyes, another was orange with a red mane and light yellow eyes, and the other was white with a powder blue mane and eyes, you didn’t take notice of their cutie marks. Due to their placement on the pony body being in an area that was always covered up when you were human, you always felt awkward looking down there. You blushed quickly when you saw the look they were giving you and averted your gaze from the trio. “Oh girls, would you care to join us, there’s plenty for all of us.” He called with a wave of his hoof.

“Sure, we’d be delighted.” Said one of them and soon they were making their way towards you.

“Flarewing, what the hay did you do that for?” You hissed so that only he could hear.

“What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is, is…” You didn’t have time to finish as one of the mares slid into a spot next to you. You immediately forgot what you were about to say and blushed once more.

“Thanks for inviting us over here…”

“The name’s Flarewing, and my friend here is Blackstar.”

“Blackstar, that’s a really nice name. Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” You looked up to see that it was the white one that had spoken. She was giving you a look that you weren’t used to receiving which made you feel even more uneasy.

“Uh, yeah, I just got here a few days ago.” You said quickly, hoping to end the discussion.

“That’s great. Are you planning on joining the magic school?”

“Actually, Blackstar here is already receiving private lessons from the princesses.” Flarewing said with a devilish grin. You stared daggers at him for a moment before the mares started talking again.

“No way you’re that new pony. You’ve got to show us what you know!”

“I… I’ve only been learning for a few days, so I’m not all that good.”

“Oh come on, pleaaase?” They all pleaded with begging eyes. You were about to decline when you heard the sound of rope snapping, and screaming from the crowd behind you.

You turned your head to see a piano falling from the roof of a building as it went on into a collision course with a scared young pony directly beneath it. Flarewing rushed out of his chair to fly out and save the little foal, but you were faster. Dark blue energy surrounded the piano as you gently lifted it up above the foal and back into the broken restraints. Then you used the spell you had learned to repair objects and placed the piano back into the restraints, good as new. But you didn’t stop there, you continued by magically strengthening the ropes so that a similar incident wouldn’t happen again. You let out a sigh of relief and slumped down a little in your chair feeling a little tired after all the magic you had used. You had never chained that many spells together before so you rubbed your now slightly aching head. The crowd went silent for a moment and looked up to see that they were all staring at you with mystified expressions on their faces. You offered them a weak smile and a wave which was met with cheers.

“That was amazing!” One of the mares from your table exclaimed.

“Oh, thank you so much, sir!” Shouted an older mare that was holding onto the hoof of the foal you had just saved. “If it wasn’t for you, my little Dewdrop could’ve died.” She said with tears in her eyes.

“It was nothing, really, I just saw the falling piano and I kind of reacted.”

“Come on, Blackstar that was awesome. Now, show the crowd some love!” Flarewing cheered with his hooves outstretched.

You had to put up with reactions like that for almost an hour. There were even people from the press that had wanted to take your picture. You had insisted that you didn’t want the photo to be taken, but Flarewing talked you into it. After that, you told Flarewing that you wanted to return to the castle. He relented and told the three mares that you had to leave. They looked disappointed as they waved you goodbye.

“What happened to you back there?” Flarewing asked.

“I already said I just kind of reacted.”

“Not that, when I invited the girls over, you’re not shy are you?”

“Shut up, I’m just not used to talking to girls like that. Especially when they looked at me the way they did.”

“Oh my gosh, you are shy!” Flarewing exclaimed with a small fit of laughter. “You never cease to amaze me, Blackstar. You may want to get used to looks like that, hero.” He said, shaking his head.

You were led back into the castle and you let out a sigh of relief as your head hit the pillow to your bed. You pulled out your journal and began to write.

Hey, me in the future. I hope that you’re able to walk around without people… er ponies recognizing you. It’s been a few days since I’ve started learning magic here. So far I’ve made a lot of progress. The only spell I can’t seem to get right is the fire spell, but I don’t want to talk about that. The princesses decided that it would be a good idea for me to take a tour of the city. Flarewing showed me all these really cool sights and we ended up getting the best donuts ever! Then he invited over some girls over to our table. They were giving us strange looks. Was that the way someone looks at you when they’re attracted to you? People back home would usually just ignore me or look at me as if I was diseased or something because of the situation I was in. Was I handsome back then too? It seems odd that I don’t know that doesn’t it. I guess I won’t know, but I hope you’ve figured it all out when you or I read this. I’ll say more later.

Wagers

You had managed to get some rest before you had to meet up with Rainbow Dash. You quickly finished preparing and debated on whether or not to wear your jacket. You quickly decided against it and slipped your bag onto your back. You had felt that you had come to depend on it too much in the week that you had owned it. After you had put your jacket in the small closet you headed downstairs to get Applejack to go to Rainbow Dash’s audition.

When you found her outside she was rushing around bucking apples wildly. You walked up to her and tried to get her attention. “Applejack, it’s time to go to Rainbow Dash’s audition.”

“Sorry Blackstar, there’s a worm infestation comin’ and if we don’t find ‘em all quickly they could ruin the crop.”

“If that’s the case I could just use my magic and get rid of them.”

“You know we don’t use magic here.”

“Can’t you make an exception this one time if it’s such a problem?”

“We can do this without yer magic. Just go to Rainbow Dash’s audition. She can use all the help she can get.”

“Fine, but you are way too stubborn for your own good.” You sighed.

“Look who’s talkin’.” Applejack replied.

“I was speaking from experience.” You said with a grin before heading to the meeting place. When you arrived you saw that Rainbow Dash seemed to be having some sort of daydream. She had an odd look on her face and her wings were sticking straight up. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, I made it.” You said hoping to get her attention. This startled her and she jumped in the air and started to hover.

“Oh, Blackstar, it’s just you.”

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to startle you or anything. I just wanted to get your attention.”

“You didn’t startle me. I just wanted to stretch my wings. That’s all.”

“Uh huh, and that’s why you made an “eep” noise.”

“Fine you startled me, are ya happy?”

“Always,” You replied, smiling. “What were you thinking about anyway? You seemed to be miles away.”

“Oh, I was… uh… thinking about the audition.” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

“Then what was up with your wings. Were you excited, or “excited”.”

“What are you saying?” Rainbow Dah blurted out.

“Relax, I’m messing with you.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Oh hey Rainbow Dash what’s up with you? Hey, Blackstar I’m having some trouble moving some stuff around in my house, could you help me?” You said in an imitation of Rainbow Dash’s voice. “No problem, I don’t have anything I need to do anyway. The next thing I know… my mane is pink!”

“Can’t you take a joke?”

“Yes, but I also like to get some payback. I could just use my magic to do it but that would make it less interesting.” You said with a wicked smile.

“You can be so weird sometimes.”

“Both of us are friends with Pinkie Pie. We have lost all right to judge something or somepony as weird.”

“You make a good point.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Applejack won’t be able to make it because of some sort of crisis at the farm. The annoying thing is I could help take care of it quickly with magic but of course she won’t let me.”

“Trust me, we all know. The funny thing is Applejack used to have even more pride.”

“I find that incredibly hard to believe.”

“Believe it or not it’s true. You sound a little peeved that she didn’t let you help.”

“Of course I am. I don’t like to see my friends doing something difficult and not helping them. Especially when they’ve been as good to me as the Apple family and the rest of you have.”

“You’re a regular Campfire Cadet, ya know that?”

“Are you saying I’m some sort of goody good?”

“Pretty much, you go out of your way to help everypony you meet.”

“I like doing it, I hate it when ponies just ignore somepony else’s problems.” You replied, slightly annoyed.

“I never said it was a bad thing. It’s something everypony in town really likes about you.”

“Sorry, I guess I can be a little thin skinned sometimes.”

“Just another reason it’s fun to mess with you.” Rainbow Dash said with a little laugh.

“Great, that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.”

“Alright, let’s get going.”

“What are you talking about? The others aren’t here yet.”

“They all had things that came up. Rarity got an important dress order, Twilight has to take care of a sick Spike, Pinkie Pie’s babysitting for the Cakes, and Fluttershy is busy with some animal emergency.”

“That’s really weird I just saw Spike yesterday and he was fine.”

“Twilight said the exact same thing. She thinks it’s some sort of twenty-four hour bug.”

“That makes sense. I guess it’s just the two of us now.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not at all, hanging out with you should be a lot of fun. There’s just one problem though.”

“What’s that?”

“How am I going to get up to Cloudsdale?”

“Can’t you levitate up there or something?”

“I might be able to do that, but then I might not be able to use the spell that lets me stand on clouds. Do you think we’d be able to borrow Twilight’s hot air balloon?”

“That depends. Do you know how to fly it?”

“Haven’t you pulled the balloon before? Why can’t we just do that?”

“I could pull the balloon, but you still have to know how to land it. Look, I hate having to do this but we don’t have any choice. I’ll have to carry you.” Rainbow Dash stated, blushing a little.

“Uh, you know what. I can totally levitate up to Cloudsdale and still use that spell.” You replied, feeling your cheeks flush as well.

“Blackstar, please just let me carry you. Having somepony to cheer me on at the audition would mean a lot to me.”

“Fine, I understand.” You said with a sigh. ‘Damn these ponies and their huge, pleading, eyes.’

Rainbow Dash flew up above you and grabbed at the nook of your fore-hooves with her own and brought you up into the air in a kind of reverse hug. Most of the flight was spent in uncomfortable silence while you tried to focus on anything but the current situation.

‘I think it’s about time you and I had a little talk.’

‘A voice in my head, I would be surprised but I already knew I was crazy. Which one of my childhood traumas did you pop up from?’

‘This has nothing to do with that. I’m just an underused part of your subconscious that wants to make his peace.’

‘Could you be a little more specific? I’ve literally spent half of my life suppressing urges and emotions.’

‘I’m part of your desires, what you want and what you want to be.’

‘And you’re here because I’m trying to ignore the fact that I’m in a compromising position right now?’

‘That, and because you said you wanted a relationship and haven’t done a thing about it.’

‘It’s not like it’s that easy. I have no idea where to start. If you are essentially me then you should know that already.’

‘How ‘bout you start with Rainbow here, or any of your other friends. This isn’t rocket science.’

‘I… I couldn’t do that. What if they reject me? Or what if they say yes and it doesn’t work out? This is the first time I’ve had real friends in a long time. I don’t want to lose any of them.’

‘You are completely hopeless. If you keep thinking like that then nothing will change. Oh well, I’ve done my part. Just think about what I’ve told you.’

“Here we are.” Rainbow Dash called, pulling you out of your thoughts. You took a deep breath and casted the “cloud shoes” spell as Rainbow Dash landed on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. “This is it, my hometown, Cloudsdale.” You took a quick look around and saw that most of the buildings looked a lot like Rainbow Dash’s house. There were some differences here and there but it was still obvious that they were in the same style.

“This place looks really cool, Rainbow.”

“Yeah, all of the greatest fliers in Equestria come from here. I learned how to do some of my most awesome stunts here.”

“If this place is so great then why’d you move to Ponyville?”

“A part of me felt like I was trying to just copy somepony else’s style with my old routine. So, I decided to go somewhere to just clear my head and do my own thing. What about you, why’d you move from Canterlot?”

“Canterlot wasn’t my hometown to begin with. Honestly I moved around a lot growing up, never staying in any place for that long. In the end I just wanted my own place that I wouldn’t have to leave, and Ponyville seemed as good a town as any to do that in.”

“Moving around must’ve been hard on you.”

“You learn to get used to it after a while. Besides, that part of my life is over now.”

“That’s good to hear. Hey, we have plenty of time before the audition. Why don’t I show you around town?”

You ended up having a good time with Rainbow Dash. She enjoyed talking about all of her favorite places growing up. After a while the two of you ended up taking a tour of the weather factory. To your mild shock Rainbow Dash was extremely knowledgeable about everything that went into the process of creating all the various types of weather. You also learned that clouds were programmable. At one point you were busy looking at the snow maker and overheard something disturbing.

“… Rainbow Crash,” Said a male voice, causing your ears to perk up.

“Yeah, Rainbow… uh Crash,”

“Nice to see you guys too.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“So what brings you back to Cloudsdale? It wouldn’t happen to be the Wonderbolts audition, would it?”

“So what if it is?”

“You don’t think you actually stand a chance of getting in, do you?”

“Yeah, you don’t stand a chance.” At that point you couldn’t take anymore and turned around to see a short, dark brown, male, Pegasus with a white mane and tail with blue eyes, a tall, tan, male Pegasus with a brown mane that covered his face and both were insulting Rainbow Dash. You put on your best fake smile and calmly walked up to the two.

“Excuse me, could I ask why you two are talking to my friend like that?”

“Stay out of this Pretty Boy. This is none of your business.” The dark brown, Pegasus hissed.

‘He just made this way too easy.’ “Sir, I’m flattered that you consider me attractive, but I’m afraid that I’m not into that sort of thing.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not some colt-cuddler!”

“You mean… oh, I’m so sorry! I just thought… the way you two were together I just thought you were a couple.”

“We… we’re not like that! You know what forget you, come on let’s just go. See you at the audition, Rainbow Crash.” The two male pegasi flew off, leaving you alone with Rainbow Dash.

“I could’ve handled that on my own you know.”

“I’m sure you could’ve, but I decided to handle it. I can’t stand bullies anyway.”

“Well thanks, what you did was impressive. I’ve never seen those two run off like that before.” Rainbow Dash said, laughing.

“All I did was question their masculinity. It’s the most basic tactic there is.”

“You’re almost as weird as Pinkie Pie. Come on, it’s almost time for the audition.”

The two of you set off to the arena, but you noticed that the closer you got the more Rainbow Dash seemed to tense up. She didn’t want to show it but you could tell she was nervous. You made it to the check in line where Rainbow Dash and you were separated. At first you acquiesced, but the more you thought back to how Rainbow Dash was acting you couldn’t help but do something.

“Excuse me,” you said walking up to the white Pegasus mare with an orange, curly mane at the check in desk.

“Signups for the audition are now closed, not to mention the audition is for pegasi only.”

“I don’t want to sign up, my friend is performing and I was wondering if I could go backstage?”

“I’m sorry sir, but the backstage area is for performers only.”

“Please, my friend is extremely nervous but way too proud to admit it, and I really want to try and help her.”

“I can’t help that sir. The rule says…”

“Can’t you please forget the rule just this once? Look, I know a lot of magic, am extremely stubborn, and have been prone to stupid and irresponsible behavior to get the things I want done. So can we just do this in a way that doesn’t lead to making a big scene?” The Pegasus looked stunned for a moment but her expression softened into a smile.

“I think we can make an exception just this once.”

“Thank you so much.” You said grabbing the pass that she had made for you.

“Oh and by the way.” She called out, causing you to turn around. “Tell your friend she has a very good coltfriend on her hooves.”

You blushed at what she had implied but kept going towards the backstage, thinking that if you corrected her you might lose your pass. After a minute or two of searching you finally found Rainbow Dash who looked like she was about to lose it at any moment.

“Hey Rainbow, did ya miss me?” You asked with a grin.

“Blackstar, how’d you get back here?”

“I persuaded the check in mare to let me give some moral support to the new Wonderbolt.”

“Thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to. Plus this gives me a much better view of the action than those nose bleed seats.”

The two of you shared a laugh for a little bit. After that the auditions started and despite your best efforts, Rainbow Dash still seemed nervous. In fact she seemed to be worse than before. The number of ponies waiting to audition kept dwindling while you wracked your brain to come up with an idea on how to help Rainbow Dash. Eventually, Rainbow Dash and another mare were the only competitors left. The other mare stepped out to do her performance while you and Rainbow Dash watched. The other mare was extremely agile, pulling off high speed turns and dizzying loops. You looked over at Rainbow Dash who wasn’t faring well. The announcer didn’t help matters much either.

“Can you believe this ladies and gentle colts?! This is truly a spectacular performance, probably the best one we’ve seen so far.”

“Wow, that’s gonna be tough to beat, huh?”

As soon as she said that an idea started to form in your head. You were unsure about it seeing as it was likely to backfire, but you were out of time and it was all you had.

“Yeah, I don’t think anypony can beat that.”

“What are you saying? I’ve done better tricks than that in my sleep!” Rainbow Dash replied, fuming.

“I don’t know that was really impressive. Not to mention we met by you crashing into me during one of your stunts.”

“Well I do know! There is no way I’m gonna lose to a performance like that!”

“If you’re so sure then why don’t we make this interesting?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s make this a bet. If you can beat that performance then you can make me do one thing and no matter what it is I have to do it, but if you don’t then you have to do something I want.”

“Fine, you’re on.” Rainbow Dash growled.

As soon as the other mare was done her performance Rainbow Dash rushed out and started hers. You could hardly believe what you were looking at. Rainbow Dash moved so fast that it was almost impossible to keep up with her. She maneuvered around objects without any problems. At one point it looked like she had created a giant ball of light. The crowd that had been cheering not too long ago fell silent. Even the announcer didn’t know what to say. Finally, Rainbow Dash ended her performance with a Sonic Rainboom and left a giant rainbow hanging over the arena. Rainbow Dash came to a screeching halt in front of you with a triumphant grin on her face.

“What do you have to say about that?”

“That was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life, and I think they all agree.” Both of you turned your attention to the crowd who suddenly erupted into thunderous applause. “I knew you could do it, Rainbow Dash.”

“But you said,”

“I said that to bring out your competitive side. I figured if I made you forget about everypony else and just made this between us you’d stop being nervous and do an amazing job.”

“I wasn’t nervous.”

“Yes you were, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“And what would you have done if your plan hadn’t worked?”

“Start running before you kicked my flank.” Both of you started to laugh at this and just enjoyed the moment.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Spitfire,” Rainbow Dash beamed.

“Yup, and I just wanted to say that you gave a truly spectacular performance.”

“Thank you so much. That means a lot coming from you.”

“You earned it. Listen, officially the announcement of the new Wonderbolt isn’t for a few days. But when we saw what you did we made our choice immediately.”

“You mean…”

“Congratulations, you’re a Wonderbolt.”

“Blackstar, I’m a Wonderbolt! I did it! I became a Wonderbolt!” Rainbow Dash said, wrapping her fore hooves around you in a massive hug. “Thank you so much! If you hadn’t fired me up I probably would’ve failed.”

“Somehow I doubt that. Now, please let me go. This is incredibly painful.” You wheezed.

“Sorry, I’m just really happy. This has been my dream for so long, and now it finally came true.”

“I get it, you’re happy. But you don’t have to break my spine because of that.” In the end you and Rainbow Dash left Cloudsdale and you made it back to the farm feeling drained. You slipped your shoulder bag off and brought out the journal.

Hey me in the future. It’s been a really eventful day. Apple Bloom earned her cutie mark and Rainbow Dash became a Wonderbolt, seeing both of them like that made me feel so proud. I guess I should start the latter event at the beginning seeing as I’ve talked about the former in here a lot. I was supposed to go with everypony to the audition but they were busy so it was just Rainbow Dash and me. It ended up being a lot of fun.

I learned a lot about Rainbow Dash and I told her a little about me. I also had a conversation with a part of myself today. We or I talked about how I’m not trying to get in a relationship, even though I say I want one. I or he… whatever; even suggested I try having one with Rainbow Dash or one of my other friends. I mean, I did enjoy hanging out with Rainbow Dash today, and we did seem to have some things in common. But I don’t want to ruin any of my friendships. I don’t even know a good way to ask a girl out. Maybe I should just try to keep things as they are for now.

Anyway, as we got closer to the arena for the audition I noticed that Rainbow Dash was nervous but would never admit it. I even found a way to get backstage to offer moral support. I actually had to trick her by making a bet between us. Oh great, I forgot about the bet. Now Rainbow can make me do whatever she wants. This is just perfect. I just hope she doesn’t make me do anything too humiliating.

Dog Fight

“So, you’re really planning on going through with this?” Trixie asked; her incredulity at your proposal still apparent.

“You keep asking me that, and I keep telling you the same thing. Yes, yes I am serious.” You stated walking side by side with Trixie toward the spot that you found her.

“Alright then, here’s a new question. Why are you so dead-set on helping me? Don’t you hate me?”

“I do hate you.”

“And you’re still helping me?”

“Look, I can relate to losing a home. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. So I’m going to help you no matter what we think of each other.”

“Wow, subtle way of calling me your worst enemy.” Trixie said with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh please, I’m my own worst enemy. But, I suppose you could be a close second.” You replied with a cheeky grin.

“Do you take anything seriously?” Trixie growled.

“I take plenty of things seriously, but it’s also good to relax and lighten up every time you get the chance.”

“You’re thinking of taking on a group of Diamond Dogs by yourself and you want to lighten up?!”

“It’s either that or start worrying about every little thing that could go wrong. And if you ask me the former seems much better for the long haul.”

“Whatever,” Trixie sighed. “There’s no way I can talk you out of this, is there?” Trixie asked, looking up at you with an almost pleading expression.

“Nope,” you chuckled. “Besides, we’re here.”

Trixie stopped and all the color seemed to drain from her. She looked around, saw the discolored dirt that marked where you found her, and started to shudder. You turned away from the *frightened mare, being courteous to avoid seeing her in a moment of weakness. At the same time you carefully examined the area. Making sure you didn’t miss any important details while you came up with a plan of action. After what you considered an appropriate amount of time you started asking Trixie questions.

“Trixie, I know it’s hard coming back to this place, but I have my reasons for doing this.”

“I have no idea what you mean!” Trixie snapped, returning to her haughty demeanor. “I’m perfectly fine being here, just get to your point so we can get this over with.”

“Very well, I want you to close your eyes and recount what happened to you to the best of your abilities.”

“Alright,” Trixie said, taking a deep breath. “As I said before, I was walking down this trail to avoid running into anypony before my next show. Everything seemed peaceful, when, all of a sudden, the ground started to erupt all around me. The next thing I knew I was surrounded by those Diamond Dogs. I tried to use my illusions on them but it didn’t work and… oh Celestia.” Trixie stopped telling her story and started to shudder again. The memory seemed to be too much for her. You tried to comfort her by placing a hoof on her shoulder but she shook it off.

“I’m sorry to have to do this Trixie, but I need as much information as I can get before I can take these Diamond Dogs on.”

“I’m fine; it’s just chilly out here, that’s all.” You ignored the obvious lie and continued.

“Okay, go back to when they had just come out of the ground. How many of them do you see?”

“I… I’m not sure… ten… twelve maybe?”

“Good, can you describe what they look like at all?”

“Most of them had brown fur and eyes, they were easily six and a half feet tall, and each of them had different colored vests on.”

“Good job, you’re doing great.” You said. “When I last asked you about this, you said something about a leader. Can you describe him for me?”

“I’ll never be able to forget him.” Trixie said, fighting to stop herself from trembling. “He was over a foot taller than the rest of the Diamond dogs. He had jet black fur that was as dark as night, his eyes were this putrid green color that made me sick to look at them. And hanging around his neck was this strange, green gem.”

“A green gem?” You repeated, falling deep into thought.

“Does that mean something to you?” Trixie asked opening her eyes.

“Possibly,” you stated, rubbing your chin. “Based on all the records on Diamond Dogs I’ve come across they generally have two uses for gems: food and commerce. They either eat the gems they excavate, or sell them to other parts of the world. And when their gems aren’t being used for those purposes, they’re kept in stockpiles until they’re needed.” You explained.

“This Diamond Dog might be different. He has broken away from the rest of his kind.” Trixie pointed out.

“That’s true; he might have a sense of aesthetics that many of his kind don’t share. Still, it could be something to keep in mind. Okay, I think I have enough info, let’s go get your caravan back!”

“How do you plan on doing that? We didn’t bring any shovels with us.”

“Silly girl, shovels would take too long. I have a much better way.”

You closed your eyes and gathered magical energy into your horn. You came up with this idea while waiting for Trixie to recover. If you sent out a sonar pulse you might be able to find the tunnel system that these Diamond Dogs were calling home. You finished the preparations for the spell and sent out the pulse. In a few moments the pulse bounced back and told you exactly what you needed to know.

“It seems they’ve got a series of tunnels about fifty feet down. What’s more, they seem to fill in the paths they use to reach the surface so we can’t use those to get down there.”

“So what do we do?”

“I was expecting something like this. So, I’ll just teleport us down there.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Positive; now stay close to me while I do this.”

You performed the teleportation spell with no difficulties and found yourself surrounded by pitch black darkness. You made a small beam of light with your horn and found Trixie recovering from the sudden teleportation.

“Sorry,” you said, approaching Trixie. “I should’ve warned you that the first time is always rough.”

“I’ll be fine. Anyway, how are we going to find these Diamond Dogs? We have no idea how large these tunnels are, or where they’ll end up taking us.”

“I’ve got that covered too. The Diamond Dogs are probably holed up in the area with the highest concentration of gems. If we find that, we’ll most likely find them.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“I’ll show you.”

You gathered magical energy and used the gem locator spell that Twilight and Rarity taught you and in moments a scattered trail of rare gems revealed itself to you.

“You’re just full of tricks aren’t you?” Trixie asked with an edge of sarcasm, and perhaps jealousy.

“It pays to have good friends.” You replied, ignoring the thinly veiled malice. “Come on, who knows how long of a walk we’re in for.”

You and Trixie walked down the tunnel together in strained silence. That didn’t matter to you. You were just helping Trixie because it was the right thing to do. You didn’t care if you made friends with the egocentric pony. At least, that’s what you told yourself. You hated to admit it but you did feel a strange connection with her. You knew what it was like to not have a home, and the way she pushed others away was eerily similar to what you did back when you were human. A part of you was hoping that you could reach the showpony and help her change for the better. It was most likely a fool’s errand, but you couldn’t help but try. The silence was finally broken by Trixie.

“There’s something I need to know.”

“Sure, what is it?” You replied with a shrug.

“You said you could relate to losing a home. What did you mean by that?”

“Well, you see,” you said with a nervous laugh, “when I was a kid something happened and my family was forced to move around a lot.”

“What do you mean something?”

“Look, I don’t like talking about my life. Hay, I haven’t even told my best friend everything about my past. So, would you please drop the subject?”

“Fine, as long as I get my caravan back I don’t care what you tell me.”

The rest of the trip was spent in an awkward silence. Eventually the glittering trail led you to a large chamber with an odd dome shape to it, and several other tunnels sporadically peppered along the chamber. In the center you could see the group of Diamond Dogs filling what you guessed was Trixie’s caravan with various gems.

“What’s your plan? How are you gonna do this?”

“I’m going with the good old fashioned charge in and go at them head on.”

“You’re not serious, are you?”

“Hey you dirty bunch of fleabags!” You screamed charging toward the Diamond Dogs, having left your coat and bag with Trixie. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” The Diamond Dogs stopped what they were doing and gave you a strange look.

“What this pony want?” One asked.

“Me think something wrong with it.” Another said.

“You all took something from a friend of mine and now, I want it back!”

“You think you can take what we stole.” The one you assumed to be the leader said with a guttural laugh. “You a very funny pony.”

“I’m glad I could entertain you, but I’m very serious. Give me the caravan or I’ll be forced to do this the hard way.”

“Get the pony!” The leader barked. With that, the dozen Diamond Dogs leapt out towards you, they’re claws aimed right at your throat.

“Why do they always pick the hard way?” You sighed.

You closed your eyes and gathered energy into your horn. In a flash, you caught the Diamond dogs in a levitation spell and slammed them into the ceiling with just enough force to knock them out for a while. You let out a huff and opened your eyes and felt your jaw hit the ground. Standing in front of you was the Diamond Dog leader, with a maniacal grin on his face.

“How the hay are you still standing? You should be down for the count.”

“I stole this gem from some merchant. Now magic won’t work on me.”

‘So that gem is magicite.‘ You thought. ‘I should’ve known based on what Trixie said. Alright, time to do this the old fashioned way.’

You charged at the Diamond Dog leader and tried to sweep his legs from under him. The tactic worked, but the leader grabbed you by the scruff of the neck and took you down to the ground with him. You flailed wildly for a while, trying to hit something vital on the Diamond Dog leader. After a few moments the leader threw you off of him and got back to his feet.

You did the same and tried to size up your opponent. The leader barreled towards you and swiped at your face with one of his claws. You brought up your hooves to defend yourself, but without their support you started to lose your balance. The leader took advantage of your opening and hit you with a vicious uppercut to your chest. You crumpled into a heap, but that didn’t last long as the leader picked you up by the mane.

The Diamond Dog leader stared at you with a wild gleam in his eyes. He laughed for a while before he started to slash you with his free paw all over your body. You could feel blood oozing onto your fur with each new wound that the leader opened on you. Your mind started to go fuzzy and you could feel yourself teetering on the edge of consciousness. You thought you heard Trixie calling out for you, but that didn’t seem right. What would Trixie be doing down here? Before you could black out a part of your mind lashed out and you thrust your horn into the Diamond Dog leader’s shoulder. The leader dropped you and clutched the wound you gave him. You scurried away from him and tried to collect your thoughts.

‘I can’t fight like this. I’ve never had to fight on all fours before. I could use a transformation spell to get back my human form, but then Trixie would know my secret… Wait, I have an idea.’

You took a deep breath and gathered energy into your horn. You healed as many wounds as you could in such a short time and felt your body start to change. A strange itch started to spread across your body and eventually turned into a burning sensation. You endured the feeling and finished the spell. You stood up and looked at your arms. There was no doubt about it; you had changed yourself into a Diamond Dog. And just in time too, the leader came at you with a claw right to your face.

You blocked it with your left paw and countered with a punch to the jaw. The leader reeled for a moment and tried to knee you in the stomach. You dodged it and kicked the leader’s knee inward. You thought you had the upper-hand, but the leader punched you in the gut while your guard was down. You and the leader traded blows for a while, both of you looking for any chinks in the other’s armor. You didn’t know how much longer you could hold out, but a bolt of inspiration ran through you. You cupped your paws and then slammed them into the leader’s ears.

He let out a bestial cry and fell to his knees. While he was still recovering you punched him in the temple and knocked him unconscious. You let out a sigh of relief and undid your transformation spell and limped over to Trixie’s caravan. You opened the door and used a levitation spell to get all of the gems out of it. And with that you collapsed from a combination of exhaustion and blood loss. Trixie cried out and ran to your side.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine.” You huffed. “I just need some rest and something to stop the bleeding.”

“Hold on, I have bandages in my caravan. I just hope those Diamond Dogs didn’t throw them out.”

Trixie disappeared for a while and came back with a first aid kit. She applied antiseptic on your wounds and you let out a soft moan. She just rolled her eyes and finished treating your wounds.

“You idiot,” Trixie sighed, “you nearly died. Why didn’t you give up?”

“It’s called doing the right thing and helping somepony.”

“But you hate me. Why’d you go so far for somepony like me?” Trixie asked you, genuinely confused.

“We don’t have to hate each other.” You said, offering Trixie a weak smile. “Hay we could even be friends.”

“Hmmph, The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need friends!” Trixie proclaimed with a dramatic flourish. “But I suppose you could be an exception.” Trixie added with a blush.

“Thank you for pitying such a lowly peasant such as myself.” You said with as much sarcasm as you could muster in your condition.

“You’re welcome.” Trixie replied, ignoring your sarcasm. “Now um… how do we get out of here? You’re in no shape to teleport us out of here.”

“The air down here has to be coming from somewhere. If we can use our magic to track the air currents, we should be able to find a way out.”

“I’ll take care of that. You just get some rest in the caravan.”

“That’s rather unexpected from you, Trixie.” You said with a warm smile.

“It’s called doing the right thing and helping somepony. I learned it from a friend.” Trixie replied, returning your smile with one of her own. “Now get in the caravan before I change my mind.”