Seven Ponies, Seven Trials, Seven Loves

Chapters

Chapter Two: A stranger in a strange land
Chapter Three: A Party and A Friend
Chapter Four: Late Night Revelations
Chapter Five: Phantom's Story
Chapter Six: Early Morning Bedtime
Chapter Seven: A Trial of Kindness
Chapter Eight: Unexpected Help
Chapter Eleven: Meet The Apples
Chapter Twelve: A Very Special Letter
Chapter Thirteen: Truth and Acceptance
Chapter Fourteen: Falling Apples
Chapter Fifteen: Trial of Honesty
Intermission First
Track 2: Money For That (3:23)
Track 3: I Owe You a Love Song (3:44)
Track 4: Ghost Town (3:43)
Track 5: It Became A lie on You (4:28)
Track 6: Ricochet (2:38)
Read Error
Chapter One: Spell gone Right?
Chapter Nine: Horns and Harvests
Chapter Ten: Invitation
Track 1: When Did This Storm Begin (4:10)

Chapter Two: A stranger in a strange land

Part One:
Chapter Two, a Stranger in a Strange Land

Phantom had drifted off to sleep only fitfully, the pain in the scars on his right side keeping him awake far longer than he had ever wanted to be. Now, Phantom wasn’t really his name, that would be Alex Buckley. Phantom Mask was his nickname, his moniker, another part of the many protective shields he used to keep people away. He’d earned Phantom because of the way he moved around the theater he worked in, and Mask was added on as a dig at the mask he always wore to hide the scars that were spread across the right side of his face.
The pain had kept him awake, and with being awake came thinking. The pain was probably a stress related thing, as earlier that day he’d received his Pink Slip. It hadn’t come as a total shock to him as he’d known that he couldn’t hide the fact that he was blind in one eye from his bosses forever. He’d just thought he’d been doing a better job at hiding it. So now here he was, a lonely, broken person who now had nothing left. No girlfriend, no job, and definitely nothing worth looking at. Perhaps it was time to just give up completely. As he drifted off, thoughts of ending his life floated through his pain wracked mind…

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Phantom awoke in midair, his wings spread wide to catch the warm updrafts of the early morning. He yawned and took in the sight of the beautiful countryside that seemed to stretch out endlessly before him. It was at about this time that he realized that he didn’t have wings and couldn’t possibly be flying and promptly preceded to fall out of the sky. He fell fast for a Pegasus, his wings flapping uselessly at his side, out of synch with each other, and his four legs waving in despair and terror. He screamed, and with a sickening crunch landed hard on the ground.

His right side hurting so bad it made the previous night seem like a little irritation, he started to take stock of the facts. As he looked down the length of his body, it appeared that he was most definitely in some sort of a dream. He no longer had any arms, but rather four legs like that of a horse. His coat was a deep blue, with darker splotches all over the right side. He had two wings, one of which was now sending waves of pain throughout his body, and he definitely had a tail. It all became too much for him so very quickly. He couldn’t begin to process what was happening, the pain was overwhelming, and he had no idea where he was. He was a fragile person to begin with, and a sudden shock like this on top of the one he’d received yesterday was too much for him, even if this was a dream, which he strongly suspected it wasn’t because he was in too much pain for it to be a dream. He folded his forelegs under him as if by instinct and did the only thing he could do at that time and cried.

Not too far away, Fluttershy was feeding her chickens. She jumped as she heard a hideous crunching sound and thud. A sound like that meant that something had fallen. She poked her head out of the door of her chicken coop and looked around. She didn’t see anything that looked like it had fallen. She inched forwards a little more and heard the sound of somepony crying. As nervous as she was, her compassionate side took over, and she decided to go investigate. Angel Bunny hopping along beside her, she went searching for the source of the sound.

It took her a while to find it, but she did find Phantom. He was facing away from her when she found him. It wasn’t a pretty sight. It was obvious that his right wing was broken, given the hideous angles at which it was bent, but it was even more obvious that there was more than that to fuel this pony’s sadness. He was laying on the ground, with his head between his hooves, completely oblivious to the world around him. Fluttershy walked up towards him slowly. “Um…Excuse me…..Ummmm….. Do you need help…..” Fluttershy asked in a very small voice.

Now, as upset as Phantom was, he still a pparently had good hearing, because his head turned towards Fluttershy as she spoke. He saw a yellow Pegasus with pink hair looking concernedly at him. He didn’t know how to take it. His eyes widened in the terror of someone who had no idea that what they were looking at was reality. The few events of the past few hours had already been far too much, but now the addition of a talking horse with wings sent him past his limit. He promptly passed out, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head, and his whole body suddenly going slack.

Fluttershy panicked for a moment, thinking he’d just died, but calmed down as she realized he was still breathing. A soft sigh escaped her, having injured ponies pass out when they saw her was not what she expected, or what usually happened. She’d have to get him to the Hospital somehow, but she didn’t have the strength to carry him that far. Well, she could get him back to her home, and take care of him until he was awake enough to make it to a hospital…

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Phantom started to wake up slowly, and refused to open his eyes. It was all just a dream, a horrible dream. When I open my eyes I will be back in my pointless life and fine…. he thought to himself. As he slowly let his eyes open, he saw a very unfamiliar ceiling above him. He shifted to try and get a better look at his surroundings when a sudden wave of pain washed through him from his right side and he let out a small scream. A brown unicorn with glasses walked in wearing a doctor’s coat, and tsked at Phantom’s scream. “Now now, that won’t get you better at all,” the doctor said sternly. Phantom looked around the room of what he now realized to be a hospital. All the same sort of equipment was there that you would expect to find in a hospital room, except that the furniture was nicer than normal, and made of real wood, not contact paper covered plastic. He just had to figure out one thing first…

“Um, Doc…. You’re a Pony?” Phantom asked shyly, afraid of the answer. He half hoped the doctor said no, and that he’d just gone crazy, but if it was real, he didn’t know if he could accept it. Much to his surprise, the doctor laughed.
“You must have had quite the bump to the head my friend. Of course I’m a pony! You are too,” the doctor said kindly. Phantom sat there looking shocked as the doctor continued. “Well technically I’m a unicorn and you’re a Pegasus, but I don’t think that’s what you were asking now is it?” Phantom shook his head a little mechanically. Then he shook it again harder, hoping to wake up from this crazy dream. The shaking of his head however caused him to twinge a muscle in his back and sent a very powerful wave of pain through him. That decided it then, this couldn’t be a dream because you don’t hurt in dreams. At least, not like this. Not body wracking spasms that make you wish you were dead…..

The doctor checked Phantom’s charts and made a few notes with a pencil that seemed to float magically in the air and move of its own volition. Phantom just sat there in shock. He had no idea how this had happened, or how it was even possible. He just sat there with a rather vacant expression on his face. He didn’t even notice when the yellow and pink Pegasus entered into the room and sat down in the corner. The Pegasus started at him in a rather shy manner, her cyan eyes peeking out from the edge of her mane. The two of them sat in that silent - and rather awkward - state for a while. At least until the Pegasus spoke up.

“Ummm…Are you going to be okay?” Phantom finally took notice of the Pegasus and simply stared. First a Unicorn, now a Pegasus…. This was a strange and discomforting world that he had somehow ended up in. The Pegasus spoke up again, her voice still faint, but slightly stronger now, “I’m Fluttershy, who are you?”

Phantom just stared at her. A name like Fluttershy was as abnormal to him as putting motor oil on apple pie. He thought about it for a moment. If this was going to be his new reality, he might as well accept it. His thoughts continued on, his overworked brain trying to find some good in the situation. Maybe it wasn’t all bad, especially not if he didn’t have his scars anymore. There, he did it. He found something positive. Now if he could only figure out how not to keep freaking out. Well maybe getting to know someone who could at least explain this whole topsy-turvy world to him wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Now he just had to introduce himself, but which name to use. He thought for a moment, and decided to use his nickname. Alex would be dead, just like the empty shell of a person that he was. If this really was a new reality and not a dream, he’d just have to accept it, no matter how crazy or insane it is.

“I…I’m Phantom…. Phantom Mask. It….It’s nice to… meet you….” His voice was a little broken and disjointed, and he seemed even meeker than Fluttershy. He looked up at her and really took a good look at this Pegasus that stood before him. Something seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger, no, hoof on it. She suddenly looked upset, as if she’d done something wrong.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…..” Fluttershy looked down at the ground and idly tapped a hoof against the ground warily. Her voice was so quiet that it was barely audible over the sounds of the hospital equipment that was sitting in the room.

“You didn’t scare me…. I’m just….. not really sure where I am….. or why I’m here……” Phantom looked at her, wondering about her sudden dual personality. She was friendly at first and then suddenly acting all guilty... He wondered what happened to cause it.

“Oh, that’s… um…good. You’re in a Hospital because you got hurt… And I sort of, maybe, brought you here.” Fluttershy still hadn’t looked up, even though her voice had picked up by about several octaves. Phantom had to admit, her voice was rather pleasant and calming. Perhaps that was why he was able to think without being purely terrified. He thought about it for a moment, and remembered the falling dream that was apparently not a dream.
“Oh, so um… I guess I fell.” Phantom said sheepishly.

Fluttershy finally looked at him. “I don’t know, but I know you broke your wing. You fainted when I found you so I got you to the hospital. I just came to make sure you were going to be okay…” Phantom had a feeling that there was something going on, but he didn’t want to say anything just yet.

The rest of the conversation that morning was much of the same. Fluttershy talking about him being hurt, and him trying to figure out what had happened. There wasn’t a lot of genuine conversation, and after a while, Fluttershy left with about a dozen apologies for doing so.

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After a few weeks, Phantom was cleared to be released from the Hospital. He still didn’t fully understand how he’d become a pony, or why, but he at least had accepted by now that this was reality. He hadn’t seen Fluttershy since that first conversation, and he hadn’t really seen anyone else either. He stopped at the desk on the way out to ask the pony behind the counter where he could go to get a bite to eat. He was starved since he hadn’t gotten breakfast that day because of his impending release. The receptionist told him to try Sugarcube Corner. So it was that Phantom set off and into Ponyville for the first time.

As he walked down the short dirt path from the Hospital to town, he took more notice of things than he usually would. He noticed the brilliant colors of the trees and flowers, and the seemingly endless variety of small critters that were plainly visible, and not running in fright. He made good time on the path and was in a few short minutes at the edge of town. He figured that it might not be a bad idea to try and find this Sugarcube Corner. The only problem was that he had no idea where it was. He looked for somepony to ask. He’d gotten used to talking to ponies during his stay in the Hospital, since the nurses that had been tending to him were rather talkative. The first pony he saw was a pink mare that was positively bouncing. He watched for a moment to figure out if he was seeing things, or if the mare was actually moving around by hopping. As things would turn out, he wasn’t crazy, she actually was, but he still felt a little uneasy. It was bad, but not as bad as the last time his life had been totally changed.

He decided to try and talk to this pony, to see if she knew where this Sugarcube corner place was. He walked up to her slowly. “Umm, hello, my name is Phan-“ was all he could say before the Pink pony jumped into the air with a large and almost exaggerated gasp. The pink pony ran off. That was the least productive thing that had ever happened. He didn’t know what the pink pony’s problem was but that had not gone anything like he would have expected. He looked around and didn’t see anypony else to talk to. He trotted around the streets of Ponyville for a while, looking for this Sugarcube Corner place. After a while he saw a building that was incredibly bright and made up to look like a gingerbread house. He walked forward towards the building and saw the sign that said Sugarcube Corner. So he had found the place after all, and without help. He felt a little more confident.

As he approached the door, he saw no signs of anypony inside, so he walked forward, slowly and cautiously, not knowing what to expect. “Hello, is anypony in here?”

Chapter Three: A Party and A Friend

Part One
Chapter Three: A Party and a friend

As Phantom walked slowly into the seemingly abandoned building, he kept calling out for anypony. Now it might seem strange that he’d adapted to the language so quickly, but he’d been paying attention at the hospital. He might not know exactly where he is, but he knew that knowing the local lingo might come in handy. He walked forward into the building, and as he got about halfway between the door and the counter, the lights went off and the door closed.

“Surprise!!” Almost a hundred ponies screamed in unison as the light switched back on. Phantom dropped to the ground, terrified by the unexpected noise. He wasn’t usually all that good with surprises. He looked around the room quickly, but before he could finish attempting to figure out what was happening, he was interrupted by the same gasping pink pony.

“Hi, were ya surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?” All of this delivered at lightning speed. It took Phantom a moment to figure out exactly what she’d said. He just nodded, too stunned still to be able to speak. The pony immediately proceeded to introduce herself as Pinkie Pie, and launched in on a semi-coherent ramble about why she’d thrown the party, (He looked lonely and he was somepony that she’d never seen before), and how awesome it was (but not as awesome as the time that she gasped….), and so on and so forth. Phantom was well distracted by her but it couldn’t last forever.

During a pause in Pinkie Pie’s now incoherent ramble, he took a look around the room. What he saw sent his brain into another meltdown. All around him, Ponies. Everywhere he looked there were ponies, no human faces, no faces of any kind that he could look to and find familiar in any way. He started to back for the door and bumped into a pony that had wandered in that direction. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

He bolted for cover, finding next to none, he kept running. Ponies were in his way everywhere. He finally spotted an empty table in a corner next to a curtain that was partially wrapped around the edge. He dove for it, and very skillfully slid under. Under the table it was quiet, and he wasn’t looking at entirely alien faces in every direction. He’d come to some sort of terms with the fact that he was now apparently a Pegasus, and at the Hospital it made sense that ponies would take care of their own kind, but he’d thought that there might be humans here, or at least something other than ponies. It was all so confusing, and terrifying, and he started to tremble.

Shaking and scared under the table, Phantom tried to figure out the best way to get out of this mad world. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was how he got here, and without that knowledge, he had no chance of getting back. That is if he wanted to go back. At the hospital, nobody had… Erm.. Nopony had asked him about his scars, and they didn’t treat him too badly at all actually. If only he had a familiar face that he could focus on. If one of the ponies from the hospital had been there, he might have been able to stand out there, to focus on a face that he’d become accustomed to over the past few weeks would have been an excellent way for him to deal with this sudden social anxiety. Well it was more a full blown phobia of being near ponies rather than anxiety.

He stayed in his place under the table as the party continued on. He trembled slightly from time to time hoping that everypony would go away so he could escape. The worst bout of shakes came when he saw pink legs, and heard Pinkie Pie asking if anyone had seen the new pony. He pulled back farther under the table then, until his rump hit the wall behind him. He stayed there as the party got rowdier and rowdier. It didn’t seem as if this party was ever going to end. He was right in the middle of a fantasy about there being a door right next to him when something hit him right in the face.

“Ouch,” He exclaimed, all thoughts of being as hidden as possible forgotten for that brief moment. Once he’d realized he’d spoken aloud, he whimpered and tried unsuccessfully to retreat farther. He looked up to see what had hit him in the face and was suddenly face to face with a vaguely familiar looking yellow pony.

“Oh! I’m so sorry for disturbing you… It’s just…. Well….. I don’t like crowds…… I didn’t hurt you did I?” The yellow pony asked. The face and voice started to jog Phantom’s memory. It hit him in an instant, and he saw a way out of this horrid predicament.

“You….D…Didn’t…” Phantom said quietly. He was still rather afraid, but being able to recognize somepony helped a lot with his confidence. The fact that it would be the kindest pony he’d met in his short time in this world helped even more.
“Oh, Phantom, is that you?” Fluttershy’s voice was at a more normal volume for her, rather than her terrified squeak. Had anypony at that moment asked, Phantom would have admitted to being rather surprised that Fluttershy remembered his name. They’d apparently met twice, once in the hospital, and once when he’d fallen which he didn’t remember. He was surprised he’d remembered Fluttershy’s name for that matter. He wasn’t exactly good with names, and he’d only heard her name once those few weeks ago.

“Y..Yes..” His voice was still cracking and he was still stuttering,the trembling in his body hadn’t subsided yet. He was more at ease, but he still wasn’t comfortable with the whole situation yet. The totality of the situation took that moment to once again settle in his mind, and he whimpered slightly. Even though it wasn’t directly because of Fluttershy, she cringed back.
“I’m sorry… If you want me to go….” Her voice was so dispirited and quiet it could barely be made out over the noise of the party that was slowly pressing in on the solitude under the table. Even as she spoke, Fluttershy started backing away. Feeling like the only pony he knew was about to leave him, Phantom did something he’d never before in his life done. He reached out for her with a hoof. It was still shaking, and his eyes were shut against the sudden tears that welled in his eyes at the realization that he truly was alone in this world. Before him was the only pony that had ever really tried to reach out to him, even though he still hadn’t quite caught on to that part fully yet. The motion of his hoof was enough to make Fluttershy pause.

“Please. D..D…Don’t g-g-g-go…..” His voice was silent and full of fear. Tears had started to leak out from under his eyelids. He’d only been this helpless once before, and the memories of that moment crept in on him, making his situation that much the worse.

The sound of roofing beams cracking and splintering, the heat of the fire burning, a small voice crying out in pain….

He shook his head and whimpered again. Fluttershy seemed worried for a moment. She settled down where she was. “I’ll stay… If you want me to….” Even though her voice was quiet, there was a trace of happiness there. They stayed in that position for a moment before she noticed the tears that were silently falling down his face. “Oh, my…. Whats the matter?”

Phantom had never once in his life ever had anyone take enough interest in him to ask what was wrong before. It startled him so much, the tears began to stop. He opened his right eye, and received another shock. Normally he opened his right eye when he didn’t want to see the world, but wanted to give the impression that he was looking at the person he was talking to. He was blind in that eye after all. Or rather he had been blind in that eye. As it opened, he got a full view of Fluttershy’s concerned face. The sudden knowledge that he had vision in his right eye again brought him back to the terrified phase. He shut the eye again just as quickly and started trembling again. Fluttershy didn’t say anything at all, whether for fear of scaring him more or just for a lack of words Phantom couldn’t say, but the silence did bring him to his senses.

“I’m sorry,” he said, half whispering. “This is all so new to me. I’m not used to any of this…” It was the first sentence he’d said since he’d become a Pegasus that hadn’t been full of stutters or pauses. The look on Fluttershy’s face changed partially from one of concern to one of mild confusion. Phantom felt like he should explain, but he didn’t want to say everything, he didn’t trust Fluttershy that much yet. He didn’t know if he would ever trust anyone, but he owed it to this kind mare to give some sort of explanation.

“I’m not from around here….. Where I’m from… It’s not like this at all…. None of it….” His sentences kept trailing off as he continued on the same track. “I’ve never really had anyone pay attention to me, so I got scared… I’m not any good talking to peo…Erm… Ponies…” He really hoped that Fluttershy hadn’t noticed his mild slip in grammar. He stopped talking, partially embarrassed because he hadn’t said that much in a single go in years. Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice his embarrassment though.

“Oh that’s okay,” she said brightly. “To be honest, I’m not that good with crowds either. I feel too closed in… That’s why I hide.” She was smiling slightly now, and Phantom, realizing that other ponies were like him, started to feel better.
They stayed under that table for the rest of the party, talking and having a good time between the two of them. Pinkie pie noticed them under the table, and rather unpinkishly decided to leave them alone. Fluttershy had enough trouble being social under normal circumstances, and the new pony seemed frightened, so Pinkie thought it would be best for the two of them to be left alone.

The party wound down and did come to an end eventually, mostly because Mr. and Mrs. Cake came down and asked everyone to leave so that they and their babies could get some sleep. As everyone was heading out the door, Phantom and Fluttershy crawled out from under the table. Phantom had long ago stopped trembling, and was now feeling rather content. Maybe this life wasn’t all that bad. Fluttershy was a very nice pony, and he thought that it was amazing that she took care of wild animals. They’d been having such a nice conversation under the table that neither of them put any thought to rejoining the party, or much of anything else either. As they walked to the door, Phantom noticed that Fluttershy seemed a little downcast. Well, since she’d cheered him up, he owed it to her to do the same.

“Fluttershy? Is something the matter?”

“I just didn’t want our conversation to end… I was having… Fun…” Fluttershy’s voice had taken on its quieter tones again. Phantom was starting to learn that that meant she was either embarrassed or upset. Luckily for him this was something that he could actually remedy.

“It doesn’t have to end just because the party ended… We could go for a walk… “ His voice trailed off at the end a bit as his confidence wavered. Being confident was not something he was normally good at, but since this was a new life, he felt like he should try. “That sound good?”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled, and so the two of them walked out of Sugarcube Corner together and set off for a moonlit stroll through Ponyville. Phantom smiled genuinely as they exited the building, happy that he’d found somepony to call a friend.

Chapter Four: Late Night Revelations

Part One
Chapter Four: Late Night Revalations.

Phantom and Fluttershy had already walked around most of Ponytown by now, as Fluttershy showed Phantom around town. Neither of them had yet spoken about the earlier unpleasantness at the party. To be perfectly honest, neither of them had even thought about it at all, they were too wrapped up in each other.

The late night moon rose higher over Ponyville as they walked and talked. Their conversation went all over the place, from the wonderful things to do in Ponyville, to Fluttershy’s friends, to the adventures she’d had, and Phantom asking questions. He hadn’t really been sharing all that much about himself yet, he wasn’t sure how to bring up the fact that he wasn’t originally a pony, so he kept quiet, more than content to let Fluttershy do most of the talking.

As they came around the different homes of her friends, Fluttershy started elaborating about each pony who lived there. Applejack was the honest hard worker, Pinkie Pie (As he’d already learned) was the loud and outgoing partier. It was as they approached the library and Fluttershy explained about Twilight’s amazing abilities with magic that his face lit up…
“And here’s the library,” Fluttershy said in a voice that was far more confident than usual. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but for some reason she was starting to feel more comfortable around this particular Pegasus, even though she barely knew him. “That’s where Twilight lives with Spike, the baby Dragon. She’s a unicorn you know, so she’s good with magic. But Twilight is more than just good with magic, she’s like really good.”

Phantom started to think, if this Twilight person was good with magic, maybe she knew what had happened to him, and how he’d gotten here. The thought of returning home hadn’t crossed his mind this night. The last few weeks he’d thought of nothing but getting back home, but since he’d met Fluttershy and really come to know her, he’d forgotten all about returning home. They walked side by side for a while in silence as they both thought.

Phantom was deep in troubled thought, wondering if he should tell Fluttershy the truth, and whether the truth would cause her to look at him differently, or even leave him. Fluttershy was wondering why Phantom seemed so distant. She wasn’t used to ponies being shy around her, it was usually the other way around. Actually, she wasn’t used to being this assertive at all, it was a rather different change for her.

Phantom decided to ask a question that would change the mood of the night. “Fluttershy, do you think Twilight would still be awake?”

Fluttershy looked over at the library and saw lights on throughout the converted tree. She knew that Twilight often studied late, and didn’t think she’d mind visitors. “I think she is, did you want to go visit?” Phantom nodded, hoping to find answers to the questions that had been foremost in his mind for the past few weeks…

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Twilight was deep in study, reading up more in Olde and Forgotten Magicks about a few kinds of spells that she’d never even heard of before when she heard a gentle knocking at the door. “Spike, could you get that please?”
Spike walked over to the door, grumbling a bit since he’d been getting ready to head to bed, and opened the door to see Fluttershy and a pony he’d never seen before waiting patiently outside. Twilight looked over and smiled slightly seeing her friend outside. She thought this might be a good time to tell her what she’d figured out about the spell they’d all cast, or at least she did until she saw the mysterious stallion with her.

“Hello Twilight, my friend Phantom and I thought we would stop by and say Hello….That is if you don’t mind….”
Phantom thought that this was a rather odd way of talking to a friend, thinking that even thought Fluttershy seemed a little shy around him, he thought it was just how she was round ponies that she wasn’t familiar with, however it seemed that she was like this all the time. Twilight had welcomed them both, and invited them in, and he realized that he had to look odd, still standing outside, rather lost in thought. He tentatively stepped in to the library and the light, as both Spike and Twilight stared in his general direction.

Twilight had seen him before at the party for just a few moments, but she had thought he’d left very early on since she hadn’t seen him there afterwards at all. Spike didn’t really care about this new pony, and started up the stairs mumbling about his blanket calling his name. The one thing that definitely struck Twilight as odd was that Fluttershy seemed to be absolutely beaming. She knew that Fluttershy couldn’t have known this pony long since she’d been out with Rarity a lot recently, and when she wasn’t with Rarity, she was with Twilight In the library, helping her work out some of the complicated answers to the questions they’d all had.

Either way, Phantom couldn’t tell any of this, being as oblivious to other ponies thoughts as anypony else, and walked in slowly, as if he was afraid of doing something wrong. He looked for a moment at the purple unicorn, his mind still racing with all the thoughts and questions he’d had since he’d first come to Equestria.

“Ummm, Hello….” Phantom’s voice had dropped to a low and quiet whisper once again, no longer filled with the confident
tones that he’d been using when talking with Fluttershy. Twilight cocked her head at him quizzically, as if to motion him on to finish the sentence that he hadn’t and didn’t want to say. “I was, umm, wondering if maybe you could help me figure out a few things….”

Twilight seemed to brighten visibly, glad to be able to be of any assistance to anyone. Her friends might call her an egghead (Well, mostly Rainbow Dash, but that wasn’t the point), but she was really just trying to learn as much as she could to help anypony that needed help. “Sure, I’d be glad to help you out, what seems to be the problem?”

“Are you sure, it’s awfully late, and I wouldn’t want to impose and….” Phantom fell silent as Twilight held up a hoof for him to stop. He was still learning pony body language but that was a sign that was as universal as a smile.

“It’s no trouble at all, I’d be glad to help. I usually am up late at night anyways these days, so I still have time to be able to help.” She smiled in his direction. Fluttershy took this time to walk over towards Phantom, subconsciously sensing that he needed a little support right at that moment.

“Okay well…” Phantom’s mind raced, trying to find another way to stall. He’d come here to get an answer to his questions, but now that he was here, he didn’t want to have to explain about them at all. He hated being so contradictory, but his fears got the better of him most of the time. He looked around in the silence for a moment, and he noticed Fluttershy close to him, her face filled with both curiosity and concern. He sighed inwardly and decided to just go for it. The worst that would happen is that Fluttershy would stop talking to him, and he’d be alone again. It wasn’t anything unusual for him, he was used to being alone. He didn’t want to lose his newfound friend, but he didn’t see any other way out of his current situation other than telling them the truth.

“You might want to sit down; it’s kind of a long story…..” Twilight and Fluttershy both looked at him questioningly before sitting down on their haunches, expectantly waiting for him to continue.

“You see, ummm, I’m not really a pony. Or at least I wasn’t until a few weeks ago, and now I’m wondering how this was possible,” Phantom paused. The look on Twilight’s face was one of curiosity, something he’d expect of a magic practicing librarian, but it was the look on Fluttershy’s face that caught him by surprise. It was a look of concern, of sympathy, of worry, a look that plainly said she felt bad for him. He sighed audibly this time, hung his head and continued. “It’s not that I want to go back, it’s just that I want to know if that could happen, cause I… ummm… well……” His eyes started to tear up with an odd mixture of sorrow and joy.

His brain was going a mile a minute as he tried to find the words to explain. He wanted to tell these ponies, no, mainly Fluttershy, that this past day in Equestria had been so much better than any day he’d spent back on Earth. He wanted to say that even though he wasn’t from here he wanted to stay so badly, more than he’d ever wanted anything before. He felt an almost indescribable compulsion to say these things; it was only his fears, his shyness that prevented him from doing so. When he found the ability to speak again, the tears still hovering on the edge of his eyes, several minutes had passed, and both ponies had waited patiently for him to finish.

“I don’t want to go back.” He said it. It was out there in the open, and he could keep the reasons to himself. Twilight and Fluttershy didn’t seem to be the type that would pry and ask questions of him until all his secrets were out in the open. A single tear escaped his eye and rolled slowly down his cheek as he thought of how much more these two ponies were his friends than any person on Earth had ever been. He hadn’t even known either of them that long, yet for some odd reason he felt he could trust them.

This sudden revelation, did not shock either Twilight or Fluttershy. Rather it peaked Twilight's curiosity, and Fluttershy felt sorry for him. Neither of them wanted to speak yet, and so an uncomfortable silence hung in the air as the ponies absorbed the information, and made up their minds.

Twilight was the one to speak first. “I think I can help you with that. I was reading about a spell that did something similar not that long ago, now which page was it on?” Twilight turned away from Phantom and Fluttershy as she started skimming through pages of the enormous book on the reading stand.

Fluttershy moved closer to Phantom slowly. “I’m sorry,” was all she said. To Phantom she looked like she truly meant it. Fluttershy did mean it, having once been through something similar when she first fell to the earth so long ago. Even though it was a wondrous place, it was still terrifying to be all alone in unfamiliar territory and she knew how that felt. She just stepped closer to him and stood there, not in direct contact, but close enough that if he moved at all towards her, they would be touching.

“Ah HA! I found it!” Twilight’s shout of triumph startled both Fluttershy and Phantom, and Twilight smiled sheepishly at the two of them. Twilight looked at the book again for a moment and had a sudden realization, and epiphany of sorts. She decided to keep that thought to herself at the moment, and instead started explaining to Phantom a rather selective version of what had happened…..

Chapter Five: Phantom's Story

Part One
Chapter Five: Phantom’s Story

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Twilight pawed nervously at the floor of the library as she began her explanation. She was good with words, but she didn’t like to lie, she just didn’t see any other way to tell Phantom what had happened without getting herself and all her friends in trouble with him. So she closed the book and began.

“Well, Phantom, it seems that somepony cast a spell that went a little wrong.” Phantom looked at Twilight as if he’d been expecting something like this, even though he hadn’t, it was Fluttershy who cocked her head and looked rather startled. “It seems that a kind of spell designed to look for ponies may have been messed up, and instead gone after other species too.”

Phantom nodded at this, not entirely sure of what to make of this. He thought for a moment as Twilight appeared to do the same. He opened his mouth, about to speak but Twilight beat him to the punch.

“So because this spell didn’t go off exactly like it was supposed to, instead of searching and finding some type of pony in Equestria, it appears that the spell sought out the perfect match for the requirements given to it and brought them here.”

Phantom raised a hoof to politely ask Twilight to stop. “So, because I meet somepony’s requirement for whatever, I was
brought here?” Phantom missed Fluttershy’s slight blush, and didn’t notice Twilight’s guilty look. Twilight just nodded, apparently not wanting to interrupt him. “Okay, so that tells me why and how I’m here, but not if I could be sent back…”

“Well, unless we know exactly which spell was used we can’t say for sure, but I have a feeling that it shouldn’t be a problem.” Phantom was slightly relieved. Sure there might still be a chance but it was apparently slim. He thought of one more question that he just felt he should ask.

“So is there any way to maybe… Find out this spell that brought me here or the reason that I was?” Twilight almost visibly blanched at that, and Fluttershy looked rather embarrassed. Twilight thought hard for a moment, and suddenly came up with an Idea that would keep Phantom occupied and give her a chance to talk to Fluttershy alone.

“There might be, can you write?” Phantom nodded, having worked hard at the hospital to learn. “Okay, well then I’d like you to write down the things about you that made you unique in your world while I talk to Fluttershy for a moment.” A quill and parchment floated down to rest on a table not too far from him. Phantom paled slightly, not wanting to think of his old life anymore. Not after such a wonderful night. But still, his curiosity piqued, he started to write, thinking hard. As he wrote, Twilight motioned for Fluttershy to join her in the next room. Fluttershy was almost visibly relieved and with a quick glance back at Phantom, trotted off to join Twilight.

As soon as the door closed Twilight started talking. “So, I was doing some more research on the spell. I think you’ve noticed but Heart and Hooves day has already passed and we haven’t found our special someponies yet. “ Fluttershy nodded, waiting to see where this was going. “Well, I didn’t read it quite well enough, and I made some assumptions, but I was wrong. The way it was worded is slightly confusing, but what it really means when it said next is not the first one coming after the spell, but the second.” There was a moments silence following that.

“So, you mean we will still be able to find our special someponies?” Fluttershy asked excitedly. Twilight nodded and began to speculate with Fluttershy about whose special somepony Phantom might be. Twilight didn’t say it directly, but she had an inkling who it was. At the same time she also wondered if Phantom had been wrenched from another world because of their spell, who else might have been? She’d explain the complicated parts of how their spell had been changed unexpectedly to all the girls at the same time, she didn’t want to overcomplicate things this evening, and she still felt a little bad for pulling Phantom and Fluttershy apart when it was so obvious that they liked each other.

Their girl time was very suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Twilight opened it with barely any effort using her magic, and there stood Phantom, looking down at the floor sheepishly. “I um…. I finished.” His voice was so quiet you could easily have missed what he said. Even Fluttershy’s embarrassed voice had more power than that.

“Oh, that’s great,” Twilight said brightly, stepping back out into the main room of the library, Fluttershy close on her heels, anxious to get back out. Twilight maneuvered her way over to the table where Phantom’s hard work of the past few minutes stood. There was only one word written on the parchment. Scars.

Phantom looked over at Twilight as she read the one word list. He’d really tried hard to find the things that made him unique. He’d just lived such an unremarkable life, and was such an ordinary person that he didn’t really do anything or know anyone that would make him remarkable; Just the scars that he thankfully did not have in Equestria.

Fluttershy walked slowly and tentatively alongside Phantom, her sense that somepony was upset tingling. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to, his discomfort and pain were written clearly across his face for everypony to read. Fluttershy didn’t want to intrude in Phantom’s private matters but she also didn’t like seeing her new friend so upset.

“Phantom, you’ve only written one word,” Twilight said concernedly. Perhaps it was that she was afraid that that was all he knew how to write, or perhaps it was that she was genuinely concerned, Phantom didn’t know either way, but what he did know was that he couldn’t hide something that still affected him like this in this world, even if he had apparently been given a new start on life. He’d just have to make his peace with the past and move on. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but rather something that he needed to do.

“Yeah, I know…” As he made up his mind what it was he would have to do, his voice still came across quietly. He took a deep breath and placed his hooves apart to steady himself. He wasn’t ready to do this, he couldn’t do this, he wasn’t sure at all that this had ever been a good idea.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how do scars make you unique?” Twilight looked at Phantom, a look of curiosity upon her face. Fluttershy, still quiet, still nervous, edged closer to Phantom; subconsciously sensing his need for support at this moment.

“Umm… I’d like to know too… that is if you don’t mind…” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off as she continued with her apologetic way of speaking. Phantom realized how close she’d come to him, and he thought for a moment. Both of these unusually kind ponies were asking him about his most upsetting and horrifying memory. He needed to get it out there, to know that the ponies here would not reject him because of what had happened like everyone on Earth, but he still didn’t feel like he could.
Phantom took a deep breath and hung his head, still in thought. Twilight might need the information to help him make sure he never went back to earth, and Fluttershy… Well, Fluttershy deserved to know the truth. In all reality, if it wasn’t for her, he might never have gotten out of that party alive, or at the very least sane. All of that versus his utter horror at those memories, the things he wished he could forget being drudged up back to the surface. It wasn’t going to be an easy choice. He took one look at the curious face of Twilight, and the mixture of curiosity/worry on Fluttershy’s and made his decision.

“It’s kind of a long story, but if you have the time, I’ll tell you. Just…. Please don’t stop me until I’m done.” Both Twilight and Fluttershy nodded and sat down on their haunches, waiting patiently for Phantom to tell his tale.

”Remember first of all that this took place in another world, where a lot of the things are going to be strange to you, and I’ll explain about what I can after I’m done if you want to know, but first I’ll explain why scars are what made me unique.
I don’t have them here, but I used to be almost covered in scars. My right side, my right arm and leg, my hand and most of the right side of my face were scarred. And not the you got cut bad kind of scar, the ‘something really traumatic must have happened’ kind of scar. I was blind in my right eye, and the few exposed parts of my scars were leathery to say the least.
I used to work for a theater, and for years hid the fact that I was blind, but I couldn’t hide my scars. I started wearing a mask to hide the ones on my face, trying to guarantee that nobody would ask me about them. I didn’t want to remember what happened the night I’d gotten burned….”

Phantom stopped, taking a deep breath before he continued. The memories of that horrid night flew through his mind, and as tears began to well in his eyes, he continued.

”I had worked at another theater before the one that had fired me before I got here. It was actually the first theater I had ever worked at. It wasn’t the most up to date theater ever, and It needed some work, but it was still a lovely place. My coworkers were all great people and I had never been happier in my life.

But one night, something went wrong. At the time, I didn't know what happened, but during the final show of the summer, a fire broke out above the stage, high up in the rafters. There was so much dust that it spread quickly, there was almost no way to contain it.”

Phantom began to shake silently as the tears that had filled his eyes started slipping down his face, a fact that did not escape Fluttershy or Twilight’s notice.

”I was up in the catwalks, which is a kind of walkway above where the audience sits, and when the fire broke out, I was tasked with keeping the audience calm through announcements. I kept telling them to remain calm and exit in an orderly fashion, all the usual messages given when something goes horribly wrong. Only where I was, which was the control booth, was also evacuated. I stayed because I had to. Somebody needed to keep the announcements running. I stayed there, watching the fire become more and more involved until the message got to me that everyone was out, and to get out of there myself.”

Phantom slid lower and lower to the ground as he continued his story, no longer standing, but rather now in an odd kneeling position, the tears flowing freely from his eyes. As he paused for breath, another sudden shudder went through him. He’d already lied, but he didn’t want them to know that the fire had been his fault, that he stayed there because he’d already felt guilty for letting it happen.

Fluttershy, being ever the kind pony that she was, slowly walked over to him, and sitting next to him, draped her wing over him in a gesture of comfort. Phantom looked over at her, taking a moment to see the concern and sadness on her own face, and he hoped that his story wasn’t upsetting her. It was odd, but even though they’d barely known each other, he counted her amongst his few friends.

As he prepared to continue his story a sob wracked his body, his tears flowing faster and his voice cracking on the words of a story that he had never before told anyone.
”I left… I left the control room, making my way towards the exit when I heard someone screaming for help. It was a voice that I knew all too well, because that voice belonged…. Belonged to the girl that I cared for. I stopped and looked around to see where she was. And….”

Another pause as sobs tear through Phantom, his ability for self control forgotten. He was fully sitting now, his left hoof rubbing unconsciously at the spot where the scars on his right wrist would have been. Fluttershy felt horrible for him, not knowing how this story would end, and even though she didn’t understand some of the terms he was using, she knew that his had to be something hard for him to do.

After another shuddering breath, Phantom steeled his resolve and continued his story, determined to finish it. If he could start this story, the least he could do was to finish it.

Her name was Alex. And she was… was trapped on the stage. She had a part in the show, and must have been helping people get out of the theater safely, but now she was trapped by the burning curtains and the now flaming debris falling from the ceiling… I tried to get to her. I ran down the stairs to the door of the stage. I didn’t think about how dangerous it was.. I… I… I just wanted to see her safe. I got through the door just in time to be hit by a burning curtain as it fell. It covered my right side, and the hanging pieces knocked me out. When I came to, I was on my way to a hospital, badly burned, and nobody expected me to live.

It wasn’t until a week later that I found out what had happened to Alex and what had caused the fire. Alex died on that stage… Not… not five feet from where I fell… and it turned out the fire… was.. was… was my fault. A faulty light was positioned too close to a curtain, and set it on fire… the light was one that I’d put up… that I was supposed to have checked… but I was lazy, and I rushed and….”

With that Phantom’s story came to a close as he curled up into a little ball under Fluttershy’s wing, tears streaming down his face as he burned with the shame and horror at those memories.

Twilight was the one who put it together first. “So the scars you wrote about were the scars from that fire.” Her voice was quiet and gentle, and for once Twilight seemed almost ashamed of having knowledge. The tears that had slowly slipped down her face were drying, but she could see how upsetting it could be for anypony to go through what he’d gone through.
Fluttershy still cried slowly, tears slipping one by one down her face, a look of incredible determination on her face. She slowly pulled her wing back, not to startle Phantom, not to pull away from him, but rather to face him.

Phantom didn’t even notice. He was calming down, having never really let go of the pain, and was just starting to recover. He heard Twilight speak in the background, but wasn’t at all aware of what she said. It wasn’t until Fluttershy spoke that he really snapped back to reality. And when Fluttershy spoke, her words would rock his very world.

Chapter Six: Early Morning Bedtime

Part One
Chapter Six: Early Morning Bedtimes

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As Phantom slowly calmed down and Twilight tried desperately to think of a way to cheer up the grieving pony before her, it was Fluttershy who faced Phantom and with a steely resolve spoke to him. Her words were calm, her voice level and assertive, the latter as surprising as what she actually said.

“Phantom, you aren’t ruled by those scars anymore. You’re a pony now, for better or worse, without scars. I know what happened was bad and really upsetting for you, but that life is over now isn’t it? No pony is going to judge you by what happened before, and Nopony else has to know. “

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, her mouth hanging open; she had never before heard Fluttershy speak so assertively, or bluntly for that matter. For his part, Phantom almost began to grin. He’d never thought of things like that before. He sniffled a little bit as a few stray tears slid from his eyes, and he looked up at Fluttershy to meet her gaze.

“You said it yourself,” Fluttershy continued, “that you don’t want to go back to that place. That means you are staying here and so you are going to be a pony. That is your ticket, your chance to have a new life that can be what you want it to be. You don’t have to hide anymore, you don’t have to be afraid. You have friends now who will look out for you and help you along the way.” Fluttershy finished with a smile and an almost lazy gesture towards Twilight.

At that very moment, Phantom started feeling something that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He was feeling a very genuine happiness start to spread. He decided then and there that he would no longer think of himself as Alex Buckley, but as the new and reborn Phantom Mask. His name would no longer be a cruel jest at his shyness and wariness, but rather the start of a whole new life, with friends. He shifted himself, tentatively pushing himself into a sitting position with his forelegs, trying to get the hang of it right away.

A smile started to splay across his lips as he looked deep into Fluttershy’s cyan eyes. “Thank you.” Twilight’s mouth fell open a little more. She stepped back a little bit and smiled once she’d regained her sense of things. Twilight didn’t want to interrupt what looked like it could be a very important moment for both Fluttershy and Phantom.

“Fluttershy, you’re right.” Phantom stood up completely. “I should look at this as a new start.” Phantom’s smile widened a little bit as he moved a little closer to Fluttershy, compelled by a force that he couldn’t explain.

Fluttershy, who normally would have been intimidated by this masculine pony moving towards her, was for some odd reason fine. “I’m glad you see it that way.” Phantom nodded and, as the two ponies slowly drifted towards each other, there was silence in the library. Twilight just stood back and watched as the two were drawn inexplicably together, and wished she had something like that happen to her. It was plain to Twilight that Phantom and Fluttershy were destined to be together. She was just a little jealous of her friend.

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Far off in the Equestrian Sculpture garden, the beginnings of disharmony between the wielders of the elements of harmony were starting to have a rather unintended effect. A rather odd statue, being a creature with the head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things, stood lonely in the center of the garden, the look on it’s face a mixture of laughter and horror. This statue was of the fabled Draconiquis, and in all of Equestria, there was only one that had ever lived there. That was Discord, who as his name implies spread chaos and discord throughout the world during his reigns of terror.

This statue was not just a statue either. It was in fact the frozen form of Discord himself, having been frozen two years previously by Twilight Sparkle and the other wielders of the Elements of harmony. Now that there were the elements of discord beginning between Twilight and her friends, the spell that held Discord at bay was beginning to weaken, and so cracks began to form on the statue. Had there been anypony nearby, they would have heard Discord’s evil laugh echo in an otherworldy fashion through the sculpture garden.

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There was still a total silence in the Library, and had Dr. Whooves been there, he would possibly have been reminded of another library in a faraway place. It wasn’t until the wall clock chimed two that anypony spoke.

“It’s getting early,” Twilight said with a huge shuddering yawn, “I should probably be getting to bed. I’m sorry to kick you two out, but I can’t close the library with people still here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Twilight, of course we’ll go,” Fluttershy said with a small grin. She gestured for Phantom to head to the door, and started off that way herself. As the two of them reached the door, she turned to Twilight who was now halfway up the stairs. “I’m sorry we kept you up so late. Goodnight Twilight.”

Twilight smiled down at her shy friend. “Oh, it’s no trouble, have a good night Fluttershy.” Together Phantom and Fluttershy left the library and started down the main road of Ponyville.

“So Phantom, where are you staying now that you are out of the hospital?”

Phantom laughed slightly, the kind of nervous laugh a pony gives when they don’t know the answer to a simple question. “I hadn’t even thought of that. I don’t have a place at all. I don’t even have any money to get one. Ponies use money right?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy laughed, “We use money. If you don’t have a place where were you planning on sleeping?”

Phantom stopped walking and thought for a moment. “Is there a park near here or something?”

Fluttershy turned and gave Phantom a semi quizzical look. “Are you serious?”

Phantom gave another little nervous laugh. “Yes, I am. Where else could I go?”

“Well…” Fluttershy started before blushing. She really liked Phantom, and what she was about to do would surprise all of her friends, as much as it surprised her that she had thought of it. “I have a guest room… and umm….”

Phantom caught on to where Fluttershy was going with this, and as much as he liked her, he didn’t want to impose. After all she’d been more than kind enough already. She’d talked to him at the party, and she’d stuck with him afterwards. And then there was all that she’d done at the Library. Offering him a place to stay was far too much in his mind. “You don’t have to do that. A park would be fine. I do enjoy sleeping under the stars.”

Fluttershy fixed Phantom with her lowest power Stare. “You are not going to sleep outside when there is a perfectly good bed that you could sleep in.”

Phantom felt a strange compulsion to immediately accept Fluttershy’s offer. He shook his head, and looked at Fluttershy with what he hoped was a decent imitation of the look she’d just given him. “I’m going to stay outside, because accepting your offer is just too much.”

Fluttershy upped the intensity of the stare. “You Will. That’s Final.”
The strange compulsion Phantom was feeling was growing in intensity, but at the moment his moral code was still prevailing. “I won’t”.

With determination, Fluttershy upped the Stare to its full intensity. “You are going to stay in my guest room. Do you understand me mister?”

Phantom felt paralyzed and could barely nod. Fluttershy’s voice had become a growl, and there was just something about the way she’d looked at him that made it impossible for him to have said no to her again. Fluttershy smiled, and with a cheery, “Good”, started off towards her house. Phantom dejectedly followed after her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay with her, it was that he felt like he was imposing for sure now, no matter what she said, and he had to figure out a way to deal with this. When he got his idea, it was like a thousand flashbulbs going off at once.

“Fluttershy, I’ll stay on one condition.” Phantom’s tone caused Fluttershy to stop dead in her tracks. She turned towards him, preparing to use the Stare again if necessary. “I want to earn my keep. You don’t have to pay me, just let me work around your house to earn the room and board.”

Fluttershy’s response was a tinkling laugh that caused Phantom to smile. “Of course. That’s one condition that isn’t hard.” Together the two set off again, towards Fluttershy’s home on the edge of the Everfree forest.
“So, uhh, what exactly is it that you do?”

“I take care of the woodland creatures when they are hurt or injured, and many of them stay at my cottage.” Fluttershy was beaming, wondering personally what Angel bunny would think of Phantom.

“That sounds like a lot of work. I don’t see how I could help with that. I don’t have any experience dealing with animals, except maybe a Hor…..” Phantom stopped, realizing what he almost said, and felt that it could be rude, or taken entirely the wrong way.

“A what?” Fluttershy looked sideways at him.
“Ummm, A horse. Where I am from, horses don’t talk, or even act all that intelligent, and so are treated like farm animals. I’m not really proud of it…”

“Oh.” Fluttershy was obviously confused. “Just remember, you’re new here, and nothing from that world matters here anymore. But you wouldn’t be working with the animals anyways. That takes up most of my time, so my gardens go untended, and there are always repairs that need to be done. If you’re helping with that, I can save the bits I’d usually use to pay other ponies.”

Phantom’s face fell a little. He’d never gardened before in his life, he grew up in Manhattan, so he wasn’t sure he could do all that much. The repair work he was sure he could do once he figured out how to use the tools they had here. Maybe he could learn to garden too. “Sounds good to me.”

And so, together they trotted off to Fluttershy’s cottage, heading off to bed in the early hours of the morning, the exact terms of their arrangement could wait until morning.

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Author’s Note To Readers:
PART one is almost done! Believe it or not, in just two more chapters the exciting conclusion is coming. Stay tuned!

Chapter Seven: A Trial of Kindness

Part One
Chapter Seven: A Trial of Kindness

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A few weeks had passed, and life at Fluttershy’s cottage had fallen into a rhythm that was both comfortable and familiar. Early in the morning, both Fluttershy and Phantom would wake up aand set about feeding the great many animals that took residence, either permanent or temporary, at the cottage. After that and their own breakfast, Fluttershy would tidy up about the cottage, and Phantom would tend the garden with his newfound love of gardening. Afternoons were spent in either peaceful enjoyment of the fading day in the plentiful grass fields around the cottage, having adventures exploring Ponyville, or hanging out with Twilight and the rest of the gang. Through their time together, both Phantom and Fluttershy had grown. While separately both were still shy and quiet, together they became confident and assertive.

Phantom had taken to being a pony rather well, and had even made a few friends on his own, such as Zecora, the mystical Zebra who lived in the Everfree forest. Together the two of them had discovered exactly what Phantom’s mask shaped cutie mark meant. Apparently his special talent was just in being able to be a pony. This didn’t bother him in the least, and it helped him to adjust more than anything, this knowledge that he was meant to be a pony here, that he was finally doing something right. He’d even started taking flying lessons with Rainbow Dash. Even after all the shock and horrors of his first
few weeks in Equestria, he’d been adjusting well, and with each passing day, it became easier and easier for him.

And while to Phantom and Fluttershy, it was an accepted and necessary fact, it boggled other ponies the speed at which their relationship grew and evolved. With how much time the two of them were spending together and their semi-dependence on each other, it was only natural that their relationship would evolve. No pony could put their hoof on exactly when that friendship evolved into a romance, but it happened with startling speed, and became an accepted part of the natural order of things in Ponyville.

Now, Phantom was still oblivious to the subtleties of body language amongst the ponies, Fluttershy was not, and her friend’s barely hidden jealousy was upsetting to her. She truly loved her friends with all of her heart, and it hurt her to see the bonds of that friendship stretched and tested by her relationship with Phantom. But, as with all things involving true love, such things will come to pass, and Fluttershy decided that she would just have to take some time and talk to her friends and set things right.

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Far off in Canterlot, Princess Celestia, the ruler of all Equestria, reads yet another one of Twilight’s letters…

While Twilight Sparkle’s letters to the Princess on the lessons she had learned about friendship had slowed, the overall pace of correspondence had not, and it was not unusual for Celestia to receive letters bearing news and updates about Ponyville and those six special ponies who wielded the Elements of Harmony. Normally letters like that were routine and mundane, there was something about this latest letter that worried Celestia. She’d read through the letter once, and was now perusing it again, carefully checking the wording, and hoping she’d made a mistake or simply misunderstood as she skimmed over the worrisome lines again.

”… but as things go on I can’t help but to feel a little jealous. After all Phantom isn’t even from Equestria. Why is it that Fluttershy should get the handsome pony from another world when all she’s interested in is animals, and I could learn so much from him about where he’s from?

Well, either way, I might be jealous but I am also happy for Fluttershy that she has finally found a special somepony….”

Celestia sighed. She hadn’t misread or misunderstood Twilight, and it wasn’t likely that Spike who wrote the letters for Twilight had made a mistake either. So now it appeared that there was definitely a pony in Equestria who was not originally a pony, or at least not from their world. She wondered if this had anything to do with the flash of magics that she and her sister Luna had felt a couple of months back. A chill ran down Celestia’s spine as she remembered the last time a creature not of Equestria had come. That creature had caused endless problems and chaos, and even though he was now encased in stone, seemingly forever, he still remained a credible threat to her kingdom.

Celestia sat alone in her throne room, thinking of the best course of action to follow at the moment. She came to her conclusion and as she walked out of the throne room, she asked her Captain of the Guard to summon her sister Luna to her. It wasn’t something she wanted to do, but this Phantom would have to be returned to his world, by any means necessary. It was for the good of the Kingdom.

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Twilight was in a panic. No letter had arrived telling her of the Princesses visit, and so she felt completely unprepared. It was most unusual of Celestia not to write ahead and give the ponies some warning that she would be there. Most of the day after Twilight had realized that the Princesses’ carriage was headed to Ponyville was spent in gathering her friends, plus Phantom to the library so they could properly greet their Princesses.

Phantom paced nervously in a corner as the other six chatted amiably. He’d never met royalty before, and he had no Idea how to ask. He normally would have asked Fluttershy, but she was in a rather animated conversation with Rarity, and he didn’t want to interrupt her. He wondered if he should bow, or curtsey, or whatever it was you did when meeting the Queen of England, or if he would have to say something…. That train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as the door to the Library opened and two ponies with Pegasus wings and Unicorn horns walked in. Phantom assumed that these must be the Princesses, and seeing the other six bowing deeply, scrambled to do so himself.

“Now now Twilight, there is no need for such formality amongst friends,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Indeed, we are thy friend good Twilight,” chimed in Luna, who was surprisingly not using her rather loud and forceful “royal” voice. A slight giggle escaped Spike at the odd way Princess Luna had of speaking.

“As much as I would like to talk and chat with you, it is a rather unfortunate duty that brings both myself and Luna here today.” Celestia’s smile fell and her face became rather grim in demeanor. As Celestia looked around the room, her eyes landed on a deep blue pony who had some interestingly darker splotches in his coat that matched his dark blue mane. “I can assume that this is the Phantom Mask that I have heard about?”

Phantom gulped and nodded, and wondered where the princess got her information. He hoped that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and that if he had, she would be kind and not sentence him to death or banishment or whatever they did with ponies who broke the law.

“Ah. Well, I have come to understand, Phantom, that you are not originally from here?”

Phantom nodded again, doing his best to look tall and proud, but under the grim gaze of Celestia, and the penetrating, heavy stare from Princess Luna, he failed miserably.

“As you have guessed by now, I am Princess Celestia,” the Princess began. She didn’t want to do this to a pony she hardly knew, but as she’d discovered on the way down to Ponyville, it was a requirement of the law that any pony not from Equestria or one of her allied kingdoms be returned to the lands from which they came. It was an old law, but one that hadn’t been overturned, and one that would require a great many years to rewrite. This was a problem that she had to deal with immediately, not in a few years. “…and I am the ruler of all Equestria with my sister here,” the Princess continued, pointing at Luna, “and together we are charged with keeping peace and order throughout our kingdom.”

Phantom nodded again, too afraid to speak at this point. He didn’t know what to say, or how you should say things when addressing the ruler of Equestria. He wondered where this was going, and why the Princess looked so grim. He was about to find out.

“It is an unfortunate thing, but I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to stay here. I’m going to have to return you to the world you came from.” The look on the Princess’ face was not a happy one, and anypony who knew her could tell that she wasn’t happy about having to do this.

“You can’t!” Fluttershy yelled. The fact that it was Fluttershy yelling caught Celestia off guard, and she jumped a little bit. Fluttershy advanced almost menacingly towards the Princess, her eyes locked into their most penetrating Stare. “Phantom is a good and kind pony who hasn’t hurt anyone, and he does not deserve to be thrown away like yesterday’s garbage.” Fluttershy’s voice was filled with cold iron, and if her former mentor Iron Will had been there, he would have been singing her praises for all eternity as the Champion of being assertive.

“I’m truly sorry Fluttershy, but there is nothing that I can do, the law is the law.” The other five ponies looked sadly at Fluttershy, wishing that they could do something to help. Twilight had a sudden idea, and started whispering conspiratorially to Spike. In an instant Fluttershy’s assertiveness ended and her eyes filled with tears. Phantom, who had been quiet this entire time, took that moment to step forward and say something for the first time since the Princesses had arrived.

“I guess I understand. Maybe I just don’t belong here either.” Phantom’s voice was full of a dejected resignation. He couldn’t argue with the ruler of Equestria. If he’d been a lawyer on Earth, or even watched one of those T.V. court shows, he might have had a chance to pull some sort of brilliant legal maneuver, but he hadn’t, and he wasn’t sure that the same rules applied in Equesria that applied in the USA.

“We are truly sorry about this, loyal subject,” Luna said, her voice cool and calm. Luna didn’t want to do this either, and she felt more like Nightmare moon at the moment, destroying the happiness of a pony who’d helped her adjust to the modern world after a thousand years of exile.

“If I may, before you send be back to Earth, could I share my story with you and the rest of Fluttershy’s friends? I know Twilight has heard it, but I’d like for the rest of them to hear it as well. Call it my last request if you want. As soon as I’m done, I’ll let you send me home, peacefully.”

Princess Celestia thought about this for a moment, and didn’t think that any harm could come of it. Once she’d told Phantom that it was okay, he started in on a slightly abbreviated version of the story he’d told Twilight and Fluttershy a few weeks ago. He added what had happened during his time so far in Equestria, and that back on Earth he’d been shunned by his peers for fear that he was unlucky or at best incompetent, and that he really didn’t have anything to go back to. He told them how much he’d enjoyed his time here, and that he really didn’t want to go back anyways, how much better his life had been here. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when he’d finished. Princess Luna seemed especially upset by his tale, but that may have had something to do with the fact that she too had been exiled, and even since her return had been shunned as recently as Nightmare Night two years past.

Phantom’s story had bought Twilight the time she needed to do the quick bit of research that might give Phantom a chance. As Celestia dried her eyes and stepped forward to start casting the spell with her sister that would return Phantom to Earth, Twilight called out in her loudest voice, “WAIT!!!”

Celestia stopped as did Luna, and they and all the other ponies in the room looked at Twilight, dumbstruck. Twilight blushed slightly at the nine pairs of eyes staring at her.

“You said that the Law is the Law, right?” Celestia just nodded, interested to see where this was going. “Well, it says here that the extradition law does not apply to ponies from non allied kingdoms that have been adopted by a pony in Equestria.” Twilight was proud of herself.

“You’re right, but the pony who adopts must be at least twenty years older than the pony they are adopting, and while I understand that you are trying to help your friend, I’m afraid that none of you are eligible to make that happen.” Celestia truly did look as if she wished that she didn’t have to do this. There was a moment of silence that was only punctuated by the sniffles of a very upset Fluttershy. What happened next, Nopony in that room would ever forget.

“Sister, draw up the papers.” Luna had a rather determined look upon her face. Everypony started at Luna, dumbfounded. As Luna looked around the room, a smile crept up on her face, as she finally turned to face her sister again, speaking not as a Royal Canterlot pony, but rather as an individual, as Luna. “I believe that I would meet those requirements. And as long as Phantom is not opposed, I see no problems with this. Draw up the papers.”

Celestia just stared at her younger sister, feeling rather in awe. She’d never even thought that Luna of all people would be willing to do something like this to help another pony. “You realize that this would mean you are partially responsible for him as long as he stays in Equestria, and that he also becomes partially responsible for you?”

Phantom sat there silently not believing that any of this was happening. It may have been partially that he was very confused over whether or not he was going to be sent back to Earth. Fluttershy had drifted over to his side, and was also sitting silently, however she was thinking. She was thinking back to when Luna had been Nightmare Moon, back to the very first Nightmare Night when all Luna had wanted was for the other ponies to accept her. It seemed that things came full circle, and now Luna was helping another pony become fully accepted in Equestria.

“Sister, I know this. I may have been exiled for a thousand years, but that still doesn’t change Discord’s Law.” The silence in the room was deafening. Neither Twilight nor any of her friends could believe that Luna had just said that. Discord’s Law? That made about as much sense as saying that Discord was a pony. Twilight vowed silently to find out why there was a law named after the Draconiquis that had caused so much trouble. “Phantom, would you have a problem with this?”

Phantom cringed back, partially in fear of the princess, partially because he was startled that she was addressing him so directly. “I…L… Not at all… Um… Just a question though…”

“Yes, go on?” Luna looked intrigued.

“Would that mean you would become my mother?”

“Yes she would,” Celestia answered for her sister. A small bundle of papers floated down between Luna and Phantom. “It would also make you a Prince.” While she wouldn’t say it out loud, Celestia was not displeased with this course of action. It let her avoid doing something that she definitely didn’t want to do, and it gave Luna someone that she could talk to and rely on much as Celestia had Prince Blueblood. “It would also make me your Aunt, and my son Prince Blueblood your cousin.”

Phantom sat there stunned. In a matter of minutes, he’d gone from facing exile and banishment, to becoming a member of the Royal family. He simply couldn’t comprehend this. None of the other ponies in the room, excepting the Princesses, could believe it either. Celestia showed him and Luna where to sign and after a few minutes of signing and explanations of all the different clauses and what they meant, it was done. Everypony let loose a great sigh of relief.

“Twilight, now that this is done, I need to talk to you separately…” Celestia motioned for Twilight to join her in another adjoining room of the library. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash started to talk amongst themselves, discussing what had just happened, and with Rarity complaining about how now there was another Prince, and one she’d never get her hooves on. Pinkie Pie, Luna, Fluttershy, and Phantom were also talking together, but their conversation was rather different.

“Phantom, if you would like, you could join us in Canterlot.” Luna said, her manner of speech returning back to her slightly outdated style. Pinkie Pie looked back and forth from the rather obvious couple and the Princess, waiting to see what would happen.

“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but… Umm…. If it is alright, I’d rather stay here in Ponyville. I mean I still have a lot to learn about being a proper pony…” Phantom was halfway between assertive and shy, and it was quite adorable.

“We understand. Well, we will just have to come and visit with you, to learn more about you now that you are our son.” Luna smiled at him. She couldn’t believe it either. Ever since she’d started to learn more about the modern Equestria, and she spent time with PipSqueak, she’d wanted to be a mother, and that was something she’d never tell her sister.

Phantom smiled too. “I’d like that. I have to learn about you too, since you are my mother and all now.” Fluttershy giggled, and Phantom threw a mock glare in her direction. “Problem?”

“Not at all. Although if the Princess is going to be staying, I guess we’ll have to build another guest room.” Fluttershy smiled back at Phantom, a wide grin spreading on her face.

Pinkie pie jumped “We need a PARTY!!! This is definitely a celebratory event!” Pinkie dashed out of the Library, presumably to get things ready for a very impromptu party.

Luna grinned slyly at Phantom, suddenly understanding the real reason he wanted to stay in Ponyville. “So you are staying with this gentle soul. Hmmm…” Luna and Fluttershy laughed as Phantom looked off to the side, embarrassed…

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In all of Twilight’s studies, there was a phrase on that spell she and her friends had cast that she had missed. ”For all ye
shall receive, there shall be a trial for each. The trial is based not upon the pony ye find, but rather on thyself, and thy strongest attributes.” The first Trial had been passed, and so things would continue, much in the way of the spell. It was only just the beginning.

And far off in the Canterlot Sculpture Garden, as the discord and disharmony between friends grew slowly, so too did the numerous cracks in the statue of Discord.

The end of Part I.

Chapter Eight: Unexpected Help

Part Two
Chapter Eight: Unexpected Help

Many thanks to Silver Wrench for Co-Authoring

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Days had passed since the resolution and eventual adoption of Phantom Mask, and Applejack couldn’t have been happier for her friend Fluttershy. Just the day before she and Phantom had officially announced that they were marefriend and coltfriend. It was good to see that Fluttershy’s shyness didn’t impact her relationship. Applejack might have been the most honest pony in Ponyville, but she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings and she didn't want to say anything to Fluttershy about her shyness possibly hurting her chances with Phantom. Well, luckily it turned out that Applejack had been wrong, and everything had worked out all right in the end.

Applejack ran, swung, and with powerful legs bucked hard against an apple tree. The apples shivered and fell into the baskets that lay under the tree as the bark where Applejack’s hooves struck protested with a loud and thunderous crack. She smiled and looked down at the filled apple baskets. It was going to be another long harvest, but with Big Mac being injured again, there wasn’t anything she could do. Fluttershy and Phantom were going to come out and help later in the week, as were Rainbow Dash and Twilight, but she wanted to get a good portion of it done early. She started to pick up the buckets when another loud crack sounded from just over the hill.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack muttered to herself. She’d never heard a sound quite like that, and was hoping that Apple Bloom and her friends hadn’t decided to become Cutie Mark Crusader Apple Harvesters. Shuddering at the very thought, she walked over to see what had caused the sound.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

James Cage, the Silver Wrench of Company C groggily began to regain consciousness. He must have been knocked out by the machine exploding. On assignment off in the Middle East, he’d been assigned to investigate equipment that they suspected was used to make explosives. He might have been the unit’s expert on mechanics, but even he could make mistakes. There had been a failsafe activation that he missed, and he guessed that the machine had exploded. That could explain why things didn’t feel right to him. For example, he couldn’t feel his fingers. He started to open his eyes.

Bright light assaulted him, and he gasped in shock. It had been early evening in Afghanistan, but it appeared that it was now daylight. Something too was off in the way that the air tasted. Rather than the continual dry and slightly baked taste in the desert air, this was sweet and fragrant, with just a hint of apple. Once his eyes had cleared and he could see, he noticed one thing immediately; The colors. Blues, greens, and reds, they were all far too bright, too cheerful.

Now James was an avid fan of science fiction novels, particularly the ones where people were transported against their will to places unknown, like A Princess of Mars or Wasp. In fact, the more off beat the story, the more he liked it. So he was more than willing to accept that this could have happened. He would never have told anyone, but he’d always had a fantasy of something similar happening to him. The best he could figure was that there had been something in the machine that had caused this. All thoughts of how stopped when he looked down at his body.

The body he saw was not his human body swathed in desert camouflage, but rather the body of a pony in hues of purplish blue. He lifted what he thought was an arm, and saw a hoofed leg raise instead. He sat there in shock as he realized that this was his body. He guessed that the grey tail with blue highlights was his then too. It was a little much for him. He sat there trying to figure out what could have happened. Sure in some of his books the people changed too, and he guessed that that could have happened to him, but there had been nothing in that machine that he could see that could have caused this. Perhaps he’d died. He didn’t know, and while he was busy trying to figure it out he didn’t notice the orange and blond pony approaching him.

Applejack crested the to see a blue pony laying in the grass by some of her precious apple trees. She didn’t know if he was an apple thief or not, but she suspected the latter since he had a look of deep confusion. She took a few cautious steps forward, waiting to see if he’d notice her. After standing there for a few moments, it became apparent that he hadn’t and so she called out to him. “You all righ’?”

James looked up at the orange pony, noticing her for the first time. It seemed that he was in a world where everyone was a pony, and that fact set him a little at ease. This was so much like his books he half expected it to turn out to be some kind of hallucination or a dream, but either way there couldn’t be any harm in having some fun with it, could there? “I…I’m fine.” He managed to blurt out. He was so torn between being excited and being confused that he’d quite forgotten how to speak.

“That’s good. The name’s Applejack, and this here’s mah farm.” Applejack looked at him as he stood up slowly and tentatively, as if testing his legs for the very first time. In fact for him it was, and he rather liked the stability that four legs gave him. He turned his head and looked down the length of his body, and much to his surprise there was a small silver wrench on his flank. Applejack noted the way he jumped when he noticed it. “Ah guess you’re not from around these parts.”

“Not really, no. I’m not even sure where here is actually.” James stopped his inspection of himself to turn and talk to Applejack. He realized that he hadn’t even introduced himself yet and felt a little foolish. He didn’t that it would matter, but if he was going to introduce himself, he’d do it properly. He stood a little straighter and a bit more militarily in posture and with a clear firm voice declared, “I’m the Silver Wrench of-“

He didn’t get farther as Applejack had swooped forward and grabbed his right hoof and was shaking it enthusiastically up and down. “Well nice ta meet ya, Silver. This here’s Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s mah family’s farm.” It was just the way she was, friendly and outgoing and always glad to make new friends.

So they had handshakes, or rather hoofshakes, here in this world. He figured that there were probably a dozen terms that he was going to get wrong simply because of differences in anatomy. Well he’d figure those out as he went. And while he wasn’t planning to go by his moniker here, it had been habit that brought it up, and it might not be bad to distance himself from who he was. Not unlike Alexander Smith from The Darkness of the Elderlands It was his all time favorite book, and it was astonishing to him that things were unfolding along a similar parallel. He just hoped that his ending would be different.

Applejack looked over Silver Wrench carefully, trying to determine if he was a danger or not. Silver looked around at the apple trees as Applejack looked at him. “Miss Jack, I must say that your apple trees do seem to be the most bountiful I have ever seen.” This wasn’t a lie outright, mainly because he’d never seen an actual apple tree in person, but also because their fruits seemed larger than what he typically thought of an apple to be.

Silver’s mention of her apple trees brought back to Applejack the fact that she was still in the middle of Applebuck season, and needed to get back to harvesting. “Thank you kindly, and it’s just Applejack, not Miss Jack.” Applejack’s voice was stern but kind, and she felt honored that he was trying to be polite. “And as much as ah would like to stay and talk with you some more sugarcube, I have to get back to harvesting.”

Silver’s face fell a little bit. He hadn’t realized that Applejack could have been working, even though she’d directly stated that this was her farm. She turned to leave and he panicked a bit. He didn’t want the only other pony he’d met so far to just leave him alone when he had no idea where to go or how to act. He came up with one idea, and even though it seemed totally crazy, he decided to go for it. “Could you use a hand with the harvest?”

Applejack stopped and turned back. The last time she’d had to try and do the harvest entirely on her own, she’d been stubborn and refused help. She actually kept working day and night to the point where she’d risked becoming dangerously ill. She’d learned her lesson then. She should accept help when it was offered, and she could always use some additional hooves at harvest time, whether Big Mac was laid up or not.

“Well sure ah could. Have you ever harvested before?” There had been something about the way he’d asked if she needed help that was off, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. It hit her suddenly that it was the word ‘hand’. She didn’t know what that meant but she figured it was just a phrase that he was used to using wherever he was from, and she’d be polite and not point it out.

Silver simply shook his head. He’d never even so much as tended a garden back at home. The closest he’d ever come to harvesting had been picking a few flowers here and there. He realized that her slight delay in answering might have been because he’d used the term ‘hands’. It wasn’t something that he’d normally think about, be here in a world where everything was so different, little slips could mean a huge fallout. He’d have to work harder in the future to not use terms that seemed too otherworldly. If he didn’t he might cause a war or something. That had happened in his books too.

“Well, you’ll have to learn as we go along, I can’t really slow down cause mah brother is injured and can’t help out this season.” Applejack didn’t really want to have to teach another pony how to buck apples, even though she was the best pony for the job, she didn’t have the time either. But no matter how she felt about it, she could use the extra help, and so she’d take whatever she could get. Silver looked like he was strong, and she was sure that once he got the hang of things, he’d be a first rate apple bucker.

Silver wasn’t sure that he was taking the best course of action. He’d known this pony for only a few minutes, and he wasn’t even sure that he could do something like harvest apples. For that matter, he’d only been a pony (as far as he could tell) for a few minutes, and he wasn’t entirely sure of his own limits. It wouldn’t do to go getting ahead of himself, but that was exactly what he was doing.

Applejack looked over at Silver, as if sizing him up. “So, you ready to get started pardner?”

Silver simply stared and nodded. After all, how hard could harvesting apples be? Sure he was a pony now and didn’t have the luxury of hands, but it couldn’t be all that bad. Heck, at worst it would be almost as hard as boot camp.

Exactly how bad it would be for him, he would soon find out, and he would be wishing for those easy days in boot camp soon enough.

Chapter Eleven: Meet The Apples

Part Two
Chapter Eleven: Meet The apples

Many thanks to Silver Wrench for Co-authoring this chapter, and for the help with some military terms...

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Granny Smith and Apple Bloom carried the great many dishes of the dinner out to the dining table. Sliver Wrench noticed that the place settings were already on the table, and that there was an additional place set for him. Silver waited patiently for everyone to take a seat before he took the only remaining chair which was right between Applejack and Big Mac. Silver was excited for a home cooked meal. Even though he had no idea what to expect, he was sure it would be good. While he’d been out on his tour of duty, he’d had nothing but MRE’s to eat. He could have had the mess tent food when he’d been at base, but the MRE’s were usually marginally more edible than what the marine cooks came up with.

Granny Smith started the meal by dishing out what appeared to be some kind of soup. It looked good, and as it sat steaming in the bowl, Silver allowed himself to take a deep whiff of it. He couldn’t quite place the smell, and he wanted to know what was in it before he took a bite. “Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of soup is this?”

“First off, the name’s Granny Smith, but you can call me Granny, sonny. I’m not quite old enough to be a ma’am yet.” Granny Smith told her little joke with a kind smile. Apple Bloom sighed along with her older brother and sister; they were all a little tired of Granny’s constant little jokes. Silver noticed that Granny Smith had all the features that in humans would have indicated old age, however his manners and common sense told him to keep his mouth shut. Granny Smith continued, “As for the soup, Apple Bloom made it, and she used my granny’s old recipe. It’s her world famous Apple and Butternut Squash soup.”

Apple Bloom chimed in, “Granny did most of the work, I just sort of helped.” Silver thought that it was incredibly cute the way that Apple Bloom held her head down and kicked at the floor a little, as if she was ashamed of admitting that she’d only helped.

“Don’t you go try and be modest now, you did a lot of the work, and you did well for your first time sugar plum,” Granny Smith said. Applejack took the opportunity to pull her sister in for a noogie.

Silver steeled himself for the worst. It smelled good at least, and he hoped it tasted as good as it looked. The light brown liquid swirled enticingly and he picked up his spoon. Silver said a quick prayer of thanks to whatever spirit had taught him to manipulate things with his hooves out in the orchard. He took his first sip of the soup. It was better than he’d expected, in fact it was downright delicious. He quickly started really going for it. The speed with which he was eating his soup brought a chuckle out of both Granny Smith and Applejack.

“Apple Bloom, you outdid yerself this time sis. It’s really a great soup tonight!” Applejack had finished a good bit of her soup already, having eaten while Silver tried to figure out what it was. Something about Silver seemed different than the other stallions she’d met. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it yet, but she was darn sure going to figure it out.

Big Mac nodded in agreement with Applejack’s endorsement, and Apple Bloom sat with her cherubic face beaming with pride. Something about the little exchange over the soup reminded Silver of the perfect little families from the 50’t.v. sitcoms. It was almost eerily too perfect. The little girl learning to cook and praising her about how it came out was almost classic June Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver. Silver silently hoped that the whole meal wouldn’t keep on like this. He hadn’t really liked those shows all that much.

It seemed that Granny Smith was serving the meal, and the next course was a salad of some sort. Silver didn’t know what to expect from it because there were some things that he’d never seen in a salad before. The tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were immediately recognizable, and after a closer look he thought he saw dandelion leaves and even daisies. As a Marine, Silver understood that some flowers were edible, and had even learned most of them in a survival course he’d had in what now seemed a past life. He’d never even dreamed that he would ever be served a meal with those flowers as ingredients.

The flowers threatened to freak Silver out, as he was still having some trouble processing everything that had happened today. But a part of him was still just happy that he was having a home cooked meal. Having traveled to different countries and experiencing different cultures, Silver was open minded to things that appear strange, but when it came to his food, strange was not something that he was exactly good at dealing with. He’d learned to enjoy some of the strange and exotic cuisine in the Middle East, which was food that was as strange to him as his favorite Baltimore steamed crabs would have been to the people of the Middle East.

Applejack took a moment and watched Silver. She didn’t feel odd at all to invite another pony home for dinner, but she did like to check up on them to make sure that they weren’t about to do something odd, like eat the tablecloth… Silver was staring at his salad with a mixture of both confusion and horror. “Problem with your salad Silver?”
Silver looked over at Applejack. He could only say one word. “Daisies…” His wide eyed look of horror conveyed all the rest of the unsaid statement.

“Oh, you’ve never had Daisies on a salad before?”

Silver didn’t want to insult Applejack by not responding, but he didn’t want to come right out and say that he wasn’t from this world either. He took a few seconds to think of a response. He used the first one he could come up with. “Ummm, yeah. I’ve actually never had daisies at all.”

Apple Bloom chimed in rather loudly, “I’ve never met a pony before that had never even eaten daisies.” It seemed like she was gonna say more, but one look at Big Mac’s face silenced her. Big Mac had the expression of ‘If you know what’s good for you, you will stop right there.’ It was amazing how much could be conveyed with a raised eyebrow.

Silver guessed from Apple Bloom’s response that around here eating flowers such as Daisies was a natural part of life. If that was the case, he figured he’d respond much the same way at home if he’d heard that somebody had never had potatoes before.

Applejack looked directly at Apple Bloom. “Don’t be rude Apple Bloom. Silver Wrench ain’t from around these parts, and folks where he came from might not have had the Daisies to be puttin’ on salads.”

“It's okay, I’m sure Apple Bloom didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t offended at all really.” Silver took deep breath and dug in
to the salad. If eating flowers was normal here, he’d eat flowers. He carefully chewed the first bite, not noticing the Apple family watching him. The daisies were crisp in the center and soft on the edges, and didn’t taste all that bad. Perhaps his taste buds had changed when he’d become a pony. He’d never liked salads before, but now he felt he’d have trouble finding anything that tasted as good.

The meal continued on in semi silence, with Granny, Big Mac, and Applejack talking about the harvest and plans for getting it done on time. Apple Bloom just stared at Silver, her curiosity plainly written across her face. Silver, who had no ability to read pony body language, simply missed it.

Apple Bloom’s curiosity finally got the better of her a few moments later. “Well then, if you ain’t from around these parts, where is ya from Mr. Wrench?”

Silver looked up from his half eaten salad and looked around the table, instantly nervous. Yet another question that he had no idea how to answer. He didn’t have to be good at reading body language to see the curiosity that was written on the faces of the Apple Family. Oddly, it was at just that moment that Silver realized how human like a pony’s facial expressions could be. He took a few breaths to calm his nerves, and more so to keep from cursing. As a non-com in the Marines, curses had been a part of his every day language, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t go over so well here.

“I’m not sure how far way from here my home is, but unless I got my geography all wrong, I am from really, really, far away.”
“You mean from somewhere like Appaloosa, or Las Pegasus?” Apple Bloom’s youthful exuberance was charming.
“I’m from Baltimore.” Silver said automatically. He hadn’t even thought about it. The way he’d grown up, and the number of times he’d answered that question must have drilled it into him.

“Baltimare isn’t all that far way though,” Applejack said. “It’s just past Canterlot. Maybe three or four days by train.”
Baltimare? What in the world was going on here? Was it a pun on Baltimore, or maybe a mispronunciation due to the accent known to local Baltimoreans as Balmerese?

Granny Smith perked up a little bit. “Didja say Baltimare or Balty-more?” The way Granny put it, the differences sounded as clear as day. Apparently, Granny’s hearing wasn’t as bad as she pretended.

“Baltimore,” Silver said, trying to put the same emphasis on the last syllable that Granny had.

“Never heard of a Balty-more before. It must be pretty far away,” Granny said. “What cities are near Balty-more dearie?”
Silver felt that this was more of an interrogation than a casual dinner conversation. Maybe he should have lied or kept his mouth shut, but the cat was out of the proverbial bag, and so he’d just keep telling the truth for the time being. At least, as much of the truth as he could without giving too much away. Who knew, maybe he could get a clue about where he was and what was going on with his Unicorn body. These ponies had been so kind to him that he would feel bad if he lied to them outright. “It’s about an hour away from Washington and…” Silver had to think a little bit. He’d been away from home long enough that he was having trouble with city names.

“Washington? Sounds like the name of some famous pony or somethin’!” Apple Bloom piped up. Silver realized that Apple Bloom might be smarter than she seemed, and being able to pick up that the name Washington had some significance was not an easy feat.

“Washington is the Capitol city where I’m from.”

“Wow! You’re not even from Equestria then mister! No wonder you’d never had daisies before!” Apple Bloom was more correct that Silver wanted to admit. Luckily he didn’t have to as Apple Bloom continued, “ The capitol of Equestria is Canterlot.”

Silver grinned a bit, noticing how much Apple Bloom sounded like a student answering a teacher’s question in school. As he thought for a moment, he realized that the names of places here sounded like ponified puns of actual places back home. First there was Baltimore/Baltimare, and now Canterlot. That could almost be Camelot from the legends of King Arthur, and if wanted to venture a guess, Las Pegasus would probably be Las Vegas. He didn’t notice the look of confusion on his face. But others did.

Granny Smith looked like she thought that Silver was insane, and Applejack had to admit that the look on Silver’s face didn’t do much to dispel the notion. Applejack was starting to put the pieces together. When she’d met him, he seemed startled that she was a pony, and had almost gone into shock when he found out he was a pony too. Then there was the freak out when he found out he had a horn. That part had actually been a little amusing. Now the places he’s talking about sound like puns of Equestrian cities. It was entirely possible that he’d gone crazy or had amnesia or something like that, but hadn’t Phantom come from another world? Fluttershy and Phantom both had mentioned something about Phantom going through something similar when he’d first gotten here. That had been a couple of months ago, and while Phantom was doing fine now, he’d been lost and confused when he’d first gotten here.

Silver was still trying to figure things out, such as what he could and couldn’t talk about. He was literally lost in his thoughts. Only Applejack’s voice broke him out of it.

“Granny, I believe him.” Applejack said with a tone of finality.

The rest of the Apples turned and looked at Applejack. It wasn’t often that she used that tone. She really meant it.
“It’s not all that uncommon for ponies to come here from other places? Twilight’s from Canterlot, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are from Cloudsdale. Why shoot, Zecora is from another country all together.” Applejack could have kept going on, but Big Mac raised a hoof to silence her.

“Well if Applejack believes ya, then I believe ya. Never known her to be wrong about people.” Granny Smith’s words of praise brought a bit of a flush to Applejack’s cheeks.

Silver was relieved to hear that. Perhaps he wouldn’t have to lie to them after all. If they’d kept asking him questions about his life, he’d slip eventually and tell them all that he wasn’t originally a pony.

“So, since you’re not from around these parts, where are ya staying?” Granny said kindly. Finally the questions were less interrogation like. But this brought up a good point. Silver had not thought about that at all. He’d been more concerned with getting a handle on what was happening to him than worrying about what he’d do now that it had happened to him. The reality hit him hard. He was a foreigner in this place, with no money, and completely dependent on the kindness of strangers.
“I don’t have any place to stay yet.” Silver’s voice was dripping with the sadness and self pity that he suddenly felt. “I don’t have any money to get a place either.”

Apple Bloom was the first to break the sudden stifling silence. “Granny, couldn’t he stay here with us?” Apple Bloom’s generosity was touching and Granny suddenly smiled. She leaned over and whispered something almost conspiratorially to Apple Bloom who only giggled.

“I think that’s a great idea.” Granny said. “Silver, you’ll stay with us.”

Silver shook his head. As overcome by the generosity of the offer as he was, he still wouldn’t feel right just accepting it. It was something his mother had taught him, that you never take anything for free, you always pay your dues.

“No, I insist,” Granny Smith said. She was a quick old mare, and realized Silver’s hesitation almost immediately. “Of course you’d have to help us with the Harvest though. With Big Mac bein’ hurt, he can’t buck those trees, and I’m getting a little too old for such work.”

Silver smiled and nodded. “That’s fine by me.” Now he had a place to stay and hopefully food for a couple more days, and he wouldn’t just be taking, he’d be paying for his room and board in a way. He was starting to like it here, especially being around Applejack. Not out of a feeling of safety or to avoid loneliness like he had earlier, but as a person. Silver didn’t realize it but thinking of them all as people rather than some strange kind of pony creature was helping him deal with the situation. They might look different on the outside, but they weren’t all that different from the people back home. Maybe they were a little nicer, but that was just the icing on the cake.

Silver was still confused about how and why he was here, and why he had become a Unicorn of all things. So far the only other unicorn that he’d seen was that purple unicorn that had visited Applejack earlier that afternoon. Of course there had also been her dragon, Spike. Of all the things that could actually exist, he’d never actually dreamed that Unicorns or Dragons would be real. He also thought that they’d said something about Pegasi earlier too. Silver’s mind raced, hoping that other mythological creatures, like Griffons, Manticores, Minotaurs, or Hydras, didn’t exist in this world too.
“Hey, I was wondering, but I thought you said earlier that Pegasi existed a minute ago?” Silver looked a little confused. The entire Apple Family just stared at him for a minute.

“Yeah. There are three kinds of pony. Earth ponies like us, Unicorns like you with the horn, and Pegasi with wings.” Applejack stated matter-of-factually. The thought that Silver was another one like Phantom was starting to make more and more sense to Apple Jack.

“Didn’t they have Pegasi where you came from?” Apple Bloom asked.

Silver shook his head. “No, where I’m from we don’t really have Pegasi.” Apple Bloom’s look was a mixture of horror and confusion. Silver wanted to explain further but had no idea how to go ahead without spilling the beans. He was rescued by Granny serving up more of the meal. Apples with a side of hay.

“Eat it while it’s hot. It tastes terrible cold.” Granny smiled and dug into her plate, eating ferociously. Silver suppressed a laugh, Granny was acting like somepony was going to steal her food from her. Silver looked down at his own plate and sighed. Hay. He was really in for it now. Well, in for a penny, in for a dollar, and with his earlier potato analogy fresh in his mind, he dug in.

The taste and texture of the Hay were a little different than he’d expected, but not altogether unpleasant. The feeling of fullness was the same however, and he found himself wondering if they had hay fries. The roasted apples were what he expected, although he felt somehow that he’d never had a more perfect roast apple. The insides of the apple were soft, the outside crunchy, and the sugars had caramelized just enough to give the apple a slightly tan color inside. He finished his plate last, having enjoyed every bite, even of the things he wasn’t too sure about. Silver felt stuffed. As meals went, this had been one of the best he’d had in a long time. Never mind the part about it being an actual home cooked meal. Granny got up and went back into the kitchen, and Silver waited patiently. He had no idea what was about to happen to him.
“Now fer some Apple Pie!” Granny cried out joyously as she came out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming apple pies. Silver’s mind came to a complete stop. Had she said apple pie? It didn’t matter to him if it was American apple pie, or some kind of odd pony variant, it was apple pie! It was a far cry from the dry pound cake that was occasionally in the MREs he’d been eating. It was true that the Marines often looked forward to the dryish semi-cake as it was one of the few parts of the MRE that didn’t taste like dog food. It was a dryish lump of food like substance that had been sitting in some government storehouse for the better part of a decade. Only three weeks ago, Silver had gotten an MRE with a bag of M&Ms from the 2000 Olympics.

Silver had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed Granny put a whole pie right in front of him. He took a deep breath, and the aroma of fresh apple pie invaded his nostrils. Silver didn’t wait, he dug in fast as lightning. He was lucky that he had remembered to use his silverware, and not started going in like a pig. Apple Bloom and Applejack both giggled, and he looked up, mouth full of pie.

“Apple Pie is my favorite.” Silver said only a bit before going after it again. Applejack said it was good to hear, but Silver didn’t really hear that part. He had an insane idea. He must have died back in that explosion and this was some kind of insane heaven. As he thought back to the last few minutes before the explosion, he tried to figure out if there had been anything about the machine that could maybe explain this. There hadn’t been any strange markings or advanced technology that could have transported him. It was just a device that seemed like it was used in manufacturing explosives, although it had also apparently been rigged with a bomb that blew when he’d started tinkering with it. So there was the explosion and then here. So he was either dead or dreaming. Since he could barely get a grip on this world, and he’d hurt himself trying to buck that tree, that eliminated the dreaming part. Great, so he was dead. Maybe he was like Cthulhu, dead but dreaming. Either way trying to figure it out would give him a headache, so he’d better just accept that this was real for the time being.

Before he’d realized it, everyone had finished their apple pie, and Applejack and her sister were clearing the table. Big Mac, who’d been silent for a good part of the meal moved over and looked hard at silver.

“You look like there’s something on your mind.” Big Mac’s voice was strong and powerful, deep and resonating. Even though he spoke slowly, it seemed like it was more from wisdom than actual stupidity.

Silver looked back and replied, “Just trying to start some things out. It’s an unusual situation for me, and a lot of things are new.”

“Seems like where you’re from is rather far away. If you’re having some trouble adjusting, take a couple of days before going into town. You might need some time before you’re comfortable around other ponies. We get a few here, mostly friends of Applejack or Apple Bloom, but they’re easy enough to get along with.” Silver just nodded. There was a weight behind Big Mac’s words, as if he had the wisdom of seeing the world, and accepting it all for what it was. “I want to say Silver, that I appreciate you helping us with the harvest. Ever since I hurt my leg, we’ve needed all the help we can get. It’s mighty kind of you to help us when you don’t have to.”

“It’s not a problem at all. I’m just glad for the opportunity to help.”

“When the unexpected happens, you have to take things as they come, and work through them one day at a time.” Big Mac waved his injured leg a little bit. “I have to wait for this leg to heal, but I’m tryin’ to do all that I can til the doc clears me to start bucking again. I think for you, that you should just take each day as it comes until you’ve had the chance to sort everything out in your head.”

Silver nodded at the sagely advice from Big Mac. He was right of course. Taking each day as it came would give Silver the chance to work through things and keep from freaking out. Well, he wouldn’t freak out unless something big happened, like apples appearing out of nowhere in front of him. Big Mac had turned to leave, but just before he hobbled out of the room, he turned back.

“Just to give you a little bit of warning, a couple of Applejack’s friends are coming over to help with the harvest tomorrow. One’s a unicorn like you, the other two are pegasi. I know how Applejack can be, and I don’t think that she’d think to mention it, so there ya are. You know, the one who’s coming tomorrow, Twilight is pretty smart, I bet she could help you figure out what is going on.”

Silver blinked, realizing that Twilight was the Unicorn he’d seen earlier today. That also meant that Spike the dragon would probably be coming with her too. “Thanks, I’ll ask her.” Silver was really grateful to Big Mac for all the advice, and the heads up about the new ponies he’d be meeting tomorrow.

“Eeyup,” Was all Big Mac said as he left. As he left, Applejack came back in.

“Well, we all best be gettin’ off to bed. Got an early day tomorrow.” Applejack walked right over to Silver. “Let me show ya where you’ll be stayin’ tonight.” Silver followed Applejack to a small but comfortable looking bedroom. “Here’s a spare room that you can use. I reckon you’ll be welcome here as long as you need to stay, judgin’ from the way Granny was talkin’ bout you.”

Silver couldn’t help but notice that there was a smile on Applejack’s face, and unconsciously he started to smile too.

“Alright. I’ll see you in the morning. And thank you for everything.”

Applejack blushed. “Yer welcome Sugar Cube. I’ve got a friend who’s pretty smart, the book-worm type, who might be able to help straighten out what’s going on with you.”

“I hope so,” said Silver. “Just figuring out what is going on would help put my mind at ease.”

Applejack nodded. “I hope so, sugarcube. Well, g’nite.”

“Night,” Silver replied as Applejack left and closed the door behind her. Silver thought for a few minutes as he tried to find a comfortable position on the bed. He was used to sleeping on his back, but that didn’t exactly work now. Once he’d gotten comfortable, he thought about the day. It hadn’t been all that bad, and he really liked Applejack. He hoped he wasn’t about to start falling for a pony, but if he had to, Applejack wouldn’t be all that bad. Cowboy hat and all, she was really nice, and he’d always had a thing for blonds. Whatever else he thought about would remain a mystery to him as sleep took him that night and carried him on to tomorrow.

Chapter Twelve: A Very Special Letter

Part 2
Chapter Twelve: A very Special Letter

Authors Note: This Chapter takes place both before and after Chapter Thirteen. The Final part of this chapter takes place after the events in chapter thirteen, so please don’t be too confused with the timeline……. I’m already lost enough.

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Twilight was pacing back and forth in the main room of the library. She’d just seen yet another unfamiliar pony, and from what Spike had told her, he wasn’t from Ponyville originally. If he was another one like Phantom, from another world, she couldn’t mention it to Celestia, or she’d try and send him home again too, and if he was, and he was somepony’s soul mate, then she would have been responsible for one of her friends losing their true love. That wasn’t something she could do easily. And even if she didn’t mention this new pony in a letter now, Celestia was bound to find out.

Twilight wished that she could write to her Sister-in-Law for advice. When it came to love, Princess Cadence was the authority, but unfortunately Princess Cadence and Twilight’s brother were on vacation, and had left very clear instructions that they were not to be bothered until they came back. She couldn’t go to any of her friends in Ponyville for advice, since she’d cast the spell with most of them their advice would be prejudiced, and she didn’t want the rest of them to find out. That left only one solution. She’d have to take matters into her own hooves.

She would have called for Spike to write the letter for her, but she remembered just how much he’d been crushing on Rarity. She didn’t think that he should have his hopes raised. While she’d always be pulling for him, she knew just how little a chance the little dragon stood with Rarity. Besides, he’d been sulking ever since he and that girl dragon broke up last month. Perhaps it was for the best that she writes the letter herself.

For hours she wrote, the stack of crumpled papers at her side growing ever higher. Every mistake was painstakingly corrected, and if there were too many, she just started over. Finally, as the morning sun started shining in through the windows, she felt that she had finished. She called for spike to come down.

“Spike, I need you to send this to the Princess. It’s very important.”

“Now, but it’s so early, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet,” Spike whined.

“Yes, now Spike. I promise we’ll go out for breakfast this mor-or-orning,” Twilight said through a huge yawn. They’d go out for a nice breakfast, and then she would come home and go to bed. Spike jumped happily, and with a long tongue of green flame sent the letter winging its magical way to Celestia.

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Princess Celestia and her sister Luna were sitting at their breakfast table in Canterlot Castle, enjoying a simple breakfast for once. Celestia looked over at her sister and marveled at how much she’d grown up since she returned from her banishment to the moon. In fact, Celestia was a little envious of Luna these days, as next week Luna would be going to Ponyville for a couple weeks to get to know the young stallion she adopted better. As Luna embarked on the adventure of starting her own real family, Celestia would once again be left with the boring day to day menial tasks of running Equestria. She was mid thought as the letter from twilight appeared in front of her and was saved from landing in her morning juice only by her quick magical reflexes. She tore the seal off and read it immediately, worried that something was wrong. She never got a letter from Twilight this early in the day.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It has taken me a while to finally write this letter to you, but because of what happened a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I had to.

My friends and I have for some time been unhappy being as single as we are. We’ve dated all sorts of stallions but none of them were right for us at all, and one night while doing some research on an obscure spell from Starswirl the Bearded, I stumbled across what I thought would be the solution to all our problems.

This spell, as contrived and complicated as it was, seemed to be made especially for us, right down to its mention of a sonic rainboom. I brought it to my friends, and we cast the spell. Nothing went wrong, except for Ditzy Doo accidentally crashing into Rainbow Dash as she flew. We hoped that we would then soon be meeting our perfect stallions.

But as I did more research into the spell, and the surrounding effects, the gravity of the spell began to weigh on me. While the spell is designed to find our perfect match, it does not just seek out ponies from Equestria, it finds the one being in the entire universe that is perfect for us, and will change them to our form.

The one pony, Phantom, which you have already met is one such case. After Fluttershy nearly lost him, I worried that if any
other stallions meant for us were from another world, they would have to meet similar requirements. I know that you would find out if any were sooner or later, and I don’t think that I could bear it if I was at all responsible for one of my friends losing their true love.

I’ve attached a copy of the spell we performed to the letter so that you can see what it was that we did. I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you right away. I had never dreamed that what almost happened with Phantom could have even been a possibility.
So, I wrote this letter, hoping to appeal to your sense of mercy and justice, and to beg of you not to banish any of the ponies that may become the special one for me or any of my friends; At least not unless they do something horrible.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. Please don’t banish me to the moon.

Celestia chucked a little bit at the post script and moved on to read the second page. She had barely finished the first
paragraph of the spell before she looked over at Luna with a frown. She recognized the spell and had thought that all copies of that spell were destroyed long ago. It seemed a few copies had been missed in that purge.

“Luna, it seems we might have a bit of a problem…” As Celestia explained to her sister what had happened, Luna’s mood seemed to darken a little and they both looked out the window to the statue garden and the rather oddly shaped Draconiquis that stood in the center.

“Do you think that it would be terribly troublesome for you to keep an eye out while you are in Ponyville?” Celestia’s voice was deadly serious.

“As always, I will guard the realm.” Luna’s voice was slipping back into the Canterlot standard of a thousand years ago, showing just how much she was disturbed by the news. Celestia started working on a response to Twilight. She had to tell her student what she could without revealing her terrible secret.

***********************************************************************

It was late that evening, and Twilight stumbled exhaustedly back into the Library. She’d almost forgotten that she’d agreed to help Applejack with the harvest that day. She was lucky that she’d been able to get a nap in before Spike woke her up yelling about her schedule. That alone had been odd, but she’d rushed right over to Sweet Apple Acres to help with the harvest.

When she got home, there was a scroll from Celestia and a note from Spike sitting on the massive Ironwood table in the main room. Spike’s note simply said that he was over helping Rarity, and that he’d probably be home late and not to worry. It was Celestia’s scroll that was a bit more complicated.

My most faithful student, Twilight:

I must admit that I am surprised that you cast that particular spell without more study, however I realize that you are still a young pony and prone to mistakes. I am glad that you decided to come forward and tell me what you had done of your own free will.

I can promise that I will not immediately banish any new pony to Equestria as a result of the spell, however for the sake of the realm, I will ask that you notify me of any that do arrive. The problem with that spell, and the reason I ordered it destroyed a great many years ago is that if a pony is too general in what they wish for, then almost anything could happen. Imagine how horrible it would be if somepony with the temperament of Chrysalis or Discord was to be brought into Equestria and go unnoticed.

So it is for the good of the realm that I will observe these new ponies, but for the love I bear you all, I will let these ponies remain. I will however offer a word of caution. Even if I do not banish these ponies, you will all run the risk of losing them. One of the downsides to the spell is that there was supposed to be a test of their commitment to each other that did not quite go as planned. The test is instead of the worthiness of the pony brought in by the spell to remain with the one they will or do love. If they fail that test, there is nothing that I could do without breaking my own laws to let them remain.

I wish you the best of luck.

Princess Celestia.

Twilight let out a silent sigh of relief. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about the Princess taking any of the ponies away, but there was still the matter of these trials to work on. That would mean more research into the fundamental nature of the spell, and learning as much as she could about these new ponies. Twilight yawned loudly, and decided that she could start that research in the morning. She walked up the stairs, heading to bed, and already wondering what kind of things could happen now as a result of that spell. She hadn’t thought that the consequences could be that serious.

Chapter Thirteen: Truth and Acceptance

Part 2
Chapter Thirteen: Truth and Acceptance

Again, many thanks to Silver Wrench for co-authoring!

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Silver wrench woke up to the sound of a loud rapping on the bedroom door. He rose groggily and rubbed at his eyes with a hoof. For a moment he nearly freaked out as he saw the blue hoof that was in front of his eyes rather than the hand that he expected. It was just before he screamed with horror that his mind kicked in and he started to remember everything that had happened the day before.

“Rise and Shine, Silver.” Applejack’s deep country twang was a pleasant thing to hear first thing in the morning; definitely better than his sergeant shouting at the top his lungs at the very least. Silver rolled out of the bed and stretched. He hadn’t slept that well in months. Sleeping in an actual bed rather than a hard cot or the much harder and colder ground could do wonders for how you feel in the mornings.

Silver stopped as he moved to face Applejack and took a look at his face in the mirror. A calm blue pony face with oddly intense magenta eyes. His horn protruded straight from the top of his forehead, and his ragged and sleep tousled mane was grey with a streak of light blue. Yesterday this face was that of a stranger, today it felt a little more comfortable. There were similarities between his old face and the one he wore now. The cut of his chin, the oddly out of place tooth, they were the same.

“Morning…” Silver was barely audible. He’d never really been a morning person, but even if he had been, he didn’t ever feel that mornings were a good time to be loud.

“We’ve got us some workin’ to do today. Best to be gettin’ an early start.” Applejack was almost entirely too cheerful for Silver. He grumped in her direction as she turned to leave. “I’ll meet you in the dining room for breakfast.”

Silver walked out of the room slowly, still feeling groggy and half paralyzed by sleep. He stumbled through the hall, yawing widely. He very suddenly ran into something that he thought was a yellow and red blur that had been headed in his direction. With a loud bang and a crash he was thrown back a little bit, and muffled apologies began emanating from his feet.

“I’m reaaaal sorry Silver, I was tryin’ ta get downstairs, and I didn’t see ya, and I’ve got to get down to school real fast or miss Cheerilee will have me doin’ extra lines again and….”

The assault on his ears was ended only by Silver raising a hoof like Big Mac had done the night before. Apple Bloom just looked up at him. Silver took a moment, trying to remember her name. “Hey, uh…. Apple Bloom, where’s the bathroom?”
“Two doors down on your right, but don’t go in the first one, that’s Applejack’s room.” Apple Bloom smiled mischievously, and took off once again at top speed down the hall behind him. Silver noticed that unlike all the rest of the ponies he’d met, Apple Bloom didn’t have a mark on her flank. Even though it was a passing curiosity, he wondered if he could even ask anyone about it, or if the subject was taboo.

Having found the bathroom, Silver splashed some cold water in his face to wake himself up. It struck him suddenly that it didn’t surprise him to find modern conveniences like indoor plumbing in this world. Things he’d taken for granted at home it seemed he would continue to take for granted. He did what he had to do and left. As he walked down the hallway again, he caught a familiar and mouth watering scent in the air. Coffee, actual coffee! Silver had been out on his tour of duty far too long, and had not had a proper cup of real coffee in more time than he could remember. Out in the desert, what passed for coffee was a nasty freeze dried powder that was supposed to be mixed with hot water. All too often though, all they had were unheated MREs and the lukewarm water that sat and staled in their canteens.

Silver followed his nose to the kitchen where everyone was gathered for breakfast. Granny Smith offered Silver a bowl of oatmeal, which he promptly thanked her for. He wasn’t all too thrilled with the idea of oatmeal, it was not his favorite type of breakfast; he preferred bacon and eggs, or a good blueberry muffin. He looked around for a moment, seeing Granny Smith, Applejack, and Apple Bloom; he noticed the absence of the big and very red, Big Mac. Before he could ask where he was however, Applejack came up to him.

“Would you like some coffee Silver?” It was all that he could do not to start jumping up and down with joy. He managed to control himself enough to sit there calmly and nod, although he did nod rather vigorously. Applejack just smiled and brought him a fresh, steaming cup of the aromatic brown liquid. “Cream and sugar?”
“No thank you.” Silver would normally have drowned the coffee in cream and sugar, but this time, he just wanted to taste the pure, bitter flavor of genuine coffee. As he raised the mug to his lips, he inhaled slowly, reveling in the scent. It was the most enjoyable scent that had passed his nose in a very long time, even more enjoyable than the scent of the apple orchards. He took his first sip, and his taste buds practically exploded. He felt that no matter what happened now, he could live here forever with coffee that tasted this good. The coffee more than made up for the oatmeal.
“I’ll take it you like it.” Granny Smith smiled at Silver.

“Yes I do. I haven’t had real coffee in quite some time.” Silver felt that it would be safe to tell them that much at least. Caution still had to be the order of the day. “By the way, umm, how come Big Mac isn’t here with us?
Applejack sighed a little before replying. “Granny felt that since Big Mac can’t really do much for the harvest with his injured leg that letting him sleep in once in a while wouldn’t hurt nothin’”

Silver sighed, having hoped to get a chance to talk to Big Mac and get some more sagely advice before putting in a day of hard work out in the orchards. Silver and the rest ate their breakfast in silence, interrupted only by a very gentle knock at the door.

“Why hey there Fluttershy, C’mon in! And Howdy to you too Phantom!” Both Fluttershy and Phantom walked in and moved towards the table. At almost the same time, they noticed Silver sitting there with the cup of coffee in his hands and a wide grin on his face.

“Umm. Hello, I’m Fluttershy.”

“I’m…Phantom” Both Phantom and Fluttershy were acting shyly but not like they had before. Applejack was proud of Fluttershy for being assertive for once. It seemed that being with Phantom really had done her good.

“I’m Silver Wrench.” Silver smiled and took another sip of coffee. He was too preoccupied with the coffee to really notice that the two new ponies were both pegasai. Silver did notice however that the two new ponies seemed to be a couple. He thought about asking Applejack more about them later.

The four of them, Silver, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Phantom spent the rest of that breakfast chatting amiably about nothing in particular. Silver did notice that both Fluttershy and Phantom seemed to be shy, but they both hid it very well. It was only the few pauses that seemed to be interspersed in their speech that gave it away.

The breakfast passed all too quickly for Silver’s liking. He would have preferred to spend the majority of the morning sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee, but there was work to be done, and he was needed to help with it. The four of them were headed off to the same part of the orchard that Silver and Applejack had been working the day before.

Work on the orchard started off rather slowly and roughly, but as Applejack helped them find the ways in which they helped best, the work started going smoother. Applejack bucked the trees, and Fluttershy shook the apples loose, while Phantom and Silver carried the buckets off to the cart and brought the empties out for Applejack and Fluttershy to fill. They worked the long morning through, and had taken a break for lunch when a rather frazzled lavender unicorn came running up.

“Applejack! I’m so sorry, I was working late last night and then I fell asleep, and then I overslept, and I’m rea-a-a-aly sorry.” Twilight sounded more like Pinkie pie as she apologized at top speed.

“It’s alright Sugar Cube. It happens to all of us. I’m just glad you made it.” Applejack smiled at Twilight and pushed another glass of apple juice over to her. Twilight took the glass of juice and sat there with it in her hooves as she took a look around the table. She recognized everyone but the Blue unicorn that was sitting almost directly across from her.

“Hi, I’m Twilight, who are you?” Twilight might have seemed a little brash, but Silver figured that was just her nature.

“I’m Silver Wrench. It’s nice to meet you.” Silver was fine with Twilight being there, mainly because he’d met her before, but also because he’d been warned beforehand that she’d be coming. Silver vaguely remembered that Applejack had mentioned a book worm type friend that would be coming. Silver looked around Twilight nervously, wondering if her talkative little dragon had come with her. Not seeing him, Silver thought that for a while at least, there would still be silence.

The five of them trekked back to the work site, and all resumed working. Or rather Silver and Phantom resumed working, as Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy went off to talk privately for a few minutes. Phantom came up by Silver’s side somewhat nervously.

Silver was starting to get bored with the continual work of haul and carry, and thought that maybe a little conversation would not be a bad thing. They’d had the entire morning for silence after all, and even though he enjoyed it, perhaps it was for the best that he talk with somepony. After all, he couldn’t start to fit in to this world if he didn’t learn more about it.

“Your name’s Phantom Right?” Phantom blanched and nodded. “So, I take it that you and Fluttershy are a couple then right?” Phantom nodded again, looking rather confused. “So then, how’d you two meet?”

Phantom seemed to perk up a bit and laughed at some private joke. “I actually met Fluttershy when I first got to Ponyville. I was very surprised, and fell out of the sky and broke my wing. She was the first pony I saw after that, but I don’t remember much from then because I fainted.”

Silver listened, surprised that Phantom who seemed to fit in comfortably to the surroundings was also new to town. Silver stopped himself after that thought, he was jumping to conclusions again, and that always got him into trouble. Maybe Phantom had been there for years. “So how long have you been in Ponyville?”

Phantom thought for a moment. “I’d say about a month and a half, maybe two months now. How about you? I’ve never seen you around.” The rest of what Phantom said was lost in a silent mumble, but it didn't take much to figure out that the unheard words were which is not all that surprising.

Silver smiled, he’d been right the first time. So Phantom was new to town too after all. “I got here yesterday. It was actually a bit of a shock.”

“Really. That’s interesting. Where are you from originally?” Phantom had stopped moving the apple buckets, mostly because all the ones there were empty.

“Baltimore,” replied Silver without thinking, again. Silver cursed himself for being so mentally pre-set to give that response. Hopefully silver just heard Baltimare, like Granny Smith had thought last night. What confused Silver was that there was a city in this pony world that even sounded like Baltimore. Yet, even more confusing than that at the moment was the sudden look of horror on Phantom’s face.

“D-d-d-did you just say B-b-b-Baltimore?” Phantom looked absolutely horrified. Silver sighed resignedly, and just nodded his head.

“That’s not possible. You too?” Phantom still looked horrified.

“Me too what?” Silver had no idea what in the world Phantom was on about.

“You’re from Earth?” Phantom said it so quietly it was hard to hear. That stopped Silver cold. He couldn’t believe it. Had he really just heard the name of his home planet?

“Did you just say that you’re from Earth?” Silver asked, dumbfounded.

“Yeah.” The corners of Phantom’s mouth twitched a little while Silver just started twitching.

Silver thought that his mind had partially exploded, or at the very least turned suddenly and against all probability in to a rather liquid tapioca pudding that was now leaking out his ears. There was another human here that had become a pony. So he wasn’t the first one after all, which raised a whole host of questions, ones that he wanted to ask, ones that he was afraid to ask, and ones that he would never ask. Silver’s mind had gone into freak out mode. Who would have thought that meeting another former human here would have been worse for Silver’s mental state than meeting another mythological creature?

Phantom stood by quietly and watched as Silver twitched uncontrollably and stood staring off into the unseen distance. It was almost as if Silver was freaking out like he’d used to do. Phantom knew just how horrible those freak outs could be, and would wait for Silver to come out of it on his own. It wasn’t like he knew how to bring him out of it anyways….

Silver’s mind had been racing for a little while now, and he hadn’t yet figured anything out. He’d gotten as far as a few theories as to how he’d gotten here, then his brain shut down, and went into a sort of loop that went Oh god what’s happening over and over again.

Phantom started pacing nervously, Silver had been twitching like that for a few minutes now, and he was starting to get worried. He thought that something was really wrong with Silver, maybe he was sick, or he’d just passed out and not fallen. Phantom wondered if you could be unconscious and still standing, and as his mind locked onto that, he forgot to be nervous for a bit.

Silver started calming down as he went over the recent events in his mind. Everything from his last memories on earth to the dinner last night were rushing through his mind. Suddenly, Big Mac’s words made a lot more sense. Silver did need to take some time to sort things through, and come to grips with his situation. He was a Marine after all, and shouldn’t be acting like some greenie out on his first tour of duty. Silver managed to collect himself enough to ask the first question that he could physically form.

“H-how?” Silver’s voice was a little shaky, but as he calmed down and his confidence returned, that would stop. Phantom jumped a little, startled to hear Silver’s voice after he’d been quiet for so long. Phantom knew what Silver was referring to, and he also knew that he didn’t have the answers that Silver wanted to hear.

“I have no idea honestly.” Phantom began. “When I first got here, I wondered the same thing. I talked to Fluttershy’s friend Twilight about it, and she said that it was some kind of spell that went wrong. I’m not sure about all the details, but I’m sure Twilight could fill you in.”

Silver thought about that. Twilight seemed to be the key to learning why he was here. Applejack had suggested that he talk to her about his problems, and now Phantom was telling him that she’d helped him too. More and more pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but Silver was nowhere near figuring out what the picture was yet. “Maybe I should talk to her after all.”

Phantom and Silver lapsed into a rather short conversation about Twilight that was rather quickly interrupted as the girls returned.

“I’m so sorry we were gone so long, we just lost track of time.” Fluttershy walked over to Phantom with her head downcast as if she was really upset about losing track of the time. When Phantom laughed, she perked right up.

“Hey Phantom, congratulations on getting the job at the Ponyville Theater. “ Applejack smiled in Phantom’s direction, then turned and headed over to Silver. “I think that I’m gonna have ta stop making it a habit of leaving you alone to do all the work. That’s the second time in two days now.” Applejack gave a nervous sort of a laugh.

Silver smiled at her, suddenly very glad that she was there. “It’s no problem at all. Phantom and I were actually having a nice conversation, until you came and ruined it!” Silver’s voice was full of mock sternness.

“Oh, is that so,” replied Applejack with a wide grin. “Well, then, we should get back to the rest of them and let you resume your conversation.” The two of them headed over to where Twilight, Fluttershy, and Phantom were chatting.

“… and did I tell you that I got seven passes for the concert next week? Since I’m working there, I get free tickets for the show, and I thought that you and your friends would like to go Fluttershy, and I asked for one for me, but I forgot that I’m working it. You guys can have it though, and give it to anyone you want.” Phantom was talking a lot faster and more confidently than he had been when it was just Silver and him there.

“What concert?” Applejack said, leaning in closer to hear. Silver was interested too, wondering if the name would sound like some ponified version of a band on earth. That did seem to be a thing here from what he could figure, but there was the chance that it only applied to cities.

“Victory Cleft, and some new pony DJ.”

“I remember Victory Cleft,” Twilight chimed in. “They played at Canterlot Palace once for Princess Celestia a few years ago. They were really young too, so it was surprising to hear how good they were.

The conversation continued in that track for a little bit, mostly with Phantom and Applejack asking Twilight questions about the band, and Twilight trying to remember. Silver realized that they’d lost a couple of good hours worth of work already, and with what Applejack and Big Mac had said, it sounded like they were behind on the harvest already.

“Hey Applejack, shouldn’t we be getting back to work?” Silver gestured towards all the empty and waiting buckets.

Applejack blushed. “Yeah, I guess we should. Come on everypony, let’s get back t’ harvesting!” The five of them went back to the tedious work of harvesting apples, chatting about different things. The atmosphere had changed subtly since Twilight arrived. The day had been good before, but now it somehow seemed even more fun.

Silver wasn’t talking all that much, he was content with just listening and learning more about the ponies that were around him. Apparently Phantom was taking flying lessons, and Twilight knew the Princess personally. The more he listened the more he learned. Silver did chip in occasionally, and as the day wore on, he could be found asking more and more questions. As the sun had begun to set, and Applejack thanked them all for a hard day’s work, Silver realized he had no idea where the time had gone. He’d been having so much fun he’d hardly noticed that the time had been passing. As Phantom and Fluttershy turned to leave, Twilight walked over to Applejack and whispered something conspiratorially in her ear. Silver took the chance and walked over to Twilight. “Excuse me Twilight, but could I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. What about?”

“Well, Phantom said you helped him with a couple of things when he first got here, and I was wondering if maybe you could do the same for me”……

Chapter Fourteen: Falling Apples

Part 2
Chapter Fourteen: Falling Apples

Again, many thanks to Silver Wrench for co-authoring!

**********************

The day had gone well, and together the group had managed to make quite a dent in the harvest. With the sun slowly setting, and the shared exhaustion setting in with the group, it was silently, but mutually agreed that it was time to stop for the day. Silver was starting to feel more at home here in Equestria, and while everything was almost entirely different from what he knew, it wasn’t all bad.

“Well, we’ll be seeing you later, everypony.” Fluttershy said. She and Phantom had a ways to go to get back home Silver had learned, and even though it was barely just the evening, it would make more sense to leave now to get there before dark.

“Don’t worry, we promise we’ll be back tomorrow with everyone else to help finish out the harvest,” Phantom said with a wink. Silver smiled a bit at that, he’d enjoyed talking to Phantom. It didn’t hurt that Phantom was also a human who’d been magically brought to Equestria too.

Twilight, Silver, and Applejack sat silently, resting, as Phantom and Fluttershy slowly walked off down the road. The work had gone smoothly, but there was just more than they’d thought. Applejack was the first to stand and shake herself off.
“Well, it should be about suppertime now, so we’d best be heading back. You coming Twi?” Twilight nodded, and stood up. Silver sat for a moment longer as the mares set off just ahead of him, trying to let the dull ache in his forelimbs fade. Once he’d realized that Twilight and Applejack were a fair way ahead of him, he pushed himself up, and started walking briskly towards the house.

He got there well after the girls, and was just in time for dinner. The spread on the table looked like it promised to be another amazing meal. He wondered what kind of magic Granny Smith and Applebloom had to be using to make such amazing meals that always seemed to be apple centered.

The chat over dinner was pleasant, and while much of it was over Silver’s head, he managed to catch enough bits of the conversation between Twilight and Applejack to realize that they’d had a very exciting life so far.

“I still can’t believe she stopped that Dragon…”

“….how bout that Ursa Major though….”

“……Discord just got to pullin’ all the wrong strings….”

“….And the tyrant, that was harder than we would have thought….”

Silver felt totally outclassed. He’d fought hard in the Middle East, and seen and done some amazing things, but everything the two of them talked about seemed to be on a whole other level. Big Mac took notice of the look on Silver’s face and knew almost at once what was wrong.

“Feeling small next to them?” Silver just nodded. “It happens. When you are friends with Princess Celestia’s own student, crazy things seem to happen to you. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Before too long, you’ll have some stories of your own to tell.”

“It’s not that I want my own stories, but I just can’t believe that that many crazy things happens around here.”

“They do, and rather often unfortunately.”

Big Mac and Silver kept on that line of conversation until the meal had been finished, and Big Mac went off to clear the table of dishes. Even with just one good foreleg, he seemed to be more than capable of doing any task that was set to him. Silver stepped outside mainly to clear his mind and ran directly into Twilight.

“I’m so sorry.” Silver brushed himself off.

Twilight sighed. “It’s alright. I was just lost in thought, and probably shouldn’t have been standing where I was.”
“Actually, I was lost in thought myself and not looking where I was going.”

“It happens. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Silver nodded, and just as he was turning to head off towards the barn, he realized that he still had a question to ask Twilight.

“Hey, um, Twilight,” Silver began. Twilight turned and looked at him expectantly. “I was wondering, if maybe you could help me with a problem that I’ve been having?”

“Sure. Would you like to sit down?” Twilight gestured towards a nearby table. They walked over and took a seat on either side of the table and started to talk.

**********************************************

Applejack was washing dishes, enjoying the feel of the warm water on her aching legs. It might have been mind numbing work, but it still did her good. She wasn’t the type of pony who could just sit back and let others do all the work. Granny Smith and Applebloom though were, and the subject that they’d had to talk about would just have to be whether or not she and Silver were going to become a couple.

Applejack had to admit that Silver wasn’t all that unattractive, but she’d only known him a couple of days, and that wasn’t enough time at all to really get to know somepony. Sure, Phantom and Fluttershy had really gotten together long before they’d made it official, and Rarity seemed to have a new coltfriend every week, but Applejack needed some time to really get to know a guy before she could consider dating them.

“And what crazy stories he tells. Being from another pony country. Everyone knows that there are only two…”
“Now Applebloom, don’t be mean. You wouldn’t want to upset Applejack by making her coltfriend look bad.” Granny Smith and Applebloom collapsed into a fit of giggles, while Applejack just washed the dishes faster, trying to get away from them.
She didn’t want to be In a relationship right now anyways. So why was it that her family’s good natured ribbing was rubbing her the wrong way? Normally she’d have joined right in, but for some reason, this time all it was doing was making her angry. Maybe she was starting to care for Silver?

***************************************************

“You see, I’m not originally a pony.” Silver continued. He’d gone through the gamut of all his confusion, and was just now starting to get to the core of all his problems at the moment.

“Really?” Twilight said skeptically.

“Yes, I used to be a… well, a human.”

Twilight looked a little shocked. She suddenly had the feeling you get when you’ve left a light on, or a door open. It was Phantom all over again. There had to be some explanation of why the spell would have brought ponies in from other worlds entirely.

“Well, I have no Idea what humans are, but I’ve met with this problem before.” Silver wondered if she was referring to Phantom, and even if she wasn’t, It really helped the credibility of his story. Silver was mostly impressed that she didn't freak out like he'd expected. “I’ve actually been researching this problem for a bit, and all I’ve been able to figure out so far is that somepony cast a spell that did not go as planned.”

“Okay, that makes sense, I guess. But is there any way to get me home?”

“I’m afraid that I don’t know. I’m working on it, and I promise I’ll let you know if I find anything out.

Silver sat in silence after that. He’d really hoped deep down that he could still get home. For the first time in a very long time he felt alone. He’d always had close friends, and once he’d joined the Marines, there were his brothers to be there for him. Now he’d lost both, and he felt a rising bout of shame as he realized that he couldn’t be there for his brothers either. Thinking about the Marines brought back to the forefront of his mind the events that had happened just before he’d come to Equestria. One realization hit him hard and he started to break.

Twilight couldn’t help but notice the tears that were starting to slip from Silver’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I can go home ever. I think that I.. that I died….” The thought was bad, but somehow saying it was far worse.

“I…I’m so sorry.” Twilight was at a loss for words. The more Silver thought about it, the more it started to make sense. There had been that terrible explosion, and then he was here. Maybe this wasn’t another world, maybe this was the afterlife. He wasn’t a terribly religious person, but he’d been raised in a somewhat religious family and knew enough to believe that this could be the afterlife.

There was a rather awkward silence hanging over the table now as Twilight tried to figure out what she could say to console the rather shrunken figure in front of her, and Silver sat hunched, his head hanging down, saying nothing.

The silence remained unbroken until Applebloom came out. “Silver, you going to come in? We’re turning off the lights now.” Silver just nodded, and with a rather silent and unheard goodbye to Twilight walked in to the farmhouse. Twilight stood, and with a heavy sigh, walked back down the lane towards the library.

****************************************

Applejack and Silver had decided to get an early start on the harvest work for the day. Rather than wait for Applejack’s friends to get there, they headed out after a small breakfast. With only three orchards left to harvest, starting early would help them get finished at least a couple of days ahead of schedule.

“Careful now Silver, Don’t buck too hard. You don’t want to damage the trees now.”

Silver grinned unabashedly as he swung around and successfully managed to buck an apple tree. The apples fell into the baskets, and he set about moving them, happy that he’d finally been able to buck a tree, and not make a total fool out of himself. Applejack walked with him, laden with baskets.

“That was good, but next time, try not to leave a hoof-print in the bark…”

“Sure. I can try.”

As they walked, Silver thought. There had to be a more productive way of harvesting the apples. After all what really was the difference between harvesting apples here, or harvesting apples on earth? Silver’s mind kept coming around to the idea of a conveyer belt. While no machine could match the precision of Applejack’s bucks, a conveyer belt could carry the full apple buckets down to the barn, rather than having to haul them all by cart. Silver had the plans half finished in his mind when he realized that Applejack had stopped walking, and was muttering angrily to herself. When he looked up, he realized why.

Standing in front of the pair were two rather tall unicorn ponies, both wearing striped shirts, ties, and old fashioned straw boaters.

“Well Flim, look what we have here.”

“Looks like a couple of deadbeats to me Flam.” The two unicorns laughed as Applejack leaned back as if to strike out at them. Silver didn’t know what had happened before, but from the way Applejack was growling, (If that was even the right word, chanting voodoo curses might have been more appropriate), he figured that something bad had happened between them.

“Well, from the look on Miss Apple’s face there Flim, I’d say she didn’t know.”

“What don’t I know,” Applejack asked, the look of anger on her face morphing into one of confusion.

“The Apple Family does not own the land that is Sweet Apple Acres my dear,” Flim replied, leaning in with a snicker.

“That means that my brother and I can buy the land right out from under your noses! It looks like you don’t have an opportunity here after all,” Flam laughed. Applejack’s look of confusion changed again, this time into one of horror.

“W-w-what do you mean?”

Silver had seen things like this happen before back home. It never turned out well for the homeowner. He thought quickly about what he could do, but he’d need to do some research first. The biggest thing he needed to figure out was how this situation had happened in the first place. Flim and Flam gave him the answer a second later.

“Well missy, you see, the Apple family settled on the land, but never filed the papers to claim it. It’s still public property, and up for sale!”

“That’s right brother of mine, and all of Sweet Apple Acres, the houses, barns, and orchards too, will be ours tomorrow!” Flim and Flam snickered again, as Applejack turned a sickly shade of green. She knew how tricky the Flim Flam brothers could be, but knowing her Granny she had a horrible feeling that this time they weren’t bluffing. Applejack just stared at
them for a moment.

“Well, we’ll see about that. You ain’t gettin this farm without a fight!”

Silver smiled, enjoying Applejack’s spunk, even as an idea formed in his head.

“You can try missy, but I doubt that even if you sold all the apples you’ve harvested so far, that you could buy even an acre of this land!”

Flim and Flam turned tail and walked off, singing to themselves, (“Oh, we’ve got opportunity in this very community….”) Applejack turned to Silver an almost maniacal look on her face.

“We need to talk to Granny Smith, NOW!” Silver didn’t argue, and the two of them rocketed off at top speed towards the farmhouse.

When they got there, Granny was already asleep in her favorite rocker. Applejack wasted no time in bolting up to her and shaking her awake.

“Who – huh –wha?” Granny Smith mumbled blearily.

“Granny, we need to talk, it’s very important.”

“Why sure deary, what ever about?” Granny sat up a little straighter, and with a few cracks, turned to focus on Applejack.

“Do we actually own this land?” Applejack would normally have led up to the question, but with a matter this important, she needed answers and she needed them yesterday.

“Why of course. When my Family and I settled on this land, it was understood that it belonged to the Apple family. Back in those days you didn’t need a big ceremony or fancy scrolls to tell you what belonged to you.”

“But, did you ever fill out the papers to make it official in Canterlot?”

“Canterlot? What would ponies in Canterlot need with papers for us? We live here in Ponyville. I remember back when my Pa and I were just starting these orchards…..” Applejack let Granny ramble without hearing. Her worst fears had been confirmed. They were going to lose the farm. While she might not have been up on everything, her friend, Berry Sparkle, worked part time for a realtor pony in downtown Ponyville, and she had a fair idea of how much the farm was worth. Flim and Flam were right. There was no way that they were going to be able to afford even a single acre.

In the sudden confusion, nobody noticed Silver slip away quietly and head down the road towards Ponyville. While he had no idea where he was going, and no real clue of what he was going to do, Silver had set his mind to helping, and help he was going to do.

Chapter Fifteen: Trial of Honesty

Part 2
Chapter Fifteen: Trial of Honesty

Again, many thanks to Silver Wrench for co-authoring!

**********************

Silver walked into Ponyville, with absolutely no idea of where he was going. He’d never been here before, and had no real idea what was where. The only thing that he could think at that moment was that he needed to find either Twilight, or preferably Phantom and Fluttershy. He probably should have asked Applejack to come with him, but he’d wanted to repay her for her kindness in letting him stay at the farm, and now seemed like the time to do so.

He’d been wandering the streets for a couple of minutes when a thunderous blast of trumpets resounded through the town, reverberating off the walls, and making his ears hurt. It almost sounded like trumpeters announcing arriving royalty. He saw a crowd up ahead of him, on what he guessed was a major street, and moved forward to join them.

A large chariot, pulled by four bat winged pegasi, and carrying a very large purple pony with a flowing black and blue mane landed in the clear spot in the center of town. The ponies on either side of the *street gasped and immediately bowed their heads.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, WE HAVE DECIDED TO MAKE A VISIT TO YOUR FAIR VILLAGE.” The large pony spoke with such force that ponies close to her were physically pushed back. Silver was impressed, and while he wasn’t too sure about her accent here, on earth, it meant that she was probably royalty.

“Does she have to shout,” A nearby green unicorn asked.

“It’s just the way she is. Even after Twilight helped her out with fitting in last Nightmare Night, she still has that voice when addressing crowds. You should see what it’s like in Canterlot. Princess Luna just has some catching up to do.” Her friend replied.

Silver was just stunned. He had been right that the pony in the chariot was royalty. He sat down on his haunches to wait for the street to clear. He was close enough to the road that he would be able to see when the chariot moved, and luckily for him there was Nopony in front of him. He was taking his time admiring the uniforms of the obvious guard ponies that were just now landing around the chariot.

The one that caught his attention the most was a pale brown Pegasus, with dark brown hair who was almost as tall as the Princess. He had a very intense gaze, and was looking around alertly. It wasn’t hard for Silver to imagine him as a fellow Marine. It was very much the same look that Marines who’d served for years had when on duty. Somehow, it made him feel a little more at home.

Just a moment later, he was reminded of why he’d come into the town in the first place, as he saw Phantom and Fluttershy approaching the Chariot. He was too far away to make out what they were saying, but from Fluttershy’s body language, which wasn’t hard to read at all, she was very uncomfortable with being that close to the Princess. Phantom and the Princess were having a conversation, and it looked like it was a very serious one. The Princess stepped out of the chariot, and motioned for her guards and escort to leave. Only the serious looking one stayed behind

“Have a good day everyone.” The princess smiled as she turned to leave. The difference in her voice was shocking. Silver wouldn’t have believed that it was the same pony speaking if he hadn’t seen her mouth moving. As the little group started to leave, Silver panicked, and began to quickly trot after them. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much experience trotting, and in short order, tripped and knocked down a flower cart that he crashed into on the way down.The group turned to see what the commotion was, and the tall one rushed forward.

“Alright assassin. I’ve got you now, there is no escaping me!” His voice was deep and angry.

“You’ve got the wrong guy!” Silver shouted in panic. Phantom’s ears perked up as he recognized the voice. He ran over
and stepped between Silver and the other pony.

“Lieutenant, I know this pony. He wasn’t trying to kill Luna; he must have tripped, right?” Phantom looked directly at Silver as he finished his statement obviously expecting Silver to agree. Silver did the only thing he was capable of at the moment as he was trying to disentangle himself from one of the cart’s wheels, and nodded.

“Very well,” The Lieutenant said, “and I would appreciate it if in the future, you would refer to Her Majesty as Princess Luna.” Silver swore that he could hear the capital letters.

“Now now Bubbles, relax. He is my son after all.” Princess Luna herself had come over with Fluttershy, and was failing miserably at her obvious attempts to hold in her laughter at the entire situation.

“Your Highness, you know that I hate that name,” Bubbles said sadly. Nopony seemed to pay attention to him.

“You’ll have to forgive Bubbles, but ever since the changeling invasion he’s been worried that a changeling assassin will try and take my place.”

Silver, having now successfully disentangled himself from the cart, and standing on his own hooves, was grateful that the Princess found it all funny. “It’s alright. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” He turned to Bubbles. “I understand that you were just doing your job.”

“Thank you. At least Somepony gets it.” Bubbles said with a glare at Luna. It was obvious that protecting the Princess was not the easiest thing to do, and her own attitude towards the protection could not have made the job any easier.

“I still feel it’s not necessary, but my sister does and so I tolerate it. Not that your services are not appreciated Bubbles.” Bubbles seemed like he couldn’t make up his mind and kept switching back and forth between looking angry and proud at the same time. “As for you, call me Princess Luna, or just Princess. I can’t stand all the titles. A year ago I would have praised you for it, but I’ve grown past that by now.”
Silver nodded, and turned to Phantom. That’s when a part of the earlier conversation hit him like a ton of bricks. “Wait a minute. She’s your mom?”

Phantom sighed. “Yeah, it’s a really long story.”

Silver didn’t really want to know that right now. He had a bit more pressing mission. Right now he had to find Twilight. “Hey, I’d love to stay and chat but, no offence meant to any of you, but I’ve really got to go see Twilight. The only problem is that I’m not sure where she lives.”

Fluttershy stepped forward and for the first time that day spoke up. “Oh, it’s not far really. It’s the library just at the end of the road.” She pointed him in the right direction and gave him a general description of the place. She also apologized profusely that she couldn’t take him there, but she had things that she just had to do. Silver understood, thanked her, and set off for Twilight’s Library.

*********************************

Silver came up to the front door of the Library and was immediately presented with a dilemma. Should he knock on the door or not? Every library he’d ever been to was a public building, but from what he’d come to understand from Fluttershy, Twilight lived in the library. He also wasn’t sure how a library fit into a tree, but in this world he decided that it would be easier to just accept it for now, and deal with the twitching later. The mission at hand had him a little preoccupied anyways.He didn’t actually have to make the decision after all, as Spike opened the door a moment after Silver had gotten there.

“…I mean how badly could you need new quills anyways? Oh hello.Silver, right? Going in?” Spike held the door open for Silver, and Silver took the opportunity to just walk right in.

“Thanks Spike.” Silver still didn’t feel quite okay around Spike, and while his right eye was twitching, it wasn’t noticeable enough for Spike to have said anything. Twilight however, took immediate notice of Silver’s presence.

“Welcome to the… Oh! Hello Silver. Everything okay?” Twilight saw the look on Silver’s face, and not quite understanding Silver’s problems in simply dealing with everything in Equestria, took the look on his face for one of being upset.

“Well, not really…” Silver launched into an explanation of what had happened that morning between Applejack and the Flim Flam Brothers, and the conversation between Applejack and Granny Smith. Twilight was patient and listened well. “…and that’s why I came here. I mean, the Apples were nice enough to take me in when I didn’t have anywhere to go, and I want to repay them. I thought I’d have a little more time to do so, but this seemed like the time, and I know they could use the help.”

“I agree. Although, why isn’t Applejack with you?”

“She doesn’t know I came. She was still yelling at Granny when I took the opportunity to leave. I heard enough during that fight as I was leaving to know that they don’t have enough to buy the farm. So I decided to try and help raise the money by asking their friends. But to be honest, I don’t even know where to start. Could you help?”

“Yes I can. And I have a plan!” Twilight smiled at Silver. Spike walked back in at that moment, his small arms filled with bags of quills.

“These should be enough quills to – yah!” Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic, and flew him over to where she and Silver were sitting. Faster than Silver could have, she explained the situation to him, and shortly afterwards, the three of them were off.

*****************************

Silver, Twilight, and Spike had spent almost the entire day going from house to house in the town asking for bits to help the Apple Family. No one in Ponyville wanted to see the Flim Flam Brothers get Sweet Apple acres, and every pony had donated. As the evening had come, Twilight suggested that Silver head back to the farm, while she’d go to the last few houses that she needed to go to.

And so, Silver found himself outside of the farmhouse that he’d called home for the past few days, dreading walking inside. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He was wondering as he opened the door if Applejack and Granny Smith had stopped fighting yet. The scene inside told him all that he needed to know. Big Mac and Granny’s voices were drifting into the living room through the partially open door to the dining room. But over by the fireplace, her trademark Stetson sitting crumpled at her feet, Applejack sat crying. Silver’s heart wrenched, and he did what felt right.

“Applejack?” He asked softly as he walked over to her. He sat down on the other side of the fireplace, not wanting to be too close, or have his actions mistaken for an attempt to pick her up. Applejack didn’t say anything, but just looked up at Silver, the shining streaks of tears lining her face. Silver felt horrible. He instantly began beating himself up mentally. You should have been there for her you moron, why did you go running off to the town anyways? There is no guarantee that what you did helped at all, but rather than get attached, you did what you always do, you ran away….

In the space of about five seconds Silver had an entire conversation with himself, realized that he cared for Applejack and had done what he always did to avoid getting involved, run away. He also decided that he was going to make this different, and since he had nothing to lose, except a place to stay, which as of tomorrow might be gone anyways, he would make things right.

“Applejack, I’m sorry I disappeared.” Even with his sudden epiphany, Silver still didn’t know quite what to say.
Applejack stopped crying for a moment and slapped Silver. “You idiot! I thought you’d gone to fight them, or just run off or…” A sudden wave of sobs cut Applejack short. It pained Silver to see the strongest mare he’d ever met look so weak and vulnerable. “I…I just don’t know what I’d do…. I mean… You’ve been so much help these last couple of days…. And with Big Mac laid up…. Guess it was all a waste…. I’m sorry for wasting your time”

“Don’t you dare apologize! If I could go back, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. The time I’ve spent here since I arrived in Ponyville has been some of the happiest time of my life.” Silver wasn’t lying either. He honestly couldn’t remember ever being this at ease with himself, or life. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just needed to get some air and get some time to think.”
“I understand.” Applejack had calmed down for the moment, but it was there in her eyes, the storm waiting to come again.

“What did ya think about?”

Silver laughed a little, he’d figured out this lie the entire way back to the farm. “I wanted to figure out a way to fix this mess, but all I could think of were ways to make the harvest go faster.”

“Really? I’d like to hear that.” Applejack was actually smiling a bit. Silver high fived himself mentally for being able to steer the subject away from the mess with the Flim Flam Brothers. Silver launched into an explanation of the things that he’d been thinking about for the past couple of days as he’d worked. Movable conveyer belts, windmill and water power to move them, self washing machines, in short all the apparatus that modern farms on earth had, and then some. He still hadn’t quite figured out the magic thing, but he knew that somehow magic could also be used to help as well.

The two of them talked for hours, until the early hours of the morning and fell asleep side by side in front of the fireplace.

********************************

Silver and Applejack didn’t get to sleep long before they were rudely woken by a knock at the door. Applejack stood up and groggily stumbled towards the door. She opened it and was greeted with a sight of all her friends.
“Darling, we’ve heard about what’s happening, and we simply won’t stand for it.” Rarity stepped in past a yawning Applejack. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Phantom followed, and all moved to sit down near the couch. Silver still snoozed by the fireplace, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help herself. She walked over and brought her face mere inches from his.

“BOO!” She shouted. Silver jumped up and back and rather painfully slammed his hind legs into the wall. Rainbow laughed, and Twilight sighed. This was going to be a very serious morning, and everyone was already tense, but that was no excuse for pranks like that.

“So, I guess y’all came here to help us pack?” Applejack said, slumping to the floor. Silver, who was now wide awake, caught the gaze of Twilight, and smiled as he saw her wink directly at him. He wished he knew exactly what was going on, but he’d just go with it for now. Perhaps it had something to do with the houses that she’d visited alone.

“Not at all. In fact we came to help you keep Sweet Apple Acres. You see, we have a plan but we just need the Flim Flam Brothers to be here.” Twilight had the look of a warrior at that moment. It was almost as if she was contemplating all the horrible things that she could do to them, but of course she wasn’t.

“Yeah, they are such meanie pants! Oooh I just hate those guys,” Pinkie Pie chimed in.

They didn’t have long to wait. Twilight kept the conversation upbeat, and any time it turned towards what was going to happen, she deftly maneuvered it back to other topics. In less than an hour, the sound of the Flim Flam Brothers machine steaming up the driveway could be heard.

To everypony but Silver, it was an evil and obnoxious sound. Silver however, heard magical machinery that he would love to get his hooves on, if only to learn the basics of how it works. Something about the rhythmic whumping that was gradually growing louder piqued his curiosity. There was a tone in it that he couldn’t quite hear, but that he could almost feel was there. That tone was one that he’d never heard before, but would later describe (much to the confusion of anypony that was listening to him) as a cross between the high pitched whine of a television, the sound of a ship’s engines suddenly reversing direction, and an opera singer trying to hit a high note that was just a little bit out of their range.

The entire group got up and walked out front, each making their own little preparations to meet the Flim Flam Brothers. Silver was watching intently for the mysterious machine that had caught his interest. Applejack was nervously kicking back and forth with a hoof unintentionally. Fluttershy and Phantom were avidly staring at an apple tree and trying to ignore the machine that was gradually drawing closer. Rarity was pulling at her mane to make sure that the hairs were curled just so. Pinkie was sitting down and trying to remember where in her mane she’d put her emergency party cannon. Rainbow Dash was fluttering her wings and staring with an intense look down the dirt road. Twilight was just standing calmly waiting for the Brothers to arrive.

It wasn’t long before the Super Speedy Cider-Squeezy 6000 ™ pulled in and came to a stop just in front of the house. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom were poking their heads out an upstairs window, wondering what was about to happen. They’d learned enough about Applejack’s friends to know that whatever was about to happen would not necessarily be healthy to directly take part in. As the Flim Flam Brothers stepped off of their machine, Twilight stepped forward to greet them.

“Well looky what we’ve got here Brother of mine!” Flim said with a sneer.

“It looks like they’ve gone and put together a posse to try and run us out of town!” Flam replied. The two brothers laughed at their own joke.

“Either way they have to know by now that it just won’t work. We own this land fair and square.”

Twilight took that as her cue. “Actually, you won’t officially own it until the ponies from the bank arrive and the deed is officially transferred to you.”

Flim’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She’d got him there. “Well, the wait won’t be long. The realtor from Pony Financial should be here soon.” In fact, just as he spoke, everypony saw a small dark speck appear in the sky, a speck that seemed to be gradually drawing closer. They all waited in silence as the speck came closer, split into two distinct specks, and formed into two pony shaped specks. One grew larger faster than the other, and soon a pale brown Pegasus with a three bubble cutie mark was standing in the middle of them all.

Silver thought he recognized the Pegasus, and took from the look on Twilight’s face that this was exactly what she’d been hoping for. He didn’t speak but turned toward the smaller speck and spread his wings. The speck grew quickly, and in short order became the familiar shape of Princess Luna. Luna landed, and held back a laugh as the Flim Flam Brothers stood with their mouths agape.

“Good morning Everypony.” Luna’s voice was not at the earsplitting volume she had used at first in Ponyville, and for this everypony was incredibly grateful. “Now, what would seem to be the problem here? It’s obvious to me that something is going on here.”Twilight and her friends were quiet, only Flim see fit to answer the Princess’s question, although he responded from a position a few steps back from where he’d been.

“Well your Highness, this land is still unowned, and my brother and I are intent on purchasing it. We are waiting only on the realtor from Pony Financial to arrive so that we may finish the deal.”

“Ah, I see. Well, there does seem to be the problem of the Apple Family currently residing on the property.”

Flim seemed to gain some courage and stepped forward towards the Princess. Lieutenant Bubbles took a step forward, a terrifyingly angry grimace on his face that Flim seemed to be oblivious to. “Well, my Brother and I have given that very problem some consideration, and unfortunate as it might be, we would have to ask the Apple Family to leave willingly. If they don’t we’d be forced to evict them, as we plan to reside here, and to run this place as Flim Flam Fields.”

Luna seemed to be considering what Flim had said. She turned and whispered something confidentially to Bubbles. Twilight took this opportunity to speak up. “Princess Luna, I can prove that the Flim Flam Brothers have attempted to take this land before, without going through the proper channels.” Luna turned to Twilight and raised an eyebrow. Nopony would have guessed that this had all been rehearsed. “About two years ago, these same ponies came to Sweet Apple Acres and attempted to take control of the property through a bet over cider making. A bet which they attempted to cheat at winning by making cider that was not only bad tasting, but actually harmful to drink. One young mare actually found rocks in her cider.” Applejack smiled at the memory of beating those two at the cider contest.

Luna looked horrified. “Is this true Applejack?”

“Yes Ma’am. We entered into competition with them, and while we lost the competition by not making as many barrels of cider as they had, we managed to keep the farm when everypony got angry with the poor quality of cider that they had produced using the very machine behind them.”

Everypony turned to look at the Super Speedy Cider-Squeezy, and much to everyone’s astonishment, Silver was half in the machine tossing out random gears and parts, muttering to himself. He’d managed to get over there without anyone noticing while Luna and Flim were talking. Twilight used her magic to grab him by the tail, and pull a rather bewildered Silver out of the machine.

“What just happened?” Silver asked bemused, a couple of cogs, and what might have been a gear shaft in his hooves. Flam walked over and put his foreleg around Silver’s shoulders.

“You wouldn’t have been trying to sabotage our machine now would you?” He asked in a falsely cheerful tone of voice.

“Take your arm off me.” Silver replied. All he had been doing was making a valiant attempt to reverse engineer the machine to better understand how it worked. He’d managed to get enough that he had a few dozen ideas of how to make machines to do similar things for Applejack here on the farm. He just hoped that he’d be on the farm long enough to make them.
“Now why would I want to do that?” Flam asked, tightening his grip.

Silver’s military training kicked in, and even though he was in a body that he was not entirely familiar with, he managed to turn and flip Flam over his shoulder, and get him on his back. Nopony said anything as Flim turned and rushed in to help his brother. What happened next, Nopony is really sure of, mainly because of the immense amount of dust that was kicked up by the scuffle, but once the dust had settled, Silver and Lieutenant Bubbles were walking away with the two Brothers now lying rather beaten in the dust. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie couldn’t hold it in, and burst out laughing. Luna however took a look at Lieutenant Bubbles, and the wonderfully clear hoof print that was on his flank, and decided to do away with all the little back and forth conversation that she and Twilight had come up with the previous night.

“That’s enough. Flim and Flam, you have assaulted a pony of the Royal Night Guard, a crime that is punishable by banishment, or even time in a Canterlot Prison. However I am feeling generous. You two are hereby forbidden from entering the town of Ponyville or any lands within one hundred miles by royal decree. Any breach of this decree will see you rot in a cell in Canterlot.”

There were cheers from on the porch, and Apple bloom shouted something that would not be appropriate to repeat in polite society that made Granny Smith slap her.

“Furthermore,” Luna continued,” In recognition for their continued service to both myself and my sister, Princess Celestia, I award the lands and property of Sweet Apple acres to the Apple family in perpetuity. Not only have they had a pivotal role in assisting with stopping many of the greatest disasters of the past few years, they are also partially responsible for the founding of this town in the first place.” Luna turned to face Flim and Flam. “It would behoove you to leave immediately. Bubbles, make sure that they are gone within the hour.”

“Gladly your highness.” Lieutenant Bubbles seemed positively excited at the prospect of violence, and so much so that he completely forgot to complain about the name which he hated. Flim and Flam looked positively downcast as they stepped onto their machine and began to roll down the hill. There was nothing that they could do which would outweigh the word of a Royal Princess. Their machine bucked and swerved, throwing the occasional gear. As they neared the first gate, they happened to swerve a little too far to the right, and took out a small length of the fence.

“We’re gonna send you the bill for that!” The voice of Granny Smith yelling from the upstairs window echoed across the orchards. Everyone laughed at the thought of Flim and Flam receiving a bill for what had just happened.

**************************************

Later that evening at a very fancy Pinkie Party being held in the barn, Twilight was relating to the group exactly what she’d
planned with Princess Luna.

“…and then Luna came up with the idea that she could just award the lands to the Apple Family. All the money that Silver and I raised is going to the farm for repairs.” Twilight’s story was interrupted by a rather loud yawn from Spike. “Well, I guess I’d better get him to bed. He’s taken to snoring, and with it the occasional burst of fire lately, and I’d hate to see the barn get burned down.”

Everypony thanked Twilight, and almost all of them asked her to finish the story later. Soon after Twilight left, the others started to go home too, all of them exhausted by the events of the day, and by the day long party that was just now coming to an end. Pinkie was the last to leave with a burst of confetti as she sneezed, and she rolled a cart heavily laden with unused party supplies down the hill.

Only Applejack and Silver were left in the barn. Together they looked around at the scene of devastation left by the party. The streamers and confetti littered almost every available surface, and a few that should not have been available, and there were the almost endless sea of cups that were nesting in a corner.

“We can always clean this up tomorrow,” Silver suggested. Applejack wasn’t thinking about the mess.

“Was that why you disappeared yesterday? Did you really try to raise the money to buy the farm?” Silver just nodded. Applejack walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s the sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me. Thank you Silver.”

Silver didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. He simply blushed, and the two of them walked back to the house side by side, enjoying what was now, without question, the Apple Family home.

END OF PART 2

SOON TO COME! THE COMBINED PARTS 3 AND 4!!!!

Intermission First

Intermission
First

Note: The events in this intermission take place before the events of Part 2, and cover information in the related story, Phantom and Fluttershy.

*******************************************************

Time had passed slowly since the Ponyville Theater had been reopened. The young mare, Wild Dream had purchased the theater from its original owner just a couple of months ago, and yet it was just now in a state that could be called usable. The Pegasus that Wild Dream had hired was of incredible value in helping to fix up the place. Some of his ideas on how the things worked were a little strange, but he seemed to have a good idea of what was supposed to go where.

Wild Dream sat in her office, her back legs resting on the desk in front of her. She had a few dozen pages of memos and letters that she’d gotten from various little groups all over town who wanted to rent or use the facilities. She’d just sent off a letter to Carousel Boutique, letting Ms. Rarity know that she could use the Theater in a couple of months for her fall fashion show. She’d attached all the things that you would expect to find, lists of costs, requests for what they would need to know, and a personal letter letting Rarity know that Wild Dream couldn’t wait to see her newest fashions. It had been a long couple of months and the restoration had taken more time than she’d thought. A slight knock at the door brought Wild Dream out of her daze. Phantom, the young pony she’d hired to work here was standing nervously in the door, a bag of mail in his mouth. He walked forward and set it down.

Phantom was a strange one, Wild reflected. When he’d first interviewed to work here he’d seemed confident, especially around the yellow mare that he lived with. But on his own, he was nervous, quiet, and had a penchant for clumsiness. He’d been getting better as he got to know Wild Dream, but at least around the office, he still seemed nervous. Wild was still grateful for his help though. He really did know his way around the back stage of a theater, and that had helped her out a lot.

“I j-j-just picked up the m-mail from the post o-o-office.” Phantom stuttered. He turned to leave, and with a little more confidence added, “I ‘m going to go finish fixing the curtains on the last three lines. The cyc should be up by this evening.”
“Thank you Phantom.” Wild said with a kind smile. She waited until the door closed before letting out a sigh. She had no idea what a cyc was, and she probably should head over to the library soon and get out a book on stagecraft at some point, but right now there was mail to go through.

Most of it was just like everything else she got, requests for use of the theater, a couple from the mayor about a possible dedication, two from Sugar Cube Corner about catering events at the theater, and a small stack that was all to go in the trash can, which now bore the label JUNK MAIL in bright letters across it’s rim. One letter, however, made her gasp:

To the Owner of the Ponyville Theater,

I wish to dispense with all the formalities of regular requests to use the property, and instead offer you an opportunity. I am the manager for the Band, Victory Cleft, currently the hottest band in all Equestria. It is sad news, but the band is planning to dissolve after a final show, as several of the members are planning to take on other opportunities.

It was decided by the members of the band that they would like to play their final show in Ponyville, where the band’s creators, The Clef Brothers, plan to retire and live. This would involve a three hour concert of Victory Cleft, as well as music and a special showing from a friend of the band, an up and coming DJ who is gaining notoriety in Canterlot Circles.

If you are interested, please reply to me by the fifteenth, as time is of the essence.
Thank you,

Blazing Skull,
Manager for Victory Cleft.

It was all Wild Dream could do not to start squealing like a little filly. She had always loved the band Victory Cleft, and having them play the first show at her theater would be great. She completely ignored the fact that it would be a final show and started writing her response immediately.

*************************************

After everything had gone through and the plans were made, Wild Dream had the tickets printed, and she gave seven to Phantom to use for himself and his friends. The show would go off without a hitch, and as the day of the concert slowly began to draw nearer, the band arrived and she finally got the posters printed.

Those posters popped up all over town, drawing sales of the tickets higher, and making Wild a very happy unicorn. The grand re-opening of the theater would be a success, and all that was left now was to get in touch with the mayor about the ribbon cutting ceremony.

*********************************

APPEARING FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!!
VICTORY CLEFT!
LIVE IN CONCERT AT THE PONYVILLE THEATER!!!!!
BOOK NOW!!!!!!

Track 2: Money For That (3:23)

Part 3 & 4
Track 2: Money For That (3:23)
Many thanks to my prereaders on this one…

***********************************************************

Ditzy and Treble sat at a rooftop table at La Poney Fantaisie, one of the nicer restaurants in town. Ditzy had originally been headed to the diner, but Treble convinced her to head here. It was understandable that he didn’t want too many other ponies around. Ditzy didn’t really understand what it was like to be famous, but she could imagine that being constantly bombarded by ponies that you didn’t know could be exhausting, not to mention annoying. At first, Ditzy was worried about the cost, but Treble offered to pay, saying that since it was his idea, it was only the honorable thing to do.

“So Treble,” Ditzy began, “What brings the band to Ponyville? I didn’t think that Victory Cleft did concerts in small towns like this.” Ditzy didn’t want to banter back and forth forever, she really wanted to know why the band was breaking up, but she knew just how hard it could be to lose something you loved, and she didn’t want to push him.”

“You’re right Ditzy, we don’t usually play in small towns, but my brother and I are thinking of retiring to Ponyville once the band’s done. Also, the DJ we are touring with is originally from around here.” Treble smiled as he thought back to the day he’d first heard Tomb’s music….

***********************************************************

Treble was walking the streets of Canterlot, with no particular destination in mind, when he came across a flyer advertizing an open mic coffeehouse just a block away. It was a pleasant evening, and Treble was in high spirits. He felt that it would be a marvelous idea to drop in on the coffeehouse and to maybe even sing a song or two for everypony there.

Much to Treble’s surprise; the place was almost completely empty. There were a couple of ponies that he could name, like Octavia, who was sitting with a couple of other mares near the back, one mint green, the other the wildly famous DJ Pon-3. The three were huddled together in conversation, and Treble felt that it really wasn’t right for him to intrude just because he knew one of them personally. There were a few other ponies sitting at the tables in the front of the room near the stage, but for the rest of the place, it was a sea of empty tables and lonely chairs. Treble sat at a table near the middle, and ordered a cappuccino from the kind waitress who’d been waiting at the table for him. It was quiet as the grey pony on stage messed with some equipment. Treble was glad that he’d walked in before a performance rather than during one.

Treble sat and watched the pony mess with bundles of wires and equipment on racks that he couldn’t even begin to guess what it was for. Suddenly the pony stood up and Treble could tell that it was a colt. He had a pair of large black headphones on his head, and his mane was the most vivid shade of blue, the tips a striking red. The look of determination on his face was one of concentration and joy. With a few flicks of the hoof, a quick adjustment of the mic, and thesong was playing.

The heavy bass line was nicely accented by the electronic sounding notes that played the melody. It sounded like it was going to be a fairly standard dance song for a moment, and then the colt opened his mouth and began to sing.

His voice was a wonderful sound, so full of life and joy, even though the subject matter he was singing about was not such a happy thing. The song played, and Treble was entranced, not even noticing when the waitress brought his coffee. He sat staring enraptured at the DJ playing on stage to this empty coffee shop as if it were a stadium full of ponies. Treble put his elbow in his coffee, his head on his hoof and just listened……

******************************************************

“Are you okay?”

Ditzy’s voice brought Treble out of his reverie. He must have been staring off into space without meaning to. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“It’s alright. You were just sort of staring at that plant over there.” Ditzy giggled and rather suddenly sneezed hard, looking back up at Treble with her eyes slightly crossed. Although Treble wasn’t sure if you could call it crossed when one looked up and the other down, but that was the best description he had for it. Either way, whatever it was called he found it absolutely adorable, and so he did the only thing he could think of to do at that moment. He smiled.

“Gesundheit.”

“What?” Ditzy half giggled out. She’d never heard anypony talk like that. The word sounded so foreign and harsh that she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t some kind of curse.

“It’s from the old world, it means bless you.” Treble smiled. Thinking about what he said brought up fond memories of his Grandmother. “My grandmother was from Stalliongrad, and she didn’t exactly speak normal Equestrian so well. I learned it so I could talk to her, but I guess I still use it every now and then without thinking.”

“Wow, so your family hasn’t been here all that long then?”

“Just on my Mom’s side. My grandmother and grandfather came over from Stalliongrad shortly after my Aunt was born. My dad’s family has lived in Canterlot ever since the migration from Flutter Valley.” Treble knew his family history, and for some reason it seemed perfectly natural for him to be talking about it to Ditzy. “My mom and dad met at the Grand Galloping Gala years ago. My mom was working it, and my dad was attending. If it hadn’t been for a moment where my mom tripped they might never have met.”

“That’s really neat. I didn’t know that you had such a rich family background. All I’ve ever read about you is what they published in the papers.” Ditzy blushed, somewhat ashamed to admit to Treble that she’d been reading about him for the past couple of years.

Treble’s smile grew wider as he held back a laugh. “Oh? And what have the papers been saying about me?”

“Not much of anything of value. Just the news about your band, and of course every tabloid followed your brother’s love life.” Ditzy wondered where Treble’s brother was now. Probably off flirting with some stupid pony who would be easily charmed…….

****************************************************************

Rainbow Dash and Bass had been racing through the town, around it, through ghastly gorge again, and to the Everfree Forest and back. They might have been headed to the cider hall, but halfway there, some sort of challenge arose, and off they went. Every time one of them one a race, the other would win the next. Finally, exhausted and exhilarated, the two of them drifted lazily down to the street, landing not too far from Sugarcube Corner.

“I don’t think…. That I…. Could race…. Even one more time…….” Bass panted out, his wings slumping to his side. His usually well groomed mane had hairs sticking out all over the place, and even his tail was starting to look a little frazzled.
“So… I take it… That you …. Give up?” Rainbow panted back. She’d had fun like she hadn’t had since that Silver guy came to town and Applejack had stopped competing with her.

“I… Never said that. I just… meant that I’m not racing …. Any more today. You haven’t won yet….” Bass slumped a little to the ground. He hadn’t pushed himself like this in a very long time. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Sugarcube Corner, and he hatched a plan. Luckily, Bass had caught his breath by then. “How are you at eating contests?”
Rainbow paused for thought. “I don’t know. I haven’t really been in one ever.”

“Well then, that’s out. It just wouldn’t be fair.” A mischievous twinkle light in Rainbow’s eyes.

“Who says?”

“I do. I’ve taken part in a fair few eating contests, and so, I’d have an advantage.”

“Would not!”

“I’m pretty sure I would.”

“You’re ON!” Rainbow shouted. The two of them half trotted, half limped towards the brightly lit façade of Sugarcube Corner, ready to engage in yet another competition….

****************************************************

“So Ponyville only has five Mailponies?” Treble asked.

“Well, we aren’t all that big a town, so we actually only have two that make deliveries, one does the long runs off to other towns, and the others are assigned to sorting, and being the postmaster.”

“That makes sense. Everypony has a job to do. It’s simple enough that it shouldn’t be hard for each pony to know what to do, and who to go to if they need help.”

“Are you implying that Mailponies are dumb?” Ditzy frowned a little. She’d been made fun of enough in life that she might
have been needlessly defensive, but it’s just how she’d learned to be.

“Not at all. I’m saying that being a Mailpony in Ponyville is a lot less confusing than it would be in a large city like Canterlot.” Treble was a little worried that he’d upset Ditzy. “I visited the Canterlot Post Office once, and it was very chaotic. Nopony, not even the Postmaster seemed to know exactly who was supposed to be doing what. I’m sure that things are a lot more orderly at the Ponyville Post Office.”

Ditzy breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes they are. Things don’t really get out of hand except around Hearth’s Warming eve and Hearts and Hooves Day, but that’s something that is expected with the increased volume of mail that’s sent.”

Treble and Ditzy’s conversation continued along similar lines, talking about everything from their family histories, to their jobs, memorable moments Treble had had on tour, and even some of Ditzy’s more hilarious accidents. They got their meal and ate it without stopping. The moon had risen, and on the rather quiet balcony of La Poney Fantaisie, they still had no idea what time it was. They were enjoying a cup of coffee after dinner when things started to go sideways.

A very well dressed unicorn mare walked straight over to Ditzy.

“Well now Derpy, don’t you think you’ve wasted enough of Mr. Rich and Famous’ time already?” The unicorn’s tone was snide and full of prejudice.

Ditzy, for her part, just looked down, and Treble could see that she was close to crying. Treble was about to say something about the Unicorn being rude and that Ms. Doo was his guest, but before he could even say a word the unicorn started in again.

“I don’t know why someone like Mr. Clef would waste their time with a second rate mare like you. After all, shouldn’t you be at home taking care of that child of yours?” Again, the unicorn’s tone was snide, although this time it was tinged with something more. Loathing, perhaps.

Ditzy got up and ran off without saying a word. Treble frowned as he watched her run off, tears slipping from her eyes to run down her face. He’d been having such a nice time until this unicorn went and ruined it.

“Well now that the distasteful Derpy Hooves is gone, you don’t have to worry about any adoring fans here. We all enjoy
your music Mr. Clef, but we don’t go about pestering celebrities for things here. I’m…”

Treble cut the unicorn off. He was angry. Angrier than he’d been in a long time. In one short rant, he started to vent the anger of what had just happened, as well as all the pain he’d been holding back about the band breaking up.
“I don’t care what your name is. Miss Ditzy Doo was here as my guest, and I asked her to accompany me. She was not bothering me, nor would I call her distasteful. Your actions were not only uncalled for, but any sort of favor or whatever you were after is not going to happen. I am sick and tired of the upper class socialites like yourself assuming that they are always better than the working ponies. My mother worked every day of her life, even after she married my father, who’s family is in the higher circles of Canterlot society. The poor attempt you have made at ingratiating yourself to me has failed, and you would do well to return to whatever finishing school you attended so that you can learn some real manners. Some ponies work for a living, and as far as I am concerned, they will always be more valuable than any socialite who spends their time gossiping about the sordid affairs of the rich that Nopony actually cares about!”

Treble turned to leave the very speechless unicorn, but thought better of it. He took a step closer, and decided to take a page out of his brother’s book. He’d never know what possessed him to do it.

“Good Day Madame,” Treble said as he turned sharply just before he came within a foreleg’s distance of the Unicorn. “We hope to see you soon for tea!” Treble exclaimed the last with as much of a sneer as he could, leaving the restaurant to follow after Ditzy. Hopefully he could catch up with her and salvage something of this evening.

Track 3: I Owe You a Love Song (3:44)

Part 3 & 4
Track 3: I Owe You a Love Song (3:44)

AN: Please remember the titles have nothing to do with the chapters here!!! It’s all a coincidence. I swear!!!!
Music by JackleApp used with permissions. I do not own Shiny Toy Guns, the rights to their intellectual property, or their music or song titles.
******************************************************

Bass and Rainbow Dash sat at a table in the middle of Sugarcube Corner, a rather large dish of ice cream piled in front of each of them. Pinkie was very happy about these towering ice creams, as it took her only a few minutes to make. Bass and Rainbow had asked her to be a judge for this contest, and she was more than happy to do so.

“3. 2. 1. GO!” The pink mare shouted.

Rainbow and Bass grabbed their spoons and started eating as fast as they could. Pinkie got so excited and the ice cream looked so good that she just had to make herself one of those monstrous bowls of ice cream. She made hers ridiculously fast, and ate it all in one bite. Bass and Rainbow, both now experiencing the effects of advanced brain freeze, stopped eating to stare at the pink mare who was sitting happily on her stool.

“I…I… I’ve never….” Bass began

“Yeah…” Dash chimed in. She and Bass looked at each other, and each knew what the other was thinking without speaking.
“You win!” They said together to Pinkie, the three of them breaking out into laughter. Pinkie stopped laughing suddenly, and fell to the floor clutching her head.

“C...C…C…COLD!!!!” She yelled from her place on the floor. Rainbow and Bass laughed even harder at that, something that the Pink pony found oddly comforting, and right, even though it felt like the entire right side of her head was about to explode.

A little while after that, Bass and Rainbow had left the shop, and were walking aimlessly through the streets, talking about the Wonderbolts. Rainbow was both impressed and jealous that Bass was on nickname terms with the team’s captain, Spitfire, and Soarin, another member of the world famous team. Bass was even more impressed that Rainbow had saved the lives of the entire team. He’d heard about that incident, but had never learned who’d been the pony to do so.

They chatted a little while longer before agreeing to meet again the next day at the same place where they had met. Bass walked off, happily thinking about getting to know this Cyan mare better, while Rainbow flew home, dreaming of the competitions yet to come….

***************************************************************

Treble had run through most of the streets of Ponyville, and even tried to fly over the town twice and hadn’t yet seen Ditzy. He felt so horrible for the way that unicorn had treated Ditzy. He wanted to make it up to her. He really had been enjoying her company, and everything had been going so well. He hadn’t actually had anypony to talk to in quite some time, and Ditzy was the first pony that he’d been able to talk to in a very long time. It was incredibly easy for him to open up to her, and the fact that she was adorably cute didn’t hurt either. He wasn’t the type to just go for the first mare that talked to him, like his brother, but spent his time getting to know ponies. That was probably why he’d been alone for so long.

He wanted desperately to find Ditzy, to tell her that the unicorn was wrong. He wanted to tell her that he’d enjoyed her company, and had already made up his mind to ask her out again. Not on a date, but just to hang out, like friends. Treble realized that he had no idea why she’d run off like that, but he hoped to one day find out. Maybe it was because of the mention of her daughter. He didn’t think that she was the kind of pony who’d leave her child alone while she went out, so maybe it was that she didn’t want to talk about her either. In all the talking they’d done about their families, she’d never once mentioned that she had a daughter. Perhaps that was the root of all of this.

It could also maybe have been that nickname the unicorn used. What was it? Right, Derpy Hooves. The name itself was scathing and rude. That could have upset her. She seemed to have some trouble with her eyes sometimes, perhaps she was still being ridiculed about that, and she was sensitive because of it. He knew what it was like. Treble started rubbing at his left wing unconsciously as he sat on a bench in the park.

He had no idea where Ditzy lived, had managed to get himself lost in town on his second day here, probably ousted himself from the higher social circles of Ponyville, and was facing the breakup of the band in two days. With the exception of the social circle thing, life was not going too well for him. The reality of the situation started to set in, and he started to tear up.
He was leaving behind the world he’d known to move to a small town where everyone knew him, and he knew no one. He would have no job, nothing to do, and Nopony to spend his time with except his brother. The only pony he’d really connected to in town had been run off by some asinine unicorn that seemed to think she was better than she was, and he had no idea how to get in contact with her. The tears started to slip down his face.

The more he thought about the situation the more he cried, until it was late at night, with Nopony around, and he curled up on the bench and fell asleep.

**************************************

Two days had passed since the Disastrous evening at La Poney Fantaisie, and Ditzy was still wondering if she’d done the right thing in running away. Yesterday had been the first official day of autumn, and while she’d had a wonderful time with her daughter, running through the parks and enjoying the change of colors, she couldn’t help but wonder if running away like she had done was the right thing to do.

She sat and stared at the tickets that lay on the table in front of her. They were VIP tickets for a private box in the Ponyville Theater for the concert tonight. She wanted to go, but she was worried about seeing Treble again. What he must think about her for the way she reacted to that silly unicorn. She’d been teased enough throughout her life. First for her eyes, then because of Dinky and it was something she’d learned to deal with. She just didn’t expect it to happen there, especially not when she was talking to the very pony that she’d secretly harbored a crush on for years.

It wasn’t uncommon to have a crush on a celebrity, but what was unusual was for that very same pony to come and invite you out to eat the very same day that you first talk. Ditzy had been in heaven for the entire meal, even though she worried about accidentally acting like a ridiculous fan girl in front of Treble. She’d read so much more about his brother, and so little had actually been printed about him that he was a mystery, and one that she wanted to unravel.

She thought it through for a while and finally decided that she should go to the concert, and in a very short time, she and Dinky were on their way to the Theater.

*****************************************************

Across town, Twilight and the gang were also on their way to the theater, accompanied by Silver, Lieutenant Bubbles, and Princess Luna. Rainbow Dash had been telling them all the stories about the various competitions that she and Bass had been through in the past few days, and while she could tell that not all of them believed it, they were at least listening. Well, most of them were anyways. Silver and Lieutenant Bubbles were engaged in a conversation about military technology, and Silver’s newfound love of crafting things. She normally would have expected Twilight to be a part of that conversation, but her favorite egghead was listening to her instead.

They were all very excited about the concert, and gradually their conversation turned to the band and what songs they thought would be playing. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the theater, and were quickly ushered off to two private boxes in the theater, both rather close to the stage.

Pinkie was there before anypony else, which was odd since she’d been the last of them to be checked in and, as far as the rest of them knew, had never been there before. They all just chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie, and sat down. Twilight waved to Luna and Bubbles who were sitting in their own, heavily guarded box just next to theirs.

Pinkie took a look around the theater, enjoying the sight of so many happy ponies with their smiling faces. Suddenly she felt a twitch behind her ear. Then her tummy felt rumbly. Her knees shook and her tongue felt fuzzy. That combo meant that somepony wasn’t happy that should be, and she spotted the mare in no time.

Across the theater sat Ditzy Doo and her daughter, Dinky in their own box. Pinkie was a little surprised at that since Ditzy didn’t make all that much working as a Mailmare. She was happy that Ditzy could come to the show and bring her daughter along. Pinkie waved excitedly, but Ditzy didn’t wave back, her eyes focused on the stage.

Suddenly the lights began to dim, and everypony fell silent and turned to the curtain hidden stage….

****************************************

Treble ran his hoof through his mane nervously as the curtain began to rise. He was always nervous before a show, and this was no exception. Since this was the last show, he wanted to for the band to go out with a bang. Everypony on the stage was tense, and ready. Treble was not going to let his personal feelings about the band breaking up ruin this show. The ponies on the other side of the curtain had come here to see the show of their lives. That was exactly what they were going to get. The curtain reached the top of the rafters and the lights came up. Treble stepped forward to the microphone.

“Good Evening PONYVILLE!” His voice was full of enthusiasm, and the crowd roared. Treble motioned unsuccessfully for silence. He motioned to Phantom to crank the volume up a bit and started talking again. “Before we play we have just a couple of announcements to make.”

There was deafening silence in the theater. Treble was instantly aware that everypony had their full attention on him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued.

“First, our guitar player, Riff, and his long time marefriend, Viola, our violinist and female vocalist have decided to announce their engagement!” Treble pointed to each of the ponies, Riff, the muscular unicorn with the spiked mane, and Viola, the white and grey earth pony with the violin in her hand. The crowd roared at the announcement of the engagement. It was something that anypony with a brain could have seen coming. Treble took the chance as the crowds roars died down to look at the boxes to see if Ditzy had come. She had, and suddenly he felt butterflies. He made a quick fluttering motion with one wing, sending a signal to the band. They all signaled back just as quickly, and just as unnoticeably.

Something inside Treble’s mind clicked, and he knew just how to play things. “The rest of the announcements can wait. Did you come here to listen to me talk?” The crowd roared back a very enthusiastic, “NO!”

“Well then, did you come here to listen to VICTORY CLEFT?” Treble was intentionally whipping them up into a frenzy. The level of excitement in the air was almost palpable. “Well then. ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!”

The lights changed to the traditional color theme of the band, blue, red, and green, and they started to play. The crowd roared their approval at the choice of the song. The driving beat, the heavy riffs of the guitar, Bass’s deep notes made their impression on the crowd.

Ditzy was watching just one member of the band. Her eyes were locked on Treble. He sang so effortlessly, the look on his face one of pure joy. She smiled; glad to see that he was happy. She watched as he moved around the stage, playing off the other ponies in the band, the little skits that were going on, the way he almost danced, the aggressive way he jumped at certain words. It was a beautiful thing, and she was glad she’d brought Dinky. Dinky was holding onto the wall at the edge of the box, totally caught up in the enthusiasm of the band and the crowd.

Rainbow was watching Bass. She wanted to see just what made him so special in this band anyways. The bass lines that he played were vibrating the bones of her wings and it was definitely enjoyable. She was a little worried about things, especially since she couldn’t seem to get Bass out of her mind. They’d had an enjoyable race the day before, but they hadn’t done as much because he had to get off to practice. She’d see him after the show anyways. All Rainbow wanted to know was why she kept thinking about him, why she seemed to be acting a little more aggressively around him, and why for the love of Celestia, did her chest feel so fluttery when she thought about hanging out with him?

The song ended almost as quickly as it had begun, and without a word and with a seamless transition, they began their next song.

Rainbow didn’t really like this song. It was one of their mushier ones, and was something that she didn’t really listen to. All that Lovey Dovey stuff just wasn’t for her. She wasn’t even sure that she wanted to date anypony anyways. No sooner did she think that than she caught herself staring at Bass again. She wanted to know exactly what it was about him that she found so fascinating.

Ditzy watched Viola come up and start to sing. The beat of the drums was irresistible, and soon Ditzy was up and dancing, enjoying the concert immensely. She hadn’t expected to enjoy it this much, and was glad she’d come. She stole a glance at Dinky who seemed to be enjoying the show as much as her mother was.

Nopony in Twilight’s box noticed Fluttershy slip away, and if they had, they would just have assumed that she didn’t like the loud noise. If they could have seen into the control booth, they would have seen a yellow Pegasus joining Phantom at the boards. She wasn’t there to work, just to spend time with her Special Somepony, and to enjoy the concert the way she wanted to; in the dark.

The song slowed to its end and the band struck up what was their uncontested anthem. The drums began to beat and the crowd roared their approval as the most recognizable of all their songs started. The lights on the stage and in the crowd began to pulsate to the rhythmic and almost tribal beat of the drums, the bass cranked ever so slightly higher, and everypony was up and dancing.

Ditzy watched as Treble opened up on stage and really started to get into the concert. It was a great song, and she was dancing like crazy. She kept her eyes on Treble though, feeling butterflies start to form in her chest as she thought about seeing him after the show. She watched as he and his brother performed in the position that was always talked about, back to back, wings flared out to their most open.

The show came to a momentary stop after the song as the band took a chance to drink a little water. The crowd was roaring so loudly that even if they had started playing again, they wouldn’t have been heard anyways. There was the sound of bells that went almost entirely unnoticed, as the band had indeed begun to play again. Nopony noticed that they were playing until the floor started to shake with the heaviest bass beat that had been played yet.
It was an older song of theirs, back from when the band was first starting out, and a fitting one to play. The band kept it secret that they weren’t playing the full concert, but rather just a short selection of songs, acting as the opening act once again after all these years.

There wasn’t a pony in the packed theater that wasn’t enjoying it, and the driving beat kept a great many of them dancing. Rainbow looked back into her box and started to laugh. Fluttershy wasn’t there, but Twilight was hanging over the edge of the box, staring down at the stage, her hoof tapping along with the song. Applejack and Rarity were dancing shamelessly, and Pinkie was making an even bigger spectacle of herself than usual by dancing on the edge of the box’s rail, and occasionally seeming to dance on the air itself as well. Silver was doing something odd in the corner, it might have been dancing, but it was not any kind of dancing that Rainbow could recognize. The entirety of it was not a sight that Rainbow ever thought she’d see in her entire life. She also had no idea that Rarity could dance like that, or that Applejack was that flexible. The beat of the song started to get into her at long last, and she started to dance herself, letting all of the confusing feelings and thoughts that she had about Bass just drift away on the wings of the music.

Ditzy loved this song, and it was oddly enough the very first song of theirs that she’d ever heard. It was her personal favorite and she couldn’t help staring at Treble during it. She’d stopped dancing because she was exhausted, and as she leaned on the rail, regaining her energy, she watched the band. It was amazing how much different Treble seemed now that he was performing. Where before he’d been polite and kind, soft spoken and a little nervous; now he was confident, loud, and apparently the life of the party. Some of the lyrics didn’t always make sense but even then his face never wavered. It was a mask of tranquility, his eyes sparkling with the boundless energy that he showed whenever he started to dance.

The song’s end seemed abrupt, but that might just simply have been because everypony was enjoying it. The band moved quickly on stage, and both Riff and Viola stepped up to the mic. Bass and Treble picked up what appeared to be a violin and string Bass in the background. The song started up with Riff singing.

Almost everypony was glad that this was a slow song, and many of them collapsed into their seats, exhausted from dancing. Rainbow was leaning on the rail, enjoying this song for the first time. She’d never played it since its title seemed so girly. Rainbow wasn’t a girly girl by any means, and she never wanted to fall into that trap and get caught up in all the mushy stuff that seemed to surround love, but the engaged couple singing on stage was adorably cute, and Rainbow both loved them and hated them for it.

Ditzy stared, and watched as the two ponies sang their hearts out. The love between the two was obvious, and the fact that they were singing about it together was simply amazing. Ditzy wished that she had someone to care for her like that. She turned to look at Dinky who was now sitting in a chair, watching the stage intently. Dinky was obviously tired, as was Ditzy, but this song couldn’t be helping. It was slower, and less full of energy. Ditzy turned back to the stage to watch Victory Cleft’s final show. She wondered for a moment just how many other ponies out there in the audience knew that fact.

The song ended in a slow fade of strings, and as it ended, the lights went out, leaving only a single spotlight on Treble. His heart raced, pounding both from the adrenaline and excitement of having performed, and in anticipation of what he was about to do. That had been the final song they’d planned, and while the band trusted him, and knew that he was about to announce the end of the band, he wasn’t sure that they’d go with his plan. He’d signaled that they were going to play the song that they’d both written and composed in a single night. If it went off well, it would be the greatest musical feat ever to have happened in Equestria. But first, there was another song, an older song that the entire band knew, that he wanted to play.

“Everypony! I know right now you all must be wondering why we have stopped playing.” Treble’s voice lacked some of the enthusiasm that it had had at the beginning of the concert, and for those ponies who were listening closely; you could almost hear him sigh with sadness as he spoke. “Tonight we are not the headlining act. Tonight we are once again just the opening act. After nine years together, Victory Cleft is parting ways for now to pursue different interests.”

The crowd greeted his bombshell with shocked gasps, wails of horror, and a couple of ponies breaking down into sobbing hysterics.

“Viola has been accepted into the Canterlot Royal Symphony, and not a single band member would deny her the right to go. Beat is leaving next week to join the Equestrian Military to help guard our borders, and my brother and I are remaining here in Ponyville.” There were smatterings of applause, but mostly a stifling silence and a feeling of gloom that hung in the auditorium. Treble wanted to say more, but couldn’t. He stood up, lifting the violin that he held to his shoulder, and began to play.

The sound of the violin was piercingly sad. He had planned to play it alone, but Viola had her violin and was joining him in the circle of light after the first few bars. A few bars later, the entire band had assembled in the small pool of light, Bass with his Bass, and Beat and Riff with Cellos, Treble and Viola with their violins. The song was old, even by Canterlot standards and dated back to a time hundreds of years before Nightmare Moon had ever existed. It was an old hymnal from the outskirts of Equestria, where other ponies still worshipped other gods besides Celestia and Luna.

The sound was almost heartbreakingly sad, and full of unspoken regrets. Rainbow did something that she never did in public, letting a few tears roll down her cheeks. She was sad that the band was breaking up, and the song was the final straw in what was a one-two punch to her composure. She tried to hide her face, but since it was only her friends in the box, she didn’t try too hard to hide it. She looked over to Princess Luna’s box, and much to her surprise, saw a very worried looking Lieutenant Bubbles trying to comfort a distraught and sobbing Luna.

Ditzy sat in the box next to Dinky who’d fallen asleep. She was proud of Treble for making the announcement with such a sure voice. He’d been so against talking about it when they’d had dinner that she thought that he’d never wanted to talk about it at all. She wasn’t even sure that they were going to announce it at the concert to begin with. She sat quietly, tears rolling down her face as the music hit her full force. She watched the stage, and saw how every pony had tears rolling down their faces as well.

If either Ditzy or Rainbow Dash could have looked out into the crowd, all that could be seen was a sea of faces, silently staring at the stage, tears rolling down their faces. It was a moment of shared sadness, something far rarer than a moment of shared joy. Ponies all throughout the concert hall held onto their loved ones, hurting silently for the quartet of ponies baring their souls on stage.

Fluttershy held a sobbing Phantom in her arms, tears rolling down her face. Silver had his head down and was crying openly, Applejack next to him with watery eyes, trying to calm him down. Twilight and Rarity sat quietly in their chairs, tears rolling down their cheeks, and a look of shock on their faces. Pinkie was crying, but more disturbingly, her hair had gone straight.

The song ended, and there was near total silence in the Theater, broken only by the occasional sniffle. Treble stepped up to his band mates, turning his back on the crowd. He didn’t care now whether his mic was on or not.

“Gentlecolts, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight.”

The words struck home with the band members, and as they shook hands and left the circle of light to return to the darkness, there was only silence. Treble turned and winked up at the control booth. They were going to do it, it had all been confirmed during the handshakes, and he just hoped that Phantom remembered what to do. They’d only talked about it that morning.

Phantom had calmed down, and he did indeed remember what to do. He counted to ten, and then started hitting buttons, switches, and levers rather quickly, bringing the lights back up on stage, and turning the volume of the music back up.

Treble saw the lights coming on and stared directly at Ditzy. What he was about to do might just be the biggest mistake of his life, and even if it wasn’t it was probably the most brazen and foolhardy thing that he’d ever done.

The lights on stage were a muted white, and the crowd looked expectantly at the stage. This evening had already been an emotional rollercoaster, everypony in the crowd was wondering just what the band could be planning next.

The song began without fanfare, and Treble locked his eyes on where Ditzy was sitting. He didn’t dance or prance about. He stood where he was and looked right at her. Ditzy felt faint and as he began to sing, the feeling of butterflies in her chest began to double.

He sang as honestly as he could. The maniacal energy he’d had before wasn’t apparent, but the strength of his voice was unmatched. There was no question who he was singing about. He used the nasty nickname for Ditzy that the Unicorn had used only to drive home the point that he didn’t care what the rest of Ponyville thought. He used her real name too just in case there was any confusion. He’d written the song just the day before, and the band had only really gotten it down that morning. He really hoped that they didn’t make any mistakes. He thought back to the day before as he sang…..

******************************

Treble had found Ditzy in a grove of trees in the town park. The leaves had been changed by their seasonal magic, and
were now the most beautiful shades of red, gold, orange, and purple. He wanted to go up and talk to her, but he saw that she was with a small filly. He assumed that it must have been her daughter.

Treble wasn’t sure that Ditzy wanted him anywhere near his daughter, most mothers were protective of their fillies, and when it came to celebrities there was a level of protectiveness that seemed odd. Parents seemed to think that celebrities would corrupt their children, and wanted them kept away. Well, at least most parents seemed that way.

Treble turned and walked away, his head hung low. He just wanted to talk, and he felt ashamed of himself for being so cowardly. He walked through the trees, trying to enjoy the bright and vibrant colors, like he did every year, but something seemed to dull them all. He caught glimpses of Ditzy and her filly as he walked through the park, and every time he did, he couldn’t help but to smile widely. He walked through the park some more and came to the very bench that he’d fallen asleep on the night before. He sat there and started to think.

He wanted to talk to Ditzy, but every time he came closer, never actually close enough to be seen though, something stopped him. He felt butterflies in his chest every time he saw her, and the way he’d reacted at the restaurant. He’d never acted that way before. He’d always secretly been fed up with the arrogant way the richer ponies treated those who actually worked, but he’d never before said anything about it. Normally he would have just gone along with the situation. Perhaps the breakup of the band was changing him. He didn’t really have to worry as much about how what he did affected the image of the band. His manager, Blaze could scream all he wanted about that little fiasco at the restaurant now, but Treble didn’t have to listen.

Treble kept on thinking, the gears in his head turning. He’d never felt this way before, but he’d studied enough to have an idea of what was happening. He rushed off to his hotel to start writing. He had a plan, and he just hoped that it would work. He had to get something to the post office first though….

**********************************

The song slowed down, and Treble kept right on singing. It finally came to an end, and the ponies in the crowd went wild. They didn’t care who the song was about, it was amazing, and the ending had been amazing. If it was the last song that Victory Cleft every played together, it was one that would forever be remembered by the citizens of Ponyville.
Ditzy sat, stunned. She had no idea what to think, and even less of an idea of what to do. She kept sitting there, waiting for some clue of what to do next to pop into her head.

Treble stood on stage, oblivious to the standing ovation that he was receiving, and just watched Ditzy, hoping for some sign, anything that could give him a clue as to how his song, his master stroke in his plan had been received…….

Track 4: Ghost Town (3:43)

Part 3 & 4
Track 4 : Ghost Town (3:43)

The usual stuff here….. Proofreaders/ponies/not my property, etc, etc,

***************************************************************************

There was a deafening silence that hung over the auditorium. The echoes of the last song they played still rang softly in many pony ears. Treble could see the glare of the lights on stage the fresh tear tracks on many of the faces in the audience, and the smiles that graced them all. After all had been said and done, Treble wasn’t sad at all. He would have thought that the almost crippling depression that had gripped him for the past month would finally win out and his body would collapse under the weight of its own sorrow. Instead, he felt light, almost free. He looked out and back up to the box where Ditzy sat. He was worried that his grand move, his final play, had not failed entirely.

Ditzy just sat back in her box, stunned. She wasn’t entirely sure how to feel. On one hand, she was elated that the guy of her dreams had just performed a song about her. On the other, she had only ever had horrible luck in relationships, and with Dinky to care for, she wasn’t sure if she had the time either. She wanted it, and she wished that it could have been easier, and that she hadn’t run away when they’d first met. She wished that things could have been different the whole way around. She turned to look at Dinky who was quietly dozing in a chair, a small bubble at the side of her mouth growing slowly as she dreamed on, oblivious to the outside world. Ditzy couldn’t have ever wished for more at that moment. If she could put the happiness that she was feeling into a jar, she would.

Rainbow Dash sat in her seat stunned. It was awesome that somepony liked Ditzy and seemed to really care. And it wasn’t such a bad thing really was it? That the last song that the most awesome band ever would ever play was all about somepony else, not the amazingly extreme awesomeness that was Rainbow Dash? Rainbow set it to the side of her mind, her ego not needing to be stroked at that moment. She took her time to look around. Everypony else in the box seemed just about as stunned as she was. As Rainbow looked around, she noticed that Fluttershy wasn’t there at the moment. She looked harder around the theater and other than finding a flash of yellow and pink in the way back, she wasn’t sure she’d seen her. If it was a more dangerous place than a concert, Rainbow would have been concerned, but since it was Fluttershy, and she was probably freaking out about the loud music or something, it wasn’t a priority.

From this ghastly silence that hung over the theater a cry began to ring out. It was a few voices at first that gradually grew into a deafening uproar. One word over and over. Even Ditzy and Rainbow joined in towards the end. “Encore, Encore!” The crowd cried over and over, the small group on stage sporting huge grins on their tear streaked faces. Treble sighed, watching the members the band stop as they walked off stage. Every single one of them shook their head. As much as Treble wanted for the band to continue on like nothing had happened, the rest of them seemed to want to let this be their final note. Treble steeled himself and prepared to address the crowd.

“My friends! We are honored at your request, but this was our final song. Tonight we leave this stage together, and open it to our successor, the great DJ, THE LIVING TOMBSTONE!” It was short and maybe not the epic speech that he should have given, but he was tired, and the words just wouldn’t come. He still gestured off to the side as the white stallion walked on stage. His blue hair and red tips caught the light as the turntables were raised up from beneath the stage. The stallion stopped at the turntables, and placed his hoof on top. Treble began walking off the stage and without any ceremony, or words, just the silence of the shocked crowd, he began to play.

It wasn't long before the beats began, and the music picked up it's tempo. Treble walked towards the back of the stage as the music began to get a little more intricate, and at last Tombstone began to sing. It wasn't the catchiest of his tunes, but Treble knew that those would come later. The flashing lights on stage, and the way the audience seemed to be dancing along to the beat gave Treble a little hope that his friend would be a bigger success than he and his band had ever been.

Treble turned and watched for a moment as his long time friend rightfully took over the show that was really his after all..Treble smiled a bit and walked off stage for the last time, the curtain closing behind him with a gentle swish.

*******************************

The concert had ended a couple of hours later, and the lucky ponies that held VIP tickets were escorted backstage. Many of them went to see and meet DJ Tombstone, but a few went to see Victory Cleft. Ditzy was among those going to see Victory Cleft. She had the still sleeping Dinky across her back, and as she joined in with the rest of the group headed that way, she was quiet and deep in thought.

Rainbow Dash felt bad for the first time in a long time. The only ponies that she could see headed for Victory Cleft’s dressing rooms were herself and her friends. She felt bad because so many of the ponies that had come here to see Victory Cleft were abandoning them in what she felt was their hour of need.

Inside that dressing room, the air was not as gloomy as one would have expected. The members of the band were sitting around, happily recalling stories of other shows, other times. The only one not really participating in all of this was Treble. He was happy that the band was happy, but he was worried about how things had gone over with Ditzy. He was the type to fall in love quickly, and this did often get him into trouble. That’s why he had never really gone out with his brother. His brother was much the same way, and the Tabloids had had enough to say about him. In just a couple of minutes, the fans would be walking through that door, and while there were security ponies about, they did nothing to help Treble feel any better about what was going to happen.

The door did open, but there was not the large press of people that were expected. Twelve ponies total walked through that door: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Phantom, Silver, Ditzy, Dinky, Luna, and Bubbles. It wasn’t what the band had been expecting, but it was better than Nopony coming at all. In fact, it was partially better than they could have ever hoped, with Princess Luna being there.

“Welcome everypony!” Bass greeted the lot of them cheerfully, getting up and breaking the little circle that had formed in the corner of the room. Treble just sat and stared at Ditzy as she walked into the room.

Ditzy noticed that Treble was sitting a little bit off on his own and headed towards him. She intended to find out why he’d written the song about her. It had been a long time since anypony had done anything that nice for her, and she also wanted to thank him. She came close to him, and with deft and gentle motions of her wings and her back, managed to lay the still sleeping Dinky on a couch next to Treble.

“Hey,” Treble said in a near monotone. The enthusiasm that he’d shown on the stage had drained him physically, and the monotone was more from his exhaustion than it was nervousness on his part.

“Hey,” Ditzy replied. She smiled at him and sat down in the closest chair. Her voice was quiet, mostly so she wouldn’t wake up her sleeping daughter. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two ponies, neither one knowing what to say. All sorts of things raced through Ditzy’s head as she waited to hear from the stallion in front of her.

Treble wanted to say something, anything really. He just didn’t know what to say. Everything that he could think of to say wouldn’t be right, and he found that after just a couple of days, he’d come to care for this mare, and he didn’t want to screw things up like he’d done with the last mare in Manehattan. The silence persisted for a few moments, punctuated with the occasional burst of laughter from the other group in the room. It wasn’t long, but for the two ponies sitting there, it seemed almost like a lifetime.

“Well, ummm, you guys were great on stage.” Ditzy mentally slapped herself for so common a statement. She really wanted to know what was up with that song, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually ask about it.

“I guess we were,” Treble replied with a sheepish grin. He’d been worried that Ditzy would have started grilling him for answers about the last song. “Although, it was really more the rest of the gang.”

“Oh no, you were great too. You were so full of life and enthusiasm; it was hard to believe that you guys were ending. Well, right up until you announced it anyways.”

Treble sighed, the breakup of the band was still weighing heavily on his mind. “Yeah. The part with the old hymn wasn’t planned, but it seemed right. I had no idea that it would have such an impact on the audience though.”

Neither one of them noticed Luna and Lt. Bubbles walking over to join them. Their conversation continued on the topic of the mysterious hymn and the impact it had on the ponies who’d been at the concert. They did finally take notice of Luna and her guard when Luna spoke to Treble.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Luna said quietly, “But I just have to ask, do you know where that hymn you played came from?”

*********************************************************

The main group of ponies in the room had a much cheerier discussion going on.

“… and then Viola here took out the heckler with a well placed bow shot. Who knew that you could use a cello like a bow and arrow?” Bass said with a hearty chuckle. Viola blushed but the rest of the group roared with good natured laughter.

“I had no idea that you guys were all so talented,” Rarity said. She was grinning and staring at Bass, her eyes twinkling mischeviously.

“Well, from what I hear, some of you guys are just as famous as we are,” Beat added.

The bearers of the elements nodded, trying to seem humble. Well most of them at any rate. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand could always be counted upon to boast of what they’d done.

“Well of course some of us are famous. It’s not every day that Nightmare Moon is Vanquished, a twisted Draconequis stopped, and the kingdom saved from an invasion by the same group of ponies. And even fewer have done all that and won the Best Young Flier competition to boot!” Rainbow puffed out her chest as she recounted all her accomplishments.

“Well Ms. Best Junior Flyer, it seems you forgot the name of the completion, and I for one know a pony just like that who couldn’t even keep up for a few dozen laps around the reservoir!” Bass smiled at his little jab.

Rainbow blushed and blustered. “I was… conserving my energy! Yeah, I couldn’t win them all, then you might not have hung out with me!” Rainbow internally sighed with relief. She’d come close to unleashing her terrible secret; the she was a girly pony when it came to having a celebrity crush, and what was worse, she’d almost admitted TO that celebrity.

**************************************************************

Ditzy and Treble sat enraptured as Luna told them the story of the mysterious hymn.

“You see, I was loved by many of the ponies. The stories that told of the time I became a terrible tyrant aren’t entirely accurate. There is a fourth member of ponykind that, while not as prevalent today, was as common a thousand years ago as unicorns and Pegasi are today. They were called Sarosians, and they were mainly active at night. They were similar to Pegasi, but their wings closely resembled those of bats, and sunlight actually hurts them.

Now, to understand where that song came from, you have to understand that at that time, my sister and I were very different regents from the way we are today. We were proud and vain, and many ponies openly worshiped and praised us. Much of it was done in song. My sarosians raised me up and worshipped me, leaving my sister out of the picture. Many of the other ponies worshipped my sister and ignored me completely. It’s only recently that my sister and I have ruled and been accepted together truly.

Back then we didn’t even share the same advisors, we each had our own group of hand picked ponies to lead and advise us. Just a few years before I became Nightmare my top advisors started to try and convince me that my sister was out to push me off the throne.

Naturally, at first I wouldn’t hear of it. But as time went by, my advisors continued to try and convince me, and I started to notice things that I thought proved them right. At the time of the war, my Sarosians tried to defeat Celestia’s Royal guard, and a great many died in battle, the majority dying at the same time as I was banished to the moon, thanks to the sudden fear and hatred of their kind.

While I was banished on the moon, I lost my contact with almost every pony. All but my Sarosians. I could still hear them in my mind as I plotted and planned. Then one night, not long after my banishment began, I heard the hymn. It used to have words, but they aren’t necessary here. It was a song of mourning. Mourning for me, mourning for the thousands of lives that had been lost, mourning for the fact that most Sarosians were banished from Equestrian society.

So it seems, that even though you did not know the history of the song, Treble Clef, you managed to use it in the proper setting. We thank you.”

Luna’s story had Treble and Ditzy in a minor form of shock. Neither one knew quite what to say, nor had they had the chance to cover the other topics that they wanted to discuss. Bubbles sat impassively off to the side, a worried look in his eyes as he stared unblinkingly at Luna.

****************************************************

While Luna had been telling her story to Treble and Ditzy, a much more heated conversation was going on with the rest. Riff, Viola, Fluttershy, Phantom, Applejack, and Silver had steered the conversation away from Bass and Rainbows counter boasting, into a discussion of their love lives. Bass and Rainbow had immediately gotten fed up with the mushy talk, and to avoid having to hear any more of it, moved away to continue their one up session.

“I still can’t believe that he asked me to Marry him. It was such an amazing moment.” Viola gushed over the memories of her engagement to the other ponies.

“Ah know what you mean partner. When I first met Silver here, I could barely believe that he was a sane pony, and now we’re datin’!” Applejack smiled and leaned into Silver’s side.

The conversation continued like this for a bit, and only Pinkie Pie, with her amazing Pinkie Sense had any clue of what was about to happen. After all, it wasn’t normal for a pony to twitch as much as that was it?

Track 5: It Became A lie on You (4:28)

Parts 3 & 4
Track 5: It Became A Lie on You (4:29)

*************************************************

The conversations in the room had begun to die down, and it was obvious that while the band was tired and a little down about the break-up, they were still happy to have such devoted fans. Luna and Lt. Bubbles had left a little bit earlier, claiming that the flight back to Canterlot was a long one. The rest of the ponies in the room kept up a spirited conversation that seemed like it wasn’t going to end anytime in the foreseeable future.

“I still don’t understand where you could possibly draw the inspiration for these songs,” Rarity stated matter-of-factly.

“Actually, they come from real life situations.” Treble was relaxed, leaning against a chair. He was letting Ditzy be at the moment as she attended to the sleeping Dinky.

“But most of them don’t seem to apply to situations that work in real life.” Rarity went on. Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Well, I can explain them. Let’s just look at the songs from this show. The first song, Money for That, it’s in the chorus. It’s a lament about what we wish we could change. When we say if there was some way we could go back we’d pay for it, it’s our lament that we can’t always change what happened.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but what about the next one?” Twilight was asking now. The room was silent as Treble explained the meanings in the songs. Treble seemed like a wise mystical figure as he responded, with a lilting and almost singsong voice that had an ability to captivate his audience. Bass smiled a private smile since it had been almost five years since his brother had sounded like this. It was the sound of Treble being passionate and, more importantly, happy.

“Okay. This one is almost entirely self explanatory. It’s titled I Owe You a Love Song and it is about a relationship that Viola had years ago. She and I wrote it together, shortly after she’d had a break up that almost ruined the band. It was partially her plea for the two of them to get back together, and partially our way of giving the words to everypony that lost a love and wanted them back. The words, so much I could say, and words I can’t say reference the feelings that people have but don’t want to or find far too hard.”

The room was silent, and every eye was on Treble at that moment. He had a smile on his face that was obviously genuine, and Nopony wanted to say anything. Fluttershy and Phantom were holding each other, and even Bass and Dash seemed closer to each other than most would find usual. Applejack and Silver had slid closer together and were now sitting with a foreleg across each other’s shoulders. Before Rarity or Twilight had a chance to say anything more, Treble continued.

“Ghost Town, admittedly, has a meaning that is harder to understand. It’s more about breaking free and living life the way you want than anything else. The reference to a Ghost Town is about the almost invisible things that keep us back and stop us from trying the things that we enjoy. It could be a friend, or a job, or even a feeling that we owe somepony, but everypony has something. The references to death are about the spirit. Next time you listen to the song, listen for the words we don’t have to live like that. It’s almost a rallying cry to free yourself of those invisible ties. The train is a metaphor for the feeling most ponies have like they missed their opportunity.”

Ditzy walked over and sat next to the lump that was a slowly intertwining Fluttershy and Phantom. Pinkie turned and smiled at her. The form of the band’s manager, Blaze, could almost be made out in the doorway. Ditzy was the one who spoke up next, “What about Don’t Cry Out?”

“That one is a little hard to explain. It was one of the earlier songs we wrote. I wrote it mostly myself, in a rather moody depression. Bass had just gone through a really really nasty break up, and I was wondering why the girl had been as mean as she had been. It was more my attempt at trying to understand what had happened during their final fight. The man’s parts are what I imagined to be going through Bass’ head as she berated him, and the girl’s are what I imaged her to be thinking. I got the idea for the Don’t Cry Out a few weeks later when she started complaining loudly to some friends we knew about the fact that there were no decent stallions available in town.”

Ditzy smiled. It was her favorite song, and even though the explanation behind it wasn’t anything like she’d expected, it was still a beautiful song.

“Before anypony can ask, Season of Love wasn’t one that I wrote really. I helped but it was truly a full collaboration. We wrote it entirely in celebration of Riff and Viola’s engagement. They got engaged about six months ago, just before we recorded our last album. They didn’t’ want the engagement to go public, but we all wanted some little way to share that loving feeling with all of Equestria. The answer came one day when Bass asked Riff how he could have proposed, and all Riff said was…”

“Love, Love, Loove man.” Riff chimed in with a hearty chuckle. “I can still see the horrified look on your face Bass.”

“Hey dude, that’s only because you sang it then too.” There was some laughter at this. The longer this conversation went on, the harder it became to believe that this was a band that had just played together for the last time.

“Excuse me, but what about that violin song you played?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“You mean Nearer My Goddess To Me? That’s an old old song. We didn’t write it, but rather found it. It is an old hymnal, back from the ages before Nightmare Moon. It was a song to Luna from some of the Sarosians. It was a lament that they couldn’t come closer to her at the early part of the evening when the sun still shone, which was the time they felt she needed the most support. You see, the Sarosians…” Treble was cut off by a quick outburst from Rainbow Dash.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t come here for a lecture on ancient pony species that aren’t even around anymore.”

Treble nodded, trying not to correct Rainbow. He knew full well that there were still living Sarosians. From there the conversation started to go back to the scattered little groups that it had split into before. Then suddenly, in a general lull in the conversation, a quiet and tiny voice in the background asked one more question.

“You never explained the song about my mom.”

Everyone in the room turned to look at Dinky. She was sitting up and sleepily rubbing at her eyes. Ditzy looked horrified, having hoped that Nopony would ask that question. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the reason behind that song. Treble took a deep breath and began to explain.

“Well, not everypony knows that I met your mother a couple of days ago. I politely invited her to dinner with me, but some unicorn at the restaurant was terribly mean to her, and I didn’t see her after she disappeared then. I thought about it, and realized just how much I hated that unicorn for butting in like that. I like Ditzy, and I really had hoped to have a pleasant evening, but somepony got the idea that because Ditzy is different and I am famous, that we have no business knowing each other. The next day I went out for a walk and saw Ditzy and Dinky playing in the park. I had gone to try and think of a song that would make an appropriate ending for our final concert, and instead ended up marveling at the beauty of the leaves here in Ponyville at autumn. It hit me suddenly as I thought of the words to the song. It started with the trot with me line, and just sort of grew from there. That evening as I put the finishing touches on the song, I remembered the awful name that the unicorn had called Ditzy, Derpy Hooves. I threw it in to the song as a sort of slap in the face to that unicorn. Just so there was no question that this song was for her. “

The silence in the room was so oppressive that it could almost be described as loud. Nopony knew what to say. Ditzy fidgeted uncomfortably as many of the eyes in the room turned her way. She could tell that her eyes had gone crossed as they often did when she was nervous. She turned to Treble. Before she could say anything Treble started up again. This time he was speaking directly to her.

“Ditzy, I really do like you, and I would like to get to know you better.”

Ditzy almost fainted, it was like a dream come true, and all too suddenly. She looked at all the faces in the room while nervously stammering.

“I…I…Ihavetogo!” Ditzy stumbled out the last words, and grabbing Dinky, ran out of the room. At that moment everypony looked anywhere but the crestfallen face of Treble.

Track 6: Ricochet (2:38)

Parts 3 & 4
Track 6: Ricochet (2:38)

*******************************************

There was a very awkward silence as Ditzy left. Nobody wanted to look at Treble. It was obvious to everypony in the room that he was smitten with Ditzy, and the way she’d run off had to hurt. Treble sat there quietly in the rather awkward stillness before leaving himself, without saying anything.

He walked down the halls towards the exit slowly, not noticing anypony that was in the hallway, lost almost entirely in his thoughts. Perhaps he’d come on too strongly, or maybe she just didn’t like him. It wasn’t as if he’d asked her to marry him. But maybe it was something wrong with him. It was a continuing loop of these questions and self depreciating thoughts that befuddled him as he left and walked towards his cousin’s house, the place where he was staying while he looked for a house of his own in Ponyville. Blank had always been a good friend, and maybe he could help…

*************************************************

Bass had decided to fly Rainbow home. He’d made quite a connection with her over the previous few days, and after the incident with Ditzy and Treble she’d seemed upset. He had no idea what was going on, but since the rest of his band mates were already on their way out of town, he had nobody else to talk to. He’d never realized just how few friends he’d actually had since he’d always had the band, and his brother. The two pegasi flew slowly over Ponyville in silence. They were nearing the edge of town, and Rainbow’s cloud home when a commotion from below caught their attention.

“YOU WORTHLESS GOOD FOR NOTHING FILLY! I OUGHTA…” A large brown Pegasus raged at a small trembling figure in the yard of one of the houses. From the air it was obvious that the house had become run down, and stuck out like an eyesore in this classy region of Ponyville. A light appeared and the outline of a slim female Pegasus was seen.

“Teach her good Sterling. Little loser, can’t even fly.” Both figures continued to advance on the shaking shadow as Bass and Rainbow began their decent towards the house.

Something about the situation had a look of horror painted on Rainbow’s face, and the look only intensified as the mare had chimed in. Bass thought he heard her mutter the word “scoots” under her breath, but he had no idea what that could mean. They were getting close now, and as they got lower and closer to the situation, things became urgent. They could see the colors of the larger pegasi now, the stallion yellow, the mare red.

“I’m gonna do what I shoulda done years ago you worthless piece of shit!” The stallion had picked something up from the yard and was now advancing towards the little figure.

“DAD NO!” A small voice shot out, every syllable tinged with fear. That voice did more to Rainbow than anything else as far as Bass had seen. Rainbow’s face swiftly changed from horror into one of anger. She folded her wings back into herself and plummeted like a rock towards the figures.

As she came close she spread her wings and landed on her hind legs only, her forelegs raised in an aggressive posture.
“Not one more step.” Bass was dropping now, eager to assist Rainbow, but still oblivious as to why she was so eager to help. Domestic violence wasn’t anything new in Equestria, and while most civilized ponies tried to stop it where they saw it, Rainbow was acting as if there was some other motivation. Bass wanted to understand the whole story of what was going on, but before he could even begin to think of what questions to ask, his world was rocked by a sharp blow to the head. Bass dropped into crisis mode, thinking on his feet.

“Rainbow, get her out of here. Don’t worry; I’ll see you at the finish line!” Bass screamed, turning towards his attacker. He didn’t want the filly seeing him do what he was about to do. He stood still for a moment, waiting to hear some cry of protest. The way the little filly had wrapped herself around Rainbow’s leg was pitiful to say the least and wasn’t anything that brought any sort of warmth to him.

He felt the air move as Rainbow’s powerful wings took her and the filly to safety. Bass only hoped that she’d understood what he’d meant by the finish line. He focused all of his attention on the stallion standing in front of him, now that he no longer had to worry about the filly or Rainbow Dash behind him. He saw the stallion preparing to swing the wooden rod again. That was perfect.

Bass caught the rod as it came swinging at his face. He quickly tucked it under his arm and pulled the other stallion close to him, his hind leg raised. He felt a satisfying connection between his leg and the stallion. Bass didn’t care where he hit this guy. He just wanted to cause the stallion pain. Attacking and bullying children was something that Bass felt should be punishable by death. And if Bass could carry out the sentence, so much the better.

Bass landed blow after blow on the stallion, leaving him a battered and bruised lump lying on the ground, immobile. Bass wasn’t sure if the stallion would live through it, but he didn’t really care either way. He spread his wings and took off in flight.

*************************************************

Bass circled the tall dome of town hall, looking for any sign of Rainbow Dash, or the filly. He’d been looking for a few moments, and hadn’t seen either of them. He flew down to the ground and decided to check in places nearby too. After all, Rainbow Dash knew the town much better than he did, and he had no real clues as to where she would go. He’d walked the streets for a bit when he saw a door open and heard Rainbow’s voice.

“Rarity let me in, I have Scootaloo!”

Bass trotted over to her, as he could see her outline in the sudden light of the door that had opened. He called out to her,
“Hey, It’s me.”

“Come in, you need to be here too.” Rainbow’s face was as serious as he’d ever seen it. He could see a white unicorn just inside, and figured that this was the same one that he’d met at the post-show. Her face also bore a very serious cast. He didn’t want to argue with such a serious face, and just walked in, following a few steps behind Rainbow Dash. As he entered he saw the orange filly sitting nearby.

“Scootaloo, go upstairs, Sweetie Belle is waiting for you. Don’t worry dear, everything will be okay.” Rarity’s voice was kind and gentle, not at all like the look she shot towards Bass and Rainbow.

“Don’t worry Scoots; I’ll be here in the morning.” Rainbow smiled kindly at the young filly, and watched as Scootaloo slowly walked upstairs.

Rarity gave a long hard look at Rainbow Dash and Bass before saying anything. “What in the world happened?” Rainbow and Bass filled her in, leaving nothing out. Bass filled Rainbow in as well as what had happened after she left. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the faint voices of the two fillies upstairs.

“Well, I had no Idea. Scootaloo can stay here with me until we come up with a plan of action….”

*****************************************************************

Treble had intended to go directly to his cousin’s house, but he seemed to end up walking in circles. He’d passed by the darkened shops on Main Street several times already. He took a turn and started walking towards the park. His mind was running in circles. He had just been shot down by the most beautiful mare he’d ever met, and in such a public place. Perhaps the song had been too much; maybe he had been going too fast for things to have worked out like he had hoped.

Treble was used to things going wrong, especially in his love life. His last relationship had been over three years ago, and that had ended so badly that he was afraid to ever go back to Manehattan. Things would have to change. Treble looked sadly at the spot where he’d seen Ditzy and Dinky playing the day before. He looked up at the autumn leaves, their colors muted in the pale moonlight. For the first time he noticed a path leading off the main that he could have sworn wasn’t there yesterday. Out of ideas on where to go, he took it. It was badly overgrown, and seemed to lead out of the park.

He followed it for a while, coming out on a little used side street. He continued to follow the road, gradually climbing up the hill. There, near the top he saw a rundown home with a battered for sale sign in the front yard. It was a definite fixer upper, and he took note of the name on the sign. Perhaps his luck would change; it would just take some time…..

**********************************************************************

Bass, Rainbow, and Rarity had been talking for what seemed like hours. Nopony there was really sure of what to do about the abuse. It was obvious that Scootaloo couldn’t go home, and they all agreed on that. Otherwise, they couldn’t seem to agree on anything. Rarity wanted to report her parents to the police, but Rainbow and Bass were against it. They’d been discussing it long enough that they were all starting to get tired. Their discussions were very suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Rarity got up to answer, and was shocked to see Iron Shield, the town’s Police mare standing at her door.

“I’m sorry to intrude at such a late hour Ms. Rarity, but there’s been a murder, and the only suspect was seen entering this building.” There was a shocked silence in the room. Rainbow was the first to speak up.

“Who was murdered?” She asked, wide eyed.

“Sterling Wind. His wife saw the entire attack. She’s also reporting that her daughter was kidnapped, but Scootaloo has a history of running away, and being out overnight, so we aren’t as concerned. Murder is very uncommon here, and we want to catch the perpetrator of such a heinous act as soon as possible.”

Bass stood up and stepped forward, to the shocked gasps of Rainbow and Rarity. “Ma’am, I believe you have your killer. I am the one you are looking for. I beat the living crap out of that fleabag for the way he had been treating his daughter.”

Rainbow and Rarity quietly shifted closer together, not wanting to believe what they were seeing. Bass had been defending Scootaloo, he wasn’t a murderer, but Iron Shield wasn’t going to see it that way.

“Well then, Sir, you are going to have to come with me.”

“I will go, and I will go quietly.” Bass’ head was hung low as he walked out the door and followed the police mare on to the station. Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other.

“Now we have a problem.”

“Rarity, that’s an understatement…..”

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Parts 3 & 4
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The morning dawned slowly for all those in Ponyville. Some had heard of the murder of Sterling Wind, others had not, but it wouldn’t soon make much difference. The fact that such a famous person was involved meant that the rumor would spread like wildfire. Bass sat alone in the jail cell, looking out the window at the town hall.

It wasn’t supposed to have been like this. Ponyville was where he was going to start over, where he was going to be able to live a semi-normal life. His brother had talked about it often enough, and while most ponies would automatically assume that Bass wasn’t interested in that kind of life, they were wrong. Bass enjoyed the thrill seeking life he’d lived, but he was starting to get tired of it. In the past year, he had discovered that there was so much more to life than what he’d been living. So many of his friends were doing things differently, and there were people doing things that he’d never even thought of doing.

Sitting in that cold hard cell, Bass was thinking more than he ever had before in his life. He’d given cursory thoughts to whatever it was that he was doing at the time, but he hadn’t sat down and done some real deep thinking in a long time. He’d been so caught up in living the life of a celebrity that he hadn’t had a chance to stop and think. Maybe he had gone a little far in beating the crap out of Sterling, but the way that little filly cowered filled Bass with such a rage that it was hard for him to do anything but beat the crap out of him.

Bass watched as the sky’s hues brightened, changing from the dark of night into gradually lightening shades of purple red and yellow. It was an absolutely beautiful sight. Bass thought that perhaps it would be good day. He hoped that he hadn't made life too difficult for Rainbow Dash. He'd known her only a couple of days, but he found that he liked her. The worst part is that he was starting to realize that he liked her a little more than normal. He'd always been guarded about relationships, never taking more than a token amount of interest in the girl since he saw how devastating it was for his brother.

His brother. That brought a whole new worry straight to the forefront of Bass's mind. He'd known his brother to act irrationally on occasion, but what he'd done recently was a whole other game. This was beyond irrational, and bordered on the verge of insane. Of course Bass was proud that he had written an entire song in almost a single evening, and even prouder that the band had learned it in a day. But it was simply insane to write a love song for a girl that you had known only for a couple of days. Bass could not remember ever doing anything like that. He could barely imagine how his brother had done it.

Bass took a moment out from thinking, letting his mind go blissfully blank. He sat and watched the sun rise slowly over the town. The way that it rose out from the alley between City Hall and the nearby buildings was almost magical. Perhaps it was views like this that his brother had found so magical. There were a couple of trees that he could see from the small barred window of the cell. He had never before noticed just how amazing the colors of fall really were. Words from the song his brother had written ran through his head. The autumn leaves were just as amazing as the song.

Bass was starting to get a little sleepy now, he'd been awake the entire night. There was something about it all that just seemed wrong to him, but he couldn't figure it out. He was thinking now about the events of the previous night, and something in the details was nagging him. The more he thought about it the more puzzeled he became.

When he left the yard after beating Sterling, he was sure that Sterling had been breathing. Perhaps he'd confessed a little too easily to a killing. After all the police mare had only said that Sterling had been murdered, but she'd never said how. If she'd said that Sterling had been beaten to death, then it would clearly have been his fault. But there was another pony there too. Sterling's wife had been there. Perhaps he'd been beating her too. Sure she'd chimed in and egged him on for the abuse of thier daughter, but many things didn't seem to add up. She'd never intervened when Bass and Sterling were fighting, and she'd barely moved from the doorway of the house. If she'd been being beaten as well, she would have possibly had the chance to kill him after Bass left.

As it would turn out, Bass wouldn't have to wait long to find out the answer. The Policemare knocking against the bars of his cell broke him out of his reverie.

"Could you come with me please?"

Chapter One: Spell gone Right?

Hearts and Hooves day was coming around again, and the friends of Ponyville were starting to feel a little lonely. Yet another year had gone by and they still hadn’t found that special somepony for each of them. They had watched as ponies all around them had found their loves, and even Spike had found a girl dragon to date. So it was without question that Twilight Sparkle was in her library looking for a spell to help her and the girls find their special someone.

“No, that’s not it… Spike can you get me that copy of A Ponies Guide to Hearts please?” Twilight asked. She sighed as she closed the cover on yet another useless book. She still hadn’t found the right spell, and she’d been working at it for nearly two weeks. She could tell that everypony was getting restless. Rarity was fussier, Apple Jack hadn’t been bucking as well, Rainbow Dash had slowed down, even Pinkie Pie wasn’t as happy as usual. The only one who seemed unaffected by this loveless depression was Fluttershy, but that could have been because she was nervous.

Twilight sighed again and turned to watch as Spike climbed his ladder, looking for the book she’d asked for. “Ooohhh, if only I could use my magic to find the right book!” Twilight shouted, stomping her hoof in frustration. As she did, she unconsciously called for the book, and a dusty old tome flew through the building, knocking Spike right off his ladder. He grumbled and looked at the book that had caused him to bend a few scales. Olde and Forgotten Magicks was the title he saw. He picked it up and walked it over to Twilight.

“Have you tried this one?” He asked, staring nervously at the ladder, clearly worried that she’d ask him to go back up again. Twilight, woken from her reverie looked closely at the book. She didn’t even know they’d had this one so she hadn’t thought to look there, and she said as much. She took the old book from Spike and started flipping through pages. She stopped suddenly and shouted.

“Ifoundit! Ifoundit! Ifoundit!” She chanted happily. She stopped chanting and jumping just long enough to actually read through the spell. “Oh. Oh boy, this is gonna take some work….”

The rest of the ponies had gathered outside of Fluttershy’s house and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Twilight. It wasn’t long that they had waited, but they all couldn’t wait to hear what it was she’d found. Pinkie Pie spotted her first, and in typical Pinkie fashion, started jumping and shouting, “She’s here! She’s HERE!”

Twilight trotted down to the expectant ponies, a little grim faced. She’d read through the entirety of the spell, and was worried that they wouldn’t be able to pull off something so complex. However, they’d done other amazing things through the power of their friendship, and so there was a chance they could pull it off.

“Hi guys!” Twilight said cheerily as she stopped. Everypony greeted her warmly, and Fluttershy was a bit louder than usual surprisingly. “Well, I don’t see a point in waiting, so here it is!” The faded book flew out from Twilights bag and opened to the pages of the spell in front of her. Everypony read through it.

[Althoughe olde and seldom used, the heart finding spell is moste useful. It allows a pony to find the stallion or mare that is their soulmate. A worde of caution before the spell, it draws not just from pony kind, but from all the worlds in entirety, for some soulmates may be founde in far away places.
In order to perform this moste ancient magick, you will need two unicorns, and a pegausus pony. Any other ponies whom so wish to find their soulmate shoulde join with the unicorns hooves, and sit encircled. The unicorns shoulde then focus outwards on the wish of finding the soulmate as the pegausus flies towardes the circle from greate height, the speed of which shall cause an explosion which shall cause the wish to spread.
Everypony shall find their soulmate by the next HearteHooves day.

Pinkie Pie looked up, her eyes crossed and her face showing clearly how much she’d concentrated to try and figure out the odd words. “But what does it all mean?”

“It’s not that hard really. We all sit in a circle, hoof to hoof, while Rarity and I concentrate on the wish and Rainbow Dash makes a sonic Rainboom just above us,” Twilight said enthusiastically. It was all the other ponies could do not to show their excitement on their faces. It was Rainbow Dash who spoke her mind first.

“Sounds like we need another Rainbow Dash special! Alright!!!! Lets do this!” Rainbow was halfway into the air as Pinkie Pie blew her party horn! Everypony else nodded and voiced their agreement. Twilight started moving to hold hooves with her friends, sighing. They hadn’t really thought this one out, but with friends like these, well thought out decisions were a fantasy.

Everypony held hands as Rainbow Dash soared high into the sky. Twilight watched as Rainbow flew higher and higher until she was just a speck in the sky. She figured that it was time. She nodded to Rarity. “Alright everyone, just think of your perfect somepony! “ As each pony thought of the perfect stallion they wanted, a bright glow began to form above them.
Rainbow, watching the ground like a hawk, saw the start of the glow and began falling gracefully. Her wings tucked back behind her, the air blowing over her frame, it was exstatic. Rainbow thought of her special somepony she wanted, but was having a hard time thinking that there could be anything better than this. She fell faster and faster, until a cone of air began to form around her. Performing a sonic rainboom was hard under the best of circumstances, but she’d done it twice now, and she knew that she could do it again.

Far off, in the distance, Derpy Hooves was preparing the mail for her daily delivery. She hummed happily to herself, glad that she could finally be useful. Even after the disaster at town hall, the Mayor had been kind to her. This was a job that she could do, and it worked out well for her. She even got to Sugar Cube Corner in time to get a fresh muffin or two from Pinkie Pie. She closed her eyes and flew by feel for a moment, only to be distracted by thoughts of loneliness. She enjoyed delivering the mail, but she wished that she didn’t have to go back to an empty home afterwards. Sure she spent time with her friends, but that wasn’t always enough. It would have been enough for her to just have somepony, anypony there. It was in the middle of that thought that she was hit by a speeding Rainbow Dash.

The force with which the two hit dazed Derpy for a moment, and she fell. Rainbow, shaking her head to clear the fuzziness from the impact saw Derpy falling wildly. She pushed herself harder to try and catch the falling Pegasus. Derpy might be a pain at times, but Rainbow didn’t hate her, and she sure wasn’t about to let her get hurt.
Faster and faster Rainbow flew, the cone of air around her focusing more and more as the ground loomed. Finally, seconds before impact, three things happened. Rainbow’s speed broke the speed of sound, she caught Derpy, and it all happened right in the middle of the Glow. Twilight, Apple Jack, Rarity and Fluttershy smiled at Rainbows success, as Pinkie Pie jumped and hollered and made a spectacle of herself.

Rainbow flew off, Derpy held safely in her hooves, and smiled. Three successes weren’t bad at all. Derpy, finally regaining consciousness, looked at Rainbow sadly, her eyes off in their vacant, wall-eyed position. “Sorry I bothered you Rainbow Dash…

The spell had worked, and it’s mysterious force went to work, gradually pulling in the ponies that were meant for each of the now seven. But Derpy’s wish of Anypony worked it’s mysterious mischief, and so it was not ponies it would pull, but seven soon to be ponies……

Chapter Nine: Horns and Harvests

Part Two

Chapter Nine: Horns and Harvests

Many thanks to Silver Wrench for Co-Authoring, again, and for helping me understand how nasty MREs can be…. (Yes, before you ask, it is the same pony in the story…..)

WARNING: Slightly adult themed topics in chapter.

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Something had been bugging Silver for a bit, and it was the slight feeling from his head. Something wasn’t quite right there. “Hey, um, Applejack, how far is the field you’re working on?” Silver was very confused, and very lost. He had no idea what he’d been thinking when he’d agreed to help her. He had no Idea what to do on a farm.

“It’s not too far, sugarcube. Past the pond and over that hill.” Applejack grinned. Sometimes it was easy to forget how large the fields were on Sweet Apple Acres. No matter how many trees they moved to other farms, the fields seemed to get larger every year. She might not know this pony so well, but she sure was glad for the help. Besides he seemed alright to her, and her intuition hadn’t often led her astray.

They were passing by the small pond and Silver took a moment to try and see his new face in the water. It was definitely a pony face, and his eyes were purple, and his mane a grey streaked blue that was just slightly darker than his body color. And there sticking out of his mane was a bluish horn. That horn, that simple, singular unicorn horn was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Oh my god, my dick is on my forehead! With a small and poorly stifled scream he lost his tentative grip on sanity.

Applejack turned back as she heard the scream. She didn’t know what had happened and so she was preparing to deal with something horrible like a manticore, or maybe even a cockatrice. “What’s wrong?!” She half shouted the question until she realized that Silver was staring in the water.

“Head…. Dick……. Face….. What….. No…” Silver’s mind had broken somewhat, and so he couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. He sort of gestured with one hoof, pointing directly at his head. Being a pony he could deal with, and he could deal with being in a whole other world. Neither of them were that different from being shipped out, but he couldn’t deal with the horn.

Applejack had no Idea what was going on, and tried to put the pieces together. Silver was freaking out about something and whatever it was, it had to do with his head. It was a little more than she could figure out without getting inside his head. Maybe Fluttershy would know what was wrong. Suddenly all the pieces came together.

Fluttershy’s Coltfriend Phantom was from another world, and had turned into a pony when he got here. According to Fluttershy, Phantom had gone through a freak out of his own. Silver couldn’t be from another world; although that would make sense. It would explain why he seemed so awkward when they first met. So she guessed that if he was from another world, he might flip out when he saw his face. For once, Applejack had no idea what to do.

While Applejack was figuring out how to calm him down, Silver was trying to get a grip on the situation. He was still alive, and that wasn’t about to stop. That was a sobering thought and it helped him calm down a bit. It wasn’t enough for him to calm down completely, but it was enough for him to form a slightly more coherent sentence. “My head…thing on face…. Not supposed to be there.”

Applejack listened and realized that Silver was pointing at his horn. “What that?, That’s your horn sugarcube? Didn’t cha know that you were a unicorn?” The thought that Silver was from another world was starting to make more and more sense.
Silver shook his head. A pony he could understand, and with Applejack being a pony herself it made it a little easier to understand, but a unicorn? This was a little more than he’d thought. “A…a… Unicorn?” He’d started to hyperventilate and so his words came out ragged and fast.

“Yes sugarcube, a unicorn.” Silver had to be from another world, his disbelief that he was a unicorn proved it. There was no way that he could have grown up so far, even gotten his cutie mark, and not known that he was a unicorn.
Silver took a deep breath, steadying himself a little more. He got ready to try and figure things out. So there were Unicorns in this world too. Now that was just a little strange. He shakily stepped back from the waters, trying his best not to think about it. He walked over towards Applejack, his motions unsteady, as if the realization that he had a horn had somehow weakened him.

Applejack just stared at him, wondering if he was going to be okay. They held a few moments in silence until she asked, “You ready to go on sugarcube?”

Silver nodded, and together the two of them headed off deeper into the orchard, where Applejack had her work planned out.

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Silver Wrench had followed Applejack over the hill towards the section of the orchard that she’d been working on. The baskets arrayed neatly under the trees intrigued him, as did the slightly filled apple cart off to the side. He’d never been on a farm before, and what little he did know about them came from the occasional Discovery channel special, so this was also a wonderful learning experience for him.

Applejack turned to him, a rather odd look on her face. He couldn’t place it, but if he had had to, he would have said somewhere between concentration and consternation. “So are you ready to learn how to buck apples?” Applejack asked him.

“Yep. I don’t think I could be more ready if I had come here just for this.” It was an unintentional dig that he was new here, and it wasn’t meant to be mean. It was just a shining example of how thoughtless Silver could be in his speech. Being a marine on a tour of duty meant his speech was unguarded and he hadn’t yet gotten used to the fact that he was around civilians. “So let’s buck.” Internally he registered how naughty that sounded, outwardly, nothing.

Applejack laughed at Silver’s little verbal apropos, deciding once again not to comment. She’d have to talk to that stallion about his language, especially if Apple Bloom or her friends came around, but for now it was fine. “Well it’s easier ta show you how it’s done.” Applejack moved into position and started her run.

Silver watched intently as Applejack ran towards the tree and at the last possible minute swung around and bucked with her back legs, the legs landing squarely against the trunk of the tree. With a crack and a swish, the apples fell into the baskets, piled high above their rims. Applejack turned back to Silver and smiled. “That’s all there is to it.”

Silver smiled back. “Mind if I try?” It didn’t look all that hard. Run, turn, and kick the tree. He could do something simple like that. When Applejack nodded, he started running towards one of the trees with empty buckets underneath. He went to swing at the last possible moment and as it turned out he misjudged, and instead of being able to buck the tree, his legs slammed into the side of a basket. “Yeow!!!” He let loose an exclamation of pain. It felt like he had just fractured his legs. He walked wobbly away from the tree once he’d regained his footing.

Applejack smothered her laughter and tried to console the stallion. “Not bad sugarcube. But ah think ya might just want ta stick ta moving the apple buckets.” Silver nodded, not wanting to try bucking again until his legs stopped throbbing. “Well if yer gonna be moving apple buckets, ya might want this,” Applejack said, picking up a small pony shaped harness with her mouth. She walked over and placed it on Silver’s back.

“What do I do with this,” Silver asked, confused. It wasn’t a piece of equipment that he could regcognize at all.

“You pick up and hold the buckets with this.” Applejack demonstrated briefly, using the device to lift and hold two buckets at once. “From there yah just put ‘em in that there apple cart. “

Silver looked at the apple cart, and then let his gaze drift off around the orchard, and the staggering number of un-harvested trees. It was a little unnerving. What had he just gotten himself into? First a whole new world, whose strangeness was starting to get to him, and as usual, without thinking, he’d agreed to help someone he barely knew without finding out exactly what there was to do. Sometimes his mouth got him in all kinds of trouble. “I guess I could do that…” Silver was not sure that he could do this.

Applejack giggled at Silver’s expression. From the way his mouth was hanging open she guessed that he’d just figured out how large this job was. If their orchard had been smaller, Applejack could possibly have done it alone, but with size of it, every little bit of help went a long way. She’d learned that two years ago, and wasn’t eager to overwork herself like that again. Applejack walked over to him and smiled. “Yep, it’s a lot of work, but with some help, it can be done.”
Silver realized he’d been sitting there with his jaw hanging open, and as he closed it blushed sheepishly. “So I guess we should get started.” The size of the job still boggled his mind, and he was just thinking of ways to make it easier. From the few documentaries he’d seen, they used a lot of mechanical equipment, and was wondering why Applejack didn’t do the same. It would make the job easier, but he guessed she had her reasons.

Applejack grinned a little wider. “Sure, sounds like a plan pardner.” And so applejack started off to buck the trees, and Silver followed behind her, picking up the full buckets and taking them to the cart. After a bit he started to put the empty buckets under un-bucked trees, and he did so without being told. It just seemed to be the best course of action for him.

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Twilight trotted through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres, Spike on her back, and a mission in her mind. The more she researched on the spell, the more she learned. There was more to it than she’d originally thought. She’d found a few articles in other books that referenced the book the spell had come from. She never thought that a spell could become as complicated as this. Apparently this spell pre-dated even Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest pony magician in history. She walked around the barn and up to the main house, not knowing where Applejack was. Nopony in town had seen her today, so Twilight assumed that she had to be at home still.

The door swung open, and Twilight was greeted by Big Mac. His foreleg in a sling, and a bandage around his waist, it was evident that he still hadn’t healed from the accident. “Is Applejack home?” Twilight tried not to look at the bandages, feeling bad that she hadn’t been around to help when the roof of Town Hall had collapsed.

“Nope, she’s out workin’ the orchards.” Big Mac’s powerful and steady voice belied no part of the pain that must have still been going through him. He always seemed indestructible.

“Oh, is it Applebuck season again?” Twilight had in her excitement forgotten that it was the time of year for an apple harvest. Sometimes she got a little caught up in her studies, and didn’t think about other things. She should have remembered, especially after the time Applejack had worked herself into a state of utter exhaustion.

“Eeyup. She said she’s gonna work the south field today if you need to see her.” Big Mac smiled gently.

“Thank you Big Mac. Tell Granny Smith and Apple Bloom I said hello,” Twilight called back over her shoulder as she headed off to the south field to try and find Applejack.

“Why is it so Important that you talk to Applejack anyways,” Spike called from his perch upon her back.
“Spike, you see, we all cast a spell a while ago, and I found out some information about it that changes what we thought would happen.”

A look of confusion washed over Spike’s face. “What kind of spell?” This was the first time he’d heard anything about a spell.

Twilight blushed, glad that Spike couldn’t see it from where he was on her back. “It was nothing, just a spell.”

Spike didn’t say anything, but he was sure that it had to be something. Twilight only hid information from him when she was embarrassed about it. Spike decided that instead of dwelling on this mystery spell he would make himself useful now and keep an eye out for Applejack. As it was it wasn’t his eyes that let him find her, it was his ears. He heard the sound of hooves striking an apple tree off to their right. “Hey Twilight, Over there.”

Twilight turned, having heard it too, and started off. She crested the small little hill and saw Applejack bucking yet another tree. “Hey Applejack!”

Applejack hit the tree hard, her back hooves nearly shattering the tough bark of the tree. He concentration had been broken by somepony shouting for her, and she was about to be really irritated when she turned and saw Twilight, she calmed down immediately. No matter what happened, she didn’t have it in her to stay angry or even irritated with her friends. Well, maybe Rarity when she was being prissy, or Rainbow Dash when she was being overly competitive, or… Okay so maybe she did get angry and irritated with her friends, but not with Twilight. “Hey sugarcube, what can ah do for you?”
Twilight looked at the hoofprints on the tree.”Sorry if I disturbed you, I just needed to talk to you.” That was when Twilight saw Silver coming from behind the applecart with two empty baskets. She looked from the purplish blue unicorn to her friend and motioned off to the side. “Alone, It’s important.”

Applejack nodded and yelling off to Silver, went for a short walk with Twilight, curious as to what could be so important.

Chapter Ten: Invitation

Part Two
Chapter Ten: Invitation

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Twilight and Applejack headed off to a small clearing not far from where Applejack and Silver had been harvesting. Applejack felt a little guilty leaving Silver alone in a strange place, but she didn’t want to be rude and leave Twilight hanging either. Twilight must have picked up on her signal because she asked Spike to go and talk with Silver.

“Aww, Twilight, do I have to?” It wasn’t that Spike didn’t like meeting new Ponies, but rather that he was incredibly curious about this spell Twilight had mentioned. He would bet all the gems he could eat that she was going to be talking to Applejack about it. Twilight nodded, and Spike slumped his shoulders. He didn’t want to argue with his big sister. He figured he’d find out about it in time. Maybe Silver would be as cool as Phantom was.

Twilight and Applejack watched Spike walk off towards where they had left a rather bewildered Silver. Twilight allowed herself a sigh of relief when she saw the last of Spike’s scales disappear over the hill.She trusted Spike, but she didn’t want him to hear anything about the spell. “Okay Applejack, I did more study and I found out some more about our spell.”

“Our spell? What about it?” Applejack was curious about what was so important that Twilight had come all the way down to the farm. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what the spell had done, or what Twilight had found out a couple of weeks ago.

“Well,” Twilight began, “I was doing some more research, and I found out more.” Twilight had started to paw the ground nervously again. It seemed to Twilight that the deeper she looked at the spell, the more hidden elements came to light. Twilight had never thought that there would be so many complications with the spell.

“Well what is it Twilight? What did you find out?” Applejack couldn’t hide her curiosity. The last bit Twilight had learned had been a both exciting and a bit frightening. After all, the thought that their lovers could be from other worlds left all sort of possibilities open. Phantom had turned out to be all right, but who knew how others would take it?

Twilight took a deep breath before beginning. “Well, it took a bit of cross reference, but I think this is the most important part. It seems that we will each meet our special someponies separately, one by one.”

“Well that’s not all that bad.” Applejack smiled. “If ah I have to wait to meet mine then I just have to wait.”
“There’s more. For each pony that is from another world, there is going to be a test, a trial of sorts, based on the original spell caster that will determine if they are able to stay in Equestria!” Twilight finished emphatically.

Applejack took a moment to think about this. If everypony who came from another world would have to pass a test to stay in Equestria, then every time one of them found their special somepony, there would be a chance that they could lose them. Applejack would have to talk to Twilight more about this, but not today. Right now she had to get back to harvesting. Celestia’s day was going to be ending soon and she needed to finish up the section of the orchard that she was in.

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Silver was hauling the last of the apple buckets over to the second apple cart. Applejack had been gone for a bit, and he’d had an opportunity to catch up a bit. He was moving four baskets for every ten Applejack had been filling, and so he had a lot of baskets to move. Luckily for him, Spike had come around and started to help him. It was a bit more than Silver had bargained for here. Ponies alone were a bit hard for him to accept, but he was dealing with it. The addition of a dragon threatened to shatter his composure completely. If anything else showed up, like a griffin, he would probably start foaming at the mouth, babbling, running around in circles, or anything else he could do when his mind broke completely.

Spike waved to Silver and thanked him, heading off towards Twilight at same time as she called for him. Silver figured that Spike was going to try and pry some information out of Twilight about the spell he’d mentioned. Silver had heard a lot from Spike about both Twilight and her friends. In fact once he thought about it, Spike had done most of the talking while they were together, Silver had barely said a word.

Silver smiled to himself as he took a moment or two to look around the orchard and take in the scenery. The colors here were a bit more vibrant than he was used to, but not altogether unpleasant. He was so caught up in the scenery that he didn’t notice Applejack come up behind him. The colors and the view were doing wonders for keeping him calm.

“It sure is beautiful ain’t it?” Applejack asked. Silver nodded in agreement. The setting sun had set the sky ablaze in a wash of orange and pinks, and the low and gleaming sun glinted off a thousand apples, setting the orchards ablaze. The long shadows cast by the trees were pierced by golden rays of sunshine that found their way through the leaves as they rustled in the breeze. It was indeed beautiful.

Applejack looked sadly at the orchard, the thoughts of just how much work still had to be done worried her, and even though all her friends were going to come and help, she wasn’t sure that it would be enough. Applejack knew that there wasn’t much more that she was going to be able to do today, so she resigned herself to needing to get an early start tomorrow.

Silver smiled, still looking dreamily off at the sunset. It was so breathtaking, and so much brighter than any other sunset he’d ever seen in his life. It was absolutely indescribable. He turned to Applejack, ready to get back to work.

Applejack started to tell Silver that they were done, but just before she opened her mouth, she realized that she’d taken up his entire day. He’d probably had things to do today, and she’d just been working him like any other farmhand without even considering that. “I’m sorry Silver. I just took up your entire day and you probably had things that needed doin’.” Applejack looked genuinely sorry and Silver wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. He really hadn’t had anything to do, and even if he had somehow come up with plans after being magicked into this world, he would gladly have given them up to help Applejack. Sure working on the orchard was hard work, but it was also enjoyable, and Applejack was good company.

“It wasn’t a problem at all. I’m glad I could help.” Silver smiled at Applejack, and wondered what he would do now that it appeared they were done. He didn’t know anypony here, and he still was fuzzy on where exactly here was.

Applejack thought for a moment. She was glad that Silver wasn’t mad that they’d used a whole day on the orchard, and even more grateful that he hadn’t been upset that she’d disappeared for a bit with Twilight. A couple of her other farm hands had quit on her when she’d had to go and help her friends with various things. A slight rumbling broke her train of thought and she realized that her stomach was growling. She’d skipped lunch to get more work done, and she knew that Silver had also. Applejack had a sudden idea.

“Hey Silver, if you’re not busy this evenin’ would ya like to have dinner here? It’s the least I can do to repay ya after all the hard work you put in today.” Applejack knew that Granny Smith wouldn’t mind. Heck, if she’d been here, she would have insisted on it. Even Big Mac would have offered. Sure Silver was an almost complete stranger, but he’d done more than a fair share of the work, and he’d earned it.

Silver thought for a moment. He was hungry, he had no money, and he had no idea where to go to eat here anyways. Maybe a little longer with Applejack wouldn’t be so bad. After all he’d enjoyed her company and he would maybe be able to find out a place where he could stay. If he was genuinely in another world, he’d have to try and take care of himself. Part of him still hoped that this was all a crazy dream, but the exhaustion he felt was a little too real, and he didn’t think that he could dream up something like this. “Sure, that sounds nice.” Silver had no idea what kind of food he’d be expected to eat, but anything homemade would always be better than an MRE.

Applejack smiled and nodded in approval. “Alrighty then. I guess we should head for the house.” Applejack started walking back to her house, and Silver followed diligently afterwards, making sure that he paid attention to where they went. If he needed to get back to this part of the orchard, he was going to make sure he could do it on his own.

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Applejack had told Silver to wait outside for just a moment while she told the rest of her family that they had a guest. Granny Smith and Applebloom were in the kitchen putting dinner together. “Hey Granny, I brought somepony back fer dinner.” Granny smith stopped stirring the pot on the stove and stared at her granddaughter. “He’s waitin’ outside cause I wanted to make sure you knew first.” Granny and Applebloom gave each other a sly look when Applejack said “he”.
“So it’s like that huh?” Granny Smith said with a smile. Applebloom giggled semi-silently into the salad.
“It’s not like that at all!” Applejack said quickly as a blush rose to her cheeks. “He helped me out today in the orchard and I thought that dinner would be a good way to thank him.”

“It must be getting serious then if you’re bringing him home to meet the family.” Granny Smith was relentless. Her smile kept getting wider and wider. Applebloom had been trying to control her laughter, and was now visibly shaking with the effort of keeping silent. “Ya know, I met my third coltfriend in the orchard. Or was it my fourth? Maybe the fifth?” Granny Smith drifted off into another one of her rambling stories about her youth, the kind at which Applejack was used to tuning out. With a sigh, Applejack resigned herself to the fact that she was going to be teased about this, and went outside to bring Silver in.

When she and Silver had entered the dining room, Applejack was not surprised to see her brother already sitting at the table. She still felt bad about the accident that had broken his foreleg, but there really was nothing she could do about it now.

Silver was in awe of the Apple family home. He’d grown up in apartments almost all his life, and while he had been with the Marines, he’d lived in the barracks. He’d been too lowly in rank to rate private quarters, and he didn’t want to spend the money on a house off base. The place seemed enormous to him. The dining room was very spacious, and he was surprised by the size of the table that had been squeezed in. The table was large enough that his entire Squad and maybe two extra fire teams could sit there comfortably. It seemed that the Apples had company often enough that a large table was a good idea.

As Silver looked around the room, he saw a large Red stallion with his foreleg in a sling.Silver took a step into the room around Applejack, coming into stallion’s range of view.

“Howdy stranger. The name’s Big Mac. Who might you be?”

Silver made the connection between the red stallion at the table, and the Brother that Applejack had off-handedly mentioned earlier that day. “I’m Silver Wrench, Nice to meet you.” It felt sort of right to go by that name. In a way it seemed to suit him better than his actual name.

Any further conversation that the two of them might have had was cut short as Granny Smith and Apple Bloom walked into the room with trays of food balanced precariously on their backs. “Dinner is served!” Applebloom called out cheerfully. With that, everypony took a seat as dinner started….

Track 1: When Did This Storm Begin (4:10)

Part 3 & 4
Track 1: When did this Storm Begin (4:10)

Note: All music from brony artists used with the musician’s permission.
Disclaimer: I do not own My little pony, or any of the character names associated with the show, all rights belong to Hasbro, and Lauren Faust.
I do not own the rights to Shiny Toy Guns, their music, or track names, and all rights associated remain property of Shiny Toy Guns and their record label.

************************************************************************************

The grey and blond mailmare skidded to a stop out front of the Ponyville Theater. Ditzy stopped and took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She’d made it here so far without any accidents, and to top it off, the package was intact. It wasn’t often that she got a rush delivery, and even rarer that there was a package for the theater. She knew that she should just knock and if Nopony was there take it back and leave a notice, but her curiosity was getting the better of her, and so she pushed open the door and walked inside. If something was happening here , she wanted to be a part of it. It wasn’t something that many ponies knew, but she enjoyed shows at the theater, but there hadn’t been one in a very long time. She’d gone in the front door, missing the delivery entrance in her typical fashion.

The lobby was dark and deserted but the doors to the theater itself were gently lit from behind. Ditzy wondered if perhaps somepony was inside. Her package forgotten, she stepped deeper into the darkened lobby, and reached out for the handle of the doors to the auditorium. Just before she opened the doors, she heard the sounds of a Piano. She listened for a moment before opening the door.

The sound was sad, almost lonely as the tinkle of the higher notes rebounded and mixed with the gentle lower tones. Ditzy walked in to the auditorium and was hit with a wave of emotions. The music was reverberating off the walls, the seats, and the empty space, filling it with this almost sad sounding tune. There was just a hint of hope to it as the song became slightly more complex. The brown Pegasus on stage sat playing the music with his eyes closed, a hoof tapping to the beat. The rhythmic motions of his forelegs was mesmerizing in and of itself as they darted back and forth over the ivory keys to land in just the right spot at the right time.

The music picked up, and one of the musician’s wings fluttered out to hit a switch that was on a nearby piece of machinery. Suddenly the sound of violins began to flood the room through the speakers. The music picked up just a slightly hopeful sound, and the song, while familiar sounding, was new and uplifting. The sounds grew and faded, playing around each other, and entrancing poor Ditzy who just stood in the doorway, listening.

Suddenly, the sound of the violins came to a crashing stop and the song slowed down, and with a final little chord from the strings, the song came to an end. Ditzy stood there, entranced by the wonderful music that the Pegasus on stage had created. She watched as the Pegasus on stage sat back from the piano and hung his head. She might not have been a genius, but she could tell when somepony was sad, and everything about the Pegasus’s body language screamed out that he was depressed. Being a mother came in handy at times. Her thoughts were interrupted by somebody coming up behind her.

“Excuse me miss, but um… do you work here?” Ditzy turned and saw a large blue pony with a very nervous expression on his face.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry, I’m here to deliver this package.” Ditzy moved with the speed of a professional, and with almost no accidents managed to set the package directly in front of the new pony. “Would you sign here, and here, and I need you to initial here……”

****************************

Rainbow Dash was still at it, practicing for the Wonderbolts. She’d been working on her routine all day, and since she had off from the weather team, she didn’t see any reason to stop. Well at least no reason to stop until it was time to meet her friends for that picnic later that afternoon. Food was one of the few things that would stop Dash from her aerial acrobatics; Food, naptime, the promise of a good cup of cider, or her friends. That was about it.

She stopped after a particularly difficult mid-air turn to check where she was. She was just a little off, since she should now be over the town hall, but was instead over a building two doors down. It wasn’t much, but it meant to the Rainbow Maned Pegasus that she still had some work to do. As Dash drifted off towards the start of her route again, she was passed quickly by a black and brown blur.

“Oh, sorry!” Came the deep voice of the black Pegasus, who’d clearly done it on purpose.. Dash was a little miffed that somepony, or rather anypony, would dare try to challenge her.

“What was that all about?” Dash yelled.

“I’d been watching you fly for a while now, and I wanted to know if you were up for a real challenge?”

“If you give me a name, you’re on!” Dash’s grin was on full force, excited at the prospect of a new and possibly real challenge.

“The name’s Bass Clef!”

The name brought a memory streaming out from the depths of Dash’s mind. Bass Clef…. He was the bassist for the band Victory Cleft, one of Dash’s favorite bands. There was no way it could be, but since none of their album covers ever had a picture of the band, she had no way to be sure. She knew from talking to somepony who’d actually met the band that Bass Clef was supposedly as much of a daredevil as she was. If it really was Bass, he’d be up for the challenge.

“Alright then Bass,” Dash declared in her best sneer, “You’re on. First one from here to the end of Ghastly Gorge and back is the winner.”

Bass’ response was laughter. It set Dash’s feathers on edge. She didn’t like to be laughed at. She’d show this pretentious show pony who was the top flier in Ponyville for sure.

“Then Ready. Set. GO!” With the final word from Rainbow’s lips the two took off like a pair of rockets, zooming through the skies……

************************************

Ditzy was walking out of the Theater having happily delivered a package without any major mishap when she bumped into a large brown wall. That wall turned out to be the same Pegasus that had been playing the piano not all that long ago. He still looked sad, but this time he had a kindly if bewildered smile on his face.

“Are you alright miss?” The brown Pegasus asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ditzy said, pulling herself up and brushing off her wings. “I’m Ditzy by the way. Who are you?”

“I’m Treble. Treble Clef.” Treble sighed.

“I heard your song earlier. It was beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Treble was surprised that anypony had heard it, and was even more surprised to find that anyone actually
enjoyed it.

“No problem. Although, and I know this sounds silly, but are you the same Treble Clef that’s the lead singer for Victory Cleft?” Ditzy stared expectantly at Treble, her eyes going a little crossed.

“Yeah,” Treble sighed, “Guilty as charged.” Treble noticed the mare’s eyes, but didn’t want to say anything. Unlike his brother, Treble didn’t blurt out statements that could be hurtful just because he noticed something.

“Wow, that’s totally amazing.” Ditzy tried not to jump for joy. Everypony had heard of Victory Clef, and she’d seen the posters around town, but she’d never dreamed that a humble mailmare like herself could ever meet one of the Clef Brothers in person. But that made the question of why his song was so sad stand out even more in her mind. She couldn’t keep it down, and just had to ask. “So, umm, If I can…. Why was your song so sad?”

Treble sighed again, something that he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. He was surprised that his manager, Blaze, had been able to keep the secret so well. This was going to be his final show with Victory Cleft, in fact it was going to be the final show for Victory Cleft period. He’d spent most of his life with the band and he couldn’t really imagine any other kind of existence. He didn’t exactly want to tell this mysterious grey mare about it, but he didn’t want to lie either. He decided that he should just go ahead and tell the truth.

“I’m sorry about that. Normally my music is full of energy, but the band is breaking up, and- “ That was all he could say before he was cut off by Ditzy.

“What do you mean the band is breaking up? Did you have a fight, is somepony in the band really sick, I can’t believe this why would you all break up you are the best band in all Equestria and you need to keep playing because so many ponies love your music and keep listening to it and you are probably the best band that there has ever been in the history of Equestria and – “ Treble stopped her with a gentle hoof to the nose.

“Please Miss. It’s not that big a deal actually. Some of the band members have once in a lifetime opportunities that they are leaving to take. We’ve been playing for a decade now, It’s time to let the music stop for a minute.” Treble almost convinced himself that that was all there was to it. In truth there was a lot going on behind the scenes that even the band’s manager didn’t know.

“Well, I think it is a big deal, and either way, you don’t like it, and so I’m going to treat you to a muffin.”

“Well thanks for the offer but – “ Treble didn’t finish the sentence once he got a look at the look on Ditzy’s face. It was absolutely adorably terrifying. Her eyes had gone crossed, one looking up, the other looking down, but the rest of her face was contorted into a visage of anger. It took all he had not to start laughing. “Okay then, if you insist.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, we should be off!” Ditzy struck up a ridiculously military pose and started walking off to Sugar Cube Corner, Treble following a step behind….

***************************************

Rainbow Dash circled the tower of Town Hall, wondering how in the world this could have happened. Bass had beaten her there by a second. She’d flown every curve in the canyon perfectly. She’d gone through every obstacle. She hadn’t seen Bass since she’d gotten into the canyon, but he was suddenly just ahead of her when she got back to town. She knew he hadn’t cheated because they’d been neck and neck all the way up to the canyon, and if he had cheated, he would have been waiting for her at Town hall.

“I’m going to take it from the way you are angrily circling the tower that you can’t believe you lost huh?” Bass said with a hearty laugh. Dash stopped thinking and started glaring daggers at Bass. If looks could kill, he’d be vaporized. He responded to this with another laugh. “Don’t worry. Its only because I flew over the canyon, not through it. I didn’t get slowed down with all the high speed banking. If I’d flown through it like you I never would have beaten you. So let’s say you won because you took the hard route.”

“But to win you have to have flown through Ghastly Gorge!” Dash yelled, still glaring.

“You never specified. You just said to the gorge and back.” He had her there, and Dash, not one for taking victories she didn’t earn flew up to shake his hand.

“Well, you won fair and square. I’ll just have to do better tomorrow!”

“And what makes you think we going to race tomorrow?” Bass had every intention of doing that again, it wasn’t often he found another Pegasus who was as competitive as he was.

“The fact that I’m gonna buy you drinks!” Dash replied. Bass nodded, liking that idea. The two flew off towards the local Cider Hall, Rainbow Dash in the lead, Bass following close behind.